"No," Jie said, "this is all just... very new to me. And I'll risk my life if that's what it takes to get stronger... it's your lives I'm worried about. If something happens... what if I can't protect you?"
"You do your best," Pan Tian said with a hand on Jie's shoulder, "life is a risk and we all know that. This is the best Crimson Valley Treasure Hunt I've ever been on. I understand you're new to this and yes it's a bit... tougher this year. But, then we've got you, so it's worked out to be way easier than usual.
"You worry too much, Jie. I realize you've had a sheltered life, but this isn't even that dangerous. The Crimson Valley takes it extremely easy on us. The real wilds are far more dangerous. You'll see. We'll go together someday. Can't have you staying at the school all the time like some shut-in."
Jie nodded. Everything Pan Tian said was true... she knew that. And Ming had said the same thing about life or death experiences. But, she didn't want to lose her friends... was that so wrong? It didn't help that she wasn't very good at using her spirit sense. What if she didn't detect something and it killed them?
Jie sighed. "Alright," she said.
***
Jie led the way with Pan Tian watching their step, making sure they didn't trigger some kind of trap. Though according to her, she'd never heard of the lake having traps. But, since they were going off the main path it made sense to be careful anyway.
They moved much slower than they had been and Pan Tian made marks on a new map but let Jie make the choices. Not that Jie had a clue which direction to go in. She was just aiming for the same general direction they'd been going in before. But occasionally the paths curved away in the opposite direction.
Sometimes they stuck with it long enough for it to curve back the other way or lead them to an offshoot that did, other times they turned back and tried a different path.
The entire time, Jie's nerves were on edge, and she focused intently on her spirit sense. Every so often, she sensed presences moving beneath the surface of the lake. Most of the time they were below Jie's rank. But, a few had been about as strong as she was. Those ones tended to linger and follow them for a while before vanishing once more.
Or veiling themselves. Jie thought.
The idea that they could have a pack of ninth star Expert ranked blood elementals following underneath them didn't help Jie's nerves.
***
The cavern was huge and they seemed to walk for hours without getting anywhere. Jie felt guilty, like it was somehow her fault that she couldn't find a quick route through to where they needed to be. But if the others minded they didn't mention it. The silence was broken only by the sounds of their footsteps and Pan Tian occasionally scratching marks on her map.
It didn't help that the ceiling had extended even further above them than before so that the light the glowing worms gave off was of no use. They were little more than twinkling stars in the darkness of the ceiling high above them now.
Ithilix stopped their group twice, her antennae quivering as she told them she sensed something.
The first time, Ithilix led them down a different pathway that curved alongside a wall of rock. Which made it all the more surprising when Ithilix directed them to walk straight through the wall. Doing so revealed the solid-seeming rock to in fact be an illusion of some kind that hid the way into a small cave system filled with blood red chests which each contained cultivation and body conditioning resources. And, of course, more illusory walls which Ithilix directed them to walk through, allowing them to venture deeper into the cave system and acquire even more resources.
Jie found herself increasingly envious of Ithilix's senses and the way the hive girl tracked down treasure like a bloodhound on the trail. To Jie's senses, the illusions were as real as anything else, and she was certain she'd never have found the secret caves on her own.
Cleaning out the cave system gained them another thirty-two bloodfruit ranging from the seventh to the ninth star of the Expert rank. Two Iron orbs, two doses of dune cat bone powder, two doses of mindworm jelly, twenty-four twin moon pills, three spirit coins, twenty-seven healing pills of various strengths, twelve refinement shards, and forty-eight beast cores that ranged in strength from the sixth star Disciple rank to the fourth star of the Expert rank.
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Once they'd cleaned out the cave system, they returned back the way they'd come, and Jie resumed leading their group until Ithilix called for yet another detour.
Ithilix pointed at the blood lake which glistened from the light of their lanterns.
"This one believes we should go that way," Ithilix said.
Jie and Pan Tian looked at the featureless stretch of red liquid and then shared a confused look.
"Do you want us to swim?" Jie asked, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with that idea.
Ithilix shook her head and walked past Jie, stepping off their boardwalk and standing on... nothing.
