Heh… Heh heh… Heh heh heh…

　　Xun Shu laughed drily. It was only seconds later that he stuttered, “How… could… How could I have been here before? Heh heh, I… am guessing. That’s right, I’m only guessing. Heh heh heh…”

　　The three of them stared blankly at him. Then, in unison they said, “Oh…”

　　Xun Shu: “…” What does “oh” mean? Do they believe him or not? Xun Shu felt the panic rising up in his chest. I’m finished, I’m finished. Am I giving myself away?

　　“Let’s go!” Shen Ying suddenly stepped forward.

　　Huh?

　　“Didn’t you say this is the entrance?” She gestured for Yi Qing and Lonemoon to follow her as she walked toward the archway. “Chef, Father Niu, let’s go!”

　　She stepped through the archway as the other two exchanged glances before they followed suit.

　　They left behind a disbelieving Xun Shu. That… is it? Weren’t they going to push him further? He suddenly felt extremely disappointed at this turn of events.

　　He glanced at the three people who had already walked through the archway. Clenching his fists by his side, he followed them.

　　The moment he walked through the entrance, the scenery in front of him seemed to split open like curtains. The view changed completely. A burning hot aura came rushing toward them. There were deviant molten rocks everywhere and the temperature was so high that it was off the charts. Everywhere they could look, they saw burnt soil. A volcano so tall that it touched the clouds stood in front of them, seeming to join the ground to the sky. There were different swords all around, stuck into the ground so that there was hardly any space left to walk in between. Rather than call it a volcano, it would be better to call it…

　　“A sword mound!” Lonemoon breathed. There were immortal swords everywhere – how much money would that make him? It was a pity that the swords had already been sealed. Unless they recognised someone else as their new owner, nobody could take them away. They would not be as useful as the raw materials.

　　There were too many deviant flames. The few of them were only able to move by riding on their swords. As they flew over the swords, they heard the swords cry out. It looked like no one had stepped into the sword mound for a long time. That was why these immortal swords were reacting so strongly.

　　“The sword room is there. Let’s go over!” Xun Shu pointed toward the bottom of the huge volcano. He turned to see the three of them looking at him suspiciously. His heart thudded and he added, “I think?”

　　“Oh,” Shen Ying answered. She tugged at Chef and flew in the direction Xun Shu pointed. After flying for awhile, the temperature around them dipped drastically. That was when they realised the bottom of the volcano was surrounded by a wall of ice. It looked like a chasm, which separated the inside world from the outside.

　　They swooped downward and landed atop the ice. Indeed, not far in front of them was an entrance – a gate made out of ice. It led toward the inside of the volcano. But they were standing too far from it to see what was inside.

　　Just as they started to walk over, they heard something underneath their feet. The ground began to tremble as transparent bubbles as tall as them suddenly emerged from under the ice. The bubbles floated into the air and quickly covered the surface of the ice.

　　“Eh? The ice can blow bubbles?” Is it made out of soap?

　　“Don’t go over! It’s the Thousand Blade Array!” Xun Shu frowned and stopped the three of them. “I did not think that a place like that would contain the Thousand Blade Array. These look like bubbles, but they’re made out of immortal Qi that has condensed so that it cannot ever be destroyed. Each bubble contains a burst of sword Qi. If you touch it, you might be trapped inside it. It can also absorb any kind of attack. We had better walk around… Eh, what are you doing?”

　　Just as he was speaking, Yi Qing drew his sword and walked right toward the bubbles. “Wait! ordinary swordsmanship is not strong enough to break…”

　　Before he could finish speaking, he sensed the immortal Qi around Yi Qing’s body began to surge. His entire body emitted golden light which condensed together to form an enormous sword. There was an explosion of sword Qi as he raised his hand. A loud crash was followed by the sound of a thick cloth being ripped apart. All the bubbles and the ice on the ground began to crack into little pieces. The Thousand Blade Array fell apart immediately.

　　It’s broke… broken!

　　(⊙ o ⊙)

　　That’s… way too fast, isn’t it? Wasn’t it said that the bubbles can absorb any kind of attack? It’s freaking messing with me.

　　“My master says one strong man can overcome ten!” Yi Qing explained, seeming to have sensed that Xun Shu being extremely confused. He then faced Shen Ying and said, “Master, we can move on now.”

　　“Oh, thank you for your hard work!” Shen Ying nodded. Unmoved, she walked over the broken pieces on the floor.

　　Xun Shu: “…”

　　Lonemoon patted his shoulder with a knowing look. “It’ll get better as you get used to it!” They’re just a big cheat and a mini cheat. You’ve already seen the big cheat, haven’t you? Why should you make a fuss out of the mini one?

　　They walked in a single file toward the inside of the volcano. For a long while, all they saw was darkness. The pathway was filled with dust, as if no one had been in there for a long time.

　　Lonemoon flicked his wrist and conjured a fire seal to light up the walkway. As they walked, he looked around for raw materials, wondering where would be a good place for them to stop and dig.

　　Unfortunately, while the path was old and worn, it was clearly meticulously designed. Everything around was arranged so neatly; there wasn’t even a side road to be found. It had no business value whatsoever. As they got closer and closer to the inside of the volcano, the walls became smoother and the pathway broadened. It looked as though the volcano had been dug empty. They reached a vast space scattered with stone pillars. They could not see the end of the space from where they were standing. It was hard to estimate exactly how big the inside of the volcano was.

　　“Be careful!” Xun Shu exclaimed. He ran forward and pulled Lonemoon, who was right in front, backward.

　　They heard a ding, and an immortal sword landed tip first on the ground in front of Lonemoon.

　　Lonemoon jumped. “What happened?”

　　No sooner was the question out of his mouth did the immortal sword begin to shake in its place, as if they activated a switch. All around, immortal swords appeared, revolving around the same spot to form a cyclone of swords. A great burst of sword Qi charged toward them.

　　The few of them had no choice but to retreat. They saw a few flashes of light and then the entire surroundings lit up. Only then were they able to see what exactly was happening.

　　Swords! There were immortal swords everywhere. There were countless of them and they all seemed alive. They danced dangerously in the vast space in front of them, as if taunting them and threatening to shred them to pieces if they dared to move any closer.

　　“Another sword array!” Lonemoon frowned. It did not look easy to combat that.

　　“This is the Myriad Image Sword Array,” Xun Shu introduced.

　　“Myriad Image!” Lonemoon started. Then, his expression fell. “This is the legendary sword array which even the divine race cannot get rid of?” Lonemoon learned about this array when he was going through the ancient records back at Qing Tong Immortal Abode. Could it be more than a legend?

　　“It should be!” Xun Shu nodded. “I don’t know how to get rid of this array. It looks like we have no choice but to use all our might.”

　　“Oh, well…” Lonemoon looked again at the dense sword array and turned around, announcing decisively, “Let’s turn around!”

　　“What? Wait!” Xun Shu pulled him back in utter disbelief. “You’re… you’re giving up just like that? You sure you don’t want to go in and take a look?”

　　“That’s right!” Lonemoon nodded as if it was obvious. “Didn’t you say we shouldn’t go? It’s almost time anyway, we should head back! What’s more, I didn’t see any raw materials on the way here. Who knows if there are any inside?” Instead of wasting time here, they would be better off picking up the waste materials outside.

　　Lonemoon gestured toward the other two. “Let’s go, Shen Ying and Yi Qing.”