When the box opened!
In an instant, azure light blazed!
The glare forced Ye Feng's eyes shut. He hurriedly turned his head away and raised a hand to shield them.
This presence left Ye Feng feeling refreshed and clearheaded.
It felt as refreshing as bathing amid emerald waters and verdant mountains.
"This... this presence, could it be Bitter Bamboo, one of the ten great innate spiritual roots?"
"No, it should be a Bitter Bamboo Seedling!"
Elder Long sensed it too and grew excited.
Bitter Bamboo was something left over from the primordial era, as famous as the Flat Peach Tree.
If it could be refined into Six Roots Purifying Bamboo, it would possess the divine ability to seal a person's six senses-a truly worthy innate spiritual root!
Hearing Elder Long's extravagant exclamations, Ye Feng was thrilled.
He lifted the box and leaned over to look inside.
The sight within left Ye Feng dumbfounded as well.
Wasn't it supposed to be a Bitter Bamboo Seedling?
Why was there still a black lump inside? It didn't look like soil, either.
And just as before, only a trace of presence swirled within.
"Could it be that this isn't a Bitter Bamboo Seedling, but a Bitter Bamboo seed? Buried underneath?"
With that thought in mind, Ye Feng reached in and poked around.
The moment he did, that smell returned.
Enraged, Ye Feng smashed the box straight onto the ground.
"Young friend, what happened?" Before Elder Long could even react, Ye Feng had smashed it.
Both places had only a lingering trace of presence.
Ye Feng was starting to suspect someone was playing tricks.
But after thinking it over and over, he still found it impossible.
The Spirit-Imprisoning Forbidden Land opened once every hundred years, and according to Elder Long, almost no one other than spirit bodies could explore these places.
Those who came here seeking opportunities couldn't possibly have spirit bodies, and even the resentful spirits of this forbidden land had no way to break the restrictions.
Only in a situation like hers, with Elder Long attached to the Spirit-Fusing Mirror to guide her, followed by breaking the restrictions with her own spiritual power, could they be opened.
It could well be said that not a single element could be missing.
But how could this shit be explained?
No matter how much Ye Feng pondered, he couldn't figure it out.
Just then, Elder Long said gravely, "Young friend, this isn't a coincidence. The same thing happened earlier. There may be some connection."
"Some connection?" Ye Feng asked in confusion, frowning.
"Exactly. Think about it. Back at the lightning-struck wood, what happened first? What did it have in common with what happened now?"
Ye Feng considered the similarities, then a flash of inspiration struck. "While I was breaking the restriction, a water column fell from the sky!"
Elder Long agreed. "Exactly. After the water column fell from the sky, the secret treasure vanished!"
"Now another water column fell from the sky, and the secret treasure vanished again!"
Ye Feng's eyes suddenly widened.
Elder Long continued, "I suspect there will definitely be another water column falling from the sky at the next location."
Ye Feng was quick-witted too, and understood at once. "Elder Long, I get it. You mean this is like a signal!"
"The water column drenches my head, and the secret treasure vanishes. If, at the next location, I block the water column when it appears again, or open my mouth to catch it and keep it from spilling out, will the secret treasure remain?"
Ye Feng understood this sort of thing!
It wasn't as though he had never encountered it before.
Back when he had chanced upon the Spirit-Fusing Mirror, it had produced a phenomenon in heaven and earth.
Ye Feng had used his own body to block the light refracted from the blood moon high above, and only then had he gained the Spirit-Fusing Mirror's recognition!
Only then had he met Elder Long, gained that heaven-flooding opportunity, and begun his rise.
The path of cultivation held all manner of strange things. Something seemingly insignificant might actually be a signal, perhaps even the crucial point.
The more Ye Feng thought about it, the more certain he became. This was like a test.
Although Elder Long couldn't be certain, there was no harm in doing so. "Young friend, your guess is very accurate."
"The Great Dao has myriad paths. Perhaps a single insignificant step can change everything."
Ye Feng understood at once.
"Elder Long, I understand. In that case, let's hurry to the next secret treasure site!"
Ye Feng brimmed with enthusiasm.
He left the cave straight away.
Up above, Jiang Yantian was dumbstruck.
Did these two really have such wild imaginations?
The thing was, even Jiang Yantian felt their words made some sense as he listened.
Unless he was mistaken, the next location was where the God-Slaying Spear Fragment had previously been placed.
Jiang Yantian hadn't put Spirit Fox Monkey shit there. Instead, he had left a very ordinary grade-one common spiritual artifact.
It was worth one mid-grade spirit stone. Even a dog could afford it.
But moving the spiritual artifact was equivalent to triggering the Bad Luck Array he had laid.
Anyone tainted by the Bad Luck Array would suffer utterly terrible luck for a day.
Jiang Yantian followed them straight away too.
To verify his conjecture, Ye Feng quickened his pace even further.
He could hardly wait.
He launched straight into an "Initial D: Takumi, you're really great at driving, but I still fell for Uncle's Mercedes" performance, moving at breakneck speed!
Through Ye Feng's unremitting efforts, he finally reached the third location.
It was a swamp.
Of course, it looked like a swamp to outsiders.
To Ye Feng, who possessed a cheat, it was all an illusion. As she walked across it, it was as though she were walking on level ground.
He walked straight to the center of the swamp.
"Young friend, remember our line of thinking just now. I'll guide you in breaking the array. Watch for the water column from the sky."
Elder Long spoke gravely.
"Don't worry, Elder Long!"
Ye Feng nodded firmly.
Then, under Elder Long's guidance, Ye Feng formed hand seals and began breaking the array once more.
There was absolutely no chance of Ye Feng breaking a taboo array of this level.
But Elder Long was here!
Before becoming a spirit body, Elder Long had been a ninth-grade alchemist and a sixth-grade array master.
These taboo arrays were a piece of cake.
As spiritual power poured in, the runes on the array flashed once more.
This time, the runes were black.
Ye Feng kept his eyes on all six directions and his ears open to all eight, thinking about the water column from the sky even as he broke the array.
Ye Feng was ready. When she saw a little water column appear in the mist again, she cried out excitedly.
"Elder Long, it really came again!"
"Good, young friend. Draw back some of your Spiritual Qi and focus on dealing with the water column from the sky!"
When the water column from the sky ended, Ye Feng even licked his lips.
"Young friend, how was it?" Elder Long asked anxiously.
Ye Feng thought for a moment. "It felt very different. The Spiritual Qi seemed a little denser, and I feel refreshed and clearheaded. It just tasted a little strange, but that's no big deal."
"Perhaps this is simply how a water column from the sky is supposed to taste. Perhaps this is my opportunity too. Water emerging without a source counts as a minor phenomenon of heaven and earth."
"It's just a shame that a breeze might have blown past just now, and some leaked into my nose. I hope it won't ruin this opportunity!"
"Elder Long, keep guiding me through breaking the array. This time, I think it'll work."