Chapter 2144 Treading Carefully

Everyone watched as Ziran took out a small marble. The marble was made out of glass and had a few runes painted onto it. "Gimme a minute, I have to configure this." Ziran said before getting to work on the marble.

His finger moved as he started writing some runes and erasing old runes on the marble. While this happened the others watched.

Lin Mu also decided to take things one step at a time, since it didn't seem like they were being rushed at the moment.

His immortal sense had already scanned the hall they were in and found it to be mostly safe, with nothing in there other than them and the teleportation circles. The hall was made out of the same stone as all other structures and no sign of runes was present on it.

Not just that, but one couldn't use Immortal Sense on it properly either as it had the effect of obstructing it.

Thus Lin Mu couldn't tell what was beyond this hall. He also didn't try destroying it like before as there was no telling what lay behind it. There was also a chance that it could trigger some self defense mechanism that might put them in jeopardy.

He could have attempted it if he was alone or if there were fewer people, but with his companions here, he didn't wish to take a risk. He could guarantee his own safety, but saying that he could do the same for others would be too naive of him.

~SHUA~

"Here we go." Ziran seemed to have finished his work on the marble and now it looked a bit different.

The runes were arranged in a circle on the marble, with a single line going through its middle.

~HUALA~

The runes glowed before the line in the middle moved. It spread apart, as if an eye was opening before a small formation screen materialized above Ziran's wrist. "Huh… A Monitoring Formation linked to that bracelet." Lin Mu accurately identified what it was.

"Indeed." Ziran confirmed. "These glass eyes are quite nifty in exploring places like these. I've modified it to see in the dark, as well as see immortal Qi in the air." He stated before throwing the eye.

~thud~thud~thud~

The eye bounced on the ground a few times before rolling into the dark corridor. Whatever the eye saw was projected onto the formation screen, which was being watched by Ziran and the others. The Glass eyes passed through the dark curtain at the entrance of the corridor and proceeded. ~flicker~

The formation screen flickered and turned dark for a couple of seconds, before a scene finally appeared on it.

"Hmm, it works so that's a plus." Ziran said before furrowing his brows. "Though the range is quite limited." He said, as the screen started to seemingly flicker after twenty meters or so.

"Considering our Immortal Sense is completely blocked from entering, this is already quite good." Lady Kang said. "Yeah, at least we know there is no immediate danger." Lin Mu agreed.

"Guess we have to tread it now." Ziran said, but before he could take a step ahead Elder Hu moved.

Without saying he word, he took the lead and stepped through the dark curtain. Lin Mu raised his brows in surprise, but Ziran didn't seem to be as surprised. The same was the case for Lady Kang and Min Ju.

He couldn't help but look at them in question, making Lady Kang speak.

"Don't mind Elder Hu. He's just doing his duty." Lady Kang spoke. "He's sworn to protect me and has since I was a child." She added, with a hint of happiness in her voice.

Lin Mu could tell that the staunch businesswoman did have a soft side to her, thought it might be hidden deep inside her. "Elder Hu is very capable. He was a great help to me in the previous trials." Ziran chimed in. "I don't think he'll have any problems dealing with danger." He added.

"I see… it is very nice of him to do that." Lin Mu said. "Plus we have the glass eye to scout ahead." Ziran and Lady Kang nodded, while Min Ju merely listened in silence. As Lady Kang's personal maid, she only spoke when it was needed and it was not her place to interfere in most matters. Plus, she was well acquainted with Elder Hu too and knew what his duties were, thus this was no news to her.

~SHUA~SHUA~SHUA~

The group walked in through the dark curtain and arrived in a rather gloomy corridor. Their vision was quite limited and their immortal sense was also suppressed.

"Three… No at least four layers of Sense Countering formations." Ziran estimated. "You can tell that?" Lin Mu asked feeling surprised.

He would have been able to do the same if the formations in the location were normal. But with them being woven into the very fabric of space itself, Lin Mu couldn't read them the same way. Even with the Spatial Perception, it was difficult to read them with how spread they were.

"Well I can only estimate it, but yes." Ziran affirmed. "I've experienced a lot of Sense Countering Formations and they seem to be a staple that many experts use in their inheritance grounds. Considering the force begin exerted on our Immortal Sense, it is at least four layers of the formations at work." He explained.

"There's more formations in it too… Light is being suppressed too." Lady Kang said, as she looked at a small glowing star on her finger. The star's glow was rather dim, and looked more like a piece of glitter. Normally, this very star should be enough to light up an entire room.

"Yeah, there should definitely some combination of Fire suppressing formation, Light Consuming Fomentation and Dark Entrenchment formations added to it all." Ziran nodded.

Lin Mu couldn't help but be impressed by the man's skill. Even if he might not be as good at formations as him, Ziran still had his thousands of years of experience at his back that could carry him through hardships.

It just proved that Qiao De choosing Ziran as an expedition member was the right choice. Perhaps among them he was the one who had gone on most of them and had the perfect skills for it too.

~step~step~step~

They continued walking a bit more, before reaching the location of the glass eye. It was seemingly waiting for them, and Elder Hu was also next to it.

~roll~

Ziran controlled the glass eye to scout ahead, and about twenty seconds of walking later he saw something on the formation screen.

"Ho~ And here I was wondering if this was just a dark yet empty corridor." Ziran smirked. "The traps are right ahead, Elder Hu." He informed.

"I'll take care of it." Elder Hu said fearlessly. Lin Mu narrowed his eyes and activated his Spatial Perception trying to see what kind of traps were present. Even if he might not be able to see in this darkness, he could still 'see' the contrasting movement of Qi in the space. For a trap, there was definitely Immortal Qi going to be involved in its operation, thus it should be visible.

In fact, that is how Ziran had spotted the trap too, since a few vague objects could be seen on the formation screen. They stood out in the darkness and were very conspicuous against the 'empty' background.

~GANG~

And sure enough, just as Elder Hu had taken his fifth step a loud sound was heard. Lin Mu also saw the Immortal Qi moving, as a flat yet very wide object rose from the ground.

"Humph!" But Elder Hu wasn't one to be startled and merely thrust out his hand.

~CLANG~

His armored hand collided against something hard, and faint sparks could be seen due to it. It was surprising that these sparks very still visible in this darkness.

'If they are still visible in this, just how bright would they be if there was no light suppressing formation here?' Lin Mu wondered.

Elder Hu seemingly kept the metal object from rising fully, which became a bit more clear as the others got closer. "A large blade?" Ziran saw. "Huh… The creator really went with the classic traps." He said with some surprise.

Elder Hu didn't care what kind of trap it was though and only intended to get rid of it. He couldn't let an obstacle halt the progress of his Lady after all.

~DENG~DENG~

He held the blade in place with his left arm before starting to hammer it with his right arm. Loud sounds were heard, as the metal blade started to deform bit by bit. It was still trying to rise despite this, but by the time Elder Hu was done with his work, a 'door' had been carved into the blade.

~SHING~

The large blade fully rose up to the ceiling, leaving only one way through it… The Door that Elder Hu had made.

"I suppose we can proceed," Ziran said, before controlling the glass eye to roll further.

The eye passed through the 'door' and looked out for anymore traps. Lin Mu also kept his Spatial Perception active, though he had to focus to limit his range. If he used his ability at the normal level, he would miss what was in front of him and only see the Spatial Fabric all around him.

It was similar to how one adjusted a telescope or binoculars to focus on a specific object or range.

"More traps!" This time Lin Mu ended up spotting them first.