Chapter 76

Lu Xiaoding had calculated the timing, and the cultivators above should have already checked and left. Now was the best time to go up. Indeed, when she jumped out of the fire pit, no one noticed her, so she quickly ran off with the tripod.

She hadn’t found out about the Lincai Zhi egg, but she did know where the evil cultivators were hiding. Before going there, she decided to first check the place not far from here where eggs were specifically stored. Perhaps the egg she was looking for was hidden here and hadn’t been taken away by those evil cultivators.

Chuxi Hall had a very auspicious name, representing everyone's good wishes, hoping that every egg could hatch into a high-quality spirit pet. This place was also heavily guarded, with three layers of restrictions tightly covering the entrance to Chuxi Hall. To pass through, one must have a token.

A Golden Core cultivator was stationed in the hall every day, always sitting at the highest point of Chuxi Hall, spreading their divine sense inside and outside the hall. Even if a rat ran in, they would notice. However, as long as the restrictions didn't move, they wouldn't spread their divine sense, as it was very tiring to use it constantly. They would only release their divine sense when they sensed something unusual.

It was now midnight. Although cultivators could meditate to replace sleep, at this hour, the disciples were sent back. Staying here all day to take care of the eggs would leave no time for cultivation, and the entire sect's cultivation levels would become a mess.

There were very few people in Chuxi Hall now, only four people were specifically assigned to watch the eggs at night. Their job was simple, just waiting for the spirit pets that were about to hatch. As soon as they hatched, they would be taken away, cleaned, and fed. If they were lucky, not a single one would hatch all night.

Lu Xiaoding, carrying the tripod, sneaked here and saw no one at the entrance, so she walked in. The restrictions trembled instantly, scanning over her body, as if hesitating whether to let her in.

She ignored the restrictions and walked straight in. The restrictions didn't make a fuss and let her in.

The Golden Core cultivator guarding Chuxi Hall was playing chess with a disciple. The long night was boring, and sitting in meditation all the time was also dull. He didn't notice Lu Xiaoding sneaking in, and was drinking fragrant tea while pondering his next move.

"Master seems to be in a good mood?" The disciple added some tea to the cup and asked.

The cultivator put down the cup, stroked his beard, and said, "This time, the young master of Ming Sect came to buy a spirit pet, planning to buy a Lingbing Beast. He has plenty of spirit fruits and offered a very high price. Now he's just waiting for the Lingbing mother beast to give birth in the next few days."

"Master, the Ming Sect is really wealthy, making much more from selling spirit pets." The disciple smiled and placed a black piece on the chessboard.

Lu Xiaoding walked through Chuxi Hall, which was circular, with one ring inside another. Each ring was composed of countless stone rooms, where the spirit pet eggs were categorized and placed. Each stone room had a spirit pet cultivation array, with spirit fruits placed on it to continuously supply spirit energy to the eggs. This way, the spirit pets that hatched wouldn't have much difference in quality, although the appearance of top-quality ones was relatively rare, it was very stable.

She didn't even look at these stone rooms. The precious eggs must be in a special room, so she ran through, taking a quick glance and running. Suddenly, a late-stage Qi Cultivation disciple appeared in the corridor. He had just come out of a stone room and saw Lu Xiaoding, instantly stunned.

Before he could question her, Lu Xiaoding immediately took out the Soul Devouring Fan and swung it, releasing a faint fragrance. Just one whiff, and he lost consciousness, falling to the ground and sleeping soundly.

Lu Xiaoding helped him sit against the wall and ran in another direction. By the time she ran a full circle, the four disciples on night duty were all asleep.

"Really, why don't they put the eggs here? I have to go to another place to look." Although there were many good demon beast eggs here, the one she wanted wasn't among them. She had no choice but to go to the place the Red-Scaled Dragon mentioned.

So she walked out with the tripod, found the direction he mentioned, and didn't even bother to close the door of Chuxi Hall, just walked away.

"Xianlian Lake, it's pitch dark, where am I supposed to look?" The Red-Scaled Dragon mentioned that the cultivators often talked about going to Xianlian Lake to meet the sect leader, always taking on some annoying missions there. Some even complained that if they had known the sect was like this, they wouldn't have joined the Tianling Sect.

Since it was mentioned so often, it definitely wasn't where the sect leader stayed, but where the evil cultivators were. Lu Xiaoding wandered around the Tianling Sect for a while and finally found a pond full of golden lotuses. She could vaguely see a circular platform under the water.

She hid in the bushes by the lake, picked up a stone, and threw it into the lake when no one was around. With a splash, the small stone fell into the water, hitting the platform about a palm's length below the surface.

