The Attack of the Wastrel

“Quickly return and report to the Principal that the Secret Territory has a lot of treasures. We have to quickly get as many treasures as possible!” a middle-aged man with a moustache told the young man next to him.

The young man received the order as he gave the entrance of the Secret Territory one last reluctant look as he sped away.

If he could get the news back to his country and allow the Martial Artists in his country to benefit, someone would eventually compensate him for not being able to enter the Secret Territory first to grab the treasures.

At the same time, a woman wearing an emerald green robe told her disciple beside him a similar thing. The disciple’s eyes were red as he left the area.

With so many higher-ranking elders around, she did not hope to get an extremely rare and valuable gem. All she wanted was a few treasures that would allow her to get a new Spiritual Weapon.

The same situation happened all around the Secret Territory’s entrance. Several people were under orders by their teacher or leader to go spread the news and get more people to come. Silently watching all these happen, a flash of satisfaction crossed Pan En’s eyes. He pretended to be pleasantly surprised as he looked at Rong Yuan, “Third Prince, did you hear that? Granduncle has actually found the Starry Cloud Stone and Scarlet Moon Plum. This Secret Territory is definitely special! Maybe we can find even more valuable treasures!”

“Really? That is something to celebrate.” Rong Yuan congratulated him as he wore a surprised look as well, “I wonder how it is like in the Secret Territory? Can Martial Practitioners go in?”

“Of course they can,” Pan En replied subconsciously. He suddenly realised that he replied a bit too abruptly and tried to correct himself, “I have an uncle of the Martial Practitioner rank that went in. I think it should be fine.”

“That’s good.” Rong Yuan nodded as he looked worriedly at Gu Lingzhi. “To have such precious gems like the Starry Cloud Stone, the place must be filled with traps. I am not sure if Lingzhi and the rest would be able to go in. It would be such a pity to miss an opportunity like this.

Pan En did not reply as quickly this time but consoled, “The traps in the entrance of the Secret Territory has been more or less cleared by my granduncles. I believe it will be okay.”

With this, Rong Yuan was sure that what Pan Yue had passed on is true.

All that was left was the question on why he would help them and betray his own clan. They would be able to ask him when Gu Lingzhi took on the identity of the Black Thorn.

The group of them waited for a while more at the entrance. Eventually there was some movement and Pan Wuyang’s purple figure walked out. His eyes were curved in delight allowing everyone to imagine what kind of treasures he had gotten.

“He’s out! Quick, look, they are out!” someone shouted in joy.

With the people inside coming out, it meant that it was time for them to go in.

As the people inside slowly made their way out, Pan Yue pretended to ask the elders what they had gotten. They wore satisfied smiles on their faces and they heaped praises on the specialty of this Secret Territory. There were numerous treasures to be found but it was a pity that their time in there was limited. In order to not break the rules, they had to come out of the Secret Territory within six hours.

As they spoke delightedly on the treasures they had ‘obtained’, everyone else became more and more excited. Their gazes looked as if they wanted to just burn the guards standing in front of the entrance and dash in.

“Due to time restrictions, we only managed to cover a small area. There are still numerous treasures to be found along the way. If anyone is interested, you can rest assured and enter. We have broken down most of the traps extending a few kilometres around the entrance. As long as you do not go too deep, there should not be much danger even to Martial Students.”

The crowd whooped in joy. They were worried that the treasures in the Secret Territory would be too high a level and only people of high cultivation would be allowed in. They never thought that the minimum cultivation to enter would be so low such that all Martial Artists would be able to enter. This made those that were worried their wait would go to waste become filled with joy. Everyone started rubbing their knuckles and stretching their legs, prepared to start.

Pan En laughed as he saw the sight in front of him, “I see that everyone is very excited to head in and I won’t block your way any longer. According to the rules on large-scale Secret Territories, everyone who wants to enter will have to pay out one high-grade spirit stone. If you have proof that you are a citizen of the North Qiu Kingdom, you will only need to give ten middle-grade spirit stones.”

According to the laws of the Tianyuan Continent, one high-grade spirit stone was equivalent to one hundred middle-grade spirit stones. One middle-grade spirit stone was worth one hundred low-grade spirit stones. Just the entrance fee itself was enough to make some people flinch.

However, thinking of the jewels that were awaiting them in the Secret Territory, no matter how embarrassing it was, those that did not have so much spirit stones on them had to grit their teeth and borrow from others around them. No matter what, it was the first time this large-scale Secret Territory was open and everyone believed that there were numerous treasures inside awaiting them. If they did not take the risk, it would be a waste of their time spent queuing the entire night.

