Chapter 518

Chen Mu's eyes flickered slightly, and he raised his hand to signal: "Please sit, Daoist Zhuling."

Daoist Zhuling sat down opposite them, placed the bamboo basket lightly on the edge of the table, her movements natural and casual, as if it were a meeting between old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"You two have worked hard all the way; the Yanzhuo Mountain trip seems to have been very fruitful."

Her gaze lingered slightly on Ning Ning Zhixi, then moved away, her expression remaining calm.

Ning Ning Zhixi was secretly shocked; the other party not only knew their identities, but even seemed to know that they had just come out of Yanzhuo Mountain and had gained something?

She looked at Chen Mu, whose expression remained unchanged, just asking flatly: "Daoist, you mentioned spring news in your message, may I ask what your advice is?"

Daoist Zhuling smiled slightly, and instead of answering, asked: "Have you two ever heard of 'Tianxin Temple'?"

Tianxin Temple?

Chen Mu and Ning Ning Zhixi exchanged a glance.

Ning Ning Zhixi shook her head slowly; she had read extensively and knew the sects of the world, but had never heard of the name "Tianxin Temple."

Chen Mu had also not seen this name in the files of the Town Martial Arts Division.

"My temple has an ancient heritage, hidden from the world, with few disciples, and has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, so the name is not prominent."

Daoist Zhuling explained, her tone indifferent, "My temple's Taoist lineage originates from the ancient 'Way of Nature,' observing the way of heaven, executing the way of heaven, and has some shallow research on the rotation of the four seasons and the changes of heaven and earth's Qi."

Way of Nature? Rotation of the four seasons?

Chen Mu understood; it seemed that this "Tianxin Temple" was deeply related to the "Four Seasons Secret Treasury," or at least was an reclusive sect that had conducted in-depth research on it.

"Is the Daoist here for the 'Four Seasons Keys'?" Chen Mu asked directly.

Daoist Zhuling nodded lightly, then shook her head slightly: "Yes, and no. My temple is indeed concerned with the secret of the 'Four Seasons Rotation,' but has no great obsession with collecting keys and opening the secret treasury itself."

"I came down the mountain this time, first to experience, and second because I observed that the 'wood element' and 'growth' Qi between heaven and earth have had abnormal gathering fluctuations recently, and they resonate with the 'Four Seasons' marks, so I deduced that the 'Spring Key' might appear soon."

"It also happened that I heard that demonic sects like the Blood Refining Sect, Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, and Nine Nether Sect are all operating in secret, searching for 'Four Seasons' clues, fearing that they will disturb the heavenly secrets and cause disaster, so I wanted to find one or two predestined fellow practitioners to protect the 'Spring Key' so that it can appear smoothly and not fall into the hands of evil people."

She looked at Ning Ning Zhixi, her eyes clear: "Miss Ning carries the 'Xia' and 'Winter' double keys and has obtained the 'Xia' fragment, so she is one of the predestined people of the 'Four Seasons' legacy, favored by luck. It is most appropriate for you to participate in the 'Spring Key' matter. As for Young Master Chen..."

Her gaze turned to Chen Mu, and a trace of awe and exploration that was extremely difficult to detect flashed in the depths of her eyes.

"The Tao follows nature, and those who are capable should do more. With you accompanying, this trip should be safe."

These words were spoken openly and directly, indicating the purpose of her visit and explaining the reason for finding them, and pointing out that the "Spring Key" was about to appear and had already been targeted by multiple demonic sects.

Chen Mu was calm: "How did the Daoist know our whereabouts and gains? And how to confirm the time and place of the 'Spring Key's' appearance?"

Daoist Zhuling took an object from her sleeve and placed it on the table.

It was a tortoise shell the size of a palm, dark yellow in color, covered with natural mysterious patterns; in the center of the tortoise shell was embedded a jade-like leaf-shaped treasure, inside which green light spots seemed to be flowing slowly, like stars.

"This is my temple's inherited object 'Jia Wood Spirit Core,' which can weakly sense the same source or related 'Four Seasons' auras and heaven and earth wood spirit anomalies."

