Chapter 624: Inheritance (II)
"You're too polite. It was only a business deal. We each got what we wanted. Without Fellow Tu Yangming's help, I doubt I could have gained much on my own. After all, we crude martial artists have pitifully few tricks at our disposal. We can't afford to charge in recklessly. Risking our lives like that simply isn't worth it," Lin Zheyu said with a shrug and a smile.
Tu Mingzhen smiled and shook her head. "You're being too modest, fellow friend."
She did not continue arguing the point. Instead, she cast Lin Zheyu a meaningful glance before turning her attention back to Tu Yangming. In her eyes, the enigmatic Xiao Yu was certainly far more capable than he appeared. Since they were not enemies, however, and he clearly wished to keep his true abilities hidden, there was no need to expose him.
Time passed slowly. It had to be said that Tu Yangming was exceptionally capable. Although he was only at the mid-stage Golden Core realm, his techniques and dharma treasures seemed endless, and his methods were truly masterful. It was no wonder Tu Mingzhen had chosen to bring him rather than a stronger cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core realm.
The Tu Family was no ordinary family and had no shortage of peak Golden Core realm cultivators. There was clearly a good reason she had specifically asked Tu Yangming to accompany her.
After observing him for five days, Lin Zheyu had to admit that, while Tu Yangming's combat strength was nothing extraordinary, his ability to explore secret realms and locate treasures was exceptional. His experience in such matters was second to none.
"It's finally over. Watching Fellow Tu Yangming search for treasures from beginning to end has truly shown me how lacking I am. Choosing to work with you on this trip was undoubtedly the wisest decision I could have made," Lin Zheyu said with a smile as Tu Yangming made his way back.
Had he been the one handling it, Lin Zheyu would probably have done nothing more than use the Heavenly Eye to locate a weak point... then charge straight through it! There was no helping it. He was just a crude martial artist, lacking Tu Yangming's endless array of flashy techniques and dharma treasures.
Granted, Lin Zheyu doubted any of those fancy methods could withstand a single strike of Gods and Demons Extinguished. Still, he had to admit that when it came to exploration and treasure hunting, they were undeniably practical.
"You're too kind, fellow friend. Without the help of those two dharma artifacts to weaken the restrictions, we wouldn't have obtained anything on this trip." Tu Mingzhen smiled warmly, as though she had completely forgotten that the two dharma artifacts had originally been taken by Lin Zheyu from Tu Yuan of the Tu Family.
Lin Zheyu simply laughed and said nothing more.
Before long, Tu Yangming returned.
Tu Yangming took out everything they had collected over the past few days and said calmly, "The haul was quite good this time. We found many rare treasure herbs, along with precious treasures like the Nether Refining Flame. The only problem is dividing everything. The treasures vary greatly in value."
Lin Zheyu glanced over the collection. Many of the items were completely unfamiliar to him, so he had little idea of their true worth. Fortunately, with the help of the golden Heavenly Eye, he could make a rough estimate of each item's value.
"Hmm... I'll take these four." Lin Zheyu pointed at four of the treasures.
He looked at the pair with an inquiring expression. None of these items were especially useful to him. At best, they could be sold for spirit stones or traded with other cultivators. As such, it made little difference which treasures he chose, so long as their combined value was roughly 30% of the total.
A hint of surprise flashed across Tu Yangming's eyes when he saw Lin Zheyu's selections. Having spent years exploring ancient ruins and secret realms, he had developed an exceptionally keen eye for appraising treasures. By his estimate, the four items Lin Zheyu had chosen amounted to almost exactly thirty percent of the total value.
"Interesting..." Tu Yangming cast Lin Zheyu a meaningful glance but said nothing.
Seeing that her uncle had no objections, Tu Mingzhen nodded. "I have no objections either."
"Then it's settled. These two fruits lose their essence easily if they're not stored properly. Take this jade box as well, fellow friend." Seeing Lin Zheyu casually put away the four treasures, Tu Yangming took out a jade box and handed it over.
Lin Zheyu paused in surprise before accepting the jade box with a grateful nod. "Thank you."
He hadn't expected this taciturn man to be not only friendly, but also so thoughtful.
"Here are your two dharma artifacts back. We're about to leave. Will you be coming with us?" Tu Mingzhen asked as she returned the two dharma artifacts to Lin Zheyu.
To Foundation Establishment realm cultivators, these two dharma artifacts were undoubtedly powerful treasures. To Golden Core realm cultivators, however, they were merely average. Their only special value lay in their mysterious connection to this secret realm, which allowed them to weaken its restrictions. Now that Tu Mingzhen had finished using them, she felt no reluctance whatsoever in returning them.
"I plan to stay here a while longer. This is my first time entering a Shamanic Clan inheritance secret realm, and I'm quite interested in the inheritance of the Shamanic cultivators. I've heard that martial cultivation was originally developed from the Shamanic cultivator system, so their inheritance naturally holds great appeal for martial artists," Lin Zheyu said with a smile.
"Then I wish you the best of luck. Until we meet again." Tu Mingzhen cupped her fists in farewell.
The two of them leaped lightly from the mountaintop and landed beside the pool. A flash of light enveloped them, and they vanished in the blink of an eye.
