Within this dense forest in the deep mountains, there were still tiny hills. Right in front was the col of the mountain. There were lesser forest woods and rickety grotesque rocks of jagged shapes scattered all around.

　　Some of these grotesque rocks were as big as a slope, the smaller ones would require numerous people to encircle it.

　　Between the rocks, there were tall and solid giant trees in the bigger gaps. The small gaps were infested with green shrubs and unknown wild grass.

　　It looked to be in disorder, but it was rather tranquil without the wind.

　　Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu stopped in their tracks at the same time and continued their conversation. Shen Lian muttered to himself, “It seems LIKE someone came here earlier than us.”

　　Zhao Xiaoyu’s beautiful eyes narrowed. With her sleeves extended and with one wave, a gust of wind blew forth as she murmured, “Correct, this sizable formation seems to be trapping something. Could it be that this person who placed this formation is also capturing the Fengsheng Beast?”

　　The strong wind dispersed from the wave of her sleeve. It may seem insouciant but even the giant trees which required numerous people to encircle it could be blown away by this wind. However, when the strong gust of wind reached the mountain col, it got dispelled without a trace and a vast white mist rose. It spread open and everything seemed hazy.

　　Shen Lian was very clear that Zhao Xiaoyu had activated some kind of prohibition, which caused the formation to self-defend. At the same time, it was also some kind of distress signal.

　　As expected, a man and woman came out from the white mist quickly. Their hair was in a bun and their tight clothing was part black and part white. They held long blades and came riding in on the wind.

　　Both their backgrounds were unknown and their cultivation experiences were extensive. They seemed very young. Of course, it was hard to judge just how old they were. After all, there were too many methods for a cultivator to keep their appearances young.

　　The two quickly came near. The woman first glanced at Zhao Xiaoyu. Perhaps, even cultivators would pay more attention to ladies with outstanding looks and temperament.

　　Zhao Xiaoyu only smiles and she did not use any mana.

　　The woman then only noticed Shen Lian, while the man beside her had already seen Shen Lian earlier. Both of them were about thirty feet away. It was neither too near nor too far.

　　“This area has been cast a formation by the Chunyang Daoist Palace. My two friends, kindly make a detour to the left and walk a hundred miles.” The one who spoke was the man. He was unhurried as he brought out the Chunyang Daoist Palace title, followed by asking both Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu to make a detour.

　　The woman, however, coldly stared at the two. There was a sword aura concealed inside her, as though she would strike if both of them do not agree.

　　Shen Lian was about to say something when Zhao Xiaoyu pulled Shen Lian’s hand. Gently, she said, “Thank you for your friendly reminder, we will leave immediately.”

　　The man smiled and replied softly, “That is good.”

　　He also did not apologize, as though it was perfectly justifiable for Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu to make a detour.

　　Shen Lian knew that Zhao Xiaoyu would not say those things without any reason so he waited and see. As Zhao Xiaoyu pulled him along, they quickly went far away and disappeared from both the man and woman’s line of sight.

　　The Chunyang Daoist Palace female disciple watched the two leave and said, “From the way I see it, these two would not simply walk away.”

　　The male disciple answered, “The heavens take care of the wellbeing of living creatures, so we give them that reminder. If they want to forcefully enter the Heaven Span Formation that we’ve set up it would be their greed that is causing the trouble. It would serve them right if they die there.”

　　“Even so, I do not know that background of that lady. Her spirit is steady. I’m afraid she would not be easy to deal with.” The female disciple solemnly replied.

　　“From how I see it, the scarier one would be the man. Did you not see that his aura is allusive, as though it had melted with the vast forest and formless like the cumulus cloud? The martial exercise that he is cultivating must be amazing.” The male disciple smiled simply as he said. Even though he said so, but he did not take Shen Lian to heart. To be saying “amazing” to him was indeed a high appraise, but their Chunyang Daoist Palace Dao formula would be described as more than amazing.

