Chapter 73 Ambushed

  "In the depths of the Youming Mountains, although there are many dangers, for you outer sect disciples who are considered elite, as long as you don't encounter one of the rare fourth-stage demonic beasts, you basically won't be in too much danger." Elder Fang explained, "Moreover, once you three or five people gather together, even if you were to encounter a fourth-stage demonic beast, with your individual experiences, you should be able to easily avoid it."

  Old Master Fang's explanation did not alleviate the doubts of Fang Tian Nan and his companions; instead, it added a few more layers of complexity to their thoughts.

  "However, everyone also knows that the Qingyun Sect, as one of the three major sects in the nearby area, still has many opponents." Fang Lao said thoughtfully, "After all, it's just one of the three major sects, not the only large sect."

  The meaning of this remark dawned on Fang Tian Nan and the others all at once.

  "Does Fang Lao mean that once we go out, we may encounter an ambush by the Bi Hai Zong and Tai Hang Bang people?" Wu Yuncai thought for a moment and said, "But our mission this time is not being carried out in secret, is it? How would they know in advance where we will appear?"

  "It's precisely because it's being done in secret that we need to be extra careful." Wu Zhi Shi interjected from the side, "As for Qing Yun Sect's secret land, after all these years, do you think the other sects have any idea about it?"

  Fang Tian Nan and others subconsciously shook their heads.

  "Yes, indeed...” Wu Zhi looked at him and couldn't help but sigh, "I also think it's impossible. Especially every ten years, such a period of time, in the next two to three years, our sect's advancing martial artists will far surpass the other two major sects. If this continues, it would be hard not to attract their attention."

  However, this time Fang Tiannan and others did not nod unconsciously. At least, from Wu's mouth, it was learned that among the 20 outer door disciples in this line, there will be a great opportunity to break through to the human yuan boundary and become an inner door disciple within the next two or three years.

  According to Fang Tian Nan's understanding of the Qing Yun Sect, the number of inner sect disciples is not large. Although the Qing Yun Sect currently has several thousand outer sect disciples, the probability of successfully breaking through to the Human Yuan realm is less than one percent. The age range of all outer sect disciples is mostly between 18 and 35 years old.

  If a cultivator exceeds thirty-five years of age and has not yet entered the Yuan realm, then even if they manage to barely break through to the Yuan realm in their later days, their ultimate cultivation path will not reach a very high level. Therefore, those who break through as a martial artist after turning thirty-five can basically no longer become inner sect disciples of a sect. They can only participate in outer sect positions such as being an envoy or an executor.

  It's like the kind of people Fang Tian Nan met in Qing Yun Pavilion, who exchanged for the Outer Sect Disciple ID Plate, or most of the instructors and attendants that the Outer Sect Disciples followed to learn from.

  According to the thousands of outer sect disciples, in 16 or 17 years, all those who had the opportunity to advance would break through to the Human Realm True Person stage, and there wouldn't be more than a hundred people. Therefore, under normal circumstances, on average, Qingyun Sect could only promote five or six inner sect disciples each year.

  From this, it can be inferred that if Fang Tian Nan and his group were to advance to the Human Yuan realm within the next two to three years, what kind of impact would they have on the other sects.

  Even if only ten people who entered the secret "practice room" were promoted, it would be enough to attract the attention of the higher-ups in the rest of the sect.

  At this moment, all twenty of the outer sect disciples felt a sense of heaviness in their hearts.

  。。。。。。

  "Alright, don't think too much about it," said Fang Zhanglao, summarizing. "Once we leave this secret place, even if you encounter danger, don't panic too much. Fortunately, although our group will be dispersed, the distance between each other won't be too great. If you really encounter any danger, try your best to protect yourself and wait for our arrival... Do you understand?"

  "I understand." Many of the outer sect disciples nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

  "Alright, let me arrange the order," said Fang Zhanglao. "Wu Zhi will go out first and scout out the situation in the surrounding area as soon as possible. Then it's my turn. Next, Chen Yan, Yun Ruo Hua, Shui You Han, Xiao Ruo, you few people will enter the secret land in order, and exit one by one. After that, the remaining ten people...

