"Ah... th-then what should we do?"
Ning Rongrong looked frightened, though what scared her wasn't the Holy Spirit Cult. She was afraid her father and the others would send her back to Shrek Academy again. It wouldn't really be a problem, but she had a vague feeling that the Silver Dragon King had given her this task for a reason—and perhaps the Holy God had a reason too. If she failed to complete it...
Ning Rongrong had already imagined the scene of her returning to the Great Soul Arena that night.
So she had to keep an eye on things herself, which meant her father and Bone Grandpa would have to take her with them.
So she said, "Why was I the one who found this stone? Have I been targeted?"
At her words, the things Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong had been about to say about sending Ning Rongrong back to the academy caught in their throats.
That was true. How could it be such a coincidence? Sending Ning Rongrong back alone might be exactly what the Holy Spirit Cult wanted—a tiger drawn away from the mountain!
After thinking for a moment, Ning Fengzhi relented. "All right, Rongrong. Stay close to us. Your Bone Grandpa and I won't let anything happen to you."
At last, Ning Rongrong's face relaxed.
"Uncle Bone, although we know this stone is most likely connected to the Holy Spirit Cult, what exactly is it for?"
Gu Rong closed his eyes and leaned closer to the stone. Only after a long while did he move away. "I can feel the power of space on this stone. Fengzhi, I have a theory. The Third Saintess Ritual really is being held in Suotuo City, and the Holy Spirit Cult really hasn't left. But they aren't in the world we know."
Ning Rongrong couldn't help looking up at Gu Rong. She had still been wondering how to guide the two of them toward this idea. She hadn't expected them to figure it out on their own, saving her the trouble.
Ning Fengzhi nodded. "That makes sense. And the way this stone keeps flashing suggests it's connected to a location."
He crouched down. At some point, he had put on a pair of black gloves. He picked up the Purple Stone and walked around with it.
The stone's flashes changed in both frequency and brightness.
Then he said, "So I think if we follow the direction where the stone grows brighter, we'll probably find that place. Once we get there, the space around the stone may undergo some kind of change and draw us into that world!"
Ning Rongrong couldn't help clapping.
The three of them set off.
Behind them, Yu Xiaogang followed along as if nothing were amiss, holding a copy of the Suotuo City Daily he had picked up from the ground. His eyes stayed fixed on the three of them.
After following them for a while, he had formed a preliminary judgment.
Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, was guileless and easy to deceive.
Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong were powerful. They were investigating something related to the Holy Spirit Cult, and Ning Rongrong might have simply come along to Suotuo City. Of course, it was also possible that she had joined Shrek Academy and had come out to play because the academy was resting today.
In any case, because of the stone in Ning Rongrong's hand, Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong intended to bring her along and get to the bottom of whatever the Holy Spirit Cult was up to in one go.
Considering the Holy Spirit Cult's recent activity in Suotuo City, the answer was obvious—
The Third Saintess Ritual.
Of course, this wasn't information an ordinary person should have. If everyone knew what the Holy Spirit Cult was doing, there'd be no point in the cult existing. Yu Xiaogang knew about it not because he had an all-reaching intelligence network, but because—
He was a member of the Holy Spirit Cult, and currently its Eighth Elder.
As a prospective elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, he naturally knew that the Third Saintess Ritual would be held in Suotuo City, and that the one organizing it was the Seventh Elder. Of course, he didn't know anything specific about the Seventh Elder.
A prospective elder was someone who could inherit an elder's position if one of the first seven elders died or went missing. To make things easier for the cult members to remember, the Holy Spirit Cult had no separate rank for prospective elders; instead, it continued counting from the Eighth Elder.
But he didn't know the exact location either. If he could get involved in the Third Saintess Ritual and make a contribution, it would undoubtedly be a great achievement. He might even become the new Seventh Elder, gaining access to more ways to improve his Martial Soul.
He followed the three of them, but they revealed practically nothing useful along the way.
At last, he saw them stop. The light from the Purple Stone in Ning Fengzhi's hand grew brighter and brighter, until he could barely make out their figures.
"Not good. They're going in! I won't make it in time!"
Yu Xiaogang realized something was wrong. He hurriedly tossed the newspaper aside and ran toward the stone's light.
But he was too late. To avoid being noticed by the three, he had kept his distance. By the time Yu Xiaogang arrived, there was nothing left.
He shook his head helplessly and consoled himself. "Forget it. I never intended to get involved in this in the first place. It seems I'm simply not fated to be part of it."
With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and left.
"Cough, cough. What's that smell?"
After a flash of purple light, Ning Rongrong and the other two found themselves in a vast, white expanse.
The place was filled with a strange, awful smell. It stank, a little like something had been burned.
Ning Rongrong fanned the air, trying to waft the stench away from her nose. But she clearly hadn't realized that the gas filled the entire space. All she accomplished was replacing one patch of foul air with another.
It took her a long time to get used to the smell. Then she looked around and began observing the space.
There were no walls or ceiling, and even the floor was only faintly visible.
The only things she could see clearly, apart from the two people nearby, were a cluster of tall Purple Fire in the distance.
"Purple flames... Aren't those the mark of the Saintess Ritual?"
Ning Rongrong grew excited. From behind the two, she pointed toward the Purple Fire.
"Let's go over there. There were flames like those at the last Saintess Ritual too."
Ning Fengzhi hesitated for a moment, then decided to trust her.
Only when the three approached the Purple Fire did their view open up a little.
But the scene before them was rather strange.
It was too empty here.
Ning Rongrong recalled the Saintess Ritual at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Back then, there had been boxes filled with unknown liquid, an officiant, Saintess candidates, and cultists. Now, not one of them was there.
As far as the eye could see, there was only a bonfire, an empty cross, stone sculptures, and a balance scale.
On the left side of the scale was a Purple Stone much like the one in Ning Fengzhi's hand. On the right was a bone. The Purple Stone was clearly heavier than the bone, and the scale now tipped down on the left.
And that bone didn't look like an animal's.
"Looking at this scene... Could the Third Saintess Ritual already be over?" Ning Fengzhi asked with a frown, taking in the aftermath.
Ning Rongrong thought the same, but more than what she could see with her own eyes, she trusted what the Silver Dragon King had told her: the Saintess Ritual wasn't over yet.
Just then, a faint sound came from behind her. Metal scraping—that was the kind of sound she'd heard during training, and it was also a sound she'd once heard from Tang San. Ning Rongrong recognized it at once: a Hidden Weapon!
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