Chapter 346
“What’s wrong? You look so troubled…”
Xiao Yuying recounted the events that had transpired in the hall, and Madam Xuanhua raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised. “This method… it’s actually…”
After a long pause, she still couldn’t articulate her thoughts.
But Xiao Yuying nodded, clearly understanding her implication—this method seemed to be something that could be implemented for a long time.
Madam Xuanhua fell silent for a moment, then suddenly murmured, “Do you think it would be better for me to directly join the Jiushan Sect?”
“Hmm?”
Xiao Yuying’s eyes widened in surprise—Madam Xuanhua had always been reluctant to join any major sect, preferring to remain a solitary cultivator.
Otherwise, with her skills in artifact forging, she would have long been treated with great respect.
“I’m just thinking—looking at the Golden Core project… it seems like it might not be the end for Jiushan or Zheng Fa,” Madam Xuanhua explained.
Xiao Yuying nodded in agreement.
“I’ve always been hesitant to join any sect because there are just too many chaotic matters inside, and I’m an outsider,” Madam Xuanhua continued. “But now, if he can achieve fairness and justice, the Jiushan realm seems poised for takeoff…”
Xiao Yuying blinked, suddenly realizing that Madam Xuanhua had a clearer perspective than she did:
She had never carefully considered the potential of the Jiushan realm. But when it came to Zheng Fa’s genius, there was no doubt.
Moreover, the knowledge within the Jiushan realm was unfathomable.
Not to mention, everything Zheng Fa did was beneficial to the Jiushan realm, even subtly guiding the disciples of Jiushan to work together…
No matter how you looked at it, the Jiushan realm had great prospects!
Madam Xuanhua seemed to be thinking along the same lines, her hesitation gradually replaced by determination.
…
Mu Qingyan returned to her courtyard, feeling a bit excited—this merit was quite a fortune for her at the Qi Refining stage.
She frowned, secretly pondering: Which secret realm should I mention next?
As she thought, she felt a bit troubled:
…Can I really bear the title of my Yuanying ancestor?
…
“That water mansion is a bit strange…”
Sister Zhang suddenly approached Zheng Fa, her expression serious, clearly not in a good mood.
“What’s strange about it?”
Zheng Fa was puzzled, but he recalled Mu Qingyan’s warning—there seemed to be a conspiracy surrounding the Tianhe Ruins.
Both he and Sister Zhang hadn’t forgotten this point.
Sister Zhang led Zheng Fa to a laboratory, where they found soil, stones, and bricks collected from that water mansion.
Xiao Yuying was also present.
“The treasure gourd is real, and the ‘Tianhe Zhengfa’ is real too, but the only thing that isn’t real… is this water mansion.”
Zheng Fa nodded, looking at Sister Zhang and the others.
“Although the design of this water mansion mimics the style of the previous era, but…”
Sister Zhang pointed to a piece of blue brick and said, “This kind of blue brick is made using a method of transforming mud into stone. This technique… has been improved in recent years to produce such bricks. I asked Xiao Xianzi, and she said that in the previous era, this material didn’t exist…”
“…”
Zheng Fa pondered, understanding Sister Zhang’s implication:
That treasure and the technique might be from the previous era…
But this water mansion… was probably from last month.
“Is someone faking it?”
Sister Zhang nodded.
“This method is a bit crude…”
Zheng Fa thought for a moment and commented.
Xiao Yuying couldn’t help but mutter to herself, “A normal cultivator wouldn’t just knock two bricks back from someone else…”
Knocking them back is one thing, but to study what technique was used to make them…
Unheard of!
It was frustrating; she prided herself on knowing the secret realms of various eras inside and out, yet she hadn’t noticed anything unusual this time.
If Sister Zhang hadn’t come to ask her about the bricks, she might never have discovered this matter…
At this moment, she even felt a bit sorry for the person who set up this secret realm:
By common logic, this person had done quite well…
The problem was that the Jiushan Sect and Zheng Fa didn’t follow common logic!
…
“If someone set up this water mansion, what could their purpose be?”
Zheng Fa frowned and asked Sister Zhang.
“...All we know is that it’s related to the Tianhe Venerable…” Sister Zhang thought for a moment and replied, “And such a sneaky setup probably isn’t for anything good.”
