203: Chapter 203 Leaving the Forbidden Area

It was Ren Wudi and Senior Sister Tao Tao. The two of them also seemed to be looking for a way to leave.

At this moment, they were both standing in front of a stone wall, but the wall before them was exceptionally flat, clearly crafted with great care.

Seeing this, Lin Qing walked straight over. When he approached, the two of them noticed Lin Qing as well.

Ren Wudi's expression was much calmer than when they last met. Last time, because Lin Qing had killed his Senior Brother and then saved him, his expression had been very complicated.

Perhaps it was because he had seen Lin Qing kill the other four Peak Ninth-Rank Cultivators, and after several hours of processing it, he felt much better.

Senior Sister Tao Tao was different. She had been with Lin Qing for a long time; she knew how powerful he was, and she also saw that Lin Qing was not someone who killed innocents indiscriminately. Thus, upon seeing Lin Qing, she called out in surprise and joy.

"Lin Qing!"

If Lin Qing were willing to take her and Ren Wudi along, the probability of the two of them getting out of here would be much higher.

Lin Qing nodded slightly in response. He truly had no intention of making things difficult for the two of them; in fact, not just for these two, but for the other Disciples of the super factions, Lin Qing likewise had no intention of making things difficult.

This time, information about Lin Qing had been thoroughly exposed. Even if he killed all these Disciples in the Secret Realm, others would still spread the word.

To prevent his talent from being leaked, there was only one way: to kill everyone in the Secret Realm, but that was also impossible.

Lin Qing and the others had to get out eventually. If everyone else died and only Lin Qing and his group made it out, it would be equally difficult to explain.

If those super factions eventually decided to capture Lin Qing, the ordinary Disciples of these super factions would not be able to influence the outcome of the battle. At that time, it would be a contest between true top-tier experts, and Lin Qing would only be able to ask Old Turtle for help.

Lin Qing stepped forward and carefully examined the flat stone wall. This wall was very similar to the one they had entered through, which was the wall of the stone chamber where "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain" were located.

Lin Qing knew how to get to the stone chamber with "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain", and the reason he didn't choose to go there immediately was different from Senior Sister Tao Tao's.

There were two reasons why Senior Sister Tao Tao didn't go there. First, when Lin Qing was dealing with "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain", she was looking for an exit, but she hadn't discovered the mechanism to open the stone door leading to the passageway. Second, even if she could find it, without Lin Qing, she wasn't confident she could safely pass through the passageway.

So, she wanted to see if there were any other places that led directly out of the Forbidden Ground.

Lin Qing was different; he was looking for other stone chambers to see if he could encounter any more Puppets similar to "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain".

"Ren Wudi, how did you enter this space?"

Lin Qing suddenly remembered that Senior Sister Tao Tao had entered with him, but Ren Wudi hadn't. Why didn't he just return the way he came?

"He passed through a very long water pool passageway and then arrived here."

Clearly, Senior Sister Tao Tao and Ren Wudi had already discussed this issue, as she jumped in to answer for Ren Wudi.

Lin Qing cast his gaze toward Ren Wudi, only to see him lift his pant leg. The skin on his leg was already ulcerated and black, clearly indicating he was severely poisoned. It seemed this was the reason he hadn't returned the way he came.

A cup of tea's time later, Lin Qing raised his hand. Senior Sister Tao Tao immediately called out in surprise and joy:

"Lin Qing, did you find the mechanism?"

"No!"

Senior Sister Tao Tao was angry but dared not speak out; if there wasn't one, why did you nod? Even Ren Wudi's mouth twitched.

Lin Qing indeed hadn't found the mechanism; he had raised his hand to take out the dao child token to test it.

Just as Lin Qing pulled out the token, the stone wall in front of them began to tremble, and then, amidst a creaking sound, it sank into the ground.

That was it. Passing through the passageway required a specific route to avoid traps, so the dao child token had no effect there. But this type of stone wall fell under the category of a door, and tasks like picking locks fell within the jurisdiction of the dao child token.

The stone door slowly sank, and light began to shine through the gaps. None of the three were strangers to this; in the latter half of the passageway, there were torches on the walls.

Soon, a stone chamber appeared before the three of them. In the four corners of the stone chamber stood a one-zhang-tall stone statue, each holding a long sword, a long spear, dual blades, and a stone hammer, respectively.

Lin Qing was immediately delighted; as expected, there were more.

This time, Lin Qing had no intention of sparring with them; he walked straight up and, before they could activate, used the dao child token to control them, then retrieved them into his Storage Ring.

Because Lin Qing and his group had entered from the other side of the stone chamber, the stone door leading to the passageway did not close like it had the previous time.

Lin Qing turned his head and asked the two:

"Do you want to go out on your own, or come with me?"

"You're not going out yet?"

Senior Sister Tao Tao asked, and Lin Qing pointed to the corner of the wall.

"I want to see if there are any more of these things."

Senior Sister Tao Tao immediately indicated she wanted to follow Lin Qing. There was no helping it; the sense of security Lin Qing gave her was too great.

After hesitating for only two breaths, Ren Wudi also indicated he wanted to follow Lin Qing and the others. He also didn't have the confidence to safely pass through the passageway area, and his foot was still festering.

For the next day, Lin Qing took the two of them and circled the entire stone wall. Along the way, they encountered the water pool passageway that Ren Wudi had spoken of, and other passageways where the ground was bright red lava.

They found three additional stone chambers containing stone statues, and Lin Qing took them all.

The total number of stone statues in Lin Qing's hands reached twenty, with five each of "Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain". Lin Qing named them by number, for example, Wind One, Fire Five.

After circling the stone wall, there was no exit leading directly outside as Senior Sister Tao Tao had imagined, so Lin Qing took the two back to the passageway area.

Naturally, they triggered many traps along the way, but with Lin Qing there, they passed through these traps without any alarm or danger.

However, the passageway design was a bit complex and was constantly changing. Lin Qing couldn't figure out the pattern for a while, which led to them walking for half a day only to return to that central space.

At that moment, the corners of all three of their eyes twitched. Fortunately, their bad luck didn't last; the second time, they successfully exited the Forbidden Ground and arrived at the place where the hundred-plus people had gathered at the very beginning.

However, only the three of them were there now. As for whether there were any other survivors, the three of them did not know.

After exiting the Forbidden Ground, Ren Wudi hurriedly took out a Medicinal Pill from his Storage Ring and swallowed it, then took out some medicinal powder and sprinkled it on his leg.

High-grade Medicinal Pills contained Spiritual Qi, but since Spiritual Qi was suppressed within the Forbidden Ground, the effects of the pills were likewise suppressed.

At that time, the pills could only exert their inherent herbal effects. This type of medicinal effect could only reach the Fourth-Rank at most; for Cultivators who were at least Eighth-Rank, the pills within the Forbidden Ground had no effect at all.

After bringing the two out of the Forbidden Ground, Lin Qing was just intending to leave on his own when, at that moment, his communication token suddenly rang.

"Lin Qing, are you there?"