Nothing unexpected happened in the lobby, and the whole process went very smoothly.
Upon seeing this, a hint of joy flashed across Zhao Sheng's face.
His gaze lingered on the bamboo basket of spirit fish and the painting of an old man fishing on a cold river.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhao Sheng abandoned the more risky move.
Following his wishes, the wooden puppet removed the black storage bag from the charred corpse's waist and walked out of the hall.
Zhao Sheng took the golden scepter and storage bag, put away the wooden puppet, and turned to leave.
Half a day later, in the cultivation room, Zhao Sheng sat cross-legged on a futon, and then a golden tablet about a foot long appeared in his hand.
Looking at this object, Zhao Sheng's heart stirred. This tablet was made of a material that resembled gold but was not gold, nor was it a magic weapon. Moreover, it was as smooth as a mirror and had no inscriptions of any cultivation techniques or secret arts.
Zhao Sheng tried various methods but still couldn't figure out what this thing was.
All that is known is that it is incredibly hard, and neither flying swords nor spells can damage it in the slightest.
An hour later, Zhao Sheng blinked and suddenly saw the previously empty golden tablet flash, revealing an extremely complex and strange rune.
The rune is white-gold in color, with intricate, dense, and extremely rigid lines, without a single bend.
At first glance, this rune exudes an aura of unparalleled sharpness, giving one a sense of eternity, solidification, and immortality.
However, the runes vanished without a trace the next moment, as if it had just been an illusion.
No matter how hard Zhao Sheng tried to recall, he couldn't remember what the rune looked like.
It wasn't a memory anymore; a fragment of his memory was instantly erased, leaving his mind empty, and he had completely forgotten what had just happened.
Zhao Sheng blinked and continued to carefully examine the golden tablet using various methods.
Another hour passed, and the extremely complex platinum rune suddenly "reappeared," much to Zhao Sheng's delight.
However, the next moment, before the joy on his face had faded, his eyes became blank.
For two whole hours, he forgot about the strange rune and felt that he had gained nothing.
Zhao Sheng held the golden tablet in his hand and fell into deep thought.
Judging from the way the charred corpse held onto the scepter until its death, it must have been a very important item, and it must have held some secret.
Thinking of this, Zhao Sheng took out the black storage bag, opened the mouth of the bag, and poured out a large pile of colorful spirit stones, boxes of various sizes, pill bottles and other miscellaneous things.
Zhao Sheng didn't take these things seriously. He casually put away the spirit stone pill bottle, then opened the box and looked at its contents.
If it's something like elixirs, refining materials, or talismans, throw it back into your storage bag. If it's something like scrolls, ancient books, jade slips, or magical artifacts, select them out and set them aside.
After some selection, Zhao Sheng couldn't help but smile.
Leaving aside low-grade magic artifacts, there are three spirit artifacts alone: one mid-grade and the other two low-grade.
The mid-grade spiritual weapon is a white-gold flying sword about an inch long, made from the essence of five metals, and containing forty-five spiritual restrictions.
The remaining two low-grade spiritual artifacts are a palm-sized, jet-black shield made entirely of millennia-old abyssal iron and containing twenty-seven spiritual restrictions.
The other item was a miniature flying boat, its hull made of light and ethereal silver, reaching a maximum length of three zhang (approximately 13 meters) and an extremely fast speed of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) in an instant.
After examining the magical artifact, Zhao Sheng turned his gaze to the ancient books and jade slips beside him.
...
Two hours later, Zhao Sheng removed the last jade slip from his forehead and fell into deep thought.
There weren't many books or ancient texts; they were mostly records about rare herbs and plants, sea monsters and strange birds, as well as secrets and strange events from various places.
This might broaden Zhao Sheng's horizons and knowledge, but it wouldn't be of much use.
However, the jade slips contain some valuable knowledge. There are five jade slips in total, one of which contains all sorts of tips and knowledge about alchemy.
There is also a jade slip containing a book of alchemy techniques called "The Hundred Elixir Formulas of Alchemy Explained," written by an alchemist named Canhezi.
The other two jade slips respectively record two cultivation techniques: the "Golden Spirit Hundred Refinements Technique" and the "Spirit Fusion and Mind Division Technique".
Zhao Sheng read it twice and found that "Golden Spirit Hundred Refinements Technique" was a half-finished Golden Core level technique. This technique could be successfully cultivated to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. It also described two methods for condensing false cores, but did not describe how to refine a real Golden Core.
In terms of value, it is far inferior to the true Golden Elixir cultivation methods "Mysterious Origin Heavy Water Technique" and "Golden Crow Burning Heaven Technique".
It was considered useless in Zhao Sheng's hands, but for most independent cultivators and some small cultivation families, this technique was extremely precious.
Zhao Sheng valued the secret technique "Fusion of Divine Soul and Divided Thoughts" more because it was an extremely rare technique of divine thought. In the cultivation world, any cultivation method or secret technique involving the soul was extremely precious and was mostly monopolized by large forces such as cultivation sects.
He was incredibly lucky to obtain this secret technique.
However, Zhao Sheng still had great concerns. After much deliberation, he finally decided not to cultivate the "Fusion of Divine Minds Technique" for the time being.
Why was Zhao Sheng so cautious?
The reason is simple: he was afraid that this secret technique would be "adulterated." If even one or two key techniques were altered, a perfectly good secret technique would be turned into a harmful method.
The key is that some of the harms are very subtle, and without cultivating to a certain level, one cannot detect the consequences at all.
By the time it's discovered, it's too late!
Not only the "Fusion of Divine Mind Technique," but even the "Golden Spirit Hundred Refinements Technique," Zhao Sheng feared that someone might secretly add a "technique code."
If the password isn't cracked, going mad is inevitable.
After putting all the other jade slips back into his storage bag, Zhao Sheng only had one milky-white jade slip left in his hand.
This jade slip is only the size of a palm, with a crystal-clear and lustrous texture, radiating a shimmering spiritual light. In essence, it is a high-grade spirit stone.
However, the spiritual energy within this high-grade spirit stone had been completely extracted, leaving only the excellent quality of the jade, which was eventually refined into a jade slip.
Zhao Sheng had already examined the inside of the jade slip. It was empty except for a blurry image with most of the lines missing. It looked somewhat like a rune, a map, or perhaps a fragment of a painting.
Because it was too vague, Zhao Sheng couldn't figure out what it was.
The fact that someone was willing to use a top-grade jade slip to record it shows that it is extremely important.
Although Zhao Sheng had not yet figured out its value, he was serious enough to treat it with utmost care.
After examining the image a hundred times and deeply imprinting it in his mind, Zhao Sheng put away the jade slip, took out two mid-grade water-based spirit stones, and began cultivating using the "Mysterious Origin Heavy Water Technique".
...
Time flies, and years pass quickly.
Two years later, Zhao Sheng broke through to the ninth level of Qi Refining.
Five years later, he reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
After taking the Foundation Establishment Pill, Zhao Sheng, thanks to his successful experience in his previous life, advanced to the Foundation Establishment realm without any major incidents.
That year, Zhao Sheng was twenty-nine years old, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator thirty-three years earlier than in his previous life.