Chapter 346: Another Stone Chamber

Pressing his right hand on the lid of the chest, Lin Dong applied slight force, and the lid snapped back violently.
“As expected, they’re all spiritual techniques.”
Lin Dong couldn’t help but praise. The entire large stone chest was filled with yellowed ancient books. Picking up one at random, three bold black characters were written in an elegant style: “Space Compression Technique.”
Flipping the book over, he saw a small note stuck on the back:
“Space Compression Technique: A sixth-tier spiritual technique, a movement-based technique, gifted by the Cliff Tomb Sect.”
“Only sixth tier?”
Lin Dong felt slightly disappointed. In the two large stone chests containing spiritual artifacts and elixirs, even the weakest ones were at least eighth tier. He hadn’t expected that the first technique in this chest of spiritual techniques would only be sixth tier.
“Spiritual techniques are the foundation of any sect, different from spiritual artifacts and elixirs,” Yun Lan appeared beside Lin Dong with a smile. “Don’t forget—unless under special circumstances, no sect would allow spiritual techniques to spread outside.”
Lin Dong understood. Since they were gifts, the original sects must have recorded them, meaning they could be learned freely without fear of discovery by the original sects. Their value was far beyond that of just a randomly obtained sixth-tier technique. In fact, a sixth-tier technique approved by the original sect, if obtained by another sect, would be far more valuable than an eighth-tier spiritual artifact—after all, it meant an additional high-tier technique for disciples to practice.
Having no sect of his own, Lin Dong had long resolved to take on as much as he could handle, focusing all his efforts on the “Heaven Control Technique” in hopes of mastering it—even if the old man Ding couldn’t do so. But the number of guards would eventually be no less than that of sect disciples.
If all the spiritual techniques in this chest were above sixth tier, with one or two even at ninth tier, their value would surely rival that of a chest full of spiritual artifacts.
“Let’s see if there are any spirit array diagrams,” Yun Lan suddenly said.
“Mm!” Lin Dong nodded. He certainly couldn’t be careless with tasks assigned by Yun Lan.
Placing both palms on the chest, he channeled spiritual energy. Taking a deep breath, he flipped the entire chest over.
A pile of ancient books spilled out, quickly covering the ground as Lin Dong moved swiftly. Scanning quickly, he spotted several scrolls. Picking up one, he unfolded it to find a landscape painting covering the entire surface. Above the painting were lines of small text: “Youmen Cave—the hiding place of Wei Wuqing, a peak warrior from a hundred years ago. Exact location unknown. Located within Qianling Ridge. Gifted by the Tiger Lie Sect.”
Lin Dong was stunned. “A treasure map?”
Yun Lan stepped forward to take a look, feeling slightly disappointed.

“I’ll take another look!”
With it being so close and a precise map of the treasure location, Lin Dong still felt somewhat interested. But as for Qianling Ridge, which was thousands of miles away, he had little interest, not to mention that there wasn’t even an exact location.
Throwing the parchment aside, Lin Dong picked up the next one and frowned upon opening it.
It was another treasure map.
After checking over a dozen of them, the result was the same—all were treasure maps.
“They must be drawn on ancient books! There are only a dozen of these parchments; there’s simply no space to draw that many spirit arrays.”
To avoid disappointing Yun Lan, Lin Dong quickly knelt down and began searching through the scattered books.
Yun Lan’s gaze shifted, scanning the surroundings before stopping briefly in another corner before returning to help Lin Dong sort through the ancient books.
“Owner…” Yu Linglong, who had finished selecting spirit artifacts, looked eagerly at Lin Dong, who was still searching for spirit arrays on the ground.
Lin Dong turned around and saw a pile of spirit artifacts of various functions at Yu Linglong’s feet—roughly seven or eight in number.
Seven or eight? Even if they were all ninth-tier spirit artifacts, as long as the Yu Linglong sisters could stay at the inn as chefs, it would be a trivial matter for Lin Dong.
“Have you chosen?”
Yu Linglong nodded and said carefully, “Owner, may I show them to you?”
“What’s there to look at?” Lin Dong waved his hand with a smile. “Keep a few sets of armor and inner armor. Take as many of the others as you want.”
“Thank you, owner. That’s enough,” Yu Linglong was overjoyed and quickly stored the selected spirit artifacts in her storage ring.
Just as Lin Dong was about to continue searching, Yu Linglong’s eager gaze met his again, her face slightly flushed.
“Owner…”
Lin Dong looked up and followed her gaze to the spirit techniques on the ground. Smiling, he said, “Spirit techniques won’t become invalid just because you’ve learned them once. As long as you can master them, you can learn them all.”
Yu Linglong beamed with joy and immediately knelt down to help sort through them.
With the three of them working together, it took just half an hour to organize all the spirit techniques.
There were 200 spirit technique books, including 6 ninth-tier ones, 11 eighth-tier ones. The largest number were seventh- and sixth-tier techniques, with 3 fifth-tier ones as well. According to Lin Dong, these were likely used by Changyou Mountain to meet quotas.
In addition, there were 12 treasure maps, one book detailing various high-tier spirit materials and beasts, and two books on alchemy and artifact crafting.
What was missing were the spirit arrays, Changyou Mountain’s specialty. The three large stone chests must have contained the rewards he obtained from those spirit arrays.

