"All right, the matter's settled. The three of you, go do what you need to do. Don't worry about this old fossil — I still need to properly study the gains and losses of this chess game." The boy waved a dismissive hand at the other cultivators, bobbing his head as he spoke. Then he actually lowered it and began scrutinizing the chessboard before him.
The grey-robed elder and the others dared not delay, hastily voicing their agreement.
Led by the yellow-robed cultivator, they then exited the hall through a side door.
"I never would have thought that Fellow Daoist Bai would actually be… Brother Yue! Did you know about this beforehand?" The middle-aged cultivator from the Hundred Arts Academy couldn't help but sigh, having barely walked a short distance from the stone hall.
"No, I didn't. Senior Lan merely said he had some business to attend to here — how would I dare ask further?" The yellow-robed cultivator's face had darkened somewhat as well.
Hearing this, the middle-aged cultivator held his tongue.
The young disciples behind them, having witnessed what had just transpired, were even less inclined to speak out of turn.
In a somewhat subdued atmosphere, Han Li and the others passed through a long corridor, turned a corner, and were led to a pale yellow stone door.
Before this door sat a disheveled figure, cross-legged and utterly motionless.
Though his tangled hair obscured his face, the gray-white color of his locks made it clear he was far from young.
Upon seeing this person, the yellow-robed cultivator's face showed a measure of respect.
"Brother Wei, I've brought the disciples for the Sword Testing Assembly. Should I have them enter now?"
"Since they're already here, let them in. The Purified Liquid seems to be flowing out a bit later than expected — these disciples will have to wait a while longer." The disheveled man spoke in a flat tone, his voice surprisingly steady and deep.
Han Li's gaze swept quickly over the man, a cold gleam flashing briefly in his eyes.
This disheveled cultivator was actually a late Core Formation cultivator — one who had already reached the peak of the pseudo-Nascent Soul realm.
This prompted Han Li to pay him a few extra glances.
The grey-robed elder recognized the disheveled man's voice, and his face flushed with emotion. He stepped forward a few paces and said, his voice trembling slightly: "Senior Brother Wei… are you… are you well?"
This man was actually a cultivator of the Falling Cloud Sect!
"Junior Brother Yu. After so many years apart, you've gained a few signs of age yourself." The disheveled cultivator let out a soft sigh, his tone unhurried.
"Senior Brother, why did you—"
"Enough. That we fellow disciples can reunite here means our fates are not yet spent. Let's not speak of what happened back then. When I entered this place, I swore a binding oath: until I formed a Nascent Soul, I would not leave the mountain. Besides, I've heard from our two grand-uncles that everything in the sect has been managed in perfect order by Junior Brother Feng. I have nothing left to worry about." Senior Brother Wei spoke calmly.
Hearing this, the grey-robed elder's expression dimmed, and the words he had been about to voice were swallowed back down.
"You junior brothers, please wait a moment. I'll open the restriction now and let you lead your teams into the sacred ground." Senior Brother Wei rose to his feet and sent a streak of spiritual energy from his sleeve, striking the yellow stone door. Without a sound, it silently split in two.
Before Han Li could make out what lay within, a wave of pure spiritual energy washed over his face from beyond the door.
Indeed, within lay the Spirit Eye Tree.
However, upon a brief mental comparison, the purity of this spiritual energy was in no way inferior to that of his Spirit Eye Jade — in fact, it was slightly superior. Truly worthy of being the finest Spirit Eye treasure in existence.
Led by the disheveled elder, Han Li and the others stepped through the door. Before them appeared a massive stalactite cavern.
The cavern stretched several hundred zhang in length and width, rising some twenty to thirty zhang in height. At first glance, it was like stepping into an underground world.
What was even more astonishing was the forest of stone pillars of varying sizes rising from the floor, forming a natural stone labyrinth that densely enclosed most of the cavern like a miniature maze.
Upon closer inspection, Han Li could see faint white spiritual light flickering between the pillars — clearly, some sort of restriction had been placed within.
While Han Li was mulling this over, the disheveled elder had already led the group to the edge of the stone forest. With a flip of his palm, he produced a palm-sized white ancient mirror.