With the Jade Bone Puppet scouting the way, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi descended into the deep pit without major incident.
Mo Tiange waved her sleeves back and forth, sweeping away the dust stirred up by the activated mechanisms. She took out the Heaven and Earth Fan, relying on the Moonlight Stone Mother embedded in its tail to provide illumination.
"Huh?" She was somewhat surprised. Having seen the map, she had expected an underground city below, but it turned out to be just an ordinary stone passageway.
Qin Xi waved his sleeve, and a strand of sword light separated from the radiance surrounding him, advancing along the stone passage.
The passage was clearly illuminated by the sword light, revealing that the surface texture of the rocks was a bright, glowing red, as if lava had suddenly solidified.
Mo Tiange looked up. The opening above was extremely far away, showing only a faint glimmer of light. At such a depth, the presence of lava wasn't strange. What was strange was how the lava here had been solidified into rock.
Qin Xi touched the rock surface and said, "This was likely created by a high-level cultivator using their divine abilities."
"Is that so?" Mo Tiange also touched the rock, finding its surface cool to the touch, with no trace of heat. It seemed these rocks were originally all lava. A great-power cultivator had caused the temperature here to plummet suddenly, solidifying it all into rock and creating this underground passage.
This method wasn't particularly rare; Mo Tiange herself could achieve it. But maintaining it for over a hundred thousand years without change was beyond the capability of a Nascent Soul cultivator. The depths beneath Wind-Sand City indeed held hidden mysteries.
"Let's go." After the sword light had probed the entire passage and confirmed no issues, Qin Xi took the lead.
"Mm." Mo Tiange responded and followed.
The stone passage wasn't wide, only allowing two or three people to walk abreast. The Jade Bone Puppet led the way, with Mo Tiange and Qin Xi following behind.
Although the Nascent Soul Heavenly Tribulation had destroyed most of her offensive Magical Treasures, the journey to the Guixu Sea had brought Mo Tiange immense benefits, far outweighing her losses.
This Jade Bone Puppet, the Qiankun Ring, the Heavenly Thunder Great Method, and the numerous crystal jades and high-grade spirit stones—how could a few ordinary Magical Treasures compare to all these combined? Besides, what she lost were offensive Magical Treasures, which could be replaced, while those with unique functions could be repaired.
The Jade Bone Puppet walked ahead without encountering any danger. Even so, the two of them remained vigilant. Qin Xi's sword energy remained extended, Mo Tiange's Primordial Unity Art was still active, and the Heavenly Thunder floated by her side.
After walking for a while, Mo Tiange raised the back of her hand, looking at the map on it. Silently recalling the path they had just taken and comparing it with the map, she said, "It doesn't match the route on the map. I don't know if it's a missing part or if this place simply isn't on the map."
Qin Xi said, "It's very likely this part wasn't drawn on the map."
"Oh? Why do you say that?"
"Did you notice? The space depicted on the map should be enclosed."
Mo Tiange raised her hand. The periphery of the map was drawn with a line encircling all the routes. Judging by this pattern, the missing part should also have this line. Therefore, this place should indeed be enclosed.
Qin Xi continued, "The map is extremely detailed and meticulously planned in its specifics. It could be a structure similar to a Cave Abode."
Mo Tiange nodded in agreement. Since a secret repository was meant to be secret, its purpose was to prevent others from discovering it. A repository also needed to preserve items, requiring special protection. This rock passage was likely the outer stage leading to the secret repository.
"So it seems, for this part of the journey, we can only rely on our own exploration."
"Mm." Qin Xi paused, then asked, "Have you ever wondered why such a map exists?"
"Hmm?" Mo Tiange was puzzled, not understanding his meaning.
Qin Xi said, "As far as I know, only the true leaders of a sect would know the location of a secret repository. For example, in our Xuanqing Sect, only Senior Brother Zhenyang knows the location of the secret repository. Others, including the Sect Master who manages the sect's regular treasury, do not. Every sect is like this; there are no exceptions."
Hearing this, a thought flashed through Mo Tiange's mind: "What if Senior Brother Zhenyang were to suddenly fall, with no time to reveal the repository's location? What then?"
Qin Xi smiled and pointed to the Black Gold Fragment in her hand. "That's why I think this thing was likely created to prevent such a situation."
Mo Tiange thought for a moment. "Something this important probably wouldn't be allowed to circulate freely, right?"
"Logically, that should be the case." Qin Xi said. "As far as I know, the Xuanqing Sect's secret repository location also has backup maps, held separately by a few individuals. One of them is held by our master."
If Dao Lord Zhenyang were to meet with an accident, then Dao Lord Jinghe would be the highest cultivation-level figure in the Xuanqing Sect. It was perfectly reasonable for him to hold one of the maps.
"So, this Black Gold Fragment should be the same, divided into several parts, each held by different people. If something happens to the leader, they can be combined to find the exact location of the repository, and then pass it on."
"So what?" This made sense, but how did it help their current situation?
