Archery

Before Nie Li and the others arrived, the various Families had already explored the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. Unfortunately, they hadn't found much, and afterward, few people came back to explore. Chen Linjian had somehow gotten hold of a map of the Ancient Orchid City Ruins, and that was what had convinced him to bring a group here.

"We've finally reached the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. We have two routes to choose from. Here's the map!" Chen Linjian spread it out and pointed to several routes.

Everyone gathered around the map, discussing it.

"The first route comes in through the west gate and follows the city wall. It'll get us to the main city quickly, but what can we find along the way? We need to go inside the city and search the houses if we want to find anything worthwhile!" one of Chen Linjian's men said.

"I agree with him!"

"Right, we should search this residential area!" Everyone chimed in.

Chen Linjian fell silent for a moment, then looked up at Nie Li and asked, "What do you think?"

Everyone was a little surprised. They hadn't expected Chen Linjian to ask Nie Li's opinion at a time like this.

Ye Ziyun watched Nie Li with bright, clear eyes, while Hu Yan Lanruo stared at him without blinking.

By now, everyone cared about what Nie Li thought.

Nie Li spread his hands. "If you came here just to search this residential area, you're badly mistaken. The people who arrived before us have definitely already searched these houses. If we go through them again, we probably won't find a thing. In any city, who has the most wealth? The common people? Of course not. Ninety percent of a city's wealth is concentrated in the hands of the great Families!"

"This city stretches for hundreds of miles, and there are so many houses. Many areas have already been destroyed. How are we supposed to know where the great Families lived?" Shen Yue argued from the side. He contradicted everything Nie Li said.

"Finding where the great Families lived is actually very simple," Nie Li continued. "Wherever the buildings are most sparsely distributed on this map, that's where they lived! Great Families usually had their own separate estates."

Everyone's eyes fell on the map.

"It's here!" Hu Yan Lanruo exclaimed delightedly.

"That's right. It must be here. Many of these buildings are huge!"

Chen Linjian furrowed his brow. "This area has already been searched. They found a few good things, but not much. Some people even dug it up three feet deep, and still didn't find anything like a hidden chamber!"

"I told you, anything you can think of, someone else has already thought of! Did you think all the great Families in the City of Brilliance were fools?" Shen Yue sneered.

Nie Li frowned and fixed Shen Yue with a stare. "Could you keep quiet while I'm talking? Since you're so clever, why don't you tell us what to do?"

Shen Yue was about to retort, but Chen Linjian glared at him and snapped, "Shut up!"

Shen Yue opened his mouth, then finally shut it in frustration. He was a direct descendant of the Sacred Family, but his status couldn't compare to Chen Linjian's. He wouldn't have dared talk back to Chen Linjian even if he'd had ten times the nerve.

"It's only natural that this area's been searched. Let's keep looking at the map. This residential area for the great Families lies right on the central axis of Ancient Orchid City, because this was the most heavily guarded and safest part of the city." Nie Li pointed to an area behind the Families' estates. "The City Lord's Mansion should be here!"

Shen Yue nodded. Nie Li's deductions had been right so far. But the City Lord's Mansion had already been searched by those who arrived earlier, including underground, and they hadn't found much.

"Let's keep looking at the map. There are three areas just a few hundred meters from the City Lord's Mansion. Do you know what they were used for?" Nie Li asked Chen Linjian.

"One of them is a training ground, where the City Lord drilled his troops. Another has a dense cluster of stone fortresses. There's nothing inside them, and they're all made of Black Cloud Stone—you can't even chisel it. The last area's purpose is unknown. It's beside the stone fortresses and overgrown with weeds and trees," Chen Linjian replied. Before coming here, he had studied Ancient Orchid City's map until he knew it by heart.

Hearing Chen Linjian's answer, Nie Li smiled faintly. "That's pretty close to what I deduced."

Chen Linjian's eyes lit up. "You mean all three places are suspicious? Could it be the stone fortresses? But those have already been searched!"

"The stone fortresses were probably shelters built for when disaster struck. When the demon beasts came, the people would have gone inside to hide. There might be hidden rooms containing treasures. The open ground beside the fortresses is obviously a trap zone, built to fend off demon beasts. If we go in there to investigate, we might not even know what killed us. But I think the most suspicious place is the training ground!" Nie Li said with a faint smile.

"Why is the training ground the most suspicious?"

The training ground was just a muddy, open space—a parade ground for drilling troops. What could be suspicious about it?

"The least conspicuous places are often the safest. Besides, it's no coincidence that the City Lord placed the training ground right on the city's central axis. There's probably something very important hidden beneath it!" Nie Li pointed at the map. "Let's head over there first and have a look around!"

