Confucian and Taoist scholar

Chapter 562 Beneath the Forbidden Land
Lu Zheng smiled and said, "It seems that Miss Bai is also a person who enjoys reading."

"It's alright." Bai Chan smiled and said, "The elders all say that capable people are literate, and reading can broaden one's horizons and experience."

Lu Zheng nodded in agreement, saying, "That's true. Have you ever been beyond these mountains, young lady?"

Bai Chan shook her head and said, "No. My parents said I'm still young and not very capable. They'll only allow me to go out when I've developed real skills."

Bai Chan paused for a moment, then asked curiously, "Are you from the Shu Kingdom?"

Lu Zheng glanced at Yun Xiao beside him and said, "This Taoist priest is from the Shu Kingdom, while we are from the An Kingdom."

"Anguo?" Bai Chan looked surprised. "I've heard of it. Isn't Anguo very, very far away from here?"

Lu Zheng smiled and said, "It's not too far. We came here for a study tour, and we've learned a lot along the way..."

Lu Zheng slowly recounted some of his observations and experiences during his travels.

Bai Chan was amazed, feeling that the outside world was even more vast than she had imagined.

Lu Zheng was naturally good at communicating with people, and his words carried a sense of friendliness.

During their casual conversation, Bai Chan unknowingly revealed some things about the local area.

For example, what legends or unusual sights are associated with this wild and untamed place, and what barbarian tribes are nearby?

While talking to Lu Zheng, Bai Chan was also carefully observing the surrounding movements.

She realized that Lu Zheng and his group were probably very strong, and their invisible aura influenced the surroundings, preventing any danger from occurring in this forbidden land.

Some poisonous insects and venomous creatures would quickly retreat upon seeing them, avoiding them at all costs.

Qingwan and Qingyi would occasionally catch insects or pull up some plants to examine them, as if they were taking a walk or playing in the wild.

After walking for a while in the mountains and passing through several areas where poisonous insects gathered, Lu Zheng and his group still couldn't find the insects they were looking for.

By this time, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

The mountain mist gradually dissipated, and the tiny flying insects in the white mist also fell silent.

The surrounding view was much clearer and wider, but poisonous miasma still lingered.

"There's a cave over there..."

Qingyi, who was walking in front, suddenly tilted her head and looked in one direction.

Everyone turned their heads and saw only a mountain wall overgrown with weeds.

Qingyi stepped forward, startling the insects in the surrounding grass into scattering.

Upon reaching the stone wall, Qingyi waved her hand and unleashed a wave of heat, instantly melting the originally hard stone wall.

In a short while, a cave ten feet high appeared before everyone's eyes.

The cave was deep and dark, and a stream of grayish-black air flowed out of it, emitting a pungent, rotten smell.

Upon closer inspection, they saw that there were steps inside the cave, and some patterns and markings were carved on the cave walls.

"This is?"

Bai Chan's eyes showed curiosity.

Qingyi entered the cave first, followed closely by the others.

As I walked down the steps, I hadn't gone very far when I heard a rustling sound coming from below.

A glimmer of starlight appeared at Lu Zheng's fingertip, illuminating the entire passageway.

Then, everyone saw countless black beetles crawling up from below, almost completely blocking the passage below.

Upon seeing the black beetles, Bai Chan's expression changed. She knew they were a kind of terrifying poisonous insect, extremely sensitive to anger.

Normally these insects are in a dormant state, but if any living creature enters their territory, they will immediately awaken and devour the intruder completely.

Before Bai Chan could even offer any reminders, she felt a burst of fiery red light.

Bai Chan subconsciously squinted, and when she looked down, she saw a pile of ashes.

Qingyi turned around and said casually, "It's all burned."

These seemingly dangerous insects couldn't withstand Qingyi's hot breath at all.

After saying that, Qingyi continued walking ahead.

Yun Xiao stroked his chin, observing the patterns and markings around him, and said leisurely, "This place looks quite old. Someone must have built a place for worship and sacrifice here. Looking at these characters, it's some kind of ancient barbarian script..."

Yun Xiao pointed to some complex characters on the cave wall.

Qingwan, who was standing nearby, asked, "Daoist Master, you recognize these characters?"

When she looked at the words, she felt they were just some pictures, and she couldn't understand their meaning at first.

Yun Xiao chuckled and said, "You young people still have much to learn. The older the script, the easier it is to understand its meaning..."

As Yun Xiao walked, he explained the meaning of these characters.

It is said that humans lived and thrived on this wild land, and then discovered this dangerous and strange mountain range. They built a sacrificial site here to seek the protection of heaven and earth, and incidentally, to attract the insects in this mountain range for their use.

Upon hearing Yun Xiao's description, Bai Chan couldn't help but say, "Hmm, I seem to have heard a similar legend. It's passed down orally from elders, saying that this place used to belong to a powerful witchcraft clan, and the insects here were actually raised by them... However, that clan ceased to exist a long time ago, but some of their bloodline remained, and the various tribes in this area are all descendants of that clan..."

