novelraw Chapter 30 : . On the Verge of Exposure
Chapter 30 : . On the Verge of Exposure
When Xiao Han and Hai Bo Dong emerged, they sensed a subtle change in the atmosphere of the map shop. Xiao Han glanced at Gu Xun'er and Qing Lin, noting that the two seemed to be getting along well.
Was it just an illusion?
Xiao Han shook her head, dismissing it as her imagination.
Seeing the two come out, Gu Xun'er and Qing Lin stood up.
For some reason, Xiao Han felt that Gu Xun'er's gaze towards her was somewhat strange, but when she looked more closely, it seemed no different from usual.
Xiao Han felt perplexed, sensing something was amiss but unable to pinpoint what. After much consideration, she attributed this feeling to her imagination.
Hai Bo Dong beckoned to Qing Lin, saying, "Qing Lin, Her Excellency wants to take you on a journey this time."
Qing Lin blinked, somewhat confused: "Her Excellency wants to take me? What about Grandpa Hai Bo Dong?"
Hai Bo Dong explained: "Her Excellency is seeking something. After returning, you'll still be with me."
Qing Lin made a sound of understanding and nodded comprehendingly.
Xiao Han cast an indifferent glance at Qing Lin and Gu Xun'er, then looked at Hai Bo Dong before saying: "We'll rest in Desert City for the night and depart early tomorrow morning. Hai Bo Dong, I'll inform you of the third condition after we return."
Hai Bo Dong nodded solemnly, cupping his hands once more.
"Let's go find an inn."
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Early the next morning, the group of three set out on their journey.
In the vast desert, wind and sand raged.
Gu Xun'er exhaled slowly, the harshness of the desert environment exceeding her imagination.
Xiao Han moved like a specter beside her, appearing utterly at ease. She held Qing Lin's hand with one of hers, and the heat waves and wind-blown sand seemed unable to approach her.
Under the scorching sun, the yellow sand beneath their feet was almost like small, scalding iron pellets, causing involuntary twitches of the lips with each step.
The sand and stones were too hot to touch directly. If not for the abundant fire attribute energy contained in the yellow sand, which allowed her power to increase gradually, Gu Xun'er would have long since summoned the Golden Emperor Skyscorching Flame to block out the heat waves and wind-blown sand.
Glancing at the fresh-looking Qing Lin, Gu Xun'er inwardly sighed.
Perhaps due to the intense sunlight, in terms of fire attribute energy alone, this place was even more abundant than the small valley in the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Gu Xun'er could clearly feel that the fire attribute Dou Qi flowing within her body was noticeably more active and exuberant than usual.
"Teacher, where are we heading next?"
She wiped the sweat from her forehead and asked.
They had been in the desert for three days. During these three days, they traveled by day and cultivated by night, leading a very "fulfilling" life.
Cultivating in the Tageer Desert was like advancing a thousand miles in a day. In just three short days, she felt the barrier of four-star Dou Shi had weakened considerably, and the vortex within her body was becoming increasingly dense. She estimated that in less than two days, she could easily break through to four-star Dou Shi.
A four-star Dou Shi at seventeen...
Gu Xun'er exhaled slowly. She must have set a record for her family, right?
No wonder her teacher had brought her to the desert to cultivate. This was indeed the best training ground for fire attributes.
Xiao Han said: "Eastward. Let's take a break."
Given permission to rest, Gu Xun'er sighed in relief and sat down cross-legged. After these days of training, she had almost become accustomed to the high temperature of the yellow sand.
As soon as she sat down, Gu Xun'er took out a small porcelain bottle from her storage ring. After swallowing a red pill, she began to absorb the fire attribute energy from the air to cultivate.
This pill was refined by Xiao Han for her. Although only of third grade, it could increase the speed at which fire attribute Dou Shi absorbed natural energy, without any adverse effects. It was very suitable for Gu Xun'er, and she had been taking one every time she cultivated these days, especially since Xiao Han had indicated that there were plenty of pills available.
Watching Gu Xun'er cultivate, Qing Lin sat beside Xiao Han, her face full of envy.
Xiao Han glanced at her, finding it somewhat amusing.
The cultivation of a Jade Snake Three Patterned Eyes possessor was different from ordinary people. Although Xiao Han was knowledgeable and experienced, she truly didn't know how to cultivate the Jade Snake Three Patterned Eyes, as it was extremely rare.
If Qing Lin wanted to become stronger, she would have to go to that place called the Sky Snake Manor, just like in the original story.
However, Xiao Han didn't know the location of the Sky Snake Manor, and she couldn't make decisions for Qing Lin on her own.
Xiao Han rubbed her chin. Well, let's help this girl subdue that Dou Ling snake first, at least to give her some self-protection ability.
This was indeed Xiao Han's intention in bringing Qing Lin along this time. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone out of her way to meet Hai Bo Dong.
However, it must be said that this meeting did bring Xiao Han an unexpected delight.
Looking at the fragment of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame map in her system space, Xiao Han concealed a faint smile at the corner of her lips. Who would have thought that Hai Bo Dong would be so lucky as to obtain a part of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame map, and with his cartography skills, he had even perfected this part of the map.
Combined with the map fragment she found in that cave in the Magic Beast Mountain Range... Xiao Han could now determine the exact location of the Pure Lotus Demon Flame.
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It took the group nearly twenty days to reach their destination. During these twenty days, Gu Xun'er had also broken through to four-star Dou Shi, her strength advancing to a new level.
