Qing Chen tried pushing the stone door. Just as he exerted force, he suddenly heard a faint click!
It was not the sound of the stone door opening, but came from within the stone wall beside it!
Qing Chen's heart tightened, and he instantly recalled the wandering martial artist's dying words: "The stone chamber door has a lock. Before pushing, feel for the indentation to its left. Press it three times, then push."
He quickly stopped pushing and felt along the left side of the stone door with his left hand. Sure enough, he found an indentation the size of a knuckle.
Following the wandering martial artist's instructions, he pressed hard three times with the pad of his finger. Each press produced a faint click, like the sound of a mechanism engaging.
After the third press, Qing Chen pushed the stone door again. Sure enough, it moved much more easily.
The heavy stone door slowly opened. He craned his head to look inside. The chamber was small, only about ten feet square, with several ever-burning lamps set into its stone walls, illuminating the interior brightly.
The stone chamber was not spacious. A meditation cushion lay quietly in the center, with a dark wooden shelf before it.
Several things were neatly arranged on the shelf:
A drab gray cloth bag, a palm-sized black stone, a crystal-clear jade bottle, a palm-sized piece of emerald-green jade, and two thread-bound books.
The writing on the covers had grown somewhat blurred. Only when he drew closer could he make out "Records of Profound Mysteries" and "Everlasting Spring Inner Vista Art."
Qing Chen tiptoed inside and first checked the chamber's four corners. Only after confirming there were no hidden arrow traps did he breathe a sigh of relief.
He surveyed the stone chamber and decided to take everything here, to prepare for any unforeseen need in the future.
Of course, Qing Chen did not pass up the meditation cushion in the center of the chamber either, packing it away with the rest.
While gathering everything, Qing Chen even considered taking the bookshelf and the secret chamber's floor tiles.
Unfortunately, he could not carry them.
Moreover, after some careful examination and attempts at damaging them.
Qing Chen discovered that the bookshelf and floor tiles were indeed ordinary objects, without any special writing or patterns.
So he abandoned the idea.
Without wasting time, he checked that he had left nothing behind, turned, and headed toward the hidden door.
The two bandits at the entrance still held their original poses.
He quietly pushed the door open and looked both ways. Only after seeing that no one was paying attention did he hurry down the stone steps, slipping all the way back to the tunnel entrance.
Only once he entered the tunnel did Qing Chen dare stop to catch his breath.
He found a dry corner and sat down, first taking out "Records of Profound Mysteries," then lighting his fire striker to read it.
As he read, Qing Chen's eyes grew wider and wider!
It turned out that Northern Mang Mountain's secret was connected by countless threads to the Great Qin Dynasty, which had enjoyed a period of glory a hundred years ago.
This book had originally been one of the treasured texts in the dynasty's vault.
Ford City in the Jing Kingdom, where Qing Chen lived, was actually situated on an isolated island named Immortal-Severing Island.
This island lay secluded on the northern fringe of the Azure Wave Archipelago, in the Moon Sea Region, one of the Gouwu Sea's three regions: sun, moon, and star.
According to the book, the Gouwu Sea's islands were graded by their spiritual veins. Grade-one islands had grade-one spiritual veins, which could support the cultivation of Qi Refining Stage cultivators, and towns of several tens of thousands of people;
Grade-two islands had grade-two spiritual veins, spanned hundreds of miles, could support the cultivation of Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators, and had populations exceeding a million;
Grade-three islands were larger still and could support the cultivation of Golden Core Stage cultivators;
Grade-four islands rivaled continents, could accommodate Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, and were sacred lands for immortal cultivators.
But Immortal-Severing Island, where he lived.
Its spiritual energy was pitifully scarce. The nearest island was a hundred thousand miles away, with nothing but storms and sea beasts between them, making passage by sea utterly impossible.
Only once every thirty years would the Azure Wave Archipelago's Condensed Jade Sect send a spirit ship to take away people with spiritual roots. They also issued tokens, and only those holding a token could board.
But once those people left, they never returned.
As Qing Chen read this, his heart beat faster.
He hurriedly took out the black stone.
The book said this was a Spiritual Aptitude Testing Stone, which could test a person's spiritual roots.
Spiritual roots were divided into the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, as well as mutated spiritual roots such as wind and lightning.
By quality, they were divided into: mixed-grade, low-grade, middle-grade, high-grade, earth spiritual roots, and heaven spiritual roots.
Following the method described in the book, he placed his right hand on the Spiritual Aptitude Testing Stone and concentrated.
After a while, the Spiritual Aptitude Testing Stone suddenly emitted a faint light.
The light separated into five colors: red, yellow, blue, green, and black. None was particularly bright, but each was distinct, and the light reached the mark labeled "middle."
Qing Chen's heart rose into his throat-five elements spiritual roots, and middle-grade at that!
He was both happy and a little disappointed: happy because he had spiritual roots and could cultivate immortality. People with spiritual roots were one in a thousand!
He was disappointed because a middle-grade five elements spiritual root was not particularly good. If he was unlucky, even Foundation Establishment would be difficult.
But then he reconsidered. It was better than having no spiritual roots, and better than mixed-grade or low-grade spiritual roots, which offered almost no hope of Foundation Establishment.
He imagined how wonderful it would be to possess a heaven spiritual root or an earth spiritual root.
Then he would have hope of attaining the cultivation of a Nascent Soul patriarch.
The book also said that cultivation realms were divided into Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul.
As for higher realms, the book contained no record of them.
Perhaps only mighty cultivators who truly set foot on that level could glimpse its true essence.
Once cultivators broke through to the Qi Refining Stage, their lifespan could increase to a hundred years.
And when their Qi Refining cultivation reached the seventh level, the late Qi Refining Stage, their lifespan could extend further to a hundred and twenty years.
However, the road to Foundation Establishment was fraught with hardship and danger.
Only by breaking through before the age of sixty would they have greater hope of embarking on the road to Foundation Establishment.
The Foundation Establishment Realm was a crucial point on the path of cultivation.
The book said that a hundred days of Foundation Establishment lifted one beyond the ordinary and the worldly.
At the early Foundation Establishment Stage, cultivators could live to two hundred;
At the middle stage, their lifespan increased to two hundred and twenty;
And at the late stage, they could actually possess a lifespan as long as two hundred and fifty years!
For ordinary mortals, this was undoubtedly a height difficult to attain.
After all, mortals faced three calamities and nine hardships throughout their lives. Living beyond fifty was already a rare longevity.
As for the mysteries of the Core Formation and Nascent Soul realms, "Records of Profound Mysteries" did not describe them in detail.
It could not help but inspire longing and curiosity.
"It was all worth it."
He stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes.
Faint battle cries came from outside the tunnel. The vanguard army was still assaulting the mountain, but none of that had anything to do with him anymore.
His mind was now filled with cultivating immortality, with leaving Immortal-Severing Island to see the world beyond.