Open Source Only Brings Misfortune

When Wu Ming opened his eyes, all he saw outside the window of the elegant room was a ray of sunset glow, stained with an exotic hue by the gray plains, quietly illuminating his senior sister's profile and tracing a halo of amber light around her. Her eyes were lightly closed in a peaceful nap, and her long eyelashes trembled with the breeze, appearing to shimmer like crystal.

She remained seated at the other end of the dining table, maintaining that upright posture that served as a model of etiquette, still dressed in those pure, unadorned white robes... Yet, at this moment, it felt as if the heavens and the earth were conspiring to enhance her presence.

Such a scene left Wu Ming momentarily stunned.

This... this is definitely a CG moment!

The ripples in his heart seemed to make a sound, startling Zhu Ying opposite him.

"You're awake?" Zhu Ying opened her eyes, revealing a gentle smile. "You were sleeping so soundly, I didn't want to disturb you."

Wu Ming sat up straight and shook his head. "I have to work overtime tonight to catch up on my progress."

Zhu Ying said, "Remember to balance work and rest; that's what you told me before you left."

"But working overtime makes me happy!"

"Yes, yes, of course." Zhu Ying sighed helplessly. "In any case, you've always had your own ideas regarding cultivation, so I won't say much more. I've written down everything you need; just make sure to follow it during your practice. I will report the matters of the Immortal Mansion to Master when I return. You should also be careful and cautious here."

Before she could finish, Wu Ming couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "Senior sister, why does it sound like you're leaving right away?"

Zhu Ying nodded. "I am leaving. The main purpose of this trip was to check on your situation. Since you are safe and sound, and still so full of energy, I can rest easy."

Wu Ming said, "I just made arrangements during the day to introduce you to a few people from Luohuang Mountain."

Zhu Ying was clearly a bit nervous. "That won't be necessary. I... don't really like making small talk with outsiders."

Wu Ming wanted to press the issue, but he remembered that when his senior sister had been ordered by their master to descend the mountain to hunt demons, she had almost entirely soloed the mission in self-imposed isolation. If she hadn't encountered Su Qiluo, which had forcibly added a few social elements to her journey, she likely would have remained immersed in her own world, oblivious to everything else.

Since that was her nature, there was no need to force it.

Some people were simply born to be lone wolves.

"Then let me see you off."

"There's no need."

"At least let me walk you to the Qingluan Post Station and see you board the imperial carriage. Otherwise, I'm afraid you might end up hanging off the back to get home."

Zhu Ying was still somewhat reluctant. "...I knew it was expensive before the post station was even built, but I didn't expect the fare from Yan Mountain to here to be so exorbitant."

"It's all on Liu San's tab anyway."

"Taking advantage of a noble family... never mind. You are on the verge of breaking through the Immortal Mansion; for the Liu Family, this can be considered a monumental immortal destiny. It was foolish of me to fixate on such trivial daily expenses."

Afterward, Wu Ming settled the bill and walked with his senior sister toward the towering gold and red phoenix tree in town. They exchanged some idle chatter along the way. As they reached the post station and waved goodbye, Wu Ming suddenly remembered one more thing.

"Come to think of it, I still need to thank you, senior sister."

"?"

"Thank you, Senior Sister, for diligently practicing the earth-wood cultivation technique I left behind during these past few days..."

Because the origin of the Wuting Divine Craft Manual was not exactly easy to explain, Wu Ming had simply claimed when leaving the technique that it was the result of his own "great reverse engineering" project, conducted through daily observation of the craftsmen at the construction site.

This kind of rhetoric wasn't hard to use to fool Senior Sister Ling Xi, but getting Zhu Ying to accept it had quite a high barrier to entry.

Wu Ming had originally intended to go through his master's connections and have the old man pass it on for him. But before he could put that into action, this trip to the Immortal Mansion had taken up all his energy, leaving him no time for anything else.

He never expected that his senior sister would truly not care that the technique he left behind was entirely "three-no" (no origin, no reputation, no guarantee), and that she would just go ahead and practice it anyway!

This level of trust in her junior brother was truly moving!

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ying looked somewhat surprised. She then tilted her head slightly and huffed, "I don't have the time to bother with your messy, nonsensical things..."

As she spoke, the Green Phoenix bird above them let out a cry, urging the passengers to board the carriage as soon as possible. Since there were no refunds for being late, Zhu Ying didn't say anything more. She quickly flashed and boarded the Wutong Branch, leaving only a petite silhouette in Wu Ming's field of vision.

Regarding this, Wu Ming could only sigh.

As expected of Senior Sister, her mouth is even tougher than her chest.

His senior sister might act disdainful, but the system notifications he had received during this period didn't lie. In these ten days, his eldest senior sister had already contributed over four hundred Spirit Crystal in tuition fees to him...

After seeing Zhu Ying off, Wu Ming had no choice but to return to the White Jade Pavilion alone to reunite with his companions.

Hearing that Zhu Ying wasn't coming, Yi Yi and the others were slightly disappointed, but they didn't take it to heart. After all, the top priority now was the Moli Immortal Mansion; all other trivial matters were insignificant. Zhang Miao, however, was truly dejected, as if she had missed out on a delicious extra meal.

"Hey, Wu Ming, next time Sister Zhu Ying comes, you must call me!"

Wu Ming sneered, "Call you over to attend a funeral feast? Keep dreaming! My senior sister and I are perfectly innocent. My filial piety might go bankrupt, but it will never go sour!"

"Sigh, alright then." Zhang Miao lowered her head in frustration, then glanced at her husband, "...That works too, I guess."

