True Treasure, Wounds Healed

Xu Yang lay on the floor, rolling his eyes to scan his surroundings. It was pitch black, and he could see nothing, feeling only that he was descending. After about a quarter of an hour, a faint light appeared in the distance. Xu Yang's heart gave a jolt, knowing he was about to reach his destination.

A moment later, Xu Yang arrived in a large hall. Several night-luminescent pearls were embedded in the ceiling directly above him, bathing the hall in a bright glow. By now, Xu Yang's body was capable of movement, but a sharp pain flared through him the moment he tried to stir.

With no other choice, Xu Yang began to circulate his energy to heal his wounds. As he did so, he was shocked to discover that his internal condition was far more severe than he had imagined. Only a sliver of true energy remained, lingering in his dantian, weak to the point of extinction. Furthermore, his meridians were scarred everywhere, teetering on the brink of rupture.

Xu Yang was startled and hurriedly took out a Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pill to consume. A warm current flowed down his throat and rapidly spread throughout his body. The true energy in his dantian immediately stirred, growing stronger bit by bit as the medicinal power circulated through him.

Seeing this, Xu Yang was overjoyed and immediately began to circulate his cultivation technique, guiding the true energy to work in tandem with the medicine to heal his injuries. Soon, Xu Yang entered a state of self-forgetfulness.

An hour later, Xu Yang let out a long breath and slowly opened his eyes, a flash of sharp light passing through them. After the healing session, his internal injuries had improved significantly. However, because the damage was so severe, he could not engage in combat for a month, or his condition would worsen once again.

Once he finished circulating his energy, Xu Yang stood up from the floor and looked around. He saw that this was a small living room. He had fallen into the hall from a corner in the ceiling. The room was empty, save for a stone table about a meter wide and two stone chairs in the center.

Xu Yang walked over to the stone table and looked around carefully. A moment later, he discovered a stone knob on the right side of the table. He reached out to grab it and tried to turn it. With a click, the knob turned a full circle clockwise, and with a low, rumbling sound, a section of the stone wall in the living room slowly opened.

Xu Yang looked up and saw that the space inside was exceptionally bright and deathly silent. He waited for a moment, and finding no danger, he stepped inside.

The moment he entered, Xu Yang was astonished to find an old man sitting cross-legged on his right. Xu Yang immediately retreated two steps, his guard fully raised. He scrutinized the man carefully, and after a moment of observation, he let out a sigh of relief; the man was already dead, nothing more than a corpse.

The old man wore a peaceful expression, looking so lifelike that he seemed merely to be asleep. A wooden box was placed in front of him.

Seeing the wooden box, Xu Yang's heart stirred, but he did not rashly rush forward. He shifted his gaze to his left. To his right was the old man's corpse, but to his left was a small bookshelf holding several books.

As for the space directly in front of Xu Yang, it was empty, consisting only of a rock wall. Xu Yang stood in place for a moment, thinking, before walking over to the old man's corpse. He knelt before the elder and said, "Junior Xu Yang has accidentally intruded upon your cave dwelling, Senior. I hope you will forgive me and bless me so that I may leave this place safely." With that, he kowtowed three times.

The moment Xu Yang finished kowtowing, the cave suddenly lit up, the brilliant light making his eyes blur. At the same time, a crackling sound erupted, and specks of light danced through the air. Simultaneously, a beam of bright light shot out from the old man's body and into the center of Xu Yang's brow.

Xu Yang froze in place, his eyes turning dull and vacant. A moment later, his eyes flickered as he regained his senses, his face a mix of lingering fear and joy.

Looking at the specks of light in the cave, Xu Yang felt a sense of relief. Had he wandered around blindly, he surely would have been killed by the restrictions the old man had set!

The beam of light that had just entered his mind contained the information the old man had left for his successor, detailing his life story and the specifics of this place.

Thinking of this, Xu Yang looked at the old man's corpse and saw it gradually turning into dust. This sight was deeply etched into Xu Yang's heart, further strengthening his resolve to cultivate and become an immortal.

After the old man's body turned to ash, a palm-sized cloth bag remained on the spot. It was gray, unremarkable, and looked like a piece of trash. However, Xu Yang immediately stepped forward and picked it up, holding it in his palm with great care.

According to the information in his mind, this bag was a Qiankun Bag, an essential item for cultivators. It contained a small space that could store objects, so Xu Yang naturally treated it with the utmost importance.

From the information in his mind, Xu Yang learned the old man's identity. He was the legendary Old Man Tianjue. However, unlike what Lei Dong and the others believed, Old Man Tianjue was no longer a martial artist; he had entered the world of cultivation and become a true cultivator.

Old Man Tianjue had originally been a disciple of a cultivation family. The world of cultivation was fiercely competitive, and fights often broke out over resources. Even members of the same clan schemed against one another; the environment was incredibly cruel.

