Chapter 1788 - 1789: Red Key
"Alright, let's keep moving forward," Lin Chen said to Feng Jiu and Li Feng.
The three continued on their journey. Days passed by in the Misty Forest, and they had been walking for about three days, yet they still hadn't encountered Shangguan Wan'er and her group.
Along the way, they faced several dangers.
Of course, these dangers did not come from beasts, as with the trio's strength, ordinary beasts couldn't harm them.
The real threats came from some mysterious things lurking in the mist.
Lin Chen walked at the front, and suddenly he stopped in his tracks.
"There's danger ahead, let's go around it," Lin Chen said in a deep voice.
The danger Lin Chen referred to was a mysterious formation. These formations were invisible and intangible but undeniably present.
Once you entered, it was a one in ten chance of surviving, as Lin Chen and his group had seen a few peak-level Immortal Emperor experts mistakenly enter the formation and be blasted to dust.
Fortunately, Lin Chen had Xiao Shuai, who could detect these formations immediately.
When it came to these formations, the three dared not be careless. These were ancient grand formations; entering a powerful one by mistake would surely lead to their downfall, regardless of their strength.
Just as Lin Chen and his group were preparing to leave, over a dozen martial artists from the celestial realm approached.
These individuals were not lacking in power, and the leader dressed in black had even reached the peak level of Immortal Emperor.
"There's a formation ahead, go around if you don't want to die," Lin Chen said indifferently.
"Tch, stop trying to scare us. Did you set a trap around here?" the man in black sneered.
Li Feng chuckled sarcastically, "Hey, you guys are pretty ungrateful. We're giving you a friendly warning, and you're treating it like it's nothing."
Lin Chen responded casually, "If they're determined to die, let them try their luck."
The man in black scoffed, "Kid, trying to fool me with such a trick is a pipe dream."
With that, he waved to his men, "Let's go."
As soon as he finished speaking, they proceeded forward.
They had only walked about twenty meters when suddenly the ground ahead split open dramatically.
Then, countless vines shot out rapidly, wrapping the group into the crevices.
In the blink of an eye, the ground sealed back up, and the dozen or so people were gone. The area ahead returned to its calm state.
Li Feng shook his head in exasperation, "It's hard to persuade a ghost who deserves to die."
Feng Jiu also sighed, "The Misty Forest is truly terrifying. I wonder how these formations and mysterious creatures are formed, it's too frightening."
Lin Chen said, "These formations are but a small taste of what's to come. More terrifying things are likely ahead. Don't forget, we're only at the fringe of the Misty Forest."
Upon hearing Lin Chen's words, both Li Feng and Feng Jiu displayed wary expressions.
Lin Chen looked grimmer.
After all, Shangguan Wan'er and her group had no guide; entering here spelled certain doom.
Lin Chen increasingly felt guilty, having promised to take care of them, yet now...
"Lin Chen, don't worry, Wan'er and her group will be alright," Li Feng, perceiving Lin Chen's thoughts, said.
"I hope so," Lin Chen sighed.
At the moment, he had no other solution but to pray that Shangguan Wan'er and her group would stay safe.
The trio carefully circumnavigated the formation and continued their cautious advance.
"Lin Chen, it seems there's a cave up ahead," Feng Jiu suddenly remarked.
Lin Chen looked to the side and indeed saw a cave.
The cave was hidden under a veil of green vines, making it very inconspicuous.
They had found quite a few caves like this before, but sadly, nothing valuable was ever discovered.
"Let's go in and try our luck," Lin Chen said after contemplating the cave.
The trio pushed aside the vines and entered the cave.
The entrance to the cave was small, but it widened once inside.
With a flip of his wrist, Lin Chen lit a flame in his hand, illuminating the once dark cave.
The cave was filled with a white mist, and after walking about a hundred meters, they reached a dead end with a large platform in the center.
In front of the platform was an abstract painting that they examined for some time, yet couldn't decipher its meaning.
"Xiao Shuai, do you see any clues?" Lin Chen silently communicated with Xiao Shuai.
After a moment of contemplation, Xiao Shuai replied, "This seems to be an ancient formation. It requires ancient blood, flowing along specific lines, to activate the formation."
"Ancient blood?" The three exchanged glances and couldn't help but smile faintly.
Both Lin Chen and Feng Jiu had ancient bloodlines, so this was practically made for them.
With a swift cut to the palm, Lin Chen let his essence blood drip onto the painting.
As the ancient essence blood merged into the painting, the entire piece started to come alive.
The lines in the painting became vivid, and began to move.
The trio watched the flowing image, feeling a bit tense inside.
They had no idea what lay beyond the seal. If it was a treasure, great, but if it were some ancient monster, they'd be in trouble.
"Li Feng, guard the entrance, I'll cover the rear. If anything goes wrong, we'll retreat immediately," Lin Chen instructed to prepare for unexpected events.
All three were ready for battle, eyes locked on the shifting wall.
The blood flowed slowly along the lines, soon covering the entire wall in fresh strokes.
Finally, the wall suddenly cracked open, revealing a stone door.
The trio stepped through the stone door into a small space, finding a box in the center and numerous words etched on the walls.
They avoided touching the box and instead examined the writing on the walls.
However, these texts were too complex, and the three couldn't comprehend them.
"Xiao Shuai, do you recognize this script?" Li Feng asked.
Xiao Shuai nodded, "These are ancient writings describing the game rules of the Heavenly Demon Realm."
"Game rules?" Li Feng furrowed his brow.
Xiao Shuai explained, "According to the inscriptions, there are four-colored keys hidden throughout the Heavenly Demon Realm—red, white, blue, and yellow. Each color corresponds to a key that opens a matching chest. These four keys represent the chest levels, with yellow being the highest and red the lowest."
"Oh, so that's how it is," Lin Chen nodded.
Lin Chen relayed Xiao Shuai's explanation of the game rules to Li Feng and Feng Jiu.
The trio approached the box, which appeared not to need a key. Li Feng nudged it open with his sword, revealing a red key inside.
Lin Chen chuckled, "Looks like we're in luck, opening up right away."
After pocketing the key, Lin Chen flipped his wrist and sent a powerful blast that shattered the wall.
Although few understood ancient text, the fewer that knew this secret, the better, since it was a game with wins and losses, and those keys were likely key to the outcomes.
Just as they were about to leave, Lin Chen stopped suddenly.
Beneath the stone platform where the key was kept was a red keyhole.
Li Feng inserted the key, hearing a click as the stone platform opened up.
A brilliantly golden treasure appeared before them.
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Apologies to everyone, I was on a business trip yesterday and forgot to bring my charger, so my laptop ran out of power and I couldn't update the novel. It's the first time since Old Yue started a book that there's been a gap in updates, I'm sorry to everyone.
Old Yue has started a new book, "Urban Charmer Medical God." Many people might think Old Yue isn't concentrating, but honestly, Little Divine Farmer isn't earning much now. Many authors from my day have ended series and started new ones. But Old Yue insists on completing a story, not wanting it to end badly, so the old book will still be updated until the story is complete. Due to livelihood necessities, I must start a new book, so I hope for your support of the new book. It talks about the earlier story with Li Feng, offering a different kind of excitement that I hope everyone will enjoy.
