"Uncle Feng, what's wrong with the Third Boss?" Zhi Hua asked. She had accepted her growing admiration for the Third Boss. His peerless arrogance caused her heart to race, and she did not want to see him die in the Twilight Maple Forest.
Qian Huifeng was not sure how to respond. "Let's wait and see."
Old Tao and Lu Yin’s other companions exchanged glances, but they were not nearly as tense anymore. After learning that the Third Boss was a Spirit Treasure Master, the Spirit Treasure Society no longer saw him or his entourage as enemies.
Still, what exactly had happened to the Third Boss? How could he have been defeated by the formation so easily? Those who traveled with him refused to believe that he had failed.
While traveling with Lu Yin, they had witnessed his power firsthand. He seemed to possess limitless strength; there was no way he would fall like this.
Challenging the nine steps of the Grandmaster's Trial was not something that could be accomplished in one day. There were some people who spent months before showing any results.
The only thing the onlookers could do was wait.
As long as Grandmaster Yu Ran did not announce the Third Boss’s failure, people would continue to wait.
Soon, a full day passed.
Lu Yin was still in the same position as ever, never moving. Just like that, another day passed.
Then, he moved.
Everyone stared.
His eyes slowly opened, and he lazily stretched. "That was a great nap."
Everyone was speechless.
Nap? Sleeping? He was sleeping?
What a joke! Sleeping within the Twilight Maple Forest? Had they all been on edge, watching, while he merely slept?
While they could not believe it, there was no denying that that was exactly what had happened. The Third Boss had enjoyed a relaxing sleep. When he woke up, he had stretched his body to shake off a bit of drowsiness and then stood up. He walked through the Twilight Maple Forest spirit treasure formation and casually stepped onto the seventh step.
Everyone was dumbfounded yet again. The moment the Third Boss had arrived at the Spirit Treasure Society, people had experienced shock after shock. They had thought that they would grow accustomed to the man’s surprises, only to yet again be caught off guard.
In the plaza, Old Tao and the rest of Lu Yin’s entourage were not surprised in the least. They had already known the truth. After all, how could the Third Boss be defeated by a mere formation?
Far away, Qian Huifeng remained calm.
Zhi Hua was happy, and she let out a brief cheer. Though, the moment she made a noise, she caught herself and quickly glanced over at Qian Huifeng.
He did not appear to be at all angry. "Sleeping, huh? I can see it now. It couldn’t be so easy."
It appears that my Twilight Maple Forest is still too weak.
Grandmaster Yu Ran shook her head. She had thought that the Twilight Maple Forest had stopped the Third Boss’s progress, but in reality, he had simply been taking a nap. She did not even know how to react to that.
She felt as though she had believed a massive fire had been ignited, only to discover someone had stamped out with one foot. It was a qualitative difference in level. This Third Boss was a true monster.
"Hehe, this kid... Feng Zi is going to end up as a laughingstock," someone nearby mentioned in a hoarse voice.
Grandmaster Yu Ran looked over. "You’ve also returned?"
An elderly man had spoken. His hair was mostly gray, but he was still quite spry. "I came back to take a look when I heard that this Third Boss was coming to our Spirit Treasure Domain. If I can help, I’ll lend a hand. After all, the next one’s mine."
"How long do you think yours will be able to last?" Grandmaster Yu Ran asked while staring at the seventh step of the stairs.
The old man took a moment to consider. "Hard to say."
"You don’t want to guess?"
"It’s really hard to say. By the way, Yu Ran, this Third Boss isn’t as vicious as the rumors make him out to be."
Grandmaster Yu Ran was taken aback. "What happened?"
A forced and bitter smile appeared on the old man’s face. "When he left Hu Wu and Tian Ya’s place to come to our domain, my granddaughter went with a few others to block him. When I heard that, I nearly died of fright. Luckily, the Third Boss did nothing to them, or else I wouldn’t be here with you now."
Grandmaster Yu Ran looked back at the Grandmaster's Trial. "We’re all lucky that he did nothing. If he had, our entire Spirit Treasure Society would be gone."
The old man felt a bit of warmth in his heart.
He was part of the Spirit Treasure Society. If he had been killed by the Third Boss, the Spirit Treasure Society would have never let the matter go.
The Spirit Treasure Society was a truly unique organization within the Spirit Nidus, which was precisely why no one was willing to offend any member of the society.
They had been lucky, very lucky.
The old man’s name was Zhi Shan, and he was another one of the society’s nine Grandmasters. He had arranged the formation on the seventh step of the Grandmaster's Trial, and his creation was called the Tomb of Mountains and Streams.
Just as the name suggested, the Tomb of Mountains and Streams had mountains and water. It had been developed by Grandmaster Zhi Shan.
The fact that the formation had been placed on the seventh step of the Grandmaster's Trial, even higher than the Twilight Maple Forest, demonstrated how highly the Spirit Treasure Society had evaluated the Tomb of Mountains and Streams. However, the Tomb of Mountains and Streams was also regarded as one of the most impractical spirit treasure formations.
In the plaza, Old Tao let out a sigh. "The Tomb of Mountains and Streams is unquestionably one of the most powerful spirit treasure formations. Once completed, even a powerful Ortuser can be trapped, finding it difficult to escape. The Spirit Treasure Society has always wanted to see if someone at the level of the Seven Seraphs can break out of the Tomb of Mountains and Streams."
"Is it that powerful?" Cai Keqing was surprised.
Palace Master Yao solemnly stated, "I’ve also heard of the Tomb of Mountains and Streams. It’s been referred to as one of the most impractical spirit treasure formations because it takes too long to set up."
Old Tao nodded. "Not only does it take too long to set up, but it’s also too obvious. It’s easy to notice, and its boundaries are also readily seen. If someone wanted to use the Tomb of Mountains and Streams in combat, they would struggle greatly to do so. No enemy will give you the time needed to set up the formation, and even if that happens, the formation is so obvious that an enemy will simply avoid it.
"However, those drawbacks don’t matter on the Grandmaster's Trial. The Third Boss has to enter the Tomb of Mountains and Streams, and he needs to break free of it."
There were various conversations sprouting throughout the Spirit Treasure Society, all of them discussing the Tomb of Mountains and Streams.
Ying Han showed a bitter smile. "The Tomb of Mountains and Streams is precisely what’s stopped two Grandmasters from conquering the Grandmaster's Trial. If not for this formation, the Spirit Treasure Society would have more than just nine Grandmasters."
"That’s wrong," Grandmaster Yu Ran retorted.