Rongrong Feigns Sleep to Lure the Enemy

"Ah... then, what should we do?"

Ning Rongrong put on a fearful expression, though she wasn't afraid of the Holy Spirit Sect; she was afraid that her father and the others would send her back to Shrek Academy. In truth, that wouldn't be the end of the world, but she had a vague feeling that the task the Silver Dragon King had given her must have its reasons—perhaps even the reasons of that Holy God. If she failed to complete it...

Ning Rongrong could already imagine the scene from that night when she returned to the Great Soul Arena.

Therefore, she had to keep a close eye on things, which meant she needed her father and the others to take her along.

So she said, "Why was it me who found this stone? Have I been targeted?"

As soon as these words left her lips, the words Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong had intended to use to send Ning Rongrong back to the academy died in their throats.

Indeed, how could it be such a coincidence? If they sent Ning Rongrong back alone, it might just play right into the Holy Spirit Sect's scheme of luring the tiger away from the mountain!

After a moment of thought, Ning Fengzhi relented: "Very well, Rongrong, stay close to us. Bone and I will not let anything happen to you."

A look of relief finally spread across Ning Rongrong's face.

"Uncle Bone, although we know this stone is likely inseparable from the Holy Spirit Sect, what exactly is its purpose?"

Gu Rong closed his eyes and leaned in close to the stone. After a long while, he pulled back and said, "I can sense a power of space within this stone. Fengzhi, I have a thought. The location for the Holy Spirit Sect's third Saintess Ritual is indeed Suotuo City, and they certainly haven't left, but they are not in the world as we know it."

Ning Rongrong couldn't help but look up at Gu Rong. She had been wondering how to guide the two of them to this realization, but she hadn't expected them to figure it out on their own, which saved her quite a bit of effort.

Ning Fengzhi nodded and said, "That makes sense. And I noticed the stone flickering, which suggests it is related to a specific location."

He crouched down, having donned black gloves at some point, picked up the purple stone, and walked around.

The frequency and brightness of the stone's flickering changed.

He then said, "So I believe that as long as we follow the direction where the stone grows brighter, we should be able to find that place. And once we arrive, I fear the area around this stone will undergo a transformation, pulling us into that space!"

Ning Rongrong couldn't help but clap her hands.

The three of them began to move.

Behind them, Yu Xiaogang followed as if nothing were amiss, holding a copy of the Suotuo City Daily he had picked up from the ground, his gaze fixed on the trio at all times.

After following for a while, he had formed a preliminary judgment about the three.

Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, was simple-minded and easily deceived.

Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong were quite powerful and were currently investigating something regarding the Holy Spirit Sect. Ning Rongrong might have just come along to Suotuo City as an afterthought; of course, it was also possible that she had joined Shrek Academy and was simply out for the day since the academy was on break.

In any case, because of the stone in Ning Rongrong's hand, Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong intended to take her along to get to the bottom of the Holy Spirit Sect's business once and for all.

Connecting this to the recent movements of the Holy Spirit Sect in Suotuo City, the answer was obvious—

The third Saintess Ritual.

This was, of course, not information a normal person should possess. If everyone knew what the Holy Spirit Sect was up to, the sect wouldn't be able to exist. And the reason Yu Xiaogang knew this wasn't because he had some heaven-reaching intelligence network, but because—

He was, in fact, a member of the Holy Spirit Sect, currently serving as the Eighth Elder.

As someone at the quasi-elder level of the Holy Spirit Sect, he naturally knew that the location for the third Saintess Ritual was Suotuo City, and he also knew that the one hosting this ritual was the Seventh Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect. Of course, he did not know the specific details regarding the Seventh Elder.

A so-called quasi-elder was someone who could inherit the position of an elder in the event that the status of the first seven elders became unknown. For the convenience of the sect members, the Holy Spirit Sect did not set up a separate title for quasi-elders, but simply continued the numbering starting from the Eighth Elder.

However, he also did not know the specific location. If he could involve himself in the third Saintess Ritual and make a contribution, it would undoubtedly be a great achievement, and he would likely become the new Seventh Elder in the future, thereby gaining access to more ways to improve his own martial soul.

He followed the three, but they revealed almost no useful information along the way.

Finally, he saw the three stop. The light emitted by the purple stone in Ning Fengzhi's hand grew brighter and brighter, until he could barely see their figures anymore.

"No, they're going in! I'm not going to make it!"

Realizing something was wrong, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly tossed the newspaper aside and ran toward the direction of the stone.

Unfortunately, it was too late. To avoid being detected by the three, he had kept a considerable distance, and by the time Yu Xiaogang arrived, there was nothing left.

Helpless, he shook his head and consoled himself: "Forget it. I never intended to get involved in this matter to begin with. It seems I have no fate with this affair."

With that, Yu Xiaogang turned and left.

"Cough, cough, what is that smell?"

After a flash of purple light, Ning Rongrong and the two others had arrived in a vast, white expanse.

This place was filled with a strange odor—it was quite unpleasant, somewhat foul, and smelled a bit like something had been scorched.

Ning Rongrong fanned the air, trying to clear the stench from before her nose, but she clearly hadn't realized that the gas permeated the entire space; the only result of her actions was having the foul air replaced by more foul air.

After a long while, she finally adapted to the gas. She looked around, observing the space.

She couldn't see walls or a ceiling, and even the floor was only vaguely visible.

Aside from the two people nearby, the only thing that could be seen clearly was a cluster of relatively tall purple flames not far away.

"Purple flames... aren't those the mark of the Saintess Ritual?"

Ning Rongrong was somewhat excited. She reached out from behind the two men and pointed toward the purple flames.

"Let's go there. The last Saintess Ritual had similar flames."

Ning Fengzhi hesitated for a moment before deciding to trust her.

Once the three of them approached the purple flames, their field of vision widened slightly.

However, the scene before them was a bit strange.

It was too empty here.

Ning Rongrong recalled the appearance of the Saintess Ritual at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect from her memories; the containers filled with unknown liquid, the officiant, the Saintess candidates, and the cultists that had appeared back then were all absent now.

As far as the eye could see, there were only a bonfire, empty crosses, stone carvings, and a scale.

On the left side of the scale sat a purple stone similar to the one in Ning Fengzhi's hand, while a bone rested on the right. The purple stone was clearly heavier than the bone, causing the left side of the scale to sink.

And that bone did not look like it came from a beast.

"This scene... could it be that the third Saintess Ritual has already been completed?"

Ning Fengzhi looked at this "post-crime scene" and frowned as he spoke.

Ning Rongrong shared the same thought, but compared to what she was seeing, she was more inclined to believe what the Silver Dragon King had told her—that the Saintess Ritual had not yet been completed.

Just then, a strange sound came from behind her. The sound of metal rubbing against metal—a noise she could only recognize after rigorous training, and one she had once heard from Tang San—Ning Rongrong identified it instantly: it was a Hidden Weapon!