Chapter 366 - Karmic Creation Art, second stage
The seventh floor was the highest and smallest building, but there was still a long corridor that stretched for over twenty zhang. There were dozens of rooms on both sides of the hall.
The corridor was empty and unguarded. However, the energy fluctuations from before were like a large net that covered the entire corridor. If anyone thought that they were safe and stepped inside, they would immediately be alerted by the people hiding in the darkness.
However, these people did not include Xiang Yun. His Turtle Aura Technique was originally able to completely conceal one's presence, making it even more perfect. With Xiang Yun's improved cultivation, he would naturally be able to perfectly conceal his presence.
Even so, Xiang Yun still cautiously took a step forward, slowly moving towards the corridor, afraid of causing any movement at all.
In truth, every inch of his muscles and bones were moving in rhythm with the Turtle Resting Technique in his body at this moment. His body had already reached its peak state as he used his spiritual will to observe his surroundings, preparing himself to deal with any sudden situation at all times.
They pa.s.sed by seven to eight rooms without any sound, similarly without any unusual fluctuations, until finally, after pa.s.sing by the eighth room, a sound rang out from inside. Xiang Yun immediately halted his steps, realizing in shock that the sound had been made by Hu Rui!
At that moment, in the room, Hu Rui was standing there with a bow. He was looking at the old man with a hunched back. His eyes were filled with reverence and caution.
"Since the president wants you to stay here, you should stay in your room. You know the rules of the seventh floor. If you walk around and get killed, you can't blame anyone else." The old man's voice was very casual as he commanded.
"Alright!" The old man acknowledged, and then the sound of the door opening was heard.
He wanted to hide back to the end of the corridor, but he was afraid that it would be too late. His gaze swept across the room and he immediately rushed to the door on the opposite side, immediately pus.h.i.+ng the door open at a uniform speed. Using the Hundred Transformations Movement Technique, he quickly entered, and then quickly closed the door with lightning-fast speed.
In the center of the room, there was a large square chair facing the south. In front of the desk was a black square table with ink and paper neatly arranged on it. On the wall opposite of the desk, there were a few large red wooden bookshelves placed side by side.
Xiang Yun was just about to sigh in admiration, thinking that these barbarians actually had such a great time of leisure and elegance.
Unexpectedly, the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door behind him, as well as an old cough. It was the voice of the old man that he had heard talking to Rui earlier from the opposite room.
Xiang Yun was shocked. Could it be that this old man had already discovered him? Impossible! His reaction speed was extraordinarily fast, and with the Turtle Aura Technique concealing his presence, this person would definitely not be able to detect it.
However, at this moment, Xiang Yun could not help but think about it. It seemed that the other party was about to enter the room. His gaze subconsciously swept over the study room. Immediately, he saw a huge object in the corner of the room …
The next moment, the door creaked open. An old man with a long snow-white beard walked into the room. He gently closed the door and swept his eyes across the study.
As if he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, the old man continued to walk towards the desk and sat down on the chair.
Strangely, the old man sat on his chair. He didn't move the four treasures on the table, nor did he look at any books or manuals. Instead, he reached out with his hand.
"Crack crack crack."
The sound of a machine operating could be heard, and then a dull sound like a mountain moving could be heard. The next moment, a secret door slowly opened on the wall behind the study. The old man got up and walked through the door, and the door automatically closed.
After about half an incense worth of time, the secret door opened again. The old man came out with a dark red wooden box in his hand. The old man walked out of the secret door, closed the secret door and walked towards the door.
Before he left, the old man glanced at the ink jar that had been placed in the study for a long time, whether intentionally or unintentionally. A glint flashed across his eyes, but he quickly opened the door and left, closing the door behind him.
Xiang Yun, who was hiding behind the inkwell, clearly felt the old man leave. In that moment when he stopped, his heart couldn't help but tremble. He felt as if he had been discovered, but also felt that it wasn't real.
Seeing that he had not been discovered, Xiang Yun tiptoed over to the study table. Glancing at the bronze censer that was fixed to the table, he extended his hand to grab the base and twisted it slightly to the right!
