Glazed Festival, First Probe into Hidden Fragrance

The day of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's annual festival finally arrived amid an eerie, tense atmosphere.

Glazed City was festooned with lights and decorations. Colorful glazed ornaments refracted dreamy, hazy gleams beneath the sunlight, while the streets teemed with people and were even noisier than usual. Representatives from affiliated clans and friendly factions arrived in an endless stream, filling the air with festivity and extravagance. Yet beneath that bustle lay an indescribable tension. Inspections at the city gates had become exceptionally strict, the number of patrolling sect guards had doubled, their gazes as sharp as eagles', and countless powerful auras flickered indistinctly in the shadows.

Dai Mubai had been crippled, and though the Star Luo Imperial Family was enraged, it had gone quiet; Tang San had vanished, and Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang had disappeared without a trace; Nuoding Academy had changed hands... This string of upheavals hung over the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect like a shadow. Even on a day like the festival, Ning Fengzhi and the two Douluos, Sword and Bone, did not dare relax in the slightest.

Security in the core area of the back mountain was even tighter. The main routes leading to the treasury were heavily guarded, with countless visible sentries and hidden checkpoints. Powerful Soul Tool fluctuations spread like a spiderweb, making it difficult for even a fly to enter without a sound.

The festival's main venue was set in Glazed City's central square. On the high platform, Ning Fengzhi wore formal attire and a gentle, refined smile as he exchanged pleasantries with guests from every side, flawless in every respect. Sword Douluo Chen Xin stood behind him with his arms folded, like an unsheathed sword. His icy gaze swept across the entire venue, and not even the slightest unusual Soul Power fluctuation could escape his senses. Bone Douluo Gu Rong, meanwhile, lurked in the shadows like a ghost, monitoring a far wider area.

Yang Yu appeared at the edge of the venue with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. Dressed in ordinary guest attire, they blended into the crowd without drawing attention. Ning Rongrong's little face was tense, her palms soaked with cold sweat. She tried her best to remain composed, but her faintly trembling eyelashes revealed the anxiety in her heart. Zhu Zhuqing still looked cold and detached. Her black fitted outfit outlined her agile figure, and with her gaze lowered like a crouching leopard, she silently memorized the patrol routes and shift-change intervals of the surrounding guards.

Yang Yu looked calm, as though he truly were an ordinary guest attending the festival. He even had the leisure to sample the glazed pastries served by a maid nearby. Yet his spiritual power had long spread out like an invisible web, maintaining contact with Yue Guan and Gui Mei hidden in the shadows while precisely controlling every detail of the situation.

"Rongrong, the shadow behind the third glazed pillar in the left corridor. Duration: three breaths." "Zhuqing, beneath the rock garden ahead to the right, three meters underground, there is a Soul Tool sensing barrier. Trigger radius: one meter." "Northwest watchtower: a Soul Emperor-level sniper. His field of view covers the treasury's main entrance, and he scans the bushes below every thirty seconds."

Yang Yu's calm voice entered the two girls' minds clearly through faint spiritual fluctuations. This was one of the results of their month-long special training: simple spiritual-link communication.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing felt a chill in their hearts as they silently committed these deadly points to memory. The rough map in their hands was rapidly being refined and marked on a spiritual level. The details Yang Yu provided were far more precise—and far more lethal—than anything they had known before!

Time passed bit by bit, and the festival atmosphere gradually reached its peak. Thunderous drums and dazzling Soul Skill performances drew the attention of nearly everyone.

"The time has come." Yang Yu's voice sounded again. "Rongrong, report the current condition of the guards at the treasury's main entrance."

Ning Rongrong took a deep breath and focused. With the slight boost to her spiritual power secretly provided by Yang Yu, her senses were amplified to the limit. Her gaze pierced through the crowd and landed precisely on the heavy treasury doors in the distance, which shimmered with runic light.

