Chapter 1500: In the air
Chapter 1500: In the air
"Are you sure there’s even anything here?"
With the way that this pavilion looked, it really was hard to believe that there was anything that was here. Much less anything that had any value.
But even double checking with the map, it was indeed this place.
The symbol on the map also didn’t give them an idea of what was in this place.
"Is it the wind?" Lin Fan asked himself as he stared at the symbol.
Only that wouldn’t have made any sense if that was the case. What would wind have to do with a place like this?
No matter how they looked at it, it really didn’t seem like a facility that one would find in a sect.
Did that mean that it was a special facility that only belonged to the Dao Sect?
If that was the case, they would have to be even more cautious than before.
After all, there was no telling what special would mean to the Dao Sect.
But when they pushed open the entrance to the pavilion, it didn’t seem like there was anything there. In fact, there was only a corridor that was in front of them that seemed to be devoid of anything.
Both Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan turned to look at Xiao Mu when they saw this.
If anyone should know what was happening here, it would be Xiao Mu.
However, it didn’t seem like Xiao Mu actually had an idea of what was in front of them.
Xiao Mu did move to the front as if they were planning to lead the way, but it wasn’t as if that changed much. After all, they still had no idea what was in front of them and they had no idea what to prepare for.
If it was something that Xiao Mu couldn’t deal with, they would still have to take charge.
Which was why they were thinking about leaving this place.
There were many different pavilions that were left, so it wasn’t as if they had to force themselves to complete this one.
But when Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan suggested going to a different place, Xiao Mu rejected this suggestion. The way that Xiao Mu acted was as if there was something special about this place.
Only it didn’t seem like Xiao Mu was able to tell them what it was.
So in the end, they could only follow Xiao Mu forward to see what would be waiting for them.
Though there was the question of whether they would be able to obtain it or not.
After walking for a while, it didn’t seem like there was anything there.
The problem was that no matter how long they walked, it didn’t seem like there was anything that was here.
"We’ve already walked more than far enough, but there isn’t anything that has appeared. It seems like the trial has already started."
Ye Qing Huan just gave a simple nod as she continued looking around.
But no matter how the two of them surveyed their surroundings, they just weren’t able to find a single thing. Only they knew that this wasn’t because there wasn’t anything there.
The moment that they tried to scan their surroundings with their spiritual sense, they received a familiar sensation.
"Going as far as blocking spiritual sense, it really seems like there’s some kind of trick here."
However, it didn’t matter if they had figured this out.
Without figuring out what it was that was keeping them here, they wouldn’t be able to pass this trial.
However, it seemed like there was something strange with Xiao Mu. It looked like there was something that was confusing Xiao Mu even though it was a puppet.
"Is it an array?"
Xiao Mu didn’t react right away as it looked up at Lin Fan after hearing this.
Then it slowly gave a nod before shaking its head again which actually confused Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan.
The two of them knew that since Xiao Mu was a puppet, it wasn’t as if it would be affected by the same thing as normal people. So the fact that Xiao Mu was affected meant that the option of things keeping them here was limited.
An array seemed like the obvious choice.
Only Xiao Mu was now saying that it wasn’t an array.
As an advanced AI, Xiao Mu had sensors that were more sensitive than human senses. If there was something here, then Xiao Mu should have been able to find traces of it with those sensors.
For Xiao Mu to shake their head like this, it meant that there was something that blocked those sensors.
Whatever was here was something that could even affect an enlightened AI like Xiao Mu.
"As expected of the Dao Sect." One should think this since it was only the Dao Sect that would be able to do something like this.
But that didn’t solve their problem.
If even Xiao Mu wasn’t able to determine what it was that was keeping them here, then chances seemed slim that they would be able to break out of this place.
When it seemed like there was nothing that they could do, Lin Fan couldn’t help feeling something strange.
It was a very faint sensation at first, so it wasn’t as if he was sure if he didn’t make a mistake. But as the sensation didn’t stop, he knew that he hadn’t mistaken this.
There was indeed something that was there in the air around him.
It was just that he wasn’t able to figure out what this thing was.
Only when he gave up did he finally figure it out.
"It’s something flowing through the air. It’s a very weak current, but something is being released around us."
Since he had figured out it was in the air, Lin Fan started concentrating on the air around them to see what it was that was flowing through it.
After a while, he finally figured it out.
Though it wasn’t as if he could do much about it since he didn’t really know what the composition of the thing in the air was.
"Hold your breath." Lin Fan said all of a sudden.
Ye Qing Huan did what he requested while Xiao Mu just ignored it since it didn’t breathe in the first place.
Once he held his breath as well, Lin Fan used his power to cleanse the air around him.
With the Azure Wind, he was able to create a space around them that no other substance could penetrate. Azure Wind was the purest form of wind elemental energy after all, so other things just couldn’t resist being blown away by it.
It didn’t seem like anything was going to change at first, but then it seemed like the surroundings were slowly changing. When they saw how things changed, they couldn’t help being caught off guard.
After all, even though they thought they had been moving, it turned out that they hadn’t moved a single step after entering the pavilion. It turned out that there was something that had made them think they were moving while they remained in the same position.
When this illusion cleared, both Lin Fan and Ye Qing Huan looked at Xiao Mu with strange looks.
Even Xiao Mu seemed confused by all of this.
Even though Xiao Mu was a puppet that was controlled by AI and didn’t have normal human senses, the thing in the air had affected them.
"Is it some kind of poison?" Ye Qing Huan slowly asked.
Lin Fan thought about it before shaking his head and then giving a nod, "It should be half and half. If it was completely poisonous, then it wouldn’t have cleared out from our systems just because we stopped breathing it. But it seems like it faded away when we stopped breathing it, so it wasn’t designed to harm and just mislead. It would be better to call it medicine than to call it poison."
"Poison and medicine are two sides of the same coin." Ye Qing Huan said in a response.
Lin Fan didn’t deny this as he gave a slight nod of agreement.
Since they had figured out what it was that was here, that meant that they had a way to counter it.
But still they couldn’t help being surprised that whatever was in the air had an effect on Xiao Mu.
It really didn’t seem like whatever was here was simple.
That was a good sign since it meant that Xiao Mu was right about coming here.
It meant that there really was something good that was hiding here.
Though whether they would be able to get it or not...
"For now, let’s keep going and see what we can find."
Ye Qing Huan nodded in agreement.
They had already come here, so it was just a waste for them not to keep going.
Only before they could move, Xiao Mu suddenly said, "Let me go first."
Before either Lin Fan or Ye Qing Huan could respond, Xiao Mu had already stepped out from the Azure Wind barrier.
Once Xiao Mu stepped out, the same thing happened where it seemed like it fell under the effect of whatever was in the air. Xiao Mu just stopped there in a daze after stepping out as if it was seeing something.
Neither Lin Fan or Ye Qing Huan were surprised since they knew that this would happen.
But neither of them did anything to help Xiao Mu since this was what it wanted.
"How is it being affected though?"