The toddlers' argument finally ended with Azure winning by a huge and solid upper hand. While on the contrary, Abhram looked miserable. Poor Abhram was beaten to the ground until he couldn't even move his limbs.
He swore internally that he would stay far away from this hot-tempered spirit from then on.
Jiang Ying Yue was astonished by the final result.
Azure, who looked soft, cute, waxy, and chewy like a sweet candy turned out to be so violent and heavy-handed. With her small adorable build which was even stubbier and rounder than that of Abhram's, she managed to flip the boy several times and mop the ground easily.
Jiang Ying Yue couldn't swallow her shock. It was like watching her five years old troublemaker son get beaten and bullied mercilessly by her three years old cute daughter.
She suddenly felt that Abhram's days were going to be tough ahead.
As Jiang Ying Yue had witnessed Azure was stronger and more skilled than Abhram when it to fighting with hands. She was, in fact, not only stronger than Abhram but was also the strongest one among the bunch. Her every move and punch was packed with powerful and wild energy.
" Grandmaster, we're here."
'Ah....there's another one.'
Jiang Ying Yue was tired of correcting Elder Mo's way of addressing her and could only accept it with a headache.
" Where's the door?.... I don't see any door..." Jiang Ying Yue looked around craning her head. They were now standing in front of a huge mound far away from the bustling city in the restricted section, where only guardians were allowed to enter.
" Hehehe...Grandmaster, you'll see soon." Elder Mo had an excitement of a child, his eyes twinkled as he rubbed his hand and waited impatiently.
The people who came along with Jiang Ying Yue were also looking around trying to find a door.
However, it didn't take long for them to realize where the actual entrance lay.
The ground shook again just like before and all eyes suspiciously turned to Wei.
Under those suspicion-filled gazes, Wei who had a stoic and calm face felt a bit awkward. He tried to clear his name, " This time it isn't me....this is the entrance." Wei tapped on the ground a few times pointing them with his chin.
Only then did the crew realize the ground they stood upon was slowly descending and sinking into an unknown depth. Soon it turned dark as the ground continued to sink for a while.
Jiang Ying Yue who was from modern times she had seen much modern stuff than this. Although she was also surprised but her wasn't to that great extent, she just wondered how this thing moved. It wasn't like a lift where the box moved up and down the chord. Instead it felt like whole chunk of earth was sinking together as if many layers of soil was pressed together tightly.
However, it was altogether a different case for others. These bunch had never seen or heard of such a thing. They knew of trap doors and other hidden mechanism but this sinking ground was still very novel to them.
" Fourth brother~ what is this thing?" muttered a voice softly in the dark.
Tian Shan heard the voice and recognized who it was and answered back as a matter of fact, " It's a trap door."
" Ah...Fourth Brother, do you think I am a fool? I know it's a trap door, don't we have a few at our home too?..... What I am asking is what type of trap door is this? What type of mechanism did they use to make it sink so smoothly?" asked Tian Lan finding her brother a bit irritating.
" Hehe...well, that we have to ask Elder Mo." The Tian Shan himself hadn't found the answer after thinking for a long time so he threw the question to Elder Mo.
Elder Mo, who enjoyed gossip and chaos was suddenly pulled in and was at a loss, " Eh..eh..that..that I don't know, it's my master's handiwork."
Now that he didn't know the answer Elder Mo also looked for his master.
.....Then, a question suddenly arose in everyone's mind who was Elder Mo's master?
Wait.....Elder Mo insisted on calling Xiao You Grandmaster when they first met.....then, going along that line didn't that mean Elder Mo's master was Xiao You's disciple?
Then, again...
Who was Xiao You's disciple?
Wait.....What disciple?
Xiao You himself was so young how could he have any disciple?
But that's not the problem. The problem was....
Even if he happened to have one he won't be so old, right?
At least, he should be younger than Xiao You.
But here this man who was calling Xiao You grandmaster was so old that he could be called ancient, then how old was this man's master?
How old was Xiao You's supposed disciple?
They felt their buzzing. Did it stop functioning normally?.....
