"I am Ling Hefan, the Hall Master of Lingxiao Hall," Ling Hefan lectured his newly recruited subordinates. "From now on, you are members of Lingxiao Hall. This honor will accompany you for life..."
One could say that the art of drawing a beautiful future, or "painting a cake," is universal across all worlds...
"I intend to recruit a batch of disciples in the Yunhua Empire. As local cultivators, you should be well-informed about the situation, right?"
After painting his cake, Ling Hefan asked.
"Replying to Hall Master, we are not actually from the Yunhua Empire," Ling Tianhua quickly replied respectfully. "However, we do have some news regarding a treasure..."
Ling Tianhua immediately recounted the matter of the ruins.
Furthermore, he informed Ling Hefan that the Yunhua Sect had already gathered all three keys!
"Then do you know the specific location of that ruin?!"
Ling Hefan's interest was immediately piqued.
While the growth of a sect undoubtedly depended on numerous disciples, treasures were also indispensable.
Although he already possessed Frostmourne, who would ever complain about having too many treasures?
Besides, ruins were not just about magical treasures.
Cultivation techniques and the like had a high probability of appearing!
A powerful cultivation technique held far greater significance for a sect than one or two magical treasures!
At that time, he could select a group of people from among those exploring the ruins and absorb them into Lingxiao Hall.
This ruin was something he absolutely had to visit!
"Replying to Hall Master, we know!"
Ling Tianhua and Feng Wushuang replied in unison.
Although they had now submitted to Ling Hefan, they harbored strong resentment.
They had nearly been killed by True Master Yunhua this time; revenge was certainly in order!
With the keys in hand, True Master Yunhua would undoubtedly go to the ruins.
Now that they had the Hall Master backing them, wouldn't revenge be a simple matter?!
"Since that is the case, lead the way!"
Thus, the group set off in the direction of the ruins.
Half a month later.
The Yunhua Sect's flying ship landed on a mountain range.
However, it seemed they were not the first to arrive, as many people were already present.
Previously, Ling Tianhua and Feng Wushuang had caused trouble at the Yunhua Sect, nearly demolishing the entire sect.
Such an event could not be kept secret.
Along with it, the news that the Yunhua Sect had obtained the final key also spread.
And these individuals from different factions had naturally arrived early.
As for their purpose, there was no need to elaborate.
In fact, this was quite normal.
Keys were ultimately just tools to open a door.
What truly involved benefits were the matters after the door was opened.
It was precisely for this reason that they had not gone to the Yunhua Sect to seize the keys earlier.
Some clues regarding the keys had even been provided by them to the Yunhua Sect.
While it was safer to have the keys in their own hands, engaging in disputes or even conflicts over such matters would only benefit others.
These cultivators were all cunning; they would certainly not engage in such unprofitable business.
Of course.
This referred to factions whose strength was not significantly different from the Yunhua Sect.
Those who were clearly outmatched were merely there to join the crowd.
To observe and gain experience by following the powerful figures.
However, it was not impossible that some harbored hopes of picking up leftovers.
For instance, a situation where a few powerful figures fought over a treasure, and they reaped the benefits.
But those who harbored such thoughts were mostly novice and inexperienced cultivators.
Any seasoned veteran knew that this was impossible.
If a truly valuable treasure were discovered, the powerful figures would not make a move immediately; instead, they would first eliminate these trailing "tails"...
In addition to them, there were also some unattached cultivators hoping to forge connections with sects they favored, striving to join them.
In any case, regardless of their objectives, they would not make a move for the time being.
True Master Yunhua exchanged greetings with some familiar faces.
Ye Fan, dressed in a Yunhua Sect Daoist robe, mingled with the disciples, appearing like a novice.
Of course...
He was indeed a novice...
...
True Master Yunhua led his team to a vacant spot and stopped.
"The gate to the ruin will only appear after a while," True Master Yunhua explained softly, pointing at the lake. "I will need to trouble you, Junior Ye, shortly."
"On the lake?" Ye Fan's eyebrows immediately shot up.
