Chapter 132: Mountains and Rivers Gather in a Scroll

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Normally, when cultivating such a high-level and powerful art, one would set up a protective ward to prevent others from peeping. Li Jing, however, did not. Firstly, his current strength was insufficient to create such a ward. Secondly, an artifact like the Thousand-Mile Mirror was so rare that it never even occurred to him that someone might possess one.

After absorbing the True Dragon Wild Qi, Li Jing once again took out the pill he had stored.

He opened the stopper, and a clear, medicinal fragrance wafted out. From the appearance and scent alone, it was clear that this was no ordinary pill.

The followers around him immediately began to heap on the flattery. “Senior Brother Li is truly a son of heaven! To find such a precious pill just by strolling around! With your supreme aptitude, you will surely become even more powerful after taking it!”

“And that secret manual! It is a work of divine creation! If the aura it emits is this astonishing, how terrifying will Senior Brother Li be after he masters it?”

“Exactly! Senior Brother Li’s good fortune is not something we can ever hope to match. With the time that’s left, he will most likely obtain the legendary treasure of this manor. At that point, never mind a mere Xu Yu; even that slightly lucky Zhang Kuang won’t be able to catch up to you!”

“The great treasure of the Aqueous Manor must have been set aside for Senior Brother Li! Otherwise, after so many years, why has no one else ever obtained it?”

“When I was alone, I didn’t feel any immortal qi. But since I’ve been following you, Senior Brother Li, I can feel it from time to time. It must be because you are getting closer to the treasure!”

“Senior Brother Li, do you think this divine pill and secret manual are the legendary treasure of the manor?”

Li Jing pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “No. This Aqueous Manor is too magical. Compared to the greatest treasure it conceals, these two items are surely insignificant.”

At this, another follower chimed in at the perfect moment, “With Senior Brother Li’s talent, intelligence, and superb luck, you will certainly obtain that treasure which countless others have envied!”

“That’s right! Senior Brother Li is a genius favored by the heavens!”

Li Jing simply smiled without replying. He put the pill away and, with his entourage of followers, continued to wander through the manor, thinking to himself, This place is so magical. What I’ve found already is incredible. How powerful must the true treasure be?

Qin Haoxuan once again activated the Thousand-Mile Mirror and continued his search. This time, after a long while, he finally saw another familiar person: Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang was currently using a Heaven-Cleaving Slash to fight several Nether-Souls that had suddenly appeared. Although he looked a bit harried, he was still handling the situation with relative ease. Before long, the Nether-Souls were all slain. Just as he finished them off, a black python, two zhang long and as thick as a water bucket, crawled out of the bowl-sized spatial rift. Or rather, it resembled a python; its body was pitch-black without any markings, its head was covered in a dense cluster of eyes, and green saliva dripped from its mouth full of sharp teeth. It was an incredibly disgusting sight.

The moment it appeared, Zhang Yang felt the pressure. This was a Nether-Creature with strength equivalent to the Tenth-Leaf of the Spirit Sprout Realm. He immediately leaped backward and began to throw one spiritual talisman after another at the creature.

The Nether-Creature was extremely agile, dodging the attacks while spitting streams of green poison. Several times, Zhang Yang was nearly hit; where the poison splattered on the rockeries, it corroded large holes in the stone.

“Vicious thing!” Zhang Yang threw four talismans, each with the power of a Fifteenth-Leaf cultivator. Finally, with nowhere left to retreat, he stood his ground. After dodging two more jets of poison, he activated the final talisman in his hand—one with the power of a Twentieth-Leaf expert.

The spiritual energy exploded, forming a long spear that pierced through the creature’s mouth, tearing its guts apart. The ferocious Nether-Creature collapsed on the spot, dead.

After killing it, Zhang Yang continued on his way without even blinking at the loss of five valuable talismans. His family’s wealth was clearly substantial.

Watching this, Qin Haoxuan thought to himself that all of these special seed disciples had their own trump cards that they were only now revealing. He suddenly wondered what kind of trump card Sister Yu might have.

Qin Haoxuan began to search with the mirror again, but activating an artifact required a huge amount of spiritual energy. Before long, he felt his own reserves running low. In this dangerous place, he had to maintain his peak condition at all times. After consuming some of his energy, he immediately sat down to meditate.

After recovering, he continued his search. After flipping through countless scenes, the familiar face of Xu Yu finally appeared.

She and Luo Jinhua had been holding hands when they entered, so they were still together. They were in a relatively empty courtyard, and both of them wore grave expressions. They were surrounded by nearly twenty Nether-Souls and were fighting a difficult, drawn-out battle.

It took them a full incense stick’s worth of time to kill all of the creatures.

“Senior Sister, this is the third wave of Nether-Souls and the first Nether-Creature we’ve encountered in this area. I feel that something is not right,” Xu Yu said to Luo Jinhua with a frown. “I can vaguely feel a strange pull, as if it’s trying to guide me over there.”

