Conghe City was mountainous, with its streets and stairs crisscrossing at various elevations. The buildings within the city were mostly built along the slopes, layered on top of one another in an orderly yet staggered fashion.
A branch of the Huai River flowed through the center, giving the city its name.
Because of this dreamlike terrain, Gu Ningyun and her companions had spent quite a while searching with their map when they first arrived before finally finding the courtyard they had rented.
Locals had approached them on the road offering to guide them, but Mu Chenze and the others, encountering such an interesting city for the first time, wanted to explore it themselves and declined.
Gu Ningyun had simply smiled at the time.
This Conghe City actually bore some resemblance to a certain Mountain City famous in Huaxia from her previous life.
However, that Huaxia Mountain City was a metropolis where nature and technology combined, while Conghe City was a cultivation world city where the terrain blended with the works of cultivators. Both had their own unique beauty.
After renting the small courtyard—specifically, while Zhou Fei and his brother were still on their way back to the Ten Directions Sect, playing out a thrilling life-and-death chase against their mid-stage Golden Core second uncle—Gu Ningyun and the others had gone out to tour the city.
In a city under the jurisdiction of the Ten Directions Sect, they encountered no danger.
They leisurely appreciated the local characteristics and replenished the resources they had consumed on the road, as well as what they would need for their upcoming ten-day seclusion.
Now, heading to the Zhou Manor for their appointment with Zhou Fei, the five of them were familiar enough with Conghe City that they didn't lose their way as they had when they first arrived.
Listening to the gossip about the Zhou family along the way, they reached the Zhou Manor just as the appointed time approached.
Zhou Fei was already waiting at the manor gates. When he saw them, he walked down the steps to greet them.
“My brother had matters to attend to back at the sect, so I will be the one accompanying you today.”
He gave a gentle smile and raised his hand to lead the way. “Please, follow me.”
As soon as he spoke and moved, Gu Ningyun paused for a moment, discreetly observing him with great care.
After not seeing him for half a month, this man seemed quite different from before.
It wasn't a change in his appearance, but rather the aura he projected.
Previously, he had felt like a venomous snake in sheep's clothing, lurking in the shadows—outwardly gentle, but constantly cautious and calculating.
Now, he felt like a blend of the sheep and the snake, much more consistent inside and out.
Zhou Fei didn't notice her scrutiny as he led them into the manor.
Since they had a prior agreement, they didn't waste any time. Zhou Fei took them directly toward the location of the Shocking Thunder Platform.
To get from the main gates of the Zhou Manor to the Shocking Thunder Platform, one had to cross most of the estate.
After passing through the gardens, several corridors, and various courtyards, Gu Ningyun and the others finally understood what the townspeople meant when they said the Zhou family had been “stripped into an empty shell by the second branch.”
The gates, the walls, and the buildings were still there; that was the so-called shell.
As for the “empty” part—
Judging by the path they walked, there was absolutely nothing left except for the buildings that couldn't be moved.
When they passed the garden, the flowerbeds had clearly once held spirit flowers and herbs. Mu Chenze mentioned there were traces of things like spirit gathering arrays.
Now, forget the spirit plants—even the soil was three layers shallower.
As for the arrays?
According to the divine sense transmission from Mu Chenze, a professional array cultivator with a Natural Array Body, there were traces of arrays everywhere in the manor except for the sect-protecting array, which required an array hub to dismantle.
Yes, they were only traces.
Looking at the ground, there were marks where potted landscapes should have been. Now, the pots and the landscapes had vanished into thin air together.
Another spot had clearly been a fish pond. Some remains of fish food could still be seen at the bottom.
Now, forget the fish—even the water had disappeared without a trace.
Then there were the courtyards. One courtyard was missing its doors and frames, likely because the materials used in its construction were quite valuable.
As for the servants who handled chores in the manor, whether it was due to their route or some other reason, they didn't see a single one.
Since there was nothing left in the manor, there were probably no chores to handle, so servants weren't needed?
No, it was precisely because there was nothing that they needed people to reorganize and restock.
A manor as large as the Zhou family's would always have businesses that required people to manage, unless... their businesses had also been emptied...
There were many such sights, but Gu Ningyun didn't dwell on them further.
She could only say... well, the Zhou Manor was indeed very large and very spacious.
Effortlessly hiding her “world-broadened” expression, Gu Ningyun said nothing.
Mu Chenze sent a divine sense transmission to his four companions. “The Zhou family is backed by the Ten Directions Sect and possesses the ancestral Shocking Thunder Platform.”
“This massive manor was passed down through generations, so its furnishings were naturally precious. With the second branch stripping it bare, Zhou Fei and his brother have indeed suffered heavy losses.”
“People are naturally more important than resources. The fact that Zhou Fei and his brother could protect themselves in this crisis is already a huge gain,” Wen Xuan remarked, looking at the back of the young man leading them.
“That's true.”
Mu Chenze winked at them. “An ancient family like this surely has hidden methods. Rumor has it the Shocking Thunder Platform can be shrunk and stored in a storage ring, allowing it to be moved to wherever a cultivator is facing a tribulation.”
“But Zhou Fei's brother is only at the mid-stage Golden Core. A family treasure like the Shocking Thunder Platform can't possibly be carried on his person at all times.”
Wen Xuan added, “It would be too easy to steal.”
“Exactly,” Mu Chenze said. “Since the Shocking Thunder Platform is still here, they might still have true heritage and resources left. I don't know much about Zhou Fei's brother or his father in seclusion, but judging by Zhou Fei's schemes and patience, it's only a matter of time before the Zhou family regains its former glory or even surpasses it.”
“If that's the case, why did he plot against us before?” Wen Xuan was referring to Zhou Fei's attempt to have them leave Border City together.
Regarding this, Gu Ningyun actually had a guess.
It likely still had to do with their strength.
However, this trip was meant to be a trial for them.
According to Perfected Person Ye from the New Disciple Training Department, there were three purposes for their disguised trial.
First, it was to have them hide their identities as Xiaoyao disciples and experience the cultivation world more authentically from a different perspective—as rogue cultivators or disciples of small sects.
Second, for Qi Refining cultivators like them who had only been practicing for a few years, the primary goal was to hone their techniques, swordplay, and other methods to solidify their foundations.
After all, unlike the restrained sparring within the sect, many battles and schemes in the cultivation world were aimed at taking lives.
Third, it was to let them travel more, see more, and experience more. Whatever they gained from it would be left to nature.
This kind of trial was a Xiaoyao tradition, held for every generation.
Normally, one year after the New Disciple Competition ended, the new outer sect disciples of Xiaoyao would leave Yunzhou in groups based on their respective pavilions to undergo such a year-long trial in the other four continents of the Five Continents.
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