Chapter 1: Storing Lattice Wood (Part 1)

Eagle Demon asked, “What’s wrong?”
Guo Shier said, “It seems the Dark-Wing Demon Scorpion has encountered something… Come, let’s go take a look. Dingding, you come with us. Brother Chen, you go too. Brother Zhang, stay here and take care of everyone.” Once he gave orders, he naturally had an aura that made people obey.
Following the direction indicated by that mental signal, Guo Shier entered a cave. Eagle Demon rushed ahead and said, “Shier, don’t go too far ahead. Dingding, we’ll explore ahead.” A huge talisman shield appeared in his hands, and Zhou Xiaoling also took out a talisman sword, saying, “Okay!”
Chen Zhendong followed behind and said, “I hope we don’t run into anything strange.”
As they descended through the cave, Eagle Demon and Zhou Xiaoling moved slowly, staying highly alert, as no one knew what lay beneath. Guo Shier asked, “Brother Chen, have you never been here before?”
Chen Zhendong replied, “There are countless branches in these caves. I wouldn’t dare wander around randomly. There are too many dangerous places in the Bloodied Secret Realm. It was lucky for me to find this place. After arriving here… I didn’t dare take any more risks. Having a stable place to cultivate is better than anything else.”
Guo Shier nodded. Though he agreed in his heart, he still had to explore. The Dark-Wing Demon Scorpion was too far away to bring back right away, and he couldn’t give up on this useful ancient scorpion, so he had to go.
The passage wasn’t very wide—only five or six meters wide and seven or eight meters high—with dark rock walls covered in water droplets. Guo Shier cast a talisman for lighting, illuminating the surroundings. Chen Zhendong remained highly vigilant, his life talisman book floating in front of his chest.
The cave continued downward, and the four of them moved forward carefully. Along the way, they found many Blood Soul Stones embedded in the rock walls, but none of them dared stop to dig them up.
After about thirty minutes, after turning several corners, a large cave hall came into view. A faint green light flickered, lighting up the entire hall. Guo Shier turned off the lighting talisman, allowing them to see clearly. The Dark-Wing Demon Scorpion was pacing around, snarling. There were no talisman beasts or people in the hall—only a talisman gate standing in the center.
Chen Zhendong exclaimed in surprise, “An ancient talisman gate? There’s even such a thing?”
Guo Shier asked, “What ancient talisman gate?”

Chen Zhen Dong said, “There are two types of talisman gates we commonly use now. One is a small talisman gate that can be placed inside a personal talisman, and the other is a large one used by sects. Both of these are movable. There’s also an immovable talisman gate, which is very rare… We call it an ancient talisman gate. It can only transport people to a fixed location, and anyone can use it.”

Guo Shier stared at the ancient talisman gate. He calmed down the restless Dark-Wing Scorpion. Here, he could clearly sense the scorpion’s thoughts. It wanted to enter, but due to Guo Shier’s restraint, it couldn’t.

Guo Shier said, “Along the way, I’ve seen quite a few Blood Soul Stones. Moreover, this passage is completely safe, so we can have the people in the upper rock chamber come down to dig. What about this ancient talisman gate… Should we go in and explore it?”

Zhou Xiaoling said, “I’ll go up! I’ll tell them to come down!”

Guo Shier said, “Okay, let them come over. We’ll discuss it together.”

The ancient talisman gate emitted a faint blue glow. No one knew where it could transport people to. However, it had one feature: it allowed two-way travel—once you went through, you could return.

Zhou Xiaoling turned and dashed out. Since she had already passed through the passage and knew it was safe, she increased her speed to the maximum and returned to the upper rock chamber in just a short while.

Guo Shier and Chen Zhen Dong discussed it for a while. Neither of them could figure out why there was an ancient talisman gate here or where it led.

Before long, everyone from above had come down. As soon as Zhang Yaojin entered, he exclaimed in surprise, “It’s really an ancient talisman gate! Haha, if it leads outside… we’re rich!”

These words immediately reminded everyone. If they could master this ancient talisman gate, they could leave and still return. If they obtained some inheritance outside and then came back to absorb soul mist, their cultivation speed would be unimaginable. Everyone’s eyes lit up.

Guo Shier thought further. If he could use this ancient talisman gate to enter and exit this place, he would have the chance to bring his family members here to cultivate.

But who would be the first to enter the ancient talisman gate was a big question.

No one knew where it transported people to. If it happened to be a dangerous place, the consequences would be severe. Although those who went in before could escape back, since the ancient talisman gate was an open portal, danger could follow them as well. How could they defend against it then?

After a long discussion, Zhang Yaojin said, “I originally wanted to go outside. Let me be the one to go!”

