On Zhi Mountain.
At the mine cave entrance.
A large squad of burly men in helmets and armor stood outside the cave mouth. A hand hovered before each of them, tethered by a Life Cord. They were clearly Ability Users.
The manager Chen Lin had previously subjected to an illusion trembled as he listened, head bowed, to the middle-aged man's reprimand.
"The Ancestor has sent word that the Thousand-Mile Bell placed deep inside the mine has stopped responding. What's going on?"
The middle-aged man's voice was ice-cold.
This Purple Spirit Sand mine was a major source of income for their Lan Family. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong here.
"Well... this lowly one doesn't know either! I've been guarding this place the whole time, never taking a single step away. I haven't noticed anything unusual."
Hearing that even the clan's Ancestor had been alerted, the manager hurried to defend himself.
The middle-aged man stared at the manager's face. Seeing that he did not appear to be lying, he did not press him further.
"We'll know whether anything's wrong once we go inside and look. But if something really has happened in there, no one will be able to save you!"
With that, the middle-aged man swept his hand forward and led his subordinates into the mine.
Chen Lin could not help looking delighted at Princess Qinghua's words.
"What treasure? Did you bring it out?"
Princess Qinghua shook her head.
"No. I couldn't get close to it. But it gives off a strange fluctuation, and light flows over it. One glance is enough to tell it isn't an ordinary object!"
"Oh?"
Chen Lin voiced his puzzlement, then said, "What is it? Tell me exactly what you saw."
"It looked like a flower..."
Before Princess Qinghua could finish, Chen Lin