Chapter 66 – The Third Floor
Translator: Seventh Peril Editor: Anuvrat
The moment he entered the Spiritual Secret Arts Hall, Ye Zhong could feel some strange waves scanning his body. At the same time, the Spirit Value Token in his Universe Ring seemed to sense something and responded to the strange wave. At that time, with his keen sense, Ye Zhong felt as if all his secret was about to be exposed, only for the Secret Art of Six Grave Swords to be suddenly activated; causing the strange wave to disappear. Then, he stepped into the Spiritual Secret Arts Hall.
If it was any ordinary Nine Layer of Body Tempering Realm expert, they might not even be able to notice this subtle change. However, Ye Zhong was, after all, a genius in the field of Spiritual Talisman Arts. Even though he did not study deliberately and immersed in this field for long, he could still sense the subtle changes caused by the Spiritual Talisman. At the very least, he clearly knew that if the person who did not possess the Xingxiang Sect’s Spirit Value Token entered this place, then what awaited him would likely be a barrage of attacks from several Spiritual Talisman Arrays.
On the First Floor, there was a circular library. At the entrance, there was an old man who was dozing off, and the sparse and scattered disciples of the Xingxiang Sect who were carefully picking their way through the bookshelves. And on the bookshelves, there were countless books and scrolls.
Ye Zhong casually walked over and pulled out a book, but lost interest after taking a glance at it. This was just a mid-grade Common-rank Spiritual Secret Art. If Ye Zhong’s predictions were correct, the First and Second Floor could be opened to any disciple of the Xingxiang Sect. However, the Spiritual Secret Arts contained within should be at most high-grade Common-rank. If one wanted to obtain a Spirit-rank Spiritual Secret Art, it was only available on the Third Floor.
“Let’s go to the Third Floor.” Su Yu scanned her surroundings and then brought Ye Zhong up the bluestone brick stairs.
“What happened between you and Xiao Xin?” After a moment of silence, Ye Zhong asked casually.
“What is it? You have taken a fancy to her? ” Su Yu turned her head around and smiled sweetly.
Ye Zhong shrugged. “Senior Sister Su Yu, you treat me pretty well. If you think that person is a nuisance, I don’t mind standing up for you and killing her.”
“What a vicious and merciless brat!” Su Yu stuck out her pink tongue and softly continued, “Xiao Xin is no ordinary person. She is also an Inner Disciple. It’s just that we’ve always been on bad terms. On the other hand, Cheng Xuan and Guo Yan were both Inner Disciples too, so they wouldn’t be easy to deal with. These two fellows were both of the top ranks among the Inner Disciples… Oh right, you probably don’t know that there aren’t many Inner Disciples in our Xingxiang Sect, so everyone is ranked according to their strengths to distinguish who is stronger or weaker. Now that you’ve just joined our Xingxiang Sect, so you should be ranked 108th, right? However, if you want to move up to a higher rank, you just have to defeat someone who is ranked above you… Of course, although our Xingxiang Sect does not prohibit disciples from fighting amongst themselves, it is not allowed to kill each other. You have to be more insightful in the Xingxiang Sect.”
“Killing is not allowed?” Hearing this, Ye Zhong frowned. He had long been accustomed to act without consideration of anyone’s face. Being scrupulous in how he did things wasn’t his style.
“Right, except for taking someone’s life, no matter how much you mess around, no one will care about it. Oh right, if you’re interested in that woman, I can help you carry her back!” Su Yu swept a glance at Xiao Xin and the other two, who had just entered the Spiritual Secret Arts Hall, and suddenly let out a cold snort.
Hearing that, Ye Zhong was momentarily stunned and then forced a smile. It seemed that the grudge between these two Senior Sisters was not a small one.
While they were talking, the two of them had already passed the Second Floor and arrived on the Third Floor.
The Third Floor was very large. It was completely empty except for a huge giant gate at the end. Countless runes flickered on the door. Clearly, there were also quite a few powerful protections set up.
Ye Zhong stood in front of the giant gate with Su Yu, then squinted his eyes as he stared at the gate, surprise flashing across his eyes. It seemed like everything in the Xingxiang Sect was somewhat beyond his imagination. Perhaps, as someone who came from the Three Thousand God Realms and so he had underestimated the Western Desolate Realm as an inferior realm, it seemed that he had to reflect on the way he saw this realm.
Previously, Ye Zhong only wanted to find a suitable Spiritual Secret Art for his current level of strength, but after seeing the structure of the Third Floor, he was getting more excited about what was hidden in it.
“You move pretty fast.”
After a while, Xiao Xin and the other two also appeared on the Third Floor. However, when they saw Ye Zhong and Su Yu standing in front of them, Xiao Xin snorted softly.
Cheng Xuan and Guo Yan shrugged. They didn’t say anything more and followed behind Xiao Xin.
