chsdbacks Chapter 136 The Legacy of the Predecessors
Chapter 136 The Legacy of the Predecessors
Without hesitation, Qin Xiao transformed into a streak of light and disappeared into it!
The light and shadow shift before my eyes, and the space transforms.
The next moment, Qin Xiao found himself in a completely different environment.
This is a stone chamber that is not particularly spacious, about ten zhang square.
The walls and dome of the stone chamber are all made of a kind of "star jade" that emits a faint light, reflecting the starlight and creating a soft and bright atmosphere.
The interior furnishings are simple and rustic.
A few jade cushions, a stone table, and several bookshelves.
And several jade chests and cabinets placed against the wall.
On the bookshelf, a large number of jade slips, bamboo slips, and animal skin scrolls were neatly stacked.
Although covered in dust, it is well preserved.
Although the chests and cabinets were tightly closed, a faint, precious light emanated from them.
What made Qin Xiao's pupils shrink the most was that an old man was sitting cross-legged on the jade futon in the center of the stone chamber!
The old man had white hair and beard, a withered face, and wore a faded, yet still recognizable, moon-white Taoist robe in the style of the Xuanji Pavilion.
His eyes were closed, and his breath was so faint as to be almost nonexistent.
He was enveloped in a very faint starlight shield.
The fluctuations in life force originated from the wisp of remnant soul within the old man's body, which was about to dissipate!
This was actually a cultivator from the Xuanji Pavilion who had secluded himself here and eked out a living for thousands of years!
Qin Xiao's divine sense swept over it, and his heart skipped a beat.
At the peak of his cultivation, the old man was at least at the Nascent Soul stage!
But now, his physical body is exhausted and his soul is about to dissipate.
It was clinging to its last breath only thanks to the special sealing formation and the remaining spiritual energy within the stone chamber.
Seemingly sensing the intruder's presence, the old man's eyelids twitched slightly, and he opened them very slowly, just a crack.
Those were a pair of cloudy, lifeless eyes.
"Outsiders...where are the successors of the Xuanji Pavilion...?"
The old man's intermittent voice transmission resonated directly in Qin Xiao's mind.
Qin Xiao sighed inwardly, knowing that the old man probably didn't even have the strength to speak a complete sentence.
He immediately responded telepathically: "Senior, Yao Guang, the successor of Xuanji Pavilion, is outside. She sensed your presence, so I came to investigate. Are you one of the people left behind by Xuanji Pavilion?"
Upon hearing the name "Yaoguang," a glimmer of light finally appeared in the old man's eyes, as if he were pleased.
"Yaoguang... my niece... actually has... a legacy left behind... Heaven... will not forsake my Xuanji..."
The old man's divine sense fluctuated violently, as if in a final burst of energy before death. "I... Xuanji Pavilion... Supreme Elder... Xingyan..."
Qin Xiao's spirits lifted, and he quickly said, "Senior Xingyan, I am Qin Xiao, the current Emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty. Fairy Yaoguang and I are Daoist partners. Senior, have you persisted until now because there is something unfinished or important information to convey?"
Master Xingyan struggled to turn his eyes, looking at the bookshelves and cabinets in the stone chamber. His divine sense transmitted intermittently: "The hidden scriptures and treasures... are all here... the inheritance has not been lost... but the key is in Tianzhu Mountain... the array eye... the array diagram... is..."
His voice grew weaker and weaker.
Qin Xiao immediately transferred a stream of Five Elements spiritual energy to him, attempting to prolong his life for a moment.
As the five elements' spiritual energy entered his body, Master Xingyan's spirit invigorated slightly. Using his last ounce of strength, he condensed his divine sense into a final, clear message, which he then forcefully sent into Qin Xiao's sea of consciousness:
"Mount Tianzhu, the Soul-Devouring Array, its core holds the secret of 'Reversing Origin and Reversing Spirit.' The array diagram is located at the head of the mountain. Be careful, guardians..."
The message ends abruptly there.
The last glimmer of light in Master Xingyan's eyes went out completely, and his head drooped limply.
The starlight shield that enveloped him shattered silently, and the remnant soul that had stubbornly persisted for thousands of years finally vanished into thin air.
After receiving news from his fellow disciples and giving them the most crucial information, this Supreme Elder passed away.
