Splash-! Splash-! Splash-!

Three individuals leapt out of the plunge pool beneath a short waterfall, landing firmly on the rocky shore. They each summoned a wave of energy, immediately returning their drenched appearances to a dry state.

With their emergence, chatter immediately started among the small crowd that had gathered around.

“They are back! Did they do it?”

“Just look at the satisfied look on their faces. I’m sure they succeeded.”

The group of three naturally overheard the discussions of the crowd, and one of them promptly clasped his fists at everyone.

“Thank you for your well wishes, everyone. We have indeed managed to enter the underwater cave and obtained a few small rewards. Let’s all do our best to obtain greater treasures from the rest of the mystic realm,” the man said with an amiable smile.

Donned in light chainmail and exuding an aura comprising both righteousness and might, he resembled a young general ready to charge straight into war.

His words drew mixed emotions among the crowd, many of whom feeling nothing but envy.

After all, most of them had also tried to enter the underwater cave earlier. Unfortunately, none of them had managed to breach the energy barrier at the entrance.

“They actually managed to do it. How commendable,” one of the spectators remarked in envy.

“Of course they did. Don’t you know who that is?” his companion replied. “That is Sword Finger Qi Yi, a core disciple of the White Tiger Sect! How would something like this underwater cave ever be able to stop his party?”

“He might be a core disciple, but his cultivation level is not that high either,” another spectator rebutted. “Perhaps the key to entering this underwater cave isn’t through forceful entry, but by relying on greater talent to find a special way in.”

“Regardless, it is a reward well deserved. Even though I can’t have the treasures in the cave, I feel slightly better knowing that it took a core disciple of the White Tiger Sect to obtain them,” another responded.

The rest of the spectators nodded in agreement.

They might have felt bad if another inner disciple managed to obtain something when they had failed to do so, but a core disciple doing so was another matter altogether.

Core disciples had always held a nigh unreachable status in the hearts of other disciples, thought to be capable of fetching the moon and plucking the stars.

To the spectators, it was only natural that Sword Finger Qi Yi was able to do something like this.

“If there is nothing else, we will take our leave first,” Qi Yi said.

As he said that, the spectators naturally parted to form a path out of the area. But just as Qi Yi’s party was about to leave, someone suddenly stepped out to stand right in the middle of that path.

It was a rather ordinary-looking young man, sporting short black hair and dressed in neat battle robes with a sword hanging by his waist.

There was an excited light in his eyes, apparent to all three in Qi Yi’s party as he confidently matched their gazes.

“Crimson Sword Cheng Kai!” one of the spectators subconsciously blurted out the other party’s name.

Those in the crowd immediately felt uncomfortable upon hearing his name, and that included those from the Black Tortoise Sect.

However, Qi Yi was unfazed and promptly clasped his fists towards Cheng Kai. “I have heard of Brother Cheng’s great name for a while now. May I know if there is something that you wish to speak to me about today?”

“Yes,” Cheng Kai smirked while taking a step forward. “Either hand over the treasures that you just obtained, or get ready for a good beating.”

Qi Yi furrowed his brows, the amiable expression from earlier instantly disappearing from his face.

From the fighting intent that Cheng Kai was emanating in an unbridled manner, he could tell that the other party was definitely being serious!

***

“Yuan Shang activated the jade tablet and is returning!” Zhao Yunxiao announced.

“Physicians, get ready!” Fei Weng shouted.

A streak of light shot out from the huge energy globe above the tortoise statue, landing on Yuan Shang’s assigned spot in the participants’ tent.

This streak of light turned into a flash of bright light as it landed, though it quickly dissipated to reveal the appearance of Yuan Shang himself.

He had safely returned from the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

Of course, it would also be accurate to say that he had been eliminated from the mystic realm.

Two physicians rushed over, immediately starting to examine and treat the various wounds on his body. Thankfully, he did not seem to have suffered any grievous injuries.

“What happened?” a sect protector went straight to the chase.

This was Sect Protector Pei – the same Mo Faction sect protector who had urged Zhao Yunxiao to give him immediate updates on the Mo Group earlier.

