Chapter 2033: Condolences

Irregular, countless stones of various sizes floated in the void. The expanse of stones was boundless, likely spanning tens of thousands of square miles. According to Young Master Xin, this place contained only stones, with no divine power illusions or fragments of minor realms. An invisible force seemed to have gathered them here.

Despite being subjected to countless impacts from wicked winds and strange lightning, these seemingly ordinary stones had surprisingly endured to this day. However, the Jade Gate of Fengju contained too many illogical sights, so everyone had long since grown accustomed to them.

Inside the jumbled stones, gray stones filled their vision. The monotonous scenery was like being inside a colossal maze.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

A chilling wind howled continuously among the chaotic stones. While not as dangerous as the wicked winds, it was still a considerable nuisance. Qin Sang, Young Master Xin, and others navigated through the stones. The difficulty of finding a hidden secret realm in such a place was immense.

When searching for the secret realm previously, Young Master Xin had gathered much information about this place. People had noticed this area long ago, and it had been searched countless times. However, it was said to be very barren, with no treasures, and gradually fell into disuse.

Following the dying wish of the Xin family's old patriarch, Young Master Xin secretly investigated and had already located the secret realm. But to set a trap and eliminate Elder Pei and Rogue Cultivator Zhong Liang, he had kept its existence concealed.

While the surfaces of the stones varied, their texture was similar. It was evident they came from the same source. Young Master Xin speculated that they might have formed from the fragmentation of a single gigantic boulder.

If this were true, how enormous must the original stone have been? Along their journey, countless stones were taller than mountains.

After some twists and turns, the wind brought a moist scent. A large, flat stone resembling a landmass appeared ahead. A jade-like band cut through its center, revealing a mighty river.

The river flowed mightily, its banks lined with desolate stone mountains.

The group ascended the river, the secret realm located at its source.

Young Master Xin led the way, and the group soon arrived above a vast marsh. The area was rich in moisture, enveloped in mist and clouds. Despite no signs of life, the Xin family cultivators still spread out, maintaining cautious vigilance.

Young Master Xin pointed downwards and said, "Elder Qin, the entrance to the secret realm is underwater."

Qin Sang extended his spiritual sense, finding the surrounding water only a few zhang deep. The bottom was covered with sand and stones, and beneath them lay a long, narrow gully where water gurgled up from underground. There were no unusual signs.

This was normal; if the secret realm entrance were so easily found, it would already have been claimed.

Young Master Xin, with a flip of his hand, took out a brocade handkerchief. He gently tossed it into the water. As it touched the water, the surface seemed to boil, emitting dense steam that quickly enveloped the surroundings in a dense white haze. As it sank, the handkerchief's color gradually faded until it became transparent, completely merging with the water.

The next moment, a faint silver glow appeared within the gully.

Qin Sang's expression shifted slightly. He looked around. They had remained in place, and the surrounding mist showed no ripples. Yet, in Qin Sang's perception, some unknown change was occurring nearby.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a gale swept in. The white mist churned, twisting into indescribable shapes.

The others also noticed the anomaly and secretly grew vigilant.

After some time, the gale not only didn't subside but intensified, its roaring deafening, even more piercing than thunder. It was as if the earth were tearing apart and the heavens were overturning.

Young Master Xin's expression remained composed. He stood by Qin Sang's side, awaiting orders.

Qin Sang observed for a while, then let the Xin family members go first. He then gently stepped forward. With just one step, it was as if he had entered a new world. The wind grew even more violent. White mist enveloped the entire space, and the swirling wind and mist were dreamlike, but the terrifying roar of the wind disturbed the illusion.

The fierce wind brought an aura of chaos. The group stirred, all feeling a sense of unease.

"Is this it?" Qin Sang asked.

Young Master Xin nodded. He gazed around, as if searching for something.

"It looks like this secret realm is on the verge of collapse," Qin Sang said.

This kind of fluctuation was familiar. They had just experienced it inside the tomb, a sign that the secret realm was heading towards destruction. This place was even worse than the tomb. The secret realm must have been unstable to begin with, and their activation of it accelerated its collapse.

"Elder Qin, look," Young Master Xin said, pointing towards the depths of the swirling wind and mist, where a faint, slender white figure was visible.

The white figure was cylindrical. It floated in the wind, bobbing up and down.

Qin Sang gestured, drawing the white figure towards him. He found it to be a jade pillar nearly two zhang long, requiring three people to embrace. The pillar had several cracks and wasn't whole; one end showed a clear fracture.

The jade pillar was clear in texture, its interior appearing liquid and flowing.

Seeing the jade pillar, Young Master Xin sighed in relief. He said, "These jade pillars must be used to support this secret realm. If a pillar is damaged, the realm loses its support. There must be more than one jade pillar here!"

