Wet viviparity

Chapter 740 Small Waterfall, Shuhan Residence

Arriving at the west side of Purple Soul Peak, Black Owl still couldn't believe he had actually gotten away with it.

Jingjing'er was a chief clerk in Yanshou Palace. There were only four or five chief clerks like her in the palace, and her status was only below that of the Divine General. However, Jingjing'er didn't even verify his words and just let him pass.

Standing before the small waterfall, Black Owl didn't dwell on it further.

Whether Jingjing verifies it or not is his business; even if it is verified, the authorities can find a way to cover it up.

Although he knew that he was in Ziding Mountain and that the resistance that the Pleiades Star Official could deduce from him would increase greatly, Black Owl still didn't act too omniscient just to be on the safe side.

Along the way, he collected several old medicinal herbs and some pine nuts. When he reached the west side of Zipo Peak, he seemed to have stumbled upon a secluded path and groped his way to the Jade Flower Pool. There was a waterfall over the pool, but this small waterfall was just an inconspicuous sight in Ziding Mountain.

There's a hidden paradise behind the small waterfall.

A narrow passage winds its way deep into the mountainside, its smooth, mirror-like crystal walls reflecting the swift silhouette of a black owl.

At the end of the passageway, the view suddenly opens up, widening from narrow to broad. But a rock formation, four or five zhang high, neither gold nor jade, covered with dark moss, blocks the way.

When Black Owl arrived here, he was surprised to find that someone had already arrived and found his way here even faster than him. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the person was a stranger, with a yellow face and red beard, a silk sash around his waist, hemp shoes on his feet, and an iron whip on his back.

The man sat cross-legged, facing Feng Yan, only showing the back of his head to Hei Xiao.

If it weren't for the Black Owl's primordial spirit spying on him, he might have thought he had encountered some kind of evil spirit or filth, and would have had to strike first.

“Young friend, you are quite lucky to have made it this far from the sunny slope. There is a great mystery inside this sealed rock, but unfortunately I have been here twice and have been unable to enter the treasure land both times.”

As he spoke, the man kindly introduced the origin of the sealed rock in front of Black Owl. He said that the sealed rock was created by the old star lord who turned mud into gold and sealed it here by chance tens of thousands of years ago.

Over the years, this place has been agitated by a tiny bit of real water from the pool outside, causing the metal element inside to gradually deteriorate and turn into stone marrow. However, its hardness has increased rather than decreased, causing this person to stop in front of the sealed rock.

"Young friend, do you know the reason behind the saying 'Gold crumbles into stone, but becomes even more solid'?"

The man asked.

Black Owl knew that there was a mysterious method of reversing the five elements in this sealed rock, which is why the sealed rock, which should have turned into rotten stone after the metal element was depleted, showed the opposite properties.

"Why?"

Knowing this, Black Owl pretended not to understand and asked.

"Don't the disciples of the True Spirit Sect these days learn about the Five Elements Escape Technique, the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, and the Qimen Dunjia beforehand, besides their current studies?!"

Your True Spirit Sect isn't like Taiping Mountain, situated in a war-torn region, eager for rapid advancement in cultivation. Even if the True Spirit Sect isn't the dominant Daoist sect in Baoguang Prefecture, it has still enjoyed thousands of years of peace, and its disciples' Daoist learning has become quite sparse.

Seeing the man's tone of a righteous master, and combining it with his physical characteristics, Black Owl had already guessed the other party's identity. He no longer spoke cautiously and said, "Master Huangsang, why do you have to lecture me like this? The problems of the True Spirit Sect are not something that arose overnight."

The man was not surprised that his identity had been discovered.

"The righteous sects rise and fall together. Go back and tell your father that the Heavenly Master of the Huangting Palace True Immortal Temple lineage is not just a figurehead. By the time the Master makes his move, it will be too late for the True Spirit Sect to change things."

After speaking with righteous indignation, Master Huangsang waved his sleeve, signaling that Black Owl could leave.

However, Hei Xiao didn't leave. Instead, he sat down casually, and for a moment, Feng Yan and the other man stared at each other, neither of them saying a word.

Black Owl pretended to fiddle with the sealed rock for a while, and finally Master Huangsang couldn't stand it anymore and spoke up to remind him, but Black Owl retorted, "You have no way, how do you know my method won't work?"

