Treasure in the Hall? A Strange Throbbing Sensation

Faced with Golden Core Celestial Venerable's question, Gu Qingfeng knew that his answer would determine whether he lived or died.

Yet for a moment, he had no idea how to answer.

He had only transmigrated here not long ago, and his memories were severely incomplete. He knew far too little about everything here.

Just as the Celestial Venerable's right hand was about to tighten, a flash of inspiration struck Gu Qingfeng, and he caught two words.

Senior Sister!

Senior Sister meant she had entered the sect before him.

Those who entered early had their potential discovered and exhausted early. But he, who had entered later, still had hope!

So he hurriedly said, "Master, I can succeed! Compared to Senior Sister, I entered the sect later. My future is promising!"

Golden Core Celestial Venerable laughed upon hearing that answer. "A promising future? You? You merely entered the sect ten days later."

Gu Qingfeng stood there, his gaze unwavering. "Master, ten days can already change many things. A baby may suddenly grow teeth, new leaves may suddenly sprout from a treetop, and the Buddha attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree—all in the span of a single night."

He was currently standing diagonally beneath the enormous Maitreya Buddha statue. Thinking that the other man likely believed in Buddhism, he had even dragged the Buddha into his argument.

As soon as he said this, Golden Core Celestial Venerable's expression indeed softened somewhat. "Your words do show some innate wisdom."

"Very well. On the fifteenth of this month, I will continue to test you all."

"But remember, I have always cared only for results. If your Golden Core does not achieve success, you become material. Even if the Buddha himself descended then, he would not be able to save you."

"Yes, Master!"

Gu Qingfeng hurriedly replied.

He understood that the material the other man mentioned did not mean "talented material," but that kind of material.

Whether it was the umbrellas hanging beneath the eaves of the Hall of Morality, or the fire tongs he had seen used for stoking flames when passing the Alchemy Room earlier, all were made from human skin and human bones.

Within the Golden Core Immortal Sect, unqualified disciples were consumable materials.

Afterward, the Celestial Venerable went to test the other disciples.

Gu Qingfeng's heart finally eased, as though he had only half a life left.

Too terrifying.

He had nearly lost his life.

Half an hour later, Golden Core Celestial Venerable finished his testing and strolled out of the Hall of Morality.

After he left, Gu Qingfeng noticed that the stiffness in his body gradually faded. The Core Branches growing from his shoulders and navel also shrank back in, leaving only three bloody holes behind.

His fellow disciples all took out cotton and cloth to plug the holes. He had no memory of such matters and could only imitate them.

But after feeling around himself, searching high and low, he discovered that he had not brought any cloth at all.

At that moment, a junior sister with peach-blossom eyes beside him handed over a bundle of cloth. "Senior Brother Gu, use mine first."

The holes in Gu Qingfeng's body made his skin crawl. He did not stand on ceremony and quickly accepted the cloth, plugging them up.

"Thank you, Junior Sister."

Just as he was plugging the holes while thanking her, a strange throbbing sensation suddenly rose in his heart.

It was the kind of sensation where his Demon-Hunting Badge trembled, meaning there had to be a female warlock nearby.

It definitely was not because the junior sister before him was pretty and kind, making his heart stir. It was behind her!

Behind the peach-blossom-eyed junior sister stood one wall of the Hall of Morality, beneath which several small Buddha statues were enshrined.

And the thing that made his heart throb was near those little Buddha statues.

Was there something there?

Seeing that no one else was looking in that direction, Gu Qingfeng could not help wondering to himself, Could I be the only one who can sense it?

For a moment, his emotions churned, both nervous and excited.

His intuition told him that there should be something good there—a treasure.

Perhaps even a treasure capable of changing his current terrifying predicament?

Just as Gu Qingfeng was thinking this, his body was suddenly kicked forward, and he crashed heavily onto the ground.

The peach-blossom-eyed junior sister fell as well.

Gu Qingfeng painfully turned his head and immediately saw a short woman staring coldly at him.

