Chapter 381

Chapter 381: Harvest

As Zhou Luo walked in the passage, he saw the surrounding space twisting like ripples undulating gently.

Upon seeing his entire body enveloped in light, which prevented outsiders from clearly understanding the situation, he took out the formation plate and began searching for the correct route to enter the tomb as Zhao Zhi Xuan had instructed.

Everything was just beginning.

When he held the formation plate in his hand, as a top-level First Level formation master who had the route to break the formation, he became even more adept.

In less than a quarter of an hour, he arrived in a space less than ten square meters.

There, a black coffin lay quietly.

On the coffin, there was nothing; it was extremely plain. Only in front stood two spirit candles, with pale green flames flickering, burning for an unknown length of time.

The power of these spirit candles relied on spiritual stones, so beneath them lay a pile resembling a small mountain of spiritual stones, all of which were medium-quality spiritual stones.

Two-thirds of the medium-quality spiritual stones had dimmed, their power completely exhausted.

Zhou Luo came in front of the two spirit candles, looked at the prayer mat on the ground, and very sincerely bowed toward the coffin.

The deceased deserved respect, as he had once been a Golden Core master; additionally, in the illusion, Zhou Luo had essentially witnessed his life before achieving the Golden Core, so it was proper to offer tribute.

After he performed the kneeling ritual,

the black coffin in front suddenly shot out a beam of light.

The beam of light rose into the sky, and a wispy figure appeared within it; it was exactly the Zhao Zhi Xuan he had seen in the illusion.

But at this moment, Zhao Zhi Xuan looked much older, with all hair white, face covered in wrinkles, yet only those eyes remained bright and sharp.

"It seems I have finally waited for an heir,"

said the wispy figure left by Zhao Zhi Xuan, speaking actively as soon as it appeared.

Without waiting for Zhou Luo to respond, he continued to speak.

"Since you can be here, I assume you passed the illusion formation I left and witnessed my past…"

For the next quarter of an hour, he kept reminiscing about the past, which made Zhou Luo very speechless.

He really hadn’t expected him to be so verbose about this.

It seemed he was unwilling to accept death, wanting to preserve himself longer in this last image left in the world.

Zhou Luo patiently heard out his words until he mentioned his inheritance.

"Henceforth, you will be my disciple, Zhao Zhi Xuan’s disciple. In the ring inside the coffin is the inheritance I left; you can take all of it away."

After delivering his last words, the wispy figure gradually dissipated, and the surroundings returned to tranquility.

Zhou Luo looked at the black coffin, slightly moved his right hand, and a surge of magic power emerged, landing on the heavy coffin lid.

Bang—

Under his control, the coffin lid was successfully moved aside, revealing a fleshless skeleton lying inside.

The skeleton had its hands placed in front of its body, seemingly holding a black exquisite wooden box.

And on its index finger, a ring was worn.

The ring was obscured by the wooden box, so if one didn’t look carefully, there was definitely no way to notice it.

Zhou Luo remembered the last words of the phantom said the inheritance was in the ring.

What about this pitch-black wooden box then?

His eyes flickered slightly, suddenly sensing something amiss with the box.

Sensibly, he chose not to touch it. Instead, he cautiously slid the storage ring off the skeleton’s index finger.

After obtaining the storage ring, he cast a deep, lingering glance at the wooden box before decisively choosing to leave.

The phantom had no reason to deceive him in the end. Since the inheritance was within the ring, it was best not to touch anything else besides the ring.

Securing the ring, Zhou Luo closed the coffin lid and focused his consciousness to peer inside.

Within the storage ring lay a vast assortment of treasures.

Foremost among them was a long, rectangular wooden box adorned with carved golden patterns.

It rested quietly amidst the treasures, yet surrounded by flickers of spiritual light, a faint yet powerful aura perpetually influencing its surroundings.

There was no need for doubt; what lay inside must surely be that spiritual artifact.

He used his mental strength to open it. Inside lay a sword, its entire form pure and snow-white.

The blade was smooth and unadorned, bearing nothing but intricate cloud patterns carved onto its hilt. Golden threads were entwined around it, trailing down as a tassel.

At a glance, it resembled an ordinary fine sword.

Yet what set a spiritual artifact apart was precisely the "spiritual" essence intrinsic to it.

Compared to common magical artifacts, it resonated more profoundly with its wielder’s intent, thus capable of unleashing a formidable force.

Zhou Luo felt genuine interest in this spiritual artifact, but given his current status and strength, handling such a precious item remained beyond his reach.

So, after a single, curious glance, he shut the long wooden box.

With the box closed, his gaze shifted to elsewhere within the ring.

Besides this spiritual artifact, several jade bottles stood there, all containing Second Level spiritual potions, including even one that pulsed with a majestic, potent aura—a Third Level spiritual potion.

As a second level Pill Master, Zhou Luo did not recognize this particular potion, but he could sense its terrifying force.

Consuming such a Third Level spiritual potion would likely bestow a tremendous boost.

At the thought, a smile touched Zhou Luo’s lips.

It seemed the late master had indeed prepared some fine offerings for his successor.

His arduous journey here did not waste his effort.

Clearly, upon leaving, he would need to conduct a thorough exploration.

The emergence of the Third Level spiritual potion dispelled much of the lingering disappointment Zhou Luo felt for not being able to claim the spiritual artifact.

Alongside the spiritual potions, there were talismans, magical artifacts, and other items.

However, they were all at the Second Level; higher-tier treasures had likely already been used by the owner or entrusted to other disciples.

After all, the ruins primarily served for inheritance.

Concerning the inheritance itself, the most valuable pieces would naturally be the stacks of jade slips.

As the Third Level Formation Master, Zhao Zhi Xuan’s greatest legacy likely resided in that mass of formation knowledge.

Though Zhou Luo himself was only a First Level user in formations, with those jade slips and ample time, he might very well ascend to the Third Level one day.

He was determined to master all the four major skills to their pinnacle.

His lifespan stretched long; he had time enough for such pursuits.

Beyond the formation-related jade slips, he also discovered several slips detailing Gu techniques.

Zhao Zhi Xuan was not just a Third Level Formation Master but must once have been a Second Level Gu master as well.

That was why he fused formations with Gu techniques.

Now a First Level Gu master, Zhou Luo had previously pondered experimenting with combining the two disciplines.

Obtaining this inheritance crystallized that thought into a clear path forward.

After that brief survey, his eyes turned to the other jade slips.

His deepest yearning in coming to these ruins wasn’t actually the purported spiritual artifact, nor even the inheritance itself.

It was the dual cultivation techniques.

For him, this was paramount.

Because a new dual cultivation technique could accelerate his own practice speed. Even during Yao Wu’s pregnancy, he could still make progress together with others.

Since Zhao Zhi Xuan belonged to the Hehuan Sect, surely his inheritance included some dual cultivation techniques.