Chapter 244: The Second Key

[You are aware that there may be unknown dangers in front of you at Lao Ma Lake. Entering recklessly may lead to danger. Would you like to use a certain number of foresight opportunities to foresee your situation three minutes before your death?]

"Yes."

With his confirmation, three foresight opportunities were consumed from the panel.

[In order to find Tai Xu Sect's Li Qing'er, you control your avatar and arrive at Lao Ma Lake, where Li Qing'er disappeared. You know that this seemingly calm Lao Ma Lake definitely hides a crisis.]

[You control your avatar to search in Lao Ma Lake and quickly discover a stone slab at the bottom of the lake, inscribed with runes. You recognize it as a formation plate.]

[You stand on the formation plate and attempt to activate it using your bloodline power. As you activate it, your connection with your avatar is suddenly severed.]

[You understand that your avatar has been transported to an independent space by the formation plate, and the spatial forces in this area prevent any contact between you and your avatar.]

[Your avatar is crucial to you, so your main body has no choice but to rush from Qianshou Town to Jinshu Town.]

[Two hours later, you arrive at Lao Ma Lake and find the formation plate at the center of the lake. With your activation, you suddenly arrive in a massive underground space resembling a cave.]

[Beneath your feet is another formation plate, serving as the exit from this space. Your avatar is also standing on a formation plate, motionless.]

[With your main body's entry, you finally reestablish contact with your avatar. You control your avatar to move forward, intending to explore the current space.]

[One minute later, through your avatar, you suddenly see a magnificent palace in front of you. You attempt to control your avatar to approach the palace, but at the moment your avatar gets close to the palace, an invisible force descends.]

[Your avatar is obliterated, transforming into the power of the Origin Art and returning to your body. You don't understand what happened, but you know that the palace is dangerous, so you change direction and continue to explore.]

[Two minutes later, you encounter another palace through your avatar. Compared to the one your avatar encountered, this palace is larger. Having experienced it before, you don't dare to approach carelessly and carefully observe the palace from outside.]

[Three minutes later, you haven't detected any danger, so you attempt to approach the palace. However, the moment you get close to the palace, an invisible force descends, and you die.]

[You don't know that this is an ancient cave abode. Currently, it's not the time for the cave abode to emerge, and forcibly entering it will only result in being obliterated by the power within.]

Both the avatar and the main body failed, with no chance to resist.

"There's actually an unknown ancient cave abode beneath here?"

Su Nan was astonished. The fact that the Tai Xu Sect had sent people to investigate here meant that they were unaware of this situation, which in turn indicated that this cave abode's existence had never been discovered by anyone.

What could an undiscovered ancient cave abode from an unknown strong ancient cultivator contain?

Just thinking about it made Su Nan's breath quicken.

Unfortunately, the cave abode had not yet emerged, so entering now would only result in death.

"There's no other choice. I'll have to find Li Qing'er first and rescue her."

His gaze fell on Han Fu's mission.

The cave abode space was too dangerous. Li Qing'er could trigger the cave abode's power at any moment and be killed. Once Li Qing'er died, this mission would truly become impossible to complete.

After all, this was a three-star mission. Aside from the 45 points of demon power as a reward, completing the mission would also earn him Han Fu's reward. It couldn't be easily abandoned.

Su Nan continued to use foresight.

Next, he used two more death foresight attempts.

After consuming six foresight opportunities, he finally found Li Qing'er.

However, in the foresight, Li Qing'er was trapped.

"It looks like I'll have to take action personally."

Li Qing'er was trapped, but Su Nan had the ability to move between realms. Rescuing Li Qing'er wouldn't be difficult, but the problem was that if his avatar entered the cave abode space alone, he would lose contact, and only his main body could take action.

Fortunately, the distance from Qianshou Town to Jinshu Town was not far.

Two hours later, Su Nan arrived at Lao Ma Lake in Jinshu Town.

Below Lao Ma Lake.

Inside the cave abode space.

This was a stone pavilion, and at this moment, an eighteen or nineteen-year-old Spiritual Level youth was pacing anxiously inside. On the other side, there was a twenty-five or twenty-six-year-old Profound Level woman, tall and slender, with graceful curves. Compared to the youth, the woman was much calmer, carefully studying something in front of her.

It was a chessboard, the only thing in the stone pavilion.

