Chapter 23: Innate Sword Qi

Everything in front of them seemed dreamlike, like a fairyland. The hard stone walls on both sides suddenly turned into warm jade emitting a faint white light, and the passage ahead was actually carved from white jade. Above the white jade passage, there were large pearls embedded at regular intervals. "White jade as a bed, gold as a horse" has already represented extreme wealth in the world, but they didn't expect to find a passage made of white jade and pearls in this place.

Dugu Baitian excitedly pulled Xuan Xuan and ran into the white jade passage, touching it with his hand. They were even more surprised to find that the passage had no seams and was an integral whole. The two couldn't help but be skeptical. Could it be that this was carved out of a huge piece of jade? It was unbelievable, as if they were in a dream. However, the sense of destruction suddenly awakened them.

The two continued to move forward, and the sound of their footsteps on the jade floor was crisp and pleasant in the passage. Along the way, they passed several jade chambers, with tables, chairs, and beds all carved from white jade. The kitchen was even more exaggerated, with pots, bowls, ladles, and basins all made of jade. Apart from white jade and night pearls, there was hardly any other object to be found here.

It was obvious that someone had lived here before, but who had such a big hand was hard to understand.

As they walked, another jade chamber appeared ahead. This jade chamber was somewhat special, as the door of the jade chamber was clearly carved with more intricate patterns than the other jade chambers. It depicted a lifelike scene of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix, with the phoenix appearing to be spreading its wings and about to fly away. Above the door were carved two ancient seal characters: "Treasure Pavilion".

Dugu Baitian shouted excitedly, "Found it, found it! Xuan Xuan, look, Treasure Pavilion, there really is a treasure here. We'll each take half when we meet the treasure."

"You're so money-minded, there are white jade and pearls everywhere in this place, and you're still like this," Xuan Xuan said.

"Hey, Xuan Xuan, when did you become so noble in your style? Haven't you been a thief during the day, stealing all the gold coins I had on me?" Dugu Baitian teased.

"Ha, I was just having fun with you. Teasing you," the little witch said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Forget it. Look, this place is filled with jade and pearls, and they still have to write 'Treasure Pavilion' here. What does that mean?" Dugu Baitian said.

Xuan Xuan's heart was moved when she heard this, and she said, "Could it be that there are peerless martial arts secrets or ancient divine weapons hidden inside?"

"Yes, as you would say: anything is possible."

The two couldn't wait and rushed towards the jade door, but this time it didn't open easily like the doors of other jade chambers. They tried pushing it multiple times, but it remained unmoved. Unable to believe it, they began to search for mechanisms, but after half a day of hard work, they didn't find anything.

"How could it be so tough? I thought I could easily split it open with my inner strength. Although it feels a bit like a wasted effort, it's still better than gaining nothing after entering the treasure mountain."

Xuan Xuan thought that what he said made sense. Maybe there really are secret manuals or divine weapons behind the jade gate. Without hesitation, she slapped her palm towards the jade door.

"Bang!"

The jade door didn't budge at all. Xuan Xuan was shocked. What kind of jade is this? It's so incredibly hard. It's impossible for anything to remain intact under her Emperor-level power. She intentionally added more strength to her palm, thinking that the jade door should have turned into powder, but it remained unchanged.

She tried three more slams consecutively, but the jade door still didn't move. Dugu Baitian also realized that something was wrong and struck the door with his left palm.

"Bang!"

His arm went numb from the impact, but the jade door still showed no reaction.

"Xiaobai, step aside. I'll try with my sword."

Xuan Xuan held her sword in her right hand, gathered her power, and slashed towards the jade door. The short sword, infused with Emperor-level power, emitted a dazzling light as it struck the jade door with a crisp sound, but it didn't leave a single scratch.

Xuan Xuan was truly furious, her delicate face tense, her eyes shining brightly. She gathered her power again, and the sword first emitted a dazzling light, then a golden sword aura over a foot long from the tip of the sword, shining brilliantly and gorgeously, as if the sword aura had substance, surging and fluctuating at the sword tip.

Dugu Baitian was dumbfounded, as the so-called indestructible innate sword qi was actually triggered by a young girl of seventeen or eighteen. It was truly unbelievable. He had doubted before whether she had really reached the Emperor-level realm, but now he was finally convinced beyond doubt.

