Chapter 102

Chapter 102: Unearthing Clues

Zhou Luo stepped upon the wooden staircase, feeling as though he treaded a road to victory.

Arriving on the second floor, he continued his upward climb.

The stairs leading to the third floor were no longer wooden; white jade now took their place. The jade bore a lustrous sheen, shimmering brilliantly. At the stairwell’s entrance, a white, lustrous curtain hovered faintly.

As Zhou Luo advanced, the third floor’s formation instantly recognized the aura of the token nestled within his robes. It offered no obstruction, permitting his passage.

Rumble—

The moment he stepped inside, Zhou Luo was struck by an overwhelming surge of spiritual energy, its intensity several times denser than the outer world.

A Gathering Spirit Array occupied this third floor!

Instantly, a startling thought flashed across Zhou Luo’s mind.

The Gathering Spirit Array was a type of formation specifically designed to gather spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

Wherever such an array was established, the densest concentrations of spiritual energy were often found.

For instance, the Lin Family’s spiritual vein was enveloped by a massive Gathering Spirit Array.

The one here wasn’t particularly large, yet judging by the richness of the spiritual energy, its creator must undoubtedly rank at least as a Second Level Formation Master.

That explained why the array possessed such remarkable efficacy.

No wonder the Immortal Sect designated access to the third and fourth floors as rewards for evaluation!

Cultivating within an abode this saturated with spiritual energy would surely hasten advancement through the realms. Moreover, it housed countless rare and ancient texts.

Lost in these thoughts, he had already arrived on the third floor.

Little distinguished the third floor from the second, save for one unique feature: an exclusively partitioned area.

Within this section, several young men and women robed in Immortal Sect attire sat cross-legged, deep in cultivation.

Evidently, any Immortal Sect disciple could gain entry to this third level.

Sweeping aside his musings, Zhou Luo pressed onward toward the fourth floor.

Again, he traversed the white glowing curtain and ascended the smooth white jade stairs.

The density of spiritual energy on the fourth floor matched that of the third.

Standing at the stairwell entrance, his gaze met an immense bookshelf towering almost three meters high.

The shelf stood dead center, serving to divide the entire fourth floor space. Resting upon it were multitudes of ancient texts and jade slips.

Furthermore, flanking this colossal bookshelf stood exceptionally long tables.

Each table was segmented into numerous small sections, partitioned by gleaming golden nanmu wood, not unlike the cubicles familiar to office workers of his past life.

Scanning the area, some sections lay empty while others emitted a faint, hazy white glow—likely signs of current occupants.

Could these be the designated seats for studying the ancient texts?

Zhou Luo found the configuration rather peculiar.

"First-time arrival?"

Just then, a lazy voice resounded.

Only then did Zhou Luo notice that on the left side of the staircase entrance, there actually was a small room.

At the doorway of the room, a bamboo chair was placed, and a middle-aged man lay upon it.

He wore a long white robe, looking dignified and imposing, his deep eyes fixed on Zhou Luo, calm and unruffled.

Zhou Luo hurriedly bowed in greeting: "Elder, my name is Zhou Luo."

"In this place, only the master qualifies to be called Elder; address me as Steward," the man said indifferently.

Hearing these words, Zhou Luo tensed mentally.

It seemed this man must be another disciple of Elder Liu.

He lowered his head and respectfully called out: "Steward."

"Mm, since it’s your first time on the fourth floor, I will give you a brief overview…"

The man slowly spoke, outlining the situation of the fourth floor in simple terms.

Through his description, Zhou Luo learned that on the massive bookshelf, apart from ancient alchemy texts, the remaining jade slips were the clues mentioned by Wang Yu Wei.

As for the long tables, arrays were engraved on them; once seated, one would be isolated from the outside to prevent disturbance.

Afterwards, the man explained three rules.

First, non-members of the sect could only stay here for eight hours a day.