The wild Sanlang let out a long sigh, "How about we talk about serious matters instead."

The "serious matters," naturally, could not be separated from the Moli Immortal Mansion.

While the great victory during the day was indeed heartening, there was actually quite a lot that needed to be summarized and planned for afterward. The group had no luxury of taking a break to relax.

In the secret chamber of the small courtyard, Yi Yi said, "Regarding that Qinghe Village, it is shameful to admit, but over these years, whether by charging in openly or sneaking in, we have entered and exited it no fewer than twenty times. Yet, this was the first time we learned it was actually called Qinghe Village."

He Lu sighed, "Even on the Tianlu Platform of the Qizhen Pavilion in the Immortal Mountains, there has never been a book that recorded the name of that village. I fear that in the past few hundred years, those who knew its true name could be counted on one hand."

Yi Yi asked, "So, should we continue to explore deeper, or..."

Wu Ming said decisively, "Of course we withdraw! Before the next Tribulation of Lost Li strikes, we must cherish our current ignorance of the second floor—these are non-renewable treasures. After deciphering the true name of Qinghe Village this time, the Tribulation of Lost Li for the three of us vanished on the spot. We can basically confirm that the mechanism can be utilized repeatedly... and we have no reason not to take advantage of it."

Simply put, according to Wu Ming's current hypothesis, as long as the group ventured deep into the second floor once every ten days and unlocked new knowledge by absorbing the echoes, they should be able to reset the Tribulation of Lost Li repeatedly.

This mechanism seemed absurdly simple, yet Wu Ming was absolutely certain: the Immortal Mansion of Immortal Moli was exactly this absurdly simple!

The intended way to clear this Immortal Mansion should have been to gather the strength of the masses, solving it step by step and advancing gradually. However, Wu Ming and his group were currently taking a shortcut, attempting to use a small elite force to forcibly perform the duties of the masses.

This non-mainstream playstyle was definitely not part of Immortal Moli's original design. And anything that falls outside the scope of the original design is always where designers look for ways to cut corners. Thus, since ancient times, official main storylines have often been rigorously designed with seamless progression, but once players jump outside the framework to take unconventional paths, they immediately become capable of anything.

At this moment, Zhang Miao suddenly asked, "Come to think of it, since our hypothesis is that the puzzles of the Immortal Mansion were intended to encourage the masses to solve them, and we have basically verified this guess, is it possible to announce it to the world and let more people help us clear the path, thereby reducing our risks..."

Before she could finish, Sanlang shook his head and interrupted, "Miaomiao, don't be whimsical! If you announce this to the world, the first people you'll be betraying are the envoys from Luohuang Mountain! We have the potential to monopolize the rewards, yet you want to share them with everyone. Even if you and I were generous, by what right would we be generous with the assets of the envoys or Luohuang Mountain?"

Yi Yi smiled, a meaningful expression on his face, but he did not refute the point.

The ownership of rewards from an Immortal Mansion has always been a troublesome matter since ancient times, and the bloodshed caused by it is too numerous to count.

Typical Immortal Mansions have strict limits on the number of entrants and the frequency of entry, so under the guidance of the Sanqing Immortal Sect, various sects can negotiate beforehand and send people in to explore.

But for an Immortal Mansion like this one, which has no threshold and not even a proper gate... expecting the motley crowd of Qi Refiners in this place, along with the thousands of sects and families behind them, to reach a consensus is pure fantasy! In this place, even the Sanqing Immortal Sect might not be able to suppress everyone, let alone the mere Qi Refiners of Luohuang Mountain!

If they really were to announce Wu Ming's plan to the world, heads would likely be rolling outside the Immortal Mansion by the next day. And the day after that, the density of Li Yao inside the mansion would double, turning it into an even more insurmountable chasm for those who follow.

Wu Ming also added, "A first-clear guide only carries weight once you have actually achieved the first clear. Otherwise, not only will it invite pointless flame wars, but if you encounter those who can't even copy your homework correctly, they might even turn around and bite you."

"Take the digestion of echoes as an example. If some fool reads the guide but doesn't seek to understand it, and forcibly absorbs the echoes, only to lose their mind and become a Li Yao, what would you do if their family and friends showed up at our courtyard gate every day, carrying coffins and wearing mourning clothes to cause trouble?"

Hearing this, Han Gang laughed and said, "It's rare to see anyone dare to cause trouble in front of Luohuang Mountain disciples."

Wu Ming also laughed. "It might be rare in Qiongzhou, but who says the troublemakers can't come from elsewhere? Perhaps they weren't even looking for justice in the first place?"

Once these words were spoken, Han Gang felt a slight chill in his heart.

While Luohuang Mountain was indeed the head of the Immortal Sects in Qiongzhou, the Immortal Mansion of Immortal Moli was not their private property. There had never been a shortage of Dao Seeds from top-tier sects from other provinces in this Gray Plain Town!

If any top-tier Immortal Sect truly did not want to see Luohuang Mountain gain the upper hand in the struggle for this innate treasure... all sorts of underhanded tactics might very well come into play.

Therefore, the risks Wu Ming mentioned could not be taken lightly.

"So," Wu Ming said, "let's stick to our original plan and continue farming the Li Yao on the periphery. On one hand, it will complete our understanding of this Immortal Mansion, and on the other, it will allow us to use the echo mechanism to improve our cultivation as quickly as possible. Since ancient times, those who refuse to take a shortcut will eventually end up regretting it while stubbornly insisting they were right."

Thanks to Meng Zhi Kaine, Chi Baobao Shui Baobao, and Beng Xing Jue Yuan for the tips!

Book club: 1046475706