But now, at this moment, they stood at a dark dead-end, surrounded by what seemed like a void.
It was as if they had arrived at the Gate of Hell.
The space in front of their feet was no longer a staircase, but a regular hexadecagon pattern instead.
The pattern was not large, covering only half a square meter.
"Stand in the middle of this pattern, and you will be drawn into a secret realm. Inside, you’ll see many things. Take what you can, and whatever you take will indeed be yours. Remember, no matter what you find, it’s the real deal."
Qiu Su said in a deep voice, "In the past, someone from Li City obtained an Ancestral Dragon Corpse from the Ancient Era here, and others have received the Legacy of Ancient Martial Techniques. This pattern is called the War God’s Cushion!!! It can take you straight to ancient times and bring you closest to the War God of Qiuqing!"
After speaking, Qiu Su looked at Su Chen and Yu Qingrou, "Who wants to go first?"
"I’ll go!" Yu Qingrou said with a smile.
"Alright, step on it," Qiu Su nodded.
Su Chen, however, took a step back, moving next to Qiu Su.
Yu Qingrou then stood in the middle of the War God’s Cushion.
As soon as she stepped on it, the War God’s Cushion suddenly rippled with a mysterious creamy-white light that enveloped her.
Yu Qingrou’s entire presence vanished as though she was still standing there, but her aura was unfelt.
"How amazing!" Su Chen’s eyes lit up, intently staring at Yu Qingrou.
suddenly, there was an additional item on the War God’s Cushion, a purple Crystal Bottle.
"What’s that?" Su Chen quickly asked.
"It’s something Miss Yu caught in the Illusion Realm!"
"That’s incredible!" Su Chen swallowed hard, his concept of reality utterly shattered by the spectacle before him!
another item appeared on the War God’s Cushion — a cord, golden-red in color and only a meter long, yet it was a Superior Divine Artifact!
"Damn!" Su Chen blurted out a curse.
Qiu Su was somewhat surprised, "Miss Yu is lucky and talented; it’s incredible that she could get two good things in a row!"
"Normally, people from the Qiuqing Continent are only allowed to stand on this War God’s Cushion once in their lifetime. However, the vast majority come back empty-handed. A small number manage to get something, but usually just one item. It’s very rare to get two. If everyone could get two, three, or even more items, then the Eight Great Cities of the Qiuqing Continent wouldn’t be so impoverished, and there wouldn’t be a shortage of Weapons, Elixirs, Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, and so on."
"Can’t we find someone with good talent and luck to stand on the War God’s Cushion multiple times, to bring back many good things from the secret realm?" Su Chen asked.
"Of course not, the secret realm is as if it has a will of its own and rejects those who stand upon it a second time." Qiu Su shook her head, "I have tried it myself; the second time, the third time, the fourth time, I’ve tried many times, but it’s useless. After the first entry into the secret realm, I could never get in again."
"I see," Su Chen nodded, then curiously asked, "Miss Yu, may I inquire, is the War God of Qiuqing human or Demon Beast?"
"I don’t know," Qiu Su shook her head. "Seemingly, it’s neither human nor Demon Beast, but a different race."
While Su Chen and Qiu Su were talking, all of a sudden, another item appeared on the War God’s Cushion!!!
It was a dagger, glinting with treasure-blue light, extremely exquisite.
This dagger was even a Half-step Tao Instrument.
Su Chen’s eyes twitched fiercely, and Qiu Su felt much the same. She gazed deeply at Yu Qingrou: "Heaven-defying luck, heaven-defying gains."
Even Qiu Su felt envious.
But, in that moment, Yu Qingrou suddenly came to her senses.
She shuddered, and her beautiful face lit up with surprise. She instinctively looked down at her feet.
She picked up the three items.
"Congratulations!" Qiu Su said with a smile.
"Thank you!" Yu Qingrou earnestly responded, her gains truly defying heaven—not to mention the Half-step Tao Instrument Weapon which would be considered unique even in the Wanlong Dynasty. This dagger could increase her Combat Power by at least twenty percent.
Afterwards, Yu Qingrou looked at Su Chen, "Su Chen, quickly take your turn. It’s amazing, there are so many treasures there."
"Okay!" Su Chen was also excited. He took a deep breath and stepped onto the War God’s Cushion.
Su Chen felt the world spinning around him.
It was as if he had arrived amid a sky full of stars, his surroundings filled with countless points of light.
He could vaguely see that each point of light was a treasure, all valuable possessions. He instinctively wanted to grab at those points of light.
"Young boy Su, don’t rush, use the Divine Mansion to feel!" Jiuyou actually spoke.
"Jiuyou, are you in here too?" Su Chen was both surprised and delighted.
"Yes, I’m in here, or to be precise, the Divine Mansion is in here, so I followed," Jiuyou said with a smile. "Don’t waste time, quickly communicate with the Divine Mansion; it will guide you!"
Su Chen said no more. He took a deep breath and connected with the Divine Mansion.
Soon, the Divine Mansion guided him to one of the points of light.
The light spot was very far away from him!!!
But his Divine Mansion had a strong craving for it.
