Chapter 868: Chapter 868

After Ding Fan left, probably by evening, Fang Zhiyao grandly led a group of people to the Underground Palace.

The two of them were quite confused. Knowing that Fang Zhiyao had just left, how could she have returned so soon?

"Has anyone been here today?" Fang Zhiyao asked the two people with an icy face.

The two were stunned, but after glancing at the people Fang Zhiyao brought with her, they hurriedly shook their heads. "Miss, no one has been here these past few days."

The two clearly remembered that when Fang Zhiyao left, she had repeatedly reminded them to keep their lips sealed.

Seeing Fang Zhiyao bring a group of people, they even thought Fang Zhiyao was about to set another trap.

"No one has been here?" Fang Zhiyao frowned tightly.

"Miss, we've been here on guard, rest assured, definitely no one has come."

Seeing the two people speaking so earnestly, Fang Zhiyao didn't say anything for the moment.

"It makes no sense, Fang Ruohan cares so much about her mother. Now that she knows her mother's whereabouts, she has no reason not to come," Fang Zhiyao muttered to herself.

At this moment, Fang Zhiyao glanced at the surroundings and then said to her people, "Select two individuals to ambush around. If someone attempts to break into the Underground Palace, then go up the mountain to report."

Fang Zhiyao looked at the cave entrance and then led the remaining people away.

Watching Fang Zhiyao retreating with everyone, the two Elders left guarding the cave were confused. Thıs content belongs to 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

"What is the Miss trying to do this time?"

"We might never understand what the Miss is thinking, but Miss is exceptionally intelligent, she must have her reasons for doing this," one of them said.

The other nodded in agreement.

Without saying anything else, the two then returned inside the cave...

After Ding Fan and Ye Tianshi returned from the cave, they went straight back to the hotel.

"Ding Fan, you weren't able to rescue my mother?" Fang Ruohan asked anxiously as she saw only Ding Fan and Ye Tianshi return.

"We were deceived by Fang Zhiyao; your mother wasn't there," Ding Fan said.

Fang Ruohan felt a wave of disappointment in her heart at this moment.

"Young girl, don't worry. Tomorrow we will storm the Upper Xuan Sect, and then we can force that little wench to reveal your mother's location, isn't that so?" Ye Tianshi said indifferently from the side.

Although the Upper Xuan Sect is known as the foremost righteous Sect in the world, in Ye Tianshi's view, the Upper Xuan Sect was nothing to him.

Before, the Upper Xuan Sect hadn't provoked him, but now that the Upper Xuan Sect had abducted Ding Fan's wife, Ye Tianshi certainly wouldn't let them off.

After all, Ye Tianshi had placed all his hopes for obtaining the Immortal Spirit Grass on Ding Fan; in this world, only Ding Fan was qualified to acquire the Divine Power Herb. Now that Ding Fan was in trouble, how could Ye Tianshi stay uninvolved?

Fang Ruohan's eyebrows lightly furrowed, but in the end, she didn't say anything.

Fang Ruohan naturally would not take Ye Tianshi's words seriously. In her mind, she did not believe that the three of them could charge into the Upper Xuan Sect.

"Let's rest for today; tomorrow we'll join together to charge into the Upper Xuan Sect," Ding Fan said calmly.

Zhang Shanlian and Ye Tianshi had no objections, and both went to rest on their own while Wang Ming and Sikong Shangyun went to sleep as well.

Just as Ding Fan was about to return to his room to rest, Fang Ruohan called out to him.

"Ding Fan, the Upper Xuan Sect is very powerful; it's not somewhere you can casually provoke. I know you are all very capable, but the Upper Xuan Sect is truly not a place you can just barge into," Fang Ruohan said.

Ding Fan of course knew that Fang Ruohan was worried he might not return. "I must go to the Upper Xuan Sect. My wife has been taken by them, how can I not go?"

Having said this, Ding Fan smiled at Fang Ruohan, then went back to his room to sleep.

Fang Ruohan stared blankly at Ding Fan.

Knowing full well that the place he was headed was a den of dragons and tigers, but just because the person he loves is there, he can rush in without hesitation.

This steadfastness in love moved Fang Ruohan deeply, but alongside the emotion, she also sighed, wondering when she too could have such a love...

The night passed without incident, and before long, it was already the next morning.

Ding Fan, Zhang Shanlian, and Ye Tianshi got up early.

Today, they were inevitably facing a tough battle; all of them were key players, so naturally, they needed to prepare well.

After Fang Ruohan woke up, she helped everyone prepare breakfast. It didn't take long, and Fang Ruohan had prepared a rich breakfast for everyone.

There were rice porridge, fried dough sticks, soy milk, pickles, and each person also had a tea egg.

After breakfast, the group grandly set off toward the Qilian Mountains.

Ding Fan and the others had quite a number of people, so they hired two taxis,

Fang Ruohan knew the route, so she directed them the whole way, so it didn't take much time before the two cars had reached the foot of the Qilian Mountains.

Then everyone got out of the cars and disembarked.

"Ahead on the mountain path, turn left when you encounter a poplar tree. Everyone follow closely, otherwise if you fall behind, it might be tough to find your way," Fang Ruohan said to the group.

