112. A Celestial Omen (Part Seven)

Qi Fei had spent the last few days tempering his mind, which was no easy feat. He understood the formidable nature of this magical plant; in this cultivation world where sects stood side by side, possessing even a shred of strength meant gaining an opportunity, and each opportunity meant surviving a little longer.

Qi Fei did not respond to Tong He’s words but instead gestured for him to lead the way. Soon, they exited the treasure vault. Although Tong He was well-traveled and knowledgeable, this "Immortal’s Cave Abode," which he had never encountered before, filled him with a sense of novelty. Seeing Tong He’s contemplative expression, Qi Fei dared not disturb him. After all, this was a matter of life and death for their future; whether they could escape this strange place depended entirely on the exploration that lay ahead.

The reason perilous places are fraught with danger is the unpredictability of what lies ahead.

The two cautiously made their way to the outer chamber. Qi Fei immediately retrieved the Iron Poplar Needle from his psychic jade, preparing to take the lead and clear the path for Tong He. However, just as he made the move, Tong He reached out and blocked him. "Hey, kid, don't waste time taking that thing out! You’ve already seen what it can do. Let me use my methods again so you can witness the defensive capabilities of this magical flower."

"That would be fine," Qi Fei replied blankly. Only after he had put away the Iron Poplar Needle did he recall that this magical flower, even when left uncontrolled, had remained completely unscathed under the attacks of the Cold Soul Blade.

Now that Tong He had refined and could manipulate it, the true defensive power of this seemingly inconspicuous little flower, once fully unleashed, was surely a level of strength that Qi Fei could only look up to.

Sure enough, as soon as Qi Fei put away the needle, Tong He brushed his forehead, and the magical plant materialized in his hand once more. Qi Fei opened his eyes wide, not wanting to miss a single subtle movement.

In this state, Qi Fei clearly saw that after Tong He took out the plant, wisps of black, thread-like filaments drifted from his forehead and flowed directly into the flower.

Before Qi Fei could understand the technique, the plain-looking plant seemed to be stimulated; it suddenly bloomed with an intense, bright yellow light. This light seemed to be under control—instead of shining outwards, it instantly formed a white canopy, shielding both Tong He and Qi Fei within.

The large canopy resembled an inverted spinning top, its curvature remarkably smooth.

Qi Fei, however, was not focused on the shape, but rather on the defensive capability of this "lamp shade" of light, which was so concentrated it had become almost tangible. Fortunately, his curiosity was soon satisfied.

After Tong He formed the canopy, he simply beckoned to Qi Fei to follow, walking with an incredibly relaxed gait toward the exit of the chamber, which had been guarded by soul-restraining barriers.

As the two slowly entered the restricted area, images of four beasts flashed around them, followed by sudden bursts of purple lightning.

Yet, these purple bolts, which should have been incredibly powerful, failed to even create a ripple upon the thin white canopy before dissolving into wisps and vanishing. Given the level of this damage, let alone harming those inside, Qi Fei doubted that even if the purple lightning could crack the shield, it would be an impossible feat.

This sight compelled Qi Fei to exclaim, "This truly is an incredibly formidable defense!" Though he didn't know the exact power of the purple lightning, the display alone seemed far beyond the grade of his Cold Soul Blade. After all, purple lightning was inherently sharper than ordinary attacks, and this soul-restraining barrier seemed to surpass even the heavenly tribulations he had seen above the mountains.

Yet, even this level of purple lightning was mere child's play against the defenses of this magical plant.

With such nearly impenetrable protection, Qi Fei and Tong He reached the central hall with ease. After looking around, Tong He beckoned to Qi Fei. "Hey, kid, the room on the left is the practice hall, the back should be the storage room, and the one on the right, which you've entered before, is a garden area. Where do you think we should start breaking the seals?"

"The storage room, of course," Qi Fei replied with a laugh, choosing his target directly without standing on ceremony.

Qi Fei had long known that the garden area on the right had no restrictions and required little effort. However, the practice hall on the left had a mysterious restricted zone, and Qi Fei vaguely felt that it could be used for body tempering; it would be a shame to destroy it.

