Chapter 291: Chapter 253 True Man of Shaoyang_2

Qin Beichen beheld her and made an extremely respectful bow.

“Teacher Duanmu, it’s been a long time.”

The woman with fiery red hair was average in terms of facial features, with slightly darkened skin, but her curvaceous figure, thin waist, long legs, and exceptional height (almost comparable to Qin Beichen) made her stand out.

She was Duanmu Longrong, the caretaker of the Treasure Trove, as well as the deputy principal of the Dance Tool Dao Academy.

“Hmm, this is your student, right?”

Duanmu Longrong turned her head, sized up Chen Mobai, and he immediately bowed in greeting.

“Take this.”

A small, dark, red iron piece, about the size of a thumb, flew out of Duanmu Longrong’s hand and fell in front of Chen Mobai, who immediately accepted it with thanks.

It was a “Device Piece”.

As a key, it could be used to unlock magic artifacts nurtured in the Treasure Trove.

A “Device Piece” could unlock one magical artifact.

As for the type of magic artifact that can be unlocked, it would all depend on one’s luck and fate.

“Thank you, Teacher Duanmu. I’ll take him up now.”

After Qin Beichen had completed his duty, he did not linger. He activated his cloud energy once more, wrapping Chen Mobai and himself within, and swiftly returned to the cave entrance at the back of Crimson Mountain.

“Since I’m your mentor, I should take this rare opportunity to fulfill my responsibilities.”

Qin Beichen led Chen Mobai to a pavilion at the back of the mountain. After they sat down, he initiated the conversation by asking if Chen Mobai had any doubts.

“Isn’t it said that the Treasure Trove nurtures over 10,000 magic artifacts? Why didn’t I see any?”

Before arriving, Che Yucheng had only told Chen Mobai the most basic details, such as the “Device Piece” and the “Fire Godlight”. It would be a missed opportunity not to ask questions of his mentor who was obviously a long-time resident of the back mountain.

“Do you know the origins of the Treasure Trove?”

After receiving an affirmative answer from Chen Mobai, Qin Beichen conjured a white jade sphere, about the size of a human skull, and passed it over to him.

It seemed that this mentor also possessed a storage space of at least the sphere’s dimension.

He was just curious whether it was a magic artifact, or perhaps a personal void space refined directly from a Void Stone.

While his mind was on other matters, Chen Mobai asked about the origin of the white jade sphere in a curious manner.

“What is this?”

“This is a ‘Device Nurturing Sphere’. It is made from crushed Spirit Stone mixed with other spiritual mineral materials to cultivate magic artifacts. After it is filled with specially made Spiritual Water, a magic artifact can be placed inside. This ensures that the artifact will not decay or decline in grade even when not cultivated by a cultivator.”

This was the first time Chen Mobai had encountered such an artifact. He held it in his hand and turned it around. Indeed, he found a groove about the size of a fingernail on one side of the Device Nurturing Sphere, perfectly designed to fit a Device Piece.

“The artifacts in the Treasure Trove were sealed and placed there by graduates of the Dance Tool Dao Academy. Those cultivators returned here before their imminent death to personally place their proudest artifacts inside.”

“As for the specific location of an artifact within the Treasure Trove, the Daoist Academy does not deliberately search for them. And so, over thousands of years, it’s become possible to find a Device Nurturing Sphere anywhere within the Treasure Trove.”

“The way to unlock a Device Nurturing Sphere is through a ‘Device Piece’. Throughout the year, as long as your body can bear it, you can search the Treasure Trove countless times. However, you only have one chance to choose and take away a Device Nurturing Sphere for unlocking.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Mobai’s face reflected enlightenment.

However, another question soon arose in his mind.

“Looking at this ‘Device Piece’, it doesn’t seem difficult to forge. Has no one tried it?”

According to the previous experience of the Dance Tool Dao Academy, a true cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage could find four or five Device Nurturing Spheres in the Treasure Trove over a year. Most people would wait until the end of the term, then choose to unlock the one they were most confident in.

So, had anyone ever cracked the code of the ‘Device Piece’?

“Do you think that a Device Nurturing Sphere is opened with this ‘Device Piece’?”

Qin Beichen shook his head. Suddenly, an additional ‘Device Piece’ identical to Chen Mobai’s appeared in his hand, and then he inserted it directly into the Device Nurturing Sphere in front of him.

With a crisp crack!

A red glow ascended from afar, resembling a long dragon of flames which flew into the Device Nurturing Sphere.

Subsequently, the white jade sphere the size of a skull turned into ashes in an instant, scattering across the ground, revealing a palm-sized red mist.

“It’s actually another ‘Red Misty Cloud Silk’.”

When Qin Beichen shook his head and sighed, Chen Mobai was already shocked.