Seeing a few impatient people already passing over the spirit stones to the guards at the entrance, Rong Yuan addressed the students from the Royal School, “Whoever wants to go can go. Remember, there is no free lunch in this world. This Secret Territory is not a hundred percent safe.”

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat as they heard the warning tone in Rong Yuan’s voice. This was to tell them to take whatever they saw but not be greedy. Although they did not fully understand what he meant, everyone nodded as if they did. They then stood behind the two of them without budging.

Rong Yuan then raised a questioning brow as he heard Yan Liang say, “I will stay by Lingzhi and protect her.”

Rong Yuan’s face darkened, “I will protect her, you don’t need to worry.”

Xin Yi then cut in, “I thought…the person you want to protect the most now is Ding Rou.”

How can that be? Rong Yuan wanted to rebut immediately. He then realised what Xin Yi was trying to say. How could Xin Yi say such infuriating things even after knowing what Rong Yuan was actually feeling?

He then took Gu Lingzhi’s hand and stroke her palm twice indicating to her not to overthink. He raised his voice slightly, “Both Lingzhi and Xiao Rou are equally important to me. I will not desert either one of them.”

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand as Gu Lingzhi pinched him. But still, he had to maintain a loving and guilty expression. It was certainly not easy.

Three or four metres behind Rong Yuan, stood Ding Rou. She had initially wanted to complain to Rong Yuan about how she did not see him the entire night because he was too busy caring about Gu Lingzhi and ignoring her. However, upon hearing what he said, she felt both happy and forlorn.

She had spent so much effort to try and enter Rong Yuan’s heart. Yet, Gu Lingzhi still occupied half of his heart. If only she could take the chance to get rid of Gu Lingzhi in the Secret Territory.

A malicious look appeared in Ding Rou’s eyes. Laughing lightly as if she had just arrived, she stood next to Rong Yuan, “Rong Yuan, I’ve finally found you. I was really worried because I did not see you the entire night.”

Xin Yi sneered, “If you can’t find His Highness, it obviously means he is with his fiancée. If not, why won’t you be able to find him? Princess, you really love to joke around.”

That mocking tone caused the smile that Ding Rou was wearing to stiffen. Her guards standing behind her bellowed, “Audacious! How dare you be rude to our Princess.”

“Oh, so you know that I was talking about your Princess, not bad!” Although praises were coming out of his mouth, Xin Yi was wearing a disdainful look. “Since she’s your Princess, why does it matter to me? I am a citizen of the Xia Kingdom. Since when did I have to listen to the Royal Family of the Dayin Kingdom? Even if the Third Prince wants to marry you, you will have to wait until it actually happens before you are considered royalty of the Xia Kingdom. Now, the only one that can represent the Third Prince is Gu Lingzhi.”

Seeing the smile on Ding Rou face about to distort, Rong Yuan could not help but appraise Xin Yi secretly in his heart. He decided that when he returned to the Xia Kingdom, he would give permission to the Xin Clan to start the business plan of opening a silver mine.

“You…” The guard could not think of anything to rebut Xin Yi and could only turn to Rong Yuan, “Your Highness, are you just going to stand and watch as our princess is bullied?”

Rong Yuan immediately pursed his lips guiltily as he had just secretly praised Xin Yi. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Xin Yi, “Xiao Rou is still the princess of the Dayin Kingdom and even though she does not have the authority to order you around, you should still treat her with basic respect. Aren’t you going to apologise to her?”

“Heh…” Xin Yi sneered and simply turned and left. Tianfeng Yi who was watching the show beside him quickly followed along. It was obvious he was now treating Xin Yi like his master. Unfortunately, with his cultivation disabled, he only had his physical strength left. As Xin Yi was handing over his spirit stones at the entrance, he stopped Tianfeng Yi.

“You don’t have to go in. It will be a waste of spirit stones if you enter. You should go and talk to that son-in-law of yours and tell him to stop making trouble for the Third Prince. If he does, the Xin Clan will not be able to protect you.”

Tianfeng Yi’s expression changed as he thought back to the time when he was the Clan Leader of the Tianfeng Clan. When would he ever suffer this kind of treatment? But now, even a Martial Practitioner was looking down on him. If only he still had his cultivation, if only the Tianfeng clan still had power…

Although resentment filled his heart, Tianfeng Yi’s face maintained a respectful look, “Young Master Xin, there will still be danger in the Secret Territory. Although I no longer have my cultivation, I am experienced. If you go with me, I can help you avoid a lot of trouble.”

If he could find one or two spiritual treasures to recover his disabled cultivation, he would willingly bear any kind of insult now.

“Oh, really?” Xin Yi looked at him not laughing. This made Tianfeng Yi wonder if Xin Yi had seen through him.