From Five Animal Exercises to being hailed as a saint and ancestor

Yao Mengkang felt as if he had been stuffed into a rough burlap sack.

A jolt followed, clearly indicating that the man in black was carrying her on his shoulder.

He closed his eyes tightly and suppressed his aura.

Even the heartbeat and blood flow are controlled at a slow, almost tortoise-like pace.

He perfectly portrayed a person in a coma.

Its perception, however, was like invisible ripples on water, subtly probing the movements of the outside world through the gaps in the burlap sack.

At first, it was the sound of wind rushing through the narrow alley.

Then it seemed to turn into a more bustling street.

A cacophony of voices, sounds of vehicles, and hawkers' cries filled the air.

Then there were several more obvious shifts.

Sometimes they went up and down the steps, and sometimes they passed through some portals with faint array fluctuations.

I even briefly entered a completely silent space where only the sound of footsteps echoed.

The other party was clearly extremely cautious, constantly taking detours in an attempt to confuse any potential pursuers.

Yao Mengkang silently memorized the direction and approximate distance.

After several detours, he could no longer accurately determine his location within Baiwei City.

After an unknown amount of time, the bumpy ride finally stopped.

He felt himself being put down, followed by the low "click" of the mechanism turning.

A cold, damp air, mixed with the smell of mildew and a faint fishy odor, rushed into the burlap sack.

He was roughly dragged out of the sack and thrown onto the cold, hard ground.

He remains in a "coma" state.

But his spiritual power had already spread silently, like the finest whiskers.

Exploring the surrounding environment.

This is an underground space, quite large in area, roughly estimated to be able to accommodate several hundred people.

The light mainly came from dozens of torches burning brightly on the walls.

The flickering flames cast a dim, yellowish glow over the entire space.

But for practitioners, their vision is already clear enough.

The poor air circulation made it feel somewhat stuffy.

His "side" and in front.

It was a row of cells made of thick iron bars, roughly twenty in total.

Each cell was filled with people, some sitting and some lying down; a rough estimate puts the number at nearly a hundred!

Most of them were dressed fairly neatly.

But they were all listless, pale-faced, and had dull eyes, as if their energy had been drained away.

Yao Mengkang could sense that a strange drug had been implanted in their bodies.

The drug made them feel weak and sore all over, making it extremely difficult for them to even mobilize their spiritual energy.

The mental energy swept across each cell like a scanner.

Soon, he "saw" the twenty-three missing Qinglu Academy disciples in one of the innermost cells!

Although he had only met these ordinary disciples a few times on the Xuanhuang Boat or in the academy.

But after opening his ancestral meridians, his memory became terrifyingly strong, almost photographic.

The conversations he had on the Xuanhuang Boat over those five days left him with an impression of most of the disciples who were traveling with him.

The man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who was huddled against the wall, looked utterly dejected.

It was Tan Jie, who had once consulted him about the application of "silk-reeling force" in swordsmanship.

In the next cell, a burly young man was struggling to sit up cross-legged, but repeatedly failed.

He is Wang Zhuang, a simple and honest man who once collected a lot of Starshine Grass on the outskirts of the secret realm.

And there was that beautiful young girl leaning against the railing, her eyes filled with fear and helplessness.

Familiar faces, some familiar, some only met once, are all here, not one missing.

Seeing that they were all still alive, Yao Mengkang felt somewhat relieved.

Besides the imprisoned young talents, there were also seventeen figures exuding the aura of the Spirit Sea Realm patrolling back and forth in this underground space.

They were also dressed in black, but not masked. Their faces were cold and their eyes were sharp, like wolves guarding a flock of sheep.

Including the five who just returned, there are now a total of twenty-two guards here.

Yao Mengkang remained "unconscious," but his mind was racing with calculations.

The place was heavily guarded, and the stone beads sent waves of stinging pain through the air, as if anyone who dared to make a move would face certain death.

There must be an extremely powerful figure guarding this place.

There are also restrictions imposed by those strange drugs.

It would be virtually impossible to force a breakout with these twenty-three weakened disciples.

We must wait for external assistance before we have a chance.

The area is covered by an array, and the disciples are physically weak, making rescue difficult.

Meanwhile, on the surface of the earth.

Li Han's figure blended completely into the omnipresent yet invisible starlight.

Like a ghost that doesn't exist, it closely followed the five men in black carrying sacks.

The other party repeatedly detoured and changed routes.

They even went so far as to walk through halls and palaces, trying to shake off any possible tracking.

But faced with Li Han's incredibly mysterious star concealment technique and the assassin's extreme patience...

All of this was a waste of time.

He was like the most patient hunter, always keeping his target locked on.

Finally, he followed the man in black to a brightly lit street filled with the sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments.

The streets were lined with ornately decorated buildings, filled with the sounds of birdsong and the fragrance of cosmetics.

This is a famous red-light district in Baiwei City.

The man in black, carrying a sack, cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

Then he quickly slipped into the back door of one of the brothels, a place known as the "Gold-Devouring Cave."

