All Heavens: Starting with Little Li Flying Dagger

Chapter 160 Thousand-Year Pearl, Ten-Thousand-Year Lamp

In less than an hour, the two cave-dwelling armored creatures had cleared a passage.

"Great, there really is an underground palace over there."

The old foreigner emerged from the passageway covered in dust and shouted joyfully.

The group was thrilled and went through the passage to the underground palace on the other side.

This underground palace is much larger and more magnificent, resembling a royal palace.

The underground palace contains numerous pillars, mostly made of white marble and carved with auspicious beasts. Even more remarkably, there are also many lamp pillars throughout the palace, and the lamps inside are still lit.

"What kind of light is this?"

Someone couldn't help but ask a question.

The old foreigner explained, "This is an eight-treasure glass cup, and inside are pearls that last for a thousand years and lamps that last for ten thousand years."

"A lamp that lasts forever?"

"That's right. The lamp wick for this lamp is specially made, and the lamp oil is also very special. It uses the legendary mermaid oil, which is the oil of a kind of half-human, half-fish creature that lives in the deep sea."

At this moment, Chen Yulou couldn't help but say, "It seems this is the celestial palace where emperors throughout history used to refine elixirs. Everyone must be careful..."

Be careful not to touch anything, or you might trigger a mechanism.

The group carefully searched the underground palace.

"Ooh ooh ooh!"

Suddenly, the Angry Rooster let out another long crow, and without waiting for instructions, it took flight and swooped down towards the west.

"Everyone be careful!"

Having gone through so much, the group had gained some experience. The moment they saw the Angry Sun Chicken take the initiative to attack, they knew there must be poisonous insects present.

Sure enough, many more centipedes appeared around the area.

Moreover, this time the centipedes were significantly larger, some even reaching a foot in length, and their blackish-red color was truly terrifying.

"Quick, spread the medicine!"

Hua Ling shouted loudly, while raising her hand to sprinkle antidote powder around her.

But this time there were too many poisonous insects, and there were also many people traveling with them, so the medicine powder was simply not enough.

Gu Yu tore off a cloth belt tied around his waist and rushed out.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Hong Gu couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"fine!"

Gu Yu shouted, then waved the cloth strip, making a "whoosh" sound, just like sweeping the floor, sweeping away the surging centipedes one by one.

Seeing this, Chen Yulou simply took off his outer robe and ran outside the circle to drive away the centipedes.

From this perspective, he was indeed a competent leader, often taking the lead and rushing to the front lines.

He took the lead, and many disciples rushed out as well, using clothes, belts, torches and other items to drive away the dense swarms of centipedes.

After a while, the centipedes in the hall finally escaped completely.

However, this time, three more disciples of the Unloading Ridge Sect were accidentally bitten by the centipede and quickly turned into a pool of black water.

Chen Yulou sighed and said to the cripple, "Write down the names of the brothers who died. When you get back, you must make sure their families are taken care of."

"yes!"

The kidnapper responded with a heavy heart.

Next, the group continued exploring the underground palace.

After passing through the main hall, we entered a spacious area that looked like a huge courtyard.

In the center is a square, and around it are houses of all sizes.

Chen Yulou couldn't help but say, "It seems this is where those alchemists used to live."

Partridge Whistle nodded: "It should be."

At this moment, seeing that the Angry Rooster didn't seem to be in good spirits, the kidnapper subconsciously pulled out a pocket watch, glanced at it, and couldn't help but say, "Chief, it's getting late. Do you think we should turn back?"

Chen Yulou thought for a moment and said, "Going back would take a long time, and there might be some trouble on the way. Anyway, we brought a lot of dry food, so let's rest here for the night."

"Okay," the kidnapper replied.

The old herbalist couldn't help but remind them, "If you rest here, you'd better be careful, after all, even the Angry-Eyed Chicken needs to rest."

"Okay!" Chen Yulou nodded. "Everyone can rest in the square for a while, light a few torches, and take turns keeping watch."

After finishing his dry rations, Gu Yu walked over to Chen Yulou and Partridge Whistle and whispered, "I'm going to take a look around."

"what?"

Chen Yulou was taken aback.

If it were any other disciple, he would probably have given them a good scolding on the spot—why are you showing off for no reason? Don't you have any team spirit?

However, Gu Yu's demonstrated abilities were so strong that he still couldn't fathom how much more power Gu Yu was hiding.

Partridge Whistle pondered for a moment, then said, "How about I go with Brother Gu?"

Upon hearing that Partridge Whistle was also going, Chen Yulou retorted, "Then let's all go together, so we can look out for each other."

"Alright."

So, Gu Yu and Partridge Whistle each put on a hat with a lamp and walked toward the nearest row of rooms.

These side rooms are hundreds of years old and have not been exposed to wind and sun, so they are very well preserved.

The three of them proceeded cautiously, examining each room slowly and carefully.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be somewhat fruitful.

Some of these rooms were empty, while others were piled with junk that was of little value, but some rooms were somewhat empty.

Some furniture and everyday items were left behind.

For example, Chen Yulou discovered a set of tea utensils from the Tang Dynasty in one of the rooms.

There are also some huanghuali and zitan furniture pieces, which could be exchanged for a considerable amount of money if moved out.

For Chen Yulou, this trip wasn't a complete waste.

Even if the tomb of that Yuan Dynasty general is not ultimately discovered, the furniture here and the items from that previous hall alone would be worthwhile.

Partridge Whistle also searched very carefully.

Unlike Chen Yulou, he was looking for the Brush Dust Pearl, and secondly, elixirs.

In truth, whether it's the dust of the brush or the elixir, the hope is extremely slim.

Leaving aside the Dust Pearl, finding elixirs would theoretically be easier, but if there were truly good elixirs, how could those tomb owners bear to use them as burial goods? They would probably have swallowed them long ago.

As for Gu Yu, he mainly wanted to find some ancient books and recipes related to alchemy.

After all, Ping Mountain was a place designated by emperors throughout history for alchemy, so it's likely that some alchemical practices were left behind, which would be beneficial to his future cultivation path.

Hard work pays off.

After going around in circles, Gu Yu actually found a stack.

The reason he said "a stack" is because what he found were not all ancient books; some were just scattered pieces of paper, or notes and recipes bound by alchemists themselves.

Whether it's useful or not, I'll put it away first.

Partridge Whistle was quite curious about this and couldn't help but say, "It seems Brother Gu is quite interested in alchemy."

Gu Yu smiled and said, "Although most alchemy is a scam, it must have its unique aspects to have been passed down for thousands of years. It wouldn't hurt to study it when you have some free time."

"Hmm, that makes sense." Partridge Whistle nodded. "Indeed, many alchemists only know how to refine mercury pills. Consuming too many mercury pills can kill people, yet ridiculously, many emperors treasure them."

Chen Yulou smiled and said, "That's why most emperors throughout history died young; it's probably because they consumed too much mercury elixir."

Mercury, commonly known as quicksilver.

However, alchemists did not directly use mercury to refine elixirs; they mostly used cinnabar.

The main component of cinnabar is mercuric sulfide, which is indeed a traditional Chinese medicine with calming and tranquilizing effects.

However, just like arsenic, it becomes poison if taken in excess.

Overdosing on mercury pills can lead to heavy metal poisoning, so how could one possibly live a long life?