Chapter 195 The Three Wisdom Dungeons

Chapter 195: Three Wisdom Dungeons

After a playful chat with Tao Fu, Hua Diao was beaming, her mood uplifted. She sent Tao Fu a few more legendary Fire Stones to ensure her friend wouldn't freeze on the journey. Still reluctant to end their interaction, she closed the game interface and, clinging to Xie Tingsheng's arm, peered around curiously.

The large-scale insulation array scroll had been unfurled across Qingcheng, safeguarding most residents from the cold. With the reduced monster activity during the Cold Snap, the situation had stabilized. Thus, everyone decided to seize the moment and enter the wisdom dungeons today.

Currently, Director Zhang had dispatched someone to retrieve the fragments for the three wisdom dungeons. Representatives from the major teams remained primly seated, though their frequent glances toward the entrance betrayed their eager anticipation.

Besides the familiar Flying Wolf, Storm, and Roaring Tiger teams, five new teams were present: Messenger Pigeon, Pear Blossom, Qingyun, Nine Star Hall, and the Qinglian Sect.

Yes, that Qinglian Sect—the one whose fanatical members often spouted nonsense in group chats. Though the sect had maintained a low profile in Qingcheng recently, its presence was well-known to the other teams.

Hua Diao cast a curious glance toward the Qinglian Sect's representative. He was a young man with an utterly unremarkable appearance, the kind who would vanish in a crowd. He bore a slight resemblance to He Feng, the leader of the Storm Team. However, unlike the jovial and warm He Feng, who radiated comfort with his smiles, this Qinglian Sect youth carried an air of arrogance, his chin held high in a haughty manner that made him rather unlikable. Clearly, he wasn't destined for greatness.

Yet, he was merely a public puppet, not worth dwelling on. Both Hua Diao and Xie Tingsheng knew that the true power behind the Qinglian Sect in Qingcheng was Brother Biao—the former lover of the original female lead’s mother, who resided on the seventeenth floor below them.

Though Brother Biao had repeatedly evaded their surveillance, luck eventually favored them, allowing them to uncover his role as the Qinglian Sect's overseer in Qingcheng.

With this connection established, Xie Tingsheng focused his efforts on the Qinglian Sect. Leveraging his financial power, he acquired internal intelligence about the sect from a certain faction in Chuancheng.

For instance, Brother Biao held a high position within the Qinglian Sect headquarters and had been dispatched to Qingcheng to expand their influence.

As for Zhuo Kun—the man who had bought Hua Diao from her grandparents—he was an elite member of the sect, sent ahead by Brother Biao as a vanguard...

Hua Diao's wandering thoughts gradually returned, her gaze lingering on the Qinglian Sect's seating area. She wondered if Brother Biao would maintain his hidden role or finally reveal himself during this wisdom dungeon expedition. The thought piqued her curiosity.

Her attention then shifted to the adjacent seats—the Roaring Tiger Team's section. Chu Zexuan occupied the main seat, confirming that after days of internal power struggles, he had successfully consolidated control and become the team's undisputed leader.

Hua Diao wasn't surprised. She had known this for a while, having heard the full account from Xie Tingsheng about Chu Zexuan's strategic maneuvers to secure his position.

As for the Messenger Pigeon, Pear Blossom, Qingyun, and Nine Star Hall teams—these were all established teams in Qingcheng. However, their strength had previously paled in comparison to Peanut, Storm, Roaring Tiger, and Flying Wolf, which was why they hadn't been invited to the previous wisdom dungeon.

Now, with this new opportunity, they were all eager and ready for action.

The conference room door swung open, and the hushed discussions instantly ceased as all eyes turned toward the entrance.

Lin Xiaobao entered, empty-handed, and approached Director Zhang. After a brief exchange, Director Zhang's brow furrowed, and he hurriedly exited the room.

"Wait, where's Director Zhang going? What happened?"

"Are we still entering the wisdom dungeons as planned?"

With Director Zhang's departure, the room erupted into a flurry of anxious questions, everyone worried that the dungeon expedition might be canceled.

Lin Xiaobao, composed and dignified, effortlessly commanded attention. His rich, measured voice silenced the clamor. "Director Zhang has urgent matters to attend to. I will take over the meeting. The schedule for entering the wisdom dungeons remains unchanged."

Efficient as ever, he retrieved three wisdom dungeon fragments from his dimensional storage, instantly drawing everyone’s focus.

Not one to drag things out, he got straight to the point.

"There are three wisdom dungeons this time. One features a Minotaur puzzle, another a goblin puzzle, and the last is a multi-species puzzle."

"The Minotaur puzzle has 21 fragments, allowing for three bonus slots, totaling 24 entries. The goblin puzzle has slightly fewer—20 fragments plus three slots, totaling 23 entries. The mixed-race puzzle has 25 fragments, allowing 28 entries in total."

"According to our research institute’s experts, the goblin dungeon is the least dangerous, followed by the Minotaur dungeon. The mixed-race dungeon is likely the most dangerous. As for the terrain, conditions, and potential rewards inside, we have no information. You’ll have to adapt and explore on your own."

"Now, let’s begin the selection. Each team has four spots. The remaining spots will be filled by members of our Special Operations Bureau."

The moment he finished, the room buzzed with excitement as teams put their heads together to discuss their choices.

Hua Diao tugged at Xie Tingsheng’s sleeve, her eyes shining with excitement. "Which dungeon should we pick?"

"Oh, and we have two more spots—who’s joining us? Why haven’t they arrived yet?"

This expedition differed from the last. Previously, the Special Operations Bureau had directly invited Xie Tingsheng, and the team had no say in who accompanied them. Any loot obtained in the dungeon was theirs alone.

But this time, the spots were secured using the Peanut Squad’s resources, meaning they couldn’t act unilaterally. Aside from Hua Diao and Xie Tingsheng—universally recognized as the team’s strongest—the remaining two spots were left for the squad members to decide.

Thus, neither Hua Diao nor Xie Tingsheng knew who the other two participants would be.