Chapter 1400: [Cold Jade Cave] (Part 1)

Hu Xiaotian quietly arrived outside Flowing Moon Pavilion, stuck out his tongue to moisten the window paper, poked a hole with his finger, and peered inside. He saw only a middle-aged Daoist nun sitting on a mat, meditating, with no one else present. He listened closely; from the rhythm of her breathing exercises, he judged her internal foundation was not weak, though she was not a top-tier master.

At that moment he suddenly remembered his purpose for sneaking in was to find the blue translucent skull; since this was Flowing Moon Pavilion, he ought to search thoroughly. Hu Xiaotian approached the door and knocked lightly.

The Daoist nun opened her eyes and softly asked, "Who's there?"

Hu Xiaotian pinched his throat and said, "Senior sister, it's me!"

It must be that outsiders rarely come to this Pure Mystery Temple, yet the Daoist nun didn't suspect a thing; she rose and went to the door, opened it, and before she could see the situation clearly, Hu Xiaotian already struck her neck with a palm, knocking her unconscious. He grabbed her, seized the moment to seal her acupoints, then gently laid her on the floor, folded his hands toward the Daoist nun and said, "Amitabha Buddha, my apologies, my apologies!" Only then did he realize she was a Daoist disciple, and he said, "Honorable immortal, I have offended you greatly." He latched the door, then began searching the interior. Flowing Moon Pavilion has only two rooms, walls lined with bookshelves; although it houses many classics, the clear objective made the search easy. Hu Xiaotian first went through the shelves; that skull would be a bit larger than an ordinary one, so the container holding it would need to be at least two feet square. If placed openly, it would be quite conspicuous.

Actually, no one would leave something so important out in the open. Hu Xiaotian searched the bookshelves, basically confirming nothing was there, then began checking the iron chests used in the storage room to keep the classics; the wooden chests were all unlocked. He searched for about half an hour. Having gone through all the chests, his hope grew fainter the more he looked, but just as he was about to flip the last few chests and leave, he discovered that one of them actually would not open.

This chest looked no different from the others on the outside, but only when trying to open it did he discover it was a fake—the lid and body were one piece. Though its appearance matched the other chests, Hu Xiaotian tapped it and found it solid, actually cast entirely of iron. He wondered strangely why, among so many chests, only this one was so special.

Hu Xiaotian pushed left and right, but the iron chest wouldn't budge. His curiosity grew; he examined its surroundings and noticed a tiny gap at the lower rear of the chest body. He returned to the middle-aged Daoist nun's side and searched her. Indeed he found an iron plate at her waist, shaped like a turtle shell. He took the plate, tried inserting it into the gap, and it fit perfectly. He gently turned the plate, hearing a creaking activation sound. The iron chest then slowly rose from the ground.

Hu Xiaotian stepped aside, watching the iron chest rise higher and higher; below it stood a wrist‑thick iron pillar supporting it, while the spot where the chest had been was now a pitch‑black hole.

Hu Xiaotian felt a secret delight. It seemed the lower level indeed concealed a mystery; he leapt onto the iron pillar, grabbed it with both hands, and slid down like a firefighter, descending over ten zhang before his feet touched solid ground. Below was pitch dark; he walked forward slowly, and after a few steps saw the descending stairs. Evidently the Pure Mystery Temple hid secrets; Hu Buwei must have had some knowledge of this place, yet he hadn't marked it on the map, clearly unaware that beneath Flowing Moon Pavilion lay another cavern.

Hu Xiaotian descended over a hundred steps; the temperature dropped rapidly. He sensed the difference, reached out to touch the four walls, and found them icy to the touch, yet the material wasn't ice—it felt like jade, likely cold jade. So much cold jade made this an unquestionable treasure trove.

Turning the corner ahead, a figure appeared before him, startling Hu Xiaotian. His hearing had failed to detect someone lurking here, indicating the person must be an expert. He focused his gaze: the figure was motionless, yet it was a transparent sculpture. Hu Xiaotian touched his chest, chuckling at his own nervousness.

He went past the sculpture and continued forward; every so often he saw another statue. After passing six statues, he spotted a faint blue light ahead and secretly rejoiced, feeling that the source of the blue light was almost certainly that blue skull.

He turned back to look, listened sideways, then proceeded onward. As he went deeper, the blue light grew brighter. The stairs ended, and without realizing it Hu Xiaotian had arrived at the widest part of the underground Cold Jade Cave. Looking ahead, he saw a pillar thick enough to embrace, made of cold jade, standing in the cavern's center; the blue light emanated from its top platform.

Hu Xiaotian looked up and saw a figure seated cross‑legged on the high platform; the body was human, but the head bore a blue‑transparent skull, and blue light floated above that skull.

