Ye Qianyu turned and asked, "Qiantong, where should we go now?"
A young man nearby overheard them, suddenly rushed over, and said, "Do you have no idea where you're heading? I happen to have the most accurate map of the Martial Realm right here. Little brother, would you be interested in buying a copy?"
Ye Qianyu said, "Huh? Really? How do you even have a map of this place?"
The youth replied confidently, "This was surveyed by our Tantric Sect over the course of nearly two years. It's completely authentic and reliable, and we never cheat young or old."
"How much for this map, then?" Ye Qianyu asked.
"Young hero, a mere one hundred gold coins."
Ye Qianyu gasped, "One hundred gold coins? That's so expensive!"
"Young hero, one hundred gold coins is the going rate. For just one hundred gold coins, you'll find treasures much easier than anyone else. It's totally worth it!" the youth explained.
Ye Qianyu nodded. "Alright, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Fine, this map—"
Just as Ye Qianyu was about to pay, Qiantong stopped him.
Qiantong walked over and whispered in Ye Qianyu's ear, "Don't buy it. We actually have something much more accurate than a map right here."
Seeing Ye Qianyu hesitate, the youth quickly urged, "Miss, this is no time to be stingy with money. It's very dangerous for your group to wander around blindly in here. Look, what just happened is a prime example."
Ye Qianyu chose to trust Qiantong and refused, "Forget it, I believe her. I won't buy the map after all. Sorry."
"No problem. If you need anything, just keep going straight down this path and you'll find me."
The youth thought to himself: *Once you run into a wall and come crawling back to me, it's going to cost you a thousand gold coins.*
The Tantric youth then continued on his way to look for his next target. Once he was far enough away, Ye Qianyu asked, "Qiantong, do you really have a way? So how do we proceed from here?"
Qiantong looked down with a smile at Qizai in her arms. "I don't know either, but it looks like you forgot we already have a ready-made map right here with us, right, Qizai?"
Ye Qianyu exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! Qizai is a Demon Beast, and its senses are way more useful than any map. It turned into that little form, and I almost forgot all about it."
"Let's leave the rest to our Qizai."
With a wolf's howl, Qizai directly transformed its body into that of an adult Demon Wolf right in the middle of the crowd, and then started running at top speed.
Ye Qianyu and Qiantong closely followed behind. Passersby who witnessed this scene stood there in a daze, and someone remarked, "Is that person carrying a spirit pet? I wonder which clan's young master and miss ran out here to experience the world."
Running ahead, Ye Qianyu called out, "Qiantong, look at how shocked they were just seeing Qizai looking so small. Who knows how they'd react if they saw Qizai's true form."
"Never mind them. Qizai seems to have sensed something and is speeding up. You'd better keep up, or I'll make you do extra training once we get out of here."
"I know, I know. We'll leave those people behind so they can't even catch our dust."
After running continuously for over half an hour, Qizai finally stopped in a corner.
Looking at the dead end ahead, Ye Qianyu asked in confusion, "Hey, Qizai, did you get lost?"
Qizai turned around and let out a wolf howl, as if saying, *Do you think I'm as stupid as you?*
"Stop bickering, you two. This should be the entrance. Step aside a bit."
"Soul Chaser!"
The Zhenlong Spear in Qiantong's hand traced a large circle, and the spearhead instantly flashed with a purple radiance. Following a clear dragon roar, Qiantong thrust her spear forward, and the wall in front of them was instantly pierced with a half-zhang-deep hole.
"Let's go."
Qiantong stepped into the cave first, and Ye Qianyu followed right behind her. The moment they entered the cave, the shattered opening instantly reverted to the way it was before it was broken.
Ye Qianyu touched the wall that had recovered as good as new. Had there not been a trace of Qiantong's spear aura lingering on the wall, no one would ever have guessed this was an entrance.
"It's so hot here."
Ye Qianyu looked at the walls of the huge cave ahead, which were carved with crimson magic runes, accompanied by a wave of heat rushing toward his face.
Qiantong wiped the sweat from her brow, and Qizai was panting with its tongue hanging out from the heat.
Holding Qizai, Qiantong said, "With such dense magical energy here, there must be some heavenly treasures. Let's go inside and take a look."
Ye Qianyu ran ahead of Qiantong. Being a boy, how could he always stay behind Qiantong? "Come and look, there's a stone staircase here."