There was no inherent problem with the gate appearing on a lake.
The issue was that on one occasion in the past, when he encountered a ruin, the gate had also appeared on a lake.
He had been severely beaten that time and had nearly been castrated.
Therefore, upon hearing that the gate was on the lake, some unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind...
"Is there any problem with the lake?" True Master Yunhua became a little nervous.
"Oh, nothing," Ye Fan replied casually. "Just asking."
"By the way, compared to you seniors, how is the strength of these people?" Ye Fan glanced at the others in the distance and asked stealthily.
"If it's one-on-one, there's no problem," True Master Yunhua replied.
He had also discerned that Ye Fan might be worried about them being at a disadvantage.
However, the people who had arrived were all evenly matched with him.
Unless they were determined to fight to the death, there wouldn't be any decisive outcome.
In such a situation, unless they had water in their brains, no one would easily fight to the death.
The result of killing or being killed would only benefit others; only a fool would do that.
If they encountered any treasures or cultivation techniques in the ruins, they would usually resolve it peacefully.
For example, if someone desperately needed a particular magical treasure, they would offer equivalent compensation to others.
If multiple people coveted the same item, they would have an auction on the spot, and the proceeds would be divided afterward.
Only if both parties desperately needed the same item, to the point where they would fight if they couldn't obtain it, would a conflict erupt.
However, such situations were ultimately rare.
An hour later.
The windless lake surface suddenly began to churn violently.
The lake water, as if being pulled by some force, parted to the sides.
In just a few breaths, a path leading to the bottom was revealed.
The parted lake water, appearing in a semi-solid state, remained still on either side.
Facing the crowd, a staircase formed of lake water extended down to the lakebed.
Everyone present stood up and looked towards the Yunhua Sect.
"Junior, please," True Master Yunhua gestured.
Ye Fan nodded and followed True Master Yunhua down the stairs.
At the center of the lakebed stood a small, circular platform, about knee-high and with a square area.
The platform was entirely bluish-gray and, at first glance, indistinguishable from ordinary stone.
However, anything that could connect to the entrance of a ruin could not possibly be ordinary stone.
Ye Fan examined the circular platform with interest.
Upon closer inspection, he did find something unusual.
The stone had irregular cracks, which, at first glance, seemed like they were left by years of weathering.
Perhaps this stone had previously existed in an open area.
But the inconspicuous faint red light emanating from the cracks was highly suspicious!
Two possibilities.
First, this stone contained Grade Seven Crimson Flame Ore.
Due to the severance of their heritage, perhaps those present might not recognize Crimson Flame Ore.
But even if they were less intelligent, they would surely sense the spiritual energy fluctuations emitted by Crimson Flame Ore.
However, no one was paying extra attention to this stone now, clearly treating it as ordinary rock.
Therefore, only the second possibility remained.
It contained Abyss Demonic Iron!
Abyss Demonic Iron was not an overly rare material; it was practically ubiquitous on the first layer of the Abyss.
But that was assuming it was on the first layer of the Abyss!
This was the cultivation world, and this item was considered rare.
Adding a bit of Abyss Demonic Iron during artifact forging could greatly increase the weapon's sturdiness and sharpness.
Weapons forged this way would also possess a slight corrosive effect from the Abyss.
If a cultivator's strength was insufficient to withstand this corrosion, their Dantian would be gradually destroyed until it was completely ruined!
In short, it was a good item for deception!
The current Ye Fan was standardly impoverished.
Since he had encountered it, there was no reason to let it go.
However, this matter should not be done overtly; it had to be done stealthily.
"How should this gate be opened?" Ye Fan asked after withdrawing his thoughts.
He had initially assumed it would open simply by approaching it, but it seemed that was not the case.
"When I tried before, placing the key on the circular platform would cause a reaction," True Master Yunhua replied truthfully.
Ye Fan touched his forehead and stepped onto the circular platform.
The next moment, the mark on his brow lit up!
Several beams of light shot out from the circular platform and converged towards the mark on his brow!
Ye Fan's feet left the platform, and he slowly began to rise!