The Lord of Void and Real

Chapter 175: Chapter 173: Jade Slip (Seeking Subscriptions, Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Shen Luo carefully dusted off the book, and saw the words “Demon Subducing Register” written on the cover. He was about to pick it up and read it, but as soon as he exerted force, the ancient book, which had long since rotted, crumbled into fragments.

Seeing this, he could only shake his head helplessly.

Shen Luo left the stone chamber and continued down the corridor, inspecting the disciples’ housing one by one. The conditions inside were all very similar. They all seemed to be the most ordinary peripheral disciples’ residences on Mount Fangcun.

After leaving the disciple’s residences, he arrived beneath the mountain wall, entering a forest rich with trees.

A winding path through the forest was submerged under overgrown weeds, extending a cobblestone path.

As Shen Luo walked down the path, he saw several independent courtyards scattered around. However, most of them had collapsed and were charred black, seeming to have suffered a fire, and had become ruins.

After passing through a dozen courtyards in the forest, the path began to extend to the right. At a nearby fork in the road, Shen Luo saw a relatively intact courtyard.

Calling it intact is only in comparison to the previous ruins. The main gate of the courtyard had completely collapsed. Within, a two-story building stood stalwartly, although there was a big hole in the roof.

Shen Luo entered the courtyard, only to see the ground pocked with impact craters, scattered with architectural debris that seemed to have flown in from elsewhere, including beams and pillars of houses, and broken roof ridges. It was a complete mess.

“From a distance, it looked like a paradise untouched by the world, but upon closer inspection, it was a scene of destruction. It seems to have gone through a fierce battle many years ago, but why were there no remains to be found? I wonder if I can find something left behind by the ancestors.” Shen Luo thought to himself, a tinge of hope stirring in his heart.

He took a step over a broken ridge and approached the building’s entrance, pushing open the door with his hand.

The door, which hadn’t been opened in a long time, creaked as it swung open, sending a billow of dust into the air.

Shen Luo walked in, covering his mouth and nose with his hand. The interior furnishings were left as they were, no different from an ordinary household. In the center was a narrow hall, decorated with a broken landscape painting on the wall.

On both sides of the hall were some rooms, furnished with beds and chairs, though they were all rotten and tattered. The gaps between the blue bricks on the floor were covered with wild grass, giving off a desolate and dilapidated look.

Shen Luo wanted to see if he could find anything about this place inside the house, but unfortunately, he found nothing.

He walked around the back of the hall, up the decrepit wooden staircase, and made his way to the second floor.

There was only one room on the second floor. As soon as Shen Luo walked in, he saw a large copper bell embedded in the floor, appearing to be the culprit for the hole in the roof.

As he approached, he noticed the densely engraved text on the bell, adorned with floral patterns. He read it silently:

“Overturning Heaven and Earth, only with benevolence and virtue do we benefit the people. The sun and the moon circulate, the merits are not shown to the world, Daoism is glorified once again, the temple is constructed, the spirits silently support, the covenant is implemented, blessings for the Heaven and Earth, averting disasters…”

Upon reading the entire text, Shen Luo realized that these words were a Daoist prayer for blessings. Although there were not many words, the intentions were grand. The phrase “blessings for the Heaven and Earth, averting disasters” showed its broad-mindedness.

When he looked at another place on the bell, he saw a large handprint on it. The lines on the knuckles and palm were clearly visible, evidently a human handprint.

“Hmm, what’s this?”

At that moment, Shen Luo called out softly in curiosity. He leaned over to examine the handprint closely and noticed a small white object stuck between the middle and forefinger. It was of a different colour than the bronze bell.

The object seemed to have pierced through the bell and was lodged in it. If one didn’t pay close attention to it, it wouldn’t be easy to find.

Shen Luo reached out and touched it. The object was somewhat cold to the touch, seeming to be some sort of jade.

Using two fingers, he grabbed the tail end of the white object and tried to pull it out, but it was practically impossible to apply any force due to the minuscule outside portion of the object.

After considering briefly, Shen Luo took a deep breath. His Yang Gang Qi, mana, started to rotate. Utilizing his Qingyang Hand technique, he palmed the bell, trying to vibrate it out.

However, upon hitting it, the bell issued a dull noise. Not only did the white object not vibrate outwards, but it also shrank back in, almost level with the handprint.

Shen Luo furrowed his brows, raised his hand again, used all his strength, and struck down hard upon the bell.

Thud…

A dense echo-like noise was heard. The white object, which had just retracted back into the bell, was suddenly repelled by the force and shot out like a short arrow.

Shen Luo, with his quick reflexes, caught it in mid-air.

However, at that moment, the large copper bell that had been embedded on the floor suddenly sank, creating a large hole in the floor, and Shen Luo fell into the hall on the first floor with it.

There was a sudden rise of dust in the room. In a rather awkward state, Shen Luo got up from the ground and stumbled out of the house.

He had just stepped out of the house when the two-story building collapsed.

Shen Luo pat the dust off his clothes and walked to the middle of the courtyard. He turned around to look at the collapsed building and sat down on a broken part of the roof. He opened his palm and looked at the center of it.

In the middle of his palm was a slender jade slip, about three inches long and an inch wide, white as mutton fat. Smooth and unadorned, it seemed quite ordinary at first glance.

But Shen Luo felt that this object must have been intentionally embedded in the copper bell and knocked down to this side. It was obviously a treasured item and absolutely not an ordinary object. @@novelbin@@

“Could it be a magical instrument?” he wondered. As he thought this, the mana in his Dantian rose, following his meridians and flowing into the jade slip.

The moment the Mana was infused, the jade slip flashed, becoming increasingly transparent.

After waiting for a good while, nothing further happened with the jade slip. Neither did any wave of mana emit from it, nor did it react as if a magical instrument had been activated.

Seeing this, Shen Luo still did not give up. He sat down cross-legged, put the jade slip in his hand, and began to silently recite the Ninety-nine Treasure refining tactics.

After all the effort, there was still no change in the jade slip, and it had no reaction to the Artifact Refining Secret.

“Could it really just be an ordinary object?” Shen Luo felt disappointed and mumbled in frustration.

After pondering for a moment, he suddenly remembered something. He slapped his forehead, a small smile creeping up on his face.

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