Qiantong followed and looked at the nearly fifty steps of the stone staircase, saying, "There seem to be words at the top of the stairs. Go see what they say."
Ye Qianyu shook his head and said, "I've never seen the characters up there. Qiantong, do you recognize them?"
Looking at the obscure characters, Qiantong said, "If you don't recognize them, how would I? But there must be another way!"
Ye Qianyu stooped down to inspect and finally found a booklet in a corner.
"Qiantong, there's a small booklet here, and there are words on it!"
Qiantong asked, "Do you recognize the characters?"
"Yes, I do. It says: *'A hundred years have passed, and today I am fortunate to break through to the Guiyuan Realm. Having spent eighty years cultivating alongside cultivators across the realm, I finally reached the pinnacle of cultivators through the Battle Rune. How fortunate. I leave the art of the Battle Rune to future generations. Whoever defeats this puppet and passes the test I left behind shall take the art of the Battle Rune.'*"
Ye Qianyu said excitedly, "Battle Rune? This person is so powerful? Perhaps this Battle Rune technique will allow me to awaken my spirit weapon."
Qiantong nodded and said, "Perhaps it really can. I reckon this person must be one of those peak powerhouses you always talk about. We should give his method a try."
"Then how do we find this puppet?"
Ye Qianyu looked around and spotted a button on the ground nearby.
"It must be this."
With those words, Ye Qianyu pressed it lightly.
The ground suddenly sank to form a circular arena, and Ye Qianyu looked around to find bones scattered everywhere.
Ye Qianyu said with some fear, "This... it looks like many people have already died here."
Qiantong explained, "These people weren't killed by the puppet. There is a trace of spiritual aura left on them—it seems the powerhouse from before personally struck them down and discarded them here!"
A puppet covered in glowing runes rose from the center of the arena, approaching Ye Qianyu step by step.
Standing on the high platform behind, Qiantong shouted, "Ye Qianyu, be careful! This puppet is no ordinary opponent; it gives me a dangerous aura."
Fearful, Ye Qianyu asked, "Then what should we do now?"
"Only I can keep it in check. But the moment I make a move, not only will you lose this opportunity, but the shockwaves of the fight might cause this place to collapse, and we'll all be trapped here."
The puppet walked over holding a huge iron fan. Its entire body exuded an aura of murderous intent, and Ye Qianyu hurriedly fled backward.
Suddenly, the wall above Ye Qianyu's head began to cave in. Qiantong hurriedly summoned the Zhenlong Spear to prop up the falling wall, and the cave-in finally stopped.
As Ye Qianyu kept running in other directions, the walls above his head continued to collapse. Qiantong constantly blocked the falling rocks for him from above.
Seeing the puppet getting closer and closer, and then looking up to see Qiantong drenched in sweat from defending him against the collapsing rock wall, a surge of courage welled up in Ye Qianyu from somewhere unknown.
"Screw it, I'll fight you!"
Gritting his teeth, Ye Qianyu charged at the puppet, attacking its head with both fists, but the puppet didn't feel a thing.
The puppet sent Ye Qianyu flying over ten meters with a single palm strike. Ye Qianyu spat out a mouthful of blood, and the puppet looked up at Qiantong overhead, hurling its iron fan straight at her.
Qiantong kept dodging, but the iron fan chased her relentlessly as if it had eyes. Supporting the falling wall below while constantly dodging above, she began to feel the strain.
Watching Qiantong being relentlessly pursued, Ye Qianyu shouted at the top of his lungs, "Qiantong, forget about me! Let go!"
How could Qiantong possibly listen to him? Suddenly, the iron fan struck Qiantong. Wincing in pain, she lost her grip on the Zhenlong Spear.
Qiantong plunged downward, and the massive stone wall directly crashed down upon her, burying her beneath the earth.
"No!"
Ye Qianyu rushed forward desperately, but the stone wall weighed millions of catties—how could a single person possibly lift it?
"Qiantong, I will never let you die!"
Ye Qianyu suddenly let out a furious roar, and the puppet lunged straight at him. Looking at the puppet before him, Ye Qianyu said fiercely, "Come on! Don't you want to kill me? Let's see whether you get destroyed today or I perish!"
Ye Qianyu charged directly at the puppet, slamming his fist into its head. The puppet grabbed Ye Qianyu's arm and snapped it upward, effortlessly breaking his arm, and then tossed him backward. Ye Qianyu let out a miserable scream as he went flying through the air.