The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 48 Secret Transmission

Returning along the same route, Zhang Yunling passed by the Scripture Pavilion again. After thinking for a moment, he decided to take another look at the secret manual about how a person who cultivates the body can release their spiritual power.

"Senior brother, please pay another hundred spirit stones." The gatekeeper disciple stretched out his right hand and asked Zhang Yunling for the money.

"What? Didn't I give you a hundred spirit stones before? Why do you want it again now?" Zhang Yunling questioned with displeasure, but the disciple said, "Senior brother, you came in once before, and we charged you for that one time. You left after that, and now that you've come back, we have to charge you again."

"no..."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Yunling angrily threw one hundred spirit stones to the gatekeeper, kicked open the door of the Scripture Pavilion, and went inside.

Walking straight ahead, Zhang Yunling finally found the body-refining technique section at the very back. He jumped up, grabbed the manual, and was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of a dusty stone door at the very back.

"Could there be some forbidden or evil magic inside?" Zhang Yunling stared at the stone door with some curiosity. It was already night, and there were only two other disciples in the Scripture Pavilion comprehending the cultivation techniques. Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Zhang Yunling mustered up his courage and walked over.

The stone door was very ordinary, but because it had been covered in dust for so long, there were no words or descriptions on it, and it seemed to lead to a dead end. It was as if the stone door had been installed in the wrong place.

Just as Zhang Yunling was about to turn and leave with the cultivation technique, a faint green light suddenly emanated from his storage bag, and waves of divine sense spread out, causing the stone door to begin to tremble slowly.

"Could it be...?" Upon noticing the anomaly, Zhang Yunling hurriedly took out the item emitting fluctuations from his storage bag. It turned out to be the identity jade slip that Duan Weihuang had given him years ago.

The appearance of this jade slip caused the stone door to tremble violently, and it slowly opened in the next moment, revealing a narrow, dark passage inside.

Zhang Yunling rushed out and saw that the two disciples outside were still immersed in comprehending the cultivation technique. He felt a little relieved and bravely walked towards the path.

The path led to a secret chamber. The moment Zhang Yunling stepped inside, the stone door outside slammed shut, plunging the entire chamber into darkness.

This immediately put Zhang Yunling on high alert. He carefully lit a pinch of primordial flame with his finger, illuminating a small area around him, and began to slowly walk inside.

The secret passage that could be opened by the identity jade slip of Duan Weihuang, who was the Grand Elder of the sect back then, must contain something unknown to outsiders.

The firelight illuminated the way ahead, revealing a large stone tablet placed in the center of the secret chamber, with what appeared to be some words engraved on it.

Zhang Yunling stepped forward and examined the inscription carefully by the light of the flames. The inscription contained information about the establishment and development of the Quanzhen Daoist Scripture Pavilion.

These are all irrelevant details; the key information lies in the last few paragraphs on the stone tablet. It states that a secret manual created by the first patriarch of the Quanzhen School is hidden in this secret chamber, and only those who assume the position of patriarch can access this manual.

That was all the information on the stone tablet; there was nothing else. This greatly disappointed Zhang Yunling. It seemed that the so-called secret manual was definitely firmly in the hands of the current sect leader.

Although the contents of the manual are unknown, knowing this information is still a gain. However, the current dilemma is how to leave this secret chamber. The stone door behind them is firmly closed, and forcibly breaking it open with magic will surely cause chaos.

Just then, a sound suddenly came from the depths of the secret chamber, where another door slowly rose and opened. Zhang Yunling was startled, quickly extinguished the fire in his hand, and hid behind the stone tablet to observe what would happen.

Stepping into the secret chamber from outside the stone gate was the current sect leader of the Quanzhen Sect. He raised his hand and pressed down a stone brick on the wall beside him, instantly illuminating the entire secret chamber with the light from the ceiling.

Zhang Yunling hid in a blind spot, observing the sect leader's every move.

The sect leader walked towards the stone tablet, seemingly holding a jade slip in his hand. Zhang Yunling followed his steps and slowly moved his body, thus circling the stone tablet to block his view and perfectly avoiding his gaze.