To achieve the innate sword qi at such a young age, Xuan Xuan could already overlook her contemporaries.

The golden sword aura, radiating with dazzling light, slashed towards the jade door.

"Ding", "Crack", "Dang".

First, there was a crisp and pleasant "ding" sound as the sword aura struck the jade stone, leaving only a scratch on the surface. Then, with a "crack" sound, the high-quality steel sword broke in half from the middle under the impact of the innate sword qi, and the broken sword fell to the ground with a "dang" sound.

Xuan Xuan showed no signs of frustration, but instead appeared excited as she said, "If I'm not mistaken, this jade door has been sealed by an unparalleled expert using a special technique." She then grabbed Dugu Baitian's hand and walked back and forth in front of the jade door, examining it up and down.

"How do you know?" Dugu Baitian asked.

"We can try it out," Xuanxuan replied confidently.

With that, she led him to the other side of the passage and lightly scraped the jade wall with a broken sword, causing jade scraps to fall down, revealing a deep groove.

"As expected," Xuan Xuan said.

Dugu Baitian exclaimed, "Does that mean we'll return empty-handed from the treasure mountain?"

"No, perhaps our gains will be unimaginable. Later, place your hand on the jade door, infuse it with inner energy but do not release it, calm your mind and release your spiritual sense to sense the fluctuations of the energy on the door. Those fluctuations are the movements of the sealer's inner energy, definitely from a martial master of Saint-level or above. Carefully comprehend them, and you'll benefit greatly for life."

Dugu Baitian couldn't help but be overjoyed. His purpose in venturing into the Jianghu was to witness various sects' supreme martial arts and techniques to perfect his own Nine Turns technique. Now he unexpectedly had a chance to obtain an unparalleled cultivation method, which made him extremely excited. At the same time, he was deeply grateful to Xuan Xuan. Although this little witch was usually wicked, she did not hesitate to share this unparalleled manual with him.

The two of them placed their hands on the jade door and released their spiritual sense to carefully sense the faint fluctuations. The weak fluctuations were elusive, like a mischievous child, dodging and fleeing faster the more one tried to catch it. At this moment, the terrifying aura seemed to sense their actions, perceiving that they were trying to deal with the jade door, and it had a deep hostility towards the energy inside the jade door, rushing towards them.

Facing the terrifying fluctuations, Dugu Baitian and Xuan Xuan were the first to bear the brunt. Originally, they were hand in hand, with their cultivation levels connected, always on guard against the restless fluctuations. However, now they had relaxed their vigilance due to their greed for the fluctuations of the inner energy on the jade door, allowing it to take advantage of the situation. Both of them were shaken all over as if struck by a heavy hammer, their heads throbbing with pain, as if there were millions of iron nails being hammered on their heads.

In his heart, Dugu Baitian shouted, "Ah, am I going to die? No, I haven't made the name Dugu Baitian known to everyone on the continent, I'm not willing."

Xuan Xuan was also in extreme discomfort. She knew that this was a form of mental attack, attacking their spiritual senses. If they couldn't hold on, their spiritual senses would dissipate, and even if their bodies remained intact, they would be two unconscious fools.

"Xiaobai, I'm in so much pain too, but we must hold on. Perhaps that damned person hiding in the dark is also struggling to hold on," Xuan Xuan said with determination.

"I know, I must survive and get out alive. My life belongs to myself, and I will never give up."

The irresistible mental attacks kept coming, one after another, continuously assaulting them. Just as their consciousness started to blur, a warm sensation emanated from their palms where they held the jade door. It was like the faint sound of a camel bell echoing from a desolate desert or a distant flute melody from an open wilderness, instantly revitalizing their spirits.

The warmth grew stronger in their palms, spreading throughout their bodies, bringing an indescribable sense of peace and tranquility, dispelling the eerie and terrifying aura that had been looming over them.

Xuan Xuan said, "Quick, focus your mind and feel it."

The two of them once again calmed their minds and carefully captured the pulsations of this warm power with their mental senses.

In that instant, Dugu Baitian seemed to hear the sound of a heartbeat, as if it were the fluctuation of internal energy. Time seemed to stand still at this moment, and all external sensations disappeared, leaving only the faint sound of the heartbeat. It was a strange feeling, as if the sound of the heartbeat had traveled through millions of years, carrying an endless sense of vicissitude and weariness.