Chapter 168 - 167: Qi Storage Pavilion
"Master Yang? Is there something wrong with this well?"
Seeing Yang Shen staring for a long time, Cao Wei came closer to ask.
As she gazed at her handsome master’s profile, the young disciple’s adoration for him grew.
Yang Shen looked away and said, "Do you know about this well? Does it have a story?"
Cao Wei thought for a moment. Since the owner wanted to sell the place, he had indeed given a thorough introduction on her first visit.
He hadn’t left out a single detail he could brag about.
"I think he said that based on the wear and tear, it does look like it’s from 2,000 years ago. But you can’t really date stonework, so it’s just a ’feeling’... Experts have looked at it, but it’s not considered a cultural relic."
"As for why it’s blocked up inside, it’s probably due to geological changes. Plus, you’re not allowed to dig private wells in the city and disrupt the groundwater, so they just left it as is."
Yang Shen averted his gaze again. "Is that so? Interesting... Let’s keep moving."
The two of them took another lap around the tea garden before returning to the previous corridor.
Cao Yue and the owner were still talking, but it didn’t seem to be going well.
"President Cao, I admit I’ve taken a huge loss here, but you’re an influential man. What if you could make it work? Wouldn’t that be a massive return on your investment?"
Cao Yue raised a hand to stop him. "President Wang, I’ve always operated in Jinshui District. In a place like Jianghuai, who would dare claim to be influential? You’re giving me too much credit."
"I’ve already asked around. The zoning for this ’Cangwu Garden’ can’t be changed one bit. Ten years ago, during the green space planning, this area was locked in to free up land for some commercial complex. If the zoning here is changed, the total green space for the entire district will fall below the required threshold, which could easily lead to old problems being dug up."
Back then, it was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, and ’Cangwu Garden’ was Peter.
"It looks like a zoning issue, but it’s actually about the careers of the people who were in charge ten years ago. Many of them have been promoted to very high positions since then. In any case, my hands are tied."
Dejected, President Wang slumped into his seat.
When he saw his daughter return with her clothes all in order, Cao Yue breathed a long sigh of relief.
He had been on pins and needles while drinking his tea just now.
He wasn’t yet aware of Yang Shen’s potential to be a Champion Scholar in the college entrance exams. He just saw him as an ordinary, excellent student. Thus, his feelings toward Yang Shen wavered between ’can’t stand him’ and ’I’ll put up with him for now.’
He wasn’t warm, but he didn’t get hostile either.
His feelings were complicated.
’The college entrance exams are over, so I’m not against my daughter dating. But she can’t be the one groveling in the relationship, can she?!’
With their business here concluded, Cao Yue planned to leave. After asking for Yang Shen’s opinion, he didn’t linger.
Cao Wei had offered to see her master off, but Yang Shen just waved his hand, saying he planned to look around "Cangwu Garden" a bit more.
As for President Wang, he turned and left without a word to the young man. He was the owner, not a waiter.
And so, Yang Shen walked around the enormous Cangwu Garden for a long time, exploring every corner. Occasionally, he would press his hand to the ground, releasing his Spiritual Qi to sense his surroundings.
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「In the dead of night... one in the morning.」
Yang Shen returned to "Cangwu Garden."
It was already a remote location, with no residential or commercial areas nearby. At night, it was utterly silent, without even a single car on the road.
Yang Shen had already surveyed the area during the day. There were very few security cameras, but he still chose to disguise himself.
A strange black helmet covered his face, and he had changed into unmarked clothes.
With a light leap, Yang Shen vaulted over the surrounding wall. A few minutes later, he arrived at the "Cangwu Tea Garden."
One of the staff members lived on-site, but they were sound asleep. Yang Shen moved silently to the side of the well with the sign that read "Pre-Qin Ancient Well."
It looked no different than it had during the day, except the deep, massive mouth of the well seemed even more profound.
Or perhaps, the "well mouth" was just its superficial appearance—what others had guessed its purpose to be.
If Yang Shen wasn’t mistaken, this wasn’t a "well mouth," but an "entrance."
Yang Shen vaulted down into it. A ten-meter drop was nothing to him. After landing, he touched the moss-covered soil with his palm.
He couldn’t see anything special about it, but the "family fortune" his system had mentioned was located here.
He formed a Finger Technique with one hand and activated the most unique and complex of the "Five Elements Escape" arts: the "Earth Element Escape."
Under the effect of the profound Spiritual Qi, Yang Shen slowly sank, merging into the earth.
His "Earth Element Escape" wasn’t very refined, only at a "functional" level. It could be blocked by hard rock, but luckily... the soil below was loose.
From ten meters underground, he continued to descend for a good thirty-plus meters. Just when Yang Shen felt he couldn’t go on, he broke free from the soil and entered an open space.
There was no light whatsoever. Yang Shen snapped his fingers, and a cluster of "Rising Sun Flame" wrapped around his fingertip, illuminating his surroundings...
A wide cavern... a full fifty meters or so underground, its surface actually bore the marks of human craftsmanship...
It wasn’t paved with stone bricks, but rather, the surface itself had been reinforced...
