Long Aotian scratched his head. "Then what exactly is this diagram?"
Shi Xia's lips twitched. "This symbol, known far and wide in the martial world, is called: E-X-I-T."
"Huh?"
That’s right! The diagram was the exit sign—the kind mandatory in every building, without which the place wouldn’t pass inspection. It might as well have "EXIT" written right next to it!
-_-|||
What was supposed to be an intelligence test had instantly turned into a joke with this sign. Wasn’t it blatantly telling people this door was safe?
Just how desperate was the immortal manor’s owner to let people in?
"Let’s go." Shi Xia sighed wearily and pushed the door open.
Inside was a vast expanse of white, faintly rippling with the energy of a formation—likely a teleportation array. The three of them stepped in, and in a flash of white light, the scenery before them changed. Before she could even take in the new surroundings, Scout suddenly yanked her aside.
"Watch out!"
The next moment, a spiritual sword stabbed into the spot where she had just been standing.
Damn it! So much for a "safe exit"!
"Someone’s here." Scout’s voice darkened. Long Aotian immediately drew his sword, his expression tense.
Only then did Shi Xia notice two figures standing a few meters ahead—familiar faces, Ji Han and Lv Yi.
"It’s you!" Lv Yi’s eyes widened in surprise, a flicker of panic flashing across her face as she tightened her grip on her sword. "You’re still alive."
"Yeah, must be disappointing for you, huh?" Shi Xia had no goodwill toward this woman. Though initially nervous, a closer look revealed that the two were alone, looking far worse for wear than before, their robes stained with blood. Clearly, they had suffered heavy injuries along the way. The fate of their missing companions was obvious.
"Truly, the wicked live a thousand years," Lv Yi sneered, her face full of disdain.
"Couldn’t agree more. Though I wonder… what happened to the other two who were with you? Why are there only you two left now?" Shi Xia deliberately left out the word "wicked," but the implication was clear. If she was still alive, who was the real "wicked" one here?
Shi Xia only dared to provoke them because they were outnumbered and injured. Ji Han was a Golden Core cultivator, but so was Scout! Before, they had the numbers, but now… who was afraid of whom?
"You—" Lv Yi’s face paled with rage. She glared at Shi Xia and raised her sword, about to charge forward, but Ji Han grabbed her arm, shooting her a warning look.
"My junior sister is young and impulsive. Please forgive her." Ji Han smiled politely, cupping his hands in a salute as if he had completely forgotten their previous attempt to ambush them.
Ji Han was sharp—he could tell the current situation wasn’t in his favor.
Shi Xia had no intention of provoking a fight either and was about to walk past when Ji Han stopped them.
"Fellow Daoists, wait!" Ji Han said with a smile. "You know how perilous this immortal manor is—one misstep could mean disaster. More hands make lighter work. Since fate has brought us together, why not set aside our differences and search for treasures together?"
Before Shi Xia could respond, Long Aotian was the first to object. "Benefactor, don’t listen to them. That woman is too cunning—she nearly got us killed last time."
"Relax, do I look like someone with no principles?" Shi Xia patted his shoulder. She hadn’t forgotten the incident with the fire fox. Besides, with Scout standing right beside her, how could she possibly cooperate with his enemies?
"Fellow Daoist, grudges are better resolved than held. We were indeed at fault before, but since the three of you are unharmed, why dwell on the past?" Ji Han’s smile grew even more ingratiating. "Besides, this immortal manor holds countless treasures—even divided, there’s plenty to go around. Why risk unnecessary bloodshed when we can all leave safely? If you don’t trust me, how about this…"
He pulled out a yellow vial from his robe. "This is a pill we obtained earlier in the stone chamber—three Golden Core Stabilizing Pills. Consider them a token of our sincerity."
"Senior Brother!" Lv Yi’s face darkened, her eyes fixed on the vial with reluctance.
Ji Han ignored her and continued, "What do you say?"
Shi Xia tugged at Scout’s sleeve. "What’s a Golden Core Stabilizing Pill?"
"A fifth-grade pill used during core formation to aid in condensing the Golden Core," Scout explained, then added disdainfully, "Useless."
"Oh." So it was for core formation—no wonder Lv Yi was so upset.
Ji Han’s scheme was obvious. He had already formed his Golden Core, so these pills were useless to him. If they were Nascent Soul pills, he’d never have offered them.
Unfortunately for him, Long Aotian was a martial cultivator who didn’t rely on pills. And Shi Xia, having been sickly as a child, had developed an aversion to medicine—no matter how beneficial, she wasn’t interested.
"We don’t need pills," Shi Xia replied. "Not Golden Core Stabilizing Pills, not even Nascent Soul Stabilizing Pills."
"Xia Xia, it’s called Nascent Soul Formation Pills," Scout corrected.
