At an open training ground within the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Lintian stood motionless on a snowfield. On his hands was a wooden bow as he aimed at a human-shaped wooden target hundreds of meters away. His entire being seemed to blend into the surrounding environment, as if it wasn't him who stood there, but a lifeless boulder instead.
Puff—
The moment Yun Lintian released the arrow, it flew straight towards the target's head with terrifying speed and silence. Additionally, there wasn't even a trace of profound energy emanating from his body.
At a distance, not too far away from Yun Lintian, Yun Qianxue and Yun Meilan stood together, attentively observing him.
"I think he is more qualified to be an assassin than you." Yun Qianxue said softly. Pride and amazement shone in her beautiful eyes.
Yun Meilan expressed her agreement: "Indeed. Somehow, I feel that he is extremely knowledgeable about this particular assassination technique, as if he has been practicing it for decades."
She watched Yun Lintian growing up for several years and discovered he was exceptionally proficient in assassination technique — even more outstanding than his medical talent. The only thing that hindered him was his low profound strength. If his strength were equal to that of his peers, he could effortlessly eliminate anyone he desired.
"Mom, Aunt Meilan." Yun Lintian walked over and greeted politely.
Yun Qianxue pulled his arm and said, "Let's take a break. Mom has something to tell you."
"Mhm." Yun Lintian hummed in reply. All of them immediately headed to Yun Qianxue's chamber.
A month had passed since Yun Lintian returned from his trip to the capital city. During this period, he concentrated all his time to set up the Heaven Suppressing Formation as well as training intensively under Yun Qianxue and Yun Meilan's guidance.
A week ago, he made another breakthrough and finally stepped into the fifth level of the Essence Profound Realm. This speed could be described as terrifying, as he had broken through two levels in just one month. All of this was due to several low-grade Profound stones that Yun Qianxue had accumulated for him.
In the Azure World, there was a stone that contained a small amount of profound energy, known as the Profound Stone. It was divided into four grades: Low, Middle, High, and Perfect grade — classified by the amount of profound energy within it. Normally, Profound Stone was used to maintain a profound formation, serving as the energy source. It could be directly utilized by a profound practitioner to enhance their profound strength.
Counting on how scarce the Profound stone was, using it for practice was too luxurious and wasteful. Especially in a small nation like Heavenly Fortune Nation, Profound stone couldn't be earned through ordinary means. Even the richest clan in the nation, the Yang clan, had no more than a thousand low-grade Profound stones in their possession. One could obviously see how much Yun Qianxue pampered her foster son. In order to raise his strength in a short time, she didn't hesitate to give him several tens of Profound stones at all.
The group arrived at the ice chamber and found that all four Hall Masters were already waiting for them, along with twelve elders.
"You are here." Yun Ruanyu greeted.
After taking a seat on the main chair, Yun Qianxue inquired, "How is the preparation going?"
Yun Ruanyu glanced at Yun Lintian and replied, "We are ready to set off anytime. With Sister Huanxin's abilities, we can reach there in two days."
Yun Qianxue turned to Yun Lintian and explained, "The Blazing Sun Mythical Realm is set to open next week. If you're ready, you can set off tomorrow."
"Understood." Yun Lintian replied. During the past month, his understanding of the Azure World significantly deepened.
Azure World simply divided into five continents, Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern, and Central continent. The distance between each continent was humongous and was split by a boundless sea. In order to reach other continents, people could either cross the sea by ship or going through the Continent Transmission Grand Formation that was controlled by a hegemonic fraction of each continent.
In this world, there were several independent realms which commonly known as Mythical Realms, locating all around the places throughout the entire world. Each one of them had a distinct name, a different environment, and various limitations. In there, people could find countless treasures and inheritances that were left behind by mighty figures in the past.
The Blazing Sun Mythical Realm was also one of many mythical realms out there. This realm situated between Heavenly Fortune Capital City and Sacred Flame Sect. It was under the control of the nation. Every fifty years, all major factions within the Heavenly Fortune Nation would dispatch their disciples to explore it. However, this opportunity was restricted to practitioners of the Essence Profound Realm and below.
"Tell me, what is your plan?" Yun Qianxue asked.
"It's simple. When we emerged from the mythical realm, Third Aunt would promptly dismiss everyone. Following that, we will proceed to a secret transmission point to return. To the best of my knowledge, I don't think they can counter Third Aunt's spatial technique. Even if they did, we should be able to use escape talismans to get out of that place. In any case, I have already engraved precise coordinates on the talismans. Everyone will definitely gather at the rendezvous point." Yun Lintian expressed his thoughts.
After understanding the overall situation in the Heavenly Fortune Nation, he promptly suggested abandoning the exploration of the Blazing Sun Mythical Realm. He believed it was pointless and posed an unnecessary risk. His original plan was to attract the enemy's attention. However, with the Qi royal clan joining the fray, going to the mythical realm was like feeding a tiger directly.