The back door looked ordinary, but Li Han could sense that there were more than one layer of concealment and guard formations behind it.

What shocked Li Han was that this was a brothel known as a "money pit".

The straight-line distance between them and the "Ke Si Yun Lai" inn where they had previously stayed was only about one kilometer!

It was practically right under their noses!

He approached the back door silently, preparing to sneak in as before.

However, just as he was less than three zhang from the back door, an indescribable, chilling sense of impending death washed over him.

It felt like ice water was instantly poured over my entire body!

My heart was pounding wildly, my blood was almost frozen! My soul was screaming a warning!

The seemingly ordinary door in front of us.

In his perception at this moment, it seemed to have transformed into a gaping maw of an abyss that devoured everything, emanating a terrifying aura that made people suffocate.

It was an absolute, irresistible pressure.

The pressure was almost the same as when facing Vice Dean Shangguan Hong, and even more sinister and unpredictable!

Intuition told him that once he stepped through that door...

Or if you try to peek behind the door, you will immediately be met with a thunderous attack, and there will be no chance of survival!

Without hesitation, Li Han instantly reduced his presence to the extreme.

Like a speck of dust, it blended into the deepest shadow in the corner of the wall.

Even breathing and heartbeat completely stopped, like a lifeless stone.

He dared not make any further moves and could only firmly remember the terrifying warning and the exact location.

Just as Li Han sensed a deadly crisis.

In the backyard of the "money pit," in a luxurious yet tranquil room, a woman who was doing her makeup in front of a mirror paused slightly.

She looked to be around thirty years old, and her clothing and appearance were extremely daring.

This style is not commonly seen in Baiwei City; the fabric is luxurious, the cut is close-fitting, and it outlines a graceful figure.

Her face was adorned with exquisite makeup, and her eyes exuded charm with every glance.

She put down the jade comb in her hand and slightly furrowed her exquisitely drawn willow-leaf eyebrows.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the wall, looking towards the back door with a hint of doubt.

"Strange! I think I sensed a very peculiar fluctuation just now? It was faint, like starlight. Was it just my imagination?"

She carefully sensed it for a moment, but the feeling vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

She shook her head, thinking she was just overthinking things, and continued to fix her sideburns in front of the mirror.

It was this keen perception that, in turn, clashed with Li Han's intuitive warning, which stemmed from his life-and-death experience.

Li Han remained hidden in place for the full time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

After confirming that the deadly sense of crisis had not spread and that no one had come out to search,

Only then, like a true shadow, did it retreat silently and return to the inn at top speed.

The inn room was shrouded in a protective barrier.

Li Han recounted what he had seen while following the brothel, as well as the terrifying warning he had sensed at the back door of the brothel.

He reported the information to Shangguan Hong and Qin Feng without reservation.

When they heard that the place of imprisonment was actually a brothel, a den of iniquity, just a mile away.

And there might be someone with strength no less than theirs in charge.

Shangguan Hong and Qin Feng's expressions both became extremely solemn.

Shangguan Hong stood with his hands behind his back by the window.

Gazing at the faint lights in the direction of the "money pit" in the distance, his fingers unconsciously twitched.

A sharp glint of hope flashed in his eyes at first, then it was quickly replaced by deep worry.

Qin Feng clenched his fists instinctively, his knuckles turning slightly white.

He suddenly stood up, paced around the room a couple of times, and then forced himself to sit down again.

I picked up the teacup, but found that my hand was trembling slightly, so I put the teacup down heavily.

The successful location discovery and the breakthrough in the investigation were a great relief to them.

But what followed was even deeper anxiety.

Yao Mengkang is currently in a dangerous situation, very close to a terrifying being who may be at the Purple Mansion Realm!

If their identities are exposed, the consequences will be unimaginable!

That child is the only disciple since the academy's founding to reach the forbidden realm of the thirteenth level of meridian opening.

This is where the future hope of Qinglu Academy lies! If it perishes here...

But soon, a look of determination and trust flashed in both of their eyes.

Shangguan Hong took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Meng Kang is a calm and composed child with exceptional intelligence, and he is also protected by the forbidden realm."

"As long as we don't confront that person head-on, we should have a pretty good chance of protecting ourselves. We should trust him."

Qin Feng nodded emphatically.

"That's right, that kid is very cunning, he won't get into trouble so easily."

"What we need to do now is not to panic, but to formulate a comprehensive rescue plan based on the intelligence brought back by Li Han, coordinating efforts from both inside and outside!"

Even so, the atmosphere in the room remained oppressive.

Yao Mengkang's safety weighed heavily on the hearts of the two elders.

They were both relieved to have found clues and worried about their disciples who had ventured deep into the lion's den.

This complex emotion manifested in their furrowed brows and sharper eyes.

Every step from here on must be taken with extreme caution and careful planning.

Not only must all the disciples be rescued.

We must also ensure that Yao Mengkang, this "sharp blade" that has already pierced the enemy's heart, is safe.

They were able to return safely.