Gu Yanqing walked along the mountain ridge for about half a shichen, picking up two more decent-quality pieces of Red Gold Sand along the way.
He stowed the ore into his storage bag, then suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Wait.
What was he doing? Why was he searching blindly?
Pressing his fingers to the space between his brows, he opened the system map.
A pale gold light screen unfolded before his eyes, two blips of light quietly blinking at the edge of his field of vision.
The red one was Lin Zhixue, and the blue one was the artifact spirit, the two clustered very close together.
He watched them for a few breaths to confirm the direction, then turned and walked toward the light dots. There was also an unfamiliar gray marker near the dots, likely indicating she had run into another disciple.
Crossing a ridge and passing through a grove of dwarf pines, the figures ahead gradually came into focus.
Lin Zhixue was walking shoulder to shoulder with a female disciple along the edge of a gravel beach, seemingly in conversation.
The female disciple wore the robes of a Yunxiao Sect inner disciple; she was slender, with an unfamiliar face.
Hearing footsteps, Lin Zhixue turned her head, waiting until he walked closer before speaking.
“This is Gu Yanqing.” She turned to Xu Muhe. “And this is Xu Muhe. I ran into her after entering the secret realm.”
Xu Muhe gave a slight nod. “Zhixue mentioned you earlier.”
Gu Yanqing also nodded, acknowledging the greeting.
Xu Muhe’s gaze lingered on Gu Yanqing for a moment.
She naturally knew of him. An inner disciple, mid Foundation Establishment—just like her.
What differed was that the attitude of the study companion beside him clearly went beyond the deference a companion owed to their master.
She didn't pry, merely saying with a smile that since they had run into each other, they might as well travel together, as three people were safer than two.
...
The three continued onward. Crossing the gravel beach, the terrain gradually narrowed, the cliff walls on both sides rising higher and higher, squeezing the daylight into a bright white slit overhead.
Having popped out, Xiaoyu was still chattering away.
“Who would’ve thought you’d find us so fast? Not bad!”
Walking at the very front, Gu Yanqing’s footsteps suddenly slowed.
The sound of the wind had changed.
The wind in the canyon should have blown straight through, but the sound he heard carried a low, muffled whimper, as though something had bent its course.
He came to a stop before an inconspicuous stone wall.
On the stone wall was a sword mark.
It was shallow and old, its edges weathered to a blur. Unless one deliberately stopped to inspect it, one could walk past it a thousand times without noticing.
Yet he had noticed. This was likely the place.
He had seen the description of this sword mark in the original novel.
It was a sword intent inheritance left behind by an ancient hermit sword cultivator before their death, concealed deep within the stone wall, its entrance triggered only by resonating with sword intent.
In the original novel, Lin Zhixue had only found this place after obtaining the Guilan Sword. Now, she had acquired the Guilan Sword ahead of time and had already absorbed the sword intent.
Every condition aligned perfectly.
“Something seems off here,” he said.
He took a step back, vacating the space in front of the stone wall.
Lin Zhixue stepped forward. The moment her eyes fell upon the sword mark on the stone wall, the Guilan Sword vibrated faintly within its sheath.
She rested her hand on the hilt, closing her eyes to sense it for a moment.
“There’s something inside. It’s sword intent.”
Xu Muhe crouched down, drawing a pale yellow talisman paper from her sleeve and affixing it to the surface of the stone wall.
The moment the talisman paper touched the stone wall, its spiritual runes flared, diffusing an extremely faint halo of silver light across the stone.
At a certain point, the halo was blocked by something invisible, forming an irregular boundary.
“There’s a restriction,” Xu Muhe said, standing up and brushing the dust from her hands.
“It seems to be a conditional trigger formation that only permits qualified cultivators to enter. Forcing it open might destroy what’s inside.”
“What kind of condition?”
“Whoever laid the formation used sword intent as the key to the entrance. Only someone who possesses sword intent can activate it.”
“Judging by the structure of the formation, though, what’s sealed inside isn’t sword intent itself, but more likely an inheritance that requires sword intent to comprehend.”
Both of them turned to look at Lin Zhixue.
The Guilan Sword trembled faintly in her palm, water-patterned spiritual light spilling from the seams of the scabbard in response to a silent summons deep within the stone wall.
Xiaoyu drifted out from the jade pendant, tilting its head to study the sword mark on the stone wall. It reached out to poke at it, its finger passing right through.
“This restriction is quite delicately made. Whoever set it up had some real skill.”
“Still a bit lacking compared to this artifact spirit, of course.”
It floated back to Lin Zhixue’s shoulder, urging her in a lowered voice.
“Zhixue, what are you spacing out for? Hurry and press the sword against it! There’s definitely good stuff inside. What if someone else beats us to it if you're a step too late!”
Lin Zhixue drew her sword from its scabbard and placed the tip of the blade against the sword mark on the stone wall, slowly channeling her spiritual power into it.
The sword mark lit up, activating the restriction on the stone wall. Spiritual light spread outward from the mark, sending water-like ripples of light cascading across the entire cliff face.
Then, the stone wall parted.
It slid open soundlessly, revealing a narrow fissure wide enough for only one person to slip through sideways, faint azure light gleaming from within.
“Wait for me outside.”
Lin Zhixue sheathed her sword and turned sideways to step into the fissure. The stone wall slowly closed behind her, swallowing her silhouette in the faint azure spiritual light.
Xu Muhe leaned against the opposite stone wall, a defensive talisman pinched between two fingers. Her gaze swept over the narrow skyline overhead and the canyon entrances on both ends, confirming there were no signs of approaching demon beasts.
Then she withdrew her gaze and glanced at Gu Yanqing.
“You aren't going in?”
“It doesn't suit me,” Gu Yanqing said, shaking his head.
“Besides, I lack the ability to open the restriction anyway.”
“Fair point.” She held the talisman tighter between her fingers. “Then let's stand guard here.”
“Miss Lin is inside by herself. If any demon beast approaches this stone wall, we'll have to hold it off.”
Silence settled over the canyon for a time.
The wind sighed softly through the thin strip of sky overhead, blurring distant birdcalls and beast roars into a muted background hum.
...
Patrolling back and forth along the narrow rock crevice, Xiaoyu confirmed there were no dangerous restrictions around before turning to signal Lin Zhixue to keep moving forward.
“Haven't sensed any formations or demon beast auras for now. It should be safe.”
“Mm.”
Lin Zhixue followed behind with the Guilan Sword in hand, proceeding without impediment and encountering no obstacles along the way.
On a stone platform in the center of the stone chamber lay a yellowed ancient tome. She stepped forward and picked it up, clearly discerning the four characters on the cover: 《Autumn Water Sword Technique》.
She stowed the ancient tome away securely, then turned and retraced her steps out of the fissure.
The Guilan Sword had returned to its scabbard, the faint water patterns on the sheath now noticeably brighter, rippling with a unique spiritual resonance.
Her expression composed, Lin Zhixue looked up at the two waiting outside, the faint trace of sword intent in the depths of her eyes slowly receding.
“I got it.”
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