"What should we do, Senior Sister? Are we just going to wait like this?" The youth couldn't hold back any longer and asked with a trembling voice.

The woman didn't lift her head, continuing to study the pieces on the chessboard. She replied, "If you want to leave like Ah Hu and Ah Bao, you can try."

Hearing this, the youth subconsciously glanced at the steps outside the stone pavilion and couldn't help but shiver, his face turning pale.

He saw two youths, around his age, lying motionless on the steps. A day ago, they had come here and seen the chessboard in the stone pavilion. Initially, they had thought it might be some treasure, but upon closer inspection, they had found it to be an ordinary chessboard. Disappointed, they had prepared to leave and report back to the sect.

However, as they were about to step out of the stone pavilion, one of them collapsed to the ground instantly.

The other youth, not knowing what had happened, instinctively tried to help the fallen youth, but the moment he stepped

 out of the stone pavilion, he also died silently.

As the senior sister among the group, the woman had finally realized the issue and immediately stopped the last youth from leaving the stone pavilion, preventing a total wipeout.

"Our best course of action right now is to stay put and wait for the sect to send someone to rescue us," the woman said solemnly.

With time passing by, they didn't know how long it had been.

Suddenly, in the silent space, faint footsteps could be heard.

"Someone's coming!"

Hearing the sound, the woman immediately stopped studying the chessboard and looked in the direction of the approaching footsteps. However, she saw only a young man walking towards them.

"Is it just one person?" When the woman saw Su Nan alone, her expression tensed even more.

And when she saw Su Nan's unfamiliar face, her expression became even more cautious.

"Who are you?" The woman questioned. In this dangerous space, encountering a stranger made everyone wary.

"You must be Li Qing'er, right?" Su Nan looked at the woman and asked.

"Do you know me? Did the sect send you?" Hearing Su Nan call her name, Li Qing'er breathed a sigh of relief.

In her eyes, if Su Nan knew her name, it meant he had come to rescue her.

Su Nan shook his head and said, "I'm not from your Tai Xu Sect, nor was I sent by your sect."

"You're not from our sect?" Hearing Su Nan's words, Li Qing'er was deeply disappointed. Then, she found it strange. Someone who neither knew her nor belonged to the Tai Xu Sect had come looking for her here.

Without much time to think, Li Qing'er immediately said, "Don't come near this place. Once you enter this stone pavilion, you won't be able to leave. Inform the Tai Xu Sect; only they can rescue us."

"Don't worry, since I could come here, I naturally have a way to rescue you," Su Nan replied, ignoring the woman's warnings, and walked straight into the stone pavilion.

As Su Nan approached, Li Qing'er wanted to say more but refrained, realizing the dire situation they were in. She now hoped that Su Nan indeed had the ability to get them out.

Su Nan entered the stone pavilion and said, "Although I can take you out, I need your cooperation."

"How should we cooperate with you?" The young man who had remained silent was excited and asked quickly.

"This is the Universe Ring. Both of you temporarily enter it," Su Nan handed over the Universe Ring.

He possessed the Celestial Shifting ability, so the power of the stone pavilion couldn't hold him, but to rescue the two of them, he had to let them enter the Universe Ring.

Currently, the Universe Ring was empty. He had moved everything, including the Grand Princess and the Dragon Turtle, to his Water Gourd. That was the safest place.

"The Universe Ring? How do you have such a treasure?" Li Qing'er was amazed, looking at Su Nan in disbelief.

The Universe Ring was no ordinary item. Even the senior elders of the sect didn't possess one. She couldn't fathom how Su Nan, a Spiritual Level cultivator, had such an item.

"Don't ask what you shouldn't. If you want to leave now, cooperate obediently," Su Nan said with a serious tone.

In fact, he could have given the item to Li Qing'er now and completed the mission without rescuing her. However, since he was already here, he might as well save her.

Li Qing'er frowned but eventually cooperated, entering the Universe Ring with the young man.

Then, Su Nan used his Celestial Shifting ability to easily shift out of the stone pavilion.

Initially, he had planned to use Celestial Shifting to try and enter those palaces, but he had learned from his foresight that even if he successfully entered the palaces, it would lead to his death.

A few minutes later, outside Lao Ma Lake, Su Nan released Li Qing'er and the young man.

"We're out! We're really out!" The young man was overjoyed when he saw the familiar lake and expressed relief for surviving.

