Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 212 Further Exploration of Maha
Lu Xingzhou brought a plate of fruit and knocked on Ye Tinglan's door again.

Ye Tinglan opened her eyes from her cultivation: "Go in."

She not only stopped observing, but also stopped listening to their conversation, completely reverting to her aloof and detached self.

But in Lu Xingzhou's eyes, having entered the mortal world, he was no longer considered high-ranking.

"How are you today, sir?" Lu Xingzhou placed the fruit on the table and asked in the manner of a disciple paying respects.

Ye Tinglan glanced at him indifferently, her eyes devoid of emotion: "I'm fine. What is it?"

"Firstly, I wanted to see if you were comfortable with the accommodations, and secondly, I wanted to ask about your travel plans."

"Because you're staying here longer than expected?"

"Yes." They left the capital for a trial, unaware of the unexpected turn of events. They made a special detour to Xiazhou just to see Shen Tang. Lu Xingzhou was there to ease his longing, while Ye Tinglan was there to assess him. In any case, the original plan was to stay for less than two days and leave at any time.

But given the current situation, it seems that leaving won't be possible in the short term.

Ye Tinglan said calmly, "Ever since that divination in the cave, I knew this trip would be delayed. It's just that you are ignorant and incompetent."

Lu Xingzhou: "If I turn around and leave, will the divination fail?"

Are you willing to just turn around and leave?

"..."

Ye Tinglan said, "If I were to leave, I would turn around and leave immediately; you wouldn't let me go anyway. So, tell me, who do you plan to use my power to fight?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled apologetically: "Sir, what are you saying? How could I possibly..."

"I heard it."

"...How could I not plan ahead, sir? We're all family, so there's no need to stand on ceremony with you. Otherwise, you'll think I'm being too formal, won't you?"

Ye Tinglan said calmly, "So you say you hope I can have an easier time, but at the same time you're using me and giving me things to do. Don't you think you're being hypocritical?"

Lu Xingzhou stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then honestly admitted, "If you put it that way, a little."

Ye Tinglan smiled and said, "That's quite honest. It's just that you're a bit shameless."

"Because I consider you one of my own, I feel entitled to ask for your help," Lu Xingzhou said. "Conversely, if you also consider me one of your own and dump some of your burdens on me, wouldn't things be easier?"

Ye Tinglan looked into Lu Xingzhou's eyes, and Lu Xingzhou's expression remained calm.

Ye Tinglan thought about it and realized that he had indeed said these words when he was whispering with Shen Tang: "I would like to help some people" and "I will give back when I have the ability." She couldn't help but feel a little moved.

If he can help Yuan Muyu come up with ideas, why can't he help me?
When you shift your perspective from viewing him as someone who needs to be assessed and guarded against to someone you can rely on as an asset, things seem to become much easier. Not only does it turn a demanding task into an asset, but this asset's effectiveness has been proven time and again.

It seems Elder Xu also said something like, "Won't Yuan Muyu be furious?"

Hmm... Ye Tinglan also feels like touching her chin.

It's like a change of mindset opens up a whole new world.

Actually, when he took on a disciple and diligently taught him alchemy, he naturally hoped for something in return. However, initially, he lacked trust and didn't think about these things. He doesn't know when it started, but trust gradually developed.

Did it start when he kept expressing his desire to make things easier for himself?
But he didn't show it on his face, and simply said, "You are my disciple. If I need your help, isn't that only natural? Why do I need you to show your loyalty?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "That's right."

"Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to leave anytime soon. You can talk to me after you've finished your work. Don't worry about me these days. I don't need any morning or evening greetings. I just need some peace and quiet."

"Uh, we don't usually bother you, sir."

"What I mean is, please keep it down when you're doing things inside."

Lu Xingzhou: “…”

"Furthermore..." Ye Tinglan pondered for a moment, then suddenly said, "There should be a secret realm at the bottom of this mountain, right? This pool of water should be one of the passages."

Lu Xingzhou felt a chill run down his spine.

This gentleman is truly remarkable. She did nothing but look at the pool, and yet she was able to make such a clear judgment.

This is not something that can be done with divine sense alone. The reason why secret realms are so secret is that they are all able to isolate divine sense. The spiritual energy of this spirit pool alone can greatly hinder the spread of divine sense. If it were so easy to find with divine sense, then the Huo family would not have come up empty-handed here before.

Unless her spiritual sense is stronger than that of Grand Tutor Huo, who is of the highest rank.

Since she had already figured it out, there was no point in hiding it, so Lu Xingzhou honestly replied, "There is indeed a secret realm. Would you like to take a look, sir?"

Ye Tinglan smiled enigmatically: "May I look?"

"Since you already know, sir..."

“Knowing that your family has a treasure trove and allowing people to go in and see it are two different things.” “What you’re saying.” Lu Xingzhou chuckled. “What needs to be concealed is the existence of the secret realm itself. Since you already know, sir, let them see it. Who knows, they might even discover some value that we haven’t found yet.”

