"What if two or more people receive the inheritance at the same time?"
"No, once someone obtains the cultivation technique, this secret scroll will be shelved until that sect disappears again, at which point it will be taken out again for people to practice," Zhang Yaqi explained patiently.
"Hmm." Xiao Wenbing nodded repeatedly and said, "Only one person can cultivate? I knew it. These things are quite valuable. Sure enough."
Zhang Yaqi sighed helplessly and said, "As for the five scrolls of secret texts on the west side, they have an even more remarkable history. Each of the seniors who entrusted them to these scrolls was a highly accomplished person who had survived the Heavenly Tribulation and ascended to immortality. They left clear instructions that once the scrolls encounter a destined person, they will recognize their owner."
Xiao Wenbing clapped his hands loudly and said excitedly, "See, I told you, things are valued for their rarity. These five items are the real treasures." He then complained, "However, only five is a bit too few."
This time, even Feng Baiyi turned her head and glared at him reproachfully.
Xiao Wenbing's heart skipped a beat. His gaze quickly shifted to Zhang Yaqi's pretty face. He took a deep breath and finally calmed down.
"Wenbing, what's wrong?" Zhang Yaqi noticed his unusual behavior and asked worriedly.
Xiao Wenbing chuckled and said, "It's nothing, I was just a little hesitant."
What are you hesitating about?
"I'm hesitating. Should I take all five secret slips back at once? If I take them all, won't that make people too jealous?" Xiao Wenbing shook his head, looking indecisive.
“You…” Zhang Yaqi looked at him, speechless, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Oh, and when you're collecting the documents later, remember to stay right behind me," Xiao Wenbing instructed in a low voice.
"Why?"
The two women looked over in surprise at the same time.
"We must keep the good stuff within the family. We must seize those five scrolls of secret documents before anyone else does. Remember that!"
"..."
※※※※
"Yaqi, why aren't you going?" Xiao Wenbing looked at the smiling young woman in front of him with a resentful expression, and murmured, "My darling, my darling, they're all going to be taken."
In the cultivation world, where everything is determined by strength, even the selection of these secret scrolls is based on the order of cultivation level.
Therefore, contrary to Xiao Wenbing's expectations, not everyone rushed in at once, but rather entered the venue in a very orderly manner, queuing up voluntarily.
In reality, only a handful of Nascent Soul stage experts actually made it inside. The real main force inside consisted of the overwhelming number of Golden Core disciples.
Zhang Yaqi was already at the top level of the Golden Core stage, but she remained firmly rooted to the spot, refusing to move forward no matter how much Xiao Wenbing urged her.
"Wenbing, I just obtained the Qiankun Ring, and I haven't yet fully grasped the Five Elements and Qiankun techniques within it. I really don't want to be distracted by anything else," Zhang Yaqi explained gently.
Xiao Wenbing sighed for a long time, but when he looked up, he saw that although there were quite a few people inside, most of them were crowded in front of the hundred or so tables on the east side, and a few were wandering around in the middle. Only the five tables on the west side were empty.
"Don't worry, your treasure won't be so easily taken away."
Xiao Wenbing was taken aback and looked over in surprise. The person who said those words was not Zhang Yaqi, but the usually taciturn Feng Baiyi.
"How did Fellow Daoist Feng know?"
"According to the rules of the Tianyi Sect, apart from the one on the east side, each person can only take one scroll of all the secret scrolls in the middle."
What if two volumes are destined for one person at the same time?
"Then we can only abandon one volume unless we find a successor for the first volume before we can continue studying the second volume."
Xiao Wenbing nodded in realization. That was fair. If someone obtained several secret scrolls at the same time and only focused on cultivation without finding suitable successors for them, wouldn't that disappoint the predecessors who left behind the scrolls?
With this rule in place, if they wanted to continue learning more of the secret texts, they had to find a successor for the first volume of secret texts so as not to slack off.
"What about the five scrolls on the west side?" Xiao Wenbing suddenly realized that Feng Baiyi hadn't mentioned the five scrolls on the west side, so he couldn't help but ask.
“Three thousand years…” Feng Baiyi sighed softly, her gaze gradually becoming unfocused, and even her voice seemed somewhat dazed.
"What?" Xiao Wenbing asked in surprise, seeing this cold woman with such an expression for the first time.
Feng Baiyi's gaze was fixed on one of the secret scrolls. Her gaze gradually hardened, as if she had made a decision she had hesitated for many years. Her voice returned to its usual coldness, but Xiao Wenbing unexpectedly detected a hint of decisiveness, a decisiveness that was captivating: "Three thousand years ago, there were five scrolls here, and to this day, there are still five scrolls."
"Three thousand years? You mean these five scrolls of secret texts have been sitting here for three thousand years?" Xiao Wenbing was astonished. No one had been qualified to obtain them in three thousand years. His confidence in getting them immediately diminished by more than half.
"The five volumes of secret texts on the west side have always been placed in the back hall of the mountain gate. Every spring, they are taken out and placed in front of the main hall for people to admire and collect. However, for three thousand years, no one has ever done so."
Xiao Wenbing exclaimed in surprise, realizing why there was no one on the west side. It turned out that these five treasures would appear once a year, and these people had probably tried them beforehand, otherwise they would have ignored them.
