Chapter 64: Treasure Beneath the Statue

She heard it very clearly.

Shadow Guard One said that Xu Youran should be given Qi Condensation Liquid and cultivation techniques.

What kind of relationship would make someone willing to help Xu Youran?

The answer was readily apparent.

The question was, who exactly was Xu Youran?

Xu Yining was momentarily stunned. "Xu Youran is my elder sister," she said.

Liu Qingxian was surprised. "Your sister? Are there any young men around her?"

Xu Yining looked puzzled.

She didn't know why Liu Qingxian asked this, but she answered truthfully:

"My sister conducts herself with integrity and has no young men around her."

"Only her fiancé, Jiang Fan."

Jiang Fan?

Liu Qingxian's eyes gleamed with intensity. "Then do you think Jiang Fan could be Shadow Guard One?"

Shadow Guard One?

Xu Yining shook her head decisively. "Impossible!" she declared.

"If he were Shadow Guard One, then I'd be the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion."

So, she recounted Jiang Fan's various experiences from her perspective.

After listening, Liu Qingxian was astonished. "So mediocre?" she asked.

"Then he's certainly not Shadow Guard One."

"However, your sister Xu Youran's rapid cultivation progress makes sense now."

"Shadow Guard One has been secretly helping her."

Upon hearing this,

Xu Yining's emotions became complicated.

She felt a mixture of emotions because Shadow Guard One favored her sister so much, making her feel a pang of jealousy.

She also felt complex emotions because her sister wasn't as devoted as she seemed, having such a deep connection with Shadow Guard One behind Jiang Fan's back.

She suddenly felt some sympathy for Jiang Fan.

Liu Qingxian pondered for a moment, then said, "Take me to your Xu family residence."

"Call out both Jiang Fan and your sister. I'll question them directly; perhaps we can find clues about Shadow Guard One."

But just then,

The jade pendant at her waist vibrated.

Once crushed, it coalesced into a single message.

"Urgent matter at the sect, return immediately."

Liu Qingxian's expression turned grim. "Why now, of all times?" she muttered.

Needless to say, it must be about the beast tide.

She was so close to tracking down Shadow Guard One.

But the beast tide was too significant to ignore, so she had to leave.

As she pondered, she suddenly thought of a plan. "Hmm? Why not recruit Xu Youran into the Azure Cloud Sect?"

"Since Shadow Guard One favors Xu Youran so much, he'll surely find a way to come to the Azure Cloud Sect, won't he?"

The more she thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed. So she asked, "Xu Yining, the elder who will soon take you back to the sect is Elder Li Qingfeng, right?"

Xu Yining didn't know why she suddenly asked that.

She replied proudly, "It is indeed Elder Li. He will arrive in a few days."

Liu Qingxian nodded and smiled mysteriously.

Then she summoned a flying beast and soared directly into the sky, returning home.

Meanwhile, Jiang Fan.

Back at the Xu family residence, he found Xu Youran diligently scrubbing the floor.

The servants in the residence were also busy cleaning.

Every nook and cranny that was previously overlooked was now spotless.

"What's going on?" Jiang Fan whispered.

Xu Youran, beaming with joy, said, "The Azure Cloud Sect elder who previously designated my sister is coming to our house!"

"My sister will soon be able to enter the Azure Cloud Sect."

Jiang Fan couldn't help but be moved.

Having witnessed the difficulty of advancing in the Foundation Establishment realm, he realized that Lonely Boat City couldn't provide the resources needed to progress further in this realm.

To achieve greater development, one had to go to the Azure Cloud Sect.

He wondered if his Foundation Establishment cultivation might also be noticed by Elder Li.

But if he left, what about Xu Youran?

"Youran, come here."

He quietly took out several bottles of premium Qi Condensation Liquid and the Dragon-Seeking Sutra, whose cover had been torn off.

"For the next few days, don't do anything else. Focus on cultivating."

"You should also try your best to see if Elder Li will take you back to the Azure Cloud Sect."

Xu Youran didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"The Azure Cloud Sect values talent more than current cultivation realm."

"With my second-grade spiritual root, how could I possibly catch Elder Li's eye?"

However, seeing Jiang Fan's sincere expression, she didn't want to hurt his good intentions.

So she accepted them and said, "Then I'll go cultivate now."

Watching her obediently go off to cultivate,

Jiang Fan didn't want to relax either.

He remembered the treasure beneath the stone sculpture in Floating Cloud Cave, so he simply packed some dry food and went into the mountains alone.

Half a day later,

Jiang Fan successfully activated the stone statue.

He once again saw the treasures within.

A sword and two jade boxes.

He temporarily set aside the sword and the two Mortal Transcending Pills.

He grabbed the jade box containing Rootless Heavenly Water and carefully tasted a single drop.

Instantly, an immensely powerful surge of spiritual energy rushed into his spiritual pool, causing his cultivation to increase slightly.

Jiang Fan was astonished. "A single drop is equivalent to a night of quiet cultivation!" he exclaimed.

His eyes filled with anticipation, and he immediately circulated the Dragon-Seeking Sutra, sitting cross-legged while using the Rootless Heavenly Water.

Three days later,

Not a single drop of the Rootless Heavenly Water remained in the jade box.

And Jiang Fan had successfully broken through to the third level of Foundation Establishment!

"What a truly remarkable item; it allowed me to break through two levels directly!" Jiang Fan exclaimed in delight.

However, theoretically, Rootless Heavenly Water could only allow one to break through a single realm.

The reason he was able to gain an extra level was due to his mysterious spiritual root and the effect of the Dragon-Seeking Sutra.

They absorbed all the spiritual energy from the Rootless Heavenly Water to the greatest extent possible.

Not a single shred of it was wasted.

Only then could he break through the limit and achieve an additional breakthrough.

He clenched his fists, and an unprecedented feeling of power surged within him.

Immediately after,

He looked at the Mortal Transcending Pills and mused, "My spiritual root is already sufficient. I'll take these back for Youran to try, to see if they can improve her spiritual root."

Finally, he looked at the purple sword, a supreme-grade spiritual artifact.

He gripped it in his hand.

Instantly, a feeling of immense weight pressed down, causing him to almost drop the sword.

"So heavy?"

Jiang Fan was greatly surprised.

If he hadn't broken through to the third level of Foundation Establishment, he might not have been able to wield it.

"I wonder if this sword has any special properties," Jiang Fan mused, holding the sword and performing a sword flourish towards the stone statue in front of him.

Due to its weight, his movements appeared clumsy when wielding it.

"It doesn't seem very special. It's not even as good as the Lightning-Patterned Spirit Wood Sword," Jiang Fan said, feeling a bit disappointed.

At least the wooden sword had the effect of electrocuting enemies and was very light.

This so-called supreme-grade spiritual artifact, however, was incredibly heavy and had no special features.

However,

The words had barely left his lips.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him.

He looked up and was instantly terrified.

He saw that the giant statue had somehow cracked and was collapsing heavily towards him.

He quickly activated his movement technique and shot backward.

Boom!

A large amount of shattered stone fragments painfully struck his back.

He turned his head to see the statue had crashed to the ground, its head smashed to pieces.

"That was close!" Jiang Fan exclaimed, breaking out in a cold sweat.

"What happened? Why did the perfectly fine statue suddenly collapse?"

He leaned in to examine it, and his expression turned strange.

He saw several intricate cuts on the statue's fractured surface.

They were as smooth as a mirror, as if tofu had been sliced.

And the curvature of those cuts was identical to the sword flourish he had just performed.

"No way," he muttered.