Xu Yu pointed to a large pond in front of them. The pond was wreathed in mist, and lotuses were in full bloom on its surface. A fountain shot a ten-foot-high jet of water into the air, and from time to time, several unknown fish would leap from the water, looking carefree in the warm sunlight.

Luo Jinhua said without hesitation, “If there is such a strange pull, then we must go and see. It might be a fated encounter!”

The two of them walked towards the pond. The distance was only a hundred zhang, but along the way they encountered two more groups of Nether-Souls that burst from spatial rifts. As she fought, Luo Jinhua grew more and more excited. Perhaps Xu Yu really was about to stumble upon her destiny.

After they killed the last of the Nether-Souls, they finally reached the edge of the pond. Luo Jinhua looked it over carefully but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Xu Yu, however, closed her eyes and, after a moment of concentration, said, “Senior Sister, there is something on top of the fountain.”

Luo Jinhua was startled. She looked closely at the top of the fountain and could just barely make out a dark shadow in the swirling mist. Without a specific feeling like Xu Yu’s, it would have been impossible to spot with the naked eye.

“Senior Sister, I’ll go get it,” Xu Yu said, preparing to use a light-body technique to walk across the water.

Luo Jinhua immediately stopped her. “No! This manor is especially strange this year. That could be a trap, or some kind of monster. You can’t risk it. I have more combat experience and am stronger than you for now. I’ll get it for you.”

Seeing the firm and resolute look on Luo Jinhua’s face, Xu Yu could only agree. “Alright then. I’ll have to trouble you, Senior Sister.”

Luo Jinhua gathered her spiritual energy and, using a light-body technique, stepped onto the water’s surface, her movements as graceful as a celestial maiden’s.

Just as she came within ten feet of the fountain, the calm pond suddenly erupted into violent waves. The fountain, which had been as thick as a person’s arm, abruptly swelled to the thickness of a water bucket. The pillar of water then came alive, transforming into a giant water serpent that lunged at her. Luo Jinhua paled in alarm and immediately formed a Heaven-Cleaving Slash to block the bite. She narrowly avoided injury but was sent flying back to the shore like a broken kite.

“Senior Sister, are you alright?” Xu Yu rushed over and helped up the drenched and coughing Luo Jinhua, who had clearly sustained some minor injuries.

Luo Jinhua shook her head. “I’m fine, but that pond is bizarre and extremely dangerous…”

Xu Yu, however, said, “When you were attacked just now, the feeling I had grew even stronger.”

“Junior Sister Xu, you absolutely cannot risk it. You just saw what happened to me.”

“No, Senior Sister. I’ve decided to go,” Xu Yu refused with unyielding determination. “That feeling was even stronger just now. Perhaps there is a great secret hidden there.”

Seeing the resolve in her eyes, Luo Jinhua knew she couldn’t stop her. “Then be careful. If anything seems wrong, come back immediately.”

Xu Yu nodded in agreement. With an excited glint in her eyes, she activated her light-body technique and approached the pond. It wasn’t that she was greedy; at that moment, she was thinking that if she could obtain a great treasure and increase her strength, she could better protect Brother Haoxuan in the future.

Watching through the Thousand-Mile Mirror, Qin Haoxuan’s heart leaped into his throat. If even Luo Jinhua, at the Twentieth-Leaf, had been injured, how could Xu Yu, at only the Eighth-Leaf, possibly withstand that water serpent?

To everyone’s surprise, as Xu Yu walked across the water and approached the fountain, nothing happened. The serpent did not form.

When she reached the center of the pond, surrounded by blooming lotuses, she couldn’t help but reach out and catch a few drops of water from the fountain. At that moment, something miraculous occurred.

The mist above the pond rapidly converged, and the fountain gradually weakened. The dark shadow at its peak became clear: it was a scroll. And strangely, it was a blank scroll, with nothing painted on it.

The scroll automatically floated down into Xu Yu’s hands. The moment she touched the silky material, something even more miraculous happened.

The pond and a towering rockery beside it began to shrink rapidly, finally compressing to the size of the scroll and imprinting themselves upon its blank surface. What had been a small pond and rockery had become a magnificent painting of a vast, majestic lake and a towering mountain range.

The ground where Xu Yu had been standing was now a stretch of green grass.

This magical scene left Luo Jinhua, Qin Haoxuan, and Ye Yiming speechless with astonishment.

Luo Jinhua looked at the scroll with envy and congratulated her. “Junior Sister Xu, this is clearly a true magical artifact! I don’t know its function, but you must keep it safe. After we leave the manor, we will ask your master to identify it!”

A magical artifact! Xu Yu nodded excitedly. She knew how valuable they were. To think that she would obtain one only half a year after joining the sect.