Qin Sang formed a hand seal and carefully sensed it. As expected, he detected special fluctuations, indicating it was man-made. This was a very special refining technique, and Qin Sang's interest was piqued. However, with only a broken jade pillar, he couldn't grasp its full scope.

A moment later, Qin Sang gave an order. The group continued deeper into the swirling wind and mist. They soon found another damaged jade pillar, this one even more fragmented.

After being inside for so long without any signs of danger, Qin Sang ordered, "Split up and find all the jade pillars. Bring them here."

Then, he sat cross-legged in mid-air. With one hand resting on the jade pillar, he closed his eyes and began to sense it, while Young Master Xin stood respectfully by his side.

"Understood!" The others took their leave.

Subsequently, people continuously brought back fragments of jade pillars. Unfortunately, not a single pillar was whole.

At this moment, someone rushed back to report: "Young Master! Elder Qin! There's a complete jade pillar ahead, but it can't be moved!"

"Oh?" Qin Sang immediately stood up and followed the person to the jade pillar.

They saw the jade pillar standing in the void. It touched neither heaven nor earth, yet it was extraordinarily stable, like a divine needle pinning down the sky, almost completely intact.

Qin Sang stepped forward and gently touched the jade pillar. His eyes gleamed. This pillar, combined with the previous fragments, was enough for him to deduce many things.

"The wind here seems to have grown fiercer..." someone whispered, a worried expression on their face. This meant the secret realm was accelerating its collapse, and they had little time left; they needed to find a solution quickly.

Young Master Xin was about to say something when a shout suddenly came from a distance. A gray-robed youth, having seemingly discovered something, hurriedly flew towards them.

"Young Master!"

Young Master Xin's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Thirteenth Elder, you've already reached the God Transformation stage. Why are you still so impetuous? What happened?"

Reprimanded by the Young Master directly, the gray-robed youth's expression was sheepish. He glanced at Qin Sang and said, "Reporting to Young Master, we found an unusual place, but we're not sure what it is. The Grand Elder is guarding it, not daring to act rashly, and ordered me to invite Young Master to come."

Young Master Xin hummed in acknowledgment. Her expression was calm, as if she already knew, and she was not in a hurry to move. Respectfully, she asked Qin Sang, "Elder Qin, is there still a possibility of repairing these jade pillars?"

"They can be repaired, and it doesn't even require a master artificer," Qin Sang said. "Your invitation for this old man to come here was a bit of an overreaction."

Young Master Xin, full of hope, said, "This matter is of great importance, so I dared not be careless. If these jade pillars are repaired, can we prevent the secret realm from collapsing?"

"Yes, but only temporarily," Qin Sang replied. "The number of these jade pillars is clearly incomplete. To fully stabilize the secret realm, new jade pillars must be refined and added."

Qin Sang mused, "You probably can't gather the spiritual materials required to refine new jade pillars right now, can you?"

Young Master Xin sighed, "Only after opening the secret realm do we learn its full scope. This junior made all sorts of preparations before, but it's impossible to account for everything. I wonder if Elder has the time to wait for us to gather the spiritual materials after we leave..."

Qin Sang waved his hand, interrupting Young Master Xin. "I've said before, as long as one understands the method, refining jade pillars is not difficult. Once these jade pillars are repaired and set up, the secret realm will certainly be able to hold for a while. This old man will comprehend the complete refining method and give it to you. After you leave, you can have someone else refine them."

Qin Sang had not yet agreed to let the Xin family become dependent on him. Even if he did agree, it would be for the Xin family to work for him, not the other way around, with him personally handling every matter.

Young Master Xin acknowledged, "This junior will obey your command!"

Qin Sang was not in a hurry to start refining artifacts. He was also somewhat curious about the treasures in the secret realm, so he ordered the gray-robed youth to lead the way.

Before long, they arrived at the location. The Grand Elder, who was guarding the area, immediately came forward, unable to conceal his joy as he seemed to have discovered some treasure.

"Young Master, this place very likely contains Celestial Frost Talisman Silver!"

The area ahead was still enveloped in thick mist. However, a mass of silvery-white mist, distinctly different from elsewhere, was present. The silver mist was concentrated and did not dissipate, and a gurgling sound emanated from within, as if from a spring.

Qin Sang's eyes gleamed with curiosity as he observed the silver mist. This was something he had never seen before; he hadn't even heard the name "Celestial Frost Talisman Silver." Celestial Frost Talisman Silver sounded like some kind of spiritual material, yet there was no record of it in the Five Elements Alliance's scriptures.

Young Master Xin called the gray-robed youth forward. "Thirteenth Elder," she said, whispering a few instructions.

