Chapter 35: Crossing the Sea by Deception

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

It was night again.

The Scripture Pavilion of the Cold Flame Sect.

Since the incident at the Heavenly Talisman Hall not long ago, the number of patrolling guards here had doubled compared to usual.

In a dense forest several hundred zhang away from the pavilion, a faint silver figure slowly emerged. Concealed by the night, his face was indistinct, only the outline of his brows and eyes visible.

The figure looked up at the octagonal spire pavilion, which appeared somewhat mysterious in the night. After a moment, he flipped his hand and produced a pale purple talisman, which he affixed to himself.

The purple talisman instantly shattered silently, transforming into several blurry tadpole-shaped runes that danced around the figure before merging into his body.

Suddenly, a purple mist emerged around the figure, instantly engulfing him, causing him to vanish into thin air.

The figure had not truly disappeared, of course, but had transformed into an ethereal existence, drifting directly toward the Scripture Pavilion, paying no heed to the patrolling guards around.

Although the guards constantly swept their gazes and divine senses across every corner, they were utterly unable to detect the figure's presence.

Before long, the figure drifted to the entrance of the Scripture Pavilion.

It was already late at night; the pavilion had long been closed. Faint glimmers of light occasionally flickered on the wide stone door, clearly indicating the presence of restrictions.

The figure muttered incantations, formed hand seals, and spat out a barely visible stream of green qi, which struck the door.

If the green qi were magnified a hundred times, one would see that it was composed of countless tiny runes. Upon contact with the restrictions on the door, these tiny runes merged into them.

The restrictive light curtain seemed to corrode, forming a large hole, through which the figure silently shot inside.

Without the restrictions, the stone door was as good as nonexistent; the figure vanished into it.

The restrictive light on the door flickered faintly and immediately restored itself to its original state.

All this happened in a flash, and the patrolling guards outside noticed nothing unusual.

The figure entered the Scripture Pavilion, and a circular hall appeared before him.

The hall was extremely large, about twenty or thirty zhang across, with over a dozen paths extending from it, leading to unknown destinations.

At the deepest part, there was a pitch-black staircase that seemed to wind upward.

The figure glanced around and silently flew toward one of the passages.

The passage was not long; he soon reached its end, where a closed stone chamber stood.

The chamber door was covered with a white restrictive barrier, just like the outer door.

Above the door was a white jade slab inscribed with the characters "Cultivation Methods."

A glint of joy flashed in the figure's eyes. He spat out a stream of green qi, and as before, the white restrictions corroded to form a large hole, through which he immediately flew.

Behind the stone door was a large chamber filled with hundreds of bookshelves, each covered by a faint red light barrier.

Each bookshelf had several compartments, and each compartment held a jade slip.

Next to each compartment was a label indicating what cultivation method was recorded in the jade slip.

The figure casually walked to a bookshelf, spat out a stream of green qi to corrode a hole in the red light barrier, waved his hand to generate a suction force, drew several jade slips into his hand, and probed them with his divine sense.

After a moment, he frowned slightly and casually tossed the jade slips back onto the shelf.

The cultivation methods in the jade slips were at the Core Formation or even Nascent Soul stage, but they did not seem to be of interest to this person.

The figure moved around the chamber, and before long, he had roughly examined all the jade slips on the shelves. He shook his head, looking quite disappointed.

Without hesitation, the figure turned and flew out, quickly passing through the stone door and returning to the hall shortly after.

He immediately entered another passage nearby, at the end of which was another stone chamber.

At the top of this chamber was also a white stone slab, inscribed with the characters "Spell Techniques."

The figure followed the same procedure, quickly breaking the restrictions on the door and entering again.

Before long, the figure returned and entered a third passage.

In the blink of an eye, over an hour had passed. The figure had explored all the passages, but his brows were tightly furrowed, indicating he had not found what he was looking for.

The figure slowly drifted to the pitch-black staircase at the deepest part, glanced upward, and then floated up.

