For several days, Jiang Yuebai didn't see Li Jiuchuan and stayed in Lu Nanzhi's tent to understand the camp and surrounding conditions.
Jiang Yuebai didn't recognize most of the sects and their talented disciples that Lu Nanzhi mentioned. He just secretly memorized their names and characteristics so that he could recognize them when he met them in the future.
Several familiar faces from Guiyuan Sword Sect were also there. Zhuo Qingfeng and Hua Yingshi had already established their foundation, while the others were still at the ninth level of Qi training.
The next day, Yunchang and Ge Yuchan came back. Ge Yuchan was slightly injured and went to recuperate. Lu Nanzhi had a mission to replace the guard. Jiang Yuebai ran to Yunchang's tent again to inquire about the situation in the secret realm.
"Look, Xiaobai. This is the fire-eating longhorn beetle I found in the secret realm. There is also this little flame rat, and this one. Do you think this red snake is pretty?"
Yun Chang held a black snake with a red line on its back in her hand and suddenly raised it in front of Jiang Yuebai. The snake's tongue was breathing hot air, and Jiang Yuebai was startled and dodged backwards.
"Hold it away. I was bitten by a rat snake when I was a kid. I hate snakes!"
Yun Chang smiled shyly and tapped the snake's head lightly like a baby, feeling very happy.
"There are many creatures in the Blue Flame Land that I have never seen before. I wish I could capture a pair of each one."
"Catch them all and take them back. Huaxi Valley won't be able to keep them all."
Jiang Yuebai discovered that neither the fire-eating longhorn beetle, the little flame rat nor the red-lined snake had the scent of Yun Chang. However, these wild monsters were very friendly to Yun Chang but were very wary of her.
"Oh, Xiaobai, if you enter the Land of Blue Flame, you must stay away from fire-eating longhorn beetles. They are very aggressive and will fight to the death. They can bite magic weapons to pieces and spray fire poison. After being poisoned, the mind will be in chaos and you will not be able to control magic weapons or spells."
"There is also a red-line snake. Mine is a juvenile. The adult one is a red-line dragon. It spews red and pink miasma, which can turn human flesh and blood into skeletons in an instant. Look."
Yun Shang stretched out her hand and rolled up her sleeves. On her fair arm there was a red scar the size of a palm with missing flesh. Jiang Yuebai's heart twitched.
Xiaolu wanted to come out of the sea of consciousness, but Jiang Yuebai ignored her and grabbed Yunchang's arm, breathing heavily out of habit.
"Is it caused by the rouge miasma? Does it hurt?"
Yun Shang nodded. "It was very painful at the time. I thought I was going to die, but it's okay. By the way, Shen Huaixi treated my injury. His medical skills are really good. The pain is gone immediately. I should be back to normal in a few months."
Jiang Yuebai frowned, not knowing what to say. Yun Shang didn't know about Shen Huaixi's affairs yet, but if she said anything now, she would feel like a bad person spreading rumors behind the scenes.
"I have just established my foundation, and I can only move around the periphery of the Blue Flame Land and see these monsters and spirit insects. I heard that the depths are particularly vast, full of volcanic canyons, and there are many Yin ghosts and evil corpses that have turned into fire evil. It is difficult to be hurt by ordinary magic weapons. In the past few months, many foundation-building monks have died there..."
Jiang Yuebai listened silently to Yun Shang saying that the experience of the past few months had made her much more cheerful.
Before, I saw that she and Ge Yuchan got along quite well, and she wasn't as shy as before.
"Uncle Jiang, True Lord Jiuchuan wants to see you."
A voice came from outside. Jiang Yuebai squeezed Yun Shang's hand and said, "I'll go see Master first."
Following the disciple who delivered the message to the main camp, Jiang Yuebai lifted the door curtain and went in.
Li Jiuchuan had a look of fatigue on his face as he sat at a long table drinking tea. When he saw Jiang Yuebai, he smiled gently.
"Is the foundation building going smoothly?"
Jiang Yuebai scratched his head, "It's going pretty... smoothly."
Li Jiuchuan did not ask any more questions. Even though they were father and daughter, there should be some space between them. If she wanted to share, show off, or ask for praise, she would tell him.
"Let's not waste any more time. I have a mission for you."
Jiang Yuebai walked over and sat down, looking impatient.
"The Blue Flame Land was once one of the battlefields of the Heavenly Disaster. The ghosts left their bodies and cultivated the ghost path. If they were not killed by external forces, they would be immortal. No one knows whether there will be the remains of powerful ghosts in the depths of the secret realm."
