18: Chapter 18 Stone Chamber Relics, Ancient Cultivation Inheritance

The bone-chilling, dark currents instantly enveloped his entire body, and a powerful suction force tore at him, as if trying to drag him into a bottomless abyss.

Lin Ye held his breath, curled his body, protected his vital points, and let the undercurrent carry him along.

But the long and dangerous drift he had anticipated did not last for long.

After only a few breaths, his body suddenly felt light, as if he had broken through some kind of viscous membrane, and then—

Thump!

He fell onto a hard, dry, and cool stone floor.

There was no water. Not a single drop.

Lin Ye coughed violently, propped himself up, and looked around in confusion and uncertainty.

This was definitely not the main pool of the "mystic yin true water"!

Instead, it was a huge, ancient stone chamber built entirely of some kind of blue-gray rock!

The stone chamber was circular, about ten zhang in diameter and three zhang high. The dome was embedded with dozens of egg-sized beads that emitted a soft white light, illuminating the stone chamber as if it were daytime.

In the center of the stone chamber was a raised circular stone platform. The platform was empty, but it was engraved with silver runes so complex they were dizzying. These runes faintly formed the outline of a Formation, which was currently dim and lusterless.

On the walls surrounding the stone chamber, eight arched doorways had been carved, but seven of them were sealed by heavy stone doors. Only the doorway directly opposite where Lin Ye had fallen had its stone door left ajar, revealing a deeper darkness behind it.

The air was filled with a faint smell of dust and a kind of... extremely ancient and vicissitudinous aura.

What made Lin Ye's pupils contract even more was that when he focused his gaze on the stone chamber, a large expanse of golden text appeared in his field of vision! It was denser than anything he had ever seen before!

[Location: Immortal Cave of the ancient Cultivator 'Master Xuanyuan' · Outer Chamber Stone Room]

[Remaining Opportunity:]

[1. Central Stone Platform: Damaged 'Small Teleportation Formation' (One-way, requires specific token and Spirit Stone to activate, destination suspected to be the Inner Chamber or elsewhere).]

[2. Third Carving on the East Wall: Contains the guidance diagram for the first level of the incomplete Body Refining Cultivation Technique "Mystic Jade Body".]

[3. West Wall Recess: Contains an abandoned Pill Furnace (Tier 3), with a small amount of 'Jade Marrow Powder' remaining at the bottom (can be consumed, has a weak Body Tempering effect).]

[4. Behind the North Stone Door (Ajar): Passage leading to the Inner Chamber entrance (has a Restriction, requires breaking or a token). There may be weak residual Spiritual Qi inside the passage.]

[Warning: The stone chamber has a weak warning Restriction (already ineffective). The Inner Chamber Restriction is intact; danger is unknown.]

[Countdown: None (Can be explored).]

Ancient Cultivator's Immortal Cave! Teleportation Formation! Body Refining Cultivation Technique! Pill Furnace residue!

How could this be a dead end? This was clearly the gate to a treasure trove!

Lin Ye's heart began to pound uncontrollably. But he quickly forced himself to calm down. The visualization of the Opportunity showed "Can be explored," but "Inner Chamber Restriction is intact, danger is unknown." This outer chamber looked safe, but who knew if there were hidden traps?

He first checked his own condition. He had some scrapes from the fall, but nothing serious. The frost cloak had long since dissipated while passing through the waterway, but the Qi Concealment Technique was still maintained. The ancient ring on his left hand emitted a steady, cool sensation and did not give any warning.

He stood up, did not immediately touch anything, but instead walked around the edge of the stone chamber, extremely slowly and cautiously, observing carefully.

The carvings on the walls were mottled, mostly depicting scenes of cloud seas, immortal mountains, and Cultivators discussing the Dao, but the third carving on the east wall indeed depicted a human figure in various strange poses, with ancient cloud seal characters annotated beside it; it was exactly the guidance diagram for the "Mystic Jade Body". He silently memorized it.

In the recess of the west wall, there was indeed a half-person-high, dust-covered, three-legged, two-eared dark red Pill Furnace. The furnace body had a crack, and its Spiritual Qi was completely gone. He carefully brushed away the dust at the bottom of the furnace and found a small pinch of crystal-clear, snow-like powder that emitted a faint, clean fragrance; it was the "Jade Marrow Powder". He took out an empty jade bottle (which had previously contained the fire flame pill) and carefully collected it.

Finally, he came to the central stone platform. The silver rune Formation was extremely complex, and he could not understand it at all. However, there was a groove at each of the eight corners of the Formation; seven of them were empty, and only one groove contained a small, dim, fingernail-sized piece of milky white jade.

"Token fragment? Activation energy?" Lin Ye guessed. He tried to input a trace of weak Spiritual Qi.

There was no reaction.

He then took out a Low-Grade Spirit Stone and tried to place it into another empty groove.

As soon as the Spirit Stone was placed inside, the silver runes on the entire stone platform suddenly lit up for a moment, and then with a soft "pop," that Low-Grade Spirit Stone instantly turned into powder, its Spiritual Qi drained, and the runes dimmed once again.

"Not enough energy, or... it requires specific attribute Spirit Stones, as well as more token fragments." Lin Ye realized. This Teleportation Formation could not be used for the time being.

His gaze finally turned to the stone door on the north side that was left ajar.

The Inner Chamber entrance...

Lin Ye did not rashly enter.

