The Sect Leader's Secret Chamber

After Kang Dabao had packed up all the treasures, especially hiding the Black Bone deep at the bottom of his Storage Bag, he called over his two junior brothers and pretended that he had just discovered the cave abode.

His words were met with disbelief from the two men, and the three of them searched the tomb carefully for another two days.

The main tomb contained only a few funerary objects, while in the secondary tomb chambers, the three of them only found about ten Spirit Stones and a few bottles of pills suitable for the Qi Refining Realm.

The reason is that the jade bottles used to hold the pills are all ordinary items, and the pills inside have almost completely dissolved, so it's hard to say what benefit a cultivator could gain from consuming them.

However, adhering to the principle that any spiritual object found for free is still a spiritual object, Sect Leader Kang Da was still reluctant to throw it away and picked up the pill as well.

It doesn't matter much if the cultivator can't eat it; he plans to take it out and feed it to the old donkey.

"Sect Leader, your prediction was indeed correct. There really are Lion Insect in this tomb, and quite a few of them!"

Just when everyone was about to give up, Pei Yi excitedly walked out of a dark room that was not easily noticed, holding a dozen or so soap-bottomed, snow-patterned insect eggs, his face full of excitement.

Fortunately, these insect eggs can survive for hundreds of years; otherwise, if they were discovered, everyone's excitement would have been in vain.

This was their biggest find after lingering here for two days. Previously, Kang Dabao and his two junior brothers had searched through all the stone slabs and bricks in the tomb, but they hadn't found anything else of value.

"Phew, that's good. We've been out for a while now, let's head back." Kang Dabao happily accepted the package and packed it into the spirit-gathering box he had prepared beforehand.

Although the treasures in the coffin of Gu Huntong were already incredibly precious to the Chongming Sect, Sect Leader Kang Da still didn't want to miss out on such a valuable item as the Lion Insect.

It should be known that if the Lion Insect is cultivated properly, it has the potential to grow into Second-Tier Lower-Grade after several decades, and it is common for it to live for a hundred years thereafter.

If a top-tier Qi Refinement cultivator can master this technique, even an ordinary Foundation Establishment can attempt a battle against him.

Within the Chongming Sect today, this is considered a priceless treasure, and could even be used for inheritance, so it must be carefully preserved. Unfortunately, although the sect has some books on raising spirit insects, they are of too low quality, and there are not many predecessors who are skilled in this art.

Most of these were simply items brought back from the outside world by the sect's predecessors through various fortuitous opportunity and acquisitions, and they were in a chaotic state. If one wanted to cultivate them, it would probably require a lot of effort to carefully organize them.

Kang Dabao then decided to write a letter to He Dezong after returning home. He thought that this elder brother often traveled outside and could help Chongming Sect find information about such classics.

You could also ask that annoying guy who just moved from Linghe Market to Chongming Market, and have him find out some information too. At most, the rent will be raised less in the future.

"Senior Brother, may I go to Hong County first and then return to the sect?" Jiang Qing hadn't been out for a long time and was somewhat reluctant to go back.

He was a bit of a chivalrous person, and after being confined to the sect by Kang Dabao for so many days, he was really getting bored, so he mustered up his courage and spoke in a weak voice.

"What's the point of going to Hong County? Be careful that the eldest son of the He Household doesn't slip a He Household into your room in the middle of the night. It'll be hard to explain then, and you might not be able to get back." Kang Dabao glared at him irritably.

Pei Yi turned his head and smiled, thinking to himself, "Although the sect leader was being a bit humorous, it's not entirely impossible. That elder brother from the He Household is no simple character either."

"How could such an absurd thing happen? Senior brother, please don't joke like that." Upon hearing Kang Dabao's words, two blushes appeared on Jiang Qing's thin face.

The young swordsman recalled the several beautiful female cultivators who always passed by him during his previous visits to the He Household; their fair skin was dazzling and somewhat alluring.

"Hmm, of course they would." Kang Dabao snorted. Did he think that Daoist Master didn't know the dirty tricks of these small cultivation Lineage? In order to deceive people and use them for their own purposes, the He Household must have done their fair share of despicable things.