Hu Xiaotian almost exclaimed, "Holy shit, I've actually picked up a living alien!" He quickly realized the truth: the figure on the cold jade platform wasn't some strange being, but a person meditating there, having placed the blue skull over his head. Because the skull was oversized, it fit perfectly; from a distance it looked like a big‑headed doll with a blue skull.

Hu Xiaotian figured the person hadn't noticed his arrival; he quietly approached the cold jade pillar, using the Golden Spider Eight Steps to climb up silently, resolved to strike when unprepared, knock the person out, and seize the blue skull. This item must be an ultimate treasure; otherwise bandits like Hong Beimo and Hu Buwei would not spare any means to fight over it endlessly.

Hu Xiaotian's hands were already gripping the edge of the cold jade platform; looking at the figure's back, he judged it to be a woman. He guessed it was most likely Su Yujin, whom he had thought was in seclusion elsewhere, never expecting she'd hidden here to cultivate. What use does the blue skull have? Why does she wear it on her head?

Hu Xiaotian silently moved to above the cold jade platform, now less than three feet from the target. He raised his right hand and extended his left; the right hand would restrain the opponent, the left would snatch the blue skull—if it fell and shattered, all his effort would be wasted.

To avoid alerting the person to movement behind him, Hu Xiaotian slowly extended his fingertip; it was now only half an inch from the opponent's vital point. He felt secretly pleased, as the saying goes, "After wearing out iron shoes with no success, the find comes effortlessly." He thrust forward—his finger met the body like poking a balloon, and the opponent's body floated up lightly under his jab.

Even if he cracked his skull, Hu Xiaotian could not fathom what had happened; this bizarre situation was unprecedented for him. His reaction was swift: he tapped his toe and launched into the air, arriving above the opponent's head, his left hand reaching for the blue skull. Just as he was about to grasp it, the opponent's body suddenly dropped downward, quickly widening the distance between them.

Hu Xiaotian steeled himself; no matter the cost today, he would retrieve that skull. He dove downward in pursuit, shadow‑like, bringing his left hand close to the skull again.

At that moment the blue skull detached from the opponent's head and drifted slowly away. Once the skull came free, a snow‑white skull was revealed; the opponent lifted his head, two blue beams shooting from his eyes straight into Hu Xiaotian's eyes. Hu Xiaotian had no time to shut his eyes; instantly his vision filled with wandering orchid‑colored phantoms. He muttered, "Oh no," and, relying on feeling, struck downward with a palm at the opponent's crown.

The white‑haired woman's snow‑white brows rose in anger; her palm met Hu Xiaotian's head‑on with a bang! Two powerful internal forces collided. Hu Xiaotian's internal force was already formidable, and with the momentum of his dive he put everything into this strike. The white‑haired woman, feeling his full‑force blow, immediately knew the intruder's internal force was deep and mighty, far beyond her expectation. She hurriedly redirected his force to the ground; still, his blow cracked the rock beneath her feet inch by inch, and her feet sank into the earth more than half an inch.

After that strike, Hu Xiaotian hastily retreated, only then realizing he had walked into her hidden attack; he had not expected this woman's eyes could emit blue light.

The white‑haired woman curled her lip in a cold smile; the corner of her eye caught the floating blue skull in the air. A white flash streaked past—a snow eagle swooped in, its talons snatching the skull before it could hit the ground, then soaring upward.

The white‑clad woman lifted her frost‑like hair, her eyes still flashing with orchid light as she gazed at Hu Xiaotian, now retreated more than five zhang away. A chill killing intent settled on her face as she demanded, "Who sent you here? Do you even know what place this is?"

Hu Xiaotian still kept his eyes closed, feeling a bit dizzy in his head; those blue phantoms kept turning in his mind. He did not rush to attack, but instead used the heart method given by Weisa to quietly dispel distractions, uniting mind and spirit, intending to clear the fantasies from his mind promptly. This white‑clad woman was surely a formidable soul‑capturing master.

Hu Xiaotian had already used a voice‑changing pill to alter his voice—one of his measures to avoid recognition—and hoarsely said, "Su Yujin, you've taken something that isn't yours."

The white‑clad woman's face turned grim; she was the head of the Pure Mystery Temple, Su Yujin, having confirmed the visitor's purpose. A murderous chill spread from her; she said coldly, "You're courting death—who do you blame?" She swung her arms, her white hair fluttering without wind; within the space encircled by her hands, mist rose and the air rapidly condensed into hundreds or thousands of ice needles. With a fierce motion, the needles shot toward Hu Xiaotian, propelled by her internal force.

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