Chapter 104: Chapter 39: The Mysterious Cone, The Peach Garden’s Mizzle Well (Thanks to Alliance Hierarch Bi Xue Jian for the additional chapter)
Qiu Changtian treated the analysis of the Kunlun Mirror as a guess and shared it with his junior sister.
Xu Yinglian was also somewhat surprised.
The Cloud Platform serves as the defensive mechanism of the secret realm, responsible for verifying the identities of trialists.
This also explained why the Divine General guarding the bridge had not launched an attack right from the start—it seemed he was waiting for the newcomers to reveal their identities.
Zhao Palace is a trial checkpoint in the secret realm, and verifying this was quite simple, one would just need to enter and see for oneself.
However, having triggered Time Retrospection four times in a row, although Xu Yinglian hadn’t noticed anything, she could see that her senior brother was mentally and physically exhausted. Naturally, she did not urge him to go in for verification.
Still, her senior brother’s speculation that the treasures displayed in this hall were rewards given to trialists based on the number of golden-armored generals they killed seemed to have no fault in reasoning.
If that was truly the case, then we could definitely only each take one, not all; otherwise, it would be unreasonable.
With this in mind, Xu Yinglian looked at the treasures.
She has a family heirloom Feather Gar, thus she lacked no Flying Sword; and having the Great Bright Fire, she also lacked no Daoist magic.
Therefore, she only directed her gaze at the magical treasures and elixirs.
A Tenth Rank magical treasure would naturally be of great value at this time, but it was common in ancient times… back then, whether it was a Flying Sword or magical treasure, was there ever talk of ranks? There were simply none below the Tenth Rank.
Next to each magical treasure was a small jade slip.
When Xu Yinglian let her Divine Sense seep into it, it displayed an introduction corresponding to the magical treasure—briefly explaining its name and effects.
Perhaps because the two of them had only killed one golden-armored general, barely meeting the passing line for the trial checkpoint, most of these magical treasures were of the lower quality within the Tenth Rank, which Xu Yinglian found unimpressive.
Thus, she turned her attention to the elixirs.
Diverse elixirs were contained within differently shaped Elixir Bottles, with jade slip introductions beside them.
Her Divine Sense swept over them, and her eyebrows immediately furrowed.
It wasn’t that the quality was too poor, but rather the grade was too high… Although they were ordinary elixirs, most were for use by cultivators in the Golden Core Realm, which she and her senior brother could not use.
After searching for a long time, Xu Yinglian finally found a small Purifying Bottle on the lowest shelf.
According to the jade slip, within was one-third spoon of Mercurial Elixir Liquid, which, when consumed by a cultivator at the Refining Mansion rank, could nourish the Dantian, improve the Purple Mansion, and enhance the final Core Condensation Rank.
The last eight characters made Xu Yinglian’s pupils tremble slightly.
She naturally knew what “Core Condensation Rank” meant.
Ordinarily, she would want nothing else, regardless of magical treasures or Flying Swords, the Mercurial Elixir Liquid was something she needed to secure at all costs.
But Xu Yinglian knew that her ability to receive a reward here was mainly thanks to her senior brother’s efforts; she had at best only provided the idea.
So, she pointed at the little Purifying Bottle below and said in a clear voice,
“Senior brother, come see, what is this?”
Qiu Changtian had been wandering in the Daoist Magic area, looking for a copy of the Five Thunder True Law. Hearing Xu Yinglian call him, he went over and swept his Divine Sense over it and laughingly said in surprise,
“Is this Mercurial Elixir Liquid? Although the quantity is small, it suits junior sister well.”
“Don’t you want it, senior brother?” Xu Yinglian asked softly.
“Since you found it first, you take it,” Qiu Changtian said casually.
“Considering the merits of this occasion, senior brother’s contributions are greater,” Xu Yinglian said earnestly. “If senior brother wants it, then let it be for senior brother.”
“No need,” Qiu Changtian said, somewhat touched, and then he spoke solemnly, “Junior sister need not worry for me.”
