693 Jungle Inside the Mountain
"This is the elder from the Flame Sky Kingdom?"
Reaching the base of the Ninth Star Peak where the entrance to the Star Shattering Sect was located, Elder Song could not help showing a surprised expression on his face when he spotted Sheng Mei patiently sitting on a nearby rock waiting.
Even from a distance, he could clearly sense that she was indeed someone who had at least reached the Seventh Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.
Not that he had doubted Elder Playing Ghost, but Elder Song really did not expect for the person sent over by the Flame Sky Kingdom to be so powerful. After all, an expert who had at least reached the Seventh Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm should be among the most powerful people of the Flame Sky Kingdom, there was no reason for the Flame Sky Kingdom to sent over someone that powerful!
"Ah! Greetings elder! I'm Sheng Mei, an elder from the Flame Sky Kingdom."
Spotting Elder Song almost the moment he arrived, Sheng Mei stepped forward before respectful introducing herself in a polite tone.
"Hello, Sheng Mei, I'm the current Vice Sect Master of the Star Shattering Sect, you can just call me Elder Song... Now, might I ask why someone like yourself came all the way here?"
Introducing himself, Elder Song directly asked Sheng Mei why she had come.
"This... Elder Song, I think it would be best to find another place to discuss this. After all, it pertains the future of my Flame Sky Kingdom..."
"I understand, follow me and we will discuss it in more details inside."
Nodding his head as he understood what Sheng Mei was trying to say, Elder Song motioned for her to follow him as both of them soon made their way up the Ninth Star Peak. Making their way towards the Seventh Star Peak where the main part of the Star Shattering Sect was located.
As for the danger that came along with letting someone as powerful as Sheng Mei inside the core part of the sect... Elder Song was not the slightest bit worried about this!
After all, not only did the Star Shattering Sect have the Chaotic Qi Formation in place... But Feng Chen who had reached the Domain Lord Realm was also present on the Seventh Star Peak together with Shu Yao who had similarly reached the Domain Lord Realm.
If Sheng Mei really tried anything, Feng Chen and Shu Yao would be able to catch her before she could do anything!
...
As Elder Song and Sheng Mei were about to discuss the matter of the Flame Sky Kingdom back in the Star Shattering Sect, Bai Ning and Hui Ying had both come to a stop in front of a massive opening leading inside a large mountain.
"Are you sure this is the place where the so-called sacred spiritual herb you are looking for is located?"
"Yes! I'm certain of it... Just remember to keep your promise! Okay?!"
Rolling his eyes as he saw the dangerous look in Hui Ying's eyes after she mentioned the promise they had made before coming to the mountain where the sacred spiritual herb she was looking for was located, Bai Ning could not help remembering how she had ended up revealing her reason for joining the demonic cultivator hunt in the Azure Sky Kingdom.
Well... It was not really her revealing her secret and was more like him asking her about the spiritual herb she was searching for after they had hunted down a demonic cultivator.
Following him mentioning it... It did not take long for the panicked Hui Ying to reveal everything with a both embarrassed and threatening expression on her face...
"What is that supposed to mean? Sure, the spiritual herb is all yours... But just as we promised, the spiritual metals you said would be present in the area around where the spiritual herb grows are mine."
Chuckling a bit as he saw the increasingly threatening look from Hui Ying after he remained silent for a short time without hearing him answer, Bai Ning could not help teasing her before answering her.
"You-!"
Not knowing what to say after being made fun of by Bai Ning, Hui Ying pouted angrily before increasing her speed towards the opening in the mountain without waiting for Bai Ning.
Step~ Step~
Seeing Hui Ying almost running towards the opening in the side of the mountain, Bai Ning did not intend to get left behind, as he soon increased his own speed to catch up with Hui Ying. However, this only ended up causing Hui Ying to move even faster than before-
Swish-!
Not one to be left behind, Bai Ning similarly increased his speed to match her.