　　“So if they are formidable, could they be on par with Senior Apprentice-Sister? However, if it wasn’t for the fact that Senior Apprentice-Sister had invited Chen Jianmei to Mount Liubo for a sword duel, I’m afraid she would not have helped us in capturing the Fengsheng Beast,” the female sighed.

　　“It is truly surprising for the wilderness, Yuan Continent, to produce such an unrivaled master celestial of sword as Chen Jianmei. But I heard that Chen Jianmei has a Junior Apprentice-Brother from the same sect and he is not below him. It would seem that in this one hundred years, the Yuan Continent is starting to thrive.” The man casually chatted away.

　　“Even the honored master did mention that, even though the Yuan Continent was slowly becoming barren, but since the ancient time there had been the reincarnation of heavenly immortals and countless geniuses appearing here, so it should not be surprising at all. What’s more, Lu Jiuyuan of the Xuantian Sect also came from the Yuan Continent,” the female disciple said softly.

　　With that said, the both of them gradually faded into the fog.

　　Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu did not move far in actual fact. With Shen Lian’s supernatural power, it was too easy to hide from those two. Both of their conversations were heard by them.

　　Shen Lian asked, “What are the origins of the Chunyang Daoist Palace?”

　　Zhao Xiaoyu softly answered, “They are exactly the orthodoxy that was left behind by Daoist Chunyang of Shangdong Eight Celestials. You should not look down upon them. Their strengths, hidden abilities, and wisdom are not below Qing Xuan. They still are one of the ten biggest Xuanmen of the Tianhua Continent. There are still old geezers that could transcend beyond the mortal world.”

　　Shen Lian inquired, “Tianhua Continent is the original continent that the Taishang Daoist Sect was at?”

　　Zhao Xiaoyu answered, “Yes. There are a million miles between the Tianhua Continent and our Yuan Continent. Not only there are countless demon beasts in between the continents, there is also the sea of confusion. This is also why there is very little interaction between the two continents. Also, speaking of the Qi of heaven and earth, the Yuan Continent could not compete with the Tianhua Continent. Therefore, even though the many people there possess the qualification to cultivate, but they have seen our Yuan Continent as some wilderness all along now. Basically, there would not be any intersections.”

　　Shen Lian, who inherited the Qing Xuan orthodoxy, truly knew a lot of secrets but he could not take part in all matters and be clear about everything. He focused more on some of the secrets of the universe, and the many origins of the priceless treasure, or the source of whatever Dao scriptures of godly prowess.

　　The Tiandi Jian looks into the universe and knew more secrets than him. Perhaps it knew about this matter but being the priceless treasure of Qing Xuan, Shen Lian could not bring it out from the sect. This was to avoid it being a major blow to Qing Xuan in case it went missing.

　　Nonetheless, Zhao Xiaoyu would know about this matter which he was unclear of, it could not be solely explained using her identity as the saintess of the Nine Lotus Order. Shen Lian felt that Zhao Xiaoyu had some other secrets.

　　However, he would not ask if the other would not say because everyone had things that they would not tell others. Shen Lian too did not want to tell anyone that he came from another world and even the matter that he was cultivating the Mastery of Senses. Except for Zhang Ruoxu who was deceased, he never told anyone else.

　　“Really? But I am a little happy that they complimented Senior Apprentice-Brother Chen and me,” Shen Lian laughed.

　　“From what they said, that Senior Apprentice-Sister is truly formidable. Hopefully, you do not get bullied by that time,” Zhao Xiaoyu leisurely added.

　　“No matter how good one thinks he or she is, there is always someone out there that is better. Which is a good thing so that I would not be complacent and arrogant.” Shen Lian casually answered and brought Zhao Xiaoyu along to force their entry into this so called ‘Heaven Span Formation’ like it was no one else’s business. Coincidentally, as the spiritual vigor streamed along, it did not disturb the formation at all.