Cao Shaoqing breathed a sigh of relief, about to move his steps, when Zi Linling stopped him.
Just then, that suffocating aura reappeared above the small formation.
Cao Shaoqing's heart leaped into his throat again.
He looked at Zi Linling with lingering fear, his face full of suspicion.
Zi Linling pointed outside and said nothing.
Cao Shaoqing understood, and the anxiety in his heart slowly subsided.
Soon, the suffocating aura receded again.
This time, Cao Shaoqing had learned his lesson. He didn't move, waiting for Zi Linling's instructions.
Zi Linling shook her head, still standing motionless.
Cao Shaoqing followed suit, standing still and quietly.
After three breaths, the suffocating aura appeared around the small formation once more.
This time, it came quickly and left even faster.
Zi Linling raised her hand and lifted the seal on Cao Shaoqing's voice.
"Let's go, don't go more than ten feet away!"
After speaking, she stepped through the formation at the entrance of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
Cao Shaoqing quickly followed, asking curiously, "That aura just now should have been the old family head's. But why did he repeatedly test us?"
Zi Linling said irritably, "It's all because of you! If you hadn't been distracted and strayed more than ten feet away, how could you have alerted him?"
"Since he sensed the anomaly here, he would naturally use his aura to probe. When he didn't detect anything the first time, he would suspect that someone was deliberately concealing their tracks, hence the second and third surprise probes."
"Master, since there were two and three probes, won't there be a fourth?" Cao Shaoqing asked, puzzled.
Zi Linling shook her head. "If it were you, would you?"
Cao Shaoqing thought about it and showed a look of sudden realization.
No matter who it was, if they couldn't find anything unusual after three attempts, they would conclude that there was nothing amiss.
"No!"
Cao Shaoqing shook his head and replied.
Zi Linling nodded. "Exactly. You wouldn't waste any more time, and neither would he!"
As they spoke, the two had already passed through the formation at the entrance of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm and entered the realm.
Zi Linling removed the synchronous small formation.
"Huh!"
She let out a surprised exclamation. "How can this be?"
Cao Shaoqing quickly asked, "Master, what happened?"
Zi Linling sighed. "Don't you feel it? After entering the secret realm, besides soul power and physical strength, spiritual power and the power of laws cannot be used?" Su Dan Novel Network
Cao Shaoqing sensed it immediately and discovered that, as Zi Linling said, his spiritual power and the power of laws had been stripped away.
"What's going on?" he asked in surprise.
Zi Linling was speechless. It was only then that she realized that apart from his thick skin and high cultivation, Cao Shaoqing was a complete mess in other aspects.
This was an obvious situation, yet he still had to ask, as if he hadn't brought his brain with him.
"What else could it be! This secret realm is designed to temper soul power and physical strength, so spiritual power and the power of laws have been extracted!"
Cao Shaoqing suddenly understood. "So that's how it is!"
Zi Linling looked towards the depths of the secret realm and smiled brightly. "It seems this Mirror Flower Secret Realm is no simple place! Let's go and take a look!"
Saying that, she strode forward, heading towards the depths of the Mirror Flower Secret Realm.
At the same time, she thought to herself, "It seems luck is on my side!"
Originally, Zi Linling had been agonizing over whether to use the power of the Judgment Law if she was forced to fight the Divine Lord realm expert from the Cao family.
Now, she no longer had to worry. Since spiritual power and the power of laws could not be used here, she had a seventy percent chance of defeating the old family head of the Cao family, who was in the Divine Lord realm.
After all, her soul power had already reached the Guiyuan realm, and her physical body was comparable to a divine artifact.
Therefore, if they encountered each other, it was still unknown who would win or lose!
Cao Shaoqing had no idea that Zi Linling's thoughts were racing.
He followed closely behind Zi Linling, curiously asking, "Master, your synchronous small formation is too amazing! The old family head didn't detect the slightest anomaly?"
Zi Linling smiled. "The reason he couldn't detect it is because I added an illusion formation to the synchronous formation. This was why you couldn't make a sound and why you weren't allowed to move."
Upon hearing this, Cao Shaoqing's admiration for Zi Linling flowed like a mighty river.
"Master, I'm very curious, is there anything in this world that you don't know?" Cao Shaoqing asked with shining eyes.
Zi Linling scoffed. "Your flattery is quite scholarly. With three thousand great paths, how could one know everything?"
"Moreover, even if you know something, you shouldn't reveal it to others. It's always wise to keep some trump cards!"
After speaking, she quickened her pace forward.
Since she no longer had spiritual power or the power of laws, she could only proceed on foot.
Cao Shaoqing blinked and then followed.
However, as his feet moved, Zi Linling's words kept echoing in his mind – Three Thousand Great Paths!!!
The two walked for half an hour.
"Halt, who goes there!"
A burly man with fierce eyebrows and a stern look blocked their path.
Zi Linling frowned. "Are you the old family head of the Cao family?"
The burly man was stunned for a moment, then asked, "How did you know? Are you from the Cao family? But I've never seen you before."
Zi Linling shook her head and pointed at Cao Shaoqing. "It doesn't matter if you don't recognize me, but do you recognize him?"
The burly man carefully examined Cao Shaoqing and asked uncertainly, "Shaoqing?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Shaoqing stepped forward and knelt before the burly man, respectfully saying, "Nephew Shaoqing greets the old family head!"
Although he had become Zi Linling's servant, he was still a member of the Cao family, so he had to bow when he met the old family head of the Cao family.
"Are you really Shaoqing?" the burly man asked uncertainly.
Cao Shaoqing nodded. "Answering the old family head, I am indeed Shaoqing. When I was young, you even held me and Shaochen!"
The burly man was overjoyed and quickly said, "You are truly Shaoqing, get up quickly! We are uncle and nephew, there's no need for such formality!"
After saying that, he helped Cao Shaoqing up.
Cao Shaoqing's eyes became misty.
The burly man said joyfully, "Shaoqing, why did you come in? Have you broken through to the Divine Lord realm?"
Cao Shaoqing shook his head. "Shaoqing has disappointed the old family head! Shaoqing has been stuck at the Half-Step Divine Lord realm for two hundred years and has only just touched the threshold of the Divine Lord realm."
The burly man's expression changed, and his aura turned cold.
He reprimanded Cao Shaoqing, "Since you haven't broken through to the Divine Lord realm, how did you come to this Mirror Flower Secret Realm?"