novellaaa Chapter 216 True Dragon Temple... Are all the books there this amazing?
Chapter 216 True Dragon Temple... Are all the books there this amazing?
Chapter 216 Are all the books in True Dragon Temple this amazing? (4800)
Upon hearing this, Shen Jizhou's brows furrowed deeply, and the reserve he possessed as a former Heavenly Venerable almost made him blurt out...
Take it away.
But the gentle Daoist aura emanating from the "Nine-Aperture Exquisite Cloud Locking Buckle" was like an invisible hand, firmly grasping his soul.
He desperately needed this magical artifact, not only for healing his wounds, but also to ensure everything went smoothly during the upcoming cleanup operation against the remaining poison of the Liu family.
"snort."
Finally, Shen Jizhou suppressed the turmoil in his heart, casually extended two fingers, and picked up the Cloud Lock Knot.
The moment he touched it, a cool sensation ran down his arm and straight to his heart, instantly invigorating him.
"Since you've given it so sincerely, I'll reluctantly accept it and keep it safe for you."
Shen Jizhou spoke grand and dignified words, but his fingertips gently caressed the lock on the cloud-lock, clearly fond of it.
Seeing this, Lu Yuan grinned, not exposing the truth, and simply took another sip of tea with a cheerful smile.
However, not long after, Shen Jizhou paused slightly in the hand holding the Lock Cloud Buckle.
He glanced at Lu Yuan, who looked completely at ease, and the delicate balance in his heart was broken once again.
Shen Jizhou began to ponder that if he kept accepting things from this kid, it would seem to others that Wuqing Temple was coveting the wealth of its juniors.
Moreover, as an elder, I should at least show some appreciation.
Thinking of this, Shen Jizhou cleared his throat and casually said, "Shulan."
Shen Shulan, who was standing to the side, looked up when she heard the sound, her eyes asking a question.
"Go and fetch that thing for your father."
Shen Jizhou spoke in a calm tone, as if he were simply instructing his daughter to fetch an ordinary object.
"The one that's kept in the sandalwood box in my study."
Although Shen Shulan did not know her father's intentions, she did not ask any questions. Her white figure flashed and disappeared outside the door.
Before long, Shen Shulan returned to the quiet room carrying a three-foot-long ebony box, entirely black with faint dark gold cloud patterns.
Shen Jizhou took the wooden box, tapped the lid with his fingertip, and with a soft "click," the lid slid open by itself.
An aura far heavier and more profound than that of the Cloud Locking Buckle spread out.
It wasn't sharpness, but rather a profound sense of weight, as if it carried the weight of countless ancient rivers.
There was no dazzling light inside the box, only a palm-sized, dark-colored metal fragment lying quietly.
The fragment had irregular edges, like a piece that had broken off from a huge magical artifact, and its surface was covered with the marks of time.
It looks ordinary, even somewhat like a piece of scrap metal.
But Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly the moment he saw the fragment.
Shen Jizhou took in all the changes in Lu Yuan's expression and was secretly pleased.
After all, this kid used to always be the one bringing out good stuff to impress him, but now he's finally gotten his revenge.
Shen Jizhou remained expressionless, only speaking in a tone as if he were examining a junior: "Lu Yuan, you are quite a knowledgeable person."
"This piece of scrap metal in my hand—do you recognize this magical artifact?"
As he spoke, he gently tapped the dark metal fragment with two fingers, producing a dull "clang."
sound.
A hint of barely perceptible anticipation flickered in her eyes as she waited to see if Lu Yuan could recognize the origin of this precious treasure.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yuan didn't stand on ceremony. He stood up slightly and extended his right palm upward.
With a half-smile playing on his lips, Shen Jizhou gently placed the dark metal piece on it.
The moment he got his hands on it, Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
The fragment was much heavier than it looked, weighing several pounds, and was cold to the touch, but not the coldness of an inanimate object.
Instead, it has a chilling, earthy smell, as if it had just been dug out of the frozen soil deep in the Taiyin Mountains.
Lu Yuan held it up to his eyes and examined it closely.
Although the fragment was only the size of a palm, its outline had an extremely strange curve.
