"They must have some special means to locate us at any time. Forget it, there's no point in wasting more effort."
Han Meiyan's expression looked somewhat unpleasant, while Zhang He frowned and asked, "If that Eighth Prince keeps following us, how are we supposed to obtain the Qilin Blood?"
Han Meiyan's slender and alluring eyes revealed a contemplative look as she pondered aloud, "We can only take things one step at a time for now. If there's really no other way, I'll draw them away while you go get the Qilin Blood. The two of us will split up and act separately."
Hearing this, Zhang He glanced at Han Meiyan. A sharp gleam flashed in the depths of his eyes as he slowly nodded, "In that case, this is all we can do!"
...
"Why haven't we seen a single copper coin along this entire route?"
Li Yuanling steered the wooden boat, her eyes scanning back and forth across the rock walls on both sides of the cavern, seemingly trying desperately to find something.
"How would I know?" Li Musheng shrugged his shoulders, but soon he waved his hand dismissively and said casually, "But it doesn't matter. Let's reach the destination first. Worst case scenario, we can just steal them, right?"
Hearing this, Li Yuanling's expression suddenly shifted. She poked her smooth chin with her finger and said with sudden realization, "That's right! The rules written on that stone tablet didn't say we couldn't steal copper coins. When the time comes, we'll guard the necessary passage leading to the destination and charge one copper coin from each wooden boat that passes. That shouldn't be too excessive."
Li Musheng nodded in complete agreement.
After all, this was just a challenge game. Having slightly lower moral standards was completely acceptable.
During the remainder of the journey, Li Musheng and his companion stuck close to Han Meiyan and Zhang He, turning left and right through various caverns, constantly navigating through the underground waterway labyrinth.
Along the way, they sometimes suddenly encountered hidden weapon attacks launched from the rock walls, and sometimes encountered underwater mechanisms and secret passages that disrupted the waterways, suddenly stirring up massive waves in an attempt to damage and capsize the wooden boats.
However, these naturally couldn't have any impact on Li Musheng and his companion. Their wooden boat consistently followed behind Han Meiyan and Zhang He's boat, and they eventually arrived at the destination of the entire labyrinth without any danger.
"These two demonic path practitioners are quite capable."
Li Musheng nodded slowly. Throughout this journey, the other party had basically taken no wrong turns, almost going straight through the labyrinth. They truly had some real skill.
Li Yuanling was also in a good mood at this moment. She glanced around at her surroundings. The destination of the labyrinth was a massive underground palace.
The palace was brightly lit with candles. Its foundation was built from piled granite, and dozens of enormous stone pillars rose from the ground, carved with various intricate and exquisite "wooden boat" patterns.
Above the entire palace hung stalactites resembling frozen waterfalls, sparkling with multicolored light under the candlelight.
The center of the underground palace connected to the cavern's waterway. After the wooden boats arrived, they could pass through the arched gate standing above the water surface to enter the palace interior.
At this moment, Han Meiyan signaled Zhang He to stop the wooden boat, then turned toward Li Musheng behind them and said, "This humble woman was quite discourteous earlier. Please go ahead, Young Master. Consider it this humble woman's apology."
Hearing this, Li Yuanling immediately frowned tightly. She quickly reached out to block in front of Li Musheng, revealing a vigilant expression.
The charming technique Han Meiyan had used on her had gradually worn off, and now she had returned to her fully guarded attitude toward her.
Li Musheng, however, gently nodded. This demonic path enchantress had mastered social etiquette so perfectly that he truly had no way to sternly refuse.
"Let's go in and take a look first. See if we can obtain a divine treasure that can enhance cultivation," Li Musheng said to Li Yuanling.
She hesitated for a moment but didn't say anything more. She then steered the wooden boat past Han Meiyan and the other person, heading toward the underground palace.
Seeing this, Han Meiyan and Zhang He exchanged glances with each other, then silently steered their boat to follow behind.
"Congratulations to the two honored guests for being the first to pass through the labyrinth, with a total accumulated pattern count of two hundred and ten."
A middle-aged man dressed in brocade robes, holding a record book, walked over to the wooden boat where Li Musheng and his companion sat, his face full of smiles.
Hearing this, Li Yuanling glanced at him, then directly waved her hand and spoke bluntly, "Cut to the chase. Just tell us directly, what is the reward for first place? Is there a divine treasure that can enhance martial arts cultivation?"
The middle-aged man in brocade robes was clearly stunned, seemingly not expecting Li Yuanling to speak so directly. He laughed awkwardly twice and cupped his hands, saying, "This humble one doesn't know where the young lady heard such rumors, but the rewards Floating Boat City gives to honored guests are generally some powerful martial arts secret manuals, or precious weapons forged by famous masters of the martial world, or various rare treasures..."
"But there truly has never been any divine treasure that can enhance cultivation!"
Upon hearing this, Li Yuanling's beautiful eyebrows furrowed tightly, and she immediately became dissatisfied.
She pointed at the pile of jade tokens on the wooden boat and said coldly, "We obtained such a high pattern count, we must have broken the record. Is Floating Boat City really so stingy that you won't show any special consideration?"
However, the middle-aged man in brocade robes shook his head and smiled, "The young lady has misunderstood. Although your pattern count of two hundred and ten is quite high, the highest pattern count record in Floating Boat City to date is actually two hundred and five."
Li Musheng raised an eyebrow. This highest record number didn't sound very pleasant, did it?
Then, he glanced at the middle-aged man in brocade robes and stopped Li Yuanling, who clearly wanted to argue with him. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "If we surpass your current record pattern count, can we obtain a divine treasure that enhances cultivation?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man in brocade robes showed a helpless expression and cupped his hands, saying, "Young Master truly misunderstands. Floating Boat City truly does not have any so-called divine treasure that can enhance martial arts cultivation."
Upon hearing this, Li Musheng turned to glance at Li Yuanling and asked suspiciously, "Is your information reliable or not?"
"It should be reliable."
Li Yuanling blinked her eyes, but then she shrugged and said, "But whether or not there really is such a divine treasure, I'm... not certain either."
Li Musheng's eyebrow immediately twitched as he stared at her without speaking.
Why don't you listen to yourself? What kind of nonsense is that?
However, he thought for a moment, then turned to look at Han Meiyan and Zhang He on the wooden boat behind them, and suddenly said, "You two should also be here for that divine treasure, right?"
Hearing this, Han Meiyan and Zhang He both exchanged glances. Zhang He's expression changed repeatedly, and he used true qi to form a thread to quietly transmit his voice to Han Meiyan, clearly secretly asking how they should deal with Li Musheng.
Li Musheng, who saw this scene, directly withdrew his gaze.
The other party didn't immediately deny it, and moreover, they were furtively communicating in secret, which already explained the problem. Floating Boat City probably really did have a so-called divine treasure.
However, the Floating Boat City before him clearly had no intention of using that divine treasure as a reward, and moreover seemed to be desperately concealing the divine treasure's existence.
"Looking at it this way, this thing should be somewhat extraordinary!" Li Musheng stroked his chin.