Spirit Treasure Exploration

After resting for a moment, Xu Yang stood up from the ground. He stepped forward to support Ling Feng, and together they walked into the stone gate. Once they entered, the stone gate rumbled shut behind them. Seeing this, both Xu Yang and Ling Feng breathed a sigh of relief; surely, Hu Xinrong and his two companions would be unable to get in now!

Then, Xu Yang and Ling Feng looked up to observe their surroundings. Upon seeing the scene before them, both were immediately startled. The inner sanctum of this cave dwelling was incredibly opulent. They were currently standing in a grand hall, which was quite spacious. The floor and walls were inlaid with large slabs of white marble, and four massive pillars stood within the hall. They were cast from solid gold and carved with four exquisite phoenixes.

Directly in front of them sat a massive jade throne, emerald green and stunningly beautiful. Seated upon it was a beautiful woman with a delicate, jade-like bone structure and charming, refined features. A powerful aura emanated from her body, making one feel as though they dared not harbor any thoughts of desecration.

Behind the jade throne, there were two doorways, one on the left and one on the right, which likely led to two side halls. However, both doorways were blocked by a restrictive barrier.

When Xu Yang saw the woman on the throne, he was startled, but after sensing her carefully, he finally set his mind at ease. The woman had already passed away and possessed not a shred of life force. He surmised that she must be the owner of the cave dwelling, that great cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Discovering that she had passed on, Xu Yang breathed a sigh of relief. He helped Ling Feng look around the hall, but after a thorough search, the two were disappointed to find that the hall was completely empty, devoid of any treasures. With no other choice, they turned their attention back to the woman seated high upon the jade throne.

Scanning the woman, Xu Yang said to Ling Feng, "Daoist Ling, look at her wrist. Does that bracelet look like a storage bracelet? I haven't found any other treasures besides that."

Upon hearing this, Ling Feng glanced at the bracelet on the woman's wrist and nodded excitedly at Xu Yang. "It is very likely a storage bracelet. Let's take it off quickly and see if it contains what we are looking for!" As he spoke, he prepared to step forward to remove it.

Xu Yang quickly stopped him and said, "Wait, we should be careful. This is the remains of a great Nascent Soul Realm cultivator; who knows if there are any traps? If we trigger a restriction, you and I will be finished."

Hearing Xu Yang's words, Ling Feng immediately sobered up, his heated head feeling as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it. He turned to Xu Yang helplessly and asked, "Then what should we do? Are we not going to take the storage bracelet?"

Xu Yang helped Ling Feng sit down by one of the golden pillars and said to him, "Of course we are going to take it, but I will go alone. Your injuries are too severe, so you should hurry and circulate your energy to heal! Perhaps there will be another great battle later!"

Ling Feng knew that what Xu Yang said made sense, so he nodded in reluctant agreement. He took a Greater Qi Recovery Pill and began to circulate his techniques to heal, while simultaneously keeping a close watch on Xu Yang.

Xu Yang stood up and cautiously approached the jade throne. Viewing her up close, Xu Yang noticed that although the woman was beautiful, her eyebrows were very long and narrow, sweeping up into her temples like two sharp swords, carrying a murderous aura that made her look extremely majestic.

He carefully extended his divine sense to wrap around the storage bracelet on the female cultivator's wrist, hoping to retrieve it from a distance. Unexpectedly, the moment his divine sense touched the bracelet, it was repelled by a counter-shock. Xu Yang let out a muffled groan, feeling the impact as his mind surged with dizziness.

After a long while, Xu Yang finally regained his clarity. It seemed that retrieving it with divine sense was not an option. He had no choice but to reach out with his right hand to grab the storage bracelet. The moment he touched it, the female cultivator's remains instantly turned to dust. The storage bracelet hovered in mid-air, emitting a white light, and lines of text appeared within the glow. Xu Yang immediately focused his attention to read them.

A moment later, the white light faded, and the storage bracelet fell onto the jade throne. With a look of realization, Xu Yang grabbed the bracelet. It was silver-white, about the thickness of a finger, and carved with a fluffy jade rabbit that looked incredibly lifelike.

Through the text he had just seen, Xu Yang had learned the details about the female cultivator, and the bracelet naturally had its own records. This bracelet was named the Taiyin Jade Rabbit, a top-tier spatial artifact of the Spirit Treasure grade.

Spirit Treasures were extremely rare items that surpassed the level of magical treasures. They were generally in the hands of Spirit Transformation cultivators, though some top-tier Nascent Soul Realm experts also possessed them.

According to what Xu Yang knew, artifacts in the cultivation world were divided into three levels: magical tools, magical treasures, and Spirit Treasures, with each level further divided into low, mid, high, and peak grades. There was also a category known as ancient treasures, which were items left behind by ancient cultivators. They did not have specific grade classifications, but their power varied; weak ones were comparable to low-grade magical treasures, while powerful ones could rival peak-grade Spirit Treasures.

Ancient treasures had another advantage: they were not restricted by elemental attributes. Any cultivator could refine them and unleash their maximum power, unlike magical treasures which had strict attribute requirements, or Spirit Treasures which required a specific refining technique to be mastered, otherwise, even if one obtained a Spirit Treasure, they would be unable to refine it.

