When the bubble began to move, it alerted the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's other disciples.
After all, this bubble had been underground and immobile for quite a long time.
"Master, what's happening?"
"Master, are you doing that because we were detected?"
the disciples asked the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord.
The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord had many disciples before, but only ten had followed him into the
Jade Pure Realm.
He lost four disciples in their explorations. Another two disciples tried to leave the bubble and ended up
being killed by the people of the Snake Spirit Sect. Thus, there were only four left with him in the
bubble. They were Dale, Arthur, Derrick and Austin. Dale could transform into anything.
Arthur was a pot-bellied man who always wore a beatific smile on his face, like Buddha.
Derrick was almost the opposite of Arthur with his lanky frame and an ever-serious unsmiling
expression.
Justin was tall and sturdy and carried a purple-golden furnace. His right arm was covered with many
flame-shaped tattoos, which would turn into actual fire for the furnace. The fire in the furnace had never
been put out in the past tens of millions of years. He took it with him wherever he went.
Arthur, Derrick and Justin treated the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord with more reverence than Dale did.
"Yes. We have been detected," the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord replied tersely, his face grim.
He focused on keeping the bubble moving.
The bubble confined and concealed the aura of the occupants. Moreover, it camouflaged itself such
that it would look like part of its surroundings to an observer.
The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord concentrated on moving the bubble somewhere they would be safe.
The bubble continued forward underground.
Only the sound of crunching earth could be heard all throughout.
The bubble made slow progress onward.
The four disciples remained calm. They had been in similar situations before. They fixed all their
attention on the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord.
Suddenly, noises came from outside the bubble.
Crack! Crack!
They were spurred alert by the sound, immediately knowing what it was.
"It's a metal-devouring beast!" Arthur exclaimed.
There were many mysterious creatures living underground in the Jade Pure Realm, and the metal-
devouring beast was one of them.
The creatures were so named because they fed on the various metals in the earth.
They had a keen sense for detecting metal, and even the bubble could not stop them from getting at it.
Metal-devouring beasts had broken the bubble with their teeth several times.
"I'll scare it away!" Dale offered.
"You may not be a match for it," Justin warned.
"Justin and I will handle it. Justin could capture it and I can just swallow it," Arthur said.
"I agree," Derrick said.
Right now, they knew it would be best for them to stay within the bubble, so everyone agreed on this
plan. They immediately got to executing it.
Justin and Arthur went to the side of the bubble where the surface already appeared to be bulging.
Outside, the metal-devouring beast was trying to break through.
"I'm going to catch it now. Get ready," Justin said as he placed his palms on the bulging wall.
An Other Shore Token slowly emerged from Justin's back. It was an ink brush as tall as a person. The
tip of the brush was awash not in ink but with the blue power of space.
Justin closed his eyes, and the ink brush began to draw automatically in the air.
The blue power of space was depicting the outline of the metal-devouring beast.
When the outline was done, Justin opened his eyes, now glowing with a blue light.
The metal-devouring beast outside was dragged into the bubble.
The creature was completely caught by surprise. It stared blankly at the two human beings suddenly in
front of it.
Before it could get its bearings, Arthur opened his mouth.
Arthur's mouth quickly grew wider and wider until it was almost the size of a cavern.
In one gulp, Arthur devoured the ten-foot-long metal-devouring beast.
Arthur patted his belly with satisfaction. "Got it!"
He and Justin then returned to the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's side.
The bubble continued drilling tens of thousands of feet deeper and hundreds of thousands of feet
northward. Finally, it stopped. Everyone in the bubble heaved a sigh of relief. The Grand Supreme
Elderly Lord felt safe enough to converse at this point. "How did it go on the Night View Island?" he
asked Dale.
"Everything went well. Just as you said, the primitive land expanded after the ancestry-level bloodline
entered it," Dale replied.
The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord's face lit up with joy. "That is good!"
The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord had wanted to believe Elder Xue, but it was still just the latter's
speculation.
Now he had confirmation that Zen had succeeded, which meant all his efforts had paid off. Everything
was going according to plan.
"But I have also made another discovery," Dale pronounced.
"What is it?" the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord asked curiously.
"Zen has the key," Dale answered.
"What do you mean?" the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord pressed.
"He obtained a key in the Soul City. The brush-wielder from the Eternal Scroll Painting told him that he
could use the key to open the door of the altar," Dale reported.
Hearing this, Arthur, Derrick and Justin started sputtering in shock.
"Are you sure?" The Grand Supreme Elderly Lord was more surprised than his disciples. Opening the
door to the altar was his greatest wish.
Dale had a playful streak. He was not beyond making exaggerated statements.
Dale looked affronted. "Of course, I am. Don't you trust me?"
"I never have," the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord responded without missing a beat.
Defeated, Dale simply shut his mouth and pouted.
There was a basin a hundred miles wide at the southern part of the Jade Pure Realm. Water that
smelled like wine pooled there, earning it the name Wine Basin.
Across the Wine Basin was a narrow path that led to the peninsula located at the edge of the Jade
Pure Realm. The peninsula was the stronghold of the Bird Spirit Sect. Hence, the Wine Basin was an
important pass for the Bird Spirit Sect.
The troops of the Snake Spirit Sect in the Mist City had recently been raiding the Wine Basin.
The Treacherous Beings had already gathered outside the Wine Basin today.
Sewell, the troops' commander, was preparing to launch their twelfth attack on the Wine Basin.
It was a short distance between the Mist City and the Wine Basin. When the Treacherous Beings got
killed, they would come back to life in the Mist City and join the invasion on the Wine Basin again.
The Treacherous Beings could be resurrected infinitely, but it took time. If a Treacherous Being got
killed too many times in a short period, it would take him or her longer to come back.
Sewell had a simple strategy.
He would order his men to attack the Bird Masters and kill them again and again. That way, the speed
of their resurrection would be slowed down and he could finally take the stronghold of the Bird Spirit
Sect.
Right before Sewell gave the order to execute the plan, a white snake came to his side, whispering,
"The coordinates are in place."
"Are they in the bubble now?" Sewell asked.
The white snake nodded. "Yes. Abel and I had put our coordinates in a metal-devouring beast's
stomach. It had just been captured and brought into the bubble."
"You two will not join the battle, then. If you get killed and come back to life, it might tip them off. But we
will find them right after we take over the Bird Spirit Sect," Sewell said, steely determination in his
voice.
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