The gray-robed youth muttered incantations and formed a hand seal. Suddenly, an ethereal light flickered around him. Then he stepped to the left, leaving behind an illusory shadow in the shape of a gray wolf. The gray wolf twisted its neck, then leaped into the silver mist. It raised its head, letting out a silent howl, and immediately, a layer of silver mist adhered to its body. Next, the silver mist continuously seeped into the gray wolf's body. Soon, more than half of it was absorbed, revealing the internal scene: a pool of mercury.

When the gray wolf re-emerged, it had transformed into a silver wolf. It was full of vigor, its body solid, its aura profound, having clearly undergone a qualitative transformation.

Seeing this, the Xin family members were all overjoyed.

"It really is Celestial Frost Talisman Silver!" Young Master Xin also showed delight. Noticing Qin Sang's gaze, she quickly explained: "Reporting to Elder Qin, Celestial Frost Talisman Silver is not a naturally occurring spiritual silver, but rather it is refined by humans. Our Xin family's Shadow Transformation Art, when combined with certain special treasures, can undergo another metamorphosis, greatly increasing its power. However, only Celestial Frost Talisman Silver and a few other items meet the requirements. Among these, Celestial Frost Talisman Silver is the most compatible. However, its refining method was lost long ago. My late father, by chance, discovered that this place might contain Celestial Frost Talisman Silver, and that it could continuously regenerate..."

A continuous supply of Celestial Frost Talisman Silver was indeed a treasure trove for the Xin family. They had to preserve this place at all costs. So it was a man-made item. No wonder he had never heard of it before.

Qin Sang drew a drop of Celestial Frost Talisman Silver. He carefully sensed it and couldn't help but inwardly praise its exquisiteness. He couldn't immediately think of a use for Celestial Frost Talisman Silver. As a refiner, Qin Sang collected a box of it for future study. The Xin family naturally dared not complain.

The most important thing in the entire secret realm was this pool of Celestial Frost Talisman Silver.

The rest was simple. Qin Sang found a place and began to repair the jade pillars. Young Master Xin gathered the Xin family cultivators, who queued to refine the Celestial Frost Talisman Silver to strengthen their divine abilities. These individuals were the Xin family's elites and core members. After this trip, the Xin family's overall strength was bound to ascend to a new level. Excluding Void Refinement cultivators, they might even become stronger than when the previous patriarch was alive.

When the first jade pillar was refined and set up, the secret realm's trend of collapse was indeed alleviated.

While Qin Sang and the Xin family were working together, four streaks of escaping light were flying together through the Jade Gate of Fengju, searching for something. The attire of those in the escaping light clearly indicated they were Buddhist disciples: one monk and three nuns.

The monk had nine burnt scars on his head. He wore a golden kasaya and held a string of Buddhist beads in his hand. Golden escaping light surrounded him, as if he were enveloped in Buddha's aura; he was clearly an accomplished master monk.

The three nuns all wore dark blue robes and monastic hats. One elderly nun continued to silently chant scriptures even while flying. Judging by her aura, her cultivation was comparable to that of the monk. The other two nuns followed behind the elderly nun. One was a young nun whose inherent beauty could not be concealed by her simple monastic robes. Although she had entered Buddhism, the strands of dark hair peeking from beneath her monastic hat showed she had not fully shaved her head.

Soon, they arrived before a fragment of the Sword Pavilion. It was precisely the Ziwei Palace fragment where Mount Tian was located. Seeing Mount Tian almost completely destroyed, the young nun suddenly showed an anxious expression. Her figure flashed, and she landed before the mountain.

The crumbling walls and ruined foundations before them attested to how terrible the events that had transpired there must have been. If anyone had been in the mountain at the time, they would likely have been pulverized along with Mount Tian, with no hope of survival. At this moment, all her hopes became a fleeting illusion.

The young nun's body trembled. She painfully closed her eyes. She had painstakingly searched for a thousand years, only to be met with such a cruel outcome.

The three exchanged a look and slowly followed. Seeing the young nun's expression, they knew without asking that this was the place they had been searching for. They surveyed Mount Tian, trying to find any favorable signs. Finally, the monk and the elderly nun exchanged a glance and sighed helplessly.

"Amitabha!" The monk chanted a Buddhist epithet.

The elderly nun sighed deeply, her eyes showing compassion. "Junior Sister, please restrain your grief."

"Plop!" A tear dropped onto the ground.

The elderly nun opened her mouth, intending to offer further comfort, when suddenly, a violent tremor reverberated through the void. The change was too sudden. Aside from the young nun, who was lost in grief, the other three were all startled.

"Are the wicked winds and strange lightning about to erupt?" another nun asked.

"Something's not right!" The monk's expression was grave as he stared intently into the depths of the Jade Gate of Fengju.

The next moment, a flash of lightning suddenly appeared, seeming to span millions of miles, tearing apart the Jade Gate of Fengju. Then, a profound aura emanated, permeating the entire ancient battlefield!