Chen Chao pondered a lot, but eventually walked forward. He quickly reached the square and approached a female cultivator who was seated there. Crouching down, he observed her carefully.
This was a rather attractive-looking female cultivator with a slender figure. Her age was indiscernible. At this moment, with her eyes tightly closed, her brows were slightly furrowed. It seemed as if she had encountered some issue during her cultivation, something she could not quite comprehend at the moment, and she was still pondering over it.
Chen Chao did not reach out to touch her. The events at the cemetery still played vividly in his mind. Those cultivators had dug up graves for those magic artifacts, and most of them died there in the end. If Chen Chao was not around, it was likely that none of those cultivators would have escaped that place.
They had shown no reverence for history, and there would surely have been severe consequences.
Chen Chao understood this principle well. So, after just a few glances, he stood up and continued walking ahead.
There were cultivators of all ages and genders seated on the square. He even spotted two youths around his own age, all with their eyes closed and expressions serene.
These two youths were seated in the center of the square. They were undoubtedly the young geniuses of this sect. With such treatment, they were not ordinary individuals.
Unfortunately, they had also become dust in history. Apart from their still-present bodies, there was no trace left of them.
Chen Chao quickly reached the end of the square, in front of that palace.
It was a similarly grand palace. Currently, its doors were tightly shut, resembling a slumbering giant, standing quietly in this place.
There were also two cultivators seated in front of the door, also with their eyes tightly closed. However, judging from their attire, they appeared to be disciples of Daoism.
Among the countless cultivators on the square, there was a wide variety of clothing, representing all kinds of cultivation factions. Chen Chao even spotted some cultivators with their flying swords in front of them.
Their swords were placed across their legs. They were likely nourishing their swords.
Chen Chao retracted all his thoughts and shifted his gaze to the large doors in front of the palace. These doors were also adorned with countless intricate patterns, but this time, they were not overly complex. Many of them were actually depictions, illustrating the development of this Rongshan Sect. Starting from the establishment of the sect, to foreign invasions, the resistance of the cultivators, and even shadows of the demon race. But the cultivators successfully fended them off. In these depictions, the Rongshan Sect had experienced numerous trials and tribulations throughout its history. The reason why these cultivators chose to inscribe these significant events was probably so that their descendants would remember them and not forget what had happened.
As Chen Chao scanned these depictions, he roughly grasped everything that had once happened to this Rongshan Sect.
However, the final depiction was somewhat incomplete.
It was on the left side of the door and it was only engraved halfway. Faintly visible was a flying sword and a cultivator with his back facing everyone.
The cultivator should be the owner of the flying sword, and the sword was hovering in mid-air with its tip pointing at the incomplete portion of the depiction.
What exactly was in that picture?
Chen Chao furrowed his brow slightly. He had a vague feeling that it was something of utmost importance, but it could not be seen now.
It did not make sense to give up inscribing the second half of the picture due to some irresistible factor. At least, they had already given up the notion of engraving the latter half of the depiction before the true destruction came.
Chen Chao extended his hand, wanting to touch that incomplete depiction. However, as soon as his hand reached out, he felt a sharp intent, and his finger was cut, causing blood to flow continuously.
There was still a lingering sword intent on the picture. Even after all these years, it was still terrifying.
Chen Chao retracted his hand and quickly stopped the bleeding.
He did not hesitate. There was a voice in his heart that had been urging him to open the palace doors and see what lay inside.
He extended his hand and placed it in front of the palace doors.
These doors were made of an unknown material. It was incredibly special, appearing to be neither gold nor jade, and definitely not stone.
However, they were not as difficult to budge as he had imagined. With a gentle push, accompanied by a creaking sound, the palace doors slowly began to open. There was no dust falling, as if this palace door had been carefully cleaned just moments before.
Countless years of change in the world seemed to be just a fleeting story, as if it had happened yesterday and would only happen yesterday.
As the doors opened slowly, a gentle light appeared before Chen Chao's eyes.
The palace towered into the clouds, but who would have thought that at the very top, there was a canopy made of crystal. As a result, the interior of the palace remained as bright as day, with no sense of concealment.
Upon seeing the palace, Chen Chao's first impression was that it was enormous.
An incredibly vast great hall!
At one glance, this palace appeared even larger than the plaza outside.
If solely comparing in terms of hall size, it was likely that even in the Divine Capital's imperial city, there were no great halls that could rival it. In other words, this kind of sect hall might be something that all of the foreign land sects, including the Infatuation Daoist Temple, could not compare to.
The Rongshan Sect must have been a huge sect many years ago.
Chen Chao stepped into the palace. Looking at its interior design, he became somewhat absentminded.
Soon, he walked deeper into the palace. Visible to the naked eye, there was a long corridor leading to an unknown destination within the palace. Chen Chao had a feeling that he might find what he was looking for in that direction.