  The elder Fang looked at another deacon beside him and said, "You are in charge of the last one to leave, maintaining everyone's order, as well as the time each person leaves."

  As they spoke, Wu Zhi had already walked to a place with strange patterns at the end of the corridor. He beckoned to Fang Tian Nan and the other ten people, saying: "I still need your help, all of you come over here."

  Fang Tian Nan and the other ten people looked at each other, all of whom were personnel who had entered the secret "practice room". Everyone approached Wu Zhi Shi's side, following Wu Zhi Shi's instructions, once again placing their hands on the patterns pointed out by Wu Zhi Shi, and operating the internal energy in unison. In an instant, twenty-three large doors appeared on the walls of this enclosed space with no exit.

  Every large gate flashed a faint light.

  Wu Zhi didn't say a word and directly stepped into one of the large gates. Fang Tian Nan and others saw that as soon as Wu Zhi entered, the light on the entire gate flashed strongly for a moment before completely disappearing. The gate on the wall also disappeared along with it.

  The elder Fang looked at the crowd with a somewhat curious gaze, and smiled as he explained: "This is a secret place of our sect, where the number of people has been fixed for generations. Otherwise, why would such an important task be entrusted to just the three of us? Moreover, for those who lead the team, there are many requirements in terms of age and strength, which you don't need to understand now. In the future, if there is a chance, when leading the next generation of newcomers here, you will know."

  As he spoke, Fang Lao's figure also disappeared into one of the large gates.

  。。。。。。

  Chen Yan, as previously arranged by Fang Zhanglao, was the first Outer Sect disciple to leave the secret realm. After seeing Wu Zixu and Fang Zhanglao leave one after another, he came alone to a large gate. Just as he was about to step out, he was pulled back by the remaining steward.

  "Wait a bit," said the steward. "Let's pass five minutes first, and then go out. Later, the interval between each of your exits will gradually increase."

  Someone just wanted to ask why, but soon everyone understood. This was to reserve enough time for Wu Zhi and Fang Zhanglao, who had gone out first, to scout ahead. The longer the interval between each person's departure, the greater the guarantee of personal safety.

  After understanding, Xiao Ruo couldn't help but ask a new question: "That, I want to ask, is five minutes really enough?"

  The executor heard this and couldn't help but smile bitterly, saying: "You think I don't want to? I'd love it if we could just go out alone every day. At that time, even if Elder Fang and others can't find us, we can still return to the sect and mobilize the sect's power to search for us. However, the opening of this place's gate is limited in time. If we miss the time point, then we really can't get out..."

  At this moment, everyone fell silent.

  The subsequent process is basically the executor shouting to whoever, and whoever chooses a big gate and walks out. In the words of this executor, each big gate can only correspond to one person leaving, and all the exits are different. It depends on everyone's luck. Maybe it will appear in a grass thicket, or maybe it will appear in an old nest of monsters, completely random.

  When it was Fang Tian Nan's turn, he couldn't help but secretly pray that even if he encountered a demonic beast, it wouldn't directly run into the lair of the beast.

  It seemed that Fang Tian Nan's prayer had an effect. As he passed through the large gate on the wall, his entire body was uncontrollably wrapped in a burst of energy and then went into free fall.

  "Huh, did I just run into mid-air?" Before Fang Tian Nan could even finish his exclamation, he only heard a "splash" sound, and suddenly felt that his surroundings were completely submerged in cold water.

  After expending a great deal of energy, Fang Tian Nan finally managed to swim from a water pool to the shore.

  He rummaged through his luggage and found that all the clothes inside were soaked. Fang Tian Nan thought for a moment, then smiled again: "Fortunately, I still have a few sets of clothes hidden in my boundary plate."

  After changing into a dry and comfortable set of clothes, and taking in the air of the Youming Mountains, Fang Tian Nan felt refreshed and invigorated. Compared to being in the secret cave of his sect, this was much more pleasant. He looked up at the sky again, which was a dull grey, making it impossible to tell whether it was dawn or dusk.

  However, just as Fang Tian Nan was carefully scouting the surroundings and finding nothing dangerous, while the sky gradually darkened a bit, Fang Tian Nan suddenly felt a bad premonition.

  This timing of coming out of hiding is really not good.