The two did not gallop, but instead rode slowly. Although the bustling city was deserted at night, it was the easiest place for spies to hide. Moving too fast or suddenly would attract attention and expose their whereabouts. Steady and slow travel, concealed in the darkness, was the safest way to travel.
Heading west, passing through three long streets and two narrow alleys, the lively atmosphere of the old town gradually fades away. The closer you get to the former site of the Spirit Vein Bureau, the more oppressive and silent the surrounding atmosphere becomes. The houses along the street become increasingly sparse, and tall old-style government buildings stand layer upon layer in front of you, with majestic and solemn blue brick walls covered with withered vines, outlining mottled and ferocious silhouettes under the moonlight.
The former Spirit Vein Bureau was located directly above the main vein of the Capital Spirit Vein.
A century ago, this was the core of the entire dynasty's spiritual vein control, in charge of surveying, repairing, and balancing the spiritual veins of the world. It held immense power and a prestigious position. Decades ago, the Spirit Vein Bureau was reorganized and relocated to the inner part of the imperial city. This old building was completely abandoned and sealed off to this day, with no official personnel on duty.
People only know that this place is abandoned and desolate, and no one cares about it, but they don't know that three layers underground, there is a secret that has been sealed for ten years, and a top-secret document that is enough to stir up the court and shake the rules of the spiritual veins.
Upon reaching the intersection of the old government street, Snow Empress raised his hand to rein in his horse, signaling to stop.
The two men simultaneously dismounted and tied their horses to the hitching post under the old locust tree at the street corner. The old tree's branches were gnarled and its leaves sparse, casting dappled shadows that perfectly concealed the horses, making them difficult for passersby to spot.
"The old archives building is three hundred steps ahead." The Snow Empress looked up into the depths of the night, her gaze piercing through the darkness to land on the majestic cluster of blue-brick buildings. Her tone was calm and resolute. "There are two layers of remnants of old-style warning arrays on the outer perimeter, long since ineffective, leaving only residual energy fields. They have no offensive power, only disrupting the Spiritual Power perception of ordinary cultivators; they pose no threat to you."
Yin Wujou focused his mind slightly, and his Spirit Vision quietly unfolded.
In an instant, the Spiritual Power network of the entire old building area came into view. The fragmented array patterns, like faded spider webs, shrouded the buildings in layers. The Spiritual Power was thin, scattered, and intermittent, truly just an empty shell, without any power of restriction. Deep underground, countless thick spiritual veins crisscrossed, as dense as a spider web, converging downwards layer by layer, finally returning to the core of the secret chamber on the third underground level.
That core area was extremely stagnant and lifeless, firmly sealed off by an invisible barrier, completely isolated from the external spiritual veins.
That was the restriction barrier of the Yun Su Variant Formation.
"The restriction is intact," Yin Wujou said in a low voice. "It has been isolated from the flow of spiritual energy for many years, self-sealed, and has not weakened even after ten years. Its stability is extremely strong. It can only be broken sequentially according to the twelve two-hour periods; it cannot be forcibly broken."
The Snow Empress nodded slightly, her expression calm. " Yun Su devoted his life to studying formations and balancing spiritual veins. He is most skilled at using gentleness to solidify formations and timing to lock them in place. The restrictions he sets up cannot be broken by brute force. Only by following the rules and corresponding to the timing and direction can they be safely opened. A forced attack will only trigger the formation's self-sealing mechanism, causing the secret chamber to collapse and the scrolls to be buried forever."
She turned to look at Yin Wujou and instructed him, "When we enter the building later, I will scout out the surroundings, prevent outsiders from spying, and guard the entrances and exits. You just need to focus on activating the formation and don't need to be distracted. If your Spiritual Power becomes unstable or the nodes shift, inform me immediately."
"Okay," Yin Wujou replied.
Without another word, the two lifted their feet and slowly walked towards the old archives building of the Spirit Vein Bureau.