Even if the Little Sanzi wants to get married, he'll have to sell himself for a good price—no, he'll have to find a good match!

If he waits until he reaches the Foundation Establishment before marrying, maybe he can even marry a Foundation Establishment cultivator?

At that time, Chongming Sect will have two Foundation Establishment in one family. Wouldn't that make me a tyrant in Pingrong County?! Wouldn't I be the undisputed restorer of the dynasty?! How could I possibly escape that?!

"I even spent so many Spirit Stones to bring the Second back from Xuanwei City. Can't you see how short- Sect Leader Kang Da made the decision unilaterally without thinking.

Jiang Qing didn't dare to talk back, his handsome face flushed red as he sulked, ignoring Kang Dabao's attempts to speak along the way.

He would only give a perfunctory reply when Pei Yi approached him.

Fortunately, on the way back, Kang Dabao's mind was completely occupied by the treasures stuffed in his Storage Bag, and he had no mood to talk to his two junior brothers.

Caught in the middle, Pei Yi mistakenly thought the two brothers were sulking, which put him in a very difficult position.

After trying to start a conversation, no one responded. Pei Yi then gave up on the idea of mediating, mounted his Black Blood Colt, and turned to seriously consider his own Dao Path.

He has been stuck at the bottleneck of the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining for several years, and now he sees even Kang Dabao catching up while he is still making no progress.

It is well known that the longer a cultivator's bottleneck persists, the lower their chances of breaking through it become. How could Pei Yi not be anxious?

"How about I follow Junior Brother Yuan and get married? Maybe that will cheer me up? Hmm, but which female cultivator should I marry?"

Jiang Qing was sulking, Pei Yi was deep in thought, and Kang Dabao was preoccupied with his own thoughts. Their demeanor was quite different from their cheerful and talkative manner before they arrived. On the way back, the group remained silent the entire way.

Thinking that the contents of the Storage Bag were of great importance, Sect Leader Kang Da had no choice but to travel day and night with his two junior brothers. In this way, they only spent half the time they had taken to get there before they saw the archway of the Sect Leader Kang Da Chongming Sect.

As soon as the three arrived at the central hall, Kang Dabao dismissed all the juniors who had come to greet them, telling them to go back and cultivate diligently.

Jiang Qing and Pei Yi, also preoccupied with their own thoughts, returned to their respective courtyards. Kang Dabao, on the other hand, decided to go back to his room for a short rest.

But then Yuan Jin came running over angrily, recounting all the big and small things that had happened while Kang Dabao was away. He then turned around and plunged into the weapon-refining room, angrily refining magical Law Artifact.

Kang Dabao didn't have much interest in paying attention to him. After listening, he felt that they were all trivial matters not worth mentioning, so he returned to the sect leader's room on his own.

In the corner of the cloud room near the bed, there was a red array plate.

Inside the array plate was a small beast with a carapace on its back, enveloped in a protective shield made of blazing sun Spiritual Qi. The beast inside possessed an extremely rich life force, constantly drawing nourishment from the Spiritual Qi to grow strong and healthy.

If this Little Qi sent by Lord Shan is to be carefully nurtured in order to have a chance of breaking through to the Second Tier, the cost will certainly not be less than that of training a core disciple.

Just the consumption of this small spirit-nurturing array plate alone requires Sect Leader Kang Da to spend about thirty Spirit Stone every year.

This doesn't even mention that Little Qi needed to be fed with various kinds of spiritual flesh and herbs during its growth process.

However, the spirit beasts belonging to "Hidden Six" generally don't produce much.

If they just keep consuming without giving anything back, over several decades or even centuries, it would become a huge expense for the Chongming Sect.

Let's leave Little Qi aside for now; it looks so comfortable that it doesn't seem like its "wild old man" self at all.

Kang Dabao took out the sect leader's token, and the large bed in the center of the cloud room split in two, revealing an extremely narrow passage. He had to turn sideways to laboriously walk down.

Fortunately, the passage was not long. After only the time it takes to smoke half a pipe, Sect Leader Kang Da reached the end of the passage and arrived at the door of a secret room.