He first returned to the Pill Furnace on the west wall, poured out half of the Jade Marrow Powder, and swallowed it directly. The powder melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a gentle, warm current that dispersed into his limbs and bones. A faint tingling sensation came from his muscles and bones, as if they were being nourished and strengthened. The guidance diagram of the "Mystic Jade Body" appeared in his mind, and he took the Opportunity to assume the first pose, guiding the warm current to flow along a specific route.

The effect was immediate! His fatigue and internal injuries recovered quickly, and his body seemed to feel a bit lighter. This Jade Marrow Powder indeed had miraculous effects on Body Refining, but it was a pity that the amount was too small.

Next, right beside the Pill Furnace, he began to comprehend and practice the three basic poses of the first level of the "Mystic Jade Body". This Body Refining Cultivation Technique emphasized using Qi for Body Tempering and transforming strength into jade to enhance defense, power, and endurance. It was exactly what he needed to make up for his weakness in close combat.

With the auxiliary help of the residual medicinal power of the Jade Marrow Powder and the subtle nourishment the ancient ring provided to his body, his progress was quite fast. Although he was far from mastering it, he could already barely perform the poses and feel a trace of blood and Qi condensing and strengthening.

After cultivating for about an hour, feeling that his state had been adjusted to its best and that he was familiar with the environment of the stone chamber, Lin Ye finally walked toward the stone door that was left ajar.

The stone door was heavy, and when he pushed it open, it made a muffled "rumbling" sound that echoed in the silent stone chamber.

Behind the door was a passage sloping downward, also built of blue-gray rock, with smaller illuminating beads embedded in the walls at intervals. The passage was not long, about twenty zhang, and at the end was another closed stone door covered with light blue runes!

The door to the Inner Chamber!

The runes on the door flowed slowly like living creatures, emitting powerful fluctuations of Spiritual Qi and a stern aura of Restriction. In the center of the door, there was a palm-shaped depression.

Lin Ye tried to gently touch it with his divine sense.

Hum!

The light blue runes suddenly lit up, and a gentle but irresistible force repelled his divine sense. At the same time, a line of information was projected directly into his mind (it seemed to be pre-set):

"Latecomer, this is where I, Xuanyuan, passed away. To enter the Inner Chamber, one must hold the 'xuanyuan token' or possess a pure water or ice attribute Cultivation Technique (Foundation Establishment Stage and above) and use blood essence to activate the door Restriction. Otherwise, those who trespass will suffer the backlash of the Restriction, and their Divine Soul will be extinguished."

xuanyuan token? Pure water or ice attribute Cultivation Technique? And it requires Foundation Establishment Stage?

Lin Ye frowned. He did not have the first condition. The second condition... "Ice Soul Sword Art" counted as a pure ice attribute Cultivation Technique, but he was only at the first level of Qi Refining, the Foundation Establishment Stage was far out of reach, and the quality of his Spiritual Qi was worlds apart.

As for using blood essence to activate the door Restriction? Who knew what the consequences would be.

This path was blocked, at least for now.

He was a bit disappointed, but it was within his expectations. How could the Inner Chamber of an ancient Cultivator be so easy to enter?

Just as he was preparing to retreat to the outer stone chamber and plan for the long term, his gaze unintentionally swept across the wall next to the Inner Chamber door.

There, there seemed to be an extremely fine crack that was almost blended into the texture of the rock.

And when his gaze fell on the crack, the ancient ring on the index finger of his left hand suddenly transmitted a weak but clear sense of attraction! It was not toward the inside of the door, but toward the crack itself!

Was there something behind the crack?

Lin Ye's heart stirred, and he walked closer to observe carefully.

The crack was indeed naturally formed, only as thick as a strand of hair, winding downward and disappearing at the foot of the wall. He squatted down and gently touched the rock near the crack with his finger.

The tactile sensation... it seemed to be a bit cooler and more "moist" than the surrounding rock?

He pondered for a moment, then took out the black, sinister short blade (already cleaned) from the space of the ancient ring. The blade was dark and sharp; although it was only an ordinary Magical Artifact, it was hard enough.

He carefully aimed the sharpest tip of the short blade at the end of the crack, and then, he mobilized the trace of icy Spiritual Qi in his Dantian and slowly injected it into the short blade. At the same time, he also channeled the wisp of sharpness from the ancient ring and attached it to the tip of the blade.

"Ssh..."

The tip of the blade easily pierced into the rock at the end of the crack. It wasn't piercing through, but rather it seemed to "melt" into it? The rock at that spot was unexpectedly soft!

His wrist was extremely steady, and he slowly cut and pried along the direction of the crack.

A thin piece of stone, the size of a palm and less than half an inch thick, was completely removed from the wall by him.

Behind the stone piece was a small, man-made hidden compartment!

The hidden compartment was not big, and only one thing was placed inside.

A token that was entirely ice-blue, neither gold nor jade, simple in design, and about two fingers wide!

On the front of the token was engraved an ancient character "Yuan". On the back was a pattern of mist-shrouded mountain peaks.

When this token was exposed to the air, the light blue runes on the Inner Chamber door seemed to fluctuate slightly!

And in Lin Ye's field of vision, the corresponding information also appeared:

[xuanyuan token (Sub-token / Disposable)]: Holding this token, one can ignore the Restrictions on Cultivation Technique and cultivation level, and briefly (three breaths) open the Inner Chamber door Restriction once. After use, the token will be destroyed.

A disposable sub-token! Three breaths of time!

Lin Ye held this cold token, his breathing suddenly becoming rapid.

Should he use it immediately and break into the Inner Chamber where crises and opportunities coexisted?

Or should he put it away for now and wait until he was better prepared (such as when his cultivation level had improved and he had mastered more methods) before coming back?