Free Web NovelChapter 767: Endless Treasure
Cave Abyss Sect, Inner Sect Scripture Pavilion.
Not long after Song Yan left, an inconspicuous gray-robed figure emerged from the stream of Disciples coming and going along the mountain path, as if appearing out of thin air.
This person’s appearance was extremely ordinary, looking about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in a coarse, faded gray cloth robe, with even a few specks of dust on his shoulders.
His aura was even so faint it was almost non-existent.
Had it not been seen with one’s own eyes, even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator scanning with Divine Sense would subconsciously overlook him, as if there was only a stubborn rock or a piece of rotten wood there.
An ordinary Mortal.
His steps were unhurried, yet each stride covered several zhang, as he walked towards the Scripture Pavilion’s main entrance.
It was truly miraculous.
At the busy entrance, the Disciple on duty was chatting and laughing with a few familiar fellow Disciples who had come to borrow books, completely ignoring the gray-robed figure who walked straight past.
This person entered the Scripture Pavilion as if it were an uninhabited place; the Inner Sect Disciples, who were constantly moving and discussing in low voices, seemed completely unaware of his presence.
Their bodies instinctively made a slight gap as he approached, but their eyes did not linger on him for a moment.
He walked straight ahead, directly ascending the stairs leading to the upper floors, without stopping.
The staircases leading to the fourth and fifth floors were not empty; two Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators stood on either side, their gazes sweeping over every Disciple who passed by.
Except for this person.
As the gray-robed figure drew near, the eyes of these two guards appeared somewhat dazed and confused.
Their bodies instinctively turned slightly, allowing the gray shadow to pass silently between them.
They subconsciously rubbed their eyes, experiencing a momentary lapse in attention, but did not know the reason why.
The gray-robed man thus arrived at the highest floor of the Inner Sect Scripture Pavilion.
A Spiritual Qi Restriction enveloped the entrance like an invisible film of water; it quietly parted as he approached, without stirring a single ripple.
The highest floor was not a library that ordinary Disciples could enter at will, but an elegantly furnished quiet room.
"The Qi of Dao is one..."
"Its applications are three..."
Inside the quiet room, a man lay reclined, eyes closed, lips moving slightly, subtly murmuring something.
He wore a white robe, his hair a mix of black and white, scattered across the floor.
In front of him, several scattered ancient books and Jade Slips were casually strewn on the ground.
Despite his outwardly ordinary middle-aged appearance, the voice that spoke moments ago was an aged one, which was truly a bit strange.
"..."
Suddenly, this person’s face changed, at times a youthful face with sword-like brows and starry eyes, then transforming into a weathered face full of furrows.
"This secret Divine Ability is truly profound and difficult to comprehend..."
At this moment, a clear, youthful voice emanated from his mouth.
"Buzz—!"
This person seemed to sense someone’s arrival, abruptly opening his eyes. In an instant, three different figures pulled outward from his body, as if trying to break free from his main body.
The three figures were all hazy with gray mist, their appearances indistinct. One was heroic and tall, one was robust and powerful, and one was somewhat hunched and curled up.
Before long, these three gray shadows seemed to have stretched to their limit, and with a ’poof’, they collapsed and dissipated, vanishing without a trace.
However, this person remained unconcerned, instead sitting cross-legged on the ground, his gaze lowered, scanning the books, ancient texts, and Jade Slips on the floor, and gently shaking his head.
By the time the gray-robed man entered the room, this person’s appearance had changed to that of a thin-faced old man, deep in thought over a game of Go.
He was the Pavilion Master of the Cave Abyss Sect’s Inner Sect Scripture Pavilion, the Elder who guarded the pavilion and around whom various mysterious rumors circulated among the Disciples.
Perhaps no one in the entire Chu Kingdom Cultivation World had ever heard his name.
Wu Xusheng.
"Sect Master’s grand presence, this old man has failed to greet you properly."
The old man spoke words of flattery, but in reality, he didn’t even glance at him directly, occasionally moving a black piece, then a white piece, his entire mind focused on the Go game before him.
"I hope Sect Master will not take offense."
The gray-robed man was naturally the Sect Master of the Cave Abyss Sect, Daoist Li Jun, Chen Linyuan.
He casually sat opposite the Go board, and without a word, took a rough pottery wine jar from his qiankun bag, broke the mud seal, and a strong, mellow aroma of wine instantly filled the air.
He took out two rough pottery bowls, poured one for the old man, and filled his own.
"How is your Divine Ability coming along?"
Chen Linyuan picked up his bowl, took a large gulp, speaking casually in front of the old man.
Wu Xusheng didn’t even raise an eyelid, gently placing a white jade Go piece he held between his fingers onto the board, producing a crisp sound.
Then he picked up the wine bowl in front of him, sniffed it, and pushed it aside without drinking, speaking with clear disdain: "You drink this kind of stuff?"