Or perhaps... some great power had directly carved out this area, leaving a long, sloping passageway that led to who-knows-where...
A thought popped into Yang Shen’s head: ’Don’t tell me this is an ancient tomb?’
’The family fortune is for me to become a tomb raider?’
’Although, I guess the "Earth Element Escape" is pretty well-suited for this line of work...’
The air here was completely sealed. It wasn’t a matter of smell; there was almost no oxygen. Fortunately, the flame on his hand was essentially "Spiritual Qi combustion," otherwise it wouldn’t have been able to provide light.
For Yang Shen, who was at the Late-stage of Marrow Refining, holding his breath for ten minutes or so without fighting was not a major issue.
But he had come prepared. He’d bought a can of spray-on oxygen in the afternoon. Taking a puff every now and then, he could last for half an hour without a problem.
Yang Shen held the oxygen can in one hand and the flame in the other, moving forward cautiously. He decided that at the first sign of trouble, he would immediately use "Earth Element Escape" to get out.
However, the further he walked, the richer the concentration of Spiritual Qi became...
For the first 30 meters, it was no different from the outside world.
After 50 meters, the concentration suddenly spiked, reaching the same level as his own "Spirit Gathering Array."
After 100 meters... it was already extremely exaggerated. To Yang Shen’s "Qi Sensitivity," his vision was almost filled with a fluorescent glow...
Based on his vague sense of it, he should be more than 80 meters underground by now.
The path of Martial Arts on Cyan Blue was unique. The biggest difference from the Cultivation Side was that one could only "absorb Spiritual Qi" through the digestive system—at least, that was the common understanding.
In the eyes of Cyan Blue’s Martial Artists, Cultivation was practically the equivalent of living on thin air.
Therefore, a place with a high Source Concentration wasn’t very valuable unless it was suitable for growing High Source plants or produced special minerals.
In fact, since such areas were dominated by agriculture, animal husbandry, and mining, their property and land prices might even be cheaper, far from comparable to an old, small, and run-down apartment in the center of Jianghuai City.
But for a Cultivator, this was a "treasure land" that could fundamentally increase their Cultivation speed.
Long ago, Yang Shen had considered that the concentration of Spiritual Qi would be a critical factor in choosing a future residence. However, such places were mostly remote, so he had filed it under "long-term goals," for after he graduated from university, for example.
’Today... it seems I’ve found one! And in the middle of the city, no less!’
’Is this place what the "family fortune" was referring to? It’s a perfect fit.’
’But... what’s the reason for such a high concentration of Spiritual Qi?’
After advancing about a hundred meters, the passageway suddenly opened up, revealing an even larger black cliff.
’It goes down even further? This must be 200 meters deep, right?’
The brightness of his flame was no longer enough. Yang Shen thought for a moment, then pointed a finger upward.
The next moment, a cluster of fire was ignited and launched into the air.
It illuminated a portion of the area below the cliff.
Its true appearance left Yang Shen dumbfounded...
It turned out that what lay ahead wasn’t a cliff, but a massive, steep-sided pit!
Its diameter was probably over a hundred meters, and its walls were sheer as if carved by blades and axes, descending in layers.
The cluster of fire continued its parabolic descent, illuminating the scene at the bottom of the pit layer by layer.
In the depths of the pit stood a decaying "tower."
The tower was of Yanhua design, yet its form was far more ancient than any Yang Shen knew.
The main body seemed to be a wooden structure, supplemented with polished bricks and stones. It had stood here, in this oxygen-deprived, completely sealed underground space, for an unknown number of years.
The tower had six stories in total. Yang Shen was at the top level. Each story below had eight flying eaves, all covered in anaerobic moss that looked like rust, speaking to the passage of time.
Facing Yang Shen’s direction, three large words were carved on a crooked plaque.
The script looked like an ancient, foreign text. Fortunately, Yanhua’s heritage spanned thousands of years, making it the oldest and best-preserved civilization on Cyan Blue, so Yang Shen could barely make it out.
It read:
Qi Storage Pavilion...
Yang Shen’s eyes were fixed on the fleetingly illuminated plaque...
’Qi Storage Pavilion? Cangwu Garden?’
’Is this a story lost to history? Or is there some other mystery at play?’
The light continued to fall until it reached the bottom of the pit...
Yang Shen had originally thought this Ancient Tower was the entirety of the "family fortune," but at the bottom of the pit, he saw something even more astonishing.
This Ancient Tower... was actually built on a pool of strange liquid?
A milky-white liquid had existed underground for centuries without a single ripple. It didn’t glow on its own, but under the external light source, it revealed a viscous luster like that of molten pearls.
Without hesitation, Yang Shen immediately extinguished the flame he was remotely sustaining.
He had a feeling he knew what it was. For the "Rising Sun Flame," which used "Source" as fuel, this liquid was an extremely potent combustible. An explosion could be triggered in the blink of an eye...
He also finally understood why the Source Concentration here was so high.
That milky-white liquid... seemed to be "Source Liquid."
Or, on the Cultivation Side, it was also called "Spiritual Liquid"...
A massive amount of Spiritual Liquid...