“Never would I expect that Master Zhong Xiru would be here,” Rong Yuan thought to himself while watching the people from the Luosheng Sect stream in.

Gu Lingzhi’s eyes lit up. The only one in the entire Luo Sheng sector that was capable of shouldering the title of a “Master” was the utmost legendary Weapon Forger — Zhong Xiru.

Through Gu Lingzhi’s look of excitement, Rong Yuan pinched her cheeks and gazed towards one direction before saying, “There, the one in black is the high-grade Earth-Level Weapon Forger Master Zhong Xiru from the Luosheng Sect.”

Gu Lingzhi followed Rong Yuan’s line of vision towards a middle-aged man with a sturdy physique and healthy bronze skin. On his waist held a distinctive compass that was evidently unique due to its shape and texture.

“So, this is Master Zhong? What a pity I am unable to discuss the art of weapon forgery with him,” Gu Lingzhi sighed.

As a Weapon Forger herself, she admired Zhong Xiru the way Martial Artists idolized the True Gods. Unfortunately, she was assuming her true identity as Gu Lingzhi. If she assumed the identity of the Black Thorn, she could shamelessly go up to him and ask for advice on how to improve her weapon forgery skills.

The people from the Luosheng Sect had arrived upon invitation by the North Qiu Kingdom. Upon their arrival, Pan Wuyang’s face revealed the first sincere smile ever since he entered the Secret Territory. He welcomed Zhong Xiru warmly, “Master Zhong, we have been waiting for you for some time …”

Afterwards, both Zhong Xiru and Pan Wuyang started to reminisce about their past. Both Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan both had no habit of eavesdropping and thus, stopped themselves in front of a portion of the Restrictive Shield that was vacant.

The high-level Martial Artists had energies surpassing normal beings. A few days without sleep was nothing to them. Martial Lords could persist for months without sleep. For Martial Sages, sleep was no longer necessary to rejuvenate their bodies. They could eliminate their fatigue just by meditating for a few minutes.

Therefore, even when it was late at night, those within the Sacred Lands would have no intention of resting. Everyone was more energized than they would be in the day. Along with the transition in time, the number of people in the Sacred Lands increased continuously.

Fortunately, the main palace had an impenetrable Restrictive Shield. Other than a few Martial Artists who were above the level of a Martial Sage, no one dared to stick around – except Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan. Bystanders scoffed at the sight of them overestimating their abilities.

“Look at these two lowly Martial Artists thinking about breaking through the Restrictive Shield and entering the palace. They must’ve gone crazy from thinking about the spiritual treasures.” Similar opinions were constantly exchanged in the surrounding. Yet, no one kindly stepped up and persuaded them to leave. Observers anticipated a good show to happen and continued to let the two of them waste their time.

With two less people fighting for the treasure, the onlookers’ chances of acquiring the treasure would increase. Only a fool would persuade them not to break through the Shield.

Gu Lingzhi had no time to notice the stares of the bystanders. Her current state of mind was all concentrated on her palm that was placed firmly against the Shield.

After circulating around the boundary of the Shield, they had finally found an empty corner. Gu Lingzhi followed the method given by the voice and summoned the spiritual energy from the Inheritance Space, channeling it onto her palm. When the spiritual energy came into contact with the Restrictive Shield, she attempted to extend her palm further into the Shield.

Along with the movement of Gu Lingzhi’s hand, the Restrictive Shield that even Demigods could not trespass had dissolved.

It went in!

Gu Lingzhi was filled with excitement. As the spiritual energy poured out from her Inheritance Space, it enveloped half of her body. She attempted to put her leg through the Shield. The voice in her consciousness commanded, “Yes, that’s it. Put your shoulder in first before stepping in with one leg. As long as half of the body is in, the rest can pass directly.”

As Rong Yuan was unable to hear the voice, he became nervous upon watching Gu Lingzhi’s movements, afraid that something might happen. He hated that he was unable to stand-in for her. After all, Gu Lingzhi was the only person who could access the Inheritance Space, so she was the only one who could attempt trespassing the Restrictive Shield.

Gu Lingzhi carefully maneuvered her body such that her entire right arm was already deep within the other side of the Shield. Half of her right leg was also inside. She just needed to inch slightly more to fully trespass the Shield.

Suddenly, her body shook. She felt numbness throughout the body that was already within the boundary as dozens of transparent ripples began to spread outwards.

“Get out quickly! Damn it, the Restrictive Shield has been tampered with!” The voice exclaimed as soon as it sensed the anomaly.

Gu Lingzhi did not hesitate to pull her body out of the Shield the moment she heard the voice.

Almost as soon as she withdrew from the Shield, a series of arcs flashed across the once transparent Shield. It was not difficult to imagine what kind of counterattack Gu Lingzhi would have suffered if she were to be a little slower.

