Chapter 517: First Arrival at the Main Hall

Coming out of the side halls, Ye Feng and his group headed straight for the main hall.
“Besides that tasselled ancient lotus, what else did you find?” Long Tian asked curiously.
“I found a whole room full of defective pills in another side hall…” Ye Feng replied without looking up. “But it was lucky—I was able to refine those defective pills. Although their effects might differ slightly from those of genuine pills, I can still guarantee eight out of ten of their effects.”
Eight out of ten was Ye Feng’s conservative estimate. He knew well that with the help of Jiu Fang, the most powerful spiritual treasure, it might be difficult to restore the full effects, but even if not possible, eight out of ten effects could still be ensured.
“Were those all sacred-grade pills?” In Long Tian’s view, even eight out of ten effects was remarkable. “How many?”
“Over 21,000 bottles,” Ye Feng said with a smile. “But since they were defective pills, they were stored carelessly—dozens of pills were stuffed into each bottle, almost filling them all. My preliminary estimate is at least five million pills.”
“So many?” Long Tian was also shocked.
“Although the Danquan Sect is only a second-rate sect, it actually ranks among the top 50 ancient sects, with a history of at least ten billion years. Over a hundred billion years, there must be more than just these defective pills. To save time and effort, these pill-making sects regularly destroy them. I guess they wait until the side halls are almost full before cleaning them up,” Jin explained. “Moreover, the Danquan Sect has hundreds of disciples. If each makes a hundred defective pills, that’s already tens of thousands.”
“What about you? Did you find anything good?” Ye Feng turned to look at Long Tian and Jin.
“The side hall I went to was a library. Less than one-third of the books remained. I guess the Danquan Sect discarded them because they thought they weren’t useful during the relocation,” Long Tian said with a smile. “I’ve collected them all but haven’t had time to examine them carefully yet.”
“The side hall I went to was a cultivation area for spiritual herbs. I guess they picked all the herbs at that time, but they ignored the seeds in the ground. As a result, over a hundred good spiritual herbs grew there,” Jin said, clearly satisfied with what he had obtained.
After passing through the huge courtyard containing the four side halls, there was yet another forest.

But this time, what was different was that a narrow stone staircase wound its way into the distance within the forest, wide enough only for one person to stand on. What puzzled Ye Feng was that there were no restrictions or arrays in the area where the staircase lay, yet on both sides of it stood massive and powerful arrays and restrictions, like two invisible walls blocking everyone in between. The only way through was by using the staircase.

“Be careful; something seems odd,” Ye Feng warned. “There are restriction arrays on both sides, but none on this staircase. It’s clearly meant to force us to use it. I’ll go first this time, and Brother Long will cover the rear.”

Ye Feng carefully climbed upward. Half a quarter of an hour passed without anything happening. Still not daring to speed up, he continued to climb step by step. Another half a quarter of an hour passed, and still nothing occurred. Fortunately, the group finally saw the main hall not far ahead.

Ye Feng carefully led everyone up the staircase, filled with confusion. “If there’s nothing wrong with the staircase, then what are those arrays and restrictions on both sides for?”

“The restrictions on that gate have already been broken,” Jin was the first to notice this.

“It must be those guys ahead of us,” Shi said disdainfully. The strongest among those people was probably around his own level. He wondered what method they used to get here before them. He despised those who relied on unscrupulous tactics rather than true strength.

Pushing open the nearly ten-meter-high gate, Ye Feng and the others finally entered the main hall.

As soon as they stepped in, they saw three people rummaging through everything, turning the main hall upside down. Even the carpets were wrinkled, clearly having just been disturbed. The cabinets and drawers were thrown carelessly on the ground, looking as if they had been looted.

Upon seeing Ye Feng and the others arrive, the three people awkwardly stopped what they were doing, their eyes filled with wariness.

“It’s Senior Dao Feng. We three will leave first,” one of them said quickly, with the other two nodding in agreement.

The one with the highest level of law cultivation among the three was only at the sixth layer, while the other two were at the fifth layer. Ye Feng couldn’t help but wonder how they had managed to get past all those arrays along the way.

“Want to leave?” Shi grew even angrier seeing that the three people’s cultivation levels were lower than his. How could such folks get here before him and his group? “You three must be carrying something valuable. Otherwise, why run away when you see us? Afraid we’ll take it from you?”

“No, we just arrived too, just now…” The leader’s eyes flashed with shock as he pretended to remain calm.
That slight expression didn’t escape Ye Feng and the others’ notice; they knew these guys must have found some treasure.
“Here’s the deal: if you want to leave, hand over the treasure obediently! Otherwise, don’t blame me for being merciless.” Shi Tuo thrust his staff hard into the ground and glared coldly at the three of them. It was exactly the same line he used when robbing them in the Thousand Needle Stone Forest before.
The three looked troubled. The leader, being clever, turned to Ye Feng. “Elder Dao Feng… we really didn’t get anything valuable. If we had found any treasure, we would have left right away without hesitation. We searched everywhere, but found no treasure at all.”
Ye Feng let out a long sigh and waved his hand. “Let them go!”
“Boss, do you really believe them?” Shi Tuo refused to let go easily.
“I don’t believe them, but forcing things isn’t my style.” Ye Feng shook his head helplessly. “Let them go! Whatever they have is their fortune.”
Bai Yiyi glanced at Ye Feng, then turned to Shi Tuo, who looked furious, and whispered to him, “Shi Tuo, I’ll sneak out later and take care of these three. Just let them go.”
Shi Tuo was stunned. Seeing Bai Yiyi nod at him, he snorted coldly and stepped aside.
“Wait!” Just as the three were relieved and ready to leave, that shout stopped them.
It was Long Tian who called out, “How did you get up here?”
“Well…” The three looked troubled, seemingly unwilling to speak.
“You can take your things, but we want that secret!” Jin signaled the three behind him to surround the others.
“We broke through the formations along the way…” The leader tried to stay calm.
“Nonsense!” At the mention of breaking formations, Shi Tuo became angry again. He didn’t believe their formation skills could surpass those of Long Tian and Ye Feng.
Ye Feng and his group also knew these guys weren’t telling the truth.
“Tell the truth, or we’ll force you three to die here!” Jin’s killing intent radiated strongly. Though the three weren’t afraid of him, they feared his three servants.
“We really broke through the formations, but it wasn’t us who did it—it was this…” One of the guys at the fifth level of law cultivation took out an object from his pocket.