"Based on the investigations over the past four months, the possibility is not high, but we have to be on guard. The Sanyuan Sect is ready to make a move, and the camp has too many people and eyes, making it difficult to manage. In order to prevent the formation plan from being leaked, the various sects decided not to wait overnight and sent forty foundation-building teams into the secret realm in two hours."
Jiang Yuebai opened his eyes wide, "What kind of big formation is this? It requires forty teams?"
"Isn't it true that Yuanying Zhenjun can't go in?" Jiang Yuebai asked.
Li Jiuchuan nodded, "No, so she will take pills to suppress her cultivation to the late stage of foundation building."
"I see. There are eight formation points and forty teams. Five teams per formation point?"
"Well, there are five teams, some real and some fake, and they are decided by drawing lots. Only after entering the secret realm can we know what their respective tasks are. The empty ones will clear out the monsters and search for mineral veins, while the real ones will go to the designated locations to place the array devices. At least two teams will go to each array point to ensure that everything goes well."
Jiang Yuebai understood that this was because they were afraid that someone would know the whole plan and leak it out.
"Yu Qiuchi, who is one of the top three Foundation Establishment warriors in our Tianyan Sect, Fang Yuxing and Tang Weimian will each lead a team. I know that you are good friends with Yun Shang and Ge Yuchan, so I will arrange you to Yu Qiuchi's team."
"Together with Zheng Chong, who is in the middle stage of foundation building, and Gu Liu, who is in the late stage of foundation building, there are six of us in the group. Although Zheng Chong and Gu Liu are outer sect foundation building disciples, they have been able to escape unscathed after entering the secret realm many times in the past few months, and they are also at the top of the battle merit list, so they are considered strong."
"I see."
Li Jiuchuan looked serious, "Yuebai, secretly, I don't want you to participate in this mission, but I agree with what you said last time, that without going through wind and rain, there is no towering tree. All I can say to you now is, be careful in everything."
"Don't worry, Master. All my belongings are with me. I am always the best at running away. If things become impossible, I will definitely run away first."
Li Jiuchuan laughed, "Don't worry, the reward for meritorious disciples this time will not be small. The secret realm is rich in resources. Some people have discovered ten thousand year old elixirs and ancient magic tools before. Even if you only find some magic tool fragments and thousand year old magic herbs, they are priceless. Okay, bring out your Five Elements Lotus Platform."
Jiang Yuebai did as he was told, and Li Jiuchuan also took out his Five Elements Pagoda.
Five-colored streams of light overflowed from the pagoda and poured into the lotus platform. The originally empty lotus platform was quickly filled with the five elements of essence.
Jiang Yuebai smiled and said, "Thank you, Master. With these five elements of energy, my chances of finding the spiritual fire will be even greater."
Being of the same origin, it is beneficial to use similar life-definition magic weapons.
Filling the lotus platform, Li Jiuchuan took back the pagoda and handed Jiang Yuebai a scroll and a storage bag.
"I know you are looking for the spiritual fire, so I have been paying attention to intelligence from all sides these days. The map of the secret realm in the scroll was drawn by me. It marks the distribution of monsters in various places, and the places where the spiritual fire may appear are marked."
"If you draw an empty lot, you can go and investigate. If it is a real lot, you should go after completing the mission. Then I can enter the secret realm and help you find it. There are some essential elixirs and talismans in the storage bag, as well as three Jade Pivot Thunder Beads that I refined myself."
"The Jade Pivot Thunder can restrain the ghosts and destroy the golden elixir, but its power is too great. Every time you use one, it will cause damage to the entire secret realm. Three is the limit. I hope you won't use this thunder."
"You have to remember, in the secret realm, what is scarier than monsters is humans!"
Jiang Yuebai nodded seriously. She knew that in the camp, she, the direct disciple, must not be offended, but in the secret realm, she was a fat sheep shining with golden light.
Two hours passed quickly and Li Jiuchuan sent Jiang Yuebai out of the tent.
The three teams of Tianyan Sect gathered separately. Fang Yuxing, a disciple of Guanghan Sword Master, checked the three swords on his body and waited for his teammates.
The haggard Master Fuyi took the bottle of pills from Qingnangzi, and her disciple Tang Weiman followed beside her.
Not far in front of him, Yu Qiuchi was dressed in red, carrying a treasure box on his back, looking heroic.
Ge Yuchan was wearing leather armor and black clothes, with flying braids and a set of flying knives on her waist, emitting a restrained cold light.
Yunchang was holding the bald monkey, with a ferret hanging on her shoulder as a fur collar, standing aside with no sense of presence.
There were also Zheng Chong and Gu Liu, whom Jiang Yuebai had never seen before, who nodded to her.
Yu Qiuchi looked solemn. He bowed to Li Jiuchuan and shouted, "Let's go!"
(End of this chapter)