[You have received the task [Explore the Secret Realm]]
[Task Description: The last time you received a mission to explore a secret realm was last time...]
[Main quest: Explore the secret realm and be rewarded according to your contribution]
[Side quest: Not triggered]
[Do you accept?]
[whether]
"There is no guaranteed experience, this is going to be a loss."
Lu Bei put down the secret letter and chose to take the task out of caution and to prevent any chance of it slipping through the net.
The next day, Lu Bei thought that Zhu Qilan would set out early in the morning, but he never expected that Zhu Qilan would not take long to take a shower and change clothes until the sun set, which took another hour.
Under the moonlight, the two of them shuttled through the clouds.
We are family, so there is no need to be polite. Lu Bei did not understand and asked, "Cousin, why are you walking at night? The secret letter has been sent for many days, and it was already there before us..."
Zhu Qilan interrupted: "You are now Bai Yu's appearance, call me 'Your Highness' or 'Grand Commander', so as not to attract people..."
"Yes, Your Highness. Got it, Commander-in-Chief."
Lu Bei interrupted and asked persistently: "Then cousin, why did you have to walk at night to send a secret letter..."
"I like the night."
Zhu Qilan interrupted again, not wanting to delve deeper into this topic, and accelerated his flight towards Ningzhou.
Lu Bei pouted and followed, thinking that the princess was not good at anything, especially her self-willed personality, unreasonableness, and lack of team spirit.
If he hadn't been cultivating immortality recently and developed a gentle, respectful, frugal, kind character, and smiled at everyone, I would have punched him long ago.
…
A bright moon shines coldly, and a few remaining stars are dim.
Looking from afar under the moon, the water ripples.
Four pieces of lake light are like petals, blooming in the dark night and reflecting the moonlight.
The Four Gods Lakes are also known as the Four Saint Lakes, the Four Beast Lakes, and the Four Spirit Lakes, and have a very immortal cultivation style.
Because the style is too popular, in the Wu Zhou territory alone, there are more than two hands full of lakes named after the Four Saints and Four Gods. Looking at the whole country, the number of lakes named after the Four Saints and Four Gods is easily over a hundred.
In other words, this place is not a famous mountain or lake.
Zhu Qilan brought Lu Bei down, his cold eyes swept across the deserted area, and he pointed his finger like a sword in the air three times.
The light curtain rippled and opened, and the curtain of the illusion array was pulled to both sides. Four Huangji Sect Xiantian Realm managers walked out and respectfully took the secret letter handed over by Zhu Qilan.
After comparing the names, the four people became more respectful. Without further questioning, they directly let Zhu Qilan in.
After the two figures disappeared into the darkness, the four managers whispered to each other.
"So this princess is the eldest princess of our Wu Zhou. She is really elegant and graceful, with extraordinary manners. Did you see that? She just smiled at me."
"Haha." x3
"Remember this, kid. In the Huangji Sect, princesses and such are not important. The one just now is the commander-in-chief of an army. This is the key point."
"Who is that beautiful lady following His Highness? She looks so cocky. She just pouted at me."
"…" x3
It turns out I'm not the only one being criticized! x3
Comfortable! x3
…
The two of them jumped over the illusion array. Lu Bei looked at the brand new Four Gods Lakes in front of him, and determined the holy spirit represented by each lake by using the directions of east, south, west and north.
Sensing that there were four entrances and exits to the secret realm, he and Zhu Qilan looked at each other, and then they reached out in tacit understanding and pointed out at the same time.
"White Tiger."
"Suzaku."
"…" x2
"Cousin, why are you a white tiger?"
Lu Bei complained: "I remember that the totem of our Wu Zhou royal family revered the phoenix and the phoenix. Judging from its appearance and shape, it should be the Vermillion Bird."
As the head of the Yuhua Sect, he possesses the second incarnation of Tianpeng. Among the four holy spirits, except for Suzaku, the others are not considered.
"According to you, if there is a pig among the four spirits, as a descendant of the Zhu family, I can't choose anything else except the pig?"
Zhu Qilan snorted coldly. The white tiger is the god of war and killing, and symbolizes power and the army. It has been what she has been seeking since she was a child. Apart from the white tiger, she would not consider anything else.
"Hmph!" x2
The two looked at each other, then turned and left.
Zhu Qilan headed straight for the White Tiger Gate in the illusion, while Lu Bei flew towards the Vermillion Bird Gate. After a moment, he carefully turned back.
Suzaku Gate…
It always feels weird.
"No matter how cunning you are, you still have to drink my foot washing water."
Lu Bei chuckled and followed Zhu Qilan to the White Tiger Gate. The secret realm had not yet been explored and no one knew how dangerous it was. Without sacrificing teammates by his side, it was not his style to act alone.
Bang!
The sound of branches breaking was heard. Lu Bei, who was standing in front of the White Tiger Gate, turned around stiffly and saw the expressionless Zhu Qilan behind the tree.
Zhu Qilan crushed the branches under his feet and slowly moved to Lu Bei's side: "You want me to explore the way ahead and eliminate the risks for you?"
"Cousin, it's unfair!"
Suffering such a great injustice, Lu Bei waved his hands and scattered a few snowflakes in the air, saying with deep sorrow: "You know me, I am stubborn and I care about my reputation. I am worried about your safety but I can't lose face, so I followed you secretly, just to protect you in secret."
"Oh, you'd be so kind?"
"To be honest, I like you. If you don't believe me, just look at my honest face."
Lu Bei grinned. Temperament affects appearance, and Housekeeper Yu's pretty face instantly became ugly.
