Who let him join the Sword Sect?!

"Wasn't it like this when you came before?" Zhang Ze asked.

"Back then, there was another iron plate here. I would put the Iron Hand on it, and Dan Dan would open the door for me," Wei Dalu said.

Zhang Ze and Chen Qin went over, following Wei Dalu and his daughter to study this new contraption together.

Under the ice, there lay a metal plate, inscribed with elegant writing, and beneath the text was an array resembling a labyrinth.

In the array, there's a small metal ball that can be moved using spiritual energy. Once moved to a specific position, it can illuminate a node, releasing the second ball, which interacts with each other, requiring the correct sequence of movement.

Following this sequence, once the whole array is lit, the entrance might be unlocked.

In short, the entrance to Dan Dan's place has shifted from swipe card access to a code lock.

And this code lock, after studying for a long time, Zhang Ze concluded it might be a simple-minded puzzle, needing knowledge of arrays and artifact refining to solve it.

But evidently, Zhang Ze's team currently doesn't have the talent to handle such intellectual problems.

Wei Dalu, the lightning-wielding brute.

Bai Tao, a doctor sister specializing in poisoning.

Chen Qin, a brute with many swords.

Zhang Ze, a part-time bard brute.

Li, a brute that's bloated from eating.

The team is quite pure, and also quite despairing.

Even more despairing is the countdown, as the words "[Dan Dan's Great Stage, If You Dare, Come]" emitting green light are starting to fade slowly.

Zhang Ze took out the walnut to find Tang, but there's no response or return.

Helplessly, Zhang Ze had to look for Lily.

[Zhang Ze: Lily, where's Tang?]

[Lily: Lost again, we're looking for him now.]

[Zhang Ze: Check out that Water Exchange Workshop in Thousand Mechanism Town, he didn't reply, maybe he's there. By the way, can you understand this thing?]

Zhang Ze took a photo and sent it over.

[Lily: I'm not familiar with artifact refining, but if you're not in a hurry, I might be able to help you solve it by tomorrow.]

[Zhang Ze: Forget it, I'll figure it out myself.]

Zhang Ze sighed and decided to use brute force to solve the problem.

In short, first dismantle the lock.

Through the light blue ice, they could see the other side of the iron plate, which had a handprint indentation estimated for Wei Dalu to swipe, showing Dan Dan's laziness with this new locked and refurbished old one.

This thing is quite intricate; Wei Dalu gestured a couple of times but didn't act. He knew his strength isn't light, afraid a punch might directly break Dan Dan's door lock.

Talking about breaking the ice block, Bai Tao had an idea, "I remember you wrote somewhere in your book about ginger juice breaking thousand-year mystical ice!"

"I heard that from someone else, not sure if it's true, and where can we find ginger juice now? Junior sister, give me that." Zhang Ze reached out to Chen Qin.

"Which one?"

"That one."

"Oh, here you go."

A ring on Chen Qin's hand glowed, and after a red flash, a flying sword with a bright red blade appeared in her hand.

Zhang Ze took the flying sword Red Sky, injected spiritual energy, and a pure flame enveloped the blade. Zhang Ze adjusted the flame's size and applied the sword to the ice.

As expected, the top-grade flying sword crafted by the Sect Leader quickly melted away the thousand-year ice, and Zhang Ze flipped over the large iron plate.

Wei Dalu pressed the Iron Hand onto it.

[Beep]

Dan Dan's first simple-minded puzzle was thus resolved.

As the patterns on the iron plate flickered, spiritual energy gathered, and a disc-shaped teleportation array appeared out of thin air before them.

More text was inscribed on the teleportation array.

[You passed the great Dan Dan's first test, but there's a second one.]

Stepping onto the teleportation array, a white light lit up around the array, and their figures disappeared beneath the Northern Territory Great Wall.

...

The disc transported them to the upstream of an underground dark river, and after leaving the disc, it automatically flew to a spirit gathering array, stopped, and the edges turned from white to green, blinking.

It seemed like it was recharging itself.

Zhang Ze found this thing exceedingly convenient, seeing it for the first time, a teleportation array that could be carried around and recharged itself.

And the teleportation distance was remarkably far.

Before on the ground, Zhang Ze dropped a bit of mycelium in the snow, now taking out the Fuji Radar, with no signal from the fungi inside, clearly, the distance from the Northern Territory Great Wall exceeded the radar's range.

Chen Qin and Bai Tao didn't think much of it, staring at the inverted forest above in awe.

In the gaps of the inverted forest, faint blue light flickered, while within the river around them, unknown glowing small fish swam back and forth; the vast underground world showcased two silver rivers.

Wei Dalu had been here many times, waiting until his daughter and Chen Qin had enough, then led the group deeper into the underground world along the river.

Li seemed to have digested, feeling revitalized; surveying the surroundings, it marveled.

"We're walking along an earth vein," Li, the expert digger, gave a professional assessment.

"Then isn't this place ideal for cultivation?" Zhang Ze asked.

Li shook its head, "This is not ideal for cultivation, this is a dead vein, hidden beneath the Northern Territory's dragon vein, forming its own world."