Second, noise and quarrels were strictly forbidden on the fourth floor; anyone found doing so would be immediately expelled from the mountain.

Finally, non-members could only read five jade slips per day.

Zhou Luo felt no surprise.

Apart from the second rule, essentially the other rules were there because the Immortal Sect did not want them to gain too many benefits.

After all, they were only here for study.

Once he finished speaking, the man told him to arrange his own time and that his token would react when the time was nearly up.

Zhou Luo bowed again and then walked towards the enormous bookshelf.

Standing before the bookshelf, Zhou Luo looked up and saw that the jade slips containing clues were scattered haphazardly with no labels at all.

Opening a mystery box?

That phrase immediately surfaced in Zhou Luo’s mind.

It sounded quite thrilling.

Feeling both curious and fascinated, Zhou Luo calmed his mind, brushed his mental strength over the area, and casually selected five jade slips.

Holding those five jade slips, Zhou Luo turned and headed towards the rows of long tables, finally choosing an unoccupied spot.

This wooden table, made of golden phoebe, was smooth and level, completely bare on its surface.

When he sat down, a white light suddenly rose all around, enveloping the surrounding scene.

Setting down the five jade slips, Zhou Luo eagerly picked up one and unfolded it.

Instantly, a dazzling white light flashed; Zhou Luo only saw everything before him turn white, his eyes stung painfully, so he quickly shut them.

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself appearing in a vast expanse of pure white space.

An illusion?

Zhou Luo had witnessed such a scene through Little White and immediately realized his current predicament.

Before he could ponder further.

Suddenly, in front of him, an old man with white hair and a youthful face materialized out of thin air. He wore a smile, was dressed in a white robe, and stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

Zhou Luo was just about to offer a respectful greeting.

But the other party had already spoken.

"When refining the Profound Earth Pill, after placing the required medicinal herbs in order, what level of fire intensity should be used to perfectly extract the medicinal properties!"

Ah?

Zhou Luo was stunned for a moment.

Was this a question?

"You have ten breaths to answer," the old man said, smiling as he looked at him.

"Seven and a half."

Without time to think it over, Zhou Luo blurted it out instantly.

"Answer correct. This is your clue."

The old man nodded, extended his right hand, and a white light glowed from his palm. Then, a small note gently floated out, landing before Zhou Luo and slowly unfolding.

"Eight hundred miles east of Qingtian City, there lie the ruins of a sect. Within the stone forest in the northeast corner of these ruins, inside a massive boulder engraved with a great bell, resides a superior-grade magical artifact called the Golden Bell!"

What?

Looking at the contents of this clue, Zhou Luo felt utterly dejected.

Could clues that had already been found also remain here?

Opening this blind box…

Felt like not opening anything at all.

"You can follow the map to verify the authenticity of this clue yourself, or you can refine one batch of the Profound Earth Pill to determine whether the clue is true."

Ignoring his expression, the old man continued speaking like an emotionless NPC.

Upon hearing that alchemy could verify the clue’s authenticity…

Zhou Luo immediately realized this was the sect’s method of tempering its disciples.

It seemed that within that massive collection of jade slips, there were definitely quite a few false clues.

Most people, eager to quickly distinguish truth from falsehood, would probably choose the latter.

This way, they could hone their control over pill refining through practice while also training their mental strength.

But what completely dismayed Zhou Luo was…

Besides being true or false, some of these clues were actually completely invalid messages.

Finding a genuine clue that also hadn’t been discovered by anyone was incredibly difficult.

"Do you wish to verify its authenticity?"

Seeing Zhou Luo hesitate to make his choice, the old man smiled and asked him.

"No need."

Zhou Luo refused.

Was verification necessary?

That Golden Bell was currently resting inside his system backpack right now.

After he answered, in the next second, the white light faded away, and Zhou Luo was back in front of the desk once more.

Looking at the closed jade slip before him, he shook his head slightly.

Seems genuine treasures weren’t so easily found—it was going to be a long and arduous task!