Chapter 757: Qilin Appraisal

Outside the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, Jiang Fan ran straight into the anxious Liu Qingxian and others.

"Xiao Fan! Are you alright?" Liu Qingxian rushed over, her face dripping with sweat from anxiety. She had been terrified upon learning that Jiang Fan was seized by someone impersonating her.

Jiang Fan smiled. "I'm fine. Someone impersonated you, trying to trick me into giving them my cultivation technique. I saw through their disguise and chased them away." Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu Qingxian immediately threw herself into his arms. "You scared me to death, Xiao Fan." Feeling the soft warmth against his chest, Jiang Fan subtly nodded. This was the real Liu Qingxian.

Shang Shiqiu also exhaled. "If we hadn't found you, I was about to inform the Pavilion Master." Jiang Fan was speechless. By the time you inform the Pavilion Master, my body would be cold.

Fortunately, the Deputy Pavilion Master of Jiangshan Yipin Pavilion wanted to trick him into giving up the *Sword Heart Meteor Engraving* before killing him. This gave Jiang Fan the chance to trick her into wearing the Dragon-Binding Lock.

He glanced behind him, still feeling a lingering fear. "Let's go, let's go, quickly enter the underground world." That persistent Deputy Pavilion Master, who had burned down the entire river next to Mount Jie last time because he'd killed her merchandise, would surely grind him to dust after such a slight. It was better to hide quickly.

Under Shang Shiqiu's lead, the group arrived at the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's north side hall. Inside, there was no imagined opening leading underground. Instead, a gigantic circular array occupied the entire hall floor, covered with intricate patterns.

As Jiang Fan gazed at it, he felt dizzy.

"Don't look at the floor," You Yunzi's voice echoed. "This is a spatial array. The patterns on it are profound. Non-array practitioners will experience physical discomfort if they stare at it for too long."

Jiang Fan looked over and saw You Yunzi sitting deep within the hall. He quickly bowed. "Deputy Pavilion Master You."

"So eager to head into the underground world?" You Yunzi, appreciating Jiang Fan's eagerness, said, "However, the underground world is very dangerous, especially with an abundance of malevolent entities. The first seven levels are relatively safe, but starting from the eighth level, you'll encounter unexpected impurities. Make sure you don't get entangled by them."

It wasn't the first time Jiang Fan had heard about malevolent entities in the underground world. The term itself was quite broad. The residual souls of the Six Dao Adepts, in a sense, were also considered malevolent spirits, a type of malevolent entity. The Yin Corpses of the Great Yin Sect also fell under this category. In short, anything different from normal living beings could seemingly be called a malevolent entity. They came in all shapes and sizes, not limited to any single type.

Therefore, Jiang Fan had to ask, "Deputy Pavilion Master You, what are the characteristics of the malevolent entities in the underground world?"

Deputy Pavilion Master You scrutinized Jiang Fan and Liang Feiyan. He gave them two peculiar words of advice: "Abstain from lust." Then, he looked at Shang Shiqiu, Liu Qingxian, and Xia Chaoge, offering two more words: "Abstain from anger." Finally, he surveyed everyone, giving a final two-word admonition: "Abstain from greed."

"Alright, hold your jade talismans and stand on the spatial array," You Yunzi instructed before anyone could fully grasp his meaning. Jiang Fan didn't ask further questions. He was the first to step onto the array, with the others following closely.

As the array activated, an incredibly pure spatial beam erupted from it, engulfing the group and making them vanish.

Jiang Fan felt the world spin. When his feet finally touched solid ground again, a dim, gloomy world greeted his eyes. Thick dark clouds covered the sky, occasionally pierced by lightning, and the overhead expanse seemed impossibly high. The surroundings stretched endlessly, with no end in sight.

"You call this a pavilion?" Jiang Fan asked Shang Shiqiu, puzzled. From his perspective, it looked like an independent world.