It didn't look like it was smashed; it looked more like it was forcibly broken off from a whole piece of metal with brute force.
It is lead-gray in color, and its surface is covered with pitted corrosion marks and green rust.
But beneath those rusted surfaces, one can vaguely see dense, tadpole-like dark engravings.
"Uncle-Master, may I borrow your tea table for a moment?"
After Lu Yuan finished speaking, he turned around and gently placed the fragment on the rosewood coffee table.
"Thump—"
'
A dull, short sound rang out, not the sound of metal or stone, but rather like something being smashed into a lump of wet mud.
The room, which was originally filled with the aroma of tea, was instantly filled with a smell from the Changbai Mountains, a mixture of pine resin and aged coffins.
Shen Jizhou, who had been lounging on the couch, involuntarily sat up straighter, his gaze fixed intently on Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan gathered a fine wisp of truth at his fingertips and gently traced it along the engravings on the edge of the fragment.
His movements were slow and his expression focused, as if he were not appraising a ritual implement, but rather reading a shamanic inscription.
"This thing—"
Lu Yuan spoke, his voice deep and resolute, breaking the silence.
"This item should be a fragment of the 'Solon Pole Mountain-Suppressing Key'."
Shen Jizhou frowned. He had heard the term before, but had never associated it with magical artifacts.
The Solon pole was a pole used in the old Manchu custom to be placed in the courtyard to worship the crow god. How did it become a ritual implement?
Lu Yuan nodded, pointing to the seemingly chaotic tadpole-like patterns on the fragment and explaining, "Uncle-Master, look at these engravings. These aren't Chinese characters, nor are they Taoist cloud seal script. They're deer bone script passed down from the 'Fish Skin Tribe' in the old forests outside the Great Wall."
"This thing wasn't originally a Taoist artifact; it was an object used by shamanism in earlier times to suppress 'mountain spirits and wild monsters.'"
Lu Yuan paused, then pointed to a broken groove in the center of the fragment: "Look at this fracture; it's spiral-shaped, clearly indicating it was melted by extremely high-temperature lightning."
"I guess this thing was originally shaped like a key, used to open or close the lock of a large cave or tomb."
"If my speculation is correct, this was probably used by the tomb guardians of the Taiyin Mountain area to suppress drought demons or powerful spirits like the 'Yellow Weasel Grandfather' before the Qing dynasty entered the pass."
"It doesn't rely on flying swords or magical treasures; it focuses on the concept of 'blocking'."
"As long as you stick this thing into the ground, it will seal off all the ditches, rat holes, and weasel nests within a radius of a hundred feet, so that even the wind can't move it."
Lu Yuan's words were clear and logical. He not only revealed the local name of this thing, "Soren Pole Mountain-Suppressing Key," but also explained its origin, use, and even the cause of its damage.
The quiet room fell into a deathly silence.
Shen Jizhou's smug expression froze instantly.
He stared wide-eyed, opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word for a long time.
He was able to determine that this was a top-tier magical artifact because he found a tattered copy of "Records of Strange Things from Liaodong" in the forbidden library of Wuqing Temple.
There's a hastily drawn illustration inside that depicts this thing.
But after studying it for half a month, he could only recognize it as a "talisman," and he didn't even know its specific name or how to use it.
But what about Lu Yuan?
The kid picked it up, looked at it, touched it, and even knew which tribe's craft it came from.
They can say with great accuracy what kind of fire it was melted by!
This is like a modern student who has only attended a Western-style school for a few days picking up a hoe that an old farmer in the countryside has used for decades.
Not only can they tell you which village's blacksmith made it, but they can also tell you what kind of roots it was used to dig and what kind of pit it dug!
This is no longer a matter of eyesight; it's living, breathing experience that has grown from the soil!
Shen Shulan, who was standing to the side, had also abandoned her serene demeanor, her beautiful eyes filled with astonishment.
She came from a traditional Taoist family and knew very little about the shamanic relics from the deep mountains and forests beyond the Great Wall.
After a long silence, Shen Jizhou swallowed hard and managed to squeeze out a few words, his tone filled with disbelief: "You—you're from the south, how do you even recognize this thing?"
"Is this the key to the Soren Pole that guards the mountain?"