"We actually made it out?" Li Qing'er was filled with disbelief.

Su Nan had only shown himself as a Spiritual Level cultivator, and she couldn't comprehend how he had accomplished this.

Once they were certain of their safety, Li Qing'er remembered another question and asked urgently, "You're not from our sect, so why did you come to rescue us? How do you know my name?"

"There's a person named Han Fu who asked me to deliver something to you," Su Nan handed over the ring that Han Fu had given him.

"Han Senior Brother? Is Han Senior Brother alive? Where is he?" Upon hearing Su Nan's words, Li Qing'er became agitated and eagerly inquired.

"He was in the Heavenly Prison before. I don't know if he's alive now," Su Nan replied without elaborating further. He continued, "He promised to reward me with one of the treasures he obtained in his early years."

Li Qing'er took the storage ring but didn't open it immediately. Instead, she asked with a cold tone, "Heavenly Prison? What is that place? What's happening to Han Senior Brother now?"

Li Qing'er had never heard of the Heavenly Prison and stared at Su Nan, wanting to extract all the information from him.

Just as Li Qing'er took the storage ring, a completion notification appeared:

[Congratulations, you have completed the daily mission "Fulfill Han Fu's Request," and 45 demon power points have been awarded.]

[Current available demon power: 156 points]

Su Nan was only four points away from advancing one of his bloodlines to the Grand Mastery level.

Ignoring the demon power, Su Nan looked at Li Qing'er with a slightly serious expression.

He hadn't expected Li Qing'er to be so ungrateful. He had saved her, but instead of showing gratitude, she was questioning him.

Su Nan wouldn't indulge her and said calmly, "I can take you out, and I can also send you back."

Li Qing'er realized her attitude and took a deep breath, saying, "I'm sorry. I just want to know where Han Senior Brother is."

Su Nan replied, "If you want to know about the Heavenly Prison, you can find out for yourself. Now, open the storage ring and give me my belongings."

Li Qing'er hesitated for a moment but eventually used a specific method to open the storage ring.

As the storage ring opened, Su Nan didn't give Li Qing'er a chance to inspect its contents. He reached out and took the storage ring.

Li Qing'er noticed Su Nan's intentions and tried to stop him, but she couldn't resist him. In an instant, she felt her mind go blank and lost consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, the storage ring was already back in her possession. In Su Nan's hand, there was a palm-sized white key.

"The Heavenly Prison is not something you can access. I advise you to give up," Su Nan said, turned away, and left, leaving behind a bewildered Li Qing'er.

"Lady Li, what happened to you?" The young man beside her asked anxiously.

Li Qing'er snapped back to reality and immediately asked, "How long was I unconscious for?"

"I saw you stay in the same spot for about three breaths of time when that person took the storage ring from your hand."

"Three breaths!" Li Qing'er broke out in a cold sweat, feeling a chill down her spine.

She had lost consciousness for three breaths of time under someone else's spiritual attack?

"Who is he, really?" Li Qing'er looked in the direction Su Nan had left, full of doubt.

...

[Key to the Sky Gate: Collect all 98 keys to the Sky Gate to open it.]

"It's actually this thing!" Su Nan was surprised and took out another identical key.

It was the reward he had received for ranking first in the Survival Trial last time.

He had thought it was just a game item and didn't expect to encounter it again this time.

"What exactly is the Sky Gate?"

"I wonder if I can obtain this Sky Gate key when the human crisis mission ends." Su Nan was curious and couldn't help but want to check the Heavenly Palace Pavilion.

Unfortunately, this place was far from the Imperial City. Returning there now would waste a day's time, and he didn't have that luxury.

He left his avatar in Jinshu Town while his main body returned to Qianshou Town.

Compared to the previous day, there were even more players in Qianshou Town today, and there were many martial practitioners patrolling near the town.

If

 one were to look from a high vantage point toward Qianshou Town, they would see that dozens of miles away from the town, at the border of Zhongtian County, a large number of demons were waiting.

They were waiting for the moment the Heavenly Seal's power dissipated.

"Everything is almost ready. Just waiting for the mission to start. I wonder how many contributions I can earn this time." Su Nan looked at the items in the Contribution Shop with anticipation.

Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, it was eleven o'clock at night in the real world, and the countdown for the mission had only one hour remaining.

(End of this chapter)