Yuan Shang was part of the Mo Group, so the sect protector was extremely curious about the current situation and the reason for his elimination.

“We have entered battle with Vermilion Bird Sect’s Quan Hui’s party, and are being heavily suppressed,” Yuan Shang explained in a frustrated tone. “They are a group of six, but they are a lot stronger than we expected!”

“You entered battle with a core disciple’s group? Tell me every detail!” Sect Protector Pei demanded.

“What happened is like this...” Yuan Shang started to recount the details of the incident, understanding that while he had already been eliminated, whatever he said now might still be of help to the rest of his party, who were still struggling in the mystic realm.

He started by describing the opposing party, followed by the current terrain, then went back to detailing how they got to that location in the first place.

As he spoke, more deacons and sect protectors gathered around to listen.

Many of these sect administrators were not exactly concerned about Yuan Shang, especially those from other inner sect factions. However, all of them were definitely eager to use this opportunity to find out more about the current situation within the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

“So, the fight broke up into small skirmishes, and your opponent forced you to exit,” Sect Protector Pei let out a helpless sigh.

This was essentially a friendly competition, not a life-and-death battle. Therefore, participants would not go to the extent of killing their opponents.

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Still, most victors only forced the losers to leave the area. Forcing the losers to activate their jade tablets and exit the mystic realm altogether was quite the domineering thing to do, usually only done when there was some bad blood between the two groups.

For Quan Hui’s party to do so, it meant that either Quan Hui was acting with arrogance, or Yuan Shang had deliberately left out certain details with regards to their encounter.

Either way... how unlucky!

“Please help Senior Martial Brother San and the others!” Yuan Shang pleaded.

It was not as though the rest were in any sort of mortal danger, but he still hoped that his party would be able to survive this battle, even if it meant doing so without him.

The opening of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm had always been largely regarded as the most important event for inner disciples every year.

If their entire party ended up getting routed here, they would have to bear the shame of achieving nothing for at least the rest of the year. There was even a possibility of the matter being brought up repeatedly for decades to come!

“Send a message to San Wanfan. Get them to stop being stubborn and retreat!” Sect Protector Pei promptly turned towards Zhao Yunxiao.

“We have been trying to retreat as well, but they just keep chasing!” Yuan Shang added.

“What? Those arrogant brats are going too far!” Sect Protector Pei cursed. “It seems like they won’t give up until they have forced everyone to exit!”

“Get them to exit the realm then. If they have already lost, that would still be better than suffering any potentially lasting injuries,” another sect protector commented.

“They have lost, but that doesn’t mean they can’t get away. There must be a way to get out of there safely!” Sect Protector Pei retorted before turning back to Yuan Shang. “What techniques do they know? Or do they have any trump cards that will allow them to escape properly?”

“We have already tried everything that I know of,” Yuan Shang replied timidly. “Senior Martial Brother San might have more tricks up his sleeves, but I’m not sure what they are either...”

“What kind of party are you? How can you bunch go into the Four Symbols Mystic Realm with so little communication?” Sect Protector Pei berated. “Ah, whatever! Just tell San Wanfan to use whatever trump cards he has to get out of there!”

Zhao Yunxiao felt the corner of his lips twitch upon hearing that.

Tell San Wanfan to use whatever trump cards he had to get out of there?

What kind of useless message was that?

His party member had already been eliminated! If San Wanfan truly had some hidden trump cards that he had yet to use at this point, it was definitely because he did not intend to waste or reveal them.

Would he use them just because of a message like this?

Zhao Yunxiao did not know about San Wanfan, but he definitely would not!

He gave Fei Weng a quick glance, and the latter immediately understood what he was thinking. Fei Weng let out a helpless sigh before walking over to Sect Protector Pei.

“I understand what you are thinking, but why don’t we tell him something more constructive than to just do whatever he can?” Fei Weng advised.

“Constructive advice? That’s easier said than done! What kind of constructive advice can we possibly give him with the limited information we have?” Sect Protector Pei complained. “If you have any idea, why don’t you enlighten me a little?”

“This...” Fei Weng did not know what to answer either.

In the end, most disciples refrained from revealing all their trump cards to fellow disciples, much less the sect protectors and deacons with whom they had an even more distant relationship.

