Treasure Hunting

On the morning of the third day, more than thirty disciples gathered on the White Stone Plaza in front of the main peak of Tiance Palace.

This secret realm was open only to disciples of their own sect, all of whom possessed cultivations ranging from the Foundation Establishment Stage to the early Golden Core Stage. The group was led by two deacon elders of the Nascent Soul Stage. Xiao Sheng had also sent Liu Mingzhao, the eldest disciple of the Palace Master's lineage, to accompany and look after them. Quite a few personal disciples from various lineages and top disciples from the outer sect had come as well.

When Lin Zhiyue arrived, a mid-sized spirit boat was already parked on the plaza. Its hull was carved with wind-element spiritual runes, and it hovered about half a zhang off the ground, vibrating slightly.

She spotted Chu Zhixun and Cen Xi'er among the crowd, as well as Jiang Yuezhan standing not far away.

Her newly recruited junior brother was dressed in black martial robes today, with an iron sword hanging from his waist. He stood calmly in the crowd. Right, he had just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage two days ago.

Lin Zhiyue walked over and greeted him. Jiang Yuezhan nodded slightly, calling her “Senior Sister,” before shifting his gaze back to the distant mountains.

Chu Zhixun waved at her. “Junior Sister, get on the boat! Stand next to me, I saved a good spot for you!” Like Liu Mingzhao, Chu Zhixun was one of the leading senior brothers.

After the spirit boat ascended into the sky, it flew through the morning mist toward Luoshuang City.

The disciples on the boat gathered in twos and threes to chat or meditate. Lin Zhiyue found a corner to sit cross-legged, closing her eyes to regulate her breathing.

The sound of the spirit boat cutting through the wind and occasional laughter echoed in her ears. Sunlight filtered through the thin clouds, spilling onto the deck in a warm glow.

After flying for about two hours, the spirit boat slowly descended.

Lin Zhiyue opened her eyes and looked out. Below was a greyish-green valley. At the entrance of the valley, a semi-transparent barrier rippled gently in the air, hanging between the mountain rocks like a sheet of water ruffled by the wind.

The edges of the barrier shimmered with fine, spiritual light. The scenery inside was faintly visible, revealing stretches of green vegetation and winding streams.

The spirit boat landed on the flat ground outside the valley entrance.

The disciples hopped off the boat one after another. The two elders stood at the front, giving precautionary instructions, which were nothing more than “don't wander off,” “send a signal if you encounter danger,” and “be careful of the roots when harvesting spiritual herbs.”

As Lin Zhiyue listened, she rotated her wrists, taking the opportunity to observe the barrier at the entrance of the secret realm. The rippling layer looked very gentle, and when she extended her spiritual energy toward it, there was no sense of rejection. Just as Qi Yan had said, it did not seem very dangerous.

Just as she was about to follow the main group inside, the system screen popped up with a ding, and a golden quest banner unfurled before her eyes:

【Secret Realm Exploration Quest Issued: Gather resources such as spiritual plants, spiritual ores, and demon beast materials in the “Luoshuang Secret Realm,” with a total value of no less than five hundred low-grade spirit stones. Quest Reward: Premium Draw Ticket × 6, random locked piece of the “Sweet and Clever Cook” set × 1.】

Lin Zhiyue's steps paused for a brief second before she resumed her normal pace, calmly following the group forward.

In her mind, she was already calculating. Gathering things worth at least five hundred low-grade spirit stones was not a difficult task, given her koi-fish constitution and the luck boost provided by the system.

Moreover, the reward of a “random locked piece of the Sweet and Clever Cook set” was highly enticing. Of the four pieces she was missing—the apron, headwear, spatula, and back accessory—any random drop would be much faster than just saving up tickets.

She followed the crowd through the entrance of the secret realm. As her body passed through the barrier, it felt as if she were being gently washed over by warm water, and then the view before her suddenly opened up.