"Crack crack crack."
The secret door opened and Xiang Yun entered. The moment he stepped inside, the door automatically closed!
Upon entering the secret room, Xiang Yun first subconsciously used his hand to cover his eyes, feeling a wave of dizziness. When he took a close look, he was immediately stunned.
He was stunned by the mountainous pile of cloud crystals, herbs, beast crystals, cultivation methods, and martial skills. This seemingly small secret door was actually such a vast secret room. Furthermore, it was filled with a large amount of treasures.
He took a quick look and saw a small mountain of cloud crystals in front of him. Although they were all low-grade cloud crystals, just by looking at the amount of cloud crystals, he could tell that there were at least tens of thousands of them.
What was even more shocking was that not only were there clouds crystals, there were also all kinds of herbs with abundant spiritual energy. There were also a huge amount of Snow Ginseng, Prunus vulgaris, and all sorts of rare herbs.
Adding on to the mountain of Cloud Beast Crystals, the wealth inside this secret chamber could be said to be as rich as a country's. At least outside of Wind and Cloud Country, the wealth gathered in the treasury of the thirteen subordinate states might not be more than here.
He was almost certain that this was the Gesun Trading Company's treasury.
However, he could not understand. It was impossible for a small trading company to ama.s.s such a huge fortune even if they were to make a killing every day. Just where did they obtain so many treasures?
As Xiang Yun was feeling suspicious, his gaze suddenly swept over to the center of this room filled with treasures. There was actually a circular stone pillar, roughly half the height of a person, covered by a layer of light curtain at the top.
Seeing that there was actually a formation here, Xiang Yun's thoughts were immediately piqued. There were so many treasures in the secret chamber without any protection except for this stone pillar which was protected by a formation. Could it be that the items inside were even more precious than the treasures in this room?
"Tsk tsk tsk …" For a moment, Xiang Yun could not help but rub his chin, his mouth slapping upwards as his eyes burned hot.
At this moment, the five crystals were releasing a misty l.u.s.ter. The various colors of the crystals were vaguely connected and intertwined together to form a large net that covered the entire top of the stone pillar.
After circling the stone pillar a few times, Xiang Yun stroked his chin, his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with a trace of wisdom. Finally, he came to a conclusion.
"What kind of array is this? I've never seen it before!"
Xiang Yun knew very little about formations. The ones he was most familiar with were naturally the little Peach Blossom Array that he had set up himself, while the system only needed to set up array flags and the method of using them was rather simple. However, Xiang Yun knew very little about other types of arrays.
Xiang Yun really wished that he could study a few more formation spell books in the past. Now that there was an empty treasure mountain in front of him, he didn't even have the chance to take a look at it. This truly caused Xiang Yun to feel like a cat scratching his heart.
"Is he giving up just like that?" Xiang Yun was a little unwilling, but he did not dare act rashly. For a moment, he felt a little depressed, but at this moment, the system's voice resounded in his mind once more.
"This is a Minor Five Elements Defense Array. It is an array formation of the five elements, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The powers of the five elements will interweave together to form a formation that will endlessly grow as the cycle goes on!"
This was already the second time the system had taken the initiative to speak. Could it really be as the system had said, that it had already leveled up and could be hung up at any time?
Xiang Yun did not care that much. Since the system had already spoken, he naturally could ask it about any problems. As a member of the Wuxia Golden Knight System, its knowledge must be limitless.
"No way!" The system said decisively, "The host must have reached the Mystic Cloud Realm in order to break through the formation with brute force. Otherwise, it would be a waste of my effort and I might even suffer the backlash from the formation."
"Ehh …" Xiang Yun's face immediately darkened, thinking to himself, This system is truly strange. To come out and say so much, could it be that he's trying to tell me not to waste my efforts?
Unexpectedly, the system added, "Host has already entered the second stage of the Art of Creation. You can absorb the natural energy from the five elements to increase your own strength, and you can also absorb the energy from the five crystals in the array. The array formation can naturally be broken."