Chapter 34: Hidden Grounds

Sage took his time examining the formations on the door. Taking out a few of his tools and using them to measure the different conditions in the area so he could reverse engineer the formations on the door.

Breaking formations could be done a number of ways. The simplest was brute force. If a cultivator was a higher rank than the formation they could simply smash away at it till the energy ran out. Or if they were multiple ranks higher they might just burst it like a bubble.

The most perfect method was to completely understand the entirety of the formation. Deciphering the type, components and all the conditions it was set with. With a perfect understanding the formation could even be taken over and controlled as the formation master wished. This is way easier said than done given the tens of thousands of different formations that existed and hundred or so variables that a formation was built with.

The most common method was actually a middle ground. After figuring out the type of formation, the formation master would trigger the formation from afar and observe it in action. Watching the energy fluctuations and with good enough knowledge they would attempt to pick out the center of the formation. If the center or weak points in the formation can be located it would take a lot less force to break it. In general the more knowledgeable the one trying to break the formation, the less force was needed.

To start with, Sage recorded down the entirety of the formations on the door. Making notes of the many formations that he’d never seen before and studying them for similarities with the formations he did know. He even had the five attack it a few times from varying angles while he made more measurements with his tools.

After an hour, Sage finally found one of the weak points on the defense formation and pointed it out for the five to attack. Brilliant sword rays and balls of fire rained upon it for a few minutes before the shield popped like a bubble. The five started to celebrate while Sage walked up to the door and traced some of the symbols on the wall. Where his finger passed, the symbols lit up. Being infusing with just a strand of his Qi, the door suddenly shook and then swung away from them, opening into the stone wall to reveal an empty corridor.

Holding the group back a moment, Sage pointed at the floor, “One moment, everyone. Let’s make sure there isn’t any hidden traps before we rush in and get hurt.”

Recording and deciphering more of the symbols and formations on the floor, walls, and ceiling, Sage finally gave them the go ahead after he activated a few of the formations. The darkness in the hallway retreating as the walls started to glow gently. The damp and musty air even cleared up and the temperature rose to a comfortable level. Bringing everyone inside, Sage closed the door behind them, “This seems to be the residence of an ancient cultivator. Shall we check each room together or split up?”

Sage had verified they were safe in the corridor, but he had no idea what was in any of the rooms that lined the hall. The five inner court disciples swapped looks and Sage tried to see what they were thinking when Ding Zhen answered, “If we stick together it will be hard to divide the spoils… let’s split up first and see whose luck is best!”

The other four lit up with excitement, it seemed they were trying to come up with excuses as well. Everyone wanted to have the best stuff to themselves, and it was quite hard to tell which of them were thinking of betraying the others. Sage was no stranger to betrayal and was quite wary of these five disciples. Despite the fact they were all in their early twenties their strength actually was nearly equal to Sage’s. Their great talent is what made them Inner Sect disciples after all. Sage didn’t even make the cut for a normal Outer Sect disciple, so it was no surprise how much slower his training was.

Agreeing with the five, Sage quickly showed them the symbol on the wall next to the doors that was the opening mechanism. Instructing them on the pattern to push Qi into the symbol in order to open the hallway doors. The first door he was demonstrating to them opened up and a luxurious looking bedroom appeared before them. The flowing draperies and a flowery scent attracted the two women. Chang Xia quickly jumped forward and turned to them all, “Let me have this one!”

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The other lady in the party frowned, “Okay, but if there’s any good jewelry or makeup you have to make sure to share with me later, Sister Xia!”

Chang Xia scrunched her face up like a petulant child and stuck her tongue out, “Nyaa! Only if you have good things to trade Rong’er!”

Laughing, the others seemed pleased at seeing how well preserved everything in the room was. Ding Zhen nodded to the others, “Okay, let’s go! Everybody pick a room!”

Sage let the others choose first. He was deferring to the other’s status as Inner Sect disciples, forming better relations with people who would surely become Elders in the future. In addition, he was the only Formation Master here and he was sure that the best room would probably have extra security on the door. There was easily dozens of doors and Sage started to think this wasn’t the home of a single cultivator but something more like a Small Sect or a Clan Manor. From the looks of all the many arrays and how well preserved the place was despite the very weathered exterior in the valley, the ones who lived here were quite strong.

Traveling down the many corridors, Sage was soon by himself. The others had already picked out rooms and started exploring them as he continued on to search for a locked room. Turning a corner, Sage came to a large hall and had to lift his gaze to see the ceiling. Hundred foot tall pillars made two rows down the center of the massive room and he had to nearly shield his eyes to look towards the head of the room where a large dais rose up. There was a large throne of some sort that he couldn’t quite see as just behind and above it was a blinding light. It was like a miniature sun was set into the wall behind the throne so anyone who approached it could only shield their eyes. How ridiculously overbearing! Whoever sat on this throne was mighty full of themselves, nobody was even allowed to look at them.

Sage couldn’t really look directly at the throne so he walked to the sides and used the pillars to block the light so he could examine the rest of the room properly. The walls were hung with large banners and various weapons were displayed like art pieces. After examining some of the weapons, Sage found that they were actually top-grade magical weapons! Surprised, he quickly snatched up the more than a dozen different weapons around the room before heading over to the throne. The throne itself seemed to be formed of rare and precious materials, but what interested him more was the source of the brilliant light. Quickly searching his material books he found no mention of the intense light source and was left at a loss.

Not wanting to miss a possible treasure, he pulled out a blanket from his storage ring and tossed it over the source of light. Suddenly things dimmed and he realized that the light source was some sort of orb mounted on top of a pedestal. Looking down he noticed the pedestal had legs and was not connected to the floor. Grinning, he snatched up the light, pedestal and all, into his storage ring. He understood they were on a treasure hunt and speed was of the essence. He didn’t have time to carefully examine everything!

Searching around further, Sage found plenty of rare materials but they were all part of the room. Floors, walls, even the throne. Everything was impressive but not something he could take without doing slow and noisy demolition. Looking around, it was hard to tell that he’d even touched the room so he decided to leave it for someone else. There was a doorway behind the throne and off to the side, which Sage walked into. This sort of passage probably led to places the person using the throne would frequent. He opened the doors he passed and quickly snatched up everything inside the rooms.

The first room he encountered was filled with bottles, jars, containers and all sorts of alchemical apparatus. Not bothering to identify anything he swept the whole lab up into a corner of his Storage Ring and turned to leave the room when he noticed that on the wall one of the tiles was crooked. Walking closer, he realized this was a spot where a wall tapestry used to be hanging and so this tile would have been hidden. Intrigued, he moved closer and carefully pried off the loose tile.

Behind the tile was a small space. The equivalent of a hidden safe, the space had pair of jade scrolls and a small jade box.

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