Qin Mu was overjoyed to receive Guiguzi's teachings, especially the mountain of inheritance within the Heavenly Mystery Tower, which gave him the feeling of a poor man suddenly becoming rich. How could he not be proud and excited?
However, once the initial excitement wore off, he became somewhat troubled. Now a Confucian cultivator, his Tan Zhong acupoint was already open, and his vital energy was abundant. If he continued cultivating, would it clash with Guiguzi's Yin-Yang and Five Elements principles? Guiguzi hadn't explained what to do in such a situation. This was a problem!
However, since they didn't mention it, it shouldn't be a big problem. After all, those who set up the inheritance test are definitely people with cultivation levels. If they needed to change their cultivation methods, they would definitely bring it up. As two powerful figures, they couldn't possibly be unaware of this. Qin Mu pondered carefully.
In fact, it wasn't that Guiguzi hadn't considered this; it's just that he was already on his deathbed when he made these arrangements, which was already quite difficult. Wei Liaozi's abilities weren't sufficient to predict a thousand years into the future, so he never imagined that the person who would ultimately receive the inheritance would be a Confucian scholar.
Whether it's Taoism, Mohism, or others, they all cultivate the Qi Sea acupoint and can assimilate or transform spiritual energy attributes through mental techniques. Therefore, they did not anticipate his situation.
The bewildered Qin Mu was still pondering. He thought, "The Five Dragons Divine Enhancement Method draws the Qi of the Five Elements from the nine orifices through the twelve meridians, mainly to temper the physical body; while the Fierce Beast Turning Circle Method opens the Qi Sea acupoint, which seems to have no conflict with the Righteous Qi."
"At worst, if we find something's wrong, we can just stop. Besides, with so many cultivation methods, even if we can't open our Qi Sea, we can still practice the others."
In the end, Qin Mu decided to cultivate, but he still had to wait and see what Wei Liaozi would do. He had already planned it out in the secret scroll, and those pills were prepared for him.
Although Qin Mu cared a lot about cultivation, he knew it couldn't be rushed. He decided to thoroughly understand the information before cultivating according to Wei Liaozi's arrangements. After all, unlike Qin Yue and the others, he had grown up here and had not only received guidance from relatives but also spent a long time with them.
For Qin Mu, cultivation was still a very unfamiliar thing, which was too difficult for someone who had only been practicing cultivation for a little over a month.
Wei Liao's Secret Manual of Military Administration not only contains information on troop training and marching formations, but also includes supplementary chapters based on his life's experience. The arrangements for its successor are also included.
Just by looking at how he divided the military treatise into thirty-two chapters, such as Heavenly Officials, Military Talks, System Talks, War Power, Offensive Power, Defensive Power, Military Discussions, and General's Principles, one can tell that this is a very systematic military treatise.
Qin Mu knew nothing about leading or training troops, but he was certainly interested, so he decided to study diligently in the future. This was the first time he had ever seen such a complete ancient military treatise. If this were in someone else's family, it would definitely be treated as a family heirloom; they wouldn't even bother to look at it, let alone read it.
With his existing knowledge, Qin Mu believed he should be able to grasp that knowledge quickly; his only weakness was in the area of special abilities.
Qin Mu played with them for a long time before finally putting them away. Now that he had the Heavenly Mystery Tower, he wouldn't leave these treasures out in the open. Losing even a single item, let alone just a tiny scratch, would be a truly heartbreaking situation.
After the initial excitement, fatigue set in. Although my spirits remained high, the tension from the past few days had left me feeling quite stressed.
Qin Mu was asleep, and all the soldiers who had searched the secret realm beyond the pass had returned. As the last rays of sunlight faded on the horizon, wisps of black mist began to rise from the deep pit of the secret realm. The black mist spread from the ground, gradually forming a layer of mist at the bottom of the pit.
Not long after, many more figures came down from the cliff in the valley and headed straight for the deep pit.
"Such a heavy aura of malevolence!" A woman's voice rang out, a lazy and alluring voice that belonged to Hu Meiniang, the beastman.
“Such a heavy aura of malevolence, it seems that the news was right. There really are millions of our people buried below.” A tall werewolf next to Hu Meiniang said with a fierce glint in his eyes.
"The key question is whether the ancestral beast soul bead truly exists," Hu Meiniang said solemnly, looking at the deep pit.
"There's no mistake. Back then, among the million-strong army, although the main force was the wolf clan, the Silver Wolf King of that generation married a member of the Heavenly Fox clan," the old man with the pointed mouth, monkey cheeks, and small eyes said in a high-pitched voice during the day.
"You're here! Go down and see for yourself, don't you know? Even if you don't have the Heavenly Fox Clan's Beast Soul Pearl, as long as it's not the Wolf King's, you can take it as you please," the werewolf said domineeringly.