"Mm! It's settled, then!" Chen Linjian said with a faint smile as he folded up the map. Now that they had a direction, they could save plenty of time and avoid a lot of detours.

Chen Linjian's men looked at Nie Li with a trace of admiration. By now, no one looked down on him anymore. They felt it was only right that Nie Li should get to choose a treasure first.

Hu Yan Lanruo lifted her head, her eyes shining. Nie Li's careful reasoning had impressed her. She had a vague sense that there was more to him than met the eye. Otherwise, how could a Bronze 1-star ignore her bewitching technique?

The man I choose is bound to be extraordinary! Hu Yan Lanruo thought proudly. Nie Li had completely ignored her, but she had already decided he was the one for her.

If Nie Li had known what Hu Yan Lanruo was thinking, he would have burst into tears. Why had he needed to show off? Now that this piece of sticky candy had latched onto him, he'd probably never be able to shake her off!

Ye Ziyun smiled behind her lips. Her captivating charm made Nie Li stare for a moment. Every little expression of Ye Ziyun's carried a familiar quality all its own.

Seeing Nie Li looking so captivated by Ye Ziyun, Hu Yan Lanruo was about to go mad. A sexy, beautiful girl like her was standing right in front of Nie Li, yet he acted as though he were blind. He only had eyes for Ye Ziyun. It was simply too hateful! Nie Li, I hate you!

Nie Li couldn't have cared less what Hu Yan Lanruo was thinking. He took out his crossbow and a vial of Purple Mist Grass potion from his pack, then smeared the potion onto the arrows.

"Nie Li, what are you doing?" Hu Yan Lanruo and Ye Ziyun both asked, puzzled.

Nie Li shrugged. "Nothing."

"All right, let's move out!" Chen Linjian called. The group slowly made their way toward Ancient Orchid City, following the edge of the city wall along a route that was relatively quick and safe. The original route would have been extremely difficult, because areas with complicated terrain often hid many demon beasts.

Roars from demon beasts echoed out of the Ancient Orchid City Ruins. Aside from the beasts, groups of people passed by from time to time. They were all from the City of Brilliance, there to explore the ruins.

Just as Chen Linjian, Nie Li, and the others ventured deeper into Ancient Orchid City, a group of people appeared at its entrance.

They wore black robes, and there were fifteen of them in all.

"Are you sure those kids are all noble scions?" The black-robed man leading them glanced at the people beside him. He was tall, a full head taller than the others.

"Yes, Deacon Yun Hua," one of the black-robed men beside him replied.

"Good!" Deacon Yun Hua gave a savage smile. "Capture the three with the highest status and take them back to ransom them to those noble Families. Kill everyone else!"

The Dark Guild was a presence that made people in the City of Brilliance tremble at the mere mention of it. They often kidnapped scions of the great Families for ransom, like a swarm of leeches living in the city's shadows. Using all manner of underhanded methods, they amassed wealth to provide their members with cultivation resources. Several great Families in the City of Brilliance had joined forces to strike at the Dark Guild more than once, but every time they tried to wipe it out, it seemed to vanish into thin air.

It was said that the Dark Guild's headquarters was hidden in an extremely secluded place in the Sacred Ancestor Mountain Range. It was a powerful, terrifying force—even Lord Ye Mo couldn't eradicate it completely.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The black-robed figures sped off into the depths of Ancient Orchid City.

Within the Ancient Orchid City Ruins.

Nie Li and the others struggled forward. From time to time, enormous Green Arm Giant Apes darted through the ruins. The demon beasts stood two meters tall, their thick arms like black iron pillars, yet they moved with astonishing agility. Almost all of them were Silver Rank.

Six Green Arm Giant Apes leapt through the crumbling walls and ruins, trailing Nie Li and the others from a distance.

These Green Arm Giant Apes were remarkably intelligent. Seeing that there were more than thirty people in the group, they didn't dare approach. They only followed from afar, waiting for an opportunity.

"These Green Arm Giant Apes are so annoying!" Chen Linjian said with a frown. The apes weren't attacking, but there was nothing they could do about them. As time passed, more and more would gather. Once enough of them were trailing the group, they would attack all at once.

Just then, a sharp whoosh rang out. A flash of cold light streaked from the shadow of a corner.

Chen Linjian and the others quickly saw that it was an arrow. It slipped through the gaps between the branches at an extremely tricky angle, shooting toward one of the Green Arm Giant Apes.

The arrow struck the Green Arm Giant Ape squarely. With a wail, it toppled from a distant high wall and crashed down in a cloud of dust. It struggled on the ground but couldn't get back up.

Seeing this, Chen Linjian immediately dashed forward and brought his sharp sword down. With a splurt of blood, the Green Arm Giant Ape died on the ground.

Everyone turned around in astonishment and saw Nie Li strolling out of the shadows.