Chapter 46 : A Chance Encounter in the Scripture Pavilion
Chapter 46: A Chance Encounter in the Scripture Pavilion
Realizing that time was pressing and every second counted, Long Tao set off at once and headed once more for the sect’s Scripture Pavilion.
This time, his objective was clear: to gather as much information as possible about the “Azurewood Demon Forest” Secret Realm.
Information on this kind of mid- to low-tier secret realm was not considered highly confidential within the sect.
Before long, he found the officially compiled Secret Realm Overview · Azurewood Demon Forest Volume, along with several exploration records and personal notes left behind by senior cultivators.
Because the opening times of this secret realm were completely random, almost no one came to consult these texts in ordinary times.
The books were all still in excellent condition, which also made Long Tao realize how precious it was that he had obtained this information ahead of others.
After a quick read-through, he gained a general understanding of the secret realm.
Just as its name implied, the core dangers and opportunities within it all came from plants.
The forests inside the secret realm had long been steeped in a special kind of “demon-wood spiritual energy,” causing the trees, vines, and even flowers and grasses to develop intelligence and intense aggression.
The trees were abnormally tall and dense, blotting out the sky and sun, and the light within the forest remained dim year-round.
Its internal ecosystem was also self-contained and exceedingly bizarre.
Powerful plants preyed on demon beasts, while some demon beasts chose to form symbiotic relationships with specific demon plants.
The air was perpetually filled with a faint scent of decaying vegetation and a cloyingly sweet, stifling floral fragrance.
Mixed together, these two smells produced a powerful hallucinatory effect.
At the same time, the wood-aspect spiritual energy in this place was so dense it was almost viscous.
For wood-aspect cultivators, it was an excellent cultivation ground.
However, the environment was fundamentally unsuitable for human survival, so almost no cultivators ever came here to cultivate.
On top of that, the terrain inside the secret realm was extremely complex.
Enormous, intertwined tree roots and swampy pits concealed beneath thick layers of rotting leaves caused many areas to naturally form deadly trapping mazes.
Long Tao spent half a shichen studying the main volumes.
His heart turned ice-cold, and he came to a single conclusion: even without the Wuyi Sect watching like a tiger eyeing its prey, even without independent cultivators killing and robbing, if he went in alone, he would go in upright and come out lying down—no, he probably would not even have the chance to come out lying down.
He sighed, resigned, took out paper and brush, and began to bury his head in recording key details: demon plant species that required special vigilance, possible rare resource locations, survival essentials summarized by seniors, and recommended countering artifacts and talismans to bring along.
Just as he was writing furiously, an entry after turning the page suddenly jumped into his view:
【…Special attention is required. The ‘demon-wood spiritual energy’ unique to the Azurewood Demon Forest Secret Realm possesses extremely strong diffusivity and activity. It is not confined solely to the interior of the secret realm. During the period when the entrance is open, this energy will overflow in large quantities, causing varying degrees of abnormal changes to all wooden objects in the surrounding area…】
Long Tao’s spirits lifted, and he immediately read on with care.
According to the records, this overflow would not go so far as to turn outside wood into the bloodthirsty demon plants found within the secret realm, but it would cause them to exhibit various unsettling “living” characteristics:
For example, carriages parked nearby might have their axles suddenly emit strange grinding noises resembling pained groans at certain times.
The wooden spokes of the wheels would slightly writhe like slowly contracting tentacles, greatly increasing resistance during travel.
The grain patterns on the wooden planks of the carriage body would become more twisted, resembling frozen human faces contorted in pain.
On damp nights, these planks might even seep a faint, viscous fluid carrying the smell of decaying vegetation.
If the draft animals pulling the carriage were accidentally scratched by inexplicably protruding wooden spikes from the carriage body, the wounds would be extremely difficult to heal, and terrifying signs of skin turning woody could even appear.
Even cloud vessels flying through the air, as well as wooden artifacts and treasures carried by cultivators, would be affected to varying degrees—such as impaired control or even structural damage.
The records also made special mention that more than twenty years ago, when the secret realm entrance last opened, the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, out of caution regarding this effect, had refrained from using high-speed cloud vessels.