"Four guards at the main entrance. Two are positioned in front, their Soul Power fluctuations stable, their eyes fixed on the performance stage ahead. One is standing to the left, unconsciously tapping the hilt of his sword with his fingers, frequency... twice per second. The last one... is yawning. He just finished, and his gaze is slightly unfocused... Now!"

The instant Ning Rongrong's words fell, Zhu Zhuqing, who had long been taut like a drawn bowstring, moved!

The Netherworld Spirit Cat Martial Soul possessed her! Her figure melted soundlessly into the shadow of the nearby building, without producing the slightest energy fluctuation! Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track combined with the concealment techniques from Yang Yu's special training made her a true ghost. Following the route through an almost impossible visual blind spot that Ning Rongrong had identified earlier, she shot toward the treasury area like lightning!

Her speed was pushed to the extreme, yet she strangely made not even a whisper of wind! Light distorted around her, and shadows instinctively became her shelter! Whenever a patrol passed by, she would always flatten herself and freeze a tenth of a second in advance, blending perfectly into the environment as though even her heartbeat and breathing had stopped!

All of this came from that month of hellish special training! The ultimate perception and use of airflow, light, and Soul Power fluctuations!

In just over a dozen breaths, Zhu Zhuqing crossed several hundred meters of the most dangerous area and silently clung to the treasury's western wall like a gecko. The wall was covered in exquisite relief carvings. Her position was precisely where the hidden vent from Ning Rongrong's memory was located!

Sharp cat claws extended from her fingertips. Her Soul Power vibrated at an exquisitely precise frequency as she carefully removed the outer shell of the vent, disguised as part of the carved lattice, without making the slightest sound. A pitch-black opening, barely large enough for one person to squeeze through, was revealed. Dull airflow sounds and a faint metallic scent of machine oil drifted out from within.

"The entrance is safe. I'm going in." Zhu Zhuqing's cold voice came through the spiritual link.

"Be careful of the seventh brick in the third row on the inner wall. It has pressure sensing." Yang Yu's warning followed immediately.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze sharpened. Her body, like that of a boneless spirit cat, slipped into the opening and precisely avoided that brick.

At the very instant Zhu Zhuqing's figure vanished into the vent, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from the southeast corner of the festival grounds!

Boom!!! A blaze of dazzling fire shot into the sky! Thick smoke billowed out! The crowd instantly fell into chaos, and screams of panic rose everywhere!

"What happened?!" "Enemy attack?!" "Protect the Sect Master!"

Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin's expressions changed atop the platform, their gazes instantly sharpening as they swept toward the explosion! Gu Rong's aura in the shadows also fluctuated at once!

Amid the chaos, no one noticed a pink figure slipping rapidly in the direction opposite the treasury, like a startled rabbit under the cover of the confusion and smoke. Her face carried a hint of crazed, triumphant delight. It was Xiao Wu! Using the shoddy explosive Soul Tool she had secretly prepared, she had successfully created chaos!

"Send a team over to investigate! Stabilize the situation! Everyone else, hold your positions and do not act rashly!" Ning Fengzhi's steady voice sounded, suppressing the disturbance. He had not allowed the sudden explosion to fully draw his attention. Instead, he swept the entire venue with even greater vigilance, especially in the direction of the treasury! The old fox's instincts told him that the explosion was far too convenient!

However, that brief disturbance and diversion of attention bought Zhu Zhuqing the most precious golden window of time!

The treasury contained a world of its own. Its interior space was far larger than it appeared from outside. Rows upon rows of enormous shelves made from some kind of warm white jade stood neatly arranged, bearing countless rare treasures, Soul Tools, ores, medicinal herbs, ancient books... The dazzling array shone with precious light, and the dense spiritual energy of heaven and earth was almost tangible.

Like an elf of the night, Zhu Zhuqing moved soundlessly through the shadows of the massive shelves. Her heart raced, but her mind was intensely focused. The map Ning Rongrong had drawn, corrected by Yang Yu, was clearly displayed in her mind.

"Turn left. Avoid the central Soul Power scanning beam..." "The third shelf ahead to the right. There are trap runes on the bottom level. Go around..." "A floating surveillance crystal fifteen meters above. Movement interval: 1.7 seconds..."

