166: No. 2

Leaving the courtyard, Steward Ding took out the jade bottle, pulled out the stopper, and inspected it.

"Whoosh—!"

As soon as the stopper left the bottle's mouth, a rich yet not pungent medicinal fragrance instantly spread, filling his nostrils.

Steward Ding's pupils suddenly constricted, and his eyes were fixed on the jade bottle in his hand as he repeatedly confirmed, "This... could this be that fifth-grade elixir?!"

One must know that in Biyun City, fourth-grade elixirs were already rare, and fifth-grade elixirs were something only the City Lord could occasionally obtain. He never expected that the Man in White Robes would casually gift a bottle of fifth-grade elixir.

"Who exactly are these three people?"

Just as Steward Ding was pondering, a soft yet sharp shout suddenly came from behind him: "Old Ding, what are you spacing out for? What's that in your hand?"

"Ouch!"

Steward Ding was startled by the sudden voice. His hand trembled, and the celadon jade bottle almost slipped from his grasp. He quickly used his other hand to firmly catch it, his heart pounding. It took him a while to recover.

Turning around, when he saw the person, the panic on his face instantly turned into helplessness: "Young Miss, you almost caused another big disaster just now."

Standing behind him was a young woman in a pale green dress.

Around sixteen or seventeen years old, her skin was fair like congealed fat, and her pair of peach blossom eyes were exceptionally lively. She was none other than Shu Qingfeng's only daughter, Shu Shichan.

Upon hearing this, Shu Shichan pouted and crossed her arms over her chest: "Old Ding, how did I cause trouble? Didn't I just teach that Rogue Cultivator a lesson at the city gate for trying to bully a commoner? Besides, I didn't kill him."

Her tone shifted, and her gaze fell on the jade bottle in Steward Ding's hand: "Stop talking nonsense. What exactly is that in your hand? I smelled the fragrance just now, quickly let me see!"

Steward Ding sighed helplessly, knowing his Young Miss's temperament. If he didn't show her, she would pester him endlessly.

He first cautiously glanced around, then lowered his voice and said:

"Young Miss, you don't know, but just now three distinguished guests came to the mansion to visit the Patriarch. Seeing that the Patriarch wasn't here, and the three of them had extraordinary bearing, I invited them to rest in the mansion temporarily.

As a result, that Young Master in white robes casually gifted me a bottle of Medicinal Pill. I originally thought it was a second-grade or third-grade Medicinal Pill."

Shu Shichan opened her small mouth in surprise: "Could it be a fourth-grade elixir?"

Steward Ding shook his head.

Shu Shichan immediately restrained the casual expression on her face: "A fifth-grade... fifth-grade elixir?"

"Really? Old Ding, you didn't see wrong, did you? A fifth-grade elixir? That's a treasure that even Golden Core Cultivators would fight over! Quick, quickly show me the Medicinal Pill. I've only seen Father consume it once in my life!"

...Inside the courtyard!

After urging Mu Wanqing and the other to cultivate, Chen Xuan turned back into the house, closed the door, and with a gentle flick of his fingertip across his storage ring, a palm-sized, entirely black jade shard appeared in his palm.

Earlier, at the City Lord's mansion entrance, the reason he agreed to enter was because he sensed a trace of mysterious movement emanating from this jade shard.

Chen Xuan closed his eyes, slowly immersing his mind within it. The jade shard at his fingertip seemed to sense his consciousness, instantly erupting with a faint black glow.

The next second, the surrounding scenery abruptly changed. The elegant room disappeared, replaced by a gray, hazy Chaos space, with countless faint gray Qi currents slowly swirling around.

As soon as Chen Xuan stabilized his footing, an exclamation, tinged with a hint of emotion, came from beside his ear:

"A thousand years! Finally, everyone is here. Looking at this situation, the Profound Realm is probably about to experience a major upheaval."