Without knowing what they were capable of, it was indeed difficult to come up with tangible ways to help them.

“Energy levels depleting for everyone in San Wanfan’s party!” Zhao Yunxiao updated. “At this rate, they probably wouldn’t be able to last another thirty minutes!”

“Tch! Just tell them whatever I said!” Sect Protector Pei insisted. “Get them to use whatever trump cards they have to retreat from there!”

“Apologies, Senior Pei, but I agree with Senior Fei,” Yuan Shang interjected from the side. “I don’t think that will help Senior Martial Brother San at all. Can’t we tell him how to deal with Quan Hui’s party instead? Or at the very least, how to get out of there?”

“Do you really think that what you have said is sufficient for us to develop a battle plan?” Sect Protector Pei narrowed his eyes at Yuan Shang.

Under the intimidating glare, Yuan Shang immediately hung his head low.

“That might be true, but they are right as well,” another sect protector intervened at this point. “What you are telling them is of no value. Doing so will be nothing but a waste of sect resources.”

“Tch! Why don’t you tell me what we can do then?” Sect Protector Pei clicked his tongue in irritation, though his tone inevitably mellowed a little in response.

Through the jade tablets, it was possible for them to send messages to the participants in the mystic realm, but each and every message would expend a certain amount of energy that had to be accounted for through spirit stones.

This essentially meant that each message sent would cost the sect precious resources!

While the Black Tortoise Sect had a relatively large reserve of resources, their rate of expenditure was not small either.

Considering that, burning resources just to send a completely useless message was frowned upon as prodigal and wasteful.

Conscious of his image in front of the elders, Sect Protector Pei dared not proceed with doing so after being called out like that.

“Senior Fei, requesting temporary control to give guidance to San Wanfan’s party while a decision is being deliberated,” Zhao Yunxiao suddenly said. “Justification – at this rate, the party’s energy level would soon drop to a level that makes it impossible to escape.”

Zhao Yunxiao had gotten tired of the long discussion.

This matter had a direct impact on six of the participants under his watch. If all of them ended up eliminated this early, that would definitely have a negative impact on his assessment even though it was not exactly his fault.

Rather than just waiting around for a decision to be made, he decided that he might as well try something in the meantime.

“Oh? Do you have an idea?” Fei Weng’s eyes lit up immediately upon hearing that.

“Nothing concrete, but I can try delaying the worst outcome,” Zhao Yunxiao said honestly.

This was not an unprecedented matter as well. In fact, it was actually quite common for observers to be tasked with giving temporary guidance to the participants while the solution was being discussed among the sect administrators.

It allowed the participants to at least receive some updates on the situation, giving them a slightly better fighting chance while waiting for an actual solution from the sect administrators.

However, observers were usually tasked to do so. Seldom would they voluntarily request for this, mostly because they wanted to avoid being made responsible for any potential mistakes.

Fei Weng had known Zhao Yunxiao for a long time, and understood just how careful of a person Zhao Yunxiao was.

For Zhao Yunxiao to dare say something like that, he definitely already had a solid plan in mind, if not more than one!

“Oh? Hahahaha!” Fei Weng suddenly broke out in laughter. “Then do it. Temporary control granted, so go ahead and do whatever you want as long as you stay within the maximum energy expenditure!”

“Understood,” Zhao Yunxiao closed his eyes for a moment to organise his thoughts.

In his mind, information gathered from past years of research and personal reports rapidly reconciled with the statements from the participants who had been eliminated early thus far, coming together to form a tentative map of the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

It was a map that was lacking in terms of completion, comprising several empty gaps as well as overlapping layers that suggested different possibilities due to unverified sources of information.

Still, this provided a reference point for him to draw direct connections between everything that had ever been mentioned regarding the Four Symbols Mystic Realm.

Participants.

Monsters.

Regions.

Terrains.

Landmarks.

One by one, all of them started appearing on this imaginary map in his mind, populating it to form a world that was dynamic and constantly changing with each additional input.

Zhao Yunxiao slowly opened his eyes with a determined gaze.

“Taking temporary control.”