It's bad enough they were being cursed into a horrible death, but to be called a mongrel as well? That's just too much!

“It's fine, five is more than enough. Coming out on top requires the use of one's brain, not just numbers.” Feng Shen's striking smile literally bedazzled the crowd's eye after his claim. However, the more they thought about it, the more wrong that comment sounded to their ears.

They're not stupid, what the boy did there was indirectly downgrading their intellect and calling them stupid!

“…..”

Of course, the members of the North Qing team wouldn't have the nerve to speak out against this favored prince of the kingdom. As for Lan Caier and Little Crow, the two girls only showed admiration over the boy's skill in spouting nasty words without leaving room for others to reproach.

“Now that everyone is gathered, I believe it's time we began.” The interjection of the soft female voice silences the rowdy place and its occupants.

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Coming out was Master Wei Bo and Xue Pian Ran of the Dan Palace, the latter flickering a meaningful light after seeing her fiancé's presence.

“The Star Cave is located on the peak facing the Dan Palace, please follow us to enter.” That said, Wei Bo then waves out a small alchemic beast from his sleeve, allowing it to transform and grow into a huge eagle of realistic appearance.

Not to be outdone, Xue Pian Ran also flick a spell from her fingertips, materializing a snowy white swan into existence from her gesture.

Since the hosts themselves are beginning to move, it was time for the partic.i.p.ants to join in as well. One after the other, various alchemic beasts were summoned by their owners in prompt sequence.

Huh, alchemic beast? Ling Yue appears stunned by the act.

“Ling Yue, can it be you didn't get the notice earlier? In order to enter the Star Cave the partic.i.p.ants must come prepared with a flying alchemic beast of their own.” Whispering from the side was Feng Xue who seems to have noticed her friend's confusion.

No one reminded me!

Watching her enemies take to the sky one after the other, Ling Yue makes a self-inflicting wryly smile, I can use my Twinkling Star Dagger, but I can't carry five at once….

“Mistress, I can help!” Coming to offer was Little Crow who took the initiative to spew out a phoenix flame into the girl's hand.

It didn't burn, in fact it's gentle and warm. At the touch of her palm, the flame instantly transforms into a beautiful rainbow feather that almost seems unrealistic due to its beauty.

“This is my phoenix plume, the first one I grew after I absorbed the essence blood. You can have it Mistress, I hope you won't mind if that's all I can produce at the moment. It's infused with my powers so it should be able to carry everyone.” Blinking those big loli eyes of hers, the phoenix girl waits on in antic.i.p.ation as if waiting for a pat on the head.

She hates it whenever someone looks down at her mistress, So what if those people got some c.r.a.ppy alchemic beast. I just gave Mistress my phoenix plume, its many times more useful than any paper!

Originally Ye Ling Yue still wanted to push back the offer since it was the little lady's very first, but she knew it would only hurt Little Crow if she rejected. Therefore, she gladly accepted the kind gesture and complimented the young lady as well.

Infusing her spirit force into the plume as instructed, the feather quickly enlarges itself until its big enough to accommodate them all with ease.

Their speed was fast, many times faster than her own dagger in fact. Though Ling Yue's team departed last among all the teams, it soon changed and they were now head first at the very forefront.

The ones who reacted the hardest had to be Xue Pian Ran and the North Qing team. They intended to make a laughing stock out of the girl, but now, they couldn't laugh even if they wanted to.

After eight hours of flight, their destination soon appeared in sight. It's a lonely peak surrounded by jagged cliffs and rus.h.i.+ng rivers down below, a dangerous terrain all around. Regardless of this fact, none of the partic.i.p.ants wanted to slow down for the cave entrance was just up ahead. If not for the haze of fog emanating around the hole, they would've likely charged ahead of the hosts themselves.

“Elder w.a.n.g, under the command of Lord Hong Ru, I've brought the partic.i.p.ants for the Star Cave Venture.”

Speaking out respectfully was Master Wei Bo who directed his speech at a certain old elder sitting crossed legged beside the entrance. Based on how white that hair was and the perennially petrified pose this person held – plus there's a thick layer of dust on the man's shoulder – who knows how long he's been here.

Furthermore, the posture of Xue Pian Ran was rather tamed as well when facing this strange senior. In fact, it's almost like she's taking extra precaution to show her inferior status like a well-behaved la.s.s. Putting into consideration for all these factors, it's obvious this one that's known as Elder w.a.n.g was very special in his ident.i.ty. Perhaps second only to Chen Hong Ru, the lord and master of the Dan Palace.

“Old rules, draw a lot first if any of you wish to enter the cave.” After a long minute of no response, the one known as Elder w.a.n.g finally spoke in leisure tone before tossing out nine pieces of jade tablets towards the ground.

Just that they didn't land…. the objects simply dangled there in the air right before touching the dirt, releasing a wrapping bright light to illuminate the numbers etched along the surface of these objects.

The Star Cave was the forbidden grounds of the Dan Palace. That mean's unless it's the determined date after every three years, the place would remain closed off by a seal and guarded by this unidentified elder. In simpler terms, this Elder w.a.n.g was the guardian in charge of deciding who gets to go in!

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Unlike Ling Yue who was rather intrigued by the intricacies of these strange items that's just floating in the air, the other partic.i.p.ants only showed eagerness to have go at the supposed 'lot'.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there are nine starting routes within the Star Cave, each diverting into two separate roads inside. Naturally the treasures are also different depending on the path you take because its all different. The first to third are the best, four to six are secondary, and the worst lies in the seven and ninth numbered routes. Now, let us begin. Each team can only send one representative forward to pick the lot. Whatever numbered jade you get will be whatever cave path you take.” Xue Pian Ran softly explains using her delicate voice.

“It's just a lottery, how difficult could it be.” Some of the others started to sneer at the long explanation. Their opinion was that they've already arrived here outside their objective so its only a waste of time and effort to go through such complicated measures.

Speaking of which, the first to come forward was the leader of another nation that's known as the Xuan Kingdom in the north, he's also the one who made the comment the earliest as well.

The Sacred Maiden herself said it already, number one would warrant them the best route while nine would give them the worst path. So, the target of this individual naturally fell onto the number one, two, and three of these nine jades.

Upon catching his intended target, the person's face couldn't resist showing a sense of ecstasy.

“Haha, it's easy, I got it.” Unfortunately, that gleeful laugh didn't even get to finish before an excruciating scream escaped that mouth.

Before anyone knew what was happening, the impudent arm there just suddenly crunched up into an awkward bend, followed swiftly by a splattering, gory mess of what used to be that ignorant man. All that remains now was the mushy ground meat of his flesh on the ground and a misty cloud of blood.

“Overconfident fool, the delegation team of the Xuan Kingdom has lost their qualification to enter the Star Cave. Next!” The guardian known as Elder w.a.n.g announces, his face flat like an expressionless mask.

“That is too much. You people only said we must draw a 'lot', never did you mention anything about subjecting us to another trial. We came all this way to North Qing so we're not leaving empty-handed.” The secondary leader of the Xuan Kingdom roars out after his superior was just murdered before his very eyes.