vstars Chapter 61 Entering the Mansion
Chapter 61 Entering the Mansion
More than ten days have passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day, Mu Chunfeng finally inserted the last array flag precisely into the last directional node on the outer perimeter of the array.
The battle flag sank three inches into the hard rock with a dull thud.
The scattered banners trembled slightly at the same time, emitting a low hum, and formed an invisible connection between them.
The crimson array light screen that had originally blocked everyone's way, solid and flowing with golden spiritual patterns, had now dimmed by more than half. The spiritual light on its surface flickered like a candle in the wind, and even the surrounding heat had weakened.
Mu Chunfeng took out the array plate, poured spiritual power into it from his fingertips, and chanted a spell in a low voice. At the same time, a pair of array flags lit up with dazzling spiritual light, and the light screen of the Locking Sun Array opposite him began to melt away visibly.
Once all the array flags had reached their maximum spiritual light, Mu Chunfeng uttered a low shout: "Break!"
The crimson light barrier that the burly man with the black beard had previously been unable to budge even an inch shattered into countless crimson specks, which vanished without a trace in an instant, like sparks scattered by the wind.
The lingering heat in the air gradually subsided, and the entrance to the somewhat ancient cave was finally fully revealed to everyone.
"It's done! Hahaha!"
Upon seeing this, the burly man with the black beard burst into a wild, joyful laugh, his face contorted with excitement. "Master Mu is truly all-powerful! I, Wang, am completely convinced today!"
The four men behind him also had their eyes gleaming, their breathing becoming heavier, staring intently at the dark entrance to the cave. Their fingers unconsciously clenched the storage bags at their waists, wishing they could rush in immediately and loot all the treasures.
The burly man with the dark beard suddenly turned around, waved to his four subordinates, and shouted in a gruff voice, "Go! Follow me into the mansion to retrieve the treasure!"
Before the words were even finished, the five of them had already activated their spiritual power and rushed towards the entrance of the cave.
Seeing this, Mu Chunfeng simply stood there, watching their hurried backs without stopping them, finding it all rather amusing.
I thought Cao Lu's carefully trained subordinates were incredibly capable, but it turns out they were just a bunch of reckless fools who lost their sense of proportion after seeing a little benefit.
He wasn't in a hurry. He simply gestured for the snow demon to stand in front of him before slowly taking a step forward.
Upon entering the cave, after passing through a narrow stone passage, one arrives at a bright stone hall that is only a few dozen feet long and wide.
In the center of the hall was a stone seat, below which was a round table and several stone benches, seemingly arranged to entertain guests. The benches were covered with a thick layer of dust, indicating that no one had been there for many years.
Besides, at the end of the stone hall, there is a dark passage leading to who knows where.
The burly man with the black beard and his four henchmen had already quickly scanned the area. Finding it empty, they gave a shout and the five of them rushed straight toward the passage.
Mu Chunfeng walked slowly into the stone hall, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings indifferently. Seeing that the place was really unremarkable, he followed at a leisurely pace.
After passing through the passage, the group arrived at the second stone hall.
This stone hall is slightly larger than the previous one. In the very center there is only a circular stone floor with carved patterns, about ten feet wide, and nothing else of note.
The group came from a diagonal corner of the stone hall, which was connected to a passageway in each of the four directions, like a crossroads.
Seeing this, the burly man with the black beard raised his hand to stop his subordinate who was about to step forward. He put on a fake smile, turned around and cupped his hands to Mu Chunfeng, saying, "Master Mu, this cave has many forks in the road, and there may be some dangers. In my opinion, why don't we explore together, so we can look after each other?"
Mu Chunfeng knew exactly what he was thinking; he was simply afraid that Mu Chunfeng would act alone and take the treasures from the cave for herself.
He remained expressionless, simply nodding in agreement.
Seeing this, the burly man with the black beard breathed a sigh of relief and immediately pointed to the leftmost passage: "Then let's start from here."
The group headed towards the leftmost passage, with Mu Chunfeng at the very back. He quietly released his divine sense to carefully explore the four walls and the ground of the cave.
