"Good, then."

Shen Yi put away the sword-formation and looked ahead. "And this bamboo grove?"

At the mention of the bamboo grove, a measure of excitement surged onto Aqing's face once more. "This is absolutely not a formation an artifact-smith could have built — it's on a wholly different level from the whole cave estate's construction. They must have invited a true master to lay it."

With that, he took out the route map he'd picked up off the ground earlier. "Xuanguang Cave guessed at seventy-odd routes, and it looks as though a path of survival hides among them — but in truth, once they'd tested them all, they'd find the seventy-odd had become hundreds, even thousands of routes. It's a flaw this master deliberately exposed, to make sport of those who force their way in. Believe in that road, and even a Spirit-Transformation-realm powerhouse might well fall to it."

"I see."

Shen Yi felt his head itching a little and could only nod idly.

"Grandmaster, give me a little more time to take a rubbing of this formation, and I should be able to unravel it." Aqing waved a palm, the very picture of confidence — then lowered his head in shame. "Unraveling it is no use now, though. The transport formation's about to close, and there's no telling when it'll open next."

If it were only to broaden his experience, the gain was of course rich. But Grandmaster Shen, in all likelihood, only wanted the treasures inside.

"No matter. Go on with your work first."

Shen Yi betrayed no disappointment, still wearing that same calm look.

He had only one question. Xuanguang Cave had someone guarding the entrance; take a step forward and there was the formation. Even Great Qian had silver bells that let people contact one another — how could Xuanguang Cave possibly lack something similar? Add to that the formation being damaged, everyone randomly transported to different places. In other words, so long as that Xuanguang Cave door-guarding Grandmaster stepped into the formation, there was a chance to send word out. Under such circumstances, they'd…