Looking at the Shield that was flashing blue and purple currents, Rong Yuan took Gu Lingzhi into his arms in fear as he asked, “What happened? I thought you could safely pass through it as long as half your body is inside.”

Judging by the color of the arc, if Gu Lingzhi were to be struck by it, she would be skinned alive or even die.

“I am not too sure, Zi Zi said that the Shield has been manipulated.”

Upon hastily replying to Rong Yuan, Gu Lingzhi decided to ask Zi Zi about what had happened.

Zi Zi’s big tail fluttered angrily behind it. After listening to Gu Lingzhi’s inquiries, it pointed angrily to the direction of North Qiu’s palace and cursed, “There’s no doubt that it was the actions of those bastards! They entered the Sacred Lands but were unable to break the Shield. In order to not let others reach the treasure, they put up another Shield on top of the original one in the main palace. That’s why the spiritual energy from the Inheritance Space was not able to flow smoothly. The only people who are capable of such deleterious actions are those from the Pan Family.”

In fact, Zi Zi had only managed to guess half of it right.

For so many years since the discovery of the Sacred Lands, the royal family of the North Qiu Kingdom could not go past the Restrictive Shield. As a last resort, someone thought of the idea of adding a few more layers of Restrictive Shields around the original one. Over time, the original Shield would weaken and gradually disappear.

In reality, this approach had really worked.

Although Gu Lingzhi had no ways of entering the main palace through the Inheritance Space, they had erased the possibility of her doing so by adding on a few more Restrictive Shields. The people who invited the Luosheng Sect were also here for that glimmer of hope of entering the main palace.

After getting past the Restrictive Shield, it was entirely up to the North Qiu Kingdom how they wanted to divide the treasures. Their familiarity of the Sacred Lands meant that it would be easy for them to make a few people disappear without a reason.

Not having the Inheritance Space to rely on, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan could only stare at the Shield in hopes of entering the main palace. They helplessly joined the treasure hunting team and followed others in searching the surrounding for spiritual treasures while monitoring the happenings inside the main palace. The people who had watched them try to get past the Shield now looked at them in disdain. There were now two more people to split the treasure with.

Even though many were able to obtain some form of treasure upon the discovery of the Sacred Lands, less treasures could be found as they went deeper into the Sacred Lands for some unknown reason. Many people had attempted to search for treasures for half a day before finding treasures that were of not much value. They could not even earn back the fees paid to enter the Sacred Lands. This was not inclusive of the people who had accidentally lost their lives as well.

Five days later, Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan had barely made any gains when they stumbled into a side hall that was beyond the Restrictive Shield. Whilst they were searching, all of a sudden, the entire ground seemed to shake.

Both of their eyes met as they quickly jumped out of the side hall windows. By then, many people had already looked in the direction of the main palace in shock.

“That..." Gu Lingzhi watched in astonishment as the Shield was easily lifted above their heads by Zhong Xiru. The main palace that was once covered by the Shield, was now revealing its entire appearance. It now towers in the center, shining upon the whole Sacred Lands.

“...The Shield has been broken by them,” Gu Lingzhi murmured the second half of the sentence. Soon after, she asked Zi Zi, “Didn’t you say that even Demigods would be unable to break this Restrictive Shield? How do you explain this?”

The voice made an extravagant embellishment out of the Shield. However, not only had the Shield been tampered with, but her inability to break through it even with the Inheritance Space made her doubt the credibility of the voice. Right in front of her, the Shield had been broken within a short span of five days.

“This… I don’t know. Maybe the people of the North Qiu Kingdom used some special spiritual treasure.” The voice spoke with a little guilt, “The Royal Family of the North Qiu Kingdom relies on Pan Luo, and you know it too. Maybe they used a hidden weapon that could unleash divine powers.”

“If the North Qiu Kingdom were to have a treasure like that, they wouldn’t have waited until today to use it.” Gu Lingzhi could not even be bothered to roll her eyes at him. Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan quickly rushed towards the main palace while she complained in her heart about how unreliable Zi Zi was.

Sure enough, it was still best to rely on herself.

Upon entering the main palace, the once passable main palace was now surrounded by a group of guards donning the North Qiu Royal Family guard uniform. There were a dozen or so powerful people who were above the rank of Martial Sages. They had wanted to search for treasures initially, but now they had an upset expression on their faces as they stood outside the main palace.

Gu Lingzhi and Rong Yuan looked at each other and could not figure out the situation that was unfolding in front of their eyes. Rong Yuan ticked his lips and glanced at Mei Ying who was standing beside Pan Wuyang. He used his consciousness as a channel and asked, “Brother Mei, what happened here? Why is no one entering even though the Shield has been lifted?”

Hearing Rong Yuan’s message, Mei Ying froze for a moment. He then smiled back and replied, “Didn’t you know? The relics left behind by the Spirit Tribe are pretty good. The Shield has been broken, but there lies a spiritual being whose powers are comparable to a True God. Only those that have met his requirements can enter the main palace.”

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