The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 174: Chapter 172: Ruins

After mulling over for a moment, Shen Luo suddenly lifted his palm, slapping it towards the crack of the stone door. A cluster of water vapor in the void was drawn over by him, forming a fist-sized water ball, and was smashed over.

With a soft “bang”, the prohibition inside the stone door was again stimulated. On the stone stele beside Shen Luo, a faint and unimpressive blur of light lit up. @@novelbin@@

Shen Luo had been staring at the stone stele all along, hence he could see clearly, discovering that what emerged from that blur of light was a rune mark he had never seen before.

“If I manage to break this mark, wouldn’t that mean I have cracked the prohibition?” As he watched the mark disappear, he muttered to himself.

Previously, Shen Luo had not learned how to break prohibitions. The ability to find the Nameless Heavenly Book was largely due to luck and fortune. Now, this was the only option he could attempt.

In his palm, he secretly circulated his Mana. A layer of water-blue light enveloped the center of his palm, and he slapped the spot where the rune mark had just disappeared.

Immediately afterwards, the stone stele shook slightly. The faint glow lit up again, and the rune mark reappeared.

Shen Luo raised his brows. He found that the rune mark, which seemed to be weak and on the verge of shattering, did not crumble as he had wished. Instead, his palm was suddenly grabbed by an invisible suction force from within, preventing him from retracting it.

Following that, the mark’s light flashed again. Not only was Shen Luo’s palm firmly stuck, but also the Mana from his body poured out like a tide, crazily rushing towards the stone stele.

In the blink of an eye, a stream of blue light poured out like water, the rune on the stone stele became brighter and brighter, and even blue light began to shine from the cracks in the stele.

Shen Luo was shocked. As he saw half of his Mana flowing out of his body, he tried desperately to stop the leakage and even tried to reverse the operation of his skills, but to no avail.

Just as he felt empty within and seemed like his Mana was about to be drained, the stone stele suddenly changed.

The characters “Oblique Moon and Three Stars Cave” on its top began to brighten more and more until it finally turned into a shiny white light, burst several feet out of the stele’s surface, and completely engulfed Shen Luo.

Shen Luo only felt warmth all over his body. His Divine Sense suddenly relaxed, and he lost consciousness.

…

It’s unknown how much time had passed before Shen Luo’s eyes slowly opened. He tried to struggle to sit up, but found that he was weak and his vision blurred.

After he begrudgingly propped himself upright, he immediately folded his hands on his lap and silently started to circulate the Nameless Cultivation Technique.

However, as soon as he started, his body shook slightly, which led him to immediately stop the cultivation and open his eyes again.

“What’s going on here?” Shen Luo muttered to himself.

Just now when he attempted to cultivate his Mana, he noticed that thick spiritual Qi from the surrounding Heaven and Earth gathered around him, which was even more exaggerated than when he was by the riverside.

Shen Luo rubbed his eyes, glanced around, and found out that he was still on a mountain cliff. But the surroundings had undergone a complete transformation, making it seem like he had arrived in a completely new world.

He stood up in disbelief, walked quickly to the edge of the cliff, and looked far into the distance.

The view was quite broad; he could see meticulously structured pavilions hidden among the green mountains and trees. The mountain paths and galleries connected to numerous buildings, while several waterfalls fell directly down, throwing out countless silver beads.

It appeared to be a mortal realm of immortality!

“Could this place be the Cave Mansion of the immortals from Mount Fangcun? It really is a unique world hidden within!” Shen Luo was greatly moved in his heart, and couldn’t help exclaiming.

However, in the next moment, his expression changed, and his eyes took on a serious look.

“Something’s not right, it’s too quiet here…”

Such a vast immortal’s mansion, apart from the ubiquitous greenery, not to mention a single human figure, even half a creature was nowhere to be seen. The surroundings were completely silent, ominously so.

Shen Luo took a deep breath, and his excitement from just moments before quickly subsided.

He sat down cross-legged, held Tanden once again, and began to meditate with closed eyes.

With that, he finally confirmed that the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth within this immortal’s mansion was indeed much denser than that outside. He understood why those immortals in the world established their sects in spiritual lands of mountains and rivers.

It took no more than a half a moment for him to finish his meditation, put away his cultivation techniques, and stand up again.

In this environment rich in spiritual essence, not only had he restored all the mana he had previously lost, but even the minor injuries inside his body had completely healed.

After searching around the cliffside for a while, Shen Luo soon found a zigzag staircase built along the mountain and started to descend along its steps.

Halfway down, a solitary pavilion appeared at the end of the stone staircase. Shen Luo stepped into it and saw a white jade stone table inside the pavilion, upon which was a set of white porcelain wine utensils.

The slender wine pot was in the center, with a petite wine glass at each side of it. It appeared as though someone had just been drinking and conversing here.

However, the table was covered with a thick layer of dust, obscuring the white jade it was made of. The white porcelain wine pot, too, was covered in a thick layer of dust, indicating that it had been sitting here for a long time.

Shen Luo picked up the wine pot, weighed it a bit, and found that it was empty.

He put down the wine pot and looked down from the pavilion. He saw rows of glazed tile eaves protruding from the lower mountain wall. However, many places were broken and collapsed.

Shen Luo, full of questions, left the pavilion and continued to go down. Soon, he came to the area covered by the glazed tile eaves.

He initially thought that it was a plank road built along the mountain, but when he came closer, he realized that there were arched caves carved into the wall beneath the eaves, each one fitted with a door. Surprisingly, they were all houses.

When Shen Luo reached the first arched cave, he saw the words “Disciple’s Residence” engraved on the stone wall to the left of the entrance.

“So it’s the residences for disciples on the mountain.”

He whispered to himself and subconsciously compared his small room in the Spring and Autumn Pavilion with these. He found no significant difference.

The door of the arched cave was slightly ajar. Shen Luo pushed it open and was immediately greeted with a musty smell. The room was dimly lit, and the furnishings were unclear.

He gently circulated his mana, causing a softly glowing blue light to illuminate his palm. With this light to guide him, he could see clearly.

The cave was quite large, with a side chamber on either side. The furnishing was very simple.

In the main room, there was just a table and chairs with a dusty tea set resting on top. The chamber on the left was a bedroom containing solely a stone bed, the bedding on which was already decayed and mudded.

In the right chamber, there was a tattered straw cushion on the floor, and a desk by the wall. On the desk, a three-legged incense burner and a stack of books were covered in a thick layer of dust.