In the end, both of them soon reached the opening of the mountain and after a quick break to go over what little knowledge Hui Ying had gathered about the sacred spiritual herb she was looking for and the dangers that might be present, both Bai Ning and Hui Ying made their way into the mountain.
...
Entering the mountain through the large opening, Bai Ning could not help showing a surprised expression on his face after they made it a few dozen meters inside the mountain.
"How weird... The inside of this mountain is filled with all sorts of plants I have never seen before, it's almost like they are completely foreign to this place..."
Although he already had some clue about the environment inside the mountain from what little information Hui Ying had managed to gather about the so-called sacred spiritual herb that she was aiming for, Bai Ning was still surprised after seeing the normal rocky cave walls get covered with all sorts of weird plants he had never seen before.
Even after learning about all sorts of different spiritual plants and normal plants from his senior sister Qing Yi, he still had no idea about the origin or name of the plants all around him.
This was also one of the reasons why he ended up concluding that the plants were foreign to the place where the Star Shattering Sect was located- No, it would be more accurate to say that the plants that had started covering the cave walls were completely foreign to the border of the Sky Empire!
Feeling both amazed and worried after seeing all these brand-new plants, Bai Ning made sure to have his guard up.
The main thing Hui Ying had mentioned about the sacred spiritual herb she was looking for, was the fact that it grew inside a jungle located at the centre of a massive mountain and was surrounded by a special kind of spiritual metal.
At first, Bai Ning did not really believe it. After all, a jungle inside a mountain? He had never heard about something like that before. Not to mention, for a mountain to contain a jungle inside of it, just how big would that mountain have to be?
Even if he was slowly getting convinced that Hui Ying was telling the truth regarding a jungle inside a mountain, he was still doubtful. After all, the mountain they were making their way inside of was far too small to contain a jungle inside it, a small forest covering a few hundred meters would be the be the limit of what was possible!
Not to mention, they had already been walking for close to five minutes at this point in time!
"How long will it take to reach the so-called jungle inside the mountain? At this point we will reach the other side of the mountain before we-!"
Roar!
Before Bai Ning managed to finish what, he was saying a loud roar echoed out not too far away from where they were standing. Shocking both Bai Ning and Hui Ying as both of them cautiously looked towards the direction that the sound had come from.
"Nothing..."
"Indeed..."
Not seeing anything, both of them came to an agreement before both of them slowly began moving towards the direction of the roar with their weapons ready.
Step~ Step~
As both of them moved towards the origin of the roar, the cave covered in weird plants suddenly came to an end and what appeared before them was not the other side of the mountain that Bai Ning had expected to see. Instead, it was-
"The jungle inside the mountain! We finally reached it!"
"How does this even make sense... How can there be such a huge jungle inside such a small mountain?!"
Indeed, what appeared in front of Bai Ning and Hui Ying was a dense jungle filled with all sorts of unique trees that Bai Ning had never seen before.
Not to mention that a jungle had actually appeared inside the mountain, what made Bai Ning far more surprised was the fact that he could not see the end of the jungle!
Given the size of the mountain they had entered, it should be impossible for such a large jungle to fit inside!
Not to mention the sun and clouds floating in the air above them...
Did we enter one of the secret realms that my master mentioned...?
According to his master, even someone in the Nascent Soul Realm might not be able to guarantee their own safety inside a secret realm, let alone someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm like himself!
Feeling a shiver run down his spine as he guessed this, Bai Ning could look towards the dense jungle in front of him with fear.
"Hui Ying, I don't thin this place is safe for us to explore, we should- Hui Ying?!"
About to inform Hui Ying about his thoughts and wanting to leave the place he suspected to be a secret realm, Bai Ning could not help showing a shocked expression as he realized Hui Ying had already entered the dense jungle in front of them without any hesitation!
"This damnable girl!"
Swish-!
Cursing silently to himself as he watched Hui Ying disappearing inside the jungle, Bai Ning hesitated for a short moment before dashing after her.