Chapter 193: Taking the Initiative is Better than Being Passive

　　Tan Yubing opened her eyes slowly.

　　That was a nice nap.

　　Wait, what? Tan Yubing stood up in shock.

　　A Harmonization Realm disciple didn’t need much sleep. Even when they were resting, their mystic force would continue to revolve through their body. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember what happened for a period of time. This means that either I entered a deep sleep, or…

　　When she opened her eyes, something wasn’t right.

　　The countryside… she was lying in a meadow in the countryside!

　　This wasn’t the Flying Imperial Palace or anywhere near the mountain.

　　What’s going on? Why am I here all of a sudden?

　　A rustling could be heard from the bushes.

　　Tan Yubing hurriedly tidied her clothes and pulled out her sword.

　　The sound was now clearer. It was footsteps.

　　Just as the footsteps got near her right by the bush, Tan Yubing leapt up and unleashed her sword-light.

　　Clink! The weapons clashed.

　　Shao Zhengyang’s astounded face appeared in front of her.

　　“Senior Aunt Tan!”

　　“Junior Nephew Shao?”

　　Both of them were rooted to the ground. After hearing the familiar address, both of them relaxed a bit and kept their weapons.

　　“Junior Nephew Shao, what happened?”

　　“I wish to know too.” Shao Zhengyang looked at her in a daze. “When I woke up, I was here. This is uncanny!”

　　“Same for me….”

　　Shao Zhengyang and Tan Yubing looked at each other in dismay.

　　What’s going on? There were three Spirit Realm elders in their courtyard. In addition, in the Flying Imperial Palace, there was the king of Zhongzhou – an Assimilation Realm elder – to oversee things. Who could possibly sneak them out and throw them here without alerting anybody?

　　This is totally outrageous!

　　“Where are the others?” Tan Yubing asked.

　　Shao Zhengyang shook his head. “The first person I found is you, Senior Aunt Tan.”

　　“Then…”

　　“Shall we search around? To see if there are any others.”

　　“Sure!”

　　With the company of someone familiar, both of them had calmed down, and their minds were clearer now. They found three younger disciples during their search.

　　Following that, they found the boundary.

　　“Are we locked in here?” After many tries, Tan Yubing still did not succeed in passing through.

　　“Looks like it.” The stream in front of them looked like it was unreachable – a formless barrier that locked them in the middle.

　　“Which genius is playing around? What does he or she want by shutting us in here?” She face-palmed.

　　Seeing the younger disciples all trembling, Shao Zhengyang went forward to pacify them. “Senior Aunt Tan, please calm down. At least it seems like there’s no danger. Maybe they locked us in as a prank. We’ll be let out soon I suppose.”

　　“I hope that’s the case….”

　　The same situation happened to the others as well.

　　…

　　Lu Mingshu sat crossed-legged on a rock by the river bank. She held her chin and stared at the pebbles in front of her.

　　She moved them left and right, up and down. There was nothing on first glance, but when she looked closely, there seemed to be something.

　　The wheelchair slowly rolled over and stopped beside her.

　　“How long has passed?”

　　“An hour, I guess?”

　　“Notice that the sky has turned dark?”

　　Lu Mingshu glanced over at him. “Say whatever you have to say.”

　　“Should we start a fire?”

　　“And then?”

　　“Boil some water?”

　　Lu Mingshu snickered. “Xie Lianzhen, can you just get to the point? Will you die if you don’t speak directly?”

　　Xie Lianzhen kept quiet for a moment. “I’m thirsty.”

　　“Hmph!” Lu Mingshu took out a water sack and threw it to him. “I’m lazy. Drink this if you’re thirsty.”

　　Catching the water sack that she threw over, he took a look and asked, “How many days have you had this water? Was it boiled? Unboiled water isn’t good for consumption, I-”

　　“Does my life seem that bad to you?” Lu Mingshu clenched her fists to stop herself from choking him. “The Flying Imperial Palace’s servant girl filled it up for me this morning. I don’t know if it’s boiled or not.”

　　Xie Lianzhen sighed in relief.

　　Lu Mingshu continued to stare at the pebbles and fiddle with them, moving them around with a branch from time to time to change their direction.

　　“What are you trying to do?”

　　Seeing that she was messing with the pebbles, Xie Lianzhen asked.

　　“Trying to find loopholes.”

　　“You want to break the barrier by yourself?” he asked weirdly.

　　Lu Mingshu nodded. “Taking the initiative is better than being passive.”

　　“Didn’t you say there was nothing we could do about barrier?”

　　“That’s why I’m thinking of a way!”

　　She softly rapped her head and looked up at the sky. “I wonder how long we were unconscious. Shouldn’t the Seventh Truth Platform elders have been here by now?”

　　“Yes. When something happens to Qilin Peak, even if there’s some trick, they would only take an hour at most.”

　　“Not even counting the time that we were unconscious, hasn’t it already been an hour?”

　　Xie Lianzhen nodded. “If there are others in the same situation, the space will be especially unstable.”

　　After he finished, he saw that Lu Mingshu’s eyes shone. She placed a piece of paper and pen on the rock and started scribbling.

　　“What have you come up with?”

　　“Shut up!” She didn’t even spare him a look and continued to work on her own thing.

　　Xie Lianzhen shifted to Lu Mingshu’s side. The paper was filled with strange characters.

　　After a while, she turned to look at the pebbles and shifted some of them again. She then continued to scribble.

　　Seeing her so focused, Xie Lianzhen felt like he was being completely ignored. He was also someone who read a lot, but he couldn’t understand the things scribbled on her paper. After thinking about it, he guessed that she may be doing some calculations due to the frequency of the characters. This type of calculation was simple and convenient. He was unaware of where she learned it.

　　Time passed by quickly. Because she was putting her heart and soul into it, beads of sweat could be seen on her forehead, and her ears had turned red.

　　Xie Lianzhen sat at the side silently, looking at Lu Mingshu work. This side of Lu Mingshu made him feel like… admiring her. Just like when she was on stage giving it her all. This serious and hardworking side made her shine even brighter.

　　People in the dark always yearn for the light. Perhaps this is why I’m attracted to her?

　　“Done!” Lu Mingshu put her pen aside and let out a breath,

　　Lu Mingshu’s eyes shone. Happiness couldn’t be hidden.

　　“What result did you get from your calculations?”

　　“Just as you said, this space is unstable.” She kept her pen and quickly rearranged the pebbles. “This space, which is unstable to start with, just needs an additional spark to break it. We don’t need to do it head-on.”

　　Something suddenly struck her. “You knew that I was calculating something?”

　　Xie Lianzhen nodded. “The things you wrote on your paper are numbers, right? It’s just a more simple and exquisite form as if they’ve evolved. What do you call that? And where did you learn it?”

　　Hearing that, Lu Mingshu became more alert. That was a mistake. I should never use techniques from other worlds in front of others. If he can tell, they could too.

　　“That’s not important. Right now, we need to break the barrier.”