Chapter 34: Breaking the Array, Entering the Mansion, Remains of a Heavenly Immortal

Su Chen landed again before the stone wall, gazing at the magical barrier, its surface riddled with cracks and on the verge of total collapse, lost in thought.

Though the array was broken, its core foundation still emitted an ancient and mysterious aura.

From the spatial energy leaking out, the one who set this array clearly possessed considerable mastery over space.

“Forcing it open might damage the cave’s internal structure; better to study it first.”

Su Chen was always cautious.

He sat cross-legged, sinking his spiritual sense into the barrier, beginning to analyze the structure of the broken array.

This array was called the “Minor Teleportation Illusion Array,” a highly sophisticated concealment array.

It could not only distort light and hide the cave’s existence, but also slightly “teleport” this space away from the main world, making it invisible to ordinary cultivators’ spiritual senses.

In its prime, even a Heavenly Immortal might not have detected its anomaly.

Alas, time is merciless.

No matter how exquisite an array, if left unattended and its spiritual energy depleted, it would eventually collapse.

When he was at the Slanted Moon Three Stars Cave, Su Chen had dabbled in some array knowledge.

Though not an expert, his vision was far from narrow.

Added to his current preliminary understanding of spatial energy, deciphering this heavily damaged array was no great challenge.

About an hour passed.

Su Chen opened his eyes, a flicker of insight passing through them.

He had located several key nodes of the broken array, as well as its weak points in energy flow.

He stood up, made no use of magic treasures, merely extended his fingers, forming a sword-like point, and steadily tapped several specific spots on the barrier.

Each tap landed precisely on an array node.

His fingertip exuded immortal energy like a key, reactivating one by one the rusted “lock cores,” then unlocking them in reverse order.

“Hum—”

As his final finger tapped, the entire barrier emitted a soft hum, then dissolved silently like melting snow into the air.

A pitch-black opening appeared on the stone wall.

A stale odor, mingling dust and spiritual energy, rushed out from the opening.

Su Chen did not enter immediately.

He stood at the entrance, first releasing his spiritual sense to thoroughly scan the cave, confirming no dangerous seals or living creatures remained, before stepping inside.

Beyond the entrance was a stone staircase descending downward.

Along both walls of the staircase, every several zhang, a pearl the size of a pigeon’s egg was embedded.

No one knew what material these pearls were made of, yet even after countless eons, they still emitted a soft glow, illuminating the entire passage as bright as daylight.

Su Chen descended the staircase, walking about a hundred steps, when the space suddenly opened before him.

A vast cavern appeared before him.

The cavern had clearly been artificially carved and refined; the floor was paved with smooth blue stone slabs, and the ceiling studded with even more pearls, like a glittering starry sky.

In the center of the cavern stood a small stone platform, upon which rested a meditation cushion, thickly coated in dust.

Aside from that, the entire cavern was empty, appearing rather plain.

Su Chen’s gaze was quickly drawn to a line of characters carved into the wall behind the platform.

“I am the Hermit of Canglang. I chanced upon this place, carved out this cave, and cultivated for a full cycle, yet never advanced further. Now my time has come. Future seekers who find this message may inherit my legacy.”

The characters were bold and fluid, carved three-tenths of an inch deep into the stone; even after countless ages, they still radiated a sense of resentment and loneliness.

Below the inscription sat a white skeleton, completely petrified into jade.

The skeleton remained in a meditative cross-legged posture; its Daoist robe had long since rotted to ash.

“So this was a senior who exhausted his lifespan.”

Su Chen looked at the skeleton and sighed softly.

The Immortal Path is long and fraught with hardship.

From Mortal Immortal to Earth Immortal, then to Heavenly Immortal—each step is a battle against Heaven for life.

Though a Heavenly Immortal possesses a full cycle—129,600 years—there is still an end to their lifespan.

This Hermit of Canglang was clearly one such case.

“Rest in peace, Senior.”

Su Chen bowed solemnly before the skeleton.

He did not immediately touch the skeleton, but carefully explored the cave.

On both sides of the main cavern, several stone chambers had been carved.

Su Chen pushed open the stone doors one by one.

The first chamber was the alchemy room.

In the center stood a half-man-tall alchemy furnace, its design ancient, engraved with flame runes.

Su Chen examined the inscriptions; the furnace was called the “Three Yang Earth Fire Furnace,” a fine magic treasure capable of refining most immortal elixirs.

Su Chen took it. Then he turned to the stone shelf beside it.

On the shelf beside the furnace sat over a dozen jade vials.

Su Chen opened one; a rich elixir fragrance surged out.

Inside lay three pills, the size of dragon’s eyes, entirely crimson.

“Red Sun Pills?”

Su Chen’s heart stirred.

These Red Sun Pills were a supreme healing elixir, especially potent for fire-affinity cultivators, enhancing their cultivation base.

Judging by their quality and the spiritual power within, they were at least high-grade.

Su Chen was about to take one out, when the three pills suddenly vanished with a soft “puff” inside the vial.

Su Chen sighed inwardly—these elixirs had aged too long and had long since rotted.

The moment he disturbed them, they dissolved.

He opened the other jade vials one by one; most were empty, and only a few contained elixirs—some to boost magic power, others to stabilize the spirit—but all, like the Red Sun Pills, vanished the moment opened.

The second chamber was the artifact forging room.

Aside from some forging materials and a long-extinguished earth-fire furnace, there was nothing remarkable. Clearly, the Hermit of Canglang was not skilled in artifact forging.

The third chamber was the scripture repository.

The chamber was small, containing only a stone bookshelf, upon which sat a few jade slips alone.

Su Chen picked up one and probed it with his spiritual sense.

A cultivation scripture titled “Cangming Immortal Scripture” appeared in his mind.

This scripture was the Hermit of Canglang’s core inheritance, a supreme water-affinity method directly pointing toward the Jin Xian path.

In the outside world, it would have sparked bloody battles among countless cultivators.

Yet for Su Chen, it held little use.

His “Hunyuan Jin Dan Zhen Jie” had been passed down by the Patriarch Bodhi, directly pointing toward Da Luo, its profundity far surpassing the “Canglang Zhen Jie.”

Still, another’s stone may polish one’s jade.

Su Chen still collected all the jade slips; besides some water-affinity techniques, they contained the Hermit of Canglang’s personal cultivation insights and travel records—useful as supplementary knowledge for him.

After thoroughly exploring all the stone chambers, Su Chen found no particularly astonishing treasures.

“Is that all?”

Su Chen found it hard to believe.

The legacy of a Heavenly Immortal should not be so meager.

His gaze returned once more to the skeleton.