Breaking the Seal, Revealing the Treasure

Han Li formed a hand sign, and the dozen or so formation flags facing the crystal wall began to float and shift.

Moments later, these flags arranged themselves into a strange array that appeared chaotic yet seemed to hold some hidden logic.

At that moment, a low, obscure incantation issued from Han Li’s mouth. He then made a series of hand gestures, sending over a dozen bolts of spell energy into the formation flags, each striking with perfect accuracy.

The flags shuddered in unison. Multicolored light flashed, and beams of light shot forth from the flags, connecting them into a bizarre formation.

Wang Tiangu, Nan Longhou, and the other cultivators who were skilled in formations furrowed their brows upon seeing this.

They found the formation vaguely familiar but had never actually seen it before. They could not help but ponder it, trying to discern its secrets.

As if unwilling to let the others study the formation’s intricacies any longer, Han Li let out a low shout. His entire body erupted in a blinding, dazzling white light.

Caught off guard, the others instinctively shut their eyes against the glare.

But these old monsters quickly regained their composure, channeling spiritual power into their eyes before opening them again.

What they saw left them astonished.

The formation of flags on the crystal wall’s surface had somehow sunk perfectly into the wall, as if it had grown there naturally.

Nan Longhou and the white-robed elder both broke into expressions of great joy. Their confidence in Han Li soared.

Wang Tiangu’s expression flickered for a moment before returning to normal.

Behind him, Wang Chan’s eyes behind his mask showed a complicated, stunned look. Yan Ruyan furrowed her delicate brows slightly, glanced at the formation in the crystal wall, blinked, and a hint of doubt crossed her lovely face.

Han Li walked up to the crystal wall and pressed his hands against its surface. A faint azure light glowed from his ten fingers.

As if in response, the formation within the crystal wall erupted in a five-colored radiance at its center. The light grew increasingly brilliant, gradually filling the entire wall with a dazzling display.

Just as everyone was engrossed in the spectacle, Han Li removed his hands from the wall. With a flicker of movement, he appeared before another crystal wall.

He stared at it for a long moment, then produced another set of formation flags. He arranged them into the same formation as before. With another flash of white light from his body, this formation was also embedded into the crystal wall.

Now on guard, Nan Longhou and the others used their spiritual power to protect their eyes, allowing them to clearly see Han Li’s actions of driving the flags into the crystal wall despite the intense glare.

They were all amazed at how easily he broke through the crystal wall.

He repeated the same procedure on all four walls. The whole process naturally took a considerable amount of time—a full half-hour.

The other cultivators did not show any signs of impatience.

Everyone knew that breaking such a mysterious ancient restriction would take time, and there was nothing unusual about it.

Of course, it was also Han Li’s calm and composed demeanor that gave them confidence. Otherwise, Nan Longhou and the white-robed elder would not have been so willing to let Han Li take his time.

After completing these preparations, Han Li walked to the center of the hall.

With a flip of his hand, a green formation plate appeared.

Without hesitation, he fired several complex hand seals into the plate. The radiance within the formation plate and the four crystal walls began to pulse in unison, flickering in and out. At first, the rhythm was chaotic, but soon all the light surged and receded together, as if they were a single entity.

“Break.”

Without looking at the light around him, Han Li lowered his head and uttered the word in a low voice.

As the word left his mouth, the radiance surged upwards, emitting a piercing hum. The sound grew louder and louder, like the chirping of ten thousand birds.

A thunderous crash followed. The radiance collapsed and scattered, and the hall was plunged into sudden darkness.

Nan Longhou and the others then realized that the crystal walls had vanished without a trace, replaced by ordinary stone walls. On one of these walls was embedded a stone door, about seven or eight zhang high and three or four zhang wide.

“I didn’t expect Fellow Daoist Han to have such a deep understanding of formations. To actually break this restriction! Haha! Excellent. Fellow Daoist Yun and I are men of our word. After the two of us have each selected one item, you may choose a treasure first.” Nan Longhou’s eyes were filled with delight as he spoke with some excitement.