The existence of this secret chamber can be considered one of the few things within the Chongming Sect that can be called "secrets".

The Chongming Sect has been passed down for nearly two hundred years, and the few remaining essential items were hidden here by Master Kang Dabao before his death.

For example, the two fundamental collections of the Chongming Sect, namely, the "Detailed Explanation of the Seven Columns of the Delusion-Breaking Golden Eyes" personally handwritten by Patriarch Zhang and the original genealogy he brought from the Fenli Zhang Household, are both placed here.

Even Kang Dabao only learned of the existence of this secret chamber when his master was on his deathbed. His master had previously said that if someone who had reached the Foundation Establishment misjudged the location of the secret chamber, they would not be able to find it, and even if they did find it, they would not be able to open it immediately.

When those senior disciples divided the sect back then, although they thought they had completely wiped out the Chongming Sect, they actually failed to find this core location.

Even if we find them, it won't be a big problem, because the secret room only contains the two fundamental collections mentioned earlier.

Standing at the entrance to the secret chamber, Sect Leader Kang Da wiped the sweat from his brow, thinking that he should find a time to widen the passageway.

Then he pushed open the stone door, which was about the height of a person. The secret chamber was not large, only about two zhang in diameter, and the ceiling was less than one zhang high.

Even in such a small space, the secret room still looked empty. Only two emerald Jade Slip were placed side by side, leaning against a black wooden frame, huddled together for warmth and relying on each other for survival.

"Aside from the founding patriarch, my master, and myself, these sect leaders are all incredibly extravagant."

Kang Dabao couldn't remember how many times he had grumbled to himself, only that he would complain every time he came here.

"Hey, if you didn't accept me, the restorer of this sect, as your sect leader, how could you unworthy disciples face Patriarch Zhang? Watch me fill this place up today!"

Sect Leader Kang Da took out the treasures one by one from his Storage Bag, checked them carefully, and placed them on their respective wooden shelves.

"Suspected prototype of Law Treasure, suspected Third Tier talisman, Cosmos Rank, Lower Grade Cultivation Method 'Water Moon Light-Splitting Art' (can be cultivated to the Golden Core Early Stage), two Foundation Establishment Pill Vast-Tier Superior-Grade Cultivation Method, one inch of Purple Empyrean Wood, high-grade celestial-level cultivation technique 'Yi Wood Evergreen Art' (can be cultivated to the Golden Core Perfection), Vast-Tier Lower-Grade Cultivation Method 'Purple Flood Dragon Li Fire Art' (can be cultivated to the Foundation Establishment Perfection), one peck of Flowing Light Sand, and one Six Harmonies True Yang Jujube."

The unassuming black wooden frame in this secret room is actually Law Artifact.

As long as someone places an object on it and reads its name aloud clearly, the blue nameplate below it will automatically display the name in cloud-shaped script.

Well, it's a bit of a letdown, but it still manages to reflect some of the foundation of a once-great Foundation Establishment sect.

When Sect Leader Kang Da finished taking inventory, he discovered that there were still many spiritual materials and items he didn't recognize, and it was hard to say whether there were anything better than the prototype of Law Treasure among them.

This put him in a difficult position. The sect's expenses were considerable, and the spirit fields had only just been developed, with low output. It would be good enough if they could barely break even.

The only business that can be considered Chongming Small Pavilion is now only making a little money. Not to mention that so much capital was invested in it before. After a few years, it can barely break even. In recent years, it has been extremely difficult to inject funds into the Chongming Sect.

Therefore, according to Sect Leader Kang Da's original intention, he was to pick out some unused spiritual items from this acquisition and take them to the auction in Han City to exchange for some Spirit Stone.

But the spiritual materials I know are all rare and valuable; they're easy to sell, but difficult to buy.

If you try to sell unfamiliar spiritual materials, you risk being cheated and selling them for a low price.

"Hey, looks like I'll have to find time to exchange the heads of the Four Ghosts of the Liu Household for Spirit Stone. I was thinking of keeping them as a reserve for now."

Thank you to Brother Qi Xiu for the 100-point reward!

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