Hearing the werewolf's words, the others immediately smiled with satisfaction. Hu Meiniang nodded and said, "Silver Wolf King, I will remember this favor."
"No problem! If I wasn't sure there would be something here, I wouldn't have dared to send the entire Silver Wolf Clan out!" The Silver Wolf King grinned and then waved his hand.
As the Silver Wolf King waved his hand, wolves from all around the pit, like raindrops, leaped down without using any tools. If it were daytime, one could see packs of wolves, just like wild wolves, using the protruding rocks on the cliff face to jump down to the bottom of the pit.
Hu Meiniang and the others did not stay on top either, but jumped down as well, and then headed straight for the place with the heaviest evil energy.
After descending into the deep pit, the orcs immediately lit torches, and then, under the command of the wolf king, thousands of werewolves began to dig furiously.
It has to be said that orcs are physically strong; one orc can do the work of several humans. At the very center of the deep pit, another large pit is appearing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Just as Hu Meiniang and the others were starting to get anxious, a loud shout finally came from below: "We've found it!"
"Let's go! Let's go down and take a look!"
The wolf king and his men jumped down without hesitation.
As soon as they landed, the wolf king felt a chill run through his body. Looking around, he saw only piles of white bones everywhere, and they were standing on top of them.
The scene in the pit sent chills down the spines of even these orcs who were accustomed to death. In the firelight, they saw only bones beneath their feet, and the surrounding mountains were also made of bones—it was like a world built entirely of skeletons. Before them stood nine enormous stone coffins, bound by iron chains as thick as a wrist. However, some of these chains were now broken.
“That’s right! It’s the aura of a celestial fox!” Hu Meiniang said, her voice trembling slightly.
"Open it!" the Wolf King commanded, his expression equally excited.
"Aaaaah!" The wolves suddenly went berserk and attacked their companions as soon as they got close to the black stone coffin.
"Not good! The malevolent energy is too strong; they've lost their senses!" Hu Meiniang said in a deep voice.
"Everyone else, scatter!" the Wolf King shouted hastily.
Actually, he didn't need to shout; seeing their companion like this, the other werewolves had already hurriedly retreated.
"Let's go and save them," the Wolf King said, glancing at the people around him.
"It's no use saving them; their souls have already been corrupted by the evil energy," the small-eyed old man said, shaking his head.
"Old man Gray, you have no solution either?" the Wolf King asked in surprise.
There's no way!
"Then kill them, so they suffer less. We'll handle opening the coffin," the Wolf King said with a hint of heartache. After all, those sent to open the coffin were his trusted confidants.
The group flashed and arrived in front of the stone coffin, at which point the frenzied wolves collapsed.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!" Without the wolf king using any weapons, he simply circled the stone coffin once, and the iron chains all fell off.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The others reached out and slapped the stone coffin lid, causing it to fall off.
The stone coffin was opened, and the group's breathing quickened. They exchanged glances and moved closer. When Hu Meiniang looked up, a smile had already spread across her face.
However, her good mood didn't last long, because two other people looked rather grim.
"What's wrong with the old man in gray?"
“The Beast Soul Bead is still there, but it doesn’t have much soul power left. This will definitely have a significant impact on the inheritance,” the gray-haired old man said with a gloomy face.
"High Priest! Is it true?" the Wolf King asked with a crestfallen face.
At this moment, a short, clumsy old man, leaning on a cane, slowly walked over. Without making any move, he floated up, looked at the stone coffin for a while, and then landed.
"Our soul power is indeed running low, but fortunately we arrived in time, so the inheritance won't be greatly affected," the old man said, stroking his beard as he addressed the tense people around him.
"Really? That's wonderful!" the Silver Wolf King exclaimed happily.
“That’s right. Skills are imprinted deep within the soul. As long as the Beast Soul Bead is still there, they won’t be lost. At least the most important part will still be there,” the High Priest explained.
"High Priest is indeed knowledgeable and learned; I admire him greatly," the gray-haired old man said, bowing.
"It's getting late. Everyone should take their ancestors and leave as soon as possible. If the Qin family finds out, there could be trouble," the High Priest reminded them.
"Alright!" the group responded, then reached into the stone coffin, picked up the skeleton inside, and turned to leave. The Silver Wolf King was even more decisive, grabbing the stone coffin with one hand and hoisting it onto his shoulder in one go.
With a howl from the Silver Wolf King, the surrounding wolves scattered in all directions. Soon, the valley returned to calm. The black mist within the crater ceased its upward spread, merely obscuring the bottom, making the crater resemble a deep abyss—a sight to behold and inspire awe.
At this time, the Qin family was still having a meeting at Juyong Pass. Not long after returning from outside the pass, Qin Yue woke up. After checking her over, Qin Yao found that she was fine and breathed a sigh of relief before asking about her experience in the secret realm.