Jiang Ying Yue already had an inkling of what these people were thinking, " Don't think about getting an answer from me, I have no clue either."
In the dark Jiang Ying Yue's clear voice rang.
Elder Mo who hadn't had enough for today wanted to say something but Azure stopped him midway.
" Stop, Xiao Mo! Didn't I tell you not to create trouble for my master?"
Elder Mo knew he was being careless but he couldn't help he had such personality. After being reprimanded he finally turned quiet and back into being a respectable old man. Although, they had never seen their master before all elders respected her a lot. After all, it was because of her that they were alive and doing well today.
The sinking ground was gradually coming to a stop and the darkness was receding.
" We're finally here." Elder Mo gave a cheerful smile and beckoned the others to follow him.
A tunnel large enough to accommodate five people was open before them. As they followed Elder Mo along the tunnel for a while.
It wasn't dark any longer, many burning torches were lit on either side of the walls of the tunnel making it bright almost as a day.
The crew walked until they finally entered a large hall stretched at the end of the tunnel. In the middle of the hall there lay a small pool of crystal clear blue water with a layer of thin mist hanging above it.
" Master, it's my spring water." pointed out Azure, " Master, it'll be able to help you with your breakthrough."
" So, you are a water spirit.." asked Jiang Ying Yue in realization.
" Yes Master, I am a spirit born out of the Blue spring inside Brahma. My birthplace and home are inside here." Azure nodded softly looking more reassured and secure that now she had returned her home.
" So, that's why Lan Quan is named Lan Quan." Jiang Ying Yue added.
" Master, you'll be heading for the Beast mountain soon, you need to prepare. I heard that it is getting more dangerous there recently. Let, your companion soak in my spring water and cultivate for a while." Azure suggested sweetly looking caring towards her master.
Abhram couldn't help but scoff there was a hint of jealousy in the air, " Hmph!...with your help them?....know that you're not that strong anymore."
" Abhram, do you wish to see my real strength?....just wait for me to teach you a lesson after I'm done chatting with our master." Azure gestured her tiny paws at him as she said this gritting her teeth. After which she continued again, " Master, don't listen to his rubbish. I may be weak at the moment but my current strength is just enough to help them, if I was at my peak that would blast just touching my water with their toes at their level."
Azure raised her chin proudly, however, her proud chin suddenly dropped when thought of something, " Oh....master, but I won't help that handsome friend of yours. He's too strong for me to help him but I can help him consolidate his cultivation."
Jiang Ying Yue knew at once who she was talking about.
" Xiao You, what are we doing here?" Tian Lan looked around nervously and asked the boy. The others who stood beside her meant to do the same. They all turned to Jiang Ying Yue for an answer because Elder Mo won't say anything because he had long disappeared quietly after dumping them here.
Only then did they realize how forgetful they were.
How could they forget they had killed some and were waiting to be judged?
They just foolishly followed that crafty old man forgetting about their circumstances. And now they were trapped.
Jiang Ying Yue looked at her companion and found their reaction comical, " Haha...Don't worry we are not trapped. We're here to cultivate. Let's change the plan, we'll be leaving this city not tomorrow but after three days."
" Cultivate?...here?..." Tian Lan was still not assured.
" Look!..." Tian Shan poked at Tian Lan's shoulder as his eyes were staring deeply at the dark turquoise pool.
" Huh....that's a pool, I saw it earlier." Tian Lan said swatting the hand that kept poking at her shoulder.
" Tian Lan~ wake up, open your eyes wide. Look, that's no ordinary pool." Xiang QingLing finally couldn't help but point out to the girl.
Tian Lan really opened her eyes wide this time and looked intently at the pool for a moment and suddenly shouted in excitement, " Ah!...lets start, lets start! What are we waiting for?!"
On the second day, after taking a day's rest Xiao Tingfei and his people were already prepared to leave.
Bai Ya looked around many times not finding the familiar figure that she wished to see.
" Did you really not see them leaving?" asked Bai Ya softly.
" No. I looked around the city but I never found them. They just disappeared." said the guard.
Bai Ya waved her hands to retreat as she looked into the distance looking thoughtful.