"So, that must be Jiufeng Ridge, it looks rather imposing."
Outside Jiufeng Ridge, Liu Xi, the middle-aged man who had come from Qi Country with Ruan Hongzhuang, was gazing into the distance at the entrance to Zhou Family Mountain.
After he and Ruan Hongzhuang entered Jingguo Country and learned the location of the Zhou Family Mountain entrance, they hurried to Lanzhou and even stayed in Hongya Marketplace for two days to gather intelligence on the Zhou Family.
Compared to cultivators outside of Lanzhou, local cultivators undoubtedly knew much more about the Zhou Family.
Thus, it didn't take much effort for the two of them to find out the relevant information.
Afterward, they arrived outside Jiufeng Ridge and began to closely observe the entrance to Zhou Family Mountain.
Seeing Liu Xi engrossed in scrutinizing Zhou Family Mountain's entrance without saying much, Ruan Hongzhuang could only take the initiative to ask, "Senior Liu, what do you plan to do?"
Unexpectedly, upon hearing her question, Liu Xi immediately retorted, "What does Taoist Friend Ruan think we should do?"
This question caught Ruan Hongzhuang off guard, and she hurriedly bowed her head and replied, "With Senior present, this junior wouldn't dare to be rash with her words."
"Hmph, since you know you can't command me, then speak less. It's not your place to teach me what to do!"
With a cold snort from Liu Xi, his words instantly caused Ruan Hongzhuang's face to drastically change color, and she quickly replied, "I wouldn't dare."
Having been reprimanded, she no longer dared to say anything further and just kept her mouth shut, staying silent.
After pondering for a while, Liu Xi muttered to himself in a low voice, "To be on the safe side, we should still test the waters first."
Ruan Hongzhuang watched Liu Xi with a flash of curiosity in her eyes.
But due to the previous warning, she did not dare to ask more questions.
Fortunately, Liu Xi did not keep her in suspense, soon instructing her: "Taoist Friend Ruan, conceal your cultivation level and infiltrate the Zhou Family to scout. If there are no Golden Core Stage cultivators inside, I myself will take action to break their array and trample Zhou Family Mountain!"
Her expression changed drastically when she heard this, and her pretty face turned pale.
She could clearly hear the underlying message in Liu Xi's words; he intended for her to be the expendable scout!
"Senior Liu, the Zhou Family has three Purple Mansion Phase cultivators and a third-order Flood Dragon. With my cultivation strength, even if I infiltrate their gate and startle the snake in the grass, I fear there would be no need for a Golden Core Stage cultivator to act personally to easily suppress me, right?"
She did not dare to outright reject Liu Xi's instructions, but she also did not want to go in just to face certain death, so she tried to indirectly express her difficulty.
Although she too wanted to kill Zhou Mingde and wipe out the Zhou Family.
She cared about her life even more.
She was unwilling to risk her own life for Zhou Mingde's.
"Taoist Friend Ruan, rest assured. Since Liu has asked you to do this, I won't let any harm come to you!"
As Liu Xi spoke, he reached for his storage pouch at his waist and took out a jade box, handing it to her.
"Inside this box is a defensive Talisman Treasure. With it protecting you, even if you face several cultivators of the same stage, it can support you for a while, enough for you to hold out until I take action."
It was generous to hand over a Talisman Treasure just like that, something only a Golden Core Stage cultivator could afford to do.
But in fact, to Golden Core Stage cultivators, unless it's a Talisman Treasure like the 'Primordial Bowl' made from an especially powerful Dharma Treasure, most Talisman Treasures are of little use to them.
Seeing that Liu Xi had even taken out a Talisman Treasure, Ruan Hongzhuang knew she had no choice but to proceed.
Since she had asked Liu Xi for help against the Zhou Family, she naturally had done her research on his character in advance.
Thus, she was well aware that he preferred to give a chance before resorting to force.
If she kept delaying, Liu Xi would likely show his true colors and force her to go.
She could only reluctantly give thanks, saying, "Thank you for the treasure, Senior. I understand what I need to do!"
Then she prepared to leave as instructed by Liu Xi.
But just at that moment, Liu Xi called out to her again.
"Taoist Friend Ruan, don't be in a hurry to leave. I still need to leave something on you."
Leave something else?
Ruan Hongzhuang looked at Liu Xi with a surprised and questioning expression, not understanding his intention.
"Don't worry. It's just a small warning method. It won't have any effect on you," Liu Xi said, and immediately explained the situation to Ruan Hongzhuang.
Some time passed and, fully prepared, Ruan Hongzhuang silently converged her cultivation and headed towards Zhou Family Mountain's gate.
Just as Lin Hongyu had once hidden her cultivation and infiltrated the Zhou Family, Ruan Hongzhuang, being a Purple Mansion Phase cultivator, was not recognized by anyone when she disguised herself as a Loose Cultivator infiltrating Zhou Family Mountain.
It wasn't the fault of those guards, after all, those guarding the entrance to the mountain gate were only at the Qi Refinement Realm, so how could they see through a Purple Mansion Phase cultivator who was deliberately concealing her cultivation.
One could say that this was a vulnerability that most cultivation families could not avoid.
By opening their family mountain gates to Loose Cultivators for the purpose of earning Spirit Coins, they would inevitably create such exploitable weaknesses.
However, while the weakness existed, it was not something that just anyone could take advantage of.
Like Ruan Hongzhuang, if she didn't have Liu Xi backing her from the outside, even if she really did infiltrate the Zhou Family Mountain gate, she wouldn't dare to do anything outrageous.
Otherwise, once her identity was exposed, the Zhou Family could immediately close their Mountain Protection Array, trapping her like a turtle in a jar.
In short, after Ruan Hongzhuang infiltrated the Zhou Family Mountain gate, she waited until the Zhou Family cultivators overseeing the Loose Cultivators were off guard, and then took the opportunity to leave the Cultivation Area and head straight for Pagoda Peak.