It was a pity that Ning Beichen couldn't find Linglong in the medicine garden, nor did he know where she was. Was she alive or dead?
Especially when he thought of the pool of blood left outside, Ning Beichen felt anxious.
It was obvious that Linglong had encountered some danger and was injured, and it was not something she could have done to herself.
Moreover, before the accident, the gunshots Ning Beichen heard confirmed that Linglong had encountered something that made her fire, and it was impossible for her to fire without reason.
But what danger did she encounter?
Ning Beichen had no clue at all at this moment.
Just as Ning Beichen was feeling agitated.
Suddenly, a chilling feeling arose.
And this chilling feeling came from behind him.
"What is it?"
Ning Beichen roared and turned around abruptly, punching behind him.
Bang!
Ning Beichen felt as if his fist had hit something, soft and yielding, but also very strange. However, when he turned around, he could only see a black shadow that instantly slipped away before his eyes.
"Don't go!"
Ning Beichen hurriedly chased after the black shadow.
However, the black shadow disappeared bizarrely after entering the corner of the medicine garden wall. By the time Ning Beichen caught up, he couldn't see how the black shadow had disappeared.
Ning Beichen carefully observed the wall and found several claw marks on it. These claw marks were very fresh and should have been left recently.
But strangely, there were no holes in the wall. Unless the black shadow could phase through walls or was invisible, it would be impossible to hide in such a small area from Ning Beichen, a Grandmaster's search.
Finally, Ning Beichen still couldn't find the black shadow and his gaze fell on the claw marks on the wall. He then used his Grandmaster cultivation to scratch at the wall.
With a crack, only three shallow marks were left on the wall, which made Ning Beichen frown.
He hadn't used his full strength, but he was already a Grandmaster, considered the true pinnacle of human martial power. Even a simple scratch was not something anyone could block.
Yet, this wall blocked him, and the black shadow that tried to ambush him was able to escape after taking a punch, making Ning Beichen doubt himself as a Grandmaster.
Wasn't the cultivation of a Grandmaster already the strongest martial force in the world?
Why was this so?
Ning Beichen was somewhat fearful.
"No, I've overlooked something."
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Ning Beichen's mind, and he thought of his master.
When he wasn't a Grandmaster before, he couldn't feel how strong his master was at all.
But now that he was a Grandmaster, he still couldn't determine his master's cultivation and strength.
Doesn't that mean his master had already... surpassed the Grandmaster realm!
"Then... what realm and cultivation level is my master at now?"
As he thought of this, Ning Beichen's breathing became heavy, and his mind was filled with question marks.
It was a pity that his master didn't know where he had gone, and he didn't know when he would see him again.
After Ning Beichen calmed down, he restrained his slightly straying thoughts. The most important thing for him now was not to leave, but to find Linglong.
Whether Linglong was alive or dead, he had to at least see her alive or find her body.
"I have explored the medicine garden here and haven't found any trace of Linglong. However, there's nowhere else to go. What should I do?"
Ning Beichen muttered to himself.
He had searched this medicine garden repeatedly and found nothing except for a withered medicinal root.
The shadow that had attacked him also did not reappear, and Ning Beichen had no idea what it was.
Everything here seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mist, making it impossible for him to see the essence of things.
Just as Ning Beichen was at a loss, a fragmented memory suddenly appeared in his mind, which made Ning Beichen's heart filled with joy.
Because this memory contained the method to control the restrictions of this place, which was exactly what Ning Beichen needed most.
"So the four beads on the bronze pillar are the keys to controlling this place."
Ning Beichen immediately took out the four beads. These four beads had automatically detached from the bronze pillar and followed Ning Beichen when he left the bronze pillar hall.
Ning Beichen had always treated them as night-shining pearls or something similar and hadn't paid much attention to them. He never expected them to be treasures that controlled this place.
Ning Beichen held the four beads and operated them according to the memory images in his mind. Before long, a picture appeared in Ning Beichen's mind.
This picture was like a two-dimensional map, marking every area of this place. If Ning Beichen wanted to go to any area, he only needed to control the four beads to open the portal.
Ning Beichen looked at the map in his mind, randomly chose a place he hadn't been to, and then used the four beads to open a portal.
The opening of the portal was similar to what happened in the hall before. The four beads emitted lightning, and soon a magical portal formed in front of Ning Beichen.
The portal was entangled with lightning and looked very frightening.
However, Ning Beichen had entered a portal once before and knew that these lightning bolts would not harm him. Therefore, Ning Beichen ignored the lightning and stepped into the portal.
In the blink of an eye, Ning Beichen appeared in another unfamiliar area, and the portal immediately disappeared. The four beads returned to Ning Beichen's hand.
Then Ning Beichen smelled a strong scent of blood. He followed the smell and found many messy bloodstains on the ground.
"Not good, could this be Linglong's blood?"
Ning Beichen's pupils contracted, and he immediately followed the bloodstains.
Soon, following the bloodstains on the ground, he arrived at a passage. The entire passage was filled with fresh blood, but no bodies were seen.
Ning Beichen squatted down to examine the bloodstains and found that they were not fresh. They should have nothing to do with Linglong, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"There is so much blood in this passage. Did a great battle take place here in the past?"
Ning Beichen guessed in his heart.
"Should I... go in and take a look?"
Ning Beichen was tempted.
However, he soon sensed danger ahead in the passage. Although he couldn't see any enemies, Ning Beichen believed his senses very much. Moreover, the danger that could be sensed by him, a Grandmaster, must not be simple.
"To go or not to go?"
Ning Beichen was conflicted. If he didn't go in, he worried that Linglong might be inside, and he would miss the opportunity to find her.
But if he went in, he didn't know what would threaten him inside the passage.