Lotus Pond

"That was?"

Liang Zhaohuang's face filled with shock.

"A Golden Core!" Patriarch Liang Xuelin seemed to have recognized it as well, his face equally startled. "This senior was a Golden Core True Person."

"Although the senior has already fallen, that bit of Golden Core Origin is still protecting his remains."

"Now that the Golden Core has fallen into the lotus platform and the lotus platform has wrapped around the remains, it's clear the senior has accepted our offering!"

Patriarch Liang Xuelin could hardly conceal the delight on his face. Since the one who had left behind this inheritance was a Golden Core True Person, then the inheritance they had obtained was at least capable of being cultivated to the Golden Core level.

Although the gold foil contained only Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation methods, those four jade slips were certain to contain even more profound inheritances.

How could this not fill him with joy?

Liang Zhaohuang, on the other hand, felt a chill of terror and lingering fear.

He suddenly remembered his earlier impulse—to move aside the bones and take the Five-Colored Lotus Platform to study it. By now, he could basically confirm that the Five-Colored Lotus Platform was definitely a magical treasure.

But he had never imagined that within those bones, there was actually still a bit of Golden Core Origin protecting them.

If he had acted then, he would undoubtedly have suffered the counterattack of that Golden Core Origin.

With the power of a Golden Core, even the casual eruption of a little strength would have been enough to make a minor Qi Refining cultivator like him die without question.

Liang Zhaohuang's heart was full of lingering fear, while Patriarch Liang Xuelin stepped forward with a face full of smiles, put the five-colored lotus bud into his storage bag, and prepared to bring it back to the Liang Family to be buried in the family cemetery.

After putting everything away, Patriarch Liang Xuelin walked to Liang Zhaohuang's side. Seeing that he seemed to be in a daze, he tugged at him and said:

"Zhaohuang, what are you standing there dazing for? Let's go. We must bring the cultivation methods back to the family as soon as possible."

"All right." Liang Zhaohuang answered, turning to leave.

But in the instant he turned around, his gaze swept across the center of the stone platform, and he vaguely saw that where the Five-Colored Lotus Platform had originally been, there seemed to be a speck of light flashing past.

"Wait!"

Liang Zhaohuang called the patriarch to a stop. He stepped forward, the Five Elements Dharma Eye operating in his eyes. When he looked again at the center of the stone platform, he indeed saw Five Elements spiritual power flowing within it, forming a "restriction."

"There seems to be something here."

As Liang Zhaohuang explained, he came to the center of the stone platform. Five-Colored Buddha Light flowed in his eyes, and the "restriction" within the center of the stone platform completely emerged and unfolded before his gaze.

After studying it carefully for a while, Liang Zhaohuang made a discovery.

"The restriction inside this doesn't look like a seal. Instead, it's a little like the restrictions inside magical artifacts."

"A magical artifact!"

Lightning flashed through his mind, and Liang Zhaohuang suddenly understood something. He reached out and placed his hand on the center of the stone platform, tentatively channeling his magic power into the Five Elements restriction within.

His magic power rapidly circulated through the entire "restriction," driving it into operation. Five-colored flowing light emerged from the "restriction," quickly spreading in all directions. In the blink of an eye, it covered the stone platform, then continued spreading outward, covering the entire pool.

By now, Liang Zhaohuang's face was already pale, his body drenched in sweat.

The "restriction" within the stone platform was far more advanced than he had expected. With his seventh-level Qi Refining magic power, it was swallowed by this "restriction" in the blink of an eye. Yet in his perception, this "restriction" still seemed like a bottomless pit, devouring him.

Within his dantian, his magic power had already been exhausted. He even felt as if his dantian were twisting and spasming, trying to squeeze out the very last thread of magic power.

"Zhaohuang, what's wrong with you?"

Patriarch Liang Xuelin also noticed something was wrong. His expression changed abruptly, and he rushed over.

Just then, it was unclear whether the Five-Colored Buddha Light in his sea of consciousness had sensed Liang Zhaohuang's danger, or the "restriction" within the stone platform had discovered the Five-Colored Buddha Light.

That terrifying devouring force suddenly turned toward the Five-Colored Buddha Light in his sea of consciousness.

In an instant, great swaths of Five-Colored Buddha Light fell from the five-colored "round light" behind Liang Zhaohuang's soul and sank into the stone platform's "restriction."

