51. Living on the Edge
After a thorough search, Gong Yiling confirmed one thing.
This wasn’t the entrance to the secret realm mentioned above. A stroke of bizarre luck had led them to the former residence of Daoist Daman.
But the items inside were mostly broken or decayed, with almost nothing usable.
This pained Miss Gong.
—Why didn’t Daoist Daman store his holy sword somewhere with abundant spiritual energy? Keeping it in this desolate place for millennia ruined a perfectly good Immortal Artifact.
That was a high-grade Immortal Artifact!
Just then, Qiu Shui retrieved an old, yellowed book from a nearly rotten sandalwood drawer.
Surprisingly, this seemingly ordinary book was still intact.
“Daoist Daman…” Qiu Shui read the crooked characters on the cover, her eyes widening. “Could this be the door from earlier?”
That person was the door???
But it made sense.
Daoist Daman, Daoist of the Door.
The name was a clear hint.
It was just… a bit ridiculous.
This guy, who seemed perfectly normal, eventually turned into a giant stone door.
They had thought the door had gained sentience, but it was actually a powerful Daoist all along.
As for the book’s contents, it perfectly exemplified the saying:
—Who writes a diary if they’re not messed up?
Yes, it was a diary, detailing Daoist Daman’s struggles with the Dao, his endless search for answers.
He transformed himself into a door, constantly pondering that profound question.
And thanks to Qiu Shui’s accidental answer, he finally ascended.
But ascension… sounded strange. Did Gong Youyuan ever mention anything about ascending beyond the Divine Venerable realm? She didn’t think so.
Puzzled, Gong Yiling flipped to the last few pages, which read:
“If anyone finds themselves here in the future, it means I have either perished in my pursuit of the Dao or ascended to immortality. Everything in this room is something I’ve used and cherished, consider them rare treasures. Take them if you are fated to, but remember to use them for good—”
These aren’t treasures, they’re junk!
Even beggars wouldn’t want this stuff!
Gong Yiling’s lips twitched as she turned to the very last page.
“—Oh, right, a while ago, a young fellow built a secret realm next door, filled with useless junk. I couldn’t bring myself to chase him away, so I opened a small passage in this room leading to the secret realm. Please help this old man clean up that mess.”
What!?
Such a good opportunity!?
Miss Gong looked around and found another passage in the room, leading to an unknown location.
“Let’s go!” Gong Yiling patted Qiu Shui, who seemed to have found something. “Forget this junk, let’s go find some real treasures.”
“But Master…” Qiu Shui held a book-like object. “This seems usable…”
“The words inside are probably illegible.” Gong Yiling snatched the book and tossed it into her Universe Ring.
“Let’s go, let’s go! If we can’t even beat them using a shortcut, then it’s all for nothing!”
“Okay…”
Seeing Gong Yiling’s eagerness, Qiu Shui swallowed the rest of her sentence.
—Actually, the words in the book seemed legible. It seemed to be about some divine forging technique.
Well, she would mention it to Master later.
…
…
After passing through a long passage, they opened the door at the end, and a wave of dense spiritual energy washed over them.
“Holy… shit?”
Even Qiu Shui, despite her cultivation, had never seen such a sight.
The room, about half the size of a basketball court, was filled with spirit stones of all grades.
Next to this room was another, filled with well-preserved pills, talismans, spiritual artifacts, and other treasures.
Further inside were shelves filled with books and manuals.
Was this part of the Cloud Rainbow Sect’s legacy? The sheer wealth was overwhelming.
And… the people outside clearly hadn’t found this place yet. These treasures were all theirs!
“Take them, take them all!”
Gong Yiling gave the order, and they quickly began looting.
First, the manuals, techniques, and cultivation methods, far more valuable than spirit stones or artifacts.
Then, the various spiritual artifacts and pills.
But after filling their Universe Rings, they realized… there wasn’t enough space.
Her ring’s capacity was limited. If she overfilled it, it might explode.
But there were still so many spirit stones outside…
Miss Gong thought for a moment, then took out a Reaction Talisman from her ring and placed it on the outer door of the spirit stone room.
This talisman would alert them when someone approached.
After this preparation, she turned to Qiu Shui. “Let’s cultivate together. Start with the mid-grade and low-grade spirit stones. When someone comes, we’ll grab some high-grade ones and run.”
“Okay!”
This was the best plan.
To avoid interfering with each other’s spiritual energy absorption, they chose different spots and sat down cross-legged.
To accelerate the consumption of spirit stones, Gong Yiling also took out the Spirit Phoenix Broom.
Soon, three vortexes of spiritual energy formed within the room.
These vortexes devoured the surrounding spiritual energy, rapidly converting it into true essence.
After half an hour, they had consumed over half the spirit stones in the room.
Just then, a voice came from outside, “Look, there’s a door here!”
The Reaction Talisman alerted Gong Yiling, and she opened her eyes.
They could have taken more, but she didn’t want to risk it. Who knew how long it would take them to open this door?
She grabbed the now brightly colored Spirit Phoenix Broom and called out to Qiu Shui.
Then, with a large sack, they quickly stuffed it with high-grade spirit stones.
Every second counted. Gong Yiling kept an eye on the door while they moved towards a nearly invisible crack in the wall.
When someone finally shouted, “I’ve opened the lock!”, Gong Yiling grabbed Qiu Shui and rushed towards the small opening.
“Click.” The moment the large door opened was the moment the small door closed.
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