Nevertheless, Yun Ruanyu insisted on following Yun Lintian's original plan. Although Yun Lintian didn't understand her intention and thought this plan was full of flaws, he still complied in the end. In fact, deep down in his heart, he was eager to visit the mythical realm. After all, this was going to be his very first adventure.
"You can follow this plan." Yun Qianxue approved. Somehow, she appeared as if she didn't think this trip would be dangerous at all.
"Can you give me the detail of the Blazing Sun Mythical Realm?" Yun Lintian inquired.
Everyone except Yun Lintian looked at Yun Ruanyu as if they were saying "It's your duty."
Yun Ruanyu smiled faintly as she explained, "The Blazing Sun Mythical Realm is divided into two regions. The perimeter is a lush forest with countless Essence Profound beasts inside. In this region, various middle-ranking medicinal ingredients can be found. You should seize this opportunity to harvest as much as possible. There are also several treasure caves in this region. You have to be careful if you want to go in because they're full of traps."
"The center region is a plain desert, extremely hot during the day and freezing cold during the night. Usually, only a few brave people would dare to enter this place… Here is the point. In the past, all of us had ventured to the center-most area and found a large sun-like object floating on top of an ancient altar. We suspected this object should be a supreme treasure. We tried every possible means to acquire it, but it was futile."
"So, the reason you wanted me to go is to retrieve this object?... How am I supposed to accomplish that when no one in this place can do it, Aunt Ruanyu?" Asked Yun Lintian.
Yun Lintian seemed to understand Yun Ruanyu's intention, but he lacked confidence in this matter. Any individuals in this chamber all possessed powerful strength and top talents when they were young. Compared to the current Yun Lintian, it was like a completely different world. How could he suppose to secure that object with his pitiful strength?
Yun Ruanyu didn't deny it. She replied, "It's fine if you can't get it in the end. It's worth trying after all. Besides, this will be a good experience for you. It can be considered as your first official journey outside of going to the village and city."
Upon hearing this, Yun Lintian ceased his questioning. He believed in Yun Ruanyu's intelligence and her meticulous thinking. She should already have a suitable countermeasure for the impending calamity, which Yun Lintian did not necessarily need to know about. All he could do right now was focus on exploring the mythical realm.
"As for the other nine disciples who are going to accompany you on this trip, I already told them everything. You don't have to worry." Yun Ruanyu said further.
"I understand, Aunt Ruanyu." Yun Lintian responded. Originally, he intended to choose a squad member by himself, but things had changed. This decision ended up in Yun Ruanyu's hand instead.
"You should go back. I'll find you later tonight." Seeing Yun Ruanyu seemed like she had something to say, but it was inconvenient. Yun Qianxue let Yun Lintian leave first.
Yun Lintian was also aware of this. They might have something to discuss and didn't want him to know. "Alright, I'll take my leave now." He said and walked out of the chamber.
After Yun Lintian leaving, Yun Ruanyu looked at everyone and said, "The current situation is not favorable for us. Although I am certain that Qi Qianxing won't invest much of his force into this war, we can't forget the Sacred Flame Sect's Ancestor, Huo Yan."
Yun Qianxue turned to Yun Meilan and asked, "Do we have his current information?"
Yun Meilan shook her head: "He secluded himself from the world for many years and never showed up even once. I can't find his current status."
Yun Ruanyu added, "It is possible that he might have already broken through to the fourth level of the Ruler Profound Realm. Otherwise, Qi Qianxing wouldn't accept their terms easily like this."
Everyone nodded their head in agreement. It would make sense if Qi Qianxing willing to negotiate with them and decided to cooperate because there was an individual whose profound strength similar or higher than him.
Unfortunately, everyone in this chamber had fatally misunderstood it. They would never guess the truth behind Qi Qianxing's decision. It was so simple — he accepted the terms of the Sacred Flame Sect because he urgently needed the Fire Spirit stones they had offered. He never put Huo Yan in his eyes since the beginning.
"However, this is going to be our opportunity as well." Yun Ruanyu said calmly, with a strange light flashing across her eyes. Her words immediately pique everyone's attention. They were accustomed to having Yun Ruanyu acted as a strategist. Since she suddenly said this sentence, she must have already had a master plan in her mind.
"Sister Lingwei, how long do you need to breach their sect's protective formation?" Yun Ruanyu asked while her full of wisdom eyes staring at Yun Lingwei.
"You mean…" Yun Lingwei responded uncertainly. She wasn't sure if her idea was the same as Yun Ruanyu's.
When she saw Yun Ruanyu nodded her head slightly, confirming Yun Lingwei's thoughts. Yun Lingwei as well as others instantly became excited.