BLAST!

The explosion occurred when the tip of the Heaven Sword blade struck the ground, killing eight cultivators and severely injuring the rest.

The red array disappeared, and Gu Qinghe still stared sharply at the two remaining cultivators.

Their internal organs were heavily damaged, meridians cracked, clothes torn and ragged, slash wounds covering their bodies. Yet they still tried to force themselves to stand.

"I... won’t—"

Just before one of them could finish speaking, Gu Qinghe’s golden sword shot forward and pierced both of their heads without mercy.

They died instantly, their bodies collapsing into pools of blood.

Gu Qinghe narrowed his eyes, still raising his hand to control his golden sword. His gaze remained locked forward.

"Come out!"

The female array master flinched in shock, her heart pounding as she flew through the inner courtyard gate.

She flew back into the inner courtyard field, her eyes widening as she saw all ten cultivators dead at a single point.

The woman thought that if she fought Gu Qinghe, she might end up just like them.

Her attention shifted forward as she arrived in front of Gu Qinghe, cupping her hands and lowering her head.

"You... follow me," Gu Qinghe requested.

"Yes, Senior."

The woman flew forward and stood right beside Gu Qinghe. She watched as he extended his hand, forming a white array rune in front of the main hall door.

"What do you see?"

She looked ahead and narrowed her eyes, observing complex array runes filled with ancient characters and confusing abstract patterns.

For ordinary people, even a single point could trigger the array’s defensive mechanism. However, there was no other choice.

Even an array master like her could trigger it because the rune still required a missing final core. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"From what I can see, every pattern and circle in the rune array can trigger the defensive mechanism."

"No matter how long it takes, the only way to break this array is to trigger its defensive mechanism."

"That’s because... this point is missing the array core."

Gu Qinghe’s eyes sharpened, then he nodded slightly. "Your general explanation is correct, but lacks detail."

"I’m impressed," he said again.

"This junior is honored by Senior’s praise."

She manifested the array core and inserted it into the rune. Upon merging, white light burst forth and filled the area, accompanied by a faint qi rumble.

Slowly, the white rune disappeared and the door began to open. Gu Qinghe asked the woman beside him to enter with him, and she smiled in agreement.

The door opened, and Gu Qinghe clearly saw the situation inside the main hall. Statues stood upright with imposing presence, but emitted no qi.

His attention was drawn forward, toward an artifact with the same grade as the Ninefold Pagoda, but in a different form.

For the female array master, this was her first time seeing the inside of a main hall.

On the first peak, she had not seen it because she was afraid of triggering the defensive array mechanism.

However, for Gu Qinghe, the sight of the golden qi-glowing artifact before him was clearly shocking.

Thousand Sage Beads? So this artifact was stored here all along?

In the past, Yun Tian once fought an elder who used that artifact. Even though he managed to defeat him, the power of the bead artifact was troublesome.

Clearly, the artifact originated from the Zen cultivation path.

"What is that artifact?" the woman asked.

"A beads," Gu Qinghe replied, extending his hand and taking it, allowing the artifact to rest in his grasp.

"It seems Senior knows a lot about it," the woman said in admiration.

"This is the Thousand Sage Beads Artifact, King-Grade with top-tier quality."

"It’s strange for this artifact to be in the Song Kingdom, since this kingdom follows the Taoist cultivation path."

The female array master gasped in shock at Gu Qinghe’s words. "So Senior means it’s an artifact from the Zen cultivation path?"

Gu Qinghe responded with a soft hum, then stored the golden beads and left the main hall.

The woman beside him still could not believe it and felt deeply impressed by his vast knowledge.

She even thought that if she followed Gu Qinghe in the Seven Peaks of The Northern Mountain expedition, her skills and cultivation might improve greatly.

Gu Qinghe stopped when he looked ahead. The female array master knelt in front of him, cupping her hands and lowering her head.

"Please allow me to join your expedition, Senior."

"I promise I will assist you and not become a burden, Senior."

Gu Qinghe remained silent for a moment, still looking at her.

"Did you come alone or with your sect members?" Gu Qinghe asked.

"My sect companions have already left and resigned. I am the only one left," she explained.

She has a deep understanding of arrays. She might help conserve my energy later.

After a long moment of thought, Gu Qinghe agreed and allowed her to join him.

However, he would still take the artifacts from each main hall, while she could take treasures from other halls.

The woman smiled brightly and nodded without any objection. "Of course. This junior has no objection at all."

"My name is Ling Jia."

"I am Gu Qinghe," he said simply.

The man stepped forward and summoned his flying sword. Ling Jia paused when she heard his name, finding it strangely familiar.

"Gu Qinghe? Wait! Senior is the trash from the Gu Clan?"

Ling Jia was shocked.

"No way. There’s no way Senior is Gu Qinghe. He’s known for being lazy and arrogant, with no talent for breaking complex arrays like earlier," Ling Jia said, refusing to believe it.

They arrived at the outer courtyard, standing on an altar platform with five cultivator statues. Gu Qinghe turned to look at Ling Jia.

"That’s up to you whether you believe it or not," he said.

His right hand formed a seal, summoning a golden qi orb and directing it one by one into the statues according to their elements, from earth to water.

A white array rune appeared beneath their feet, and in a split second, it transported both of them far from the second mountain peak to the altar platform in the third mountain range.

The other cultivators watched Gu Qinghe and Ling Jia leave. The statue formation shifted again, and they began trying once more.

For some reason, they felt Gu Qinghe activated the altar rune too easily, even though they had struggled from the beginning.

Their eyes opened, and the white pillar of light faded as Gu Qinghe stepped out together with Ling Jia. Ahead of them, Yan Ran, Liu Xi, and Lan Xia were already waiting.

When they saw Gu Qinghe arriving with a woman whose cultivation was at Mid Core Formation, they were visibly shocked.

"Greetings, I am Ling Jia. I am from the Yunxia Sect."

Yan Ran and the others warmly responded, cupping their hands and returning the greeting.

Gu Qinghe stepped forward, his gaze fixed upward. Unlike the second mountain peak, the third peak had black clouds at its summit.

If they wanted to reach the mountain peak palace, they had to break through those black clouds.

His eyes ignited with golden light as he observed what lay within the black clouds. He was shocked to see a guardian phoenix and the mountain peak palace.

A phoenix? Its power is equivalent to Mid Core Formation.

If they could defeat it, they would have a chance to reach the palace.

Yan Ran turned to Gu Qinghe’s serious expression. "What is it, Senior?"

"There’s a phoenix monster within the black clouds. Its strength is equal to Mid Core Formation."

"Prepare your best techniques. It seems if we want to reach that palace, we’ll have to defeat that phoenix monster."