Chapter 62: Friend's Invitation Jade
The jade pendant’s water-ripple spiritual patterns slowly spread outward.
One circle at a time, enclosing everyone within.
When Song Yan approached within one zhang of the cliff face, the water-ripple patterns swirled away from his body, and the cliff before him vanished.
In its place stood a spacious cave.
“A formation array?”
Song Yan reached out to touch the spiritual patterns but grasped empty air. “What a wondrous artifact. It can bypass the formation array entirely and reveal the true appearance.”
Formation arrays typically required disrupting the array eye and array foot to break.
Of course, if one’s cultivation far exceeded the array master’s, brute force could also work.
Setting aside such rare cases, breaking a formation array without external tools required exceptional insight and understanding of formations.
Song Yan happened to have a slight understanding of formations.
He knew clearly that this jade pendant had not broken the illusion array, but had bypassed it entirely.
“I fear this is a relic left behind by that Foundation Establishment senior…”
“But this senior passed away in the cave. How did this ‘key’ end up in Che Ning’s hands…”
Such questions were destined to remain unanswered.
The group entered the cave. The floor bore mottled traces and circular patterns, with a protruding black stone pillar at the very center.
Dense and profound inscriptions were carved upon the stone pillar.
“The cave’s sealing restriction is here,” Che Ning said slowly. “Previously, by chance, I obtained clues to this senior’s cave and that ‘Friend’s Invitation Jade,’ but I never found a way to break this restriction.”
“So now, we can only break it with brute force…”
He cupped his fists. “At this moment, I need all fellow Daoists to work together to break the restriction.”
No one objected. Everyone had come precisely to break the restriction together and explore the cave for treasures.
They immediately spread out, surrounding the restriction pillar.
They formed hand seals one after another, channeling spiritual energy toward the restriction.
Song Yan was the last to act among them. The reason was simple—he was debating whether to use sword qi or spiritual energy.
After a moment’s consideration, he decided to play it safe and use ordinary spiritual energy.
To avoid any complications that might lead to blame from the others.
Breaking this restriction was a test of spiritual energy reserves and intensity. Che Ning had been unable to break it before because he could channel too little spiritual energy in a short time.
Now with ten cultivators acting together, it was naturally no problem.
The profound patterns on the restriction lit up one by one. The cultivators’ spiritual energy did not cease; instead, each one surged their spiritual qi, increasing their output.
“Boom—”
A tremendous sound rang out. Che Ning was the first to stop breaking the restriction, and the other cultivators also withdrew their power.
“It’s done.”
The circular patterns beneath their feet rapidly lit up. The green stones between the two circular rings began to slowly rotate.
No one present was foolish. They all stepped onto the rotating green stones.
As the mechanism operated, they slowly descended.
After an unknown amount of time, a narrow passage appeared before them. At the same time, the mechanism stopped operating.
“This… is the true entrance to Senior Lin Qinglong’s cave.”
The place was dim. Everyone channeled spiritual energy, conjuring spiritual lights to illuminate their way forward.
Along one wall of this passage connecting to the cave, several powerful characters were carved—whether by blade or sword, it was unclear.
It appeared to be a brief autobiography Lin Qinglong had inscribed.
The content was short and concise.
According to the self-description, Senior Lin Qinglong had been noticed in his youth by a wandering disciple of the “Cloud Stream Sect,” a small sect in Hujiang County, and brought to the immortal mountains for cultivation.
Initially, due to his extremely poor talent and slow progress, he grew weary.
So he also began to study mind-cultivation arts, but became so engrossed that he could not extricate himself. He spent his days obsessed with the Way of Painting, with no heart for cultivation.
After cultivating for only a short time, knowing that staying longer would be pointless, he voluntarily left the sect.
“Fate works in mysterious ways…”
He had intended to cultivate his mind, yet had instead “fallen into deviation.”
However, misfortune may be a blessing in disguise, and blessing may hide misfortune.
After becoming an independent cultivator, Senior Lin Qinglong remained obsessed with the Way of Painting. By chance, he obtained a predecessor’s treasure hoard—someone equally obsessed with ink and painting.
What happened in between was not detailed in detail.