He had also experienced the secret realm back then, but he had to withdraw at the thirty-second level. Although some people were injured, several people never fainted at the same time, and no one ever made it to the final level, so the Qin family members were very curious.
As Qin Yue explained, Qin Yao was very surprised, not only because they had made it to the final stage, but also because Qin Yue had brought back more Five Elements Pills than any previous group had brought back.
"I never imagined that Qin Mu, at such a young age, could create such a divinely bestowed scroll of poetry! Moreover, he is even familiar with the plum blossom seal script. This is truly a divine arrangement," Qin Yao exclaimed.
"Brother, Qin Mu must have received the inheritance," Qin Xian said excitedly.
"I understand," Qin Yao nodded.
At first they were just guessing, but now that everyone is comparing the figures, it's pretty much a certainty.
"The secret realm has been destroyed, and nothing was found inside. It must have all fallen into Qin Mu's hands. We have to make him hand over some of it," Qin Xian said anxiously.
"What did you say!" Qin Yao frowned, staring at his younger brother with displeasure.
"Brother! The secret realm is gone, which means that our Qin family will no longer have any Five Elements Warriors. This is cutting off our foundation! Although we promised them that we would only accept the copy of the inheritance, we never expected that the secret realm would disappear because of this!"
"Our Qin family has paid such a high price, is it too much to ask for a little more?" Qin Xian said indignantly.
"Bang!" Qin Yao's expression changed, he slammed his hand on the table and stood up, angrily rebuking, "Nonsense! The foundation of our Qin family lies in the soldiers guarding the passes and the people of the three passes. For thousands of years, it is they who have fought bloody battles and worked hard to protect the three passes and the Qin family."
Are you really going to ruin the Qin family's reputation for a mere Five Elements Pill? I think that would truly be severing the Qin family's foundation!
"Master, please calm down. Second Master was only thinking of the family and didn't consider things carefully," Wang Wei hurriedly advised.
Qin Xian hadn't expected Qin Yao to reprimand him so harshly. His expression changed several times, and he stood up defiantly, shouting, "That's right! Even after thousands of years, the secret realm couldn't collect all the treasures. He's taking them all by himself! Isn't he afraid of being overwhelmed? Only he knows how much of the inheritance is actually there. If he just takes some random stuff to fool us, are we just going to have to accept it by holding our noses?!"
"Second Uncle!" Qin Yue couldn't help but stand up and interrupt loudly, saying with a serious expression, "Huai Dao is not that kind of person. Besides, based on his contributions to the Qin family, we have no right to criticize him."
Qin Yao looked at his son with satisfaction, nodded to himself, and sighed, "Second son! You don't understand as well as the child. Does our Qin family lack these material possessions? The only thing the Qin family lacks is talent! The ancestors of the Meng and Wang families were both renowned commanders, and their military strategies were no less than those of Wei Liaozi. Why should we abandon the essential for the trivial?"
"The Wang family has truly failed our ancestors. For so many years, we have only been able to guard the three passes," Wang Wei said, shaking his head in shame.
"Brother Wang, there's no need to blame yourself. This was not only a wise decision by our ancestors, but also a reflection of the fact that the Qin family's strength today is incomparable to what it was back then," Qin Yao said, waving his hand to comfort him.
“Father is right. We have so much to learn about our own things, yet we try to learn from others. That would be putting the cart before the horse.”
"Hmph! You have the nerve to say that!" Qin Yao glared at Qin Yue with displeasure and snorted coldly.
Qin Yue froze in embarrassment. He wanted to slap himself; he'd been so focused on talking that he'd forgotten he was a Confucian scholar, the first Confucian scholar in the Qin family's thousand-year history. Qin Yao was already unhappy with his unauthorized actions, and now he'd really messed with him. Qin Yue shrank back, lowered his head, and pretended to be deaf and dumb.
Qin Yue covered her mouth and laughed, "Father, you're absolutely right. I also think Qin Mu isn't that kind of person. Besides, the things in the secret realm might have been damaged when the secret realm was broken. After all, there are so many, where would he put them?"
Although Qin Yue's words were somewhat far-fetched—after all, even if it was shattered, there would still be remnants—there was some truth to them. The Qin family also possessed treasures with spatial storage; as descendants of the Great Qin, their possessions were naturally of high quality, amounting to the size of a house. It was possible that Qin Mu obtained a treasure with spatial storage from the secret realm, but the fact that he could store everything within it made them utterly disbelieving. Moreover, the secret realm collapsed very quickly, and Qin Mu didn't have that much time to collect everything. This was why Qin Yao had sent people down to search.
Of course, they would never guess that Guiguzi was actually involved in setting up the secret realm, and that what Qin Mu had in his hands was not only Wei Liaozi's, but also Guiguzi's rich collection.
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