The platform didn't make a sound or move, which made Lu Xiaoding feel a bit stuck. If it required spirit energy to open, she wouldn't be able to get in. Thinking it was a secret place of the Tianling Sect, there must be disciples entering, so she decided to wait here, believing someone would come in or out.

She waited, and occasionally disciples passed by, but none of them opened any restrictions or mechanisms to enter, just walked away. She was getting bored and sleepy, thinking of just feeling around herself, believing she could find the entrance.

Just as Lu Xiaoding stood up, about to leave her hiding place, the lake water suddenly started to spin, and the platform under the water was revealed. It was glowing brightly, suddenly turning into a light curtain, and the stones disappeared, clearly an entrance.

Without waiting for anyone to come out, she picked up the tripod and leaped, jumping into the light curtain. At that moment, someone's head appeared from inside, and they seemed to be moving quickly, colliding with her.

With the tripod, Lu Xiaoding was much heavier than the person, and she immediately fell on top of them, stepping on their face and falling into the light curtain together.

Lu Xiaoding looked at the person under her and suddenly heard footsteps. Without even seeing where she was, she dragged the person into a dark passage. Just as she entered, she heard someone running over and teleporting out from where she had been.

Then she lowered her head, wanting to knock out the person in her hands, but suddenly realized he looked familiar. She exclaimed in surprise, "Ge Pi, you're here!"

"Shh, don't make a sound." Ge Pi was even more anxious, quickly covering her mouth to prevent any noise. At that moment, more footsteps were heard, all running to teleport out.

After confirming there was no more noise, Ge Pi let go of her hand, took a deep breath, and frowned at Lu Xiaoding, asking, "Why are you here?"

"I followed you. I didn't expect you to be hiding in a righteous sect, living quite comfortably." Lu Xiaoding spoke frankly, not even trying to find an excuse.

Ge Pi was speechless, about to ask how she had tracked him, but suddenly shuddered, "Are the Yunjian Sect people here too? How many of you are there? Have you already attacked?"

"Why are you so excited? Evil cultivators will always face this day, shouldn't you be prepared?" She wasn't a fool and wouldn't tell him how many people had come. Lu Xiaoding crossed her arms and asked.

"Who would be prepared? We are all cultivators, just with different cultivation methods and ways of dealing with things. No, I have to go tell my master that the Yunjian Sect is attacking." Ge Pi quickly turned to leave, but stopped, stood for a moment, and then huffed, "This has nothing to do with me. You can kill each other as you please. I'm leaving."

Lu Xiaoding looked at him in surprise, suddenly clapping her hands and saying, "I get it, your senior brother put all the blame on you, and now your master wants to kill you, so you want to run away."

Ge Pi glared at her, "No, I'm leaving, I can't stay here anymore."

"Wait, I don't know what happened, but if you don't want to help the evil cultivators, will you help me?" This was the best guide, Lu Xiaoding quickly pulled him and said.

Every time he met this person, nothing good happened, and he was particularly clingy. He shook his hand and said, "I don't want to do anything now, I just want to leave. Do what you want, it's none of my business."

"Does that mean you're useless?" Lu Xiaoding suddenly put on a serious face and asked.

The atmosphere instantly cooled, and Ge Pi felt a wave of pressure from her, but it disappeared instantly. If it weren't for the chill still on his back, he would have thought it was an illusion.

Lu Xiaoding then smiled, "Are you useful? Cute human boy, if you don't help me, I'll eat you." She opened her mouth and snapped her teeth a few times.

"Who are you, what do you want?" This definitely wasn't someone from the Yunjian Sect. Ge Pi had previously thought she was crazy, a mere mortal coming here to find death. But now, he no longer thought so. This person might be a demon cultivator hiding in the righteous sect.

Although he had been mocked and scolded by his senior brothers for this, Ge Pi still trusted his intuition. This woman was definitely not a mortal. The strength she used to hit him wasn't something a mortal could have. Suddenly, he remembered that this place mainly sold spirit pets and asked in a trembling voice, "Are you here for the eggs or the young ones?"

How could he see through it so quickly? Lu Xiaoding looked at him in confusion, even knowing what she was thinking. Since he had figured it out, she decided not to hide it anymore, and nodded solemnly, "I'm here for the Lincai Zhi egg. Do you know where it is?"

"You are a Lincai Zhi demon cultivator?" Ge Pi asked in shock, not expecting this. A few months ago, something seemed to have breached the spirit pet protection array, and now it made sense. The Tianling Sect was doomed; an early-stage spirit pet demon cultivator was equivalent to a mid-stage transformation realm cultivator. His master was only a late-stage core realm, definitely... no, that old bastard definitely couldn't beat this bird.