Lu Yuan gently placed the fragment back into the ebony box, dusted off his hands, chuckled, and calmly picked up his teacup to take a sip.
Lu Yuan knows so much because of the book the system gave him before, but he definitely can't say this.
For a moment, Lu Yuan could only make up a story: "Our Zhenlong Temple also has quite a few books on this subject."
"I was idly flipping through some things when I came across a fragment of a scroll about old shamanistic artifacts from Northeast China, which mentioned this 'mountain-suppressing key'."
"I thought it was strange at the time, so I took a second look, and I didn't expect to actually remember it."
Shen Jizhou frowned even more, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Who would believe that if I told them that?
First of all, Zhenlong Temple is an orthodox Taoist sect, and it emphasizes the orthodoxy of talismans and thunder magic.
How could someone collect such shamanic relics from deep in the mountains and forests?
Moreover, even if such a book really existed, how could it be discovered so easily, and how could one happen to remember such obscure knowledge?
Throughout the entire area outside the Great Wall, when it comes to collecting books containing such strange folk objects, who doesn't know that the forbidden library of Wuqing Temple is number one?
He himself had to rummage through countless ancient books to piece together a few clues, yet Lu Yuan was even more knowledgeable than him.
This kid is definitely lying!
Having lived to such an old age, what kind of people hasn't Shen Jizhou seen?
However, Shen Jizhou thought about it again and realized that this was actually a good thing.
Since you're so good at recognizing things, I'll test you to see if you're really capable or just lucky.
Then, Shen Jizhou looked up at Shen Shulan again, this time with a hint of seriousness in his voice: "Shulan, go and fetch two more things for your father."
"Take the pair of 'Double Fish Soul-Suspended Bells' that I retrieved from the coffin sunk at the bottom of the Blackwater River when I was in seclusion last year."
"And there's also—the judge's pen carved from a century-old ginseng root deep in the warehouse."
"7
Shen Jizhou specifically pointed out the origins of the two items.
One of them is an evil weapon nourished by extremely yin water.
One of them is a spiritual object from the deep mountains of Taiyin.
The two are completely different in nature and are both extremely rare, and cannot be clearly recorded in ordinary books.
"Yes, Father."
A short while later, she returned carrying a tray in each hand.
On the tray to the left are a pair of bronze bells, each no bigger than a walnut.
The bell's body was covered in green rust, but the clapper was made of black bone, giving it a sinister feel.
On the tray to the right is a dark red calligraphy brush, as if carved from human bone.
A few strands of golden ginseng rootlets are wrapped around the tip of the brush, exuding a captivating spiritual aura.
Shen Jizhou reached out and pushed both items in front of Lu Yuan.
His face regained its usual nonchalant expression, as if he were testing a junior, and he stared intently at Lu Yuan: "Since you are so familiar with these shamanic artifacts, these two items should be no problem for you, right?"
"Come, tell me, what's the origin of these two things?"
Looking at Shen Jizhou's expression, one could tell that the old man seemed determined to make things difficult for him.
Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, wondering if he should hide his ignorance and say he didn't know.
but----
After thinking it over carefully, Lu Yuan felt it was completely unnecessary.
Shen Jizhou isn't an old man, and there are some things I don't necessarily have to explain to this old guy.
If you can't explain it, then don't explain it.
Let that old bastard worry about it all by himself!
For a moment, Lu Yuan didn't stand on ceremony. He glanced at the pair of bronze bells, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if he found them quite amusing.
He first extended his index finger and gently flicked it against the black bone bell tongue.
"bite"
A faint yet incredibly sharp cracking sound exploded in the quiet room.
The sound wasn't like metal clashing; it was more like fingernails scraping against a rusty iron plate, with a tooth-grinding friction.
"These little trinkets are called 'Pisces Soul-Suspending Bells,' also known as 'Meng Po's Earrings.'"
As Lu Yuan spoke, he held one of the bells up to his eyes and observed its interior through the dim light filtering in through the window.
"Master Uncle, look at the rust on this bell. It's bluish in color. This is the rust that forms when it's been soaked in the corpse oil at the bottom of the Blackwater River for many years."