“Or does junior sister feel that, without this Mercurial Elixir Liquid, senior brother will fall behind junior sister in terms of Cultivation Level?” Qiu Changtian said with a gentle smile.
Xu Yinglian stared at him for a while and then couldn’t help but also start to laugh.
“Of course not. Hmph, with this Mercurial Elixir Liquid, you can expect to be a step behind me at the Core Condensation Rank.”
She gently crouched down, reaching out to take hold of the Purifying Bottle.
Then her figure disappeared.
Qiu Changtian knew that she had been teleported away from Zhao Palace after selecting her reward, so he continued to look at the other rewards.
In the Daoist Magic area, he had confirmed that there was no Five Thunder True Law, which was somewhat regrettable.
Magical Treasures were all average items; with Qiu Changtian’s discerning eye, they were truly unappealing.
As for Flying Swords, he had no lack of them. The Yu Long Sword could handle most situations, and if not, there was also the Green Duckweed Sword.
Looking at the options, it seemed that his only choice, like Junior Sister Xu, was the Elixirs…
Qiu Changtian suddenly noticed, in a corner beneath a wooden stand in the Magical Treasure area, there lay a strange awl.
This awl was neither made of iron nor stone, it was mirror-bright, seven inches long, with exceedingly sharp edges.
What was stranger, there was no Jade Slip explaining it nearby.
Qiu Changtian looked carefully and noticed that on the surface of the awl, there were a few strange inscriptions etched lightly, obscured by dust, barely discernible.
It seemed familiar… That’s right! In the volume of the Five Thunder True Law given by the Pavilion, weren’t these few inscriptions included?
Qiu Changtian suddenly remembered, the Daoist book of the Five Thunder True Law volume directly transmitted into his Sea of Consciousness by the Pavilion had a page illustrating a hammer, an awl, and a few inscriptions.
The inscriptions were in Immortal Seal Script, ambiguous in meaning, so he had glossed over them.
Yet, he didn’t expect that he would encounter the real thing here!
Regardless of whether this awl truly held an impressive origin or was merely a facsimile Magical Treasure or even an ordinary object, it must be related to the Thunder Method.
As soon as Qiu Changtian picked up the awl, he felt the world spinning around him and was teleported by the secret realm to a peach grove.
He saw dense peach trees around him, blossoms cascading like waterfalls, petals like a sea, an overwhelmingly beautiful scene, with a fresh fragrance lingering, transporting one to an Immortal Realm, refreshing both mind and spirit.
Xu Yinglian, in a white robe and with her hair pinned up, stood under a tree with a cool expression. Seeing her senior brother also teleported there, a relieved smile appeared on her face.
“Senior brother,” she whispered, “I’ve explored all around here. There are only peach trees, no other way out.”
Her implication was clear: they were trapped here again.
Qiu Changtian nodded, his eyes scanning the surroundings, when he saw a well in a clearing through the trees up ahead.
“I’ve checked that well,” Xu Yinglian immediately said. “There is water in it, but just ordinary well water, nothing unusual.”
“Has Junior Sister gone down to inspect it?” Qiu Changtian asked.
“Go down the well?” Xu Yinglian looked rather startled.
Qiu Changtian led her to the edge of the well and peered down, where the clear well water reflected their faces.
“Since the surroundings are all peach trees, the only thing different here is this well,” Qiu Changtian calmly said and then quietly asked the Kunlun Mirror in his Sea of Consciousness, “Are you sure this is the exit of the secret realm?”
After a moment of silence, the Kunlun Mirror replied:
“Below the well there indeed is a spatial passageway.”
“I know that,” Xu Yinglian nervously said, “it’s just this matter of going down the well…”
“Is Junior Sister afraid?” Qiu Changtian deployed his trump card.
“What does being afraid have to do with anything!” Xu Yinglian retorted angrily. “This is still an unknown secret realm! If every time we see a well we should jump, then back on the Iron Chain Long Bridge, why didn’t Senior Brother jump down into the sea of clouds…”
Before she could finish speaking, Qiu Changtian drew out the Yu Long Sword, its Sword Light enveloping them both, and he plunged directly into the well with her.