Chapter 173: Reward
Saying this, Lu Xuan took the lead at once, stepping into the formation.
Both the rabbit and Ming Yueyao followed behind him closely, taking care to follow his footsteps with the utmost precision.
They had to be careful because if their feet landed in the wrong place, they would be attacked by the sword qi straight away.
Previously, an army tens of thousands of men strong had been buried in this sword formation, so none of them dared to underestimate it.
This was especially so for the rabbit. As a monster native to these lands, it was naturally even more aware of how terrifying this sword formation was.
There was no shortage of kings of monsters, which had lost their lives here, and it was thanks to the sheer number of kings of monsters that had died trying that they knew the initial steps to enter the formation. What was safe and what was not safe had been slowly uncovered by the kings of monsters in Shennongjia.
To its surprise, however, the path that Lu Xuan was taking was actually the correct one. The many kings of monsters in Shennongjia had paid an enormous price to glean this knowledge of the way in, and Lu Xuan was now taking the exact same route.
Just by observing it for a period of time, Lu Xuan had actually seen through the many mysteries of this sword formation.
Even thinking about it left the rabbit in disbelief and fear.
Who on earth was this human, and how did he have such terrifying abilities!?
Ming Yueyao’s emotions were also deeply stirred by this. Although she had not personally come into contact with this formation before this, the Agency of Special Affairs had been researching this formation the whole time. They had even brought in the few experts on formations that existed in this day and age.
They had also collected many ancient documents to try and discover the key to breaking this formation.
After all, it was the existence of this formation that had given the kings of monsters in Shennongjia a place to take cover.
However, they still had not made any progress thus far, and Lu Xuan had actually easily accomplished something the combined efforts of the Agency of Special Affairs had failed to do.
It was simply frightening!
Lu Xuan’s accomplishments in formations were truly scary!
The deeper they went into the sword formation, the more Ming Yueyao and the rabbit trembled with fear. Only Lu Xuan remained impassive as he moved through the sword formation. Even when the sword qi passed close to him, he did not seem affected in the slightest.
The ways in which the sword formation flowed and fluctuated were imprinted in Lu Xuan’s mind.
In truth, this was not something that could deceive him. The sword formation was just a defensive formation, and it was essentially the same as the maze he had set up outside the Yunxuan Villa.
As it was not a killing formation, in truth though nine out of ten paths led to death, there was a safe way through.
Of course, if the path taken were incorrect, which meant that the person leading the way was not an expert, it would cause the entire sword formation to immediately be triggered, transforming a formation originally used for defense into a killing formation.
Coincidentally, Lu Xuan was an expert in formations!
Needless to say, he could easily lead another person and a rabbit into the sword formation.
Within the innermost parts of the sword formation, just as the rabbit had said, there was a cave abode of a legendary swordsman.
Aside from the sword formation surrounding it, there was also a maze formation at the entrance to the cave, protecting the cave abode.
With the help of his Delusion-breaker Eye, Lu Xuan was quickly able to see how to get through the maze formation and made his way straight into the cave abode.
“As expected, its a cave abode where a legendary swordsman cultivated!”
Lu Xuan looked around the interior. It was a spacious cave abode, roughly divided into a few regions. Amongst them, one was a pavilion where scriptures were stored. It housed many of the skill manuals collected by the legendary swordsman, with some skill manuals for cultivation, and also skill manuals for reaching a divine level of swordsmanship, which made Ming Yueyao’s eyes gleam.
The Agency of Special Affairs was most lacking in these kinds of skill manuals being passed down as a legacy.
As the Agency of Special Affairs did not have a complete cultivation legacy, most of their skill manuals and methodologies were collected through various channels. They were most lacking in a complete systematic cultivation methodology, like the ones here.
Moreover, a legendary swordsman, in particular, was one of the strongest branches among the Cultivators following the Martial Way.
Lu Xuan just skimmed through them, committing these skill manuals to memory, before leaving them. There were too many skill manuals stored in his mind, many of which would shock the world. As such, these skill manuals did not appeal to him very much.
Aside from that, there was also an alkahestry workshop. When Lu Xuan saw the alkahestry cauldron inside the alkahestry workshop, there was a gleam in his eyes. This was what he lacked the most at the moment, because when he was creating alkahestry pills, he was limited by the quality of the alkahestry cauldron.
This particular alkahestry cauldron was of an exceedingly high quality, so it was currently very important to Lu Xuan.
Inside the alkahestry workshop, there were also some alkahestry pills placed in porcelain flasks.
However, over time, they had lost all their medicinal effects.
They had already dried and shriveled up, and there was barely anything left.
However, Lu Xuan discovered that there was a half-finished alkahestry pill inside the alkahestry cauldron. To be precise, it was a cauldron full of half-finished products.
There seemed to be about ten pills, but they were all only half complete. The owner of this cave abode had left before completing the alkahestry process.
“Though they’re only half-finished products, and the medicinal effects aren’t even a tenth of what it should be, at this current stage, it’s still pretty good stuff!”
Lu Xuan then kept the ten alkahestry pills, giving one each to Ming Yueyao and the rabbit.
The two hurriedly received the alkahestry pills and swallowed them. They knew that Lu Xuan had no reason to do them harm, and they could smell the rich medicinal qualities embedded within the pill.
The lady and the rabbit hurried to look for a place where they could refine the medicinal effects of the alkahestry pills within their own bodies.
As for Lu Xuan, he also picked out a pill and swallowed it. He could feel the medicinal power of this half-finished alkahestry pill suddenly turn into a torrential flow, spreading throughout Lu Xuan’s entire body.
However, it only took a moment for Lu Xuan to completely digest it, and it also allowed him to successfully improve his skills.
Needless to say, Ming Yueyao and the rabbit did not have Lu Xuan’s speed and were still doing their best to digest the medicinal effects of the alkahestry pill.
Lu Xuan kept the rest of the alkahestry pills. These pills might be the help they direly needed, but for him, it could only be considered a nice bonus.
Lu Xuan continued his investigation of the cave abode. Aside from the extremely spartan living area, Lu Xuan quickly found the core that was controlling the entire sword formation.
On a stone pedestal deep within the cave abode, a sword jade was floating in mid-air. This sword jade was controlling the entire sword formation on the outside.
To be more precise, the sword formation was actually engraved on the sword jade. As long as spirit qi was continuously supplied to it, the sword jade could continue to sustain the sword formation.
If the sword jade was removed, the entire sword formation would be removed along with it by Lu Xuan.
“A pretty good reward!”
Lu Xuan nodded in satisfaction. Inside this cave abode of a legendary swordsman, he had found the core sword jade controlling the sword formation, as well as an alkahestry cauldron, some half-finished alkahestry pills, and skill manuals for swordsmanship.
It was a pretty good reward, which would be quite beneficial for raising Lu Xuan’s abilities!
It would strengthen Lu Xuan’s foundations!
Following this, Lu Xuan put the sword jade into his pocket, and the moment he removed it, the sword formation in the air above Shennongjia immediately vanished without a trace.
One day later, the rabbit and Ming Yueyao had finally emerged one after the other from their cultivation state.