Yun Xiao stroked his beard and said, "It's not impossible. We humans are all descended from ancient great clans, and everyone has a powerful ancestor." As they walked, they descended to a platform, and as they continued forward, the space became even more spacious.

A huge cave in the mountains, with many ancient stone pillars carved into it, and a sacrificial platform in the center.

The high platform was covered in dust and had an intricate array carved on it.

Yun Xiao walked to the sacrificial altar and examined it for a while, looking thoughtful.

The others didn't disturb Yun Xiao, but instead observed the place that resembled an underground palace.

Every now and then, some poisonous insects would emerge and try to attack them, but Qingyi easily subdued them.

Looking at this little girl whose strength was unfathomable, Bai Chan was unable to calm down.

Qingyi noticed Bai Chan's gaze and couldn't help but say, "You want these insects? Then I'll catch some alive for you later?"

Qingyi thought Baichan cared about those insects and wanted to use them to raise Gu poison.

"Ah, no..."

Bai Chan quickly shook her head and looked away at the stone pillar in front of her.

The Bai clan had thrived here for hundreds of years, yet they had never found this place.

The main reason is that this mountain range is too dangerous, and the capable elders in the clan would not casually set foot here to explore.

However, some young people in the tribe risk their lives to come here in search of their own natal Gu worm or other treasures for the sake of their future.

Qingwan looked around and couldn't help but say, "There's nothing here. I thought there would be some lost treasures..."

Yun Xiao chuckled and said, "There shouldn't be any inherited treasures here, but I can summon some insects for you."

Yun Xiao paused for a moment, then said, "There are still some formations here that can be used, but they need to be repaired. Once they are repaired, we can make some arrangements to attract the powerful insects in this area."

Yun Xiao roughly understood the function of the array diagram on the sacrificial altar.

"Really?" Qingwan couldn't help but feel curious.

Yun Xiao said, "Whether it's true or not, we'll only know after we try it."

Yun Xiao couldn't guarantee anything, since this sacrificial site had been around for a long time and hadn't been maintained for long. If some parts were too badly damaged, he wouldn't be able to repair them.

However, Yun Xiao wanted to study this ancient formation, so he decided to repair and experiment with it.

He took out some array materials and repaired the array diagram there. He also asked Lu Zheng and the others to clean up the area around the sacrificial altar.

After a flurry of activity, Yun Xiao finally finished making the arrangements and called out to the people below the stage, "Alright, you can come up now. I'm going to activate the formation."

This was the first time Yun Xiao had ever used such a large formation, and he was still unsure of its specific effects. Just to be on the safe side, he decided to have everyone gather together.

Upon hearing this, Lu Zheng and the others ascended the altar and stood at the edge.
Yun Xiao took out a jade bottle, from which a thin line of blood flew out.

Having previously obtained two strands of dragon blood, one strand was traded to Bai Chan, and the remaining strand can now be put to good use.

The drop of blood quickly disappeared into the altar, and soon the array pattern began to glow.

The altar beneath my feet shook, and the stone pillars surrounding it began to glow.

The ground beneath the altar slowly sank, stopping only after sinking thirty feet.

A few breaths later, a pale red mist rose from the ground, enveloping the newly formed pit.

"Dragon blood?"

Yun Xiao narrowed his eyes, confirming that the mist was dragon blood mist.

He turned to Qingyi beside him, "Can you see what's underground?"

Upon hearing this, Qingyi used her divine sense to investigate the area below, and quickly shook her head, saying, "It's nothing. Should I go down and take a look?"

Yun Xiao waved his hand and said, "Then let's forget it. Let's check it out first in case we damage anything."

The person who could build an altar in such a place is no ordinary person. There might be some dangerous arrangements hidden deep underground, so it's best not to damage this place.

Yun Xiao only repaired the array on the altar, activating it according to its operating method, without doing anything reckless.

If there really is some great secret hidden beneath these mountains, we can always come back another time when we are better prepared.

The group stood on the high altar, watching the slowly flowing mist below.

Within the Burial Dragon Mountains, some insect-beasts containing dragon blood suddenly became restless, leaving their territories and heading towards the location of the altar, as if something there was attracting and drawing them in.

Lu Zheng and the others waited on the altar for a while, and vaguely heard some noisy commotion.

Soon, a giant centipede, ten feet long, came into view.

The centipede's thin legs moved swiftly, and it plunged into the deep pit in an instant, swallowing the surrounding blood mist.

Just a few breaths later, another large beetle flew into the pit.

The two insect kings, having ingested the blood mist, instantly became ferocious and pounced on each other, tearing into one another.

In this short period of time, some more insect-beasts containing dragon blood entered the pit and joined the battle, wanting to dominate the blood mist that existed there.

(End of this chapter)