"Invisible walkway," said Ithilix as she appeared to walk on air, "this one thinks we're sure to find something interesting."
Jie and Pan Tian shared a hesitant look then stepped out onto the invisible walkway with Xue walking close at Jie's side. Jie tried her best to sense the path with her spirit sense but could not.
As such their group followed close at Ithilix's heels to avoid falling off the invisible path and into the lake of blood.
The invisible path led their group to a small rocky island with twenty-five pillars comprised of dark stone and red crystal arranged in a pattern around a symbol in the center.
Touching a pillar would light up or extinguish the pillar in question as well as at least two other pillars.
"It's a puzzle of some kind," Pan Tian said, "I think we have to light up all the pillars."
Lighting the pillars proved to be easier said than done as their connections to one another meant they had to be touched to activate or deactivate other pillars in a specific sequence. Touching a pillar would almost invariably light up another while turning off yet another.
But, they set to work diligently with Pan Tian taking out parchment and sketching out the arrangement of pillars. Then, they activated the pillars one at a time while Pan Tian made a note of which pillars were affected.
Once they'd tested all the pillars and knew all the connections they shared, they stood together looking over Pan Tian's notes, and discussed which moves to make to solve the puzzle.
By working so methodically together, it didn't take long to discover the solution and light up all the pillars. Once they'd done so, the symbol in the center flared with red light which flowed upward into a red crystal chest.
After Ithilix and Pan Tian checked it for traps, they opened it to reveal a collection of blood red crystals and some bloodfruit. Far fewer resources than they'd acquired from the illusory caves. But every item was for the middle dantian, which made this chest vastly more valuable than all the chests they'd found in the caves combined.
They soon identified their finds.
There were ten bloodfruit in the crystal chest and each one of them was at the first star of the Elementalist rank, making them an incredibly valuable resource for anyone in the middle dantian.
The crystals, however, were even more interesting to Jie. Each of them was created using special Path of Blood techniques and they too were all resources for the middle dantian. Two Essences of blood which were equivalent to fifth star Elementalist resources, and then a collection of ten body cultivation crystals that came in sets of two and improved toughness, strength, agility, intellect, and endurance respectively.
They split the items as evenly as possible between them with the understanding they would all discuss how best to distribute the items later.
They returned along the invisible pathway with Ithilix taking the lead until they reached the boardwalk and resumed the arduous task of trying to find their way across the lake of blood. All while who knew how many blood elementals lurked beneath their feet.
***
The dark cavern made it hard to tell if they were even going in the right direction anymore and Jie feared she was leading them in circles, though Pan Tian insisted that was not the case.
Suddenly, Jie's spirit sense gave her a strange feedback. Like static. She stopped and cycled her qi.
"Do you sense that?" Jie whispered.
"Yes," Pan Tian said, "I think it's a formation. What about you, Ithilix?"
"This one agrees," Ithilix said as her antennae quivered, "this one thinks it's a stealth formation. But, this one is unsure of its type or strength."
"It can't be that strong if we can sense it, right?" Jie asked.
"This one disagrees. Stealth formations are difficult. Especially over larger areas. Could be weak. Could be strong. This one thinks if we are this close to something and still cannot see it, it does its job," Ithilix said.
"So, do we go back or go into it?" Jie asked.
"I've never been here before. I just don't know, I'm sorry," Pan Tian whispered, "it could be a hidden cache of treasure. Or, it could be a monster's lair."
"I'll go into it first then," Jie said, "you guys stay back. If I don't come right back, run."
Jie cycled qi armor and lightning step as she walked up to the static field in her spirit sense. All she saw beyond it was more boardwalk, blood lake, islands of rock, stalactites, and stalagmites. Nothing new.
She reached the threshold of the field and braced herself as she stepped forward, hoping her friends were right and it was a stealth formation rather than some kind of instant death barrier or something.
Jie's skin tingled and the air shimmered as she stepped through the field. For a moment, the world fell utterly silent. Then, as she passed beyond the barrier, a barrage of bustling, fluttering, squawking, clacking, chattering sounds washed over Jie. Her spirit sense screamed at her with the sudden appearance of thousands upon thousands of auras all around her.