Zheng Fa nodded; that was indeed the case. After all, the Tianhe Venerable likely didn’t have many friends, but plenty of enemies…
“If there are any means, they’re probably still in that water mansion!” Zheng Fa’s expression turned inscrutable as he continued, “While the gourd and the ‘Tianhe Zhenfa’ are also suspicious, the most suspicious thing should be that stone!”
Sister Zhang understood what Zheng Fa meant— that mountain stone was so conspicuous, it seemed deliberately placed in that water mansion, yet it had no spiritual energy at all.
Zheng Fa led Sister Zhang and the others around the black mountain stone, but for a moment, they couldn’t discern anything.
“No reaction…”
Elder Pang reluctantly withdrew his spiritual energy, looking a bit disappointed.
The elder beside him mocked, “Why don’t you just step aside?”
“Didn’t you also fail to notice anything?”
This mountain stone had no spiritual energy, making it hard to assess its value.
But everyone wasn’t foolish—this thing might be related to the Tianhe Venerable!
According to the principle of knowledge sharing, this item was now available for everyone in the Jiushan realm to comprehend, and naturally, these Yuanying masters rushed to be the first to explore it…
Even the usually calm Elder Huang had tried it just now.
None of them could discern anything substantial.
“Maybe it’s just… random scratches?”
Elder Pang muttered.
“Zheng Fa!”
The elder suddenly pointed at Zheng Fa, the implication clear!
Everyone turned to Zheng Fa—this was the moment for a true genius to shine!
Zheng Fa actually felt a bit guilty.
He looked at the sword marks and thought, this thing… seems quite difficult to analyze with modern science…
After staring for a long time without any clarity, Zheng Fa imitated Elder Pang and infused his spiritual energy into the mountain stone, and indeed, there was no reaction.
But when he connected his consciousness with the mountain stone, an old friend suddenly stirred in his sea of consciousness—
The Yin-Yang Fish jade pendant!
The yin-yang fish on the pendant, entwined, spun rapidly.
The mountain stone before Zheng Fa changed dramatically—
It emitted waves of blue light, transforming into what looked like beautiful jade.
The sword marks seemed to swim like fish.
Seeing this change, the elders exchanged glances and discreetly cast spells to conceal the phenomenon in the courtyard.
When they looked again at the sword marks on the jade pendant, they found… they still couldn’t understand them.
Those sword marks kept moving, as if demonstrating something, but no one could discern their meaning.
The elders were completely baffled.
But Zheng Fa could see clearly!
The yin-yang fish in his sea of consciousness acted like a polarized lens, revealing a scene different from what others saw—
Not words, not light and shadow, but a series of sketches:
At first, it was the figure of a young man wielding a sword alone, entering demon lairs and conquering magic caves, praised by all, admired by the world.
Later, he was joined by many, with confidantes and like-minded companions, followers like clouds, disciples like rain.
Eventually, he commanded the world, and no sect dared to disobey him, his might unparalleled for thousands of years.
But the final scene, Zheng Fa had anticipated…
Alone with his sword, isolated on a mountaintop.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly as he saw the sketches fade, replaced by lines of text.
The first sentence made Zheng Fa’s heart tremble, caught off guard:
“What Jiuyou said is correct!”
Zheng Fa could hardly believe his eyes and read the sentence again, confirming he hadn’t misread.
At this moment, he understood that this mountain stone was likely something the Tianhe Venerable had left for all those with the jade pendant.
What the previous sketches intended to convey, Zheng Fa still didn’t fully grasp.
But this sentence—almost shattered his impression of the Tianhe Venerable.
He had always believed that the Tianhe Venerable had unwavering faith in his own path.
Moreover, he probably had deep-seated enmity with the various demon ancestors.
But this sentence indicated two things—
First, the Tianhe Venerable believed he was wrong.
Second, the Tianhe Venerable seemed to have a good relationship with the Jiuyou Demon Ancestor…
This sentence even carried a sense of mental collapse.
As he looked further down, he saw the second sentence:
“Don’t learn from me; learning from me will only make you become me…”
Zheng Fa was even more astonished; it seemed the Tianhe Venerable had suffered a tremendous blow.
After all, most cultivators leave behind legacies hoping their successors will learn as much as possible from them…
Who would say something like the Tianhe Venerable?
Finally, there was the typical legacy content: a technique.
No, it should be called a fragmentary method: “Nine Transformations Golden Core Method.”
Why call it fragmentary?
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