354: Rich

Mu Qingxian led Jiang Donghua through layers of corridors, which were covered in powerful sound wave restrictions, finally arriving at the deepest part of Tianyin Hall.

This was not a magnificent hall, but a massive stone cavern formed naturally.

In the center of the cavern, there was no divine weapon or inheritance jade slip, but a strange, massive stone, dozens of zhang high, completely pitch-black and smooth as a mirror.

The giant stone stood silently, emitting an ancient and boundless aura. Inside the stone, countless tiny light points flowed slowly, resembling the movement of stars or the flowing of musical notes.

An invisible pressure permeated the cavern, inspiring awe in anyone present.

The moment he stepped into this place, Jiang Donghua almost subconsciously whispered the object's name.

"Heart-Questioning Stone."

Mu Qingxian, who was walking ahead, trembled violently, suddenly turned around, and her beautiful eyes erupted with unbelievable, surprised delight!

The Heart-Questioning Stone!

This was one of the highest secrets of Sound Valley; only successive Valley Masters and a very small number of core Elders knew of its existence and its true name!

It was absolutely impossible for outsiders to know!

"Senior! You truly do know!"

Mu Qingxian’s voice trembled slightly with excitement. She quickly walked up to the giant stone, turned to look at Jiang Donghua, her eyes filled with unprecedented anticipation and a final trace of caution.

"This stone is the foundation of our Sound Valley's inheritance. It can sense the soul imprint of those who share a deep connection with Sound Valley. If Senior truly obtained the inheritance of Ancestral Master Huanhai..."

She took a deep breath, pointed at the mirror-smooth surface of the giant stone, and spoke with an almost sacred solemnity.

"Please, Senior, place your hand on the stone and circulate a thread of Soul Power. If what Senior says is true, the Heart-Questioning Stone will surely respond!"

Jiang Donghua nodded slightly, his expression calm.

Based on the memories of Venerable Huanhai, he naturally understood the mysteries of this Heart-Questioning Stone.

This object did not test bloodlines; rather, it sensed whether the soul's origin contained imprints or Dao Rhythms left behind by successive experts of Sound Valley.

These imprints might be the result of an ancestor passing away in front of the stone, integrating their life's comprehension into it, or perhaps, like Venerable Huanhai, depositing a thread of their core inherited soul imprint here before embarking on a long journey or perishing, leaving it for fated descendants.

He stepped forward slowly, and under Mu Qingxian's tense and expectant gaze, he slowly raised his right hand and pressed his palm flat against the cool, smooth stone surface.

The stone felt cool and gentle to the touch, without any special sensation.

Jiang Donghua’s mind stirred. He carefully guided the power within his body, which was merged with the soul origin of Venerable Huanhai, separating an extremely faint thread of Soul Power containing Venerable Huanhai’s unique aura, and channeled it through his palm into the Heart-Questioning Stone.

Initially, the giant stone showed no reaction; it remained pitch-black and silent.

Mu Qingxian's heart involuntarily rose to her throat—*could it be*—just as the thought crossed her mind!

*Buzz—!*

The entire cavern suddenly shook!

The pitch-black Heart-Questioning Stone, dozens of zhang tall, abruptly awoke from its eternal slumber!

The countless tiny light points slowly flowing inside the stone instantly erupted into dazzling blue light!

This blue light was not gentle or soft, but resembled the vast, boundless starry sky and the bottomless ocean, carrying an imposing, ancient, and dynamically rhythmic presence!

The light grew brighter and brighter, finally transforming into a massive blue pillar of light that shot skyward, piercing the top of the cavern and illuminating the entire forbidden area in a deep azure!

Dazzling! Vast!

Within the core of this blue light pillar, profound musical note runes could vaguely be seen circulating and appearing and disappearing, speaking of the ultimate truth of a Great Dao.

A powerful and familiar soul pressure slowly emanated from the giant stone.

Mu Qingxian would never mistake that aura; it was precisely the unique soul rhythm of the previous, previous generation's Valley Master, Venerable Huanhai, which she had sensed from the sect's most confidential inheritance jade slip!

"It's the Ancestral Master! It truly is the inheritance imprint of Ancestral Master Huanhai!"

Mu Qingxian was so excited that tears filled her eyes. Without a shred of doubt remaining, she bowed deeply toward the Heart-Questioning Stone, which was radiating blue light, and also toward Jiang Donghua standing before the stone, her voice choked but filled with reverence.

"This junior, Mu Qingxian, greets the Ancestral Master's inheritance! We respectfully welcome Senior's return!"

The blue pillar of light lasted for about ten breaths before slowly receding, finally sinking back into the Heart-Questioning Stone.

The giant stone returned to its original pitch-black color, but its surface seemed to gain a layer of lustrous sheen, as if new vitality had been injected into it.

Jiang Donghua withdrew his palm, feeling the strange sensation of resonance that had just occurred with the Heart-Questioning Stone—or rather, with the last imprint Venerable Huanhai had left in the world—and his heart felt a slight ripple.

This counted as officially receiving the recognition of this ancient sect on this land, he thought.

He turned and looked at the overwhelmed Mu Qingxian, giving a faint smile.

"Now, can you believe me?"

Mu Qingxian quickly stood up, her pretty face still flushed with excitement, her tone incomparably respectful and familiar.

"This junior had many doubts before; I ask Senior to forgive me! From now on, Senior is Sound Valley's most honored guest—no, family! Everyone in Sound Valley is at Senior's disposal!"

With the verification provided by the Heart-Questioning Stone, the last trace of guardedness and doubt in Mu Qingxian's heart completely vanished.

She now regarded Jiang Donghua as truly one of their own, the savior and pillar who had arrived during the sect's time of crisis.