Putting aside the last book, Lin Dong couldn’t help but look at Yun Lan.
“There should be another one in this stone chamber,” Yun Lan said with a smile.
“Another one?” Lin Dong was puzzled.
Yun Lan’s gaze shifted to the corner diagonally across and she nodded, “If I’m not mistaken, it should be over there.”
“There’s a trap?” Lin Dong asked.
“There’s probably some advanced spiritual array, like a decoy, covering the entrance,” Yun Lan shook her head. “We need to break the array first to see it.”
“Alright, you break the array first,” Lin Dong said with a grin. “I’ll get things sorted out.”
Yun Lan nodded and dashed to the corner diagonally across, stepping quickly into the spiritual array.
Lin Dong immediately told Yu Linglong to start organizing and counting various spiritual weapons, materials, and techniques. After finishing that, he didn’t idle around either and began practicing on the spot.
It took a whole day before the spiritual array covering the other entrance was finally broken. Hearing a humming sound, Lin Dong felt his spiritual energy flow back to his dantian. He opened his eyes and saw a thick stone door in the corner slowly opening.
With quick steps, Lin Dong rushed to Yun Lan’s side and glanced inside the stone door, his eyes widening slightly.
Inside was an even larger stone chamber—its area was at least 10,000 to 20,000 square meters.
“Why is it empty?” After scanning it carefully again, Lin Dong was stunned.
“The entire stone chamber is equipped with over a hundred advanced spiritual arrays,” Yun Lan sighed, unable to hide her admiration. “Elder Chang is truly extraordinary. If it were me, with the size of this chamber, I could at most set up a dozen or so arrays, and their power would be much weaker. But the over a hundred arrays in this chamber retain their full power.”
“Why would he set up so many arrays in the chamber? There must be better treasures inside,” Lin Dong wondered.
“These arrays are the greatest treasures,” Yun Lan shook her head. “Elder Chang must have intended for those who enter the chamber to study these arrays on their own and gradually figure out how to set them up.”
“Really? How long would it take to study them all?” Lin Dong’s expression darkened. Initially, seeing Yun Lan’s excitement when she first encountered the arrays in the first chamber, he had a hunch that she might stay to study them.
Only after hearing that there was another chamber did Lin Dong’s worried heart settle. As long as they could find the array manuals, they could take them back to study.
But now, the second chamber contained over a hundred arrays, with not a single clue about how to set them up.
“A dozen or twenty years, maybe,” Yun Lan replied.

“Ten or twenty years? Are you always worried that the mountain will have nothing to do once it’s satisfied? Write down the setup methods and spirit array diagrams—if they’re different, you can learn from them.” Lin Dong was almost terrified. If Yun Lan really insisted on staying, life would become unbearable. He would even have preferred not to find the Wuyou Cave at all.

“That’s why I said Senior Chang thought very carefully. If the setup methods and spirit array diagrams are written down, it’s indeed easier to learn and master them. But if one has to figure them out through their own efforts step by step, it’s not just about mastery.” Yun Lan said confidently, “There are over a hundred advanced spirit arrays that have never been heard of before. If one can gradually figure out their setup methods, even if they can’t create their own spirit arrays, they’ll still be able to easily adjust the arrangements when there’s a shortage of materials.”

“You don’t mean to stay, do you?” Lin Dong was torn. On one hand was himself, and on the other, his beloved spirit arrays. To be honest, he would never force Yun Lan to make a choice. This meant he had to decide whether to stay with her or focus on developing the inn and practicing cultivation, planning to come back after forcing the marriage.

No matter which choice he made, Lin Dong had plenty of reasons to hesitate.

Yun Lan watched Lin Dong with interest. Just as he was about to speak again, she calmly said, “Just three to five months.”

“Three to five months?” Lin Dong was surprised. “Not ten or twenty years?”

“With three to five months, I can break through these spirit arrays two to three times each,” Yun Lan said with a smile. “With two or three experiences breaking arrays, I’ll be able to remember their characteristics. Then I can write them down and take them back for study.”

Lin Dong relaxed. This outcome would have been unacceptable to him before, but after preparing for the worst, it was almost a blessing.

After some thought, Lin Dong decided, “If that’s the case, shall I go back to the inn and wait for you?”

Yun Lan nodded.

Lin Dong glanced at Old Ding, who was lying on the stone bed drinking thyme wine, smiled, and took a jar of top-quality wine from the mobile counter, tossing it over.

Old Ding caught the jar with his right hand and turned to look at Lin Dong. “Do you want me to stay and take care of Miss Yun?”

After all, these were spirit arrays he had never seen before, most of them being ninth-level. With Yun Lan’s strength as a seventh-level spirit array master, she might not be able to avoid any risks. With Old Ding, a peak expert who could forcefully break through ninth-level spirit arrays, everything would be safe.

Lin Dong gave Old Ding a thumbs up and said with a smile, “Old man, you’ve worked hard for months. When you go back, I promise that no matter what it takes, I’ll find 180 jars of top-quality wine to wait for you.”
“Deal!”
Old Ding replied without any hesitation.