Just now, she had viciously kicked him, sending him sprawling face-first onto the ground.

"What are you two idiots standing around for? Move the corpse to the Furnace Workshop!"

The woman held her head high and looked down her nose at them as she berated them.

The skin on Gu Qingfeng's forehead had split open, sending waves of pain through him as fury surged upward.

Damn it! Where did this bitch crawl out from?

He cursed inwardly, but could only force down the anger in his heart.

Because his fragmented memories told him that this was their eldest senior sister, Zhang Yao.

After their master, Golden Core Celestial Venerable, left, she was the most powerful person here.

Being merely the eldest senior sister would have been one thing, but rumors said she was Golden Core Celestial Venerable's biological daughter.

Eldest Senior Sister Zhang Yao had an oval face, willow-leaf brows, and was quite beautiful. Yet she stood only four chi tall, like a small child. This had a strange resemblance to her master, Golden Core Celestial Venerable, whose appearance was divine and imposing as though a celestial venerable had descended into the world, yet who stood less than five chi tall.

This was fucking hereditary!

It further confirmed those rumors.

Another person he could not afford to provoke!

Over there, the peach-blossom-eyed junior sister had already admitted her mistake. "Eldest Senior Sister, we were wrong. We'll move it right away."

Afterward, Gu Qingfeng and the junior sister worked together to carry the corpse to the Furnace Workshop.

After death, people became deadweight. Moving them was exhausting.

Especially since the flesh and blood around that senior sister's stomach had broken into chunks. It had to be wrapped in cloth, making things even more troublesome.

Afterward, the two of them put their backs into it and bustled about for a while before finally moving the corpse.

Once they were done, both of them let out long sighs of relief.

Seeing that he was parched, the peach-blossom-eyed junior sister hurriedly handed him her water gourd.

It could be said that she was the first good person Gu Qingfeng had encountered since arriving in this unfamiliar world.

At least, she seemed good for now.

The peach-blossom-eyed junior sister had matters to attend to and left first, while Gu Qingfeng remained preoccupied with the thing that had made his heart throb.

His current situation was exceedingly grim. If, during the test on the fifteenth of this month, his cultivation still showed no results and this damned Golden Core remained so small, he would become the next "human material."

Counting it all up, he only had ten days.

Could he make this Golden Core grow larger in ten days?

But what if he did make it larger?

This Golden Core Mystique was clearly a trap. Cultivating the Golden Core successfully meant refining himself into a human pill and waiting to be eaten by Golden Core Celestial Venerable. But if he failed to cultivate the Golden Core, he would be skinned and dismembered as "human material."

Cultivating meant death, and not cultivating meant death too. He was like a one-way road blocked at both ends.

Faced with such circumstances, how could he let go of something that might be a "fortuitous encounter"?

Thus, Gu Qingfeng returned to the Hall of Morality.

This place called the Hall of Morality was far too prone to death. It was gloomy and sinister.

After Golden Core Celestial Venerable finished his testing, no one wanted to remain here any longer. Thus, when Gu Qingfeng returned, the hall was empty.

The moment he reached the entrance, that throbbing sensation indeed returned.

Gu Qingfeng followed the sensation inward and immediately saw the Maitreya Buddha statue with its belly split open, smiling at him from within the hall.

He came before the small Buddha statues, and the throbbing sensation became especially distinct.

He could even confirm that the thing making his heart throb was within three steps of him.

Gu Qingfeng first looked at the Buddha statues.

These three small Buddha statues appeared ancient, their features long blurred. Within the dim hall, they looked somewhat eerie and frightening.

Gu Qingfeng quickly determined that it was not them, but rather...

His gaze fell upon the incense burner before the middle Buddha statue.

The Buddha statue was small, and this incense burner was even smaller—only the size of a palm, its surface covered in incense ash.

Gu Qingfeng could be sure. It was this!

The thing making his heart throb was this incense burner!

Could this incense burner be some kind of treasure?

Seeing no one around, he raised a hand and picked it up...