North Spring Mountain's Hidden Treasure

Outside the Great Gan Imperial Capital, at the Royal Villa.

A man and a woman sat in the Rain-Listening Pavilion by the lake.

The woman was in the bloom of youth, with delicate features and a fresh, elegant air. She wore palace attire beneath a white gauze cloak, with only a Silver Hairpin adorning her coiled hair. She could not be called exceptionally beautiful, yet there was a distinctive charm between her brows.

Her expression was serene as she handled the tea set with graceful, light movements.

The young man across from her wore splendid robes and had a face like carved jade. The rise and fall of his chest showed that he was forcibly suppressing the fury in his heart.

"Who was it?"

"My father has only one daughter, and I have no interest in worldly affairs. I am destined to leave someday. Leaving behind a child can also be considered settling my worldly ties." The woman spoke as lightly as drifting clouds and a gentle breeze, calm and unhurried. She was none other than Princess Li Miaoxuan of the Great Gan Dynasty.

The man's gaze slid to the woman's slightly rounded belly, and his eyes reddened. "Junior Sister, do you not know how I feel? How could you... how could you..."

Li Miaoxuan poured him a cup of tea and smiled faintly. "Senior Brother Qin, please have some tea."

Bang! The teacup flew sideways, struck the railing, and shattered into pieces.

Li Miaoxuan's composure cut him to the heart.

"So it seems you will not even offer me a single explanation. When I came to see you, you could not bear to remove your Illusory Heaven Hairpin, yet you could be with that man... Am I, Qin Baijun, truly so insignificant in your eyes? Fine. Call him here. I would like to see what sort of man could make the Lingxu Sect's foremost prodigy so devoted to him."

Li Miaoxuan's smile finally faded. She slowly said, "Senior Brother Qin, since matters have come to this, I will speak plainly. I will remember the care you showed Miaoxuan within the sect, but I, Li Miaoxuan, have devoted my heart to cultivation. Do not mention romantic matters again in the future."

You are already pregnant, and you still say not to mention romantic matters? Qin Baijun's fury surged. He rose to his feet, fists clenched, then with a ringing clang, drew the longsword on the table. With an angry roar, he slashed to the side.

Sword Qi struck the lake, splitting its waters in two and carving a deep trench as spray exploded into the air.

Then he took a deep breath, glanced at Li Miaoxuan, and leaped onto the lake. Passing through the falling curtain of water, he tapped the surface several times and vanished without a trace in an instant.

Li Miaoxuan remained seated. She lifted the teacup before her and took a light sip, then sighed softly, her brows knitting slightly.

"I had returned from the sect this time to settle my worldly ties. I never expected a realization to come to me, my cultivation to break through, and my Secret Treasury to transform, clouding my Dao Heart. I also let down my guard in the capital. My True Qi and divine sense had all condensed within the unformed Dao Embryo, and I actually fell victim to a dose of drug... Fortunately, it was him. Otherwise, there would only have been..."

Night fell beneath a dim sky, dark clouds concealing the Dark Moon.

Gu Yuanqing lay in a chair, gazing up at the heavens.

His consciousness was in a state of Mountain Observation, able to sense the rhythm carried by the breeze sweeping over the mountain ridges.

The sensation was intoxicating. With every Mountain Observation, Gu Yuanqing gained a new understanding of North Spring Mountain, and the range encompassed by his observation grew wider and wider. Vaguely, it had already reached the place at the foot of the mountain guarded by soldiers.

Rumble!

After a peal of thunder, torrential rain poured down, sweeping in from afar.

Raindrops as large as beans pounded against North Spring Mountain, splashing up before falling back to the ground and soaking the entire earth.

Gu Yuanqing seemed able to sense every change within it. When the rain reached the courtyard and fell upon him, that sensation became even stronger.

It was as though all of North Spring Mountain had become his own body, and he was like an infant who had just gained consciousness, gradually becoming familiar with every part of himself.