As a result, their movements were sluggish, allowing their rival, the Wuyi Sect, to seize part of the initiative.
“Wait!” Long Tao’s gaze locked onto this passage, and his heart leaped violently.
From what seemed like a troublesome description, he keenly caught a sliver of something he might be able to exploit.
He eagerly continued reading, his fingers swiftly tracing line after line of text.
Finally, in an inconspicuous annotation near the end of the volume, he found what he was looking for.
The small line of text read:
【…In light of this drawback, the sect has decided to invest resources into the focused development of a new type of protective coating, intended for application to the outer layers of cloud vessels and critical wooden components, in order to effectively isolate the erosion of ‘demon-wood spiritual energy’ and ensure the normal use of cloud vessels and key wooden spiritual artifacts and treasures when the secret realm next opens…】
Long Tao abruptly raised his head, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes.
This coating that the sect had begun researching twenty years ago—he seemed to have heard some rumors about it in Elder Liu’s workshop.
Thus, a simple plan took shape in his mind.
If it succeeded, then the “ticket” for this task would be within sight.
As for another, even more critical preparatory step… that naturally involved figuring out how to fool that little fool Nan Yuchen into going along.
Sigh… The moment he thought about the crucial issue of making contact, Long Tao’s brow furrowed tightly again.
Even now, he had no way to proactively contact that idiot Nan Yuchen.
This was a massive blunder! If he had known, after completing the first task, he should have found some way to obtain a method that could bypass the sect’s normal channels and contact him directly.
Just as he was racking his brain, thinking about how to make up for this oversight, a voice that made his legs go weak suddenly sounded behind him without any warning.
“You… are you Long Tao?”
The voice was cool and ethereal, yet its timbre was like that of a young girl, drilling into his ears with crystalline clarity.
The instant Long Tao heard it, his entire body froze.
He almost did not dare believe his own ears, but still turned his head with extreme slowness.
Then, that peerlessly beautiful face he had gazed at countless times from afar—one he had not dared to show the slightest disrespect toward even in a recent bizarre spring dream—appeared so abruptly and so real, right within arm’s reach.
“M-M-Mingzhu True Person!?”
Setting aside those two absurd spring dreams, as well as the vague first meeting in Qinglin Town during his childhood, this was truly the first time in five years since entering the sect that Long Tao had faced this woman—the master of Moon-Washing Peak and the dream goddess of countless disciples—at such close range.
In the past, he could only look up at that tall, perfect figure from afar, mixed in among tens of thousands of disciples during grand sect ceremonies and assemblies.
Or, on rare occasions during major lectures, she would descend as a top-grade Golden Core cultivator to explain some profound essentials of techniques.
But even then, the distance was far too great.
How could it compare to now… almost face to face, to the point where he could even catch a faint fragrance emanating from her body.
Despite having lived two lifetimes, at this moment he was shamefully blushing like a boy experiencing first love.
Those beautiful eyes of Mingzhu True Person, as if capable of seeing through the human heart, quietly observed his awkward state.
The corners of her lips seemed to curve upward ever so slightly.
Her tone was calm, yet carried a trace of elusive amusement.
“Oh? You get nervous and blush just from seeing me? When you incited Yuchen to spy on me while I was bathing before, I really didn’t notice… that you were this kind of person.”
Long Tao immediately cried out inwardly, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
If not for that damned dog System forcing him, even if he had eaten the gall of a Dragon King, he would never have dared harbor such delusions!
But… an extremely absurd thought suddenly popped into his mind.
Looked at another way, it seemed that it was precisely thanks to the System that he had managed, in a manner that could only be described as “courting death,” to leave an impression in the heart of this lofty beauty.
Never mind whether the impression was good or bad—just say it: did he leave one or not?
If he had continued as before, only daring to hide in the crowd as a nobody licking at nothing, then even if he died, Mingzhu True Person would probably never have known that within the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect there was a person called Long Tao.
So… in the end, licking dogs really did end up with nothing…? If you wanted a woman to spare you even a little attention, did you really have to act up?
No! He jolted awake.
In the past, he seemed not even qualified to be called a licking dog! A proper licking dog at least got to lick—today was the first time he had ever gotten close.
Calling himself a licking dog would be far too generous to his former self.