The sect leader placed the jade slip beside the stone tablet and muttered, "Father, it's been a long time since we last contacted each other. Are you well?"

Zhang Yunling witnessed this bizarre scene, which immediately made his hair stand on end. Could it be that the old sect leader who claimed to be in seclusion to cultivate immortality back then is still alive?

No more words were spoken, and the light on the jade slip gradually dimmed, as if the old sect leader had lost his life and could no longer establish contact with his son.

Zhang Yunling didn't pay much attention to these things. Instead, he noticed the door behind him that the sect leader had opened. This might be his chance to escape.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yunling suddenly activated the Divine Speed ​​Ghost Step, quickly executing the second level of the Ghost Step Technique. Like a ghost, he did not attract the attention of the sect leader next to the stone tablet and quietly left the secret room through that exit.

There was nothing else outside the secret chamber except a large mountain behind the Sutra Repository. The sect leader used a secluded path within this mountain to reach the secret chamber.

Just as Zhang Yunling was about to escape quickly while no one was around, he happened to discover that a token was embedded in the switch that opened the stone door.

Fortune favors the bold, and without hesitation, Zhang Yunling turned around, rushed to the stone gate, grabbed the jade slip, and swiftly disappeared into the ground, escaping the area.

On the way forward, Zhang Yunling carefully examined the token. It turned out to be the identity jade slip of the Quanzhen Sect Master. It seemed that with this token, one could freely enter and leave the Sect Master's room.

To avoid revealing his whereabouts, Zhang Yunling used all his cultivation and strength to quickly move towards the Elders' Pavilion.

The Elders' Hall was very quiet. Because of the ability to conceal his presence with the Swift Steps, Zhang Yunling's infiltration went unnoticed by anyone.

Although those elders were all old monsters at least at the Nascent Soul stage, no one paid them any special attention, and ordinary disciples dared not enter rashly unless summoned or there was an urgent matter.

After confirming that it was safe, Zhang Yunling quickly followed the stairs to find the location of the sect leader's room. He finally arrived at his destination half an hour later. He first used the divine sense power on the jade slip to approach the door. He felt the same source of fluctuation coming from the door before he pushed it open and entered.

The room was very quiet, with several incense burners placed around it. The incense on them had burned out, but a faint, herbal scent still lingered in the air.

Without paying much attention to these things, Zhang Yunling immediately rushed to the wooden bookshelf in the corner of the room and began searching for the mysterious cultivation technique written by the sect's patriarch.

Meanwhile, the Quanzhen Sect Master, who had been locked in the secret room because the token had been taken away, had already broken off his contact with his father. Having confirmed the old man's death, the Sect Master was relieved and got up to walk outside.

The token to open the stone gate was taken away, causing the stone gate to close automatically. However, the sect leader was not in a hurry. He stepped forward, punched open the stone gate, and then flew towards the Elders' Pavilion.

Although he didn't know what the person who stole his token wanted, he still had to go back to his room and search for it.

Zhang Yunling was already in a panic. Finally, he found the manual at the bottom of the bookshelf. However, the jade token in his hand began to emit a faint green halo because it sensed the divine connection from the sect leader.

"Oh no..." Facing imminent disaster, Zhang Yunling disregarded everything and quickly put the manual into his storage bag. He then haphazardly rearranged the bookshelf that he had rummaged through, threw the token on the ground, and used his Swift Ghost Step to escape through the wall.

The moment he stepped away, the sect leader burst through the window and rushed into the room. He caught sight of his identity jade slip on the floor, a cold smile appeared on his lips, and he walked over, picked up the jade slip, glanced at the bookshelf next to him, and his face grew even colder.

"My books... don't seem to be arranged like this..."

Sensing the strange noise coming from the sect leader's room, the other elders noticed and came to the sect leader's room one after another. The second elder, Duan Liangyong, was the first to ask, "Sect leader, may I ask what happened?"

"Immediately seal off all the sect's gates, prohibit any disciple from leaving, and thoroughly investigate all inner disciples. Anyone who has entered the Scripture Pavilion must be brought to the Elders' Hall for questioning!"

The elders accepted the order and went back to carry it out, leaving only the sect leader standing there, staring at the bookshelf in the corner, pondering to himself.