As for the refining techniques, they were usually hidden within the core of the Spirit Treasure itself. Each Spirit Treasure had its own exclusive refining technique, and Xu Yang had never heard of a universal one.

The Taiyin Jade Rabbit in Xu Yang's hand was a high-grade Spirit Treasure. With his current cultivation, he could not refine it; at the very least, one needed to be in the early stage of the Nascent Soul Realm to do so. However, the Spirit Treasure had a restriction set by the female cultivator; if it encountered a cultivator with a Yin Spirit Root, it would recognize them as its master and assist them in refining it.

Holding the Taiyin Jade Rabbit, Xu Yang walked over to Ling Feng and handed it to him. "This bracelet is actually a high-grade Spirit Treasure. I cannot refine it, so you take it and give it to Senior Qin! Yaoyao has a Yin Spirit Root, and the restriction on it can help her refine this treasure."

Seeing Xu Yang hand it over without hesitation, Ling Feng felt a weight lift from his heart. It seemed Xu Yang was truly helping him, and he had been overthinking things. Ling Feng took the bracelet, examined it briefly, and nodded at Xu Yang. "That is the only way. I wonder if the bracelet contains the cultivation techniques and secret arts we are looking for."

"It should. The text that appeared on the bracelet already explained the details; it contains the inheritance of that Nascent Soul Realm female cultivator. It also introduced the situation within this cave dwelling! This place is merely a secondary residence; her true cave dwelling is actually within the borders of Yong Province. She returned to Yue Province to attempt a breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm, but unexpectedly, an accident occurred, and she passed away here after failing."

"What? This is just a secondary residence, and her true cave dwelling is in Yong Province?" Ling Feng looked at Xu Yang in astonishment.

"That's right. This was a cave dwelling she opened after reaching the Golden Core stage. Later, through a stroke of luck, she went to Yong Province and reached the Nascent Soul Realm there. Afterward, she returned to Yue Province to attempt the breakthrough to the Spirit Transformation Realm because she had enemies in Yong Province and feared they would attack her during the breakthrough. Unexpectedly, an accident occurred during the process, and she passed away here."

After listening to Xu Yang's explanation, Ling Feng was stunned, unable to recover for a long time. Seeing this, Xu Yang coughed dryly to wake him up and continued, "Although this is only a secondary residence, there are still many treasures, all located in the two side halls. Let's hurry and take a look! By the way, the Taiyin Jade Rabbit is the key to opening the restrictions."

Hearing this, Ling Feng quickly stood up and walked toward the side hall with Xu Yang. After some healing, Ling Feng's condition had improved, and he no longer needed Xu Yang's support.

The two arrived in front of the door to one of the side halls, where a silver restriction blocked their path. Ling Feng took out the Taiyin Jade Rabbit and placed it against the restriction. The barrier immediately emitted a silver light and slowly vanished. Afterward, Xu Yang walked into the side hall first.

Upon entering, a massive alchemy furnace stood in the center of the side hall. The furnace was bronze-colored, and its walls were carved with various exotic beasts that looked incredibly vivid. There were three vents on the lid, which were currently emitting green smoke, and a scorching heat accompanied by waves of medicinal fragrance wafted toward them.

Seeing this, Xu Yang was immediately startled. Given the situation, it seemed the furnace was still refining pills. How could this be? The female cultivator had long since passed away, and there was no one else in the cave; how could the furnace be refining pills on its own?

Xu Yang immediately became vigilant and carefully observed the furnace. After watching for a while, his expression shifted, and he realized with a start: the furnace was not actually refining pills, but was spontaneously nourishing the pills inside. This was a capability possessed only by Spirit Treasure-grade alchemy furnaces.

As long as it was a Spirit Treasure, it would possess spirituality. The higher the grade, the stronger the spirituality. Some Spirit Treasures even possessed intelligence and could cultivate on their own, transforming into human form as spirits. The furnace before them was clearly a Spirit Treasure, and its spirituality was strong enough to spontaneously nourish the pills within.

Having figured this out, Xu Yang immediately relaxed. He stopped watching the furnace and turned to look at the shelves on either side of the side hall. Rows of wooden shelves stood on both sides; one side was filled with white jade porcelain bottles, while the other held various magical tools, magical treasures, and materials for refining.

At this moment, Ling Feng was standing in front of the shelf with the jade bottles, watching with excitement, clutching one of the bottles tightly in his hand. Seeing this, Xu Yang quickly went over to the shelf to take a look.

The bottles were all labeled, making them easy to browse. Xu Yang quickly scanned through them, and his heart filled with joy. The shelves were filled with rare and precious medicinal pills of many varieties and functions. Excited, Xu Yang picked up a bottle of Explosive Qi Pills and opened the stopper to look inside.

Suddenly, Xu Yang's expression stiffened. The bottle was completely empty; there wasn't a single pill inside. He immediately sobered up, realizing that many of the bottles on the shelves were likely empty. Thinking of this, he used his divine sense to quickly scan the shelf in front of him. A look of disappointment appeared on his face; the vast majority of the bottles on the shelves were empty, with only a very small number containing pills.

Following this, Xu Yang scanned all three shelves containing pills, and together with Ling Feng, they gathered the bottles that still contained medicine to examine them carefully.