The letter ended there, with no flowery language and little remorse.
All it held was a trace of understanding left in the final moment of life by an old cultivator who had squandered his years, only to perish in the end.
Silence filled the little building.
Reading the final words of this Foundation Establishment senior named Xu Changlin, the three felt the remorse that had come too late and the anguish of seeking the Great Dao in vain. Their hearts were stirred and shrouded in gloom.
The path of cultivation was this cruel. Even after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment, one could not escape death without continuing to break through, and would eventually be reduced to a handful of yellow earth.
As for why they had not found the remains of Senior Listening to the Waves Rogue Person, he probably had not wished to leave them behind and had dissolved them himself.
"Senior Xu..." Lu Zhiyuan wanted to say something, but no words came. In the end, he could only shake his head slightly.
The three went forward and scoured the little building, taking everything of use.
Those books and curios were not to be underestimated. The sect's Scripture Transmission Hall rewarded those who supplied ancient texts not already in its collection with a substantial number of Merit Points.
Chen Shuangbai, meanwhile, was more interested in the Green Wood Pill Explanation and the Listening to the Waves Notes, which contained the cultivation experience Listening to the Waves Rogue Person had accumulated over half his life.
This, however, was not a good time to study them.
After everything had been put into Jiang Xunzhen's Storage Bag, the three began searching inch by inch.
Chen Shuangbai had asked for this.
He now needed the heart of a Jia Wood Spirit Seed to craft a treasure banner. The Water-Wood Life-Generating Array might have used a Spirit Plant as its array core, so he had to find it and take a look.
Before long, Chen Shuangbai found an opening on the first floor that led underground.
The opening was very well concealed. If his spiritual sense had not been strong enough, he probably would not have found it.
Jiang Xunzhen directed the fire crow to blast the opening wide enough for a person to pass through. The three then followed a long, narrow passage for a little over a li before reaching the valley.
Looking up, they saw dense vines woven across the sky above the valley, crisscrossing and blocking most of the daylight. Even so, some light still fell through, leaving the valley lush and green.
A clear pool lay in the valley, probably formed by an upwelling underground water vein. An earthen platform stood in the pool.
There was nothing on the platform.
"Could this be where Senior Xu usually contemplated mysteries and sought the Dao?"
Chen Shuangbai, however, seemed to sense something. Using the Wind Control Technique, he landed on the platform and dug a pitch-black seed out of it.
"What is this?"
"It should be a Spirit Plant seed, but it hasn't sprouted, so I can't tell what kind it is."
Chen Shuangbai answered truthfully.
"But from what I can see, there doesn't seem to be much vitality inside it. It should be a dead seed."
Lu Zhiyuan felt somewhat disappointed.
He had previously guessed that a Spirit Plant served as the Water-Wood Life-Generating Array's core and had been eager to find it. If they could obtain it, even split three ways, it would have earned each of them a considerable number of Merit Points.
He had never expected it to be a dead seed.
Chen Shuangbai silently put it away.
As long as it isn't dead.
He wanted to take it back and grow it.
The seed was much larger than the seeds of ordinary flowers and grasses, so it certainly belonged to the Jia Wood category. Moreover, it had been kept here, where Spiritual Qi gathered in a valley blessed with pleasant feng shui.
Chen Shuangbai reckoned it was certainly no ordinary thing.
Having reached this point, their exploration of the cave abode should have come to a satisfactory end...
But just then.
Chen Shuangbai seemed to sense something and shouted, "Senior Brother Jiang!"
Jiang Xunzhen had long been on guard against someone setting a trap. Hearing that, he acted without hesitation.
A line of fire shot out beside him and pierced a huge black palm coming straight at them. It then struck the person behind it, sending him flying to the other side of the valley.
"Hand over everything you obtained in the cave abode. This old man is in a good mood today, so I can still leave your corpses whole."
There were five newcomers in all.
One old and two young.
Their leader was a one-armed old man with a sinister face. His right hand rested on an ebony cane, its head set with a dark green gemstone that emitted an ominous green light.
The other four, both men and women, held Law Artifacts of various kinds. Their gazes were cold as they stared fixedly at Chen Shuangbai and the other two, slowly circling like venomous snakes.
At some point, they had surrounded the valley.
Lu Zhiyuan's expression turned somewhat ugly.
Two of the five were at the Late Qi Refining Stage.
The old man in particular clearly had little lifespan left, but his presence was unmistakably that of the Late Qi Refining Stage, and he was very likely at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining or the Ninth Layer.
On their side, Jiang Xunzhen had the highest cultivation, at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.
As the foremost immortal sect in the Jing Kingdom, the Jade Spring Sect naturally had a more profound inheritance than Rogue Cultivators. But when the gap in cultivation was too great, no matter how exquisite one's inherited teachings were, they could not match an opponent who crushed others with sheer power.
Chen Shuangbai summoned the Cold Spring Sword. The deep blue flying sword swayed up and down beside him, its cold light blazing and its chill spreading in all directions.
Lu Zhiyuan took out a gold mace. Earth-yellow spiritual light spread over its shaft, and a heavy feeling radiated outward.
Jiang Xunzhen's Law Artifact drew a glance from Chen Shuangbai. It was a flying shuttle Law Artifact, patterned with red cloud-like designs and divided into three pieces. All three darted nimbly up and down, their surfaces covered in crimson flames.
But what surprised Chen Shuangbai more than Jiang Xunzhen's flying shuttles was something he said.
"Beasts of the Heart-Eroding Stronghold, you actually dared to infiltrate Jade Spring territory?!"
The Heart-Eroding Stronghold?!
Chen Shuangbai was slightly startled.
Disciples of the Heart-Eroding Stronghold have actually appeared in the heart of our territory?!
This is a major matter!
The old man frowned slightly when he heard Jiang Xunzhen expose his identity, but his expression immediately grew more vicious. "I didn't expect an outer disciple of the Jade Spring Sect like you to recognize my sect's great art!"
"In that case, I have all the more reason not to let you live!"
Before he had finished speaking, he slammed his ebony cane against the ground. The dark green gemstone in its head suddenly burst with dazzling light!
A dark green poisonous mist gushed from the gemstone and quickly spread.
Wherever the mist passed, the plants instantly withered and blackened. The pool water sizzled, and sickening bubbles rose to its surface.
"Junior Brother Lu, protect Junior Brother Chen. I'll go kill all these beasts!"
Jiang Xunzhen was a cultivator with a fire-aspect Spirit Root, and the Cultivation Method he practiced was also focused on killing. His way of doing things was naturally one of unmatched valor. He stamped his foot and flew forward, sending the three crimson-flamed flying shuttles shooting straight at the old man.
Lu Zhiyuan grunted in acknowledgment and lowered his gold mace. Earth-yellow spiritual light rose from beneath his feet, forming a shield around him and Chen Shuangbai.
Almost the instant the spiritual light spread into a shield, countless poisonous vines came at them from every direction.
The other four had launched a fierce attack.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
Lu Zhiyuan circulated his Cultivation Method, drawing in the world's primordial Qi to replenish his rapidly dwindling Law Power. This is bad.
One or two would be manageable, but two of these four are at the Late Qi Refining Stage...
I'm afraid my Law Power won't last long.