Chapter 11: Protagonist Composure Halo
The first to arrive at the ruins was a rough-looking man. His face was filled with excitement as he infused his True Qi into a black token, forming a defensive barrier that protected him. He charged towards the formation barrier.
"Boom!"
He was ten meters away from the formation barrier when a powerful gust of wind shot out from the barrier, directly cutting his body into pieces.
It was a gruesome sight!
"What's going on?"
"He clearly had the token, so why did this happen?"
"Could it be that the token he had was fake?"
…
This scene instantly calmed down those hot-headed cultivators. They stopped in their tracks and exchanged shocked expressions.
"Hmph! A bunch of ignorant people. They forcefully entered the formation barrier before it reached its weakened state. What else could it be but seeking death!" Just at that moment, a voice resounded from the sky.
A massive bronze carriage descended slowly from above. The voice came from within the bronze carriage.
"A flying Profound artifact!"
"This is the Sky-Quelling Copper Carriage of the Sky Gate Sect!"
"The Sky Gate Sect? Isn't that the number one sect in Liang Province?"
As the copper carriage descended, everyone's gaze converged on it. A young man who appeared to be around twenty years old was the first to step out of the carriage, followed by five or six similarly aged young men.
Finally, an old man came out and pointed at the copper carriage, causing it to be stored inside a storage ring.
"What are you looking at?" After storing the copper carriage, sensing those gazes, the old man expressed his displeasure with a stern remark.
A powerful aura erupted from within him. Immediately, those people felt a sense of fear and quickly averted their gaze, not daring to offend them even slightly.
A Martial Master realm expert!
On the path of cultivation, there were the Meridian Opening, Qi Sea, Essence Condensation, Martial Master, and Origin Elixer Realm…
The Martial Master realm meant cultivating one's own life-bound weapon and possessing strength that unquestionably ranked at the pinnacle of the entire Liang Province!
"To think that there's a Martial Master realm expert. There shouldn't be too many of these in the Sky Gate Sect either, right?" Su Zhan expressed his astonishment.
Su Zhaoyue said, "Although Martial Masters are highly respected and rarely leave their sects easily, we should also consider who they are escorting. If I'm not mistaken, the young man who first stepped out of the carriage should be Liang Province's number one genius, Yang Tiangui! It's normal for the sect to send a Martial Master realm expert to escort such a genius."
"The number one genius? How strong is he?"
"He's very powerful. He's twenty-two years old this year and has already reached the mid-stage of the Essence Condensation Realm!"
Just as Su Zhaoyue finished speaking, she glanced at Su Zhan and thought to herself, ‘Of course, his strength is nothing compared to you, a monstrous genius!'
The number one genius is only in the mid-stage of the Essence Condensation Realm…
Su Zhan was stunned for a moment, feeling like he might have exaggerated the talents of Liang Province a bit too much?
Soon, more people arrived.
Half an hour later, the formation barrier on the first level turned semi-transparent, and a cultivator holding a token walked straight through it without any issues.
Once he safely passed through the formation barrier, the people behind him erupted with excitement, rushing forward one by one.
"A bunch of useless people, what's the use of going in so early?"
Yang Tiangui disdainfully glanced at those people and snorted, "Opportunities and treasures are all mine! Do these useless people think they can compete with me? Huh? There are even Qi Sea realm cultivators?" His gaze fell with some surprise on Su Zhan and Su Zhaoyue.
Due to the restrictions of the formation ruins, those who entered were mostly at the Essence Condensation Realm, with many being in the mid-stage. There were also quite a few who were in the peak-stage. For Qi Sea realm cultivators to enter would be no different from seeking death when facing Essence Condensation cultivators.
Therefore, in the openings of the ruins every three years, almost no cultivators below the Essence Condensation Realm would participate. Now, seeing Su Zhan and Su Zhaoyue, naturally, they were quite surprised.
"What a greedy fool! A Qi Sea realm cultivator dares to come to the ruins? It's truly laughable, hahaha!"
Yang Tiangui withdrew his gaze and didn't pay much attention to Su Zhan. He laughed, "Let's go, let these useless people understand who the true ruler of Liang Province is!" With a wave of his sleeves, he led the young men and rushed into the formation barrier.
"This person… Does he have an intellectual problem?"
Su Zhan frowned and said, "He's only in the mid-stage of the Essence Condensation Realm himself, so why does he disregard everyone else?"
"It's normal. Although he's in the mid-stage, with the support of powerful martial arts, techniques, and spirit weapons, his strength is probably not inferior to the peak-stage," Su Zhaoyue explained, shaking her head.
"But that's not considered strong," Su Zhan said.
Su Zhaoyue glanced at Su Zhan, recalling the scene where he defeated a late-stage Bloodfang Beast when in the mid-stage of Qi Sea realm. For a moment, she couldn't argue.
"Alright, let's go in as well! The formation in the ruins is very unstable. When we enter, we will be influenced by the spatial runes within it and randomly teleported to a certain location inside the ruins. However, it won't be too far from where we entered. Let's hold hands so that we won't be separated by the power of the formation," Su Zhaoyue said.
"Okay." Su Zhan held Su Zhaoyue's hand.
【 Ding! Achievement task ‘First Time Holding a Girl's Hand' completed. Unlocked new Halo: [Protagonist Composure Halo]! 】
Wait, holding a girl's hand can also unlock a new Halo???
Su Zhan was stunned for a moment and checked the description of the Composure Halo.
【 [Protagonist Composure Halo]: Resist inner demons, immune to seduction! Even if a group of beautiful young ladies strip naked in front of you, as the protagonist, you will not… cough, the stability of the Protagonist Composure Halo effect is not guaranteed, please use with caution! 】
This aura is indeed useful. As cultivation progresses, it becomes easier to fall into demonic temptations, and it also works well against enchanting and illusion techniques. However, the effect seems to be unstable…
Su Zhan's gaze turned towards Su Zhaoyue.
Her features were delicate and exquisite, with fair skin and long black hair flowing down to her waist.
The description of the Protagonist Composure Halo was not wrong. If he activated the Halo, if Su Zhaoyue were to undress and pounce on him right now, whether he could remain composed was really uncertain…
"Su Zhan, are you okay?" Su Zhaoyue felt a bit uncomfortable under Su Zhan's gaze and asked.
"It's nothing, let's go!" Su Zhan shook his head and walked into the ruins together with Su Zhaoyue.
The surroundings changed and they appeared by a small stream.
"Follow me." Su Zhaoyue said to Su Zhan and walked along the stream.
"Don't you need to look at the map?" Su Zhan asked.
"Don't worry, since I invited you to enter the ruins together, naturally, I have a method to find the treasures. Moreover, after years of exploration, most of the obvious treasures in the ruins have already been plundered. What I'm looking for is not those ordinary items."
"Alright then!" Su Zhan nodded and didn't say anything more.
Before coming here, he had already reviewed a large amount of information about the ruins. Su Zhaoyue was right. Without information about the hidden location of a certain treasure or special treasure-hunting techniques, it would be difficult to find good items by randomly searching in the ruins.
The two of them continued along the stream, and after half an hour, they arrived in a dim forest.
"Be careful, someone is ambushing us!" Su Zhaoyue stopped and looked ahead with caution.
Su Zhan had already sensed a faint presence ahead, but he didn't pay too much attention to it.
"Huh? Although my concealment skills are not outstanding, I can't even fool two trash in the Qi Sea Realm?"
A tall man, nearly two meters in height, emerged from behind a giant tree. He held a large knife in his hand and glanced at Su Zhan and Su Zhaoyue with surprise.