Daoist Zhuling explained, "When the Yanzhuo Mountain 'Winter Key' appeared, Yin and Yang clashed, the light pillar shot into the sky, and the aura was unique. The 'Jia Wood Spirit Core' had a reaction, so I roughly located the direction and rushed over."

"On the way, I sensed the gathering Qi of the 'Xia' and 'Winter' double keys, so I was able to find you two. As for the 'Spring Key'..."

Her fingertips tapped the tortoise shell, and the green treasure light flashed slightly, projecting an extremely blurred, constantly changing shadow, vaguely the outline of rolling mountains and forests, in one position of which, a strong green light spot flickered.

"According to the 'Jia Wood Spirit Core' sensing, combined with my temple's deduction of heavenly time and earth Qi, the 'Spring Key' is most likely to appear around Jingzhe in the 'Donglin Ancient Ruins'."

"Donglin Ancient Ruins?"

Ning Ning Zhixi was startled; she had heard of this name, "Is it that ancient forest secret realm located at the junction of Jiannan Dao and Jiangnan Dao?"

"It is said that the wood-attribute energy is rich, filled with strange flowers and weeds, and many wood-attribute exotic beasts also live there, and there are even ancient exotic species. But the entrance to the secret realm is erratic, and there are natural mazes inside, which are difficult to enter."

"Exactly."

Daoist Zhuling nodded, "Donglin Ancient Ruins is formed by a place where ancient wood-attribute spiritual veins gather, self-forming a space after a long period of time, containing extremely pure and vast wood-attribute spiritual opportunity and growth Qi, which just meets the conditions of the 'Spring' artistic conception and 'wood Qi gathering'."

"Although the entrance to the secret realm is erratic, around Jingzhe, when heaven and earth thunder move, the growth Qi is at its peak, the barrier between the ancient ruins and the present world will become the thinnest, and a stable entrance might even appear for a short time. This is the 'Heavenly Time' and 'Geographical Advantage' I know."

She looked at Chen Mu: "As for 'Human Harmony,' it requires predestined people to hold relevant tokens and trigger them with specific methods. I am not talented, but I know a little about opening the ancient ruins portal, but it requires at least one 'Four Seasons Key' or related object as a guide, and it must be performed at the correct time and place."

The information was very detailed and logical.

Daoist Zhuling looked sincere, and the clues provided were mutually verified with the hints on the stone tablet fragment.

But Chen Mu did not fully believe it.

A reclusive sect taking the initiative to come to the door to cooperate, although there was a righteous name of "protecting the key and blocking the demons," whether there was another plot was not yet known.

"The Daoist just mentioned that demonic sects like the Blood Refining Sect have also set their sights on the 'Spring Key.' Will they rush to enter the Donglin Ancient Ruins first?" Chen Mu asked.

Daoist Zhuling's expression was slightly solemn: "It is very likely. There are also capable people in the demonic sect who can calculate roughly. And they act unscrupulously, perhaps attempting to use brute force or evil methods to forcibly open a gap when the secret realm barrier is weak, or follow us in. At that time, there will inevitably be a struggle in the ancient ruins."

"This is also one of the reasons why I invited you two to accompany me; more strength means more protection."

She paused and added: "In addition, according to the recent sensing of the 'Jia Wood Spirit Core,' in the area where the Donglin Ancient Ruins are located, besides the demonic sect aura, there seems to be another quite strange aura appearing and disappearing, neither righteous nor demonic, ancient and obscure, which I cannot judge the origin of, so we need to be careful."

Another third party?

Chen Mu's eyes flickered slightly.

The forces involved in this "Four Seasons Secret Treasury" were becoming more and more numerous.

"When does the Daoist plan to set off for the Donglin Ancient Ruins?" Ning Ning Zhixi asked.

"Jingzhe is on the second day of the second month, less than twenty days away. But we need to rush to the area where the ancient ruins might appear in advance to find and lock the entrance fluctuation. It is best to set off within three days."

Daoist Zhuling looked at Chen Mu, clearly waiting for his decision.