"Eh, details!" The meaning was clear enough. "We never intended to fight you in the first place. No need to grovel—just don’t provoke us, and we won’t attack."
"Fellow Daoist, why must you be so stubborn?" Ji Han pressed on. "If the Golden Core Stabilizing Pills aren’t to your liking, how about this—when we find the next treasure, I’ll let you three take it first."
Shi Xia was puzzled. She had already made it clear she wouldn’t cause trouble for him. Why was he so insistent on teaming up?
Before she could figure it out, Long Aotian lost his patience.
"Easy for you to say," Long Aotian scoffed. "Your junior sister nearly got us killed in the forest. We saved her, and she repaid us with betrayal. How can we trust someone like that?"
"Fellow Daoist, I’m extending a sincere invitation. Why hold onto past grievances?" Ji Han persisted. "If you have any requests, just name them. As long as we can reconcile, I’ll do my best to accommodate. If you wish to settle the score with my junior sister, I won’t interfere!"
"Senior Brother!" Lv Yi looked at him in disbelief.
Ji Han shot her a cold, warning glance, and she bit her lip, swallowing her protests.
His words left Long Aotian at a loss for a retort. He snorted and turned away.
Shi Xia’s eyes narrowed. She pointed behind them and cut straight to the point. "You don’t actually want to team up—you just can’t open that door, can you?"
Her tone was certain, not questioning.
Ji Han stiffened, his polite facade cracking.
As expected—this wasn’t about cooperation. He just wanted to piggyback off their progress.
"Senior Brother, forget it. Let's just ignore them." Lv Yi's voice carried a hint of frustration and embarrassment as she shot them a glare. "Even ancient texts don’t have records of this formation. If you can’t open it, there’s no guarantee they can either. Anyway, this is the final barrier deep within the Twilight Mystic Immortal’s Abode. Whether we can enter or not depends on our own abilities."
Ji Han’s expression darkened, but he remained silent. Instead, he turned with Lv Yi and walked toward the massive gate towering over ten zhang behind them.
Only then did Shi Xia get a clear look at the door at the end of the passage. Unlike all the other gates they had encountered along the way, this one was… undeniably luxurious!
The door was intricately carved with ancient patterns—some resembling flowers, others beasts—though it was hard to distinguish exactly what they were. Each design was exquisitely lifelike. The bronze hue suggested great antiquity, and while the arrangement of the patterns seemed random, there was an underlying order to them. Most striking was the golden formation glowing at the center of the door, covered in countless shifting runes that looked impossibly complex.
Shi Xia knew nothing about formations, let alone how to break them. She couldn’t even recognize most of the basic runes on it! No wonder Lv Yi had said Ji Han couldn’t solve it—just the complexity of these runes screamed "high-level and unfathomable."
She stared at the formation for a long moment but still couldn’t make sense of it.
"How do we even crack this formation?" she muttered offhandedly.
"That’s not a formation," Scout suddenly spoke up beside her.
Shi Xia blinked. "Huh?"
"What? Not a formation?" Ji Han, standing several meters away, overheard and immediately turned, only to be blocked by Long Aotian, who had been keeping an eye on them. Forced to stay back, he raised his voice, "There’s clearly spiritual energy flowing through it, constantly shifting with no discernible pattern. How can it not be a formation? Unless…" His eyes lit up with realization. "You can see through its intricacies?"
The reason Ji Han had been so eager to collaborate was that the other party also had a Golden Core cultivator—one who had effortlessly dismantled the trap formation he’d set at the Gate of Life and Death. That alone proved their mastery surpassed his. It was why he’d swallowed his pride and apologized to a mere Qi Condensation disciple earlier.
Now, after just a few glances, Scout had made such a claim. Ji Han had studied the formation for ages without making any progress. Regardless of whether the statement was true, it gave him a glimmer of hope.
"If it’s not a formation, then what are those shifting runes? And why does it attack when touched?" he pressed excitedly. "Do you have a way to break it?"
Scout didn’t even spare him a glance, as if the questions weren’t worth acknowledging. His expression remained cold, clearly unwilling to waste energy on irrelevant people.
Instead, he pulled Shi Xia back just as she was about to poke the formation. "Don’t touch it."
"I’m really curious—what is this thing?" Shi Xia pointed at the formation.
"A remnant formation," Scout replied. "It’s an incomplete illusionary formation—nothing more than a facade."
"Illusionary?" What did that mean?
"It has no real power. At best, it’s a distraction. The true formation is hidden behind this one." He gestured at the swirling runes. "Those runes look complicated, but they’re meaningless—just floating around for show."
Floating around for show…
Shi Xia, who had just been marveling at how impressive those runes seemed, felt like she’d taken an arrow to the knee.