"Don't be fooled by the peacefulness here; outside the Earth Vein, the Earth Qi is chaotic. Not only is it impossible to cultivate here, but using the Earth Escape Technique could also be deadly."

Thanks to Tang's good teachings, Li spoke of the Five Elements Feng Shui with the airs of a master.

Chen Qin found it interesting and was about to ask more, when suddenly a dual-headed snake leapt out from the river beside them, blocking their path.

The dual-headed snake flickered its tongue and spoke human words.

The right head said, "This is the second test of the great Dan Dan. Once begun, one head will speak truthfully while the other lies."

The left head said, "You may ask us three questions to decide your path, and only by choosing correctly will you meet Master Dan Dan."

After speaking, the tip of its tail pointed at the forked road behind it.

The so-called forked road was just two large iron gates set up by Dan Dan on the path ahead, quite perfunctory.

"Shall we begin?" both heads asked in unison.

Zhang Ze looked at the second simple-minded game set by Dan Dan, speechless.

"No, we won't start. There are four of us; we can each take a side or force our way through, why play games?"

This snake is just a Golden Core, probably not enough to beat the four of them; Zhang Ze wondered where Dan Dan found it.

The snake seemed to have anticipated this.

It curled its tail and fished out an iron plaque from the river.

[The great Dan Dan only meets those with wisdom. If you don't follow the rules, forget ever seeing Dan Dan.]

[Wei Dalu as well.]

Setting the plaque properly, the snake wore a look of helplessness, as though saying "I'm just working here; killing me won't change anything."

"Senior, what should we do?" Chen Qin was not skilled at these word games.

These simple-minded games — those high monks from the Buddhist Sect seemed adept at them, but the monk Zhang Ze knew only seemed to say "If you're unhappy, come fight."

Moreover, he couldn't be reached.

Zhang Ze remembered the usual solution to this old game but couldn't recall it at the moment.

Watching his teammates become either lost in thought or dazed, Zhang Ze decided to use some tools within the rules.

Stealthily hiding one hand behind his back, after ensuring the dual-headed snake hadn't noticed, he stepped forward and said, "Let's begin."

After speaking, he gestured with his other hand, beckoning the snake to come closer.

The snake, lacking Jianghu experience, had no defense against Zhang Ze's tricks.

When the righthead approached Zhang Ze, in a flash faster than lightning, Zhang Ze revealed his hidden hand and dabbed something on the snake's nose.

The right head of the snake shuddered entirely, then its dark-green nose exhaled a rush of hot air, showing an expression that's both uncomfortable and oddly satisfying.

"What is this?!" the right snake head asked, exhaling hot air.

"Ah, isn't it me who should ask you? Here's my first question: are you uncomfortable now?"

The right snake head didn't respond verbally, instead it continually rubbed its nose on the ground, trying to rub off what was applied.

After failing, the right head lifted, stubbornly saying, "Not uncomfortable!"

Zhang Ze nodded, "The right path is the correct one, isn't it?"

The right snake head said while exhaling, "No!"

"Final question, do I look like a good person?"

The right snake head gritted its teeth, forcing out one word, "Yes!"

Zhang Ze was certain that the right head was the one speaking lies.

He stretched his hand again, flicked a finger, and a puff of blue smoke hit the right snake head in the face.

As the smoke cleared, acting as the antidote, the right snake head finally felt relieved.

The snake honestly didn't continue to hassle Zhang Ze and his team, stepping aside and slipping into the water, clearly eager to get as far from Zhang Ze as possible.

"Senior, what did you just apply to it?" Chen Qin asked.

"It's some junk sold by those Demon Race folks at Thousand Mechanism Pavilion; they claimed it has miraculous effects on snakes, capable of repelling them. The specific formula is a secret." Zhang Ze shrugged.

"What exactly does your Thousand Mechanism Pavilion do, having everything?" Bai Tao asked, curious.

Zhang Ze scratched his head, thought for a long time, and said, "You could just think of us as a group of ambitious youths, flying free with ideals."

"Yes, ambitious youths indeed."

Crossing the right gate, a disc flew to them, and Dan Dan's slogan appeared again.

[The great Dan Dan admires the wise. Your argumentation pleases Dan Dan. Come, meet the great Dan Dan.]

Once again, Zhang Ze cracked the second simple-minded game of Dan Dan.

And perhaps Dan Dan had run out of tricks or the subsequent challenge wasn't ready, as Zhang Ze's group advanced along the path without further obstacles.

The closed underground world reached its end, the dark river altered by a natural stone gate, gushing toward deeper underground layers, while the forest atop the cavern spread down the stone wall, entwined in two giant trees, a massive iron door between faint blue luminescence.

Wei Dalu went up and knocked on the door.

"Dan Dan, it's Wei, I've found you, buddy! Open up."

After a moment, faint green patterns appeared on the iron door, forming a circular pattern.

The door slid open to both sides.

Zhang Ze finally saw Dan Dan in person.

Seemed a bit different from what he imagined.

"Why aren't you made of iron?"