Although he was speechless at Black Owl's words, he was helpless against Feng Yan and couldn't retaliate against the junior, so he could only turn into light and escape. Once the Yellow Mage left, Black Owl stopped attacking.

He waited for a while and saw that Master Huangsang had indeed gone far away. He immediately swept the lower left corner of the dark green rock, removing the dark green and wet moss.

A slight warmth immediately emanated from there, and the cold, hard rock surface revealed a hint of warm jade color. Then, a spell was cast to draw water from outside the passageway, causing the water to shimmer on the surface. Several lines of ancient seal script gradually appeared on the jade-colored rock surface, which read: "Stroking the stone three times, the water opens the cave heaven."

“A treasure trove deep in the mountains, within easy reach.”

Black Owl laughed.

Master Huangsang is the leading figure in the Huangting Palace and Huanglong Temple lineage. In terms of both reputation and spiritual attainment, he is above the level of Zhengti.

However, Master Huangsang was not a person from Yanshou Palace, so he did not know the secrets of this mountain. Jingjing'er did know, but she would not dare to steal from the mountain. Only with his two bodies, one in the light and one in the dark, could he be said to have no taboos.

As soon as the sealing rock was removed, a "crack" was heard, as if the ice layer had suddenly split open from the middle, like a silk curtain being rolled up, revealing a path.

Behind, shrouded in mist, a side hall of a jade mansion was quietly nestled in the mountainside. The mansion's gate was tall and wide, neither made of gold nor wood. Natural ice crystals on the lintel formed the three characters "Shu Han Ju" (漱寒居), with frost patterns running between the characters, revealing the subtle meaning of cold magic.

Standing before the gate, Black Owl couldn't help but imagine which immortal had created this palace when all the immortals gathered at Purple Ding Mountain countless millennia ago, and whether that immortal, like the Old Star Lord, still existed in the world.

Upon entering, one steps onto the crystal-clear ice, where deep within the ice layer are vermilion veins, winding like living things.

With each step he took, the cinnabar beneath the ice would move slightly.

Black Owl knew this must be a forbidden spell within the mansion. After pondering for a while, he realized that he couldn't break it with his cultivation level. However, the old star lord sealed these spirit mansions and immortal pavilions with the intention of providing a safe haven for those destined to live in the mountains.

Although he did not receive inspiration from the Old Star Lord to find this place, this does not negate his destiny.

Thinking of this, Black Owl simply cast a spell to extract the cinnabar veins, thereby stimulating the Shuhan Residence and awakening the predestined connection set up by the old star lord, so that the entire Shuhan Residence would recognize him as its master.

The moment the cinnabar veins touched the black owl's true qi, they immediately grew stronger, as if a vast network of meridians had appeared throughout the icy land, densely packed and interwoven like a net.

In the blink of an eye, the cinnabar meridians had penetrated the icy ground, wandering through the frigid abode. The strands, seemingly possessing a spirit, mixed into the ethereal, gathering and dispersing cold smoke in the void, adding even more power. Then, they surrounded from all directions, gradually approaching the black owl.

"Humph!"

Black Owl snorted, and white breath swirled around him, resisting the attack of the cinnabar meridians. At the same time, he said, "I entered this place and became the master of this spiritual palace. Do you think you can forcibly expel me just because my cultivation is shallow? This is against the wishes of the old star lord."

Upon hearing this, the cinnabar meridians showed no reaction whatsoever, continuing to crowd towards the black owl.

"Something's wrong."

Black Owl was confident in everything he knew. The spirituality contained within this sealed Shuhan Residence was not enough to defy the fate set by the Old Star Lord, so why would it want to harm him?

Seeing the wisps of meridians stirring up wisps of cold smoke, pressing down the surrounding area to just over three steps away, and the Avici Hellfire Qi swirling around him like drills, unable to penetrate him even slightly, Black Owl broke out in a cold sweat.

"Young friend, do not be alarmed. This forbidden technique is aimed at me."

A voice rang in his ears, a voice that was surprisingly familiar, and a name appeared in Black Owl's mind—Cold Mountain Taoist.

Black Owl thought to himself, "That makes sense. I knew he didn't have much time left in the Guangyuan Water Palace. With his temperament, how could he not be paying attention to the news about the Immortal Ladder? He must have been with Master Huangsang just now, using the Yellow Court Outer View - Empty Travel Cold Stone Pool to deceive my primordial spirit."

(End of this chapter)