Their destination was not far from Stone Desert City, which was populated by many mercenaries. After replenishing some food and water in Stone Desert City, they finally arrived at their destination.
As they left Stone Desert City, Xiao Han couldn't help but look back. If she remembered correctly, the mercenary group formed by her eldest brother Xiao Ding and second brother Xiao Li was stationed in this Stone Desert City.
If there was an opportunity, she should visit them as Xiao Han, after all, these two brothers had treated her quite well when they were in the Xiao family.
Preoccupied with these thoughts, Xiao Han didn't notice Gu Xun'er's strange gaze towards her as she looked back.
Gu Xun'er's gaze was profound, as if confirming something.
"Senior Sister..."
Hearing the words "Senior Sister," Xiao Han reflexively turned her head. She paused for a moment, looking at Gu Xun'er with some confusion, not understanding why she suddenly called out "Senior Sister."
"It's nothing, Xun'er just suddenly thought of Senior Sister," Gu Xun'er said with a light laugh, shaking her head. "Teacher, where do you think Senior Sister is training now?"
Xiao Han replied calmly: "How would I know?"
"I thought Teacher might have some way to contact Senior Sister, especially since Teacher mentioned that you would have to leave soon, and then Senior Sister would accompany me," Gu Xun'er sighed and said, "Then how will Teacher tell Senior Sister our location?"
Xiao Han: "......"
???
How was she supposed to answer this?? If she said she had a way to contact "Senior Sister," how would she explain her previous statement of not knowing? But if she said she didn't know how to contact her, then how would she tell "Senior Sister" their location so she could come and join them?
Why was this female lead's mind full of verbal traps?? Was she just waiting for her to fall into one?
And why did she suddenly ask about this??
Xiao Han suddenly felt a headache coming on.
The system looked at Gu Xun'er's seemingly innocent but devilish smile with a long-suffering expression.
Why did it always have a bad feeling about this?
Surely not, right? Its host's acting skills were so excellent, practically schizophrenic, how could she possibly be exposed?
The system silently hypnotized itself, finally convincing itself.
Yes, its host couldn't possibly be exposed! Absolutely impossible!
Seeing that Xiao Han didn't answer, Gu Xun'er just smiled and didn't pursue the question further, as if the previous question was just casual and not something she had taken to heart.
This made Xiao Han inwardly sigh in relief.
"Alright, let's go."
Casually changing the subject, Xiao Han took the lead, striding forward.
Watching Xiao Han's back, Gu Xun'er revealed an intriguing smile.
"Sister Xun'er?" Qing Lin tilted her head in confusion.
Gu Xun'er raised her hand to rub Qing Lin's head, saying softly: "It's nothing, sister is just thinking about a question."
"What question?"
Looking at Xiao Han's back once more, Gu Xun'er curved her lips: "Thinking about how to tactfully expose a liar."
Qing Lin was slightly stunned, her face showing even more confusion.
However, Gu Xun'er had no intention of explaining further to her. She just smiled and led Qing Lin to follow Xiao Han.
Their destination was a flat desert area. The terrain here was extremely ordinary, with no features that could attract attention. Such flat sandy areas were countless in the vast desert, and Gu Xun'er found it hard to imagine that this unremarkable place could have traces of Heterogeneous Flame.
Xiao Han casually stepped on the yellow sand beneath her feet, then slowly closed her eyes. The powerful divine sense curled up in her brain suddenly expanded.
As a cultivator at the Formless realm, Xiao Han's divine sense was strong enough to easily penetrate more than a hundred kilometers underground.
Soon, she found what she was looking for.
Opening her eyes, a sharp light flashed in them.
"This way."
After leading the two in a slightly northward direction for a few minutes, Gu Xun'er's sharp eyes noticed a slightly sunken area of sand.
This depression wasn't formed by human trampling, an inward force from the outside, but more like an outward suction from the inside.
Xiao Han walked over, a silver light flashed under her feet, and with a muffled "boom," the sand beneath her feet suddenly collapsed, revealing a black hole with a radius of about half a meter.
"Thud." A few pieces of sand and stone rolled down, making a few light sounds.
"Is this the place?" Gu Xun'er curiously poked her head forward.
Qing Lin, who had been acting like a small transparent being, suddenly spoke up: "I sense a very faint power fluctuation... this fluctuation is strange."
Hearing this, Gu Xun'er turned her somewhat surprised gaze to Qing Lin.
She hadn't sensed any special power fluctuations. It seemed this girl was indeed extraordinary.
"Xun'er, take Qing Lin with you, we're going down."
After saying this, Xiao Han stepped forward and jumped down first.
Gu Xun'er sighed slightly and jumped down with Qing Lin.
The tunnel wasn't long, but it was winding.
As her body slid down, Gu Xun'er's gaze swept over the walls on both sides. After a while, she was astonished to find that this passage was extremely smooth, with basically no stones protruding from the walls. The passage looked as if it had been forcibly created by some enormously powerful energy beam.
After the descent continued for nearly two to three minutes, Gu Xun'er could already see the bottom of the passage. Her knees bent slightly, and a moment later, with a faint thud, her body landed in a bow shape, the bend and stretch of her body completely dissipating the rebounding force of the fall.
After landing, Gu Xun'er released Qing Lin and walked a few steps forward, her gaze sweeping over the path ahead. She found that there were more than a dozen pitch-black passages here.
"This way."
Without even glancing at the other passages, Xiao Han walked directly towards one of them.