Chen Xuan followed the sound and saw a blurry figure sitting on a seat below the floating number "Two" on one of the eight circular stone platforms emitting a faint white light.

The other party seemed to be looking at Chen Xuan as well.

"No need to waste your energy probing." The figure spoke first, their voice slightly hoarse, making it impossible to distinguish their gender or age: "In this Chaos space, all Divine Sense will be obscured. No matter how high your cultivation or how strong your Divine Sense, you won't be able to see through anyone's true nature."

Chen Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a moment, then said in a deep voice:

"I am Bai Tang of Heavenly Secret Pavilion. Greetings, Fellow Daoist. May I ask your name, Fellow Daoist?"

The figure seemed to be stunned for a moment, then a hearty laugh erupted, shaking the surrounding gray Qi currents slightly:

"Fellow Daoist Bai is truly interesting, much more so than those others."

The laughter gradually subsided, and the figure's tone returned to normal: "As for names, in this space, we refer to each other by the numbers floating above our respective stone platforms. You can call me Number Two."

Chen Xuan understood. The other party clearly didn't believe the alias "Bai Tang," but didn't expose it, implicitly agreeing to this way of interacting without revealing full details.

What he needed to do now was to extract information and inquire more about the function of the Chaos Void Jade.

"Fellow Daoist just said 'everyone is here.' What does that mean?" Chen Xuan pressed on, his gaze subtly sweeping over the other seven stone platforms.

Except for his own position marked with "Six," the other stone platforms, though numbered, showed no figures. Clearly, only Number Two and himself were currently online.

Number Two was quite straightforward, his tone casual: "It's not some big secret anyway, so there's no harm in telling you.

These eight stone platforms correspond to eight black jade shards. After each jade shard recognizes its master, a figure will appear on the corresponding platform. The other seven positions have long had their chosen occupants, but only your Number Six position has been dormant for a full thousand years. I never expected it to suddenly light up today."

Number Two continued: "By the way, Fellow Daoist, do you know about that major event that happened in Heavenly Tribulation Continent a few days ago?"

Chen Xuan was startled. Just as he was about to say "No!" he suddenly realized something.

This old schemer is trying to trick me!

According to Number Two's statement, the Number Six position had been dormant for a thousand years, most likely because the Chaos Void Jade had been hidden until he recently obtained it.

If he answered "yes," the other party would surely press him for his opinion on the "major event," and even follow the clues to deduce his origins.

If he answered "no," he would also reveal a lot of information.

Chen Xuan suppressed the thoughts in his mind and did not answer, but instead countered with a question: "I'd like to hear your opinion first, Fellow Daoist."

Number Two paused slightly, then chuckled: "I didn't expect Fellow Daoist to be such a cautious person."

"Since Fellow Daoist is unwilling to say more, then I will give you a piece of advice: when interacting with others in this space, you must be careful of Number Four."

Be careful of Number Four?

Is he trying to be mysterious, or is he genuinely warning me?

Given the previous lesson, Chen Xuan didn't quite trust this old schemer's words.

"Thank you for the reminder, Fellow Daoist. I'll remember this favor. However, right now, I'm more interested in knowing what this black jade shard is, and what its purpose is?"

Number Two said in a deep voice: "This item is called Chaos Void Jade. It is said to be a treasure left behind by an Immortal three thousand years ago, but whether that's true or false is impossible to verify."

"As for its purpose..." Number Two deliberately drew out his words. Before he finished, he waved his hand, and a stream of light flew from the opposite stone platform, steadily stopping in front of Chen Xuan.

It was a High-Grade Spirit Stone, entirely smooth and moist, with extremely rich Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

Number Two chuckled: "A small meeting gift, for Fellow Daoist. This is one of the functions of the Chaos Void Jade."

"In this Chaos space, those who possess Chaos Void Jade can cross spatial barriers and directly exchange items, without worrying about being intercepted."

Chen Xuan took the Spirit Stone, and said calmly: "I see, that is indeed a convenient function."