Yang Yu's calm guidance echoed in her mind like the most accurate navigation. She carried out every instruction perfectly, her movements fluid and swift as she pushed the Netherworld Spirit Cat's stealth talent to its limit.

The farther in she went, the tighter the defenses became. Invisible Soul Power barriers, triggered traps, automatic defensive Soul Tools... One after another emerged without end. Yet under Yang Yu's nearly prophetic insight and Zhu Zhuqing's flawless execution, every obstacle was avoided without incident.

At last, she reached the deepest part of the treasury. The shelves here were clearly more ancient and shrouded in powerful protective barriers. A strange medicinal fragrance that refreshed the mind permeated the air.

"The target area. Straight ahead, the Ghost Soul Crystal companion zone. The Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Marrow Box." Yang Yu's voice came through.

Zhu Zhuqing swept her sharp gaze forward. On a separate jade platform sat several white jade boxes that emitted faintly icy air. One of them was carved entirely from Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Marrow. It was translucent, and the outline of what seemed to be a plant could vaguely be seen inside.

But the jade platform was surrounded by an exceptionally powerful Soul Power shield flowing with seven-colored radiance! The energy fluctuations radiating from the shield made Zhu Zhuqing's heart tighten! This was absolutely not something she could break through by force!

"The shield is constructed from the Martial Soul Origin power of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda and linked to Ning Fengzhi's mind. Forcing it open will alert him immediately." Yang Yu's voice remained calm. "Use the Void Talisman I gave you."

Zhu Zhuqing immediately pulled a silver talisman from her clothes, covered in profound spatial patterns. Yang Yu had painstakingly created this one-use Soul Tool by combining the power of the Void Cicada soul ring with the origin of the Creation Lotus.

She took a deep breath and poured Soul Power into the talisman.

Buzz! The talisman glowed with faint silver light, and the spatial patterns on its surface flowed as though they had come alive. Zhu Zhuqing carefully pressed it against the seven-colored shield.

Something strange happened! The sturdy seven-colored shield rippled like water the instant it came into contact with the Void Talisman, silently melting open a temporary hole just large enough for a hand to pass through! The space around the hole's edge twisted faintly, isolating all energy leakage!

A flash of joy appeared in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes. Without hesitation, she thrust her hand through the opening like lightning and precisely grabbed the Ten-Thousand-Year Cold Jade Marrow Box! It was icy cold to the touch!

However, at the instant she got hold of the jade box and was about to pull her hand back, a sudden change occurred!

A nearly transparent thread made of energy was connected to the bottom of the Cold Jade Marrow Box! The other end of that thread was linked to an extremely concealed formation core beneath the jade platform!

The instant Zhu Zhuqing took the jade box, the thread was disturbed! Buzz!!! A low but incredibly urgent hum instantly resounded through the deepest part of the treasury! At the same time, dozens of previously dim runes on the walls around the jade platform suddenly lit up with blinding red light!

"Not good! The secondary alert has been triggered! The guards will arrive within thirty breaths!" For the first time, a hint of urgency entered Yang Yu's voice. "Withdraw according to plan! Hurry!"

Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed, but her movements did not falter in the slightest! She stuffed the jade box into a specially made insulated Soul Tool pouch in her clothes, then shot backward like an arrow released from its bow! At the same time, she flung three smoke talismans Yang Yu had given her, designed to interfere with Soul Power detection, behind her!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Thick black fog that blocked spiritual detection instantly burst open, filling the entire deep area!

"Enemy attack! Treasury breach! Seal all exits!" "Activate the trapping formation! Don't let them escape!"

Urgent shouts and dense footsteps already sounded outside! Powerful Soul Power fluctuations surged in from every direction like a tide!

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes turned icy as she pushed her speed to the limit and fled wildly along the path she had come! Behind her, piercing alarm sounds and the booms of Soul Skills had already erupted!

The plan had encountered an accident! But the Immortal Herb was already in hand! The escape had begun!