"What a vast space!"
As Yue Mingchi and the others appeared inside the stone tower, Xie Yushan gazed at the surroundings, utterly astonished.
Even space rings and storage rings, which were used to store items, had their limitations. But the space within this stone tower seemed endless to the eye. Furthermore, rows of warehouse-like structures were neatly aligned below.
By estimation, just one-fifth of a single warehouse was equivalent to the size of a storage ring's space.
"I wonder whose creation this is, to possess such a grand space. This stone tower must also be a supreme treasure," Fu Yaojin said, his voice filled with awe.
"Let's not marvel for now. We should begin searching. It's not exactly safe outside this palace," Yue Mingchi replied with a smile, nodding at the others.
Everyone nodded in agreement and then shot towards the structures below.
There were fifteen warehouse-like buildings in total. Li Xuan's group consisted of eleven people, and each chose a building before entering.
"So this is what the Flowing Warehouse Hall means," Li Xuan chuckled upon seeing the contents of the building.
Earlier, upon entering this warehouse, he had seen its name, Flowing Warehouse Hall. He had expected it to contain something extraordinary, but it turned out to be filled with mere杂物 (miscellaneous items).
However, even these miscellaneous items were far superior to those in the mortal world. Li Xuan observed that most of the items were flawed products, seemingly failed attempts at refining spiritual artifacts.
"Could the owner of this stone tower be an artifact refiner?" Li Xuan mused, grasping a spiritual weapon from a shelf and finding its internal structure somewhat unusual.
Moreover, the artifact's spirit, or "qi yun," was also different from that of normal spiritual weapons. In terms of usability, they were still about sixty to seventy percent functional.
It was clear that the Flowing Warehouse Hall was used to store spiritual weapons that had failed refinement. The existence of someone capable of refining spiritual weapons suggested the presence of a long-lost artifact refiner.
Artifact refiners were beings lost to history for thousands of years. Li Xuan had only heard tales of them occasionally in tea houses.
It was well-known that spiritual weapons possessed immense power, and thus, artifact refiners held a very high status. There was once a sect called the Artifact Refining Sect, whose disciples were all capable of refining artifacts, and of no small caliber. However, such an existence as the Artifact Refining Sect was naturally a target of apprehension for various powers.
The core of the Artifact Refining Sect was a scripture known as the Spiritual Refining Manual. Disciples who joined the sect received a certain level of incantations, thereby grasping the secrets of artifact refining.
As the saying goes, flowers don't bloom for a hundred days, and fortunes don't last forever. The once prosperous Artifact Refining Sect in the Sheng Yuan Continent, it was unknown by whom, had its Spiritual Refining Manual leaked. Furthermore, its sect leader and elders were all severely injured by powerful individuals who appeared from nowhere.
Immediately, various forces began secret investigations. Upon confirming the veracity of the news, the Artifact Refining Sect was eradicated overnight by these forces.
The disciples of the sect were even captured by various powers, with the sole objective of obtaining the Spiritual Refining Manual.
But the outcome left all the investigating powers frustrated. All the disciples of the Artifact Refining Sect had completely forgotten their incantations.
"If that's the case, could the owner of this stone tower be someone from the original Artifact Refining Sect? But weren't the disciples' memories of the incantations from the Spiritual Refining Manual said to have been erased?" Li Xuan wondered, a hint of confusion in his eyes as he looked at the neatly arranged spiritual weapons in the room.
If the rumors were true, the disciples of the Artifact Refining Sect should no longer be able to refine artifacts. Yet, the spiritual weapons filling this warehouse undoubtedly dismantled those rumors.
"No! If the rumors were false, so many factions would not have presented a united front. Thus, the rumors must be true, and the disciples of the Artifact Refining Sect must have had their memories of the Spiritual Refining Manual erased. And this place has only one explanation."
Li Xuan's eyes flashed with brilliance. He quickly scanned the warehouse. Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he moved instantly to a corner of the shelf.
In this corner, a box, its surface already dull, was entwined with the power of formations. Clearly, this box had been protected by a formation. Li Xuan waved his hand, instantly breaking the formation.
As the box opened, a book appeared before Li Xuan's eyes. Seeing this, Li Xuan smiled knowingly.
"It seems my line of thought was correct. This disciple of the Artifact Refining Sect indeed possessed the Spiritual Refining Manual!"
Hmm?
Just as Li Xuan reached out to pick up the Spiritual Refining Manual from the box, his finger brushed against the title page. The manual in the box turned to ash and drifted away.
However, several golden light lines floated in mid-air, spun slightly, and instantly shot into Li Xuan's mind.
"Spiritual Refining Manual, Upper Volume."
Just as Li Xuan was about to examine it internally, additional information suddenly appeared in his mind. Li Xuan closed his eyes slightly and instantly saw a line of large characters. Following this, countless small golden characters danced in his sea of consciousness, quickly forming incantations.
