"Qingyin? Gu Qingyin from Tianzun?" Lin Xia asked.

Gu Qinghe did not explain further. He turned around and walked forward, leaving Lin Xia behind.

"Yes, that is if your illusion technique can make her waver," Gu Qinghe said.

"Don’t underestimate me!"

"I have a supreme illusion technique that is enough to make a Perfect Core Formation cultivator like Qingyin fall to her knees before me!" Lin Xia declared, unwilling to be looked down on.

The man heard her clearly. A faint smile appeared on his face. He stopped walking and turned back.

"You’ll have to prove it later," Gu Qinghe replied.

Lin Xia smiled obediently and nodded. She was confident her illusion could shatter Qingyin’s proud and strong heart. Only then would she have a chance to meet her younger sister again.

"I promise I won’t disappoint you, Young Master Gu."

Lin Xia stepped forward and officially joined Gu Qinghe’s group. Now, there were three women behind him: Lin Xia from the Taiyin Sect, Yan Ran and Liu Xi from the Qingshui Sect.

As for Gu Qinghe, he was not tied to any sect. Ever since leaving the Yin-Yang Sect, he no longer belonged to anyone, not even a clan.

They arrived at the gate of the Snow Palace, and a surprising sight unfolded. There were more than twenty cultivators there, and all of them were doing the same thing.

Searching for the teleportation array core. Some searched carefully, while others fired activation runes at random.

"So they’ve been doing this all along and not a single teleportation array has appeared?" Lin Xia asked.

"Could the array core be hidden?" Yan Ran asked.

Gu Qinghe stared straight ahead. There was an altar platform with five statues of cultivators as tall as adult men.

All five statues were arranged around the altar, their bodies facing toward it.

They were clearly cultivator statues, but there were distinct differences. Gu Qinghe could see them clearly. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Yan Ran turned and noticed the serious look on his face. "What is it, Senior?"

"The array core... it can’t be far from the center of the array."

"If that altar is the center, then the core must be somewhere around it," Gu Qinghe said.

"What are we waiting for? Let’s try activating it randomly," Lin Xia urged.

Gu Qinghe remained silent and let the three women head over. He walked onto the altar platform, one hand raised to his chin.

Each statue had different features. One depicted a cultivator with trailing roots, another had a sun ornament behind its back, another sat atop a turtle, another held a sword, and the last had a water dragon behind it.

Gu Qinghe paused for a moment, then thought of a method that might work to activate the teleportation array.

This is like a puzzle that needs to be solved.

He summoned his sword again and rose into the air above the altar. Yan Ran and the others turned to look at him.

The three women were certain he had already solved the puzzle.

Gu Qinghe formed a one-handed seal and created a golden qi orb for activation. He extended his hand and shot the orb toward the first statue, the one with the roots.

White light shone from the statue, drawing the attention of all the cultivators nearby.

Next, he sent another golden orb toward the statue with the sun ornament. It responded with a bright white glow.

He continued, launching orbs toward the remaining statues in sequence: the one seated on the turtle shell, the one holding a sword, and the one with the water dragon.

Each activated in turn, emitting bright white light. The moment all five statues were activated, white qi shot into the sky and converged at a single point. The teleportation array core appeared.

"That’s the teleportation array core!"

"Let’s activate it!"

Too late. Gu Qinghe’s movements were far faster than theirs. His golden qi instantly activated the array, causing runes to appear above the altar.

Within seconds, Yan Ran, Liu Xi, and Lin Xia were teleported away to the altar valley in the third mountain range.

As soon as the altar finished its function and the white runes faded, the arrangement of the statues changed and their light dimmed.

"You! You have to help us activate this array," one of the cultivators said.

"Handle your own problems. If you can’t activate it, then your brain isn’t smart enough for cultivation."

"What?!" the man shouted.

Gu Qinghe’s eyes glowed with golden light as he stared at them sharply. Among all the cultivators in the Snow Palace, most were at Peak Foundation Establishment to Early Core Formation.

His cultivation pressure crashed down on them, forcing some to their knees while others lowered their heads.

"A Peak Core Formation cultivator?"

None of them dared to attack him. They knew they were no match for him.

"Sorry for our offense, Senior."

Gu Qinghe waved his hand, withdrawing the pressure and freeing them.

He had no interest in leaving through teleportation so soon. He knew there were treasures hidden within the Snow Palace.

He flew deeper into the palace, away from the outer courtyard where the altar stood. He landed in the central courtyard, a space even larger than the outer one.

His attention fixed ahead. There were seven rooms: four small ones, two medium ones, and a grand hall.

Four small rooms and one medium room had already been opened, and their treasures had been taken.

Only two remained: one medium room and the main hall.

Gu Qinghe opened his cultivation sight again, looking ahead and observing the array runes on the doors of all seven rooms, each with different levels of difficulty.

"I knew you would come here," a woman’s voice said from the outer courtyard.

He turned slightly, narrowing his eyes at her. "What is it?"

"You didn’t leave with your friends because you’re after the treasures here. Am I right?" she asked.

Looking at her, Gu Qinghe realized she was at Early Core Formation. Yet something about her felt different, though he had not figured out what.

"Do you want my help? I’m an array master."

Is that so? I should see what she can do first.

Gu Qinghe stayed silent for a moment, then nodded coldly.

The woman stepped forward gracefully, flew ahead, and stopped before the still-sealed medium room.

With a series of hand seals, she summoned her own array runes and overlaid them onto the seal on the door.

Gu Qinghe was impressed.

Overlapping and modifying an array seal. That’s unique and somewhat risky. Fortunately, the array here doesn’t have any offensive or defensive mechanism.

He glanced toward the main hall. His gaze lingered on the array seal on its wooden doors.

If she tried that method on the main hall, it clearly wouldn’t work.

After about ten minutes, the seal on the medium room disappeared and the door opened. The woman turned back with a smile, though she looked slightly tired.

Gu Qinghe stepped inside and nodded in response. Inside were technique scrolls, formations, pill bottles, and bags of low-grade spirit stones.

None of them were useful to him. His comprehension ability made techniques and formations easy to learn without scrolls, and he still carried Yun Tian’s memories.

"You can take everything," Gu Qinghe said.

"Really? Thank you, Senior."

Delighted, she stepped in and took all the items. After she finished and came out, her gaze fixed forward.

Gu Qinghe stood before the array seal on the main hall door, not touching it, just observing.

"Be careful, Senior. The main hall’s seal has a defensive mechanism."

He did not respond. He simply extended his hand, "If I don’t do this, I won’t be able to obtain the artifact inside."