The guard acted shyly upon hearing the praise of the patriarch.
"I-It's nothing much, Patriarch Wen. I simply acted for the sake of the clan."
"Umu. Let's see..."
"Xiao Hu would like to report to the patriarch!"
Wen Jian looked around and saw the guard standing behind him.
"Speak."
"This guard saw something strange at the other side of the river! Upon closer inspection, I saw some strange symbols engraved on the boulders!"
"Lead us the way!" Wen Jian ordered the guard.
All of them followed the guard. Upon arriving at the said boulders, Wen Jian immediately noticed the strange symbols on the boulders.
"This..."
"Patriarch! I don't think this had anything to do with that brat. Judging from the mark's age, this was made several years ago!" Yao Tian insisted.
"Silence!" Wen Jian shouted.
Yao Tian fell silent and stepped back from where he was standing.
"Yao Tian, order our men to scout the area within one kilometer radius and search for some strange symbols similar to this. If they saw anything, report back to me immediately!" Wen Jian told Tian.
"B-But Patriarch...!"
Wen Jian stared at Tian with sa serious look in his eyes. Tian felt an intense pressure and immediately ordered the guards to scout the area.
Wen Jian observed the carvings on the boulders once more and touched it.
"Yao Tian, do you know the the three desires that cultivators sought in this world?"
Yao Tian didn't answered the patriarch as he didn't know the answer to his question.
"The three desires that each one of us wished to achieve were power, fame, and truth. It is our driving force why we walked to the path of cultivation!"
"And this symbol leads to the 'truth', and it is enough for cultivators to pique interest. With that brat's curiosity and greed, ignoring the truth doesn't exist on his mind..."
Wen Jian looked on Tian with a smile on his face.
"Hahaha... It seems like our search will be over soon!"
...
Thanks to the map guiding him, Ling immediately arrived the location that the symbols of the map was pointing at. It was a small cavern covered with thick bushes.
"This should be the place..." Ling murmured.
Ling looked around, checking if there were any signs of vitality and qi fluctuations around.
(It seems like no one followed me or hiding in the shadows.)
Ling activated the Three-Dagger Killing Formation and lit a branch with flames. He entered the cave without making any noise as possible.
As he walked slowly to the depths of the cave, he saw a strange rock door ahead. There was unusual carvings with intricate patterns on the strange door, on which Ling couldn't decipher. He placed the torch beside it and tried to push the door with his hands.
"Nggghhh!"
Even using his full strength, the door wouldn't budge at all. Ling gave up and leaned against the walls of the cave.
(What the heck is this door? It won't budge at all even I used all of my strength to open it!)
While he was thinking for any possible solutions, he noticed a strange contraption at the other side of the cavern's walls.
Ling walked towards it and held the handle without hesitation. He turned the handle clockwise and heard a clicking sound.
CLICK!
Ling pulled the handle and found out that i had a drawer-like mechanism. Inside, he found another tattered scroll. He got the scroll and opened it to see the contents.
Ling saw several words that was written at the scroll. To his surprise, the words were written neatly, with no crooked edges on each character.
"A single man's blood or the blood of many, both may suffice to quench its thirst. Fulfill its demand, and it shall stand as the arbiter at the gate you yearn to pass through."
Ling analyzed the words written on the scroll in order to understand the hidden meaning behind it.
"Blood... Demand... Pass through...?"
Suddenly, Ling noticed that some of these words were used metaphorically. Thus, he deciphered them with simple words related to these words.
After a minute, Ling finally understood the hidden meaning of the text.
(Does the text imply that one must offer a sacrifice in order to open this damn door? And the blood of a human was the key to unlock it?)
Without hesitation, Ling immediately made a cut on his hand. His blood dripped to the ground, and what he saw surprised him.
His blood that fell on the floor mysteriously moved on its own, travelling through the seams of the cavern's floor and heading towards the door.
Upon contact with the door's surface, the blood got absorbed and vanished right before his eyes, and the door began to glow red. The door immediately dimmed out in a split second.
(I knew it. Simply cutting and giving it a miniscule amount of blood isn't enough to activate this damn door.)
Ling sighed and healed his wounds.
(I'm not gonna bleed myself out just to open this door, would I?)
While Ling was thinking of ideas to overcome his current problem, the Wen Clan was on the move, still searching for his wherabouts.
"Ghk... An hour had passed and managed to discover three of those strange symbols. But still, we don't know where these symbols might lead us. When this will end?" Wen Jian said.
Wen Jian looked back and faced the remaining guards that was following him.
"Increase the search area and deploy all the Dantian Perfection Stage guards to scout the perimeter! " Wen Jian ordered.
By the Wen Clan patriarch's order, the giards began to scatter. Only him, Yao Tian, and the remaining nine Qi Condensation Stage guards.
Another hour had passed but despite increasing their search efficiency to look for those strange symbols, they didn't obtain further results.
While Wen Jian as his men was walking, his hesitation grew as the time goes by.
(Tch! Another hour had already passed, but my men didn't saw another one beside those three! Was my judgement wrong after all?)
Suddenly, Wen Jian noticed one of his guard came rushing towards his group.
"Huff...Patriarch! We have a problem!" The guard shouted while panting.
"What is it? Wen Jian asked the guard in confusion.
"Huff... Huff... Some of our men encountered an Eight-Class Demonic Beast! We seek for your assistance!"