Before long, the outline of the entire cave dwelling clearly appeared in his mind. He sensed something amiss, but did not make a sound, and continued to follow the others.
At the end of the passage was a spacious stone chamber.
In the very center of the stone chamber stood a huge alchemy furnace, with several rows of wooden shelves on each side, on which a dozen or so jade bottles were scattered.
"Medicine!"
Someone exclaimed, and the five people immediately rushed forward, hurriedly picked up the jade bottle, and eagerly uncorked it.
The next moment, several surprised exclamations rang out in the stone chamber.
"Empty? How can it be empty!"
"Mine is too!"
"Impossible, let's look at the others!"
Everyone quickly checked all the jade bottles one by one, and without exception, they were all empty.
The lingering aroma of the medicinal pills inside the bottle had long since dissipated, leaving not even a trace of residue.
The burly man with the black beard held an empty jade bottle, examining it over and over for a long time. The excitement on his face gradually faded, replaced by deep doubt.
He frowned and muttered to himself, "Something's not right. This cave is so well hidden, and there's even an array protecting it from the outside. How could there be nothing here? Even if it's a useless pill, there should still be some left. Could it be that someone beat me to it all?"
As the leader of this expedition, he quickly suppressed his disappointment and said in a deep voice to his several panicked subordinates, "What's the panic! We've only explored this one stone chamber; the good stuff might be hidden in the back!"
Having said that, he casually tossed the jade bottle aside: "Let's go! To the next room!"
The group then entered the second stone chamber, which was a weapon-refining room.
Inside the stone chamber stood a huge black furnace, surrounded by a stone platform on all four sides, which was filled with various refining aids. However, these were not magical artifacts, so they were all somewhat rusty.
A few magical artifacts lay scattered on the stone platform, their spiritual light dim, the best of them resembling only top-tier magical artifacts.
Mu Chunfeng glanced around and thought to himself: "Each room is for alchemy, weapon crafting, and cultivation, and the layout is complete. It seems that the owner of this cave must have been a Core Formation cultivator in his lifetime."
But when he thought of the name of Chunyang Immortal Abode and the array at the entrance of the cave, he was puzzled. The many signs here were quite contradictory.
Upon seeing these items, the burly man with the black beard grew impatient. He casually picked up a top-tier magic artifact, glanced at it, and tossed it back into place. Turning to Mu Chunfeng, he asked, "Master Mu, do you find any of these items appealing?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Chunfeng shook his head and said calmly, "I can refine these things myself, so I'll leave them all to you, fellow Daoist."
"it is good."
The burly man with the black beard responded and immediately ordered his men to collect all the magical artifacts.
These things might not catch Mu Chunfeng's eye, but for Foundation Establishment cultivators like them, they were still a small fortune. In any case, Cao Lu wanted real treasures, and he wouldn't care about such petty gains.
Afterwards, the group entered the third stone chamber, which was the cultivation room.
Looking up, the four walls were empty, with nothing but rough rock faces.
Only a tattered futon sat on the central round platform, which crumbled into powder at the touch of one of the burly, bearded man's men.
The only unusual thing is that once you enter this room, you can sense that the fire-attribute spiritual energy around you is a bit more concentrated than elsewhere, which suggests that the cave dwelling is built on a small fire vein.
Apart from that, there was nothing unusual.
Seeing this, the burly man with the black beard could no longer suppress his anger.
"What kind of bullshit ancient cultivator's cave is this?!"
He slammed his fist into the stone wall, sending shards of rock flying. "Such a powerful array outside, and there's nothing inside! Are you kidding me?!"
As he cursed, he pulled out the animal hide map that showed the location of the cave and carefully checked it over and over. He even doubted whether he had come to the wrong place.
No matter how he looked at it, the location marked on the map was exactly right, and it was clearly the same place he had explored last time.
He put away the map, his face so dark it could drip water, and shouted sternly, "Go to the last room! If there's nothing there, I'll tear this dilapidated cave down!"