The white-robed elder, seeing the stone door, was also beaming, his gaze filled with fervor.

“Brother Nan, let’s first see what treasures are inside! There aren’t any more restrictions, are there?” the old woman in a colorful dress said, her tone eager but also tinged with worry.

“Rest assured, there won’t be. According to the last words of that Cangkun Shangren, this cave dwelling was only set with two layers of restrictions,” Nan Longhou said confidently.

Without further ado, he strode forward, his long sleeve gently brushing the stone door. The gate swung open easily.

Seeing this, the last shred of worry in the cultivators’ hearts vanished. They all followed Nan Longhou through the door.

“What is this?” the old woman in a colorful dress exclaimed in shock as she took in the scene behind the stone door.

Han Li and the others were also taken aback.

Behind the door was another hall, several times larger than the previous one. In the middle of this hall stood a small, exquisitely crafted two-story pavilion.

The pavilion was made entirely of translucent, sparkling white jade. It was over ten zhang tall, with only two stories, but it was exceptionally delicate and refined. On the door of the pavilion, about three zhang high, were three large silver characters: “Yu Ji Ge” (Jade Foundation Pavilion).

Building a pavilion inside a hall was indeed bizarre.

In front of the “Yu Ji Ge” was an old, dark yellow offering table. On it rested a silver-white scroll, about a few feet long, shimmering with a silvery light. It was clearly no ordinary object.

Apart from this, the hall was completely empty, with no other doors in sight.

“Are the treasures hidden in the pavilion?” everyone wondered.

Nan Longhou and the white-robed elder exchanged a glance. Nan Longhou stayed put, while the elder cautiously approached the offering table.

The old woman and Wang Tiangu were intrigued but made no move to stop him. They simply watched coldly.

The white-robed elder did not directly reach for the scroll. Instead, he hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of white mist.

The mist wrapped around the scroll, lifting it into the air. It tumbled through the air before unfurling with a sharp sound.

What was revealed was a painting of the back of a scholar in a robe, looking up at the sky with a sword strapped to his back.

“Is this Cangkun Shangren?” the cold-faced cultivator asked, looking at the portrait with some surprise.

“Perhaps. But since this painting is enshrined here, it must have some significance. Though it probably isn’t anything of great value,” Wang Tiangu said, his eyes flickering towards the jade pavilion as he spoke with implication.

“Let this old man try his hand at it!” the white-robed elder said after a moment of thought.

He formed a hand seal and flicked his finger. Several red streaks of spell energy shot towards the painting.

The silver light on the surface of the portrait flared up for a moment, but soon returned to its original state. Nothing unusual happened.

“A bit strange! But perhaps it’s just an ordinary portrait,” the white-robed elder said, a little uncertainly.

“In that case, let’s set this aside for now. We can decide its ownership later when we find the other treasures. Do any of my fellow Daoists have any objections?” Nan Longhou was silent for a moment before suggesting.

“This old woman has no objections. I’ll go along with what you say!” the old woman in a colorful dress said with a slight smile of agreement.

Since no other treasures had been found yet, the others naturally had no strong opinion.

The white-robed elder then rolled up the scroll and carefully placed it into his storage pouch.

“Let’s go! Let’s take a look at the pavilion,” Nan Longhou said, his gaze turning hot as he stared at the building.

The group walked around the offering table and arrived before the small building’s tightly shut door.

This time, Nan Longhou could not wait to push the door open. With a creak, the door swung open.

Before Han Li and the others could enter, a dazzling spiritual light shone out, forcing them to blink a few times before they could adjust.

Inside the first floor of the pavilion, there were three slender ebony shelves, each covered with items that emitted a blinding, captivating radiance.

Both Nan Longhou and the white-robed elder, as well as Wang Tiangu and the others, were overjoyed at the sight.

However, they were all wily veterans and would not be foolish enough to do anything untoward that might invite disaster.

They all suppressed their burning desire and slowly entered the pavilion before turning their attention to the treasures on the shelves.