In the secret chamber, Ye Ling yawned, idly watching Feng Ke enthusiastically decipher the puzzles ahead.
Although the secret chamber was cleverly designed, it was ultimately a game for ordinary people. With a sweep of Ye Ling's divine soul, all the mechanisms and puzzles were laid bare.
For him, solving the mysteries of these rooms was as simple as opening a door, utterly boring.
"Hmm, what's this?"
Just as Ye Ling's attention was focused on the other cultivators in the adjacent room, Feng Ke suddenly exclaimed, staring at a piece of jade in the corner.
"What is it?"
Seeing Feng Ke holding a piece of jade, Ye Ling asked curiously.
"This is Snow Dragon Jade. It's an item my master always wore, exactly like the one I have on me..."
Feng Ke took out his own jade and compared it with the one found in the secret chamber. He discovered that the white jade in the secret chamber, apart from being dimmer, was identical in appearance!
"You mean this jade belonged to your master, Su Xue'er?"
Hearing Feng Ke's words, Ye Ling's interest immediately piqued. He walked over and took the jade from Feng Ke's hand.
Feng Ke added, "It seems a bit different, though... There's no spiritual energy within this jade."
"My master and my Snow Dragon Jade were both collected from Kunlun Mountain, and they are filled with abundant spiritual energy. Carrying it can even accelerate the healing of wounds."
"Would you mind letting me see your jade?" Ye Ling examined the jade, finding nothing particularly special about it, and asked Feng Ke.
"Then remember to return it to me." Feng Ke did not hesitate, handing his Snow Dragon Jade to Ye Ling. "My piece and my master's Snow Dragon Jade are mother-child jade. My master told me she had a divine craftsman extract two precious jades from a large Snow Dragon Stone and polish them into their current forms."
"Mother-child jade..."
The moment Ye Ling held the Snow Dragon Jade, he felt the considerable spiritual energy contained within it.
If Feng Ke were to absorb all the spiritual energy from this jade, he could at least directly ascend to the sixth rank!
Such precious jade would be considered a supreme treasure on Earth!
Ye Ling swept his divine soul over the Snow Dragon Jade once more and suddenly discovered a hidden mark within the jade. If one didn't concentrate, it would be difficult to find.
However, the mark within the Snow Dragon Jade was extremely weak, and it would shatter upon contact with spiritual energy, making it impossible to open by force.
"It seems there's a secret hidden within..." Ye Ling murmured, his gaze lowered. "Without special means, I'm afraid it's impossible to bypass that mark and glimpse what's inside..."
This mark was equivalent to a password-protected door. If the password was entered incorrectly, it would self-destruct.
Although Ye Ling possessed immense power and could easily destroy the mark, without special means, he couldn't uncover the secret behind it.
"Whoever made this imprinted lock is a truly brilliant master craftsman."
Ye Ling praised the craftsman who made the jade. Just as he was about to return the Snow Dragon Jade to Feng Ke, his mind suddenly stirred.
He thought of something and immediately recalled the "Jian Shen Yuan" (见神渊) he had extracted from Zhang Mingyu's memory. He learned this divine ability and used it to convert his spiritual energy attributes.
"Jian Yuan Tong!"
Ye Ling let out a low cry, his eyes turning purple, and the surrounding world transformed into black and white lines.
Only the Snow Dragon Jade in his hand remained colorful!
"As expected!"
Discovering that the mark within this Snow Dragon Jade had undergone a special change, Ye Ling's eyes lit up slightly.
This Snow Dragon Jade was a meticulously crafted item by Su Xue'er, and Su Xue'er had a complicated relationship with Ye Feng.
Ye Feng had also spared no effort in attacking the Zhengyi Sect, wanting to obtain the divine ability "Jian Shen Yuan"...
Connecting these events, it was easy to infer that the secret within the Snow Dragon Jade required Jian Yuan Tong to glimpse.