“Master, was that just now…”

If he hadn’t seen wrong, the Device Piece he just touched was real, which implies that the Device Nurturing Sphere he played with before was also real?

“As a full professor of the Daoist Academy, I can get twenty credits every year. Saving for five years allows me to exchange for a Device Piece. Unfortunately, my luck seems to be average and I got a duplicate magic artifact.”

In order to let Chen Mobai understand the principle of Device Pieces, Qin Beichen demonstrated it on the spot.

In the Dance Tool Dao Academy, Device Pieces can also be exchanged with credits, costing too credits each.

“The Device Nurturing Sphere is one of the masterpieces of our Taoist Institute’s Artifact-refining Department. However, most of the restrictions inside are set by cultivators who seal the magic artifacts themselves, and they can be very unpredictable. Therefore, after inserting the Device Piece, they will attract the Fire Godlight from the back mountain to sweep away the restrictions inside.”

Having said this, Qin Beichen reached out to pick up the red mist, then directly threw it to Chen Mobai.

“Take it. I already have a better one.”

“I can’t possibly take it!”

Even though he said that, Chen Mobai’s hands had already involuntarily reached out to take the red mist, but the heat forced him to withdraw his hands.

“‘Red Misty Cloud Silk’ is also considered one of the signature artifacts of our Dance Tool Dao Academy. It is refined using the spiritual energy steam ejected from the magma at the bottom of the Treasure Trove, red iron blocks, fire jade shavings and magma. Apart from being used as a flying tool, it also provides impressive defense, especially against fire spells, which it can block most of.”

When Qin Beichen finished speaking, Chen Mobai remembered the smoke he had brought down to the bottom of the Treasure Trove.

More than 20,000 meters below the earth’s crust, it could isolate the terrifying high temperature, causing him to only break out in a slight sweat. This showed just how powerful this artifact is.

“Thank you, Master.”

His words, calling him ‘Master’, echoed surely and vividly.

Qin Beichen nodded and gave a few more words of caution.

“When you go down, you should be able to see the tunnels carved into the cave walls. These were dug by ancient cultivators when this place was a Spirit Stone Mine. The tunnels are intricate, spanning throughout the top 3,000 meters of the Treasure Trove like a spiderweb.”

“Generally, this where students like you will operate. If you go deeper than 3,000 meters, you will need to do your own digging and might not necessarily find anything of worth.”

“You can select a tunnel as your resting place. If you’re thirsty, come up and drink some mountain spring water; if you’re hungry, eat some fasting pills.”

“The spiritual energy here is the most vigorous in all of Crimson Mountain. The headmaster signed a contract to lease the Treasure Trove for another 600 years from the immortal gate a hundred years ago. Since you are cultivating the Pure Yang Scroll, don’t waste this place’s powerful Fire Vein spiritual energy.”

After finishing his words, Qin Beichen got up to leave.

“Master, let’s become good friends.”

Chen Mobai immediately took out his phone, saved Qin Beichen’s contact information, and the latter disappeared from the spot.

He was set to seclude himself for his Cultivation of the Pure Yang Body again.

Chen Mobai looked at the “Red Misty Cloud Silk” in his hand and felt a little guilty.

After all, he was currently using the Eternal Life Sutra to establish his Foundation, and his Pure Yang Scroll was still stuck at Qi Cultivation Perfection.

Luckily, the Immortal Gate highly respects personal privacy, they won’t actively inquire about someone’s cultivation level and cultivation technique. Thus, Qin Beichen still believes that Chen Mobai established this foundation through the Pure Yang Scroll.

Speaking of the Pure Yang Scroll, at the end of last year, Ming Yuhua attempted to establish his foundation by condensing ten droplets of Liquid Spiritual Power, but he had to stop breaking through because he had to use a critical technique card.

In comparison, Chen Mobai acknowledged that Ming Yuhua indeed had excellent aptitude.

You should know when Chen Mobai first tried to establish his Foundation, he only condensed two droplets of Liquid Spiritual Power.

To establish a Foundation via the Pure Yang Scroll, one needs to condense fifteen droplets of Liquid Spiritual Power, which means they have then finished the step of Condensing Qi into Liquid.

Compared to Chen Mobai, if Ming Yuhua wasn’t cultivating the Pure Yang Scroll, a Divinity Transformation technique, he could at least have reached the stage of Divine Sense Ascending, perhaps even have succeeded in one attempt. Thinking of this, Chen Mobai gave Ming Yuhua a call.

He explained to him the situation at the Treasure Trove. After hearing what he said, Ming Yuhua was eager to check it out for himself. As an Artifact Refiner, he couldn’t wait to find a Device Nurturing Sphere and open it.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get in.

“By the way, Brother, how do you practice the ‘Red Misty Cloud Silk’ artifact?”

In the end, Chen Mobai raised the main reason for his call..