Guo Shier thought for a moment before saying, “I’ve already advanced to Senior Mad Master. Even if I can’t return after going out, I won’t regret it. I’m going!”
Eagle Demon said, “Wherever Shier goes, I’ll go too!”
Chen Zhendong said, “There’s no need to be so nervous. The Ancient Talisman Gate allows two-way teleportation, so we’ll definitely be able to come back.”
Guo Shier said, “I’ll go retrieve the Giant Nesting Dragon first and be back in a while.” He rushed toward the passage quickly. Eagle Demon followed closely behind—his duty was to protect Guo Shier, so he would accompany him even through a short passage.
Zhang Yaojin said, “Shier, I, and Uncle Eagle Demon will go in together. Brother Chen, you need to keep guard at the Ancient Talisman Gate. When we return, be careful to check if any dangerous creatures have followed us. The others can go into the passage to dig for Blood Soul Stones. Any Blood Soul Stones found… will be distributed evenly!”
Chen Zhendong nodded in agreement. Zhou Xiaoling said, “I won’t participate in digging for Blood Soul Stones. I’ll stay with Brother Chen to guard the Ancient Talisman Gate. His strength alone might not be enough.”
A moment later, Guo Shier and Eagle Demon came out of the passage. Guo Shier asked, “Have we made a decision?”
Zhang Yaojin said, “Yes. Brother Chen and Dingding will guard the Ancient Talisman Gate, while the others will dig for Blood Soul Stones.”
Guo Shier nodded. “We’ll only be gone for three days. We’ll definitely return after that. No matter what we discover… we’ll reassess the situation when we come back. If there’s no danger there and it’s necessary for everyone to go, we’ll organize another entry to the Ancient Talisman Gate.”
Chen Zhendong said, “Be careful. Hopefully, this place leads to some secret realm, so… we’ll have an escape route.”
Zhang Yaojin smiled bitterly. “I hope so. Secret realms have many rules. If movement is controlled by the talisman gate, once we go in… we can only come back.”
Guo Shier said, “We’ll find out once we get there. It’s pointless to guess here.”
Zhang Yaojin laughed. “Yeah, guessing won’t help. Let’s go!” He stepped into the Ancient Talisman Gate first, and with a flash of green light, he disappeared inside.
Eagle Demon said, “Shier, follow closely. I’ll cover the rear.”
Guo Shier said to everyone, “Wait for us to return!” He also stepped into the Ancient Talisman Gate.
Eagle Demon grinned and said, “Good luck!” It was rare to see him show such an expression, and everyone couldn’t help but smile. Sun Min’er muttered softly, “Uncle can also do a face…”

As the three left, the mood of everyone gradually turned heavy. Under Guo Shier’s leadership, their journey had been smooth, but now that he was gone, they felt uneasy.

Zhou Xiaoling shouted, “Xuan Ai, take them to dig for Blood Soul Stones. Chen Da Ge and I will stay here!”

……

Zhang Yaojin stepped out of the Ancient Talisman Gate, followed by Guo Shier and Eagle Demon.

The three stared blankly at the scene before them.

Guo Shier took only one glance before diving into his soul to examine the talisman gate within his life talisman sphere. Disappointed, he found that the coordinates of any location hadn’t been activated. In other words, no matter where they were, he couldn’t use his own talisman gate—even the coordinates left by Li Ran hadn’t been activated.

Zhang Yaojin also checked his own talisman gate and said with a bitter smile, “This is truly a dead end. If this Ancient Talisman Gate is destroyed, we won’t be able to go anywhere and will be trapped here!”

It was a strange place. Dark clouds swirled in the sky like a giant vortex, yet the ground was calm. There were only trees of peculiar shapes, twisting like dragons, as thick as an adult’s thigh and about four meters tall at most. Their black trunks bore extremely small leaves, roughly the size of corn kernels, bright red in color.

At first glance, Zhang Yaojin didn’t pay much attention to the strange trees. Suddenly remembering something, he observed them more closely and burst into ecstasy, his voice trembling, “These… these trees… ah, I… I can’t be wrong… How is this possible?”

Guo Shier was shocked. He also examined the rows of strange trees and asked, “What’s wrong with these trees?”

Zhang Yaojin’s face turned red, and his hands trembled violently. Pointing at the trees and looking at Guo Shier, he was speechless for a moment.

Eagle Demon warned, “Are these trees dangerous?” He immediately drew out his talisman shield.

Zhang Yaojin’s head shook like a rattle. Overwhelmed with excitement, he could hardly speak, “Ah… oh my god, it’s… it’s gotten bigger… How… how is this possible…”

Guo Shier didn’t know what to do. Since he didn’t recognize these trees, he asked again, “…Are they very precious?”

Zhang Yaojin nodded repeatedly at first, then shook his head frantically, leaving Guo Shier and Eagle Demon utterly confused.

After taking a few deep breaths, Zhang Yaojin finally regained his composure and said, “It’s not just… precious…”

Guo Shier asked, “Oh? So they’re extremely precious?”

Zhang Yaojin finally shouted, “These are fucking… Storage Wood!”

Storage lattice wood!
Guo Shier also was stunned—was this entire area made of storage lattice wood? It was a precious material as renowned as Anluo Stone and Blood Soul Stone, extremely rare even in the Advanced Spellcraft Continent. This was truly astonishing.
Zhang Yaojin’s eyes were filled with ecstasy as he said, “It’s unbelievable. What kind of place is this?”
“It’s raining!”
Guo Shier stretched out his hand and, seeing the red drops falling on his palm, exclaimed in surprise, “Blood rain?”