The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

Xu Changqing mustered his courage, wrapped the fluorite in his spiritual power, and slowly slipped it into the crack in the door.

The soft white light instantly illuminated the space behind the door.

Xu Changqing peered out by the light, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

This is a stone chamber about ten feet square, with long-rotted weapon racks hanging on the surrounding walls.

In the very center of the stone chamber, there was a jade table.

Behind the desk, a gaunt figure sat cross-legged.

The man was dressed in jet-black iron armor, with his exposed skin displaying an eerie bluish-purple hue. His skin was so withered that it consisted of nothing but skin covering bones. His eye sockets were sunken, and his eyes were tightly closed. If it weren't for the chilling spiritual pressure emanating from his body, he would have looked no different from a dried-up corpse.

Qi Refining Level 9.

This is the "living dead" puppet.

Xu Changqing's gaze passed over the puppet and landed on the jade table behind it.

There was a sandalwood box there, its lid half open, revealing a corner of its blue glow.

Even from a great distance, Xu Changqing could sense the pure water spiritual energy emanating from that thing.

Second-tier low-grade spiritual material? Or a water-type magic weapon?

Either way, this thing would be priceless and unavailable if it were sold elsewhere.

With this money, not only can we buy Qi-inducing powder for the child, but we can also replace the entire Cangwu Island's grand formation with a second-tier one!

Xu Changqing carefully moved forward half an inch.

"Click."

The bluestone slabs underfoot emitted an extremely faint grinding sound.

The moment that sound rang out.

The dried corpse, which had been sitting cross-legged and motionless, suddenly opened its tightly closed eyes.

There were no whites in their eyes, no pupils, only two flickering, eerie green will-o'-the-wisps.

"boom!"

A violent aura instantly filled the entire stone chamber, and the dried corpse suddenly stood up, its movements so fast that it left a trail of afterimages in the air.

A rusty longsword had appeared in its hand, and it slashed down at the floating fluorite at the doorway.

"Bang!"

The fluorite instantly shattered into powder.

The blade's momentum didn't diminish; it rushed straight towards the doorway, accompanied by a strong gust of wind.

Xu Changqing felt a chill run down his spine, and his blood seemed to freeze.

Without a second thought, he retreated rapidly, sliding backward along the floor of the passageway.

"clang!"

The long sword slammed heavily into the bluestone ground inside the threshold of the stone gate, sparks flying everywhere, leaving a deep cut half a foot deep on the ground.

Xu Changqing lay prone on the ground three zhang away, his back instantly soaked with cold sweat.

If that knife had struck him, he would be split in two by now.

The puppet missed its target with its slash, but did not pursue the puppet out of the stone gate.

It stood inside the threshold, its eerie green eyes fixed on Xu Changqing, a creaking sound coming from its throat, and the long knife in its hand trembling slightly.

But its feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, and it never stepped out of that threshold.

Xu Changqing lay on the ground, panting heavily. Looking at the puppet standing motionless at the door, he felt reassured.

"As expected, we can't get out."

The Heavenly Mirror is not deceiving me; this thing can only protect the central core and has strict restrictions on its range of activity.

Xu Changqing got up from the ground and dusted himself off.

He then tentatively threw a stone into the doorway.

The puppet sprang up again, shattering the stone, but still did not step across the threshold.

Xu Changqing stood in the passageway, looking at his treasure that was so close yet so far away, and felt a surge of resentment in his heart.

"Can't get it."

Xu Changqing is only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, while this puppet is at the ninth level. Even if this thing is not very smart, the difference in hard power cannot be made up for by any clever tricks.

It would be a huge loss to risk your life here for a chance encounter.

"Where there's life, there's hope."

Xu Changqing silently repeated it twice in his mind.

Since nobody knows about this place, let's just keep it as our own private treasury for now.

It's not too late to take it later when your cultivation level has improved or when you have powerful talismans and magical artifacts.

The most urgent task is to evacuate immediately.

Although the Azure Water Python outside hasn't breached the door yet, it's not good for it to be blocked here indefinitely.

Xu Changqing turned to look at the side wall.

Following the guidance of the Heavenly Mirror, we stopped below the third luminous pearl on the left and reached out to feel around on the wall for a while.

It was cold to the touch and covered in dust.

"Found it."

Xu Changqing touched a slightly protruding stone with his fingertip and pressed down hard.

"Zha zha zha..."

The once perfectly sealed stone wall slowly caved inward, revealing a dark opening just wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

A damp, muddy smell blew out from inside.

This seems to be the place.

Xu Changqing felt much more at ease. He glanced back one last time at the undead puppet still guarding the door and the treasures on the table.

"Brother, keep an eye on things for me. I'll come back to pick you up in a few days."

After saying that, he turned and disappeared into the dark secret passage without looking back.

The secret passage was not long, and it was a slope that went all the way up.

Xu Changqing used both his hands and feet to climb for about half a cup of tea's time, and finally a faint light appeared ahead.

He crawled out of the cave and found himself in a dense reed bed, surrounded by thick ice.

We are now on the surface of the Great Swamp, about three or four miles away from the entrance to the underwater river.

Xu Changqing let out a long sigh of relief and plopped down on the ice.

Although he didn't get the most valuable treasure on this trip, the Cold Marrow Ganoderma in his arms was enough to make him secretly happy.

He touched the hard jade box on his chest, a satisfied smile appearing on his face.

One should not be too greedy.

A gust of cold wind blew, and Xu Changqing shivered. He hadn't felt it while underwater, but now the wind made him shiver.

"We need to get back quickly."

It was already dusk, and a few sparse stars hung in the distant sky.

Xu Changqing dared not delay, so he launched his small boat and sped along the edge of the reed marshes toward Cangwu Island.

The journey has been peaceful so far; those two blue water pythons are probably still struggling with that stone gate underwater.

When we returned to Cangwu Island, it was already dusk.

Xu Changqing didn't use the main gate; instead, he climbed over the wall to enter the courtyard.

After landing, Xu Changqing cast a cleansing spell on himself to remove the mud and cold from his body before pushing open the door to the study.

Inside, the fire in the charcoal brazier burned brightly, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere.

Xu Dayou was sitting there dozing off, his head nodding, when he suddenly woke up with a start when he heard the noise.

"Chieftain! You're finally back!"

When Xu Dayou saw that it was Xu Changqing, his old face instantly relaxed. He quickly stood up to greet him and looked him up and down.

"Are you alright? What time is it? If you hadn't come back soon, I was about to activate the grand formation!"

"There were some twists and turns, but it went relatively smoothly."

Xu Changqing waved his hand without explaining further, walked to the table, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it all in one gulp.

"How's things at home?"

"Everything is fine. Those two traitors are still putting on a show by the fishpond, and there's been no movement from the Zhang family."

Seeing Xu Changqing's relaxed expression, Xu Dayou felt relieved and then lowered his voice to ask:

"Chieftain, did you gain anything from this trip?"

"Of course there is. You'll need to take on more responsibility for the clan's affairs these next few days, especially for the children. Don't let them slack off."

Xu Dayou nodded quickly.

"You can leave it to me with confidence."