It was likely that the mother jade of the mother-child jade had already fallen into Ye Feng's hands.
Ye Ling's gaze swept over the mark within the Snow Dragon Jade and found extremely fine grooves at the center of the mark.
Jian Yuan Tong could not directly open the mark.
"It seems specific spiritual energy is still needed to open this mark," Ye Ling murmured. Jian Yuan Tong only allowed him to see the keyhole within the mark.
As for the key, it had to be found elsewhere.
Protecting the mark with his spiritual energy, Ye Ling attempted to use the spiritual energy derived from the divine ability Jian Shen Yuan to unlock it, but found that the moment his spiritual energy touched the mark, it showed signs of self-destruction.
"No."
He shook his head, withdrew his spiritual energy, and abandoned the idea.
Seeing Ye Ling staring at the Snow Dragon Jade and studying it for a long time, Feng Ke asked curiously, "What are you doing?"
"Nothing, here's your jade." Ye Ling concealed Jian Yuan Tong and returned the Snow Dragon Jade to Feng Ke. "There's some secret hidden inside this thing, you must keep it safe."
Judging by this jade, it should contain a secret that Ye Feng wanted to know.
Because Ye Feng did not possess the divine ability Jian Shen Yuan and could not unlock the secret within the Snow Dragon Jade, he had come to the Zhengyi Sect.
However, Su Xue'er had only disappeared in recent years, and Ye Feng had sought the divine ability Jian Shen Yuan from the Zhengyi Sect seventy-one years ago. This indicated that seventy-one years ago, Ye Feng was already in possession of the Snow Dragon Jade...
Thinking about it this way, it was likely that the Snow Dragon Jade was not collected by Su Xue'er from Kunlun Mountain... but rather snatched or stolen from Ye Feng.
Coupled with the entanglement between Zhang Zhiyue, Su Xue'er, and Ye Feng...
The threads of past events gradually became clear in Ye Ling's mind.
Unfortunately, Ye Ling had no more detailed clues, and he couldn't piece together the full picture at the moment.
Shaking his head and pushing the matter to the back of his mind, Ye Ling then stood up and said to Feng Ke, "We've played enough of the escape room. It's time for us to reel in the net."
"Mm."
Feng Ke put away both pieces of jade. "This was supposed to be the last room, and we've experienced what we needed to. Let's get down to business."
In the hidden room next to their secret chamber, those cultivators who had been tracking Feng Ke were still reporting about Feng Ke to the young man dressed in gaudy attire.
"So, you're saying that just as you were about to succeed, Feng Ke was rescued by a stranger?" The young man's face was somewhat grim as he asked the cultivators in a suppressed voice.
"What use are you useless people?"
Hearing the young man's somber voice, the five cultivators trembled and quickly knelt, kowtowing, "My lord, spare us! We didn't expect anyone to interfere! Please give us a chance!"
This young man was named Mo Ling, the young master of the Tianyin Pavilion, a sixth-rank cultivator.
When Ye Ling raided the Tianyin Pavilion, Mo Ling was abroad on business and escaped unharmed.
Upon returning to the country, he learned that his father, Mo Qianji, had been killed by Ye Ling, and he was filled with rage, wanting to use the power of the Tianyin Pavilion to avenge Mo Qianji.
However, the Tianyin Pavilion had been severely damaged at the time, and Li Wenjie was already planning to seal the mountain and avoid disaster, disagreeing with Mo Ling's idea of revenge. Thus, a conflict arose between them.
Unfortunately, Mo Ling had already established ties with the Hongchen Pavilion, and coupled with Li Wenjie's cultivation being crippled by Ye Ling, he was no match for Mo Ling.
The Tianyin Pavilion was subsequently purged by Mo Ling.
Now that Mo Ling was in charge of the Tianyin Pavilion, with the help of the Hongchen Pavilion, the Tianyin Pavilion's influence had expanded to its peak in a very short period!
The current Tianyin Pavilion had surpassed its former glory!