Zhu Qilan's delicate body shook, and her face suddenly darkened. She raised her hand and grabbed Lu Bei's collar, her eyes flashing with murderous intent. She gritted her teeth and said word by word: "This is just the first time, and it won't happen again. If you dare to tease me again... I will kill you!"
After saying that, she angrily waved her hand and walked towards the White Tiger Gate step by step.
Really, one step at a time.
During the process, because the soil near the lake was too soft, he took a step into empty space, slipped and stumbled, and almost lost his balance.
Even more angry.
"???"
Lu Bei tilted his head, sighing that princess syndrome is troublesome. If it were another woman, such as She Yan, after a few days of getting along with her, she would not be moved at all by his sweet words.
…
Boom—
The waterfall roared and the sound of water could be heard far away.
The area around the waterfall is filled with water vapor, and the light is refracted. In the hazy air, the lush green is like a dream.
In the distance, green and tree-lined mountains stretch out endlessly. In the air, huge rocks of various shapes and sizes are suspended.
Everything is as fascinating as a fairyland.
Lu Bei followed Zhu Qilan into the secret realm and stood beside the waterfall. He felt that with every breath he took, a surge of spiritual energy flowed through his body. His skills were running at a high speed with such high efficiency that it far surpassed his 5 seconds of closed-door training every night.
You want to trick me into practicing again!
Lu Bei showed disdain on his face, and hummed, "Cousin, the spiritual energy in the air is too high, remember to hold your breath and concentrate. Otherwise, you will be poisoned by the spiritual energy, lose control of your magic power, and eventually die of possession. You and I will both die in each other's arms."
Waibiwaibi's nonsense became the last camel that broke the camel's back.
Zhu Qilan couldn't bear it any more. He felt countless flies flying around in front of him, each with Lu Bei's face. He felt restless and left an afterimage on the spot and jumped to a huge rock nearby.
The huge rock is suspended in mid-air, slightly above the waterfall.
She looked down from a high place, her mind spread out, and after a moment, a slight look of joy appeared on her face, and she accelerated towards the west.
The teammates took the initiative to lead the way, and Lu Bei followed closely behind.
Surrounded by lush pines, the blue water pool is calm and peaceful, reflecting the blue sky, like a crystal clear gem inlaid on the earth.
A huge white tiger statue stands in the Bibotan Lake, a hundred meters long from head to tail, lifelike as a tiger roaring in the forest. It is unknown what material it is made of, but it is white in color, surrounded by divine light, and faintly exudes an oppressive and domineering aura.
Entering from the White Tiger Gate, there is a statue of a white tiger. The other three gates seem to be similar. I don't know whether the four entrances are connected to each other or form an independent world.
Having had experience with the Snake God Secret Realm, Lu Bei was thoughtful and guessed that there had been the Four Holy Spirit Secret Realm here first, which influenced reality and gave birth to the Four Gods Lake.
"Someone is coming here, be careful and don't fall into the trap." Zhu Qilan reminded and slowly floated towards the white tiger statue.
Where there are people, there is the world.
The teacher also said: There are no factions within the party, and there are all kinds of strange things.
Power and interests give birth to politics. Where there is politics, there are bound to be factions, and infighting and fighting will follow. This has been the case throughout history, and the world of immortal cultivation is no exception.
Some people cultivate immortality to make money, some cultivate immortality to stay in power longer...
Zhu Qilan reminded that it was referring to the Huangji Sect.
In the general political situation of the Wu Zhou Dynasty, the imperial power and the Huangji Sect restrained each other. If we break it down further, the central imperial power and local authorities, as well as the great elders within the Huangji Sect, were scheming against each other.
The Huangji Sect is definitely not an ironclad entity. It wasn’t like that in the past, and it won’t be like that in the future.
Originally, these people were either losers in the struggle for imperial power or powers that emerged from the royal family. As time went on, they gradually developed their own ideas, and the ideas became more solid as they were passed down from generation to generation.
It sounds complicated, but it's actually very simple.
If you don't fight others, others will fight you. If you don't kill others, others will kill you. There is no such thing as fence-sitters or playing both sides. The only result of playing it safe is that the generation of Zhu Yan's ancestors gradually became mediocre.
Lu Bei was not interested in power struggles and felt overwhelmed when he heard about this. Even after Zhu Qilan reminded him, he just nodded and did not ask about the gossip.
As for Zhu Qilan, he put his fingers together to form a sword, and a ray of frost fell, piercing through the solidified formation trap, revealing the true appearance of the White Tiger statue.
Overall, it is almost the same as before, except that there is a pair of golden eyes missing.
Two golden diamonds the size of locomotives were pried away!
Zhu Qilan frowned as he looked at him. Lu Bei's expression suddenly changed and he clenched his fists.
"How can this be possible? This is clearly everyone's secret place, but these people are so greedy."
Lu Bei urged, "Cousin, I found an entrance below the deep pool. There must be treasures hidden in it. Let's go there quickly and protect the ruins before those people do."
Zhu Qilan: “…”
You talk about morality and justice, but your heart is full of thieves and whores. You are not a good person either.
She snorted coldly and waved her hand to create a diversion on the surface of the Bi Bo Lake, clearing a path ahead and heading straight for the entrance.
Following the gentlemanly principle of ladies first, Lu Bei did not steal Zhu Qilan's limelight, but continued to follow behind her, no more than three steps away, looking like a loyal younger brother.
The entrance to the underground palace showed signs of violent opening. Lu Bei shook his head and said, "Tsk, there's no technical content at all."
Zhu Qilan let out a light exclamation, leaned over to check, and his expression suddenly became strange.
"acquaintance?"
"Enemy."
"Why?"
"She treasured the man I didn't want."
“Hiss, hiss, hiss—”