Chapter 2 – The Treasured Artifact of the Sect 镇派之宝

Lin Yuan suddenly remembered that mysterious ring just now and quickly looked down at his right hand. Sure enough, that simple ring was on his finger, exactly the same as the one he had picked up in the real world.

"Could it be... that all of this is its doing?" Lin Yuan reached out and gently touched the ring. An inexplicable impulse welled up in his heart, and he tentatively probed the ring with his mind. At that moment, he felt a faint flash of fire in his mind. Immediately after, a vague and mysterious voice sounded in his head: "The time has not come... The tasks cannot be triggered..."

"What do you mean the time has not come? You might as well make it clear!" Lin Yuan couldn't help but mutter softly, but the voice didn't respond again. He frowned. His intuition told him that this ring was definitely not ordinary.

Just as he was still thinking full of doubts, another rapid ringing of the copper bell came to his ears. At the same time, a loud voice came from a distance: "Servant disciple Lin Yuan! If you don't come to gather right away, all of today's spirit stones will be deducted!"

Lin Yuan suddenly came back to his senses. He looked down at his thin and small body, then looked up in the direction of the voice and quickly patted the dust off his body. "Gather? Spirit stones? It seems I have to go and see the situation first..."

Lin Yuan tried hard to recall the content of the book and was shocked: "The same name... A servant disciple... I seem to be a small insignificant character in the Longevity Sect?" He took quick steps with his short legs that he wasn't yet used to, running towards the direction of the voice.

Lin Yuan ran all the way and finally saw a spacious martial arts practice ground. Dozens of teenagers dressed in coarse linen robes like him stood in neat rows. In front of the formation stood a woman in a cyan dress.

She was tall and her posture was as straight as a pine. With her back to Lin Yuan, her long black hair was tied up high with a cyan silk ribbon. A delicate long sword was hanging around her waist, and a faint cold light was emanating from the sword body. An icy aura that kept people at a distance radiated from her, making others not dare to approach easily.

As soon as Lin Yuan stepped into the ground, he felt a cold and frosty gaze fall on him. His heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively looked up, just meeting a pair of eyes as cold as frost.

"Late." The woman's tone was flat, but it carried an undeniable dignity that made people shudder.

"Er... Well..." Lin Yuan was at a loss for words for a moment. His mind was running at full speed, but he couldn't think of a suitable excuse.

The woman glanced at him indifferently. Her voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears: "I don't care what your reason is. Being late once means deducting the quota of spirit stones for three days. Don't let it happen again."

Lin Yuan was just about to open his mouth to defend himself, but was glared at fiercely by the other servant disciples around him. He shrank his neck in fright and thought to himself: "This woman looks so cold. Who would have thought she is the legendary 'Cold Fairy of the Outer Sect'? By the way, the hierarchical system in this world is too strict, isn't it?"

Although Lin Xuefei's seemingly cold gaze lingered on Lin Yuan for a moment longer quietly. Her expression remained as calm as still water, but a wave of unease rose in her heart: "This kid... seems ordinary at first glance, but he faintly exudes a strange aura. Could he be related to the treasured artifact of the sect that's rumored about?"

Lin Xuefei retracted her gaze, turned around to face the crowd, and said coldly: "Today's task is to clean the outer mountain area and check for any traces of strange beasts. Everyone receive a broom and a dust-removing talisman. The quota of spirit stones will be distributed according to the degree of task completion."

After saying that, she swept a cold glance around at everyone and then continued: "Also, no one is allowed to leave their post without permission. Otherwise... bear the consequences yourself."

The crowd looked at each other, and no one dared to ask a single question. Although Lin Yuan was full of doubts, he knew very well that this wasn't the time to ask questions. He obediently queued up to receive the tools, planning to get through this first and then slowly explore the secrets of this strange world of cultivating immortals and that mysterious ring.

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林远猛地想起刚才那枚神秘戒指,急忙低头看向自己右手,手指上果然戴着那枚古朴的戒指,和他在现实世界中捡到的一模一样.

"难道... 这一切都是它搞的鬼?" 林远伸手轻轻摸了摸戒指,心中涌起一股莫名的冲动,意念试探性地触碰着戒指.就在这一瞬间,他感觉脑海中闪过一抹微弱的火光,紧接着,一道模糊而神秘的声音在脑海中响起:"时间未到... 不可开启..."

"什么时间未到?你倒是说清楚啊!" 林远忍不住小声嘀咕,可那声音再没有回应.他皱起眉头,直觉告诉他,这枚戒指绝对不简单.

正当他还在满心疑惑地思考时,耳边又传来一声急促的铜铃声,与此同时,一道洪亮的声音从远处传来:"杂役弟子林远!再不来集合,今天的灵石就全扣光!"

林远猛地回过神来,低头看了看自己这副瘦弱的小身板,又抬头望向声音传来的方向,连忙拍了拍身上的灰尘:"集合?灵石?看样子得先去看看情况...".

林远努力回想书中的内容,心中一惊:"同名同姓... 杂役弟子... 我好像是长生派里的一个小炮灰?" 他迈着还不太适应的小短腿,朝着声音的方向快步跑去.

林远一路小跑,终于看到了一片宽阔的演武场.几十个和他一样穿着粗布麻衣的少年整齐地站成几排,队伍前方站着一个身穿青衣的女子.

她身材高挑,身姿挺拔如松,背对着林远,一头乌黑长发用青丝带高高束起,腰间悬挂着一柄精致的长剑,剑身上隐隐散发着寒光.她周身散发着一种拒人于千里之外的清冷气息,让人不敢轻易靠近.

林远刚踏入场地,就感觉到一道冰冷如霜的目光落在自己身上.他心里 "咯噔" 一下,下意识地抬头望去,正对上一双冷若寒霜的眼睛.

"迟到." 女子语气平淡,却透着一股不容置疑的威严,让人不寒而栗.

"呃... 那个..." 林远一时语塞,大脑飞速运转,却想不出合适的借口.

女子淡淡地瞥了他一眼,声音不大,却清晰地传入每个人耳中:"我不管你是什么原因.迟到一次,扣除三天的灵石配额.下不为例."

林远刚想开口辩解,却被周围其他杂役弟子狠狠瞪了一眼.他吓得缩了缩脖子,心想:"这女的看着这么冷冰冰的,谁能想到她就是传说中的'外门冷酷仙子'?话说,这世界的等级制度也太严苛了吧?"

林雪霏看似冷淡的目光,在林远身上悄然多停留了一瞬.她表情依旧平静如水,心中却暗暗泛起波澜:"这小子... 看似平凡无奇,却隐隐散发着一股奇异的气息.难道他跟传闻中那件镇派之宝有关?"

林雪霏收回目光,转身面对众人,语气冷然道:"今天的任务是清扫外山区域,巡查是否有异兽痕迹.每人领取扫帚和除尘符.按照任务完成度发放灵石配额."

说罢,她冷冷地扫视了众人一圈,随后继续道:"还有,所有人不得擅离职守.否则... 后果自负."

众人面面相觑,谁也不敢多问一句.林远虽然满心疑惑,但他很清楚,现在不是提问的时候.他乖乖地排队领取工具,打算先熬过这一关,再慢慢探寻这个奇怪的修仙世界和那枚神秘戒指的秘密.