Thus, as soon as Tong He mentioned breaking the seals, Qi Fei had locked onto the storage room. If there were truly good things in this cave abode, most of them would be in that chamber guarded by the Wind of Hidden Blades.

Since Qi Fei had specified the location, Tong He said no more. He let out a loud shout, and thousands of black threads drifted from his forehead. These threads, acting like living silk, wrapped directly around the magical flower.

The magical plant seemed suddenly activated; not only did the spiritual energy burning around it swell rapidly, but it also formed a vivid, crackling electric snake that lunged fiercely toward the chamber door. Previously, the seals before this room were invisible and impossible to guard against; the purple lightning could cut through metal and jade and was incredibly swift. Back then, Qi Fei had no other way to test the situation other than using his weapons.

But now, with the electric snake produced by the magical plant, these invisible threats were forced to reveal their true form. As the snake lunged toward the cave door, countless purple bolts appeared. Though invisible to the naked eye, they struck the snake, leaving behind patches of sword-shaped voids on its body.

Clearly, this invisible purple lightning was composed of countless invisible, sharp swords! However, sharp as they were, though they pierced the snake and left gaps in its form, not a single sword could defeat it. Consequently, despite the many wounds on its body, the electric snake maintained its form and charged straight ahead.

Moreover, the snake seemed to possess extreme heat; wherever it passed, the ground was scorched black, and a faint sound of cracking could be heard. In an instant, the electric snake, like a great ship riding the waves, reached the cave door.

With a loud "clanging" sound, Tong He grabbed Qi Fei. He even felt the entire cave abode shake several times before the electric snake slowly dissipated and dust filled the air.

The scene was like the end of the world. It took several minutes for the dust to settle before the scene ahead became clear again.

Tong He exclaimed joyfully, "It really is a magical artifact! I never expected its offensive power to be this formidable!" Looking at the completely shattered door, Qi Fei couldn't help but gasp. "Grandpa Tong He, what level of item is this artifact that it can combine both offense and defense? If I wanted to operate this magical flower, what conditions would I need to meet, or what level of cultivation would I need to qualify?"

Tong He sneered, "You are still far off. At the very least, you would need to reach the level of someone like Chu Qingyun before you could barely manage to use this thing."

Tong He put away the magical plant and chuckled, "Don't worry about that for now; you’re still a long way off. Let’s go inside and see what kind of treasures this Soul Transformation stage cultivator has left in their storage room." With that, Tong He stepped over the debris and entered the chamber behind the broken door.

Qi Fei muttered, "It really did break the seal," and seeing that Tong He hadn't triggered anything while crossing the threshold, he followed him into the storage room.

It was a small chamber. Compared to the central hall or the library, which spanned dozens of yards, this room of only a few yards felt somewhat cramped. Because it was filled with many items, the entire psychic jade space looked cluttered. However, no treasure hunter would ever complain about finding too many treasures.

"Kid, you take the left, I'll take the right. Let's get an overview of what's in here." Seeing hundreds of items, chests, and pouches, Tong He muttered after a moment of thought and, without waiting for Qi Fei's opinion, walked to the right side of the room to start browsing. Qi Fei could do nothing but smile bitterly at being left aside.

Although there were many items in the chamber, Qi Fei realized at a glance that he recognized very few of them. He couldn't even identify the items, let alone categorize their rarity or quality—that was an impossible task for him.

Initially, Qi Fei had intended to follow Tong He to learn from him, but the old man had assigned them different paths. Of course, Qi Fei didn't have to follow this, but since Tong He had suggested it, he decided to take a look first. If he encountered anything he didn't understand, he would mark it and ask Tong He later. With that thought, he began browsing the items on the left. But once he started, his fingers began to itch. From the very beginning, he felt that everything stored in this room was a rare treasure.

For instance, in one pouch, there was a well-preserved, seemingly living thousand-year-old Polygonum multiflorum. In that chest, there was a set of inner armor as thin as cicada wings that didn't even show a scratch when poked with the Cold Soul Blade. And so on...

In short, Qi Fei felt that every item he saw would be enough to trigger a frenzy of competition if brought to the Central Continent.

