"Ah, it's you..."

The leader among the three Wu family disciples suddenly had a brilliant idea and seemed to have discovered Yuanhui's identity. He immediately knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Wu family disciple Wu Qianzao pays respects to the nineteenth elder, please forgive me, elder!"

"..."

Now it was their turn to be sharp, after all, even the eldest brother said they should at least try to recognize the elders a bit, right?

"Oh, he is the nineteenth elder approved by the Elder Council the day before yesterday, Elder Panlong!"

"Well, even though I am called an elder, in fact, I am not much older than you all. It's a bit... awkward for you to address me that way..."

Yuanhui said this, but in reality, his heart was extremely conflicted. After all, his main purpose now was to enter the snow mountain. Fortunately, the family ordered this matter to be personally investigated by the elders. He now had a special invitation letter to present to them.

So, he carefully flashed the family's tiger gold token in front of them and said, "Here, can I go through now?"

"Uh, if Elder shows the token first, we younger generation disciples would..."

Sigh, this is not to show off... Ahem, if I say it like this, I will definitely be seen as weird.

"Ahem, I'm just testing the abilities of my Wu family disciples, but it seems you all are having trouble even with two to three moves!"

"..."

After Yuanhui said this, they became even more afraid.

"You don't know the predicament our family is in right now. Many disciples have died in the mountains these past two days. This morning, even your teacher General Beigong Qi lost contact..."

"What?! What happened to Teacher Beigong Qi?"

"Well..."

Yuanhui pursed his lips, looking a bit troubled, as this was what other elders had told him.

"Beigong Qi entered the snow mountain this morning, but about an hour ago, his communication compass lost signal. If it wasn't accidentally damaged in a battle with evil spirits... then something unexpected must have happened."

At this point, Yuanhui shook his head helplessly. He was sent by the elders to handle this matter concerning Beigong Qi and others.

"Don't worry, leave Beigong Qi's situation to me. I was sent here this time to save them."

"Really? Then let us disciples thank Elder on behalf of Teacher Beigong Qi!!!"

"No need to thank me, I'm just doing what I should do."

Yuanhui still maintained a saintly demeanor at this point, finally managing to pass through without a hitch.

Although it made him regret a bit, it also reminded him of his main mission here.

"Ugh, completing this mission... what a hassle," Yuanhui muttered impatiently.

Well, since your family deliberately wants to cause me trouble, I'll reclaim some interest as compensation!

On that day, the internal disciples arranged by the Wu family to patrol deep in the snow mountain were all killed. But strangely, despite knowing this, the family did not dispatch people to search for the culprit. Instead, they silently dealt with the bodies of these disciples, withdrew from the area, and handed over that part to the management of other elders.

It was very strange. Despite such an incident, the family's attitude was very peculiar. Even the dignitaries of the Xia family were a little puzzled. Why did the family choose to avoid the situation in such a manner? They certainly had no idea that all this was orchestrated by the nine-thousand-year-old behind the scenes.

An inexplicable guess made Yuanhui extremely cautious, making the entire Wu family much more low-key, without the previous arrogance.

Even that day, the internal disciples of the family received orders not to venture outside the city at will and keep a low profile.

The disciples of the Xiao family were puzzled. Why did the renowned superpower suddenly become so hesitant and cautious in the Central Plains?

Was it because an enigmatic figure had attacked the Wu family disciples on the outskirts of the snow mountain? That didn't seem very likely!

No one could figure it out. Even because of the family's sudden orders, the four major families of the capital were filled with anxiety, thinking that something big was about to happen. They also retracted most of their forces from the surrounding areas, returning to their respective families to await any development.

"Sigh, it's strange not having anyone watching over me... but now all these treasures are mine."

Bai Ling Grass was a rare spiritual herb in the body-refinement realm. By consuming the White Core Lotus, it could help solidify and strengthen bones, providing a remarkable increase in bone toughness.

This grass had a pale white leafy body, similar in size to a fine willow. It was hard to spot in the snow, but it was highly resistant to cold temperatures. The most important thing was that the scent of this herb attracted spiritual beasts to linger. Once discovered, there was no escaping...

"Oh, Panlong, what are you doing here?"

"Who... Seventeen Honor, Elder Bai Ge!"

Although the man in front of him was still in his prime, his hair was already mostly snow-white.

"Hehe, even though I am much older than you, as an elder, there is no need for you to address me in such a formal way."

As Yuanhui approached, the man also nervously scanned the surroundings. The herbs around them were growing well, emitting a faint fragrance that could be smelled for dozens of meters around.