The staircase was not long; he soon reached the end, where a huge stone door several zhang wide stood.

On either side of the door sat two people cross-legged.

The one on the left was plump and fair, with a large head and big ears, wearing a purple kasaya, seemingly a monk. The one on the right was tall and thin, with a sallow complexion, looking sickly.

However, both had faint light shimmering atop their heads, and the aura they emitted was as deep as the abyss, clearly indicating they were two Void Refinement stage powerhouses!

The two sat with eyes closed, cultivating in silence, completely unaware of what had happened below.

The figure glanced at them, then quickly shifted his gaze to the stone door behind them.

The stone door shimmered with watery light, refracting a prismatic glow. It was evidently much more powerful than the restrictions on the chambers below.

If his guess was correct, behind this stone door was likely the inner chamber of the Cold Flame Sect's Scripture Pavilion, housing the sect's most profound texts. Breaking this restriction would not be easy.

The figure squinted, paused for a moment, then advanced again, his form as light as nothing, landing before the door less than a zhang away from the two Void Refinement cultivators.

At that moment, the plump monk on the left slightly raised an eyebrow, involuntarily opened his eyes, and glanced around.

"What is it, Brother Lingxi?" The tall, thin man on the right also opened his eyes and asked.

"Nothing." The plump monk looked back at the inner chamber door and murmured to himself.

He had not actually detected anything; it was merely a faint spiritual premonition triggered by a certain secret technique he had cultivated. However, the success rate of this technique was not very high. Moreover, considering the layers of restrictions here and the fact that the two of them were on duty day and night, even a Fusion stage cultivator, let alone a Mahayana stage great power, would find it impossible to infiltrate this place without making a sound.

With this thought, the monk slowly closed his eyes again.

Seeing this, the tall, thin man paid no further attention and resumed his cultivation with closed eyes.

The figure had remained motionless throughout. Only after the two Void Refinement cultivators closed their eyes did a faint ripple appear at his brow, and a powerful divine sense emanated from it, quickly covering the entire door, forming a protective barrier.

Then he spat out a stream of green qi, which landed on the watery restriction on the door.

The watery restriction immediately flickered with light, as if resisting the invasion of the green qi, inevitably emitting fluctuations of magical power. However, the two Void Refinement cultivators, isolated by the divine sense barrier, were completely unaware.

The figure changed his hand seals, and the green qi alternately swelled and contracted, changing in myriad ways, contending with the watery restriction, causing a half-zhang area in the center to fade slightly.

Without a word, the figure flickered and vanished into the door.

All this seemed complicated, but from the moment he began breaking the door's restrictions to his disappearance into the door, only one or two breaths had passed. At that moment, the divine sense barrier silently dissipated.

"Eh?"

The plump monk raised his brows again, opened his eyes, and suddenly turned his head to look at the inner chamber door behind him.

The watery restriction on the door shimmered with rippling light, emitting a prismatic glow, showing no signs of abnormality.

But just now, a faint sense of unease had clearly arisen in his heart. Although it had flashed by, it left him filled with suspicion.

"Brother Lingxi, have you discovered something?"

The tall, thin man also seemed to sense something amiss. He quickly stood up, first glanced back at the door, then closed his eyes again, unleashing his vast divine sense in all directions without reservation.

"Brother Qingtao, did you notice anything unusual just now?" The plump monk walked to the inner chamber door, examined it carefully, and asked.

"Unless... someone could fly out of the Scripture Pavilion to a distance of several hundred li within two or three breaths, or break through the Glazed Xuan Water Array personally set up by the Cold Flame Ancestor and enter the inner chamber." The tall, thin man had now opened his eyes, shook his head, and spoke slowly.

Clearly, his divine sense search had also yielded nothing.

"How is that possible? It must have been my imagination." The plump monk smiled wryly and shook his head.

To silently break the Glazed Xuan Water Array within two or three breaths and restore it to normal—even the sect's current Mahayana stage Supreme Elder might not be able to do so.