After Yun Huizhou took the note and finished reading it, he said, “For this sentence to be circulating on such a massive scale, someone must be deliberately spreading it behind the scenes. There is another power backing Monk Suixin.”
None of the three believed this power was the Demonic Cult. First of all, half of this news was fabricated by Monk Suixin himself; the Demonic Cult couldn’t have known about it much earlier than they did.
Secondly, it had been less than two months since the incident with the Blind Diviner.
If the Demonic Cult were spreading rumors, there was no way they could bypass the border city, yet they had been here for so long and hadn’t heard a single related whisper.
Even if the Demonic Cult were using the “nails” they had previously planted in the Central Plains to spread the rumors, it would be impossible to spread them so widely in such a short time.
Therefore, there must be a hidden Central Plains power behind Monk Suixin, stirring up trouble from the shadows.
However, they truly couldn’t fathom the purpose of spreading this rumor. The martial arts world and the Imperial Court had always minded their own business; why insist on calling it a “place where Dragon Qi gathers”—something that, at first listen, was bound to involve the court and the royal family?
Yun Huizhou and the South Island Master were merely puzzled, sensing that something significant was about to happen.
But Lian Li knew clearly in his heart that the plot had absolutely reached its climax; something big was about to go down.
He even had a faint premonition that the Demonic Cult might just be one piece in the mastermind’s calculations, rather than the final boss.
This thought made Lian Li’s scalp tingle, as he had always regarded the Demonic Cult as the ultimate antagonist.
“The person behind this is spreading the news so widely; it seems they want to lure everyone to the place where the Dragon Qi gathers.” Lian Li swallowed hard and said, “He couldn’t possibly be planning to kill everyone off in one go and then unify the martial world, could he?”
As soon as he said this, the South Island Master and Yun Huizhou both turned their heads, looking at him with burning gazes.
Lian Li felt as if their stares were about to burn holes in his face.
After a long silence, Yun Huizhou finally spoke. “Although the possibility is slim, I always feel that what you say tends to be quite accurate.”
Lian Li asked, “Why do you think the possibility is slim?”
This time, it was the South Island Master who answered his question. “If it truly is a supreme treasure that can greatly increase one’s martial arts, then those attracted to it will all be martial arts masters. Anyone below first-class likely won’t even have the qualifications to be a spectator. While the numbers won’t be too vast, there will still be several hundred people. To kill several hundred people of at least first-class caliber all at once… there really isn’t much of a possibility.”
Lian Li scratched his cheek and thought about it; that made sense.
He truly couldn’t think of any martial power strong enough to directly kill several hundred people at or above the first-class level.
If they had that kind of strength, wouldn’t they just attack directly? Why use such a roundabout method?
Nevertheless, the seed of suspicion remained planted in his heart.
“However, I share Huizhou’s opinion; I feel that you are quite accurate sometimes. We should still warn the Master and the others.” After the South Island Master finished speaking, he picked up a brush and began writing a note.
Yun Huizhou knew that Lian Li hadn’t seen the note brought by the gyrfalcon earlier. As he handed the note over, he also mentioned the other contents written on it.
“Regarding your previous guess about the desert, Grandmaster and Martial Uncle Bei both think it makes sense, so they told us not to return yet and to go have a look in the desert.”
Lian Li took the note, reading it as he said, “But right now it only says a supreme treasure is about to appear; it doesn’t say when. What if it’s at the end of this year or several years from now? We can’t possibly stay in the desert for that long.”
“It’s not that I won’t go, it’s just that the environment in the desert is harsh. A month or two is fine, but if we’re staying for years, I reckon we’ll all end up buried in there.”
Just as he said this, he saw the very last line of text on the note.
The time of the treasure’s appearance has been calculated by Bei Heng; it will be in late May.
Lian Li immediately shut his mouth.
He did the math. It was currently late March, which meant the supreme treasure would appear in two months.
The note also mentioned that for treasures that could be divined like this, there were usually special omens when they appeared.
In other words, if they entered the desert in May to search, and the treasure really was in the desert, they would surely be able to find it based on those special omens.
Especially since they had the South Island Master with them.
When a supreme treasure appeared, if a Transcendent Master happened to be within a certain range, they would have a special sensory perception of it.
Their Grandmaster, Li Hansong, while traveling abroad, had once sensed a decent treasure appearing near him.
Thus, being the “pavilion near the water,” he took it for himself directly.
By the time others who had received the news arrived and found the place, Li Hansong had long since departed.
To be honest, Lian Li had always felt that Transcendent Masters possessed something somewhat mystical, especially his Grandmaster, whom he found particularly mysterious.
Although they were all Transcendent Masters, he always felt that the other Transcendent Masters were not on the same level as his Grandmaster—not even the four Island Masters of Zuimeng Island were an exception.
It felt as if there was a vast difference between them and the Grandmaster.
At this point, the plan to catch horses was truly going to be shelved. Not only that, but they also had to prepare for entering the desert.
Lian Li was actually very nervous. Although he had traveled to many places with Yun Huizhou in this life and had even broken into the headquarters of the Spirit Sect, he had never expected there would come a day when he would enter the desert.
In this ancient era without satellite positioning, Lian Li felt that even with a compass, they might not necessarily be able to identify their direction in the desert.
He felt a certain fear of the desert in his heart and was somewhat worried about their upcoming journey.
But the South Island Master and Yun Huizhou didn’t seem worried at all, as if entering the desert was no different from going out for a stroll.
Lian Li was a bit worried that they didn’t know the horrors of the desert, so that night, he asked Yun Huizhou, “Why aren’t you and the Master worried at all about entering the desert?”
Yun Huizhou saw his anxiety and unease. He stroked Lian Li’s long hair, which was like black satin, and said, “When I came here before, I entered the desert with some merchant caravans. Master also stayed in the desert for a period of time when he was young.”
Hearing that they both had experience in the desert, Lian Li felt slightly more at ease.
To reassure him, Yun Huizhou continued, “There are many animals in the desert, especially wild camels. We will buy a small team of camels to take in. If we really run into trouble, the chances of finding wild camels by following them are quite high. Besides, we have Master, a Transcendent Master, with us. There’s no need to worry too much.”
As Lian Li listened, he recalled the methods for finding water in the desert that he had seen in the modern world.
Slowly, his heart grew more and more settled.
A person like the Grandmaster, who traveled everywhere, couldn’t possibly have never been to the desert. Since the note explicitly told them to enter the desert this time, he likely believed they wouldn’t die in the desert due to environmental issues at the very least.