In the blink of an eye, the five-colored "round light" behind Liang Zhaohuang's soul became extremely dim. Nearly ninety percent of the Five-Colored Buddha Light he had accumulated before had been consumed.

Liang Zhaohuang felt waves of stabbing pain and dizziness coming from his mind. These were symptoms of his spirit being heavily drained.

What delighted him, however, was that after devouring great swaths of Five-Colored Buddha Light, the "restriction" within the stone platform finally seemed barely satisfied. Although it still emitted a faint, intermittent devouring force, Liang Zhaohuang could already control himself and cut off that devouring power.

He hurriedly raised his hand, wanting to leave this stone platform. This unexpected change had taught him no small lesson.

In this world of cultivation, there were far too many unknowns. He was merely a minor Qi Refining cultivator, with barely a few means at his disposal; one moment of carelessness, and he might die with both body and soul extinguished.

In his future actions, he had to be even more careful and cautious.

However, just as Liang Zhaohuang withdrew his hand and released the stone platform, the entire stone platform, including the surrounding pool, began to tremble.

Five-colored light rolled back from around the pool. When those rays of light settled, the stone platform and pool had both vanished, transformed instead into a palm-sized "stone basin" that landed in his hand.

"This is!"

Liang Zhaohuang was extremely astonished. He could see within the "stone basin" a stone platform, a pool, and withered lotuses reduced by more than a hundredfold.

Clearly, this "stone basin" in his hand was the pool they had just been in.

Liang Zhaohuang had not expected that this pool was actually a spatial treasure.

This gain even far surpassed a magical treasure.

He held up the "stone basin" in his hand and saw two characters carved on the bottom of the basin: Lotus Pond.

"Lotus Pond! This should be the name of this spatial treasure. A pond full of lotuses truly lives up to the name 'Lotus Pond.'"

Liang Zhaohuang thought to himself.

But now, the entire pond of lotus flowers had turned into withered stalks. Who knew whether they could come back to life?

"Still, to be planted in this Lotus Pond, this whole pond of withered lotus is probably not simple either."

Liang Zhaohuang was thoughtful.

"Zhaohuang, are you all right?"

Patriarch Liang Xuelin had not expected such a sudden change either. A moment ago, they had still been on the stone platform in the pool; in the blink of an eye, the pool had vanished, and this place had become an underground cavern.

However, what he cared about more was Liang Zhaohuang's condition. From his complexion and aura, it was obvious something was wrong.

"I'm fine, Second Uncle. My magic power is just a little overdrawn."

Liang Zhaohuang shook his head as he spoke. He did not mention the depletion of his spirit; that was not something the Qi Refining stage could come into contact with.

When Patriarch Liang Xuelin heard this, he quickly reached into his sleeve, took out a jade bottle, and handed it over.

"There's a bottle of Jade Ginseng Pills here. Hurry and take them to recover your magic power."

The Jade Ginseng Pill was a first-rank spirit pill, the most commonly used pill for restoring magic power in the Qi Refining stage.

Before coming to Ning Province this time to explore the predecessor's cave abode, Liang Zhaohuang and the other man had made ample preparations. Although spirit pills were precious, they had still prepared some, mainly Jade Ginseng Pills for restoring magic power.

Liang Zhaohuang did not decline. Now that the gains were already in hand, the most important thing was for them to leave quickly, so he naturally had to recover his magic power as soon as possible.

He handed the Lotus Pond over to the patriarch to watch over, swallowed the Jade Ginseng Pills, and began cultivating, restoring his magic power.

After taking three Jade Ginseng Pills in succession and recovering seventy to eighty percent of his magic power, Liang Zhaohuang began silently reciting the Peacock King Mantra again, restoring the Five-Colored Buddha Light and recovering from his mental depletion.

Generating a new wisp of Five-Colored Buddha Light required reciting the mantra one thousand eight hundred times; but merely restoring it was much faster. He only needed to recite the mantra one hundred and eighty times to recover one wisp of Five-Colored Buddha Light.

Even so, Liang Zhaohuang still spent nearly two hours before he barely restored close to half of the Five-Colored Buddha Light. The five-colored "round light" behind his soul's head finally regained some radiance and was no longer completely dim.

Although neither his magic power nor his spirit had fully recovered, Liang Zhaohuang did not intend to keep dragging things out.

This place was deep in the "war zone," and he did not know whether taking the Lotus Pond just now had caused any effects.

It was better for them to leave as soon as possible.