However, at this point, even he had almost forgotten that he seemed to be carrying a heavy object on his back.
……
……
In front of the white mist, the black ox arrived slowly. When it saw the white wall, the black ox came to a stop. After hesitating for a moment, it said slowly, "Daoist Master, the place you're looking for is here."
The middle-aged daoist sitting on its back glanced at the thick mist that was thick to the extreme and asked, "Is there more mist behind this white mist?"
The black ox fell silent for a moment, seemingly hesitant about whether to speak. But after some consideration, it still opened its mouth to sway, "This white mist is from a formation that the Rongshan Sect set up in the past. Initially, it was meant to conceal the location of the sect. After all, a large sect shouldn't be too conspicuous. But nobody expected it to turn into this. It seems that the formation has been disrupted. As for the location of the formation's eye, please don't look at me, I really don't know. I was at best a demonic beast guarding the mountain back then. It wasn't even the strongest one. So, I really don't know these secrets."
It looked somewhat worried as it glanced at the middle-aged daoist behind it. The large ox head seemed somewhat cute when it turned, with a rather simple-minded feeling.
"However, after this current white mist, you'll reach the Rongshan Sect's true sect. There should be no more mist. But after so many years, I'm not sure what it will be like either. I don't even know how this sect was destroyed. Back then, I merely took a nap. Who could have imagined that when I opened my eyes again, so many years had passed..."
Every time it brought this up, the black ox felt some grievance. Although it had been hoodwinked up the mountain in the beginning by these people, it later found that these people were not too bad. Aside from being unable to leave this place, at other times, whether was it the spirit medicines in the medicinal garden or the fruits and vegetables, it could eat as much as it wanted. Its treatment was not considered bad at all.
However, it had not even lived like this for a few years when it fell into a deep sleep because it indulged in eating a spirit fruit. When it woke up again, it saw the middle-aged daoist.
This daoist exuded a powerful aura from head to toe. Furthermore, there was also an aura that made it extremely afraid.
"Daoist Master, after we go up the mountain, I'll take you to the medicinal garden first. If the spirit medicines there haven't withered, they should be at least immortal herbs by now."
The black ox's eyes sparkled with excitement. Managing spirit medicines was naturally troublesome, as some were very delicate and required the careful attention of cultivators. A single mistake could cause the spirit medicines to wither and die. However, there were other spirit medicines that did not need such care. Once planted, they could grow on their own, and their medicinal properties would increase with their age. After countless years, they would become truly amazing.
The term 'immortal herbs' was very rare in the world now. The major sects might have one or two immortal herb seeds or were currently cultivating immortal herbs. But most sects' immortal herbs were likely still in the growth stage and not fully matured. In other words, the growth of immortal herbs required a long time. Even if those cultivators planted them countless years ago, after countless years, even if they matured, they might be picked and consumed by the big shots within those sects. It was difficult to preserve them for later.
The middle-aged daoist had already reached the Great Liberation Realm, making him a special existence among Nepenthe Realm cultivators. Advancing further would not be too easy.
If he could borrow the power of immortal herbs, he might have a chance to break through these fetters and take a new step forward
The mention of immortal herbs was naturally able to move the middle-aged daoist.
The middle-aged daoist glanced deeply at the black ox and said calmly, "Don't harbor any other thoughts. Once we find them, I naturally won't mistreat you."
The black ox grunted in agreement and said with some flattery, "Daoist Master, you just enjoy the immortal herbs. When the time comes, I'll only need some fruits to quench my thirst."
The middle-aged daoist did not say anything further; he simply gave the black ox a look.
The black ox stopped talking nonsense and walked towards the white mist. Its two horns seemed to part the curtain as it finally entered the white mist.
The middle-aged daoist still held his oiled-paper umbrella, but as soon as he reached the foot of the mountain, his expression turned somewhat ugly.
The black ox sensed a momentary shift in the middle-aged daoist's emotions and asked cautiously, "Daoist Master, what's wrong?"
The middle-aged daoist who was still holding his oiled-paper umbrella looked at the divine mountain in front of him. He did not speak immediately and just remained silent.
The black ox said softly, "Daoist Master?"
The middle-aged daoist returned to his senses, but did not speak. He just continued to stare at what lay ahead.
Then, he said softly, "Let's go."
He still held the oiled-paper umbrella and displayed no strong emotional fluctuations.
The black ox let out a cheerful moo. It had been to this place many times before. Now that it came here again, it felt like no time had passed at all. It had merely taken a nap, woken up, then came here again.
But, when it stepped onto the mountain path and noticed the medicinal herbs on both sides of the mountain path, he became even happier.
Lowering its head, it began to graze on the herbs like any ordinary ox would.
There was no difference at all.
Whether was it a brown ox or a black ox, they both needed to eat grass.
Even if the grass was different.
However, if this scene was seen by Chen Chao, he would definitely regret it deeply.