Yuanhui, with one hand behind his back, cautiously approached the flowers and herbs, and the man immediately saw through his intentions, almost laughing out loud.

"Haha! Panlong, are you trying to compete with the younger generation for food?"

"Hehe..."

It was embarrassing. Yuanhui hadn't expected Elder Bai Ge to see through his intentions so quickly. However, he had no other choice.

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound next to the herbs. Yuanhui tensed up, carefully looking at the plants, noticing a faint single line that seemed to move if one didn't look closely.

"Poisonous snake!"

Yuanhui's pupils constricted. Trouble! It was a small snake specialized in eating spiritual herbs! This kind of snake was extremely venomous, with skin as tough as steel. Once poisoned, only a transcendent master could cure it within twenty-four hours.

But Yuanhui had just set foot in the transcendent realm, and in terms of strength, he could only compare to a mid-transcendent level master. However, his Chi control was even worse than that of a high-level transcendent. Reluctant to give up these herbs, he licked his dry lips, concentrated his mind, and tried to find a way to quickly deceive Elder Bai Ge.

Hiss!

At that moment, a disturbance occurred. The venomous snake suddenly sprang out, having already spotted Yuanhui and Elder Bai Ge, ready to strike. Yuanhui was now within its attack range, triggering its aggressive instinct.

This brightened Yuanhui's eyes. He thought he had to damage some herbs to lure Elder Bai Ge out, but it turned out the snake took the initiative to attack first. This was his chance!

Swish!

Without hesitation, Yuanhui reached out a hand, sword energy swirling around him, and in an instant, he slashed towards the snake.

The sword energy intertwined with the snake's body, and in that moment, Yuanhui felt an unprecedented sense of steadiness he hadn't experienced since his duel with his senior sister Tong'er.

Three days ago...

On the day of the duel, only Yuanhui, Tong'er, and Prince Luo arrived at a dried-up well behind the palace.

It was strange why such an ancient dried-up well hadn't been demolished, considering the grand palace was filled with luxury. Yet, this well had never been moved or destroyed.

Prince Luo walked ahead of Tong'er and Yuanhui, infused his Chi into a token with a fox pattern, then shouted, "Awaken!"

As soon as he spoke, the space on the ground visibly distorted, and within seconds, the surroundings underwent a significant transformation.

The trees and grass almost withered away, the sky turned dark, and there was only a blood-red moon shining in the sky.

"Welcome to the underground world!" Prince Luo jokingly and seriously said.

This was beneath the Wu family's domain, an underground palace used for cultivating elites that now rivaled the entire capital in scale.

"Oh, it seems Wu Duan Tian raised quite a bit of financial resources, or else such a large underground palace would be...”

"No, this underground palace was already formed during the era of the Heavenly Demon Emperor's rule. It's like the aboveground palaces and was a contingency mechanism left by the Emperor to defend against external threats."

"Contingency mechanism?!"

This place didn't seem simple. Besides numerous palaces of various sizes, Yuanhui wasn't very optimistic about what Tong'er told him about this contingency.

"You're right, besides the entrance, there doesn't seem to be any other exits here. It's impossible to defend against external threats like this..."

"Hehe, Your Highness is correct. This is a reversed space, similar to the Imperial Palace in the Barren Continent, but just a mirror world."

Prince Luo, at some point, leaned in and added a few words to the conversation, smiling as he explained the existence here.

"In fact, this place is a contingency mechanism left by the Heavenly Demon Emperor. Its function is to reverse the entire palace, meaning the entire palace can be modified to kill thousands of people, even behead transcendent-level powerhouses in a large-scale battle."

"A large-scale battle?!" Yuanhui was puzzled.

"Hehe, if you ask too many questions, I'm afraid even the Heavenly Demon Emperor wouldn't be able to answer them. He was merely the builder of this palace, not its creator, so only the Creator can answer that question, right?"

"I see... You have a good sense of humor. Hahaha!"

Both of them burst into laughter, finding the term 'Creator' amusing, though they didn't understand why it became so humorous all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because Prince Luo was too friendly? Well, it was better to forget it.

"All right, have we forgotten why we came here?" Tong'er coughed twice, pulling Yuanhui's attention back to reality as she looked at Prince Luo.

"... Right, it is to duel with Tong'er, isn't it? Okay, the duel ground..."

Crash!

Before Yuanhui could finish his sentence, the road on the ground suddenly widened by several thousand meters, surprising Yuanhui greatly.

It seemed this place was not just a simple defensive fortress, but a virtual world constructed by Chi.