"What a beautiful place. The scenery is breathtaking, though the concentration of spiritual qi is a bit low. Then again, this secret realm has probably existed for an incredibly long time. The fact that it still contains this much spiritual qi is already remarkable." Lin Zheyu spread his arms and enjoyed the gentle breeze.
Even if he failed to obtain a Shamanic Clan inheritance, this journey into the secret realm had already been worthwhile. If he sold the four treasures he had received, they would probably fetch well over a dozen high-grade spirit stones.
"No wonder powerful cultivators are so fond of exploring ancient ruins and secret realms. You can make spirit stones incredibly fast this way. Of course, one careless mistake can also get you killed just as quickly.
"Although Tu Yangming took away quite a few treasures, there are still a handful left behind. If I could get my hands on those as well, I probably wouldn't have to worry about spirit stones for quite some time... Hmm, on second thought, if I really start researching Immortal Dao formations, this many spirit stones probably won't even be enough to scratch the surface..." Lin Zheyu muttered to himself.
Studying, comprehending, and setting up formations was an incredibly expensive endeavor. Lin Zheyu had only dabbled in the Dao of formations and could barely be considered a beginner. If he wanted to study it in depth, it would consume an enormous amount of resources. Sweeping his gaze over the forest at the foot of the mountain, he activated the golden Heavenly Eye and sensed quite a few powerful auras.
Tu Yangming had not taken every treasure. Quite a few powerful ones remained because they were simply too dangerous to retrieve, even for him. Lin Zheyu could always try for them when he had the time, but not now. Although only cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm could enter this secret realm, in practical terms, he was still only comparable to the Foundation Establishment realm, not even the Golden Core realm.
Once he broke his Shackles and advanced to the Shackles realm, truly reaching the level of a Golden Core realm cultivator, it would not be too late to explore further. If even a seasoned veteran like Tu Yangming dared not venture into those dangerous areas, then a crude martial artist like Lin Zheyu certainly had no intention of doing so.
It's time to see this legendary Shamanic Clan inheritance for myself. I wonder whether my current aptitude and latent potential are enough to meet its requirements. If not, borrowing ideas from the Shamanic cultivator system will be much more difficult... Lin Zheyu thought to himself.
The Shamanic Clan passed down its cultivation through direct inheritance. There were no complete cultivation techniques or scriptures preserved in writing or jade slips. Within the Martial Alliance, all research into the Shamanic cultivator system was based on fragmented texts circulating in the outside world. Although Lin Zheyu had read a vast number of such records, they always left him feeling as though he were scratching an itch through a boot.
Despite what he had said, Lin Zheyu remained quite confident in himself. Even martial artists on Great Wei's Hidden Dragon List had managed to obtain fragments of the Shamanic Clan inheritance from Great Wei's inheritance secret realm. There was no reason he should fare any worse. After all, he had surpassed the Dragon Transformation and transformed all of his blood qi into golden blood qi. He was an unparalleled genius!
***
Stepping forward with his right foot, Lin Zheyu walked through the air and passed through the waterfall. Before crossing it, even his powerful senses, together with the golden Heavenly Eye, had detected nothing unusual. Yet the moment he stepped through, his vision blurred briefly, and an enormous space unfolded before him.
"Hmm, I thought there would be a cave behind the waterfall. I didn't expect such a magnificent hall instead," Lin Zheyu said with a smile as he looked around.
It was an immense hall, spanning roughly half the size of a football field from his previous life. Its architecture exuded a wild, domineering, and rugged style completely unlike modern aesthetics, yet it was profoundly awe-inspiring.
Most striking of all was the colossal statue standing at the far end of the hall. The figure was bare-chested, with only the hide of some unknown ferocious beast wrapped around its waist. Towering and broad-shouldered, its body was covered in bulging muscles, every line sharply defined, giving the overwhelming impression of boundless physical power.
As Lin Zheyu entered, oil lamps lining the hall suddenly flared to life one after another, illuminating the vast chamber as brightly as day.
Lin Zheyu stepped forward, the crisp sound of his footsteps echoing throughout the hall. The instant he moved, an invisible force descended upon him. In that moment, he realized he could no longer sense spiritual qi. Not only spiritual qi, but even demonic qi and rule power had vanished from his perception.
Has the trial already begun? No wonder those cultivators have no interest in the Shamanic Clan inheritance. If only physical strength can be relied upon, with their frail bodies, they probably wouldn't even make it a hundred steps, Lin Zheyu thought.
He continued forward at an unhurried pace. With every step, the pressure grew increasingly terrifying. After walking fewer than twenty steps, it felt as though an entire mountain rested upon his shoulders.
Worse still, the invisible force continued to intensify. Lin Zheyu could feel the mysterious golden energy within his body becoming increasingly suppressed. Even the golden Heavenly Eye was being heavily restricted.
"Even the mysterious golden energy has been suppressed. So only pure blood qi and physical strength can be used?" Lin Zheyu said in surprise.
He had always regarded the mysterious golden energy as a form of physical power. To his surprise, the Shamanic cultivator system apparently did not recognize it as pure bodily strength.