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It was unclear who she was referring to with this "isn't it?"

Su Molan and Pei Qiyu wisely remained silent, feeling inexplicably that only Wen Qiao could say something so taken for granted as a matter of course—though they didn’t understand why it treated Wen Qiao so favorably, especially since Shi Wuming was beaten just for touching it.

Ning Yuzhou agreed, "Ah Chu is right." He continued, "We have more advantages than they do, and there are many traps and mechanisms in this underground palace. It’s not easy to navigate through safely."

Even if those people could disable the mechanisms and clear the obstacles, they likely wouldn’t have enough time.

The secret realm of Red Sun Villa had been open for a month, and there were only about ten days left until it closed. They couldn’t afford to waste that much time.

This reassured Shi Wuming and the others, who immediately decided to speed up and clear the maze first.

As they sped through the maze, searching for an exit, they suddenly heard a strange sound.

Wen Qiao and the others quickly pressed their ears against the walls and listened intently, realizing the sound was getting closer.

"Hurry!" Pei Qiyu shouted, grabbing Su Molan’s hand and running.

Wen Qiao also grabbed Ning Yuzhou’s hand and ran, with Shi Wuming following behind.

As they started running, the rumbling sound grew louder.

Soon after, a round stone ball rolled down the passageway behind them. The stone ball was just large enough to fill the entire passage. To avoid being crushed into meat paste, they ran even faster, racing against the rolling stone ball behind them.

Wen Qiao looked back and said, "The material of this stone is the same as the stone door at the entrance we came through."

Thinking of the heavy, immovable stone door, everyone’s hearts sank, realizing that if the stone ball caught up to them, they would likely be crushed into meat paste.

They ran even faster.

——

While Wen Qiao and the others were navigating the maze, changes were indeed happening outside Red Sun Villa.

A bright spiritual light suddenly appeared, enveloping the entire villa.

The spiritual light shot up into the sky, and every cultivator inside the secret realm could see the flash of light immediately. No matter where they were, they rushed toward Red Sun Villa at once.

At the same time, Zuo Yizhai and Wei Qianli, who had been searching inside the villa, witnessed the sudden change. Their faces lit up with surprise.

The villa, which had its main gate wide open, now displayed fluctuations from a formation, as if announcing to the world that the dormant villa had come back to life.

The fluctuations of the formation spread from the center of the villa outward, turning into striking beams of spiritual light that shot up into the sky, exceptionally bright.

As soon as the light disappeared, without a second thought, Zuo Yizhai and Wei Qianli rushed toward the highest peak inside the villa, the most conspicuous place where they could overlook the entire villa.

When they arrived, they immediately found a teleportation array there.

Without hesitation, they jumped into the array. With a flash of spiritual light, the group disappeared into it.

When they opened their eyes again, they were in a dark underground palace.

The darkness had little effect on the cultivators, who could clearly see their surroundings.

It was a vast palace, empty inside, but the walls were covered with qilin reliefs, and the stone pillars supporting the palace were also entwined with qilin carvings, each in a different pose, lifelike, giving the impression that the reliefs might actually transform into qilin.

Of course, this was just an illusion. Even if they were qilin, there wouldn’t be so many to turn into this many reliefs.

Wei Qianli exclaimed in surprise, "How could there be so many qilin?"

Zuo Yizhai held a delicately crafted white jade fan in his hand. This fan was his personal treasure. Though it appeared delicate, it was actually a heaven-grade artifact with hidden mechanisms, and many had been defeated by it.

"It should be related to Red Sun Villa," Zuo Yizhai examined for a moment. "Do you remember the two qilin statues at the entrance of the villa, Daoist Wei?"

Wei Qianli remembered them well.

Although many were puzzled as to why Red Sun Villa placed two qilin statues at the entrance, most did not give it much thought, viewing it as merely an expression of the villa's reverence for the divine beast qilin.

However, it now seemed clear that Red Sun Villa had deep ties to the qilin; otherwise, this subterranean palace would not be in this state.

Suddenly, Wei Qianli recalled the disciple from Seven Soul Sect who had also entered and asked Zuo Yizhai, "Have you seen any sign of Shi Wuming, the disciple of Soul Hall, recently?"

Zuo Yizhai, being sharp-minded, understood the implication upon hearing this.

His expression changed slightly, and he hesitated before saying, "After leaving Red Sun Villa, he headed into the depths of the secret realm and has not been seen since."

"I fear he returned long ago; otherwise, how could such changes have occurred at Red Sun Villa?" Wei Qianli said lightly, already understanding that the disturbance in Red Sun Villa was likely related to the disciple of Soul Hall.

The Soul Hall of Seven Soul Sect was indeed inscrutable, having deduced this.

Zuo Yizhai's mind raced with various conjectures.

Without hesitation, they rushed towards the palace's only door.

As they rushed forward, they were stopped by the formation on the door.

"Young Master, there is a formation on this door," said an array master from Ten Directions Trade. "Please wait a moment, Young Master. I will break the formation."

Zuo Yizhai looked at Wei Qianli in surprise, not expecting that he had brought a formation master along. After a brief thought, he understood that Ten Directions Trade likely had at least as much information as he did, which was why they had specifically sent their young master.

However, rather than having the formation master break the formation, Zuo Yizhai preferred to forcefully destroy it.

"Why go through such trouble? Stand back!"

Zuo Yizhai, having cultivated to the Yuanchuang stage in a faction dominated by women, was not a simple figure. His personality carried a certain arrogance and unruliness. Before Wei Qianli could react, he swiftly opened the white jade fan, which quickly enlarged into a giant fan half a man's height. Zuo Yizhai wielded the giant fan and struck down at the door.