At first, Mu Rong Xu was somewhat confused, but then immediately understood that they were verifying their identity with a secret code. Indeed, while the old man laughed, he also gave a long sigh. "I didn't think that you guys would get here so soon."
"Where are the goods?" Qin Wushuang asked.
"The goods?" The old man revealed a mysterious smile and stopped to look at the well. His body flashed like lightning as he jumped into the well.
In a short moment, he scuttled back up, like a fish trying to jump through the dragon gate. Three golden objects that were bright and dazzling appeared in his hands. Indeed, these were the mentioned spiritual keys that could open the barriers to the Endless Eastern Sea.
A while ago, before Qin Wushuang had even left the human countries, he had made a promise with Zhuo Buqun. When Zhuo Buqun and his people entered the Endless Eastern Sea, they would entrust the spiritual keys to one of the most trusted aids of the capital.
Qin Wushuang only needed to look for a fine horse using only a picture. He didn't expect that it would be an old man.
After he got the spiritual keys, Qin Wushuang did not linger. He left the capital and exerted all his efforts to rush to the border of the Endless Eastern Sea. With their current speed, it would not take too much time for them to head to the Endless Eastern Sea. Soon, they arrived at its border.
In fact, the coastline of the Endless Eastern Sea was extremely long; however, this desolated long coastline had always been viewed as a coastline of death.
It acquired this stereotype because since long ago, people from the human countries have attempted to avoid using the approved entrance, so almost no one had returned from this area safe and sound.
There was no concrete information, of course, as few had returned. Such records were very few and the probability was next to nothing.
Although the assigned entrance had barriers, the risks were less. With the fixed route, it would be much safer.
Historically, those who had returned successfully from the Endless Eastern Sea exploration had entered and exited through the appointed place. To enter this appointed entrance, one would need to pass the barrier that was formed by the three spiritual formation.
These three spiritual keys were to be used to open this spiritual barrier.
Two tall peaks lay in front of him and a valley was placed in between these peaks that extended all the way in. Qin Wushuang stood before the entrance of the valley.
Without daring to neglect, he observed carefully. He pointed to a pile of stones in front of him and said to Mu Rong Xu, "In terms of the human countries, it could be said this holds little value to the Tian Xuan Land. Why would there be such powerful barriers set up?"
It appears to be only a pile of stones in the front, but in fact was an extremely concealed space formation. If someone charged in recklessly, they would be attacked and fall into an incredibly dangerous situation.
Qin Wushuang offered the first spiritual key and supported it with his spiritual Qi gently. Instantly, the spiritual key became bigger, faced the wind, and turned into a golden longsword that shot up at the sky.
As if having an innate understanding, a silver light shot out to accept the golden longsword and swallowed it.
As soon as the golden longsword was swallowed, a portal began to appear in the sky. A formless yet solid gate slowly opened.
Qin Wushuang called to Mu Rong Xu, "Xu'Er, let's go in."
By entering through the portal, they had broken through the first barrier. After passing through, the golden longsword slowly transformed and turned into the shape of a golden key that slowly dropped before him.
Qin Wushuang beckoned his hand and caught the key. He had once received personal instructions on how to operate this spiritual key from Zhuo Buqun. Therefore, he was not flustered.
After passing through the first barrier, they moved forward by following the valley. They arrived at the second barrier after walking dozens of miles.
Qin Wushuang followed the set pattern, yet the time it took to pass through the second prohibition was longer than the first one. After all, the barriers were getting more complicated one after the other. When opening them, they would naturally take more time.
Even for someone as wise and experienced as Mu Rong Xu who had seen a lot from the Xuan Yuan Mound, she also felt slightly surprised at this. She said to Qin Wushuang, "Brother Qin, this barrier appears to not be simple. If it weren't for the skill of a divine warrior, one would have never be able to set up this obstacle."
"Yes, even for an elite warrior of the Supreme Dao, it would not be easy to set up such a situation. It appears that the Tian Xuan Land harbors too many secrets."
Mu Rong Xu nodded. "Initially, the Endless Eastern Sea was the most mysterious and the most boundless existence among the five major Forbidden Spiritual Zones. Perhaps, it's possible that it's a barrier set up by the dragon clan."
"Yes, no matter how many secrets there are, there will be a day when the truth comes to light. Xu'Er, let's keep moving forward. Soon we will arrive. I truly hope they are not too far from the entrance. The Endless Eastern Sea is not an ordinary place. The more steps you take, the more dangers there are."
These two moved without stopping. Although the third barrier was even more complicated, with the spiritual key at hand, the result was without a question.
Upon having passed three barriers successfully, the two of them arrived at the coastal inlet. As far as the eye could see, the boundless territorial waters presented were a significant sight. Even if Qin Wushuang exerted all his efforts to execute his spiritual perception, he could only see a pile of white fog covering the sky and the earth.
"Xu'Er, wait here for a bit. I will observe in the sky and see if I can find their location."
Mu Rong Xu shook her head. "Brother Qin, I will be coming with you."
Qin Wushuang knew that Mu Rong Xu was reluctant to part ways from him. Since he could not persuade her, they flew into the air and started to search across the boundless territorial waters.
As soon as they had entered the Endless Eastern Sea, the environment immediately become dangerous. From time to time, billows would soar to the sky. Fortunately, these two were searching from a high vantage point.
After having traveled back and forth for a while, they could not see a single person.