His family had accidentally offended a Golden Core master, leading to the total annihilation of their clan. At the time of the incident, he happened to be away on a mission, luckily escaping the pursuit. To save his life, he had been forced to hide within the martial arts world.

That was why everyone in the martial arts world thought he was a Xiantian expert. Later, after the storm had passed and his cultivation had greatly improved, he returned to the world of cultivation.

However, despite his diligent efforts, his aptitude was poor. Later, he was severely injured in a fight, damaging his foundation and leaving him trapped at the ninth level of Qi Refining for the rest of his life. With no hope of reaching the Foundation Establishment realm, he had no choice but to sit and pass away here, leaving his legacy behind to wait for someone fated to find it.

The cave dwelling had been protected by his restrictions. Although they had lost much of their power after hundreds of years of erosion, they were still far beyond what someone like Xu Yang—who had not even reached the Xiantian realm—could withstand.

Fortunately, he had first paid his respects to the remains of Old Man Tianjue, passing his test and becoming his successor, which caused the restrictions to collapse automatically into specks of light.

Putting away the Qiankun Bag, Xu Yang walked toward the bookshelf. According to the information in his mind, the shelves were filled with famous martial arts manuals from the world of martial arts, including the Tianjue Hand and Zhentian Palm, which Old Man Tianjue had created himself while wandering the world.

Of course, the current Xu Yang had no interest in these martial arts manuals. The only thing he was interested in was the secret technique Old Man Tianjue had created to break through to the Xiantian realm. He had yet to reach the Xiantian realm, and the cultivation techniques were far too profound for him at his current level.

Therefore, Xu Yang planned to break through to the Xiantian realm first before practicing the cultivation techniques. This place was an excellent spot for secluded cultivation. The information in his mind indicated that at the very back of the cave, there was an underground spring where fish lived, so there was no shortage of food or water.

Xu Yang found the Xiantian secret technique on the shelf, but he did not rush to read it. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the floor and silently circulated his energy to heal his wounds. Afterward, he triggered the mechanism, and the stone wall in front of him creaked as it lifted, revealing a dark tunnel.

A wave of moisture drifted out. Xu Yang went out to grab a night-luminescent pearl to use as a light source and stepped inside. Looking up, he saw a small pool five meters ahead. The water was pitch black and bottomless, with fish about a foot long swimming within.

Seeing this, Xu Yang immediately struck, stunning them and bringing them to the shore. He also collected some water before returning to the front and lowering the stone door.

In the days that followed, Xu Yang spent his time contemplating the Xiantian secret technique while taking the Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pill to heal his injuries. With the aid of the medicine, his wounds recovered rapidly. Even more joyfully, he found that he had broken through to the pinnacle realm without even realizing it.

Of course, it was not without its downsides. His body had been ravaged by the Heavenly Demon Great Art, and his potential had been heavily overdrawn, which was highly detrimental to his future cultivation—as evidenced by the fate of Old Man Tianjue. Thus, Xu Yang made a firm resolution never to use the Heavenly Demon Great Art again.

In his spare time, Xu Yang also browsed the martial arts manuals on the shelf. He discovered that these manuals were far superior to those in the great hall; any one of them, if leaked into the world, would trigger a bloody storm. This was especially true for the martial arts created by Old Man Tianjue, which were incredibly powerful.

One day, Xu Yang consumed the final Nine-Flower Jade Dew Pill and circulated his energy with all his might, charging at the last blocked meridian in his body. His face turned blue and red, his brows furrowed in a solemn expression.

Suddenly, a series of soft pop sounds echoed within Xu Yang's body. He snapped his eyes open and spat out a mouthful of black blood; the final meridian had been cleared, and the stagnant blood had been expelled. With this, Xu Yang's injuries were finally fully healed.

Once healed, Xu Yang let out a loud laugh. He reached into his robes and took out a white jade bottle with the characters "Peiyuan Pill" engraved on it—the spirit pill gifted to him by the mysterious woman. Now that his injuries were healed, he had entered the early stage of the pinnacle realm. The next step was to accumulate energy and slowly reach the peak of the pinnacle realm.

Normally, it would have taken Xu Yang quite some time to reach the peak of the pinnacle realm—at least five to eight years—but with these Peiyuan Pills, he would save a great deal of time.

Xu Yang pulled out the stopper, and a refreshing fragrance immediately wafted out. Upon smelling it, his mind felt clear. He hurriedly poured out one Peiyuan Pill and plugged the bottle again; if the spirit pill were exposed to the air for too long, its medicinal power would evaporate, affecting its efficacy.

Putting away the jade bottle, Xu Yang tossed the white Peiyuan Pill into his mouth. A fragrant, warm current flowed down his throat and spread through his limbs and bones. Xu Yang immediately began to circulate his technique to absorb the medicinal power and enhance his true energy.