Qin Xi continued, "So, once you reach the repository marked on the map and follow the map, it should be very safe. But, to prevent the map from falling into others' hands, the path outside is bound to be extremely difficult, perhaps even laid with certain-death traps. The methods to bypass them would have been passed down to juniors long ago."
This way, the secret repository had multiple layers of protection. Dividing the map into several parts was the first. If the sect's inheritance faced problems, the maps might not be reunited to secure the repository. Passing down the bypass methods separately prevented outsiders who obtained the map from taking the repository's contents. As for the complete restriction sealed within the Black Gold Fragment, it was likely a last resort. If the sect faced a major crisis and the maps weren't fully passed down, this item could be used to retrieve the treasure. However, at that point, without the complete map, one would have to search by feel their way, and whether they could find it would be a gamble. Thus, for mere power struggles, cultivators from major sects wouldn't spend such great effort to find a secret repository. But if the sect faced a crisis, this was the sect's final hope.
For them, having found this place already saved them a time-consuming and laborious step. What they had to overcome were the dangers on this path. This raised a question.
"Senior Brother," Mo Tiange said after some thought, "if this sect was very powerful, and its leader's cultivation was extremely high, perhaps even nearing ascension, wouldn't this path be something our strength impossible to overcome?"
Qin Xi, however, smiled. "Have you forgotten? There's no spiritual vein here at all. The restrictions and formations they set up have likely already become ineffective."
Mo Tiange countered, "But what if they were experts in Mechanist Arts?"
"Even if they were mechanisms, their power couldn't remain unchanged forever, could it?"
Mo Tiange thought about it. Mechanisms could indeed be preserved for a long time—the mechanisms in the Guixu Sea secret realm were proof. However, over time, mechanisms could loosen. While they might still function, their power would diminish. Moreover, mechanisms relied on materials. Mechanisms that could last this long required exceptionally precious materials, impossible to produce in unlimited quantities.
Thinking this, her confidence in this journey greatly increased. Moreover, she thought of another aspect.
"Ziwei Sanren knew Mechanist Arts. Presumably, that Senior Xiao Zilan also knew Mechanist Arts. If she truly came here... Master's Mechanist Arts were far superior to Xiao Zilan's. Even the Xuanji Sect only passed down superficial knowledge of Mechanist Arts. What she obtained from the Guixu Sea secret realm's inheritance was the true ancient Mechanist Arts."
Things unfolded just as the two anticipated. The journey proceeded with without incident. Many of the formations and restrictions along the way had already become ineffective. Even those that hadn't become ineffective weren't very powerful. As for mechanisms, there were some, but most had already been destroyed. This further confirmed that someone must have been here before, most likely Xiao Zilan's group.
Half a day later, the two passed through the outermost rock passage, and their their view suddenly cleared.
Mo Tiange looked around. The place before them more closely resembled a Cave Abode. The wide stone passage was spacious enough for ten people to walk abreast. The ground was paved with neat bluish-grey stone slabs. The surrounding stone walls were embedded with many brilliantly colored gemstones for illumination.
These glowing gemstones weren't like Moonlight Stones, which only provided light. They were also precious materials. While not valuable enough to make Nascent Soul cultivators fight over them individually, collecting them all would amount to astonishing wealth.
For ordinary treasure hunters, reaching this point and taking the gemstones would already make the trip worthwhile. But the two of them had a different goal.
Looking at the gemstones lining the entire passage, Mo Tiange and Qin Xi's eyes held only amazement, not greed. They were amazement because, while these gemstones weren't heaven-defying treasures, collecting so many wasn't something an ordinary person could do. It showed the sect to which this secret repository belonged was quite powerful. The lack of greed was because they had seen many spiritual treasures; these materials weren't that precious to Nascent Soul cultivators.
"We need to be careful now," Qin Xi said.
Mo Tiange nodded lightly, still letting the Jade Bone Puppet lead the way.
At the front end of the stone passage, there were traces where gemstones had been embedded, but the gemstones themselves were gone, presumably already taken. These digging traces only extended for three to five meters before stopping abruptly. There was even half a gemstone left un-dug. It was likely that something happened when they reached this point. Therefore, this section might hold danger.
Following behind the puppet, the two stepped onto the stone slabs and slowly moved forward.
After three to five meters, the puppet stepped onto a slab, which suddenly vibrated slightly. The slab beneath its feet flipped downward.
Both were cautious and immediately retreated. At the same time, Mo Tiange manipulated the Jade Bone Puppet to levitate.
Once the two stood firm, the stone slabs on both sides of the passage had completely disappeared. In the middle, every other slab had also vanished.
Mo Tiange looked down and immediately felt her scalp tingle.
Beneath the passage burned earth fire. Crawling within the earth fire were swarming Fire Ants. These Fire Ants fed on flames and were born with innate spirituality. A single one wasn't powerful; even a Qi Refining junior cultivator could kill it. But if there were countless, even a Nascent Soul cultivator might not be able to handle them.
The two surrounded themselves with protective Spiritual Qi, grasped their Magical Treasures, and prepared for battle.