Li Xuan rejoiced in his heart and began memorizing. After all, these were incantations for artifact refining, and secret techniques that had been lost for many years.
After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, Li Xuan slowly opened his eyes. A brilliant light erupted from his eyes, clearly indicating that he had thoroughly committed the artifact refining incantations to memory during this time.
"No wonder the Artifact Refining Sect was once able to surpass all other factions. With just the incantations from this Spiritual Refining Manual, even an ordinary Spirit Master could likely refine Xuan Spiritual Weapons or even Heaven Spiritual Weapons."
"However, the materials required are probably not easy to find. This matter can only be explored later when I have the time."
With that thought, Li Xuan willed it, instantly collecting the flawed spiritual weapons from the warehouse into his Qiankun Bracelet. Although these spiritual weapons were products of failed refinement, they still possessed some power.
Furthermore, the spiritual weapons in this warehouse were, at the very least, of Heaven rank. If he could fully comprehend the Spiritual Refining Manual and refine them later, they might still be usable.
After collecting the spiritual weapons from the warehouse, Li Xuan confirmed that nothing had been missed. Then, with a flash, he appeared outside the warehouse.
At this moment, Yue Mingchi and the others also emerged from their respective warehouses. Seeing Li Xuan approach, they gathered around him.
Li Xuan noticed that Xie Yushan, Fu Yaojin, Zhou Wenlun, and Chu Kuangtian were not among them.
It was clear that Xie Yushan and the other three were exploring the remaining four warehouses.
"Junior Brother Li Xuan, what is this place, the Flowing Warehouse Hall?" Ever since Li Xuan had killed Gongsun Li, Jian Tianrui had been particularly enthusiastic towards him. As he approached Li Xuan, Jian Tianrui inquired with a smile.
The others, including Yue Mingchi, also cast curious glances.
"This place merely stores some low-grade spiritual weapons, and many of them are flawed," Li Xuan replied, not hiding anything. With a wave of his hand, the spiritual weapons he had collected were piled on the ground.
As for the Artifact Refining Sect's Spiritual Refining Manual, Li Xuan did not mention it directly. After all, it was not something he could explain clearly in a short time.
"The Flowing Warehouse Hall is this poor?" Yue Mingchi and the others wore wry smiles as they looked at the mountain of spiritual weapons on the ground.
Clearly, everyone had expected Li Xuan's exploration of the Flowing Warehouse Hall to yield something substantial, only to find this.
"Junior Brother Li Xuan, although these are only incomplete spiritual weapons, they are still beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. Moreover, our own gains were quite substantial, and the Sect Master will surely reward us upon our return. After all, without you, we wouldn't have even been able to enter this stone tower. Perhaps there will be even more gains when Senior Sister Fu Yao and the others return."
Seeing their wry smiles, Li Xuan felt a touch of helplessness. Yue Mingchi, mistaking this for disappointment, tried to comfort him.
"It's nothing. Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. As disciples of the Xuan Sect, this is what I should do. Have any of my Senior Brothers had any gains?" Li Xuan smiled and then asked curiously.
"Our gains are quite plentiful," Yue Mingchi replied with a smile and began to elaborate.
While Yue Mingchi was speaking, Xie Yushan and the other three emerged from their four warehouses.
After a detailed explanation, Li Xuan was greatly astonished.
Among these fifteen warehouses, a total of three bottles of ten-thousand-year-old "Qiong Jiang Yu Ye" (nectar of the gods) were discovered. Even a single drop of this nectar could transform a Spirit Master's body, its effects being extremely potent.
In addition, over a million "Ling He Yuan Jing" (spiritual core source crystals) were collected. The number of "Po Zhang Yun Dan" (breakthrough pills) reached forty-five.
However, the most precious find was the clue discovered by Yue Mingchi: this Shangkou Palace itself was a Houtian Supreme Treasure.
Generally, spiritual weapons were classified as Xuan, Huang, Di, Ren, and Tian ranks. Above these were Immortal Artifacts, Treasure Artifacts, and Divine Artifacts. Higher still were Spirit Treasures.
Spirit Treasures were divided into Houtian Spirit Treasures and Xiantian Spirit Treasures. Above them were Houtian Supreme Treasures and Xiantian Supreme Treasures.
And even higher were the legendary Chaos Spirit Treasures and Chaos Supreme Treasures.
It was unexpected that this palace would be a Houtian Supreme Treasure.
As for the stone tower, besides its function of storing items, it also served as the control center for the Shangkou Palace.
In essence, whoever controlled the stone tower gained control of the Shangkou Palace. And Yue Mingchi had already established a preliminary connection with the stone tower.
"Alright, let's head out first," Yue Mingchi said to everyone.
Li Xuan and the others nodded slightly and vanished from their positions.