“The Third Floor of mine never had much business. I never expected it to be suddenly so lively today…” A moment after Xiao Xin and the rest arrived, a lazy voice came from the depths of the chamber. Ye Zhong narrowed his eyes. He did not know when, but a figure suddenly appeared in front of the giant bronze gate.
The figure was around 50 to 60 years old with long white hair. His hair was that of an old man but his face was that of a young man. The two completely different attributes, old and young, strangely fused together on his body, causing a strange aura to appear on his body.
Although Ye Zhong could not deduce his strength at the moment, he was certain that he was very strong! It was unfathomably strong!
“Greetings, Hall Master Yue Hao.”
With the exception of Ye Zhong, the other four were all slightly shaken when the man appeared, before bowing towards him at the same time.
“Ye Zhong, this is Hall Master Yue Hao of the Spiritual Secret Arts Hall, his identity is extraordinary.” Seeing that Ye Zhong did not move, Su Yu explained in a low voice.
“Disciple Ye Zhong greets Hall Master Yue Hao.” Upon hearing her words, Ye Zhong bowed and cupped his hands in greeting.
“Heh heh heh, so you’re that Ye Zhong. I’ve heard about you too. Not bad, little rascal.” Yue Hao smiled and nodded.
Hearing that, Xiao Xin, Cheng Xuan, and Guo Yan were stunned at the same time. Their gaze shifted to Ye Zhong with a somewhat elusive expression. Only then did they realize that the young man who was at most fourteen years old was called Ye Zhong.
They had heard of Ye Zhong’s name before. After all, the reputation of the Ye Clan’s once in a thousand years trash was well-known by many people!
“Hehe, Youngest Junior Brother Ye Zhong. Speaking of which, you might not know that I’m from the Imperial Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Yanjing. There, the Ye Clan of the Five Great Clans also has someone named Ye Zhong. But that person is actually a cripple and was kicked out of the Ye Clan. If that guy had half your ability, I’m afraid that the Old Man of the Ye Clan would hold him in high regard.” Xiao Xin’s eyes flickered, and then she said curiously. She did not expect that this little Junior Brother of hers who appeared out of nowhere was also called Ye Zhong.
Ye Zhong smiled faintly at her words, “Senior Sister Xiao Xin, I think I’m the Ye Zhong you were talking about, but the Ye Clan did not hold me in high regard.”
“Eh—?”
Xiao Xin was stunned with her mouth slightly agape, her face filled with astonishment. Her eyesight was not bad, she could tell that Ye Zhong was at the Fourth Layer of Body Tempering. With such a level of cultivation at his young age, he could be called a monster among his peers. But she never would have thought that such a monster, was actually the trash that everyone knew about? Wasn’t it too far off the mark?
Upon hearing that, Cheng Xuan and Guo Yan exchanged a glance. Then, Cheng Xuan smiled and said, ” As the old saying goes, ‘Words are but wind, but seeing is believing’, and seeing Youngest Junior Brother Ye Zhong with my own eyes today, I finally understand what it means. Apparently, that hearsay isn’t true.”
“But it’s true that I was exiled from the main clan and taken into the side branch.” Ye Zhong smiled.
Hearing this, Cheng Xuan and Guo Yan choked at the same time, unable to say anything.
Hall Master Yue Hao narrowed his eyes at the scene. Only after the few of them had quieted down did he chuckle and say: “Alright, since the five of you have come, this is a rare opportunity for me to open the Third Floor. You should prepare yourselves.”
After Yue Hao finished speaking, he casually waved his hand. After this, his gaze landed on the giant bronze gate behind him, and flicked his finger. A beam of light swiftly flew out and landed on the gate.
“*Swish—*”
As the light flashed, the runes on the bronze gate began to swiftly circulate. Blinding light continued to interweave above the bronze gate, forming an extremely complicated Spiritual Talisman Array. The fluctuations contained within it were shockingly powerful.
A strange light flashed in Ye Zhong’s eyes. It seemed like there was a rather high-level Spiritual Talisman Master in the Xingxiang Sect. If not, such a powerful Spiritual Talisman Array would not be something anyone could set up.
Creaking sounds were heard as the bronze gate slowly slid out, revealing the interior space.
“Come in.”
Yue Hao laughed. Then, he took the lead and stepped through the gate. After a faint flash of light, he disappeared.
The five people including Ye Zhong quickly caught up to him as they witnessed the scene.
The view before their eyes blurred, and a moment later, Ye Zhong and the rest discovered themselves in a huge darkest hall. Above the hall, it was like the night sky filled with stars. The stars were hanging from the ceiling, shimmering faintly and emitting a glaring light.
“This is…”
Looking at this, Ye Zhong and the others were a little taken aback. It seemed that the scene was a bit beyond their imagination.
“This is the Third Floor of the Spiritual Secret Arts Hall. All the Spiritual Secret Arts that you all want are above there. As for what Spiritual Secret Arts you can get in the end, it will depend on your abilities and luck!” Yue Hao’s figure appeared. After which, he narrowed his eyes and spoke indifferently.