Ye Tinglan looked at Lu Xingzhou with a complicated expression in her eyes.

This attitude actually shows that he considered himself one of them, while I myself didn't get into the role.

She sighed softly, "Then take me to see it."

The two quickly dived into the pool.

Lu Xingzhou felt awkward about using a wheelchair to waterproof himself in front of her, so he secretly cast a water-repelling spell. He swam quite a distance underwater, almost running out of spiritual energy, his face turning red. Turning around, he saw Madam Ye calmly emerging from the pool, not even a patch of her clothing wet.

Wanting to see her wet is clearly just wishful thinking.

Ye Tinglan stood with his hands behind his back by the pool, frowning as he looked at it for a while: "Given this layout, there might have originally been a primordial spiritual water crystal here... on your leg?"

"Ah."

"What a waste! Is this how you use it?"

"If you hadn't taught me how to connect my bones, I would have wasted even more."

"Are you quite proud?"

Lu Xingzhou laughed: "For me at that time, curing my leg was the biggest pursuit; everything else came second."

Ye Tinglan ignored him and surveyed the waterside on her own: "It would be better to set up an array and cultivate here than up there. Other than that, there's not much to say. Let's look around... wait a minute."

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and saw Ye Tinglan gently touching the sword marks on the cave wall: "How come there are traces of the Frosty Sky and Frozen Moon sword energy here?"

Lu Xingzhou twitched his lips: "Qingli, the girl from Tianyao Holy Land, has been here."

I've not only been to this place, but my wheelchair was also shaken here... Little white hair was so cute back then...

It's a pity that now that I'm at the third rank, things have cooled off again, and all I can do is keep saying we'll be friends, sob sob...

Ye Tinglan looked at Jianhen with a meaningful gaze, thinking to herself that her little disciple was starting to hide things from her master... This secret realm was obviously very important, not only related to the Tianxing Sword Sect, but also to the changes in the entire Xiazhou landform. Such an important matter, yet Qingli hadn't reported a single word.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. If this had gotten out back then, it would have been a devastating blow to Shen Tang, so it was absolutely not something that could be easily told to outsiders.

Is Master an outsider?

Seeing her finally step into the secret passageway, Lu Xingzhou breathed a sigh of relief.

It's a bit outrageous that such a mere sword mark can identify the Frosty Sky and Frozen Moon... Could you be any more amazing and identify the composition of the water that once existed underground?
After passing through the secret passage into the original cave, the iron corpse that had died in the core of the cave had been collected by Shen Tang in a corner stone house.

Lu Xingzhou remembered this and specially opened the stone house for Ye Tinglan to see: "Sir, take a look at this ancient corpse."

Ye Tinglan crouched down to examine him for a moment, then her expression changed slightly: "Huiyang!"

Lu Xingzhou's heart skipped a beat.

Huiyang...Superb!
In the Great Qian Dynasty, there are only two officially recognized Super Grade individuals: the Imperial Preceptor Ye Tinglan and Emperor Gu Zhanting. Perhaps the royal family and the Tianyao Holy Land each have some reclusive ones, but their numbers are definitely not large. Adding in the demon race, other countries, and a very small number of special demonic creatures, Super Grade individuals are still extremely rare, like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

But someone died here for no apparent reason.

Furthermore, the original owner of this place, Maha, must also be of the highest rank, and must still be alive at this time, though we do not know where he is.

This ancient corpse and Maha don't seem to belong to any of the power systems known in the Great Qian Dynasty. They don't even seem to belong to other countries. If a powerful force from another country were to die quietly in the Great Qian Dynasty, it would have caused a major diplomatic incident long ago. It wouldn't have happened so quietly, and no one had even heard of it.

So the question is, what is the origin of this ancient corpse and the Maha?
Ye Tinglan examined it, her expression growing increasingly grim: "Ziwei Profound Technique... Taiyi True Water."

The first term refers to the body techniques practiced by the ancient corpse, while the second term is the root cause of his being poisoned to the point of having his intestines rotten.

Bringing Madam Ye here was definitely the right decision; her broad knowledge and experience allow her to see many things that others couldn't before.

"Are these all ancient techniques and treasures that have been lost to the world for a long time?" Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but ask, "But this place was formed at most a hundred years ago."

"This place was found by them later, and it doesn't represent their origins." Ye Tinglan's expression was very serious: "The origins of these people may represent an ancient world unknown to modern people, which can be corroborated by what our sect knows."

boundary……

Lu Xingzhou's expression also turned ugly.

If the concept of planes is involved, the worldview changes a lot. What we think is the Great Qian Dynasty today might just be a drop in the ocean.

He still asked somewhat cautiously, "How did you determine that it is from another realm, rather than a reclusive sect? Didn't you yourself come from a reclusive sect?"

"There is another realm in this world, perhaps it can be called the Celestial Realm, or perhaps not." Ye Tinglan stood up and replied earnestly, "Everyone knows that there are immortals, but where are they today?"

(End of this chapter)