The valley was quiet, yet beneath its serene facade, Tao and Jian knew they had little time. The ashen robed cultivators were determined to enter this realm and had evidently been planning for a long time. Long enough to have secured the location with a formation that only Shenli could break. That meant there was something here worth taking. Jian exhaled slowly, his grip on his sword still tight. "We should move. If those robed figures get through, we don’t want to be here when they arrive."

  Tao nodded, scanning the valley’s untouched formations. Weak remnants of defensive arrays flickered along the terraces and stone paths, some barely holding together, others still glowing with ancient energy. Whatever this sect had once been, it was clear they had gone to great lengths to protect something. They moved cautiously, stopping at the first intact formation that flickered weakly over a cluster of overgrown terraced fields. Through the shimmering barrier, they could make out rows of spirit plants, their auras dense, untouched by time. Some glowed with faint golden light, others pulsed with deep green hues, radiating medicinal potency far beyond what they had seen before.

  Jian frowned. "This formation still holds, even after all these years. We can’t break it through technique, can we?" Tao shook his head. "No. But it’s old. If we keep attacking it, draining it of Qi, it will collapse." Together, they struck, sending waves of Qi crashing against the formation. It rippled and resisted, but with every impact, the energy holding it together weakened. Minutes passed, sweat forming on their brows, before the barrier finally flickered and shattered.

  The scent of untouched spirit herbs immediately filled the air. Jian crouched near a lush stalk of some sort of grass that gave off waves of heat. "These are still in perfect condition." He plucked one carefully, storing it away. "This must be higher than profound grade. I bet we could sell materials like these for a fortune." Tao, meanwhile, had his eyes on a different plant, blue with petals curling in on themselves, exuding a soft, misty aura. He carefully excavated it from the soil and stored it in his satchel. He wasn't sure if he could store plants he wanted to keep alive in his spatial ring. He had heard that artifacts like these would only hold inanimate objects. He wanted to try and preserve the plant if possible. He moved over and plucked a couple of stalks of the fiery grass.

  "We can’t take everything," Jian reminded him. "It took us a long time to bring down that formation. The pavilion is still our priority. We can’t be here when those cultivators break in." Tao nodded, though part of him hated leaving treasures behind. But there was no time. The ashen robed cultivators could enter at any moment. Reluctantly, he righted himself and followed Jian hastily towards the pavilion.

  Unlike the overgrown terraces, the pavilion had withstood time itself. Its dark wooden beams, polished and adorned with delicate carvings, remained untouched by decay. A soft golden glow flickered along the edges of its tiled roof, the last remnants of protective formations still clinging to their purpose. Jian stepped cautiously up the stone steps. "Whatever’s inside... it was meant to last."

  Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

  Tao followed, pushing open the heavy doors with measured force. Inside, the air was thick with medicinal fragrance. The room before them was lined with jade shelves. They seemed to have been designed to house jade slips and scrolls, but only a few remained. Evidently, the previous owners had hastily packed the most valuable ones before leaving. At the centre, a pill furnace sat cold, its surface etched with complex inscriptions. It was rust red in colour and seemed incredibly valuable.

  “Do you think this is what the cultivators were after?” asked Tao.

  Jian didn’t reply immediately. He was looking at one of the texts he had taken from the jade shelf. “Tao, come and take a look at this,” he muttered in disbelief.

  Tao strode over and followed his gaze to the flaking parchment grasped in Jian’s hands. “This looks like an advanced text on alchemy. What grade do you think this is?”

  “This must be at least a Foundation Establishment level manual,” murmured Jian.

  Jian ran his fingers over an ancient alchemical text, its pages brittle with age. "This place... it’s not just a cultivation ground. It must have been an alchemist’s sanctuary."

  Tao nodded. "A place where high grade herbs were meant to be refined, not just grown."

  Among the jade slips, they found a technique on soil refinement. They carefully stored the scripts and scrolls in Tao’s ring and were just about to move back to the pill furnace to try and find a way to take it when they heard approaching footsteps. The ashen robed cultivators had entered the realm.

  “Leave the furnace. We need to get out quickly,” Jian said sharply.

  Tao was about to respond when Shenli’s voice slithered into his mind, smooth and taunting as ever. Oh? Are you really leaving so soon? And here I thought you had a shred of intelligence. Hah, typical. Just when things get interesting, you want to run.

  Tao stiffened. "Shenli..."

  Jian glanced at him, but before he could ask, a sudden pressure bore down on them. The very fabric of the pavilion seemed to unravel before their eyes. The jade shelves, the rust coloured pill furnace, everything flickered, twisted, and then vanished like a dissipating mirage.

  Shenli clicked his tongue, amusement curling in his voice. Look around, little cultivator. This place is too neat, too… curated. Do you really think this is all there is? Tsk, I almost feel sorry for you.

  Tao barely had time to process Shenli’s words before reality shattered.

  They were no longer in the same pavilion.

  The space around them was vast, far more imposing than what they had seen above. The air was thick with ancient Qi, pressing against their skin like unseen hands. Before them stood a towering stone stele, covered in intricate carvings that pulsed faintly with power. The inscriptions burned into their eyes, filling them with an overwhelming sense of something vast, something beyond them.

  And at the base of the stele sat a small golden furnace, its rim decorated with coiling dragons, their open maws seemingly frozen mid roar.

  Jian inhaled sharply. "What is this place? How did we end up here?"

  Tao swallowed. "This must be the legacy they are after... It’s incredible."

  Shenli chuckled, his tone dripping with satisfaction. Ah, there we go. I was starting to get bored. What was above was just a distraction. Learn quickly... unless, of course, you don’t care about surviving what comes next.