Supreme Taming Authority

Chapter 68: Night Mission

The feast continued late into the night. Laughter and celebration filled the Xian Clan compound as disciples and elders toasted their success.

Wine flowed freely, and stories grew more animated with each passing hour.

Xian Tiandi participated for appearances, accepting congratulations and engaging in brief conversations.

But his mind was elsewhere, focused on the task ahead.

He waited patiently, monitoring the energy in the courtyard. Gradually, people began showing signs of exhaustion.

The excitement of the day caught up with them. Conversations grew quieter. Some disciples excused themselves to rest.

Around midnight, Xian Tiandi stood and bowed respectfully to Elder Feng.

"I’m going to retire for the evening," he said. "The trials were exhausting. I need proper rest before orientation in three days."

"Of course, Young Master," Elder Feng replied, slightly unsteady from wine. "You’ve earned it. Rest well."

Xian Tiandi made his way to his quarters. Once inside, he waited another thirty minutes, listening to the compound gradually fall silent.

The feast wound down. People dispersed to their rooms. Guards took up their night positions.

When he was certain no one was paying attention, Xian Tiandi changed into dark traveling clothes.

He pulled a black cloak from his spatial ring, designed to blend with shadows. His movements were silent and efficient as he prepared.

He moved to the window and opened it carefully. The hinges had been oiled earlier, making no sound. Cool night air washed over his face.

Xian Tiandi channeled spiritual energy through his body, enhancing his physical abilities.

Then he stepped out the window and dropped silently to the ground below.

The compound was quiet. A few guards patrolled, but their routes were predictable.

Xian Tiandi moved between buildings, staying in shadows, timing his movements to avoid detection.

He reached the outer wall and scaled it with ease. His Force Condensation realm body made such physical feats trivial.

Within moments, he was over the wall and moving through the darkened streets of Crimson Lotus City.

Most of the city slept. Only a few establishments remained open this late.

Taverns serving late-night customers. Guard stations maintaining watch. Xian Tiandi avoided all of them, taking side streets and alleys.

He reached the western gate in fifteen minutes. The guards there were relaxed, not expecting trouble this late.

Xian Tiandi used a simple concealment technique, nothing flashy, just enough to make his presence less noticeable.

He walked past the guards as if he belonged there. They glanced in his direction but dismissed him as unimportant. Just another cultivator going about their business.

Once beyond the city walls, Xian Tiandi increased his pace. The path to the Crimson Ruins was familiar now.

He’d traveled it twice before. His feet found the route automatically even in darkness.

The moon provided enough light to see by. Stars glittered overhead in a clear sky.

The temperature had dropped, but Xian Tiandi’s cultivation made him immune to such minor discomfort.

He ran at a steady pace, not rushing but moving with purpose.

The landscape passed in a blur of hills and valleys. Occasional night creatures stirred at his passage, then settled back into stillness.

After forty minutes, the Crimson Ruins came into view. The ancient structures rose from the valley like broken teeth, silhouetted against the night sky.

The secret realm’s entrance was no longer visible. The barrier that had sealed it was gone completely, leaving only the normal ruins.

Xian Tiandi approached cautiously. His spiritual sense spread out, probing for danger or observers.

He detected nothing. The area was abandoned, just as he’d expected.

The Four Symbols Sect had thoroughly investigated the ruins after the incident with Liu Qian and the Four Spirits Sect.

They’d found what they were looking for, documented everything of obvious value, then moved on. No reason to maintain constant surveillance on old ruins.

But they’d missed something. Xian Tiandi had felt it during the rescue.

The resonance with his Chaos Spirit Root. A treasure hidden deeper than the sect’s investigation had reached.

He entered the ruins proper, moving between collapsed buildings and overgrown courtyards.

The place felt eerie at night. Shadows seemed deeper here. The silence more oppressive.

Xian Tiandi navigated to the central plaza where the battle had occurred.

Scorch marks still marred the stone where techniques had been unleashed.

Cracks spider-webbed across the ground from impacts.

He walked to the exact spot where he’d felt the resonance strongest. The pull from his Chaos Spirit Root had come from below. Underground.

Xian Tiandi knelt and placed his palm flat against the stone floor. He channeled spiritual energy downward, using it as a probe. The energy sank into the ground, searching.

There. Thirty meters down. A hollow space. And within it, something that resonated with his cultivation.

’An underground chamber,’ Xian Tiandi thought. ’Protected by formations that prevented the sect’s investigation from detecting it.’

He stood and examined the area more carefully. Ancient formation arrays were etched into the stones around him, so weathered they were nearly invisible. Most had degraded over the centuries, their power long faded.

But some remained active. Weak, barely functional, but present. They’d been strong enough to hide the chamber below from casual detection.

Xian Tiandi studied the formation patterns with experienced eyes. In his past life, he’d mastered formation arrays at high levels. Reading these degraded versions was child’s play.

He identified the key nodes and pressure points. Then he began pressing specific stones in a precise sequence, channeling small amounts of spiritual energy into each one.

*Click. Click. Click.*

Mechanisms activated. Stone ground against stone with the sound of ancient machinery coming to life after centuries of dormancy.

A section of the plaza floor began sinking. Not collapsing, but descending in a controlled manner. A hidden staircase was revealed, leading down into darkness.

Xian Tiandi smiled slightly. Ancient cultivators had been clever about hiding their treasures.

This entrance would have been impossible to find without either knowing the exact formation sequence or possessing sensing abilities that could penetrate the concealment arrays.