The feeling became increasingly real. Gradually, it crossed some unseen boundary and shattered its shackles. Gu Yuanqing's consciousness seemed to truly merge with North Spring Mountain.

When he had previously observed the mountain, it had been like watching a silent film. Now, he was within it.

Under this sensation, his consciousness continued to spread, extending from the surface into the depths underground.

At the same time, the North Spring Mountain Phantom within his mind began to change, transforming from a two-dimensional image into a three-dimensional solid form.

Only after a long while did he open his eyes and turn to look westward.

In the rain, the gaunt old servant silently left his room and came to the cliff's edge. With nimble movements, he dropped beneath the tree and disappeared into the cave.

Gu Yuanqing closed his eyes. The cave that he had once been unable to reach now appeared clearly in his mind.

There were five caves in the sheer cliff face of North Spring Mountain, each extending more than a hundred zhang deep.

The old man held a Woodcutting Knife. With every swing, he cut away massive chunks of stone, then pressed the severed rocks barehanded into the adjacent stone wall.

"If he were not in the True Martial realm, he could never possess such strength. If I fought him now, I would certainly be no match for him!"

The moment this thought arose, the old man's movements suddenly stiffened. He turned and looked in every direction. In that instant, it seemed as though danger had abruptly surfaced, only to vanish at once. The old man hesitated, then assumed he was merely being overly vigilant and resumed digging.

"What is he looking at?" Gu Yuanqing found it somewhat strange. His thoughts swept over the surroundings, yet he saw nothing.

After watching for a while, Gu Yuanqing chuckled and murmured, "Then let me see what exactly is hidden within this mountain."

As he spoke, his consciousness extended into the mountain in the direction the old man was digging. This was an ability gained after Mountain Observation had improved.

It was another novel sensation. On his first attempt, it felt as though he were submerged in deep water. Boundless pressure came from every side, suffocating and oppressive, but he gradually grew accustomed to it.

His consciousness moved through the rock strata far more slowly than it did outside, and the area he could sense was compressed as well. Even so, in only a moment, he had searched the area within a hundred zhang.

His consciousness spread deeper, and suddenly the pressure on his entire body eased. A broad underground stone chamber appeared in Gu Yuanqing's mind.

Gu Yuanqing's spirits lifted. "Is this where the North Spring Sword Sect's hidden treasure lies?"

His consciousness swiftly enveloped the entire chamber. The first thing that caught his attention was a row of bookshelves packed full of books.

Movement Techniques, palm techniques, fist arts, sword arts—various cultivation methods were sorted into categories.

This sudden joy stirred Gu Yuanqing's mind, directly pulling him out of his Mountain Observation state.

His breathing quickened and his heartbeat accelerated. These were precisely the things Gu Yuanqing had sought but could never obtain.

Gu Yuanqing took several deep breaths. The delight in his eyes could not be suppressed. Only after a long while did he somewhat calm himself and enter Mountain Observation once more, arriving in the underground stone chamber.

The stone chamber lay several hundred zhang underground. Following it upward, there had originally been a cave leading to the surface, but about a hundred zhang from the ground, it had been buried beneath scattered boulders.

The chamber was quite spacious, roughly ten zhang in both length and width. At its innermost side hung a portrait of an old man with the bearing of an immortal, a longsword on his back. Beneath the portrait stood an offering table, upon which rested a Short Sword three cun long.

"This must be that Secret Sword!"

Gu Yuanqing's consciousness lingered over the Short Sword, but he did not sense anything unusual about it.

On the other side of the stone chamber, three more longswords hung on the stone wall. Below them, on a weapon rack, lay a spear forged entirely from refined iron and a rust-covered greatsaber.

Farther away stood a stone bed, along with various daily necessities, all covered in thick dust.

After examining the chamber's contents, Gu Yuanqing's consciousness returned to the bookshelves. As he "looked" over the secret manuals, he still could not help feeling excited.

What he lacked most right now were cultivation methods. With these, the initial framework of his Cultivation Method could soon be perfected!