Shang Shiqiu shrugged. "If you ask me, who should I ask? This is the second level of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. It's been thoroughly explored by previous generations, so there are no treasures left. Let's go directly to the next level."

Counting from the ground level, the first underground level was, without a doubt, the second level of the entire Heavenly Secret Pavilion.

Not giving up, Jiang Fan patted the little Qilin awake. "Take a look." The little Qilin poked out its fluffy head, blinked its big eyes, looked around, and then shook its head, declaring, "Rubbish."

Alright. Jiang Fan gave up hope.

Following Shang Shiqiu to the center of this level, they found another large hall, but it was unguarded. The group mimicked the previous process, holding their jade talismans and stepping onto the array, which then activated again.

Jiang Fan immediately understood that the jade talisman was essentially a pass to use the spatial transfer array here. If lost, one would be trapped on that particular level unless someone else activated the spatial array, allowing them to leave with the group.

Next, they arrived at the third level. The little Qilin poked out its head again, shaking it slightly. "Rubbish."

And so, the group continued to jump through the pavilion levels.

Fourth level: "The items are old, but useless. Keep going."

Fifth level: "Worth a few steamed buns, but useless. Keep going."

Sixth level: "There are some things here, but I don't really like them. Let's keep going."

Seventh level: "Wait!" "What's that? Let me see." The little Qilin stretched out its short legs, pointing towards a large, human-sized black stone not far away.

Shang Shiqiu stopped at this point. "Alright," she said. "Since it's your first time, you can explore the seventh level. There are very few malevolent entities here, so there's no need to worry about danger. I'm going to check on Master and the senior brothers to see how they're doing with suppressing the negative energy. I'll come back to this level for you later."

Jiang Fan cupped his hands. "Sister Shang, please go ahead with your work. We already know how to get back." As long as they had their jade talismans, they could ascend level by level using the teleportation arrays.

Shang Shiqiu clasped her hands in a salute and headed towards the teleportation array to the lower levels.

Jiang Fan looked at Liu Qingxian, Xia Chaoge, and Liang Feiyan. "Since this level isn't dangerous, why don't we split up? We can each explore and get familiar with the situation."

The three shared the same idea. Liang Feiyan took out three signal flares remaining from the Mount Jie battle and said, "If we encounter danger, we'll each fire a signal flare."

Jiang Fan took one and nodded. "Alright."

He watched the three depart, making a mental note of their respective directions. Then he turned and walked towards the stone the little Qilin had pointed to.

"Are you sure there's a treasure inside?" Jiang Fan frowned. He couldn't help but be skeptical. The stone was right next to the teleportation array, only a few meters away. Parts of its surface were smooth, clearly worn over many years by people passing by, rubbing, or touching it. If there really was a treasure here, shouldn't it have been discovered long ago?

However, the little Qilin's sense for spiritual treasures was far beyond that of ordinary people.

Jiang Fan walked around the large black stone. He did indeed find some unusual details. On the back of the stone, the soil clinging to it looked subtly fresh, as if it had been recently dug.

After a moment's thought, he took out his purple sword and carefully peeled back the soil. To his surprise, he found a small, earthy-yellow cloth bag buried within. He used his sword to cut open the bag and carefully peeked inside, revealing a blood-red key, emanating a faint malevolent aura.

"What is this?" He was hesitant to touch it.

Just then, Jiang Fan heard an all-too-familiar, charming voice from a distance. "Oh, Senior Brother Ren, please don't be angry. I really did lose that key. You saw how dangerous the situation was back then; how could I possibly keep track of a key? I even let you search my person, and you searched along the way. I truly didn't hide it."

Jiang Fan was stunned. Was this... Wu Manyue? He looked at the blood-red key before him again, and the corner of his mouth twitched. That woman was up to her old tricks again.

Steward Ning Kun had taught Jiang Fan by example that crooked tendencies and evil practices should not be tolerated. Therefore, the stolen goods would be confiscated!