Chapter 130

Chapter 130: Entering a Secret Realm Filled with Countless Treasures

The blinding golden light forced Shen Sang Ruo to raise her hand to shield her eyes.

When the light faded and she lowered her hand, the scene before her had already changed.

It felt like she had stepped into another space, and all kinds of treasures filled her sight.

Magical tools, spirit treasures, Alchemy and Artifact Forging materials, and many treasures she had never even seen stretched in a dazzling sea to the very edge of her vision.

Beside her burned a stick of incense.

Shen Sang Ruo stared, a little dazed, then thought: [Did I also get mushroom poisoning?]

Heat pulsed in her palm; she snapped back and saw the map in her hand flashing red, as if excited.

She glanced from the endless treasures to the map and sank into thought.

She guessed that while digging fish mint she had triggered some hidden mechanism and entered a Secret Realm.

Judging by the quality and the sheer number of treasures here, this Secret Realm was very likely connected to the legendary Grand Adept who achieved Ascension.

The map kept flashing red, and the spots she had marked glowed even brighter. She blinked and wondered: [Is a map really asking for credit?]

She thought carefully about how she had gotten the map.

In her past life, she had followed a group of Cultivators into an underwater Secret Realm. Her cultivation had been low, so she stayed at the end of the team and only picked up what the others did not want.

The map was one of those finds. Back then it was not even a map, just a piece of parchment.

Its surface was smooth and flat, and patterns drawn with Spirit Mapping would not fade, so she used it to draw maps. It had seemed nothing special.

Then it struck her: since she broke through to Late Golden Core, the map had flashed like this from time to time.

She frowned and wondered: [Could it have stayed with me so long that it became sentient?]

So was her entry into this Secret Realm linked to the map?

As the red light on the map dimmed, she set the question aside and looked again at the sea of treasures.

Rebuilding the Ninghua Sect could not rely only on Spirit Stones. Treasures like these were also part of a sect’s foundation.

Most of the Ninghua Sect’s old treasures had been spent fighting Heretic Cultivators.

In the future, the Ninghua Sect would not remain a handful of people. They would recruit many disciples.

These artifacts could be given to the disciples, and the consumable materials had to be stocked in advance.

Even the treasures within her sight were enough to equip tens of thousands of disciples.

Excitement lit her face. She turned into a hoarding hamster and began stuffing treasures into her Cosmos Pouch: “For the future Ninghua Sect junior brothers and junior sisters!”

The incense beside her kept burning. She guessed it was a countdown; when it burned out, she would be forced to leave the Secret Realm.

Time was short. She stopped checking what she grabbed and shoved everything into the Cosmos Pouch.

The Cosmos Pouch was the best item she had found in her past life. Even Master Ling Xiao could not open it.

Unlike normal storage bags, its inner space matched a Nascent Soul Cultivator’s cave abode, and it expanded as her cultivation grew.

But the treasures here were far too many. Even after nearly filling the Cosmos Pouch, she had only cleared the area right in front of her.

Every new area she glanced at was still packed with treasures.

The incense was almost gone. She curbed her greed and put the pouch away.

With the time left, she faced a random direction, cupped her fists, and bowed deeply as she said: “Junior Shen Sang Ruo thanks Senior.”

The last glowing point of incense turned to ash.

The scene shifted again, and the blinding golden light returned.

A misty voice drifted into her ears: “The God of Fish Mint will bless every child of the Phantom Mirage Domain.”

When she opened her eyes again, she was back where she had been digging fish mint.

But her feet did not land on solid ground. She dropped straight down.

She crashed onto Fang Yu, who had been digging like mad to find her, and knocked him face first into the dirt.

She hurried to the side and noticed two wads of paper stuffed in his nostrils to block the smell of fish mint.

The sight made her want to laugh and cry.

With teary eyes he said: “Sang Ruo, I finally found you!”

She scolded him lightly: “Even if you are looking for someone, you should not dig straight down like this.”

Shen Sang Ruo smiled and added: “I only vanished for a moment. I was not buried.”

Fang Yu looked wronged and said: “I could not think that much at the time.” He had almost thought he would never get out of the Phantom Mirage Domain, and he had worried she had met with danger.

He asked: “Sang Ruo, what happened just now? Where did you go? I think I heard something about a ‘God of Fish Mint’.”

Shen Sang Ruo gathered some fish mint from the pit he dug and said: “Like you said, the God of Fish Mint pulled me into a Secret Realm. It was not a big deal. Let’s go.”

She did not plan to tell him what she had seen there, to avoid trouble.

Fang Yu scrunched up his face and asked: “Then why did it not pull me in? We were not far apart.”

She said in a mild voice: “Maybe because you do not eat fish mint.”

They jumped out of the pit and kept searching for Protean Wood.

Trees gave way to bamboo, and they entered a bamboo grove.

All kinds of bamboo grew well, painting the world bright green.

Fang Yu pointed ahead and said: “Sang Ruo, look, what is that?”

Following his finger, she looked up at a stone platform dozens of meters high.

Bamboo grew on top too, but unlike the others, its joints were white like fine jade, and its leaves were as clear as glass.

She walked to the base, brushed away the moss, and found the boulder itself had a jade-like texture. Confirming her guess, she said: “That bamboo is called Bloodtear Jade Bamboo. It can only grow rooted in Qiong Jade.”

She went on, her eyes bright: “It is said the rain that falls on it turns red and drips from the leaf tips like bloody tears.”

She concluded: “It is a rare spiritual plant.”

She remembered that Talisman Paper made from Bloodtear Jade Bamboo was one of the best in the Cultivation World, the dream paper for talisman cultivators.

Her third senior brother, Bai Ruo An, was a talisman cultivator.

She decided on the spot to stock up for him: “He has not recovered yet, but he will need it one day.”

She asked Fang Yu, already planning her climb: “I am going up to cut some Bloodtear Jade Bamboo. Do you want any?”

Fang Yu waved his hand and said: “I do not need it.” He would not have much use for it.

The boulder was almost vertical, hard for normal people to climb.

Shen Sang Ruo pulled out her Luan Feather Fan and, with a light wave downward, rose onto the high platform with ease.