With their last glimmer of hope, the group entered the stone chamber on the far right.
The moment the door was pushed open, everyone froze.
This stone chamber was completely different from the previous ones. Inside stood six or seven intact sandalwood shelves, neatly arranged with rows of books and jade slips, as well as a dozen jade boxes affixed with yellow spirit-sealing talismans. On the top shelf, three or four artifacts were scattered about, emanating spiritual energy that was clearly the aura of magical treasures!
"Hahaha! I knew it! I knew it!"
The burly man with the black beard was taken aback at first, then burst into a wild, joyful laugh. He slapped one of his men on the shoulder, almost knocking him to the ground.
"The best stuff is definitely hidden in this last room!"
Having said that, he rushed to the wooden shelf in three quick steps and eagerly began to look through it.
Mu Chunfeng also walked slowly to a shelf, raised his hand and pulled a blue jade slip into his hand.
As the divine sense slowly probed in, it was found that the jade slip contained several common formations in the Chaotic Star Sea, covering the methods of array plate crafting and array arrangement, with nothing particularly unusual.
He casually put the jade slip back in its original place, then walked to a jade box. With a slight movement of his spiritual power, he removed the talisman from the jade box and opened the lid.
Inside the box lay a withered spiritual herb. Judging from its appearance, it should be a rare fire-attribute spiritual herb, with an age of about eight hundred years.
However, due to the passage of time, its spiritual power has long since dissipated, turning it into a useless piece of withered wood that crumbles into powder at the slightest touch.
He casually closed the jade box and put it back in its place. Looking up, he saw that the burly man with the black beard and his men had gathered all the items on the shelf onto the ground and were inspecting them one by one.
Without exception, all the jade boxes contained spiritual herbs, all of which had withered and become ineffective. The only truly valuable items were the books, jade slips, and the four magical treasures.
On the ground were four magical treasures: a long sword that was entirely black and red, a small mirror that was entirely gilded and inlaid with a few emerald green spots, an ancient-style ring, and a shield that was as black as ink and carved with a mythical Qilin beast on its surface.
The burly man with the black beard stared at the four magical treasures, his eyes wide with amazement.
These four magical treasures were the greatest gains of this trip. As for the books and jade slips, he considered them nothing more than things that could be easily copied, far less valuable than the real magical treasures.
However, Mu Chunfeng was somewhat puzzled: Was this all the ancient cultivators possessed? Not even an ancient treasure.
At this moment, the burly man with the black beard took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his excitement, and turned to look at Mu Chunfeng, his tone carrying an unquestionable air: "Master Mu, according to the rules, these things will be temporarily stored here with me. Once we return to Kui Xing Island, Manager Cao will decide how to distribute them. As for those books and jade slips, if Master Mu wants to make copies, you can either make them on the spot, or I will keep them and make copies for you when we get back, either way is fine."
Mu Chunfeng nodded, his expression remaining calm, as if the four magical treasures on the ground had nothing to do with him: "It's alright, you can keep them for now, you can make copies later."
"it is good."
Upon hearing this, the burly man with the black beard was overjoyed and immediately stuffed everything into his storage bag, fearing that Mu Chunfeng might change her mind.
He patted the bulging storage bag, a satisfied smile spreading across his face, and said, "Fellow Daoist Mu, there's nothing else in this cave. It doesn't look like an ancient cultivator's cave; it's just the residence of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. Let's set off back to Kui Xing Island now, so that Manager Cao can rest assured sooner."
"Can."
Mu Chunfeng responded with a faint "yes".
Then, the burly man with the black beard led the group away.
The group returned the way they came, and when they reached the cross-shaped stone hall with its many passageways, Mu Chunfeng suddenly paused slightly.
He lowered his head, his gaze sweeping subtly over the bluestone slabs beneath his feet, thinking to himself: the strangeness I sensed earlier was indeed here.
Then he shook his head again and continued walking out with the crowd without making a sound.
After that, the group did not linger and went straight back along the stone steps they had come from.