He continued to arrange his Go pieces.
"This One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, is a genuine Immortal method. How could a mere old skeleton like me, in the Nascent Soul Realm, comprehend it so quickly?"
"You don’t need to worry about this old man’s affairs; just take care of yourself, alright?"
"You’re quite Free and Easy as a hands-off Sect Leader, not bothering with any of the Sect’s matters..."
Chen Linyuan chuckled indifferently, draining the wine in his bowl.
"If even trivial matters like Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining require me, the Sect Leader, to intervene, then I might as well give up Cultivation."
"I’ll go to the Demon Ruins, find a Demon Cultivator, dive in, and die, how about that?"
Chen Linyuan was utterly dismissive: "Establishing the Sect was an unintentional act to begin with."
"Heh." The old Daoist, however, let out a chuckle: "I think you’re rather enjoying it."
"That boy named Yang Wenxuan, he’s been quite busy with his little schemes, colluding with the Qin Family, suppressing other Elders, and he’s been quite active these days."
"It seems he even has ties to Demon Cultivators..."
"Let him be."
Chen Linyuan’s tone was as calm as if discussing the weather, his mind seemingly on other matters: "If he can bring the Demon Cultivators to me, cutting them all down at once would save a lot of trouble."
The old Daoist also nodded.
For them, this was indeed a trivial matter.
It was like an ant calling its friends, gathering a few of its kind, discussing how to move a tiny sugar crumb.
No one would care, nor would they specifically put down what they were doing to individually crush them.
As long as they didn’t knock over the sugar jar and cause a major disturbance, why intervene?
Moreover, they simply didn’t have the ability to do so.
What these people considered earth-shattering changes, in the eyes of Chen Linyuan and Wu Xusheng, was merely a bowl of cold rice on a chopping board.
Wu Xusheng was silent for a moment, then put down the Go piece in his hand, his gaze drifting towards the lush green scenery of the Sect outside the window.
"That’s the logic... but, aren’t you worried that boy named Song Yan might be interfered with, or even perish?"
"Worried?"
Chen Linyuan scoffed, his eyes becoming somewhat profound.
"The sharpness of a sword is not honed through pampering. Which Sword Cultivator of old didn’t brave thorns and overcome life-and-death tribulations?"
He waved his hand.
"The path is his own choice. If he can’t even handle the small fry in this shallow pond, and needs my constant protection to grow, then it proves he’s not worthy of wielding that sharpness, and his demise is simply the natural course of the Heavenly Dao."
Wu Xusheng nodded, then shook his head.
"Oh, me, this old man, with sons and grandsons, I’m just not like you people."
He gave a wry smile.
"If I could find my grandson, I would wish to guard him and protect him at every moment."
Hearing this, Chen Linyuan seemed to recall something, put down his wine bowl, and his tone became slightly more serious.
"Right, Old Wu, I came this time and happened to have a question for you."
"You’ve traveled far and wide, seen much and learned much. Have you ever heard of... a secret method that can truly ’reverse time’? Or a rare treasure that can bear the reversal of time?"
"Reversing time?" Wu Xusheng raised a white eyebrow, showing a rare hint of surprise: "Foolish talk! The river of time flows ceaselessly; it is the ultimate Dao of Heaven and Earth. If one could truly reverse and rewind it, that would be even more shocking than a True Immortal descending to the Mortal Realm."
"Where did this come from?"
Wu Xusheng knew that what the person standing before him said would never be a whim or a casual question.
Chen Linyuan slowly recounted to Wu Xusheng the story of Lin Qing claiming to have "lived another life," and the so-called "future" Lin Qing described, including the potential Demon tribulation the Cave Abyss Sect might face, in a brief manner.
After listening, the surprise on Wu Xusheng’s face dissipated, replaced by deep thought.
"This matter... is indeed extremely bizarre. In this Cultivation World, there are countless strange, unique, and mysterious Daoist techniques and secret treasures, but to speak of reversing time, this old man finds it incredibly hard to believe."
He pondered for a moment, then continued: "However..."
"There are some clues about things that could achieve a similar effect."
"During my travels, I once heard a legend from ancient times about ’Zhuangzi’s Butterfly Dream,’ a great dream lasting a thousand years, used as a reference for this."
"Or perhaps it’s some forbidden rare item from ancient Seniors, which allows one to glimpse the Heavenly Secrets by consuming the residual energy within it. That person, perhaps, experienced the former. Accidentally entering a strange realm, dreaming of past events?"
He shook his head: "But these are all too ethereal and not very credible."
Chen Linyuan softly hummed: "Perhaps."
"But I told you this because I thought, since this boy claims to know some ’future,’ perhaps he might have seen your grandson, who was abducted by Demon Cultivators and lost for many years, in his ’dream’? Although it’s slim, it’s still an extra clue, isn’t it?"