The long-suppressed grievances, anxiety, and heavy burdens finally had someone she could confide in and rely upon.

As she led Jiang Donghua toward the deeper parts of the forbidden area, she began to pour out her woes, her tone full of helplessness and exhaustion.

"Senior, please understand. Although this junior is an Eight-Star Dou Zun, considered an expert in the Central Plains, supporting the enormous Sound Valley alone is truly beyond my capabilities."

She shook her head with a wry smile.

"Facing other equivalent powers, whether it's the recruiting power of the Alchemists from the Pill Tower or the deep heritage of the veteran experts from Flower Sect and Burning Flame Valley, our Sound Valley falls short. Not to mention behemoths like the Hall of Souls; they only need to send out one or two Heavenly Venerates to make our Sound Valley struggle to cope."

"What is most painful is having to constantly be on guard, daring not to expose the truth of the sect's weakness. Every time we negotiate with other powers, we have to force ourselves to maintain appearances, terrified of being seen through. These days of walking on thin ice are truly too difficult."

As they spoke, the two arrived before a seemingly ordinary stone wall.

Mu Qingxian’s expression turned serious. She formed a complex and profound musical note seal with her hands and chanted incantations.

As the seal was completed, water-like ripples spread across the stone wall, and a spatial lock, radiating an ancient and weathered aura, slowly appeared and unlocked.

"Senior, please follow me. This is one of the thousand-year accumulations of our Sound Valley's heritage—the Hidden Medicine Secret Realm."

Mu Qingxian stepped into the spatial ripples first.

Jiang Donghua followed closely.

With one step inside, the scene before his eyes suddenly opened up!

Even with Jiang Donghua’s temperament, having merged with the memories of Venerable Huanhai and witnessed many grand sights, he couldn't help but contract his pupils, a trace of genuine shock surging in his heart!

This was an independently created minor dimension, vast and boundless, stretching farther than the eye could see.

The space was permeated with Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi so dense it had materialized into mist, along with a strange medicinal fragrance resulting from the mixture of tens of thousands of herbs. Taking a single breath made one feel refreshed and accelerated the circulation of Dou Qi.

Looking around, the entire space was divided into countless zones.

In some areas, fierce flames burned, growing Earth Core Fire Lotuses that required an environment of extreme fire attribute to survive.

In other areas, ice sealed thousands of miles, where crystalline Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Bone Ginseng swayed within the freezing cold.

Some areas flashed with Lightning Light, nourishing the Heavenly Gang Wood of Thunder Tribulation. Furthermore, there were vast medicinal fields planted densely with various rare herbs, all aged at least a thousand years!

Dragon Blood Ganoderma, Soul Fruit, Heavenly Hemp Jade Stone Essence, Nine-Tailed Dragon Sunflower—Jiang Donghua even saw several ancient miraculous medicines that had long been extinct in the outside world and only existed in ancient texts and legends!

The sheer quantity, high quality, and comprehensive variety of medicinal ingredients here were simply beyond imagination!

Compared to this, the medicinal storage of Jia Nan Academy was the difference between a country bumpkin landlord and an Imperial Treasury!

Any single herb taken from here would be enough to cause frantic contention among Dou Zong and Dou Zun Experts, yet here they grew in clusters like common flowers and grasses!

"As expected of an ancient sect with thousands of years of heritage!"

Jiang Donghua sighed inwardly.

"This level of heritage is truly terrifyingly profound! If these resources were utilized properly, relying on this medicinal repository, cultivating one or two Half-Saint experts would likely be more than enough!"

He voiced this thought, his tone carrying a trace of emotion.

"With this treasure trove, why should Sound Valley worry about failing to revive? Cultivating a few Half-Saints should not be difficult."

However, upon hearing Jiang Donghua’s words, a look of embarrassment and deeper helplessness appeared on Mu Qingxian’s pretty face.

She sighed softly, pointed at the vast, sea-like medicinal repository, and said with a wry smile.

"Senior is unaware. Although the treasury is rich, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice."

"Our Sound Valley is famous for its musical note Dou Qi, and those with outstanding talent in the path of alchemy are few and far between."

"Currently, the highest ranked Alchemist in the Valley is only a Seventh-Grade Intermediate Elder, along with two Seventh-Grade Low-tier Guest Elders. As for high-tier Seventh-Grade Alchemy Grandmasters, there is not a single one."

Her gaze swept over the top-tier medicinal ingredients that required extremely high alchemy skills to process, and her tone was filled with a sense of powerlessness.

"Therefore, the vast majority of these rare herbs filling the repository can only remain quietly stored here, unable to be converted into pills that could enhance the sect's strength."

"Many of these herbs are even slowly losing their medicinal power because they have been stored for too long. Watching the heritage passed down by our ancestors gradually diminish truly feels like a knife twisting in my heart!"

Hearing this, Jiang Donghua immediately understood. So that was the case!

Sound Valley possessed mountains of gold and silver but lacked the top craftsmen capable of forging them into divine weapons!

The scarcity of Alchemists, especially the gap in high-tier Alchemists, severely restricted Sound Valley's ability to convert resources into strength.

This also explained why Sound Valley declined so quickly after losing its Half-Saint expert.

It was because they lacked enough top-tier pills to cultivate and support new peak experts.

Thinking of this, Jiang Donghua's gaze toward this vast sea of medicine changed slightly.

This was simply a super treasure trove tailor-made for him, inexhaustible and endless!

The corner of his mouth involuntarily curled into a meaningful arc.

"The problem of Alchemists?"

He muttered softly, his gaze sweeping over the endless medicinal ingredients once more, having already made a decision in his heart.