The three hundred paces from the street corner to the building entrance were overgrown with weeds, the waist-high withered grass swaying gently in the night wind, making a soft rustling sound. The blue bricks on the ground were cracked and uneven, covered with a thick layer of dust and fallen leaves, deserted and dilapidated for years. The building walls were covered with mottled moss, large areas of the plaster had peeled off, revealing the dark blue bricks underneath, and the doors and windows were rotten and blackened, all tightly closed, exuding a deathly stillness that had been sealed for a hundred years.
The old building, like a frail old man, stands quietly deep in the old city, forgotten by time and abandoned by the world.
Only the underground spiritual veins, ceaselessly nourishing day and night, silently nurture the secrets sealed within this place.
The main entrance to the building consisted of two heavy, black lacquered wooden doors. The door panels were cracked and warped, and the door knockers, covered in patina of copper rust, hung silently. The hinges were covered in a thick layer of dust, clearly indicating that the doors had not been opened for decades. Snow Empress stepped forward, raised her hand, and gently touched the door panel. She subtly gathered Spiritual Power at her fingertips and slowly exerted her power.
Without any harsh creaking or unusual noises, the door, covered in a thick layer of dust, was slowly pushed open, creating a gap large enough for one person to pass through. The accumulated dust fell off in a flurry, landing silently, and the stale, decaying wood smell mingled with the coldness of the earth, wafted out.
"Go in." Snow Empress stepped back, gesturing for Yin Wujou to go first, and followed closely behind. She then closed the door again, leaving only a tiny gap for ventilation, completely concealing their presence.
The building was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, and not a ray of moonlight could penetrate it.
Ordinary people entering this place would only find complete darkness, unable to discern directions or see anything clearly. But Yin Wujou's Spirit Vision was fully activated, and the outline of the entire space, the beam and pillar structure, the steps and passageways, and the remaining Spiritual Power patterns all appeared clearly before his eyes, with light and shadow intermingling, distinct layers, and no obstruction.
The lobby was spacious and empty, littered with discarded old files, rotten wooden shelves, and broken bricks and tiles. The once neatly arranged filing cabinets were all crooked and collapsed, with yellowed pages scattered all over the floor, piled up in layers, most of them already rotten and blackened, crumbling into dust at the slightest touch. The traces of the thorough search conducted by the Imperial City Bureau were everywhere, with overturned tables and chairs, damaged cabinets, and a general mess, enough to imagine how large-scale and exhaustive that search must have been.
But in the end, they gained nothing.
Because everyone was fixated on the conclusion that "the files were stolen and leaked," no one suspected that the files had never left the area and were hidden deep underground beneath their feet.
"The underground entrance is directly north of the lobby." Snow Empress's voice echoed softly and clearly in the empty, deathly silent lobby. "When the old building was renovated, the entrance to the underground warehouse was deliberately concealed, and the Spiritual Power stairs were removed, leaving only a hidden door connected to the spiritual veins at the bottom. Even if an ordinary cultivator searched the entire building, they wouldn't find a trace of the entrance."
Yin Wujou stepped forward, his footsteps treading on the dust and scraps of paper scattered on the ground, steadily walking towards the north wall of the main hall.
Under the Spirit Vision, the seemingly flat and intact blue brick wall concealed completely different Spiritual Power patterns. The surface of the wall had the ordinary aura of ordinary bricks and stones, but inside it was wrapped with a layer of fine array base veins, crisscrossing and in line with the underground spiritual veins and the restrictions of the secret room. It was the pre-set secret door array that Yun Su had personally set up.
The alignment of the twelve time points does not directly open the core of the secret chamber, but first unlocks the front hidden door, revealing the underground passage, and then delves deeper layer by layer, ultimately breaking the main array of the secret chamber.
Yin Wujou took off his shoulder pouch, carefully removed the finely forged iron plate, and placed it steadily on the open ground directly in front of the north wall, holding it flat with both hands.