""
"Look at this bell tongue. It is made from the leg bones of boys and girls who drowned in the Blackwater River. It has been dried in the shade for forty-nine days and refined with talismans."
"This thing must not be shaken; if it is, it will emit a soul-capturing sound. The souls of all living beings within a ten-foot radius will be drawn three inches away from their bodies."
"If the boatmen on the river had heard this noise in the middle of the night back then, they would have capsized the next day."
"It wasn't that we hit a reef; the people on board sank with the ship to feed the fish."
Lu Yuan put down the bell and casually picked up the dark red judge's pen on the right side of the tray.
This pen feels warm and smooth to the touch, without any of the coldness of metal; instead, it feels like holding a living human bone.
The few strands of golden ginseng whiskers at the tip of the brush trembled slightly in the air, as if they were alive.
"As for this pen—"
Lu Yuan examined it for a moment, a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes.
"This is the corpse-counting pen left behind by the old chief of Taiyin Mountain."
"It wasn't made from ordinary human bones, but from the main root of a wild ginseng that's over three hundred years old and has developed sentience."
"The brushstrokes are like the ginseng roots that the ginseng cut off to save its life, each one containing extremely pure herbal essence."
Lu Yuan raised his head, his eyes fixed intently on Shen Jizhou, his tone resolute: "This thing is specifically designed to deal with 'resurrected corpses' and 'corpse-driving' techniques."
"Place the tip of the pen on the corpse's forehead. No matter what possesses or controls the corpse, it will freeze on the spot and be at your mercy."
"Moreover, it has another wonderful use: it can 'replenish the yang energy' of the dead."
"Some elderly people who are about to pass away will use the tip of a pen to dip in cinnabar and draw a circle on their forehead, which can keep them breathing until their loved ones from afar return."
"only----"
Lu Yuan changed the subject, pointing to a tiny, almost invisible crack at the end of the pen: "This pen seems to have been used more than once, and the last time it was used, it encountered extremely fierce evil energy."
"This caused cracks to appear inside the pen body."
"Its current power is probably less than 30% of what it was at its peak."
After speaking, Lu Yuan gently placed the two magical artifacts back on the tray, patted the dust off his hands, and looked at Shen Jizhou with a relaxed expression.
It was as if what I had just described were not two rare treasures, but rather cabbages bought from the market.
The deathly silence in the quiet room lasted for a full minute.
The composure on Shen Jizhou's face had vanished, replaced by a near-dumbfounded shock.
He stood there with his mouth agape, his gaze shifting back and forth between the pair of fish-shaped hanging bells and the corpse-marking pen, without uttering a sound for a long time.
How did he know?
Something's not right!
Those twin fish-shaped hanging bells were retrieved three years ago by him personally leading a team to dive into a thousand-year-old coffin at the bottom of the Blackwater River.
In the process of removing the bells, Wuqing Temple lost three disciples.
Afterwards, he consulted all the ancient books he could find and even asked many old friends, but no one could tell him the specific name and usage of the bell.
Ultimately, based on its sinister characteristics, it could only be reluctantly named "Double Fish Bell".
And this writing brush used to mark the corpse—
This kid didn't even use his true qi to probe!
I just held it in my hand, looked at it, and poked it around a bit before I stripped it completely clean!
This can no longer be explained by "being well-informed"; it's practically "knowledgeable" about strange objects from beyond the Great Wall!
Shen Shulan, standing to the side, was filled with horror in her beautiful eyes.
After a long while, Shen Jizhou finally let out a long breath and stared at Lu Yuan with a complicated expression.
"Are all the books from Zhenlong Temple this amazing?"
Lu Yuan maintained his innocent expression and shrugged: "Maybe—I was just lucky."
Shen Jizhou could naturally tell that Lu Yuan wasn't telling the truth.
After a moment of silence, Shen Jizhou looked at Shen Shulan beside him.
"Bring that thing here."
Shen Jizhou didn't say much, only referring to "that thing," but Shen Shulan seemed to understand exactly what he was referring to.
Shen Shulan immediately nodded, stood up, and walked towards the door again.
Lu Yuan, on the other hand, had a black line on his face. No—
This is never going to end!
Are you coming again?!
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