Chapter 755: New Divine Power
Xu Sheng Taoist gritted his teeth and said, “The Fake Celestial Pearl is gone. Shen Bai has discovered our plan and might be on his way here right now.”
Monk Mingxin frowned. “Didn’t you say the Fake Celestial Pearl would automatically skirt the edge of Shen Bai’s Investigation range? How could it be gone so quickly?”
Xu Sheng Taoist shook his head. “I don’t know why, but this isn’t the time to talk about that. We need to figure out a way to hide from Shen Bai and then find the Magma Core in the safest way possible.”
Hearing this, Dean Hou took a Brocade Bag from his robes. “Everyone, take one of these. It can conceal your personal qi and also block heavenly divination. Then we’ll find some local clothes to change into. That should allow us to evade Shen Bai’s search.”
Inside the Brocade Bag were several Elixirs, all developed by Xinhua Academy itself.
Time was short, so the group wasted no more words and took the Elixirs as Dean Hou instructed.
As they swallowed the Elixirs, their auras began to recede. Even if you were to stand right in front of them, you wouldn’t be able to detect the scent of a demon.
“Quickly, find some clothes,” Xu Sheng Taoist said.
Without another word, the group dispersed into the streets.
Before long, the thousand-plus people had vanished without a trace.
…
Shen Bai pursued them all the way here. Just as the ancient city’s silhouette came into view, his Infinite Divination Skill suddenly failed again.
‘How clever. They know I’ve found them, so they’ve blocked the trail again.’
Shen Bai thought with a smile, ‘But that’s not a big problem. Now that I know your target is this ancient city, don’t even think about pulling any tricks.’
Two soldiers stood guard in front of the ancient city.
Judging by their attire, their style was completely different from that of the Great Zhou Country.
The two soldiers seemed accustomed to arrivals like Shen Bai’s, and he could even overhear their conversation.
“Another one here for the Artifact Refining Sect’s conference.”
“Well, the Artifact Refining Sect is the most powerful Sect in our city. After the Artifact Refining Conference, they sell the items they’ve forged right on the spot. Of course plenty of people are willing to come.”
“But before that, it seems you have to go into the Magma Domain to find some magma-infused qi. If you find it, you can have one item forged for free.”
“I wonder how many people will be able to find it, and how many will die in there.”
The two soldiers weren’t speaking loudly, but Shen Bai heard them with ease.
‘Artifact Refining Conference? Magma Domain?’
Shen Bai extracted key information from their conversation, and those two phrases in particular piqued his interest.
Especially when he recalled meeting Ke Xiaoran outside and hearing him mention the Artifact Refining Sect. Suddenly, everything started to click into place.
‘The Artifact Refining Sect must be the power within this ancient city. As for why there are things like living people in the Molten Rock Forbidden Land… perhaps they aren’t actually alive.’
A guess began to form in Shen Bai’s mind.
After all, the way that Ke Xiaoran had vanished was unlike a living person. As for what the people here truly were, Shen Bai felt he would have to investigate slowly to find out.
It was only when the two soldiers gave him a strange look that Shen Bai stopped lingering and strode toward the ancient city.
The exotic atmosphere inside the ancient city truly took Shen Bai by surprise.
But Shen Bai didn’t waste any time; he immediately began searching within the city.
Unfortunately, the enemy had countermeasures, and Shen Bai found nothing.
‘So, I’ll observe the situation first and wait for them to make a move,’ Shen Bai thought, stroking his chin.
He hadn’t found any clues, but he knew the enemy would have to make their move sooner or later, and it would most likely be in this ancient city.
Shen Bai decided to stay in the city to see what the Demonic Forces were planning. That way, he could discover their plot as quickly as possible.
With this in mind, Shen Bai prepared to push his Void-breaking Red Eye to its limits to avoid missing any details.
But just then, the sound of footsteps rang out.
Shen Bai turned his head and saw a group of people in uniform attire walking toward him.
They all wore anxious expressions. When they reached Shen Bai, they spoke before he even had a chance to.
“Brother Ke, what are you doing here? We’ve all been waiting for you! Come back with us, quickly. The Artifact Refining Conference starts tomorrow.”
The young man in the lead grabbed Shen Bai’s arm, his face full of urgency.
Shen Bai was taken aback for a moment. “Brother Ke?”
Suddenly hearing the words “Brother Ke,” Shen Bai thought of Ke Xiaoran, whom he had met outside.
He guessed they had mistaken him for Ke Xiaoran.
And sure enough, just as he had that thought, the young man spoke again.
“Brother Ke, let’s hurry back to the Artifact Refining Sect.”
“I’m not Ke Xiaoran,” Shen Bai said after a moment of thought.
After Shen Bai said this, the young man looked at him strangely.
“Brother Ke, did something go wrong with your Artifact Refining?”
“You clearly have the Identity Jade on you. How could you not be Brother Ke?”
‘Identity Jade?’
Shen Bai suddenly remembered something. He took a piece of Jade from his robes and asked, “Are you talking about this?”
Back outside, this piece of Jade had appeared after Ke Xiaoran vanished.
‘Could it be that just by having this Jade on me, I’ve become Ke Xiaoran?’
Seeing that Shen Bai wasn’t moving, the young man urged him again.
Shen Bai nodded. “Let’s go have a look.”
He might as well go with the flow.
Since they were calling him Ke Xiaoran, he decided to play along. He had to investigate the secrets of the Molten Rock Forbidden Land anyway, so this was a good chance to see what would happen next.
Before long, led by the young man, Shen Bai was walking toward a tall building.
…
When Shen Bai arrived at the tall building, he found it was already packed with a sea of people.
Most of the people in the crowd were dressed in the same uniform as the Artifact Refining Sect. Thinking about the Artifact Refining Conference he had just learned about, Shen Bai’s interest was piqued.