Silence returned to the stone chamber.
Qin Xiao remained silent for a moment, then solemnly bowed to the remains of Xingyan Zhenren.
Regardless of one's stance, a cultivator who toiled for thousands of years to protect the sect's heritage until his soul was scattered is worthy of respect.
After the ceremony, Qin Xiao quickly scanned the stone chamber.
The bookshelves are filled with a vast collection of classic texts, covering cultivation techniques, formations, weapon crafting, alchemy, astrology, and miscellaneous knowledge accumulated by Xuanji Pavilion.
The jade cabinet contains various rare materials, finished magical artifacts, elixirs, spirit stones, and more.
Although time has passed, some of its spiritual power has been lost.
However, the well-preserved parts are of immeasurable value.
What caught Qin Xiao's attention even more was that a silver scroll was laid out on the stone table.
Beside the scroll, there is also a simple and elegant purple-gold token engraved with star patterns.
He stepped forward and picked up the silver scroll.
As divine sense probed in, countless pieces of information flooded in.
It was Xingyan Zhenren who compiled and sealed the exploration records and formation deductions of the "Tianzhushan Spirit Devouring Array".
And a conceptual diagram of the "Reverse Yuan Anti-Spirit Array"!
It has crucial reference value for understanding and even cracking the Soul Devouring Array!
This is probably the culmination of Xuanji Pavilion's hard work in researching the Tianluo Sect's great formation, which brought together the wisdom of the entire sect!
Then he picked up the purple-gold token. The front was engraved with the ancient seal script "Xuanji" and the back was decorated with a pattern of stars in the sky.
There is a small character "藏" in the center, which is the identity token of the Supreme Elder.
It is also one of the keys to controlling the core restrictions of this secret treasure.
Qin Xiao carefully put away the scroll and the token.
With a wave of his hand, he collected all the treasures in the pavilion.
After doing all this, he bowed once more to the remains of True Immortal Xingyan: "Senior, rest assured, the inheritance here will not be tarnished by me and Yaoguang. We will also never forget the enmity between Tianluo Sect and the Devouring Spirit Array."
After saying that, he turned around and came to the spatial rift he had entered through.
Outside, Fairy Yaoguang sensed Qin Xiao approaching and quickly cooperated to stabilize the closing gap once again.
Qin Xiao flashed and returned to the jade wall of the main hall.
"My husband!"
When Fairy Yaoguang saw Qin Xiao return safely, she breathed a sigh of relief and quickly withdrew her secret technique.
The vortex on the jade disc quickly shrank and disappeared, returning to its original state.
She nearly collapsed due to exhaustion.
Qin Xiao helped Yao Guang up and transferred spiritual energy to her to help her regulate her breathing.
"What's the situation inside?"
After catching her breath, Fairy Yaoguang asked anxiously.
Qin Xiao briefly recounted what he had seen in the stone chamber, especially the information left behind by Xingyan Zhenren.
Upon hearing that a senior member of her sect had endured such hardship that his soul had been scattered, Fairy Yaoguang was overcome with grief and knelt down before the jade wall once more, silently shedding tears.
Once she had calmed down a bit, Qin Xiao said, "Elder Xingyan's legacy is profound, and the information he left behind is of paramount importance. The most urgent task is to leave this place first, digest what we've learned, and plan our next move."
Fairy Yaoguang nodded, wiping away her tears: "Shall we head straight to Tianzhu Mountain next?"
Qin Xiao pondered, "Tianzhu Mountain is the core of the Spirit Devouring Array, so we need to be fully prepared. Elder Xingyan mentioned the secret of 'Reversing Origin and Reversing Spirit,' which may be a glimmer of hope. We should return to Dayong first, study the array diagram, improve our strength, and then unite all the forces that can be united before we can be confident in exploring it."
Fairy Yaoguang had no objection to this.
The two did not linger and quickly returned along the same route.
After exiting the secret passage, we returned to the foot of Star-Picking Cliff.
Qin Xiao used his spatial powers to reseal the entrance and erase all traces.
It was already evening, and the setting sun, like blood, cast a tragic hue over the desolate Starfall Mountains.
"Let's go home."
The five-colored light rose again, and they embarked on their journey home...