"The things collected by this Soul Transformation stage cultivator are truly peerless treasures!" Qi Fei muttered. He couldn't help but want to gather everything he could identify and store it in his psychic jade. It wasn't that Qi Fei was stingy; it was a common impulse for any martial artist, or any person, to want to claim treasures for themselves. However, because there were so many, he gradually became numb to the shock and was able to browse the collection with a calm heart.

After all, no matter how precious these items were, he lacked for nothing with Tong He around, so he didn't feel the need to claim everything as his own. He decided to just look for now and wait until Tong He was finished. Perhaps it was this mindset that saved him from the impending disaster.

As Qi Fei continued to browse with an indifferent attitude, he suddenly heard a loud, thunderous boom from the right, followed by Tong He’s angry curses: "How strange! This Soul Transformation brat is truly sinister. He set a trap in the storage room! I thought there would be something useful, but it turned out to be nothing."

As soon as Tong He finished speaking, Qi Fei felt everything around him start spinning rapidly. Just as he felt dizzy, his mind suddenly cleared. When he regained his focus and looked around, he was stunned. The scene before him was truly terrifying.

Tong He, who had been buried in the pile of items, was now fully visible. However, the old man looked as if he had suffered a great loss; his spiritual body appeared singed and disheveled. The countless precious items had suddenly grown wings and vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.

Yet, in his disheveled state, his eyes suddenly brightened. He pointed forward and said, "What a formidable person! No wonder he set up an illusion array—it turns out the master control for the entire cave abode is here!"

Following Tong He’s gaze, Qi Fei realized that besides three white jade pouches at the very back, only a glowing stone tablet remained in the center of the room. It shimmered with light and was inscribed with three large characters: "Jade Brilliance Cave!"

"Is this glowing stone tablet, inscribed with 'Jade Brilliance Cave,' the control button for the entire cave abode?" Qi Fei asked, finding it hard to comprehend. According to his habitual thinking, a control button should be some kind of mechanism, like a lever or a gate—only such things could execute commands like opening or closing.

Qi Fei didn't know that cave abodes were controlled by the spiritual consciousness of cultivators; when crafted, a thread of the owner's original soul was infused into them. As for the smooth, square stone tablet, he had never seen or heard of such a thing.

Could this be a rotating control button, where turning left opens something and turning right closes it? Qi Fei wondered, turning his gaze back to Tong He. The old man looked somewhat dazed, staring at the glowing tablet with an expression of deep nostalgia. After a long while, Qi Fei couldn't help but ask again.

Tong He finally replied slowly, "Oh, the cave abode tablet is essentially the control interface for the entire residence." He paused, the nostalgia in his eyes vanishing, and explained to Qi Fei, "You still lack the ability to master this at your current stage. This tablet is refined using special techniques, and the requirements to control it are far higher than those for that magical plant. Moreover, it is controlled via spiritual consciousness, not manually like the switches and valves you’ve seen before."

Qi Fei pointed at the tablet, stunned. "So, it only requires a thought to issue commands?!"

Qi Fei felt incredibly surprised. It really was an existence beyond the Central Continent. He had never even imagined such a thing. Controlling it with a thought—did that mean as long as he had a thought, the tablet would faithfully follow his commands? It was truly a mind-boggling thing.

Of course, having seen so many things that defied his understanding, Qi Fei didn't find it entirely unbelievable. After asking this, he quickly shut his mouth and waited for Tong He to act.

Tong He whispered, "This is actually quite simple; as long as your spiritual consciousness is strong enough, you can refine it in a moment."

Tong He seemed to have guessed what Qi Fei was thinking, but he didn't explain further. With a slight smile, he raised one hand, and countless strands of black, silk-like mist shot from his palm, wrapping around the tablet completely. He then steadied his mind and began to refine it. Although Tong He said it would only take a moment, that was only relative to his refinement of the magical plant.

In reality, Qi Fei waited for several minutes while Tong He remained in that state. Feeling bored, and seeing that Tong He wouldn't be finished anytime soon, he turned his attention to the three white jade pouches at the back of the room.