He pulled out a Jade Slip from his qiankun bag and tossed it to Wu Xusheng.
Wu Xusheng looked at the Jade Slip in his hand, complex emotions flashing in his eyes—hope, but more so, deep weariness and helplessness.
He reached out, took it, and tucked it into his sleeve, then solemnly cupped his hands to Chen Linyuan: "Sect Master’s kindness, Wu accepts it. This old man also knows this matter is like searching for a needle in a haystack, hope is slim..."
"But even if it’s just a wisp of an illusion, this old man must try."
He sighed with a wry smile, then still picked up the murky wine in the bowl and drank it all.
"It’s just... alas, as you said, his life, presumably, will have almost no possibility of intersecting with my grandson’s."
A sigh... In the ruins of the Sword Sect.
Song Yan followed the bamboo forest path, climbing upwards.
His direction was completely different from the direction of the Sword Sect’s Inner Sect plaza, pavilions, and other building complexes that Song Yan had seen in the distance.
Previously, when he entered the Sword Sect ruins, due to insufficient Cultivation, he could only explore the outer perimeter.
He had once thought that all paths would eventually converge in the core area, but now he couldn’t help but feel a little confused.
"Could my previous assumption have been wrong?"
"This secluded forest path doesn’t look like a main road leading to the Sect’s important areas; it looks more like a path to a place of cultivation, or an Immortal Cave residence."
Song Yan raised his palm, gazing at the increasingly clear liangyi pearl.
A hint of realization dawned in his heart.
Perhaps, it was leading him here, unrelated to the other Legacies and treasures of the Sword Sect, but to a place closely connected to this pearl.
That’s good too.
This liangyi pearl held extraordinary significance for him, and he also wanted to clarify its true origin and purpose as soon as possible.
After an unknown period of walking, as Song Yan took a certain step, the two-colored stone pearl in his palm suddenly paused.
Immediately, the scene before him rippled like water.
The deep bamboo forest, at the end of the small path, suddenly opened up.
An extremely simple small courtyard lay quietly hidden beneath several clumps of purple bamboo.
There were no exquisitely carved pavilions or terraces, no exotic Spirit flowers competing for beauty.
Only stone paths, bamboo fences, a serene, inky small pond, and a few verdant purple bamboos.
Clear spring water seeped silently from the bamboo roots, flowed over the dark stones, and merged into the small pond.
Although this place lacked golden splendor, the Immortal aura within it far surpassed any grand palace Song Yan had ever seen.
Solitary and distinguished, tranquil and profound.
In the center of the small courtyard, beneath a few particularly sturdy purple bamboos, stood an inky stone stele.
The form of the stone stele made Song Yan feel very familiar.
It was remarkably similar to the black stone steles he had seen countless times in the Liangyi Realm.
It now stood before him, in this small courtyard, making it feel somewhat unreal.
However, what attracted Song Yan’s gaze even more was not the stone stele itself, but an item leaning against it.
Ancient and elongated, black and white, with spiritual light slowly flowing over it.
It was a sword box.
Song Yan lowered his eyes to look at the pearl in his hand; at this moment, the liangyi pearl was unusually quiet.
He walked forward and gently stroked it.
The entire sword box presented a mysterious black and white interweaving color, its material seemed neither wood nor jade, but more like a condensed Chaos aura.
It felt cool and heavy to the touch, with a very unique texture.
Its form was extremely simple, with clean, sharp lines, almost devoid of any superfluous ornamentation.
Its length was slightly longer than the useless sword box Song Yan had previously used to hold his Flying Sword, and its shape was more condensed and square, minimalist to the extreme, exuding an indescribable inner profundity.
"..."
Song Yan seemed mesmerized.
In his opinion, the sword box itself was like an ancient and profound Sword Intent.
In the upper-middle part of the sword box, where the black and white colors converged, a spherical indentation was prominently revealed.
Its shape and size were identical, to the very last detail, to the liangyi pearl that Song Yan was currently holding tightly in his palm.
"Buzz—!"
Just as Song Yan was lost in thought, a sudden change occurred.
The liangyi pearl in his palm suddenly erupted with unprecedented light, black and white, forming a Qi vortex.
It was like a violently beating heart.
Song Yan had no time to react as his five fingers were instantly shaken open by this force.
It transformed into a black and white stream of light, trailing a Spiritual Qi wake, and shot towards the indentation on the sword box.
Clang—!
The moment the liangyi pearl embedded into the indentation, a tremor resonated from within the sword box!
The originally somewhat "lifeless" sword box suddenly glowed on its surface, and the black and white colors were no longer distinct.
They subtly intertwined and flowed ceaselessly.
In the very center of the sword box, beneath the liangyi pearl, three ancient characters faintly appeared amidst the flowing black and white light.
"endless treasury."