Qin Wushuang spread his spiritual perception and discovered a crowded island that was two hundred miles away. Then, he observed closer and found sign of human habitation.
Qin Wushuang was overjoyed and dashed to the island with Mu Rong Xu.
Indeed, as soon as they approached the island, Qin Wushuang immediately sensed familiar presences. This was truly the place! Overjoyed, Qin Wushuang shouted, "Teacher, are you guys here?"
The whistling of the sea waves was like snarling from the underworld devils. In spite of this fact, Qin Wushuang's voice still penetrated the layers of sound like a sharp sword shooting over the island.
This island was not big for it only appeared to have a radius of a few miles. Now, people of the Stargaze Palace and Qin Wushuang's family were at this island.
Initially, they were riding a large ship; however, their ship had encountered a tsunami and was destroyed instantly. If it weren't for this island in the nearby area, each of them would have fallen to the bottom of the sea.
They had been at this island for almost a year. The Palace Masters had naturally been able to endure it while the younger disciples were barely holding on.
The weakest ones were Qin Xiu and her son. Although Qin Xiu and her son had consumed the Green Jade Ice Heart Fruit, it only provided strength for a short time as their strength had already weakened.
They would have been unable to continue surviving on this island.
Zhuo Buqun and Tan Zhongchi were also thinking of ways to leave the island and return to land. Suddenly, they heard Qin Wushuang's voice and were all overjoyed.
Currently, Da Xi Ming's strength had also changed with the overall trend, as he had also made it to the Advanced Spiritual Martial Force. Now, he was worrying for his wife and son. Upon hearing Qin Wushuang's voice, he was instantly jubilant.
"Wushuang, Wushuang, we are here!" he immediately waved his sleeve and shouted. Da Xi Ming was overjoyed at the unexpected good news and lost his self-control which rarely happened.
Upon hearing the voice of Da Xi Ming, his older sister's husband was also overjoyed and asked, Brother-in-law, is my sister and Chengcheng well?"
"Wushuang, you've come just in time. If it were any longer, the situation would not have been favorable."
Now, Zhuo Buqun and Tan Zhongchi had all rushed out and waved their hands in the air. Qin Wushuang and Mu Rong Xu dropped to the ground with faces brimming with happiness.
There were no major problems with Qin Xiu and Chengcheng, they were just somewhat weak after having endured a high pressure environment for a long period of time. Qin Wushuang gave them a few pills to consume. Of course, these were pills of the highest quality left by Lu Xianlou.
Naturally, the pills left by Lu Xianlou were incomparable to the pills crafted in the human countries. After Qin Xiu and Chengcheng consumed them, the effects were instant.
"Wushuang, you are finally back!"
"Junior Brother Wushuang…"
His family, teacher, and disciples all called over as Qin Wushuang introduced them to Mu Rong Xu. With a polite manner, Mu Rong Xu greeted them one after another. While he was introducing his fellow disciples, Tan Zhongchi laughed and said, "Wushuang, Miss Mu Rong had helped us greatly, of course we know each other."
Zhou Fu asked while making fun of him, "Junior Brother Wushuang, how should we call miss Mu Rong? Should we call her the wife of our junior brother, or miss Mu Rong?"
Everyone laughed wholeheartedly. Qin Lianshan seemed to be in a great mood as he said, "Wushuang, Miss Mu Rong has done so much for you. You must treat her well."
Qin Wushuang laughed. "Father, of course."
Tan Zhongchi jokingly explained, "Wushuang, you didn't understand your father's implied meaning. He is hinting to you that he wants a grandson soon. Is that right, Junior Brother Lianshan?"
Qin Lianshan laughed. "So Palace Master Tan knows me well, ha ha!"
Zhuo Buqun walked up with a smile. "Wushuang, was the journey to the Xuan Yuan Mound smooth? Is the Stargaze Palace still well?"
When the Stargaze Palace was mentioned, Qin Wushuang's expression instantly saddened.
Upon seeing Qin Wushuang's face, everyone immediately could feel that something was wrong. Tan Zhongchi asked with a low voice, "Wushuang, did something happen?"
Mu Rong Xu knew that the disaster to the Stargaze Palace would become Qin Wushuang's eternal pain inside his heart. Therefore, she said for him, "Palace Masters, the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect is deranged. When they could not deal with Brother Qin, they sent elite warriors to massacre those at the Stargaze Palace. There were many casualties."
The face of Zhuo Buqun and Tan Zhongchi became dim instantly. They looked at each other and sighed endlessly. They were helpless before those powerful people. On the surface, they were initiating a strategic retreat to the Endless Eastern Sea, yet in fact, could it be they were running away from it?
Besides avoiding it, they were ultimately left without a choice.
To the Stargaze Palace, the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect was a force they could not challenge.
Mu Rong Xu understood how they were feeling as she comforted them, "Palace Masters, don't feel bad. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Brother Qin already sought enough revenge from the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect."
"Oh?"
"Brother Qin killed the home of the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect single-handedly. He destroyed the root of the spiritual source and caused a major collapse of all the barriers of the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect. He broke their roots. The loss of the Heavenly Luo Daoist Sect will be greater than the Stargaze Palace!"
The eyes of Zhuo Buqun and Tan Zhongchi had shone as they praised uniformly, "Wushuang, excellent work!"
It's unavoidable to fight hand-to-hand in the Tian Xuan Land, yet one must never sit and wait for death. They must give the enemy a taste of their own medicine!