Without hesitation, Su Chen chased after the light spot.
As he began to move, the light spot unexpectedly started to run, and it moved very quickly.
"Hmph, you think you can escape me?" Su Chen accelerated, pushing his speed to the limit, firmly locking onto the light spot and pursuing it relentlessly.
It took him over a hundred breaths.
Reaching out, he grabbed for the light spot.
And with that grab, he actually caught it.
At the same time, under the watchful eyes of Yu Qingrou and Qiu Su, they saw something appear on the Meditation Cushion at Su Chen’s feet.
"What’s that?" Yu Qingrou asked curiously.
Into her view came a bead, about the size of a thumb. It appeared quite ordinary, yet inexplicably, it had an aura that made one’s heart flutter.
Qiu Su shook her head: "I don’t know. But it surely is an unimaginable Supreme Treasure."
"Because, when this bead suddenly appeared on the Meditation Cushion at Su Chen’s feet, did you feel the light on the cushion tremble sharply?" Qiu Su spoke solemnly: "Such a degree of trembling surpasses anything I’ve ever seen before. It seems that the presence of this bead has influenced the entire Secret Realm."
"Ah?" Yu Qingrou gaped, at a loss for words.
It was at that second.
Su Chen actually opened his eyes.
And withdrew from the Illusion Realm.
"Strange!" As soon as he opened his eyes, Su Chen furrowed his brows in frustration.
"Su Chen, what’s wrong?" Yu Qingrou asked hastily.
"When I caught it, the stars in the sky all dimmed at once, it was as if the Secret Realm had forcibly ejected me!" Su Chen lamented with a wry smile. Picking up the ancient bead from the ground, it was a black-red color and very round. Holding it in his hand, there was no particular feeling, but, as he picked up the bead, clearly, the Divine Mansion trembled with excitement.
"The stars all dimmed? Forcibly pushed you out?" Qiu Su’s face changed again and again, utterly shocked: "According to the Qiuqing Chronicles, only if you obtained something that would shake the foundation of the Secret Realm, would the stars within it dim and would you be expelled."
"I am not joking." Qiu Su’s voice was very solemn, the way she looked at Su Chen had completely changed: "That bead you’ve obtained must be a Supreme Treasure!!!"
"Even better if it is a Supreme Treasure," Su Chen said evenly as he stowed away the bead.
"Congratulations," Qiu Su said, her eyes filled with complex feelings. Honestly speaking, she somewhat regretted bringing Su Chen here. She had an intuition that the best object in the entire Secret Realm had been taken by Su Chen. Though she didn’t know what was so special about that bead?
"Thank you," Su Chen said gratefully.
"Hmph, little brother Su Chen, I’m at a loss," Qiu Su pouted: "I’ve suffered a great loss."
Su Chen felt a bit awkward; Qiu Su was clearly acting coy again.
"Alright, let’s go out!" Qiu Su gave Su Chen a look. Although she was curious about what that bead Su Chen got was, she did not pursue the question further. After all, that thing was Su Chen’s now. Surely she couldn’t just take it? And even if she tried, it was not certain she would succeed.
Under Qiu Su’s guidance, the trio headed towards the outer area.
They left the ancestral house.
Su Chen and Yu Qingrou followed Qiu Su to the City Lord’s Mansion.
"City Lord, tomorrow, we will depart for Desolate City," Su Chen declared firmly.
Yu Qingrou also nodded emphatically.
Having gained tremendous benefits at the ancestral house in Li City made the two of them quite expectant of the other cities’ ancestral houses.
"Hmm," Qiu Su nodded, showing no surprise.
Later, Qiu Su dealt with some matters; being the city lord was rather busy.
Meanwhile, Su Chen and Yu Qingrou each returned to their rooms.
Yu Qingrou was going to refine the Superior Divine Artifact rope and the Half-step Tao Instrument dagger.
As for Su Chen, he wanted to explore what exactly that bead was.
Back in his room, Su Chen sat cross-legged. With a thought, the bead appeared again in his hand.
"Jiuyou, what exactly is this bead?" Su Chen asked gravely, feeling once more the extreme excitement of his Divine Mansion, as if it wanted to break free from his body to swallow the bead.
"I’ve sensed a trace of Qi, but I dare not be certain..." Jiuyou’s voice was extremely grave, yet unable to suppress the excitement.
"Speak!" Su Chen grew increasingly anticipative.
"I have detected a whiff of Dao Rhythm on this bead!" Jiuyou stated, enunciating each word.
"Dao Rhythm? The Myriad Dao Divine Mansion?" Su Chen remembered that Jiuyou had spoken of the classifications of Divine Mansions before: the Heaven Earth Divine Mansion, Myriad Dao Divine Mansion, Chaos Divine Mansion, and that once the Divine Mansion advanced to the Myriad Dao Divine Mansion, it could absorb Dao Rhythm. The source of thɪs content is novel✦fire.net
"Correct!" Jiuyou said gravely: "This bead carries a hint of Dao Rhythm!!! If I am not mistaken, it is the legendary ’Dao Spirit’."