Shen Wang looked at the Ninth Peak bathed in sunlight, resembling a towering golden mountain, and said in amazement, "The entire peak has been hidden."
"That’s right, this is where the Ancient Cultivator’s Cave Mansion is located."
Chen Xian smiled, "It’s impressive that you, Younger Brother Shen, could detect the anomaly in advance. We wandered around here for a long time back then and only found it with the Stone Talisman."
Shen Wang was not complacent. Instead, he walked over ten meters to the side, and with the change of light, the peak slowly disappeared once again.
He couldn’t help but click his tongue in wonder, returned to his original position, and looked at the Ninth Peak, which was thousands of meters high, "Incredible, they managed to hide an entire mountain. These Ancient Cultivators must be extraordinary?"
"Originally, it must have been a Major Cultivation Sect that declined or moved away due to the exhaustion of the Spirit Vein, leaving these ruins behind."
Li Yuanning clearly had done research: "There aren’t many treasures left inside; probably just some trash they didn’t care for back then, which is still valuable to us."
Shen Wang nodded, advanced Cultivators’ trash is treasures for low-level Cultivators.
He flipped his hand to take out the Stone Talisman, finding the runes on it lighting up, and looking ahead said, "What do we do next?"
"The power of the Stone Talisman is too weak. We should stand in a triangle formation, including everyone, to directly enter the mountain."
Chen Xian and Li Yuanning had similar items appear in their hands, and the two moved to the sides, just enough to include everyone within.
Shen Wang nodded, waiting for Chen Xian to lead the way. He walked to the left, with Li Yuanning on the right, and the other five in the middle, jumping from the Eighth Peak and moving quickly towards the Ninth Peak.
As they walked, the Stone Talisman in Shen Wang’s hand emitted a faint glow, covering only a span of three feet around him, just enough to encompass everyone when combined with the other two talismans.
While advancing, the surroundings still did not reveal the mountain; the vicinity resembled ordinary snowfields, and without the guidance of the Stone Talisman, not only would they fail to reach their destination, but they could also mistakenly enter dangerous areas.
Ordinary people might detect nothing amiss, but Shen Wang felt as if his senses were enveloped in fog, aware of the dangers lurking around.
Sometimes, fierce winds would blow through, piercing coldly even with the protection of the Stone Talisman, as if freezing Spiritual Power, and ice spikes would occasionally appear, easily penetrating the body if stepped on carelessly.
Shen Wang, who didn’t sweat when climbing the snowy peak earlier, broke out in a cold sweat here. This place was indeed perilous; without a key or knowledge of the Array, it was easy to die halfway.
Despite his caution, he didn’t stay idle and used the protection of the Stone Talisman to observe the surroundings as much as possible.
To his surprise, he did not find any traces of an Array. Usually, an Array requires various foundations or jade carvings, but nothing was discovered despite traveling a long distance.
Not only were there no items for setting up an Array, but even human-erected stone tablets or structures were absent, making the place seem no different from a desolate, uninhabited snowy mountain.
This left Shen Wang, who had recently gained some Array experience, completely puzzled.
He quickly realized there was one possibility for the current situation: they were still on the outskirts.
"Every time I come here, I’m nervous. I really wonder why those Ancient Cultivators keep the Array active when they don’t live here."
After a moment of silence, Hou Shangcai couldn’t help but complain.
"Would you let others come into a house where you don’t live to eat, drink, and defecate?"
"I would; anyway, I don’t live there anymore, and it would be nice to offer some convenience to others."
Li Yuanning wiped his sweat, "But why should they let us enter freely? Moreover, if we could enter freely, anything valuable would have been taken long ago, leaving us nothing."
"Second Brother is right; with the protection of the Array, only those of us with keys can venture inside to seek treasures after all these millennia."
Old Five Wang Chuanfu nodded.
"Did we take this path when we came last time?"
Shen Wang inquired, noticing there were no footprints on the ground, unsure if they were covered by snow or for some other reason.
Chen Xian glanced around the vast, snowy ground and shook his head. The area was similar to the snowy mountains they passed before, clearly indicating the terrain, but it was fraught with dangers, making it impossible to walk carelessly.
Chen Xian nodded; if the path differed, it indicated that the Array was constantly changing, and safe areas were not fixed.
This kind of Array was the most terrifying, utterly impossible to handle relying on mere experience.
He was very curious about the force behind this snowy mountain long ago, manifesting such formidable expertise in the Array.
After glancing at the Stone Talisman, he felt it could accommodate just one person at most, which meant their numbers exceeded its capacity, necessitating this cumbersome method to bring more people.
Chen Xian’s group of seven had only two Stone Talismans, insufficient to protect everyone, hence the insistence on bringing along Shen Wang’s talisman.
After walking several more miles, the usually quiet Liao Lie suddenly spoke up, staring sharply into the distance, "Big Brother, there’s something good over there."
His eyes glowed like an Aquila fixating on its prey.
Chen Xian halted and followed his gaze, realizing Liao Lie was eyeing a cliff with indistinct plants growing on it.
Shen Wang also looked over, thanks to his strong physique, his vision was excellent, making out the flowers with palm-sized emerald leaves and petals white as snow.
Shen Wang asked uncertainly, as ordinary Snow Lotus shouldn’t be so green.
"It is Snow Lotus. Judging by its appearance, the highest grade is a Thousand-year-old Snow Lotus; only thousand-year-old Snow Lotus has jade-like translucent leaves, and ten-thousand-year-old ones have jade petals. With the Spiritual Qi here depleted, ten-thousand-year ones cannot possibly grow!"
Liao Lie’s eyes revealed an eagerness.
Chen Xian was surprised and glanced at Shen Wang in surprise: "Younger Brother Shen, your eyesight is really good, comparable to old Fourth’s Aquila vision."
The distance was too far; none of them could see clearly. It must have been more beneficial to the body with Spiritual Power, naturally granting better eyesight than him.
"Big Brother, the Thousand-year Snow Lotus, top-grade Dharma Medicine, suitable for Foundation Establishment Items, and it seems there are quite a few. We can’t miss this."
Hou Shangcai widened his eyes, looking over and only seeing a vague blur, deducing there should be many.
"If there is even one Thousand-year Snow Lotus, our trip won’t be in vain."
Ning Xia said excitedly, as Snow Lotus has the effect of maintaining beauty, a deadly allure for her.
"Let’s give it a try."
Chen Xian could not resist the temptation of the Thousand-year Snow Lotus and looked at Shen Wang: "Younger Brother, although we haven’t reached the Cave Mansion area, this item is more precious than the items inside the Cave Mansion. After all, what’s left inside the Cave Mansion wasn’t valued by Ancient Cultivators, but this Snow Lotus is naturally grown."
"I agree to give it a try."
Shen Wang, wanting to get some Snow Lotus for his daughter and his woman, naturally did not want to miss it.
Snow Lotuses generally come in varieties of ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years, and ten thousand years. Ten years are mundane herbs, a hundred years are Treasure Medicine, a thousand years are Dharma Medicine, and ten thousand years are Spiritual Medicine.
The key is that the medicinal properties of Snow Lotus are gentle and can be used across cultivation levels. Even without crossing levels, where there is a Thousand-year Snow Lotus, there must be Centennial Snow Lotus suitable for Jia’Er and her companions.
"Since Younger Brother Shen agrees, let’s give it a try. Veering off the Stone Talisman’s guided path will undoubtedly bring danger, so everyone, stay alert."
Chen Xian warned solemnly.