The interior of the secret realm was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

What met her eyes was a continuous stretch of gently sloping meadows. The lush green grass, which almost seemed to glow, was dotted with various small, colorful flowers. In the distant mountain valleys, dense patches of dark vegetation were faintly visible. The concentration of spiritual energy in the air was significantly higher than on the outside; taking a deep breath made her feel as though the spiritual spring in her dantian had become a bit more active.

The disciples had already scattered to go about their own business. Jiang Yuezhan walked silently toward the edge of the forest on the west side.

Lin Zhiyue was in no hurry to run off into the distance.

She stood in place for a moment, then opened her system space, took out the Jinyao Fairy set, and put it on.

A moment later, she walked toward a lush valley to the southeast. Her skirt brushed against the low grass, and the morning dew dampened the tops of her boots.

Before she had even taken a hundred steps, her foot suddenly stepped on something hard. She looked down and parted the grass—there lay a spiritual herb, entirely silvery-white with coin-shaped leaves, its roots buried in the soft soil. Its quality was excellent.

She squatted down, carefully dug it out, and examined it. She recognized it as the “Silver Coin Grass” recorded in the Tiance Palace Spiritual Herb Encyclopedia. Though its grade was not high, it was widely used, and a single stalk could sell for over a dozen spirit stones in the market.

Just as she stored the Silver Coin Grass in her earring storage space, a wave of warmth surged in her chest again, as if something were waiting for her ahead.

Lin Zhiyue's lips curved upward. She stood up, patted the dirt off her hands, and continued forward.

The further Lin Zhiyue walked inside, the quieter her surroundings became.

The meadow gradually narrowed, replaced by jagged grey rocks and low shrubs. The path beneath her feet turned from soil to gravel, and the slight crunching sounds of her footsteps were magnified several times in the empty valley.

She had been walking for nearly an hour, and there was no longer any sign of the other disciples around her. Even the faint sounds of voices in the distance had completely vanished.

The concentration of spiritual energy around her was even richer than at the entrance. With every breath, she could feel strands of spiritual energy drilling into her meridians, and the spiritual spring in her dantian was rotating much faster than usual.

Logically speaking, she should turn back.

If she went any further, she might run into some hidden danger that even divine sense could not detect. As a mere disciple at the mid-stage Foundation Establishment, she might not be able to withstand it.

Yet, the warmth in her chest was growing hotter.

She stopped and closed her eyes to feel it for a moment. The direction and intensity of that warmth were very stable, with no urgent sense of approaching danger.

She hesitated for a brief moment, then decided to take a gamble.

Qi Yan had said there was no great danger in this secret realm, and her koi-fish constitution had not led her astray along the way. The warmth in her chest did not feel like malice.

She reached into her system space, retrieved her Soul Jade Plaque, and held it in her palm. The moment the cool jade pressed against her flesh, she felt much more secure. Then, she quickened her pace and walked along the gravel path toward the depths of the mountain valley.

About fifteen minutes later, the path ahead led to a cliff.

The cliff was not high, only about three or four zhang. Below was a deep, green pool of water. The surface of the water was as calm as a mirror forgotten in the deep mountains. The reflection of the grey cliffs on the four walls remained perfectly still, without a single ripple.

The pool was not large, spanning only a few zhang. The water was so clear that she could directly see the white pebbles and patches of water grass lining the bottom. Sunlight shone down at an angle through a crevice at the top of the cliff, casting a hazy band of light across the water's surface.

Lin Zhiyue squatted by the edge of the cliff and leaned forward to look down for a long time, her brow slowly furrowing.

It was too clear. The pebbles, water grass, and rock crevices at the bottom were all completely visible, with nothing out of the ordinary hiding within.

Yet, the warmth in her chest was no longer just a faint heat; it was like a small flame dancing in her chest, pointing explicitly toward the center-left of the pool.

Below the surface of the pool, there was clearly nothing there.

She stared at the water's surface for a moment, suddenly remembering something—the laws of refraction and reflection of light in different media.