It only stated that Senior Lin thereafter made his mark in the cultivation world of the State of Chu.
His spell arts combined fire and thunder, reaching absolute mastery.
Walking to the very end of the passage, Senior Lin’s life also drew to a close.
Before his passing, he reflected with some self-mockery that perhaps if he had spent less time on painting and the Way of Painting, he might have advanced further?
Though it seemed like regret, everyone could see from the words that there was not the slightest hint of remorse from this senior. Only at the very end did he mention that he had let down the master from Cloud Stream Sect who had guided him into the path, failing to live up to the old man’s earnest expectations.
It seemed that this master, even at the very end, had never blamed him. In fact, he had even preserved his status as a disciple of Cloud Stream Sect.
After establishing his Foundation, Senior Lin had returned to the sect to protect this small mountain sect from disturbance for a hundred years.
But by then, his former master had long since passed away.
“After I pass away, there will be no traps or restrictions in the cave, nor any difficult trials.”
“Whoever discovers this place by chance may take everything within—antiques, spiritual artifacts, secret manuals, all of it.”
“What is born cannot be taken with you, and what is dead cannot bring anything along. What comes after has nothing to do with me.”
Free and unattached.
Truly free and unattached.
Originally, it was assumed that this senior, with no hope of reaching Golden Core, must harbor unwillingness and regret.
Who would have thought that in his final moments, when his lifespan was exhausted and death was imminent, he held such thoughts.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everyone arrived at a relatively spacious area.
This stone chamber was quite large, like a great hall. Four stone doors stood at the far end, also unlocked and without mechanisms.
In the corner was a narrow pool that had apparently once held a mountain spring, but the spring source had long since dried up with the passage of time.
A rusted short sword was thrust into the pool.
Where the blade touched the earth and stone at the bottom, something resembling moss—an unnamed plant—had even begun to grow.
This sword’s appearance was truly terrible. Though left behind by a Foundation Establishment senior, it contained no spiritual resonance.
Moreover, this senior had been proficient in spell arts and did not cultivate flying swords. This sword had likely been grabbed at random and tossed here.
No one fought over it.
Among the group, some were even wondering whether this sword was forged from ordinary iron.
Song Yan had no intention of taking the sword, and the Twin Essence Pearl did not produce any fluctuation.
But on second thought, it was still a “collection item” from a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cave. After a bit of cleaning and repair, with the selling point of being a Foundation Establishment senior’s relic, could he sell it for some spirit stones?
After all, no one else wanted it.
Picking up scraps in a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s cave was more practical than returning to Huogong Village and fantasizing about finding another Twin Essence Pearl.
He channeled spiritual energy and pulled the short sword from the pool.
Only then did everyone discover that the sword was broken.
Among the cultivators, a few had been hesitating with hopes of finding a hidden treasure, but now that thought was completely extinguished.
Song Yan still placed it into his Qiankun Bag.
Che Ning looked somewhat surprised. “Junior Brother Tong has quite the discerning eye…”
Che Ning’s words were polite, without any mocking tone or manner.
Song Yan nodded. “I usually like collecting antiques. It’s purely a personal hobby.”
“Since no one else is interested, I’ll just take it for fun.”
“I see.”
Passing through the small antechamber with the pool like an entryway, the group finally arrived inside the cave.
“Hmm?”
Everyone looked at the empty stone chamber with some confusion.
The cave’s inner chamber was completely bare, except for a massive, ancient scroll hanging on the far wall.
“Fellow Daoist Che…”
The scar-faced independent cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining spoke to Che Ning without much politeness.
“You went to all the trouble of gathering us here, then said you only wanted one ink painting…”
“Could it be that this cave contains nothing but this scroll?”
All the cultivators looked at Che Ning, their expressions carrying hints of hostility.
Rong Xiaofeng and Wu Huaguo pulled Song Yan back a step.
But Che Ning remained unfazed and instead laughed heartily. “Hahaha… Fellow Daoists, don’t be alarmed…”
“This senior’s cave is truly different from ordinary cultivator caves.”
“How so?”
Che Ning pointed into the distance.
“The true cave and the senior’s treasures are within this painting.”