Chapter 1214 - The Lower Arcana
Qin Nan remained calm despite the mockery being directed at him.
In his eyes, the crowd was being absolutely ridiculous.
So what if there were five golden maps?
Even ten—or a hundred—of the golden maps were not as valuable as the map he had gotten!
Besides, he could choose whatever map he desired. How was that any of their concern?
"The battle has ended. I wish you all the best in finding the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits. Besides, to the cultivators who have taken part, if you are able to find me in the Lower Arcana, I'll spend a night with you."
The Ugly Crow Daoist suddenly said with a seductive voice.
"Spend a night together?"
"Such a great offer?"
It immediately attracted the crowd's attention.
Many among those who had not participated in the battle wore unpleasant looks. As for those who had, their eyes were flickering with passion.
This Ugly Crow Daoist had such an outstanding physique. She would surely be a beauty.
Most importantly, if they ended up being her partner, they might be able to receive more information about the locations of the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits.
The Ugly Crow Daoist giggled before walking back into the thick mist.
"Cultivator, what's the matter with this piece of map?"
Qin Nan transmitted his voice.
"Hehe, don't be so impatient. I'll come looking for you in the Upper Arcana."
The Ugly Crow Daoist responded in a mysterious tone. Saying this, her figure disappeared into the mist.
"The Upper Arcana?"
Qin Nan was startled.
The Ugly Crow Daoist was not planning to go to the Lower Arcana?
Didn't she just say that those who found her in the Lower Arcana could spend a night with her? Was she just playing a trick on the crowd?
A few loud thumps could be heard coming from the sky, which felt like hundreds of ancient beasts trampling through the rift, or the resonation of the heavens’ drum.
Qin Nan and the crowd were startled. Everyone unconsciously raised their heads.
The barrier covering the entire mountain began to break apart as if it were being blown apart by a strong wind, revealing a path that led to the peak of the mountain.
The mysterious entrance at the peak slowly opened, revealing an illusionary white portal.
"The Ancient Battleground has opened!"
"Friends, we'll stick to the plan we just discussed!"
"HAHA, it's finally open. This time, I'll be taking lots of the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits!"
The cultivators became excited. They immediately executed their Monarch Arts and flew toward the peak of the mountain at a rapid pace.
From afar, it looked like a school of carps pressing forward trying to leap through the dragon's gate, resulting in a spectacular sight.
Qin Nan nodded at Zhan Xiaoxian without explaining himself, before joining the crowd and heading straight for the entrance.
As he stepped into the mysterious portal, an obscure force wrapped around his body.
A few moments later, Qin Nan could feel himself arriving at an unfamiliar place.
"So this is the Lower Arcana?"
Qin Nan quickly scanned his surroundings.
The sky was in an eerie white, while the ground was dark red. He was surrounded by rolling hills, trees, and a lake. It did not look too different from the outside.
"I don't see anyone around me. It must have teleported us here randomly."
Qin Nan murmured and withdrew his gaze. A thought crossed his mind, prompting him to take out the piece of map from his Sumeru Ring.
There were thousands of cultivators looking at him when he got his hands on the map, thus he did not have time to check the secrets of the map himself.
"Huh?"
As soon as Qin Nan inspected the map, his face was filled with astonishment.
The map was made of the skin of some ancient beast. He could still sense a lingering presence from it. It had a map drawn on it, which turned out to be a map of the Lower Arcana.
There were three red markings on the map with a line of words, stating that the markings would lead him to places with the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits.
Everything seemed quite normal; the only thing out of place was that Qin Nan did not find any piece of wood on it. In other words, it did not contain a piece of the Canglan Tree.
"I see, no wonder the map is able to trigger a reaction from the ring. It was tainted with a hint of the Canglan Tree's aura."
Qin Nan soon discovered the reason, placing him in deep thought.
The aura of the Canglan Tree would not be randomly attached to the piece of map. It was highly possible that the Ugly Crow Daoist had done it on purpose.
Why would the Ugly Crow Daoist do that?
Could it be that the Ugly Crow Daoist was aware of the aura of the Canglan Tree on his body, thus she had purposely prepared the map just to probe his intentions?
"That's very likely. The Ugly Crow Daoist is trying to test me. Now that I've picked the map instead, the Ugly Crow Daoist will surely assume that I have a piece of the Canglan Tree with me. She will make her move in the Upper Arcana..."
Qin Nan's eyes squinted slightly.
He was not too surprised by the finding.
The Canglan Continent was vast, with countless experts across it. Surely, there would be someone else interested in the pieces of the Canglan Tree too.
"I guess I'll be fighting against her in the Upper Arcana. For now, I should focus on looking for the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits."
Qin Nan shook his head and flew into the distance.
It would be easier for him to search for the Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits with his left eye of the Divine God of Battle.
However, half an hour later, Qin Nan came to a stop.
He had entirely forgotten about the size of the Lower Arcana. It would take him quite some time just to search the entire place. If he were to search around aimlessly, he would end up without many Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits without any luck.
"I almost forgot. Weren't there three places marked on the map? Maybe I should take a look there."
Qin Nan suddenly recalled something and took out the map once again. He picked one of the places tagged with the red marks and adjusted his course.
Even though his ordinary map might be entirely useless, it was still better than roaming aimlessly on his own.
Since he had plenty of time, it would not hurt to check the places out.
Time gradually passed. Three hours later, Qin Nan found himself flying into a mountain range.
Along his journey, he was lucky to discover three Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits in some remote corners.
"This must be it."
As Qin Nan landed, he began to take a closer look at the trees in front of him.
According to the tips on the map, he was told to look for an ancient tree with red leaves and hit it three times.
"Found it."
Qin Nan found the ancient tree and hit it three times.
An astonishing sight took place. The ground within ten li began to crack open with a loud rumble. A deathly-still formation began to awaken and emit a white glow.
Qin Nan had failed to discover anything special as the formation had been inactive before, which had been activated when he followed the instruction on the map.
"I guess it was the right decision to come here. There must be plenty of Heavenly Arcana Spiritual Fruits here."
Qin Nan's eyes flickered. He quickly went into the formation.
However, what Qin Nan did not know was that as he went into the formation, the ground began to fold back together, causing the area to regain its silence.
In addition to that, Huo Dun, Ao Sha, the two rogue cultivators who had acquired the golden maps, and around thirty rogue cultivators were flying toward the mountain range from all directions as well.