The group nodded in agreement.

Ding Fan was now using his Divine Sense to scan the forest ahead.

This forest appeared to be extremely chaotic without any particular pattern, but in fact, it was subtly concealing an Eight Trigrams Formation, a type of Illusion Array. If one didn't follow a fixed route, it was very likely they would get lost within the forest.

"Let's follow Lady Fang's approach," Ding Fan suggested.

Thereupon, Lady Fang led the way at the front, with Ding Fan following closely behind her due to concerns for her safety. Following Ding Fan was Ye Tianshi, then Sikong Shangyun, succeeded by Wang Ming, and Zhang Shanlian at the very back of the line.

Thanks to Fang Ruohan's guidance, the group's speed was not slow. In less than an hour, they had completely traversed the forest.

After passing through the forest, Ding Fan and the others arrived within a Stone Forest.

Ding Fan surveyed the Stone Forest.

This Stone Forest was likely man-made, and above it was an expanse of snow-white open ground. Considering that the previous forest had so many mechanisms, it was unlikely that this Stone Forest would be any less complex.

Without delay, Ding Fan used his Divine Sense to investigate the Stone Forest, discovering that it was set up with several warning mechanisms.

If someone uninformed were to pass through here, they would undoubtedly alert the people within the Upper Xuan Sect.

Lady Fang, seemingly unaware of what lay within the Stone Forest, directly began to walk inside, but Ding Fan immediately grabbed her.

"What's the matter?" Lady Fang looked at Ding Fan, puzzled.

This Stone Forest contains warning mechanisms; if we rashly enter, we'll be detected prematurely.

We haven't seen the gates of Upper Xuan Sect yet. If we are discovered by them now, that would be too passive a situation.

After hearing Ding Fan's words, a flash of realization dawned on Lady Fang, and she nodded in understanding.

In the past, having entered and exited this place as a member of Upper Xuan Sect, she had never considered the possibility of warning mechanisms here. It took Ding Fan's reminder for her to have an epiphany.

"These cunning Upper Xuan Sect brats sure know some tricks," Ye Tianshi said in dissatisfaction. "So what do we do now? Surely we can't just wait here indefinitely?"

Ding Fan shook his head slightly. "I'll just break this Great Formation."

As he spoke, Ding Fan retrieved some materials from his storage ring. With his hands flying, he swiftly created several Array Flags within moments.

Watching Ding Fan craft Array Flags, Ye Tianshi and Zhang Shanlian looked on with admiration in their eyes.

Both Ye Tianshi and Zhang Shanlian were Grandmaster Rank individuals, with discerning eyes. Yet, finding someone as proficient and quick in crafting Array Flags as Ding Fan was rare in this world.

You must know, each Array Flag is unique, designed according to the Great Formation you wish to establish. Offensive Arrays have their specific flag design, and so do Defensive Arrays.

Each flag requires meticulous design and research, taking into account the synergy between them. To put it simply, it's like having a pile of wooden blocks and needing to create interlocking toys, thus requiring understanding of each piece's dimensions and size.

That Ding Fan was capable of producing Array Flags so swiftly indicated that he had thoroughly mastered formations; he had it all figured out in his mind.

How many people in the world could achieve such a feat? Those who boasted of being formation masters paled in comparison to Ding Fan, falling ten thousand li short.

Quickly, Ding Fan crafted several Array Flags and wasted no time throwing them out.

As the flags were tossed into the void, they instantly Formed Array. Soon, a net woven of golden light swiftly enveloped the Stone Forest above.

"Alright, let's go," Ding Fan said to the group behind him.

The group got up again and passed through the Stone Forest without any issues. As for the warning mechanisms, like they had gone mute, they didn't make a sound from beginning to end.

After crossing the Stone Forest, they were met with snow-covered plains. Considering the perpetual snow of the Qilian Mountains, this was not unusual.

Thankfully, this area was all flat land, which made for an unchallenging journey.

"Who are you? How did you get here?"

At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared before the group.

Now two young men clad in Upper Xuan Sect apparel blocked the path of the newcomers.

"Fang Ruohan... Fang Ruohan is actually here, send a signal quickly!" One of the young men recognized Fang Ruohan almost immediately.

From their reaction, it seemed Fang Ruohan was now wanted by Upper Xuan Sect.

However, before they had the chance to raise an alarm, Ye Tianshi next to them had already launched two Wind Blades.

Pfft, pfft... Blood splattered, and soon two bodies fell lifelessly to the ground.

Ding Fan looked at the corpses of the Upper Xuan Sect disciples for a moment, then asked Fang Ruohan beside him, "How much further to Upper Xuan Sect's gates?"

"Just below those two pine trees over there is Upper Xuan Sect's gate," Fang Ruohan pondered for a moment, before finally pointing at two distant pine trees.

Ding Fan followed where Fang Ruohan indicated, and indeed not far from them he saw the two pine trees.

They were less than five hundred meters away from the pine trees. Thinking that Zhou Ruoran should be there now, Ding Fan involuntarily clenched his fists tightly.

"Ruoran, I'm coming for you..."...