The cultivation chambers of White Lotus Peak were carved deep into the basalt core of the mountain, sealed off by a heavy stone gate and basic defensive arrays that Elder Xuan had personally established. Inside, the air was cool and still, untouched by the drafts of the outer peak. It was a space designed for absolute silence.
Su Ming sat cross-legged on a worn straw meditation mat. He did not immediately begin his cultivation. Instead, he waved his hand, his spatial ring flashing with faint light as six objects materialized, settling quietly onto the polished stone table before him.
The table became a display of ancient, contrasting spiritual energies.
First lay the Golden Orb, its surface warm and gold-crimson. Next to it was the Crimson Blood Sword, its dark blade heavily coated with toxic black death qi. Beside them lay the calcified, fossilized rock—what Patriarch Wang had described as an indestructible rock—its rough, grey surface looking entirely ordinary at first glance.
Further to the left rested the Nether Ember Pearl, its dark violet surface swirling with cold mist, alongside the pristine, diamond-like Death Seed. Finally, sitting quietly at the center, was the calcified Sealed Jade Box containing the Wang family's ancestral inheritance key.
As soon as the Golden Dragon-Fire Orb settled near the Sealed Jade Box, the silence of the chamber was broken.
A sudden, sharp vibration shook the stone table. The Golden Orb began to hum violently, a gold-crimson light flaring from its core. The sound was thick, hot, and distinct.
The Sealed Jade Box responded instantly; its calcified surface cracked fractionally as thin, cold arcs of sword-shaped light flickered along its edges, releasing a low, metallic ring that resonated against the walls of the cave.
Su Ming watched the resonance with absolute stillness, his eyes narrowing.
He did not intervene. Instead, he activated his Essence Sight. The lines of spiritual force flowing through the cave crystallized in his vision, shifting from chaotic vapor into clear, structured patterns of energy.
For a full day, he sat in silence, analyzing the spiritual blueprints of the relics before him.
First, his gaze locked onto the Nether Ember Pearl. Through the lens of his Essence Sight, he traced the cold, dark veins of energy swirling inside the pearl.
'The Bone Serpent in Blackwind Canyon was merely a middle-grade beast,' Su Ming noted internally. 'It should have been structurally impossible for it to condense a pearl of this quality. The serpent must have nested near or ingested residual death energy that had seeped from the Withered Valley region. The foreign death qi combined with its own cold energy, mutating and condensing into this Nether Ember.'
He shifted his gaze to the Crimson Blood Sword. The blade hummed with decaying energy, the toxic black qi crawling like living shadows. Su Ming raised his hand, channeling a pure thread of his White Flames to slowly peel back and cleanse the corruption. As the necrotic layers were dissolved and burned away, the corrupted metal of the blade became brittle, crumbling into fine black dust on the table. Nested securely inside the hilt was a teardrop-shaped gem—the Crimson Blood Crystal.
The crystal pulsed with a heavy, thick crimson aura.
'This crystal contained very thin, but genuine, blood essence of a dragon,' Su Ming observed, parsing the ancient bloodline runes locked within the gem.
'It is this concentration of draconic blood essence that allowed the relic to elevate the user's cultivation base, letting a Foundation cultivator temporarily parry major realm boundaries.
But Lin Fan consumed the majority of it during his desperate struggle. The blood essence is severely depleted, running low. It will need years of quiet qi exposure to naturally regenerate.'
Su Ming was disappointed a bit realizing that, but he did not have any control over that so he moved on.
Next, his eyes drifted to the Golden Dragon-Fire Orb. Its hum was steady, vibrating with a thread of active spirituality that seemed to pull toward the south.
'The orb's spirituality is connected to somewhere distant,' Su Ming thought, tracking the thread of golden light as it bent toward the horizon. 'It points toward something valuable. This isn't just a key; it is a spiritual beacon pointing directly toward a dormant dragon-bloodline ability—specifically, one that governs destiny.'
Su Ming then looked at the calcified rock.
He reached out, channeling a stream of pure crimson qi into the fossilized stone. The moment his qi touched the rock, an invisible, absolute defensive shield flared from the bone, scattering his energy with ease. The defense was incredibly strong, resisting his standard Core Formation strength.
Su Ming did not force it. Instead, he placed the Golden Orb and the Crimson Blood Crystal on either side of the rock.
The three items resonated immediately. The gold-crimson hum of the orb and the crimson pulse of the crystal began to grind against the fossilized stone's defensive shield like two grinding gears. The rock's vibration shifted, its frequency destabilizing under the influence of its sister relics.
Su Ming seized the window, channeling his coiling qi in a precise manner, following the paths of his Tenth Perfection Cloud Chasing Sword Technique, directing the pressure into the weakest runic seam.
*Crack.*
A fine fissure split the grey, calcified surface. With a sharp pop, the stone casing shattered, flaking away into fine grey dust. Resting in the center of the debris was a single, curved scale—deep crimson, cold to the touch, and radiating a quiet, world-shaking authority that made the air in the chamber feel heavy.
A true dragon's reverse scale.
Su Ming looked at the scale, then at the box and the crystal. A cold, analytical realization settled into his mind.
'A minor, mundane merchant clan like the Wangs, living on the edge of the sect's territory, managed to collect three ancient dragon relics and a sealed immortal box.'
'I refuse to believe they are ordinary. It's impossible. Or maybe they were there just to feed Lin Fan these items. Who knows...'
He shook his head, a faint, cynical smile brushing his lips.
'These items were undoubtedly destiny altering relics, fated to drop into Lin Fan's path one by one through a series of "fortuitous encounters," all designed to fall into his hands so he could open the secrets. It was his fated cheat.'
'Too bad. I got them.', Su Ming grinned.
He focused his mind, analyzing the relics. True dragons were completely extinct in this world. The age of immortal essence had faded several millennia ago, leaving the current continent sparse and dry. Because of this environmental decay, the cultivation world has mostly stopped scaling in the Saint Realm.
Holding the scale, the crystal, and the orb, Su Ming aligned them in a triangle on the table.
The three relics clicked together, their runic flows connecting into a perfect circuit. Instantly, a vibrant crimson-and-gold holographic projection rose from the table, filling the stone chamber with light. It projected the detailed terrain of a secret realm, with a single, pulsing gold coordinate deep within the Blackwind Canyon.
The coordinate entered directly into Su Ming's sea of consciousness.
The map was clear. The entry conditions were set. The location of the Thunder Fire Secret Realm was revealed.
Su Ming closed his eyes, memorizing the coordinates as the holographic light faded back into the items. The keys were deciphered. Now, he knew exactly where he had to go.
As the light died down, the three dragon relics settled back onto the stone table. Their colors had noticeably faded; the holographic activation had drawn heavily on their remaining qi.
The Golden Orb's warm glow was now a dim, quiet gold, its active spirituality running extremely low. The Crimson Blood Crystal lay still, its blood essence almost entirely depleted—it would take years of quiet qi exposure to naturally regenerate. Only the crimson reverse scale remained relatively potent, its natural defensive strength still capable of serving as a powerful defensive shield in a pinch.
Su Ming cataloged his findings, recognizing that while the keys were now greatly diminished, they had served their primary purpose. With a wave of his hand, he swept the three dragon keys and the Sealed Jade Box back into his spatial ring, shelving them for now.
The first part of his preparations was complete. Next, it was time to focus on the other two items—the Nether Ember Pearl and the Death Seed.
***
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