“Three thousand years, that is indeed a long time, but…” Feng Baiyi’s voice grew softer and softer, to the point that even Xiao Wenbing could not hear it.
Feng Baiyi closed her eyes, but her fair hands clenched into fists. After a moment, she opened her beautiful eyes and finally took a step.
Under the astonished gazes of everyone, she walked straight toward the west, her goal being the five secret scrolls that had been sealed away for thousands of years.
Volume Four: The Divine Artifacts, Chapter Ninety-Nine: Taking the Bamboo Slip
------------------------
Although the presence of elders like the Sect Master of Tianyi ensured that no one dared to make a loud noise, the large number of people in the arena meant that many whispered and murmured among themselves.
However, as Feng Baiyi's figure gradually approached the west end, the arena instantly fell silent.
All eyes were on this stunningly beautiful woman, including the Sect Master of Tianyi Sect.
Seeing her actions, almost everyone had a sudden realization.
Feng Baiyi, the newly appointed honorary elder of the Heavenly Dao Sect, probably wants to try and take away those mysterious scrolls that have been preserved for three thousand years.
"What does she want to do?" the old Taoist priest muttered to himself, his voice tinged with disbelief. "Could it be that she actually intends to..."
"Ah, I understand." The old Taoist priest next to him suddenly slapped his thigh hard and said excitedly.
"What have you understood, fellow Daoist?" Zhang Daoren asked curiously.
"She must be trying to obtain those five secret scrolls that no one has been able to obtain for thousands of years," said the old Taoist priest, Yiming, smugly.
Upon hearing this, the Sect Master of Tianyi and the others almost simultaneously rolled their eyes at him. Such an obvious matter, yet he still had to shout it out. What an ignorant old fellow!
"Sigh... Strange things happen every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual," Zhang Daoren said, shaking his head.
"What do you mean?" asked the old Taoist priest, Xianyun.
Since Xiao Wenbing and Zhang Yaqi experienced the Five Elements Tribulation, these two pillars of the Earth's cultivation world, who were previously just nodding acquaintances, seemed to have become inseparable old friends overnight.
Their friendship progressed extremely quickly, and they almost started addressing each other as in-laws.
“Our Taoist school has always emphasized peace, tranquility, and gradual progress. However, this year’s centennial celebration has seen three special cases.” Master Zhang explained gently, and the other Taoist priests nodded in agreement, for this was indeed unprecedented.
"They have achieved so much at such a young age. If they continue to cultivate diligently for several years, they will surely become a force to be reckoned with in the entire cultivation world," said the Sect Master of Tianyi, stroking his beard and smiling.
He was the leader of all cultivators on Earth, and seeing the next generation achieve such success naturally filled him with immense joy.
And there were clearly quite a few people who shared the same idea as him; at least these cultivators who had reached the top level all nodded in agreement.
"Do you think Fellow Daoist Feng is a destined person?" Old Daoist Yiming suddenly asked.
The old Taoist priests were all taken aback. Those five secret talismans had been around for thousands of years, and countless people had tried to use them, but none of them had succeeded. Although Feng Baiyi was very capable, it would be too much of a coincidence to say that she was one of the destined ones.
"Possibly," the old Taoist priest Xianyun said softly.
How do you know?
"Since some people can form a golden core before the age of thirty, since some people can form a core in a year, since some people can even survive the Five Elements Tribulation, since the White Egret Ancestor bestowed the Qiankun Ring down to the mortal realm, then... what else is impossible?"
The old Taoist priests immediately fell silent. Indeed, if even these almost mythical things could happen, then what else was impossible?
Zhang Daoren took a deep breath, and a bright light suddenly flashed in his hand as a large amount of spiritual energy rapidly condensed.
"What are you doing, fellow Daoist?"
Several old Taoist priests looked at him with bewilderment, wondering what had gotten into this old fellow this time.
"Do you fellow Daoists still remember the scene when my daughter took the Qiankun Ring?" Zhang Daoren asked solemnly.
All the old Taoists nodded in agreement. How could they forget such a rare event that was only seen once in ten thousand years?
"Although my daughter was fortunate enough to obtain the Qiankun Ring, the process was thrilling and extremely dangerous. This old Daoist thinks that these five secret scrolls have been stored for three thousand years, and the restrictions within them were personally placed by our ascending ancestors. Obtaining them will likely be difficult. Since Fellow Daoist Feng wishes to try, if we are not destined to meet, so be it; but if we are, we will likely have to undergo another trial. And then there might be a heavenly tribulation, the Five Elements Tribulation, or something like that…"
The Heavenly One Sect Master's expression changed. With a thought, starlight flickered around him, and he instantly gathered a large amount of spiritual power.
Zhang Daoren's concerns are quite reasonable. If another earth-shattering test were to occur, innocent people would inevitably be affected if they were caught off guard.
The old Taoist priest and the others exchanged glances. They perked up and each used their skills, ready to react immediately to any disturbance in the area.
These old Taoist priests possessed cultivation levels rarely seen in this era. Having made prior preparations, even if something unexpected happened, with everyone's combined efforts, they could at least resolve the situation smoothly.
Feng Baiyi's footsteps gradually led her to the west end, her gaze fixed on a secret scroll the entire time. She walked up to the scroll, extended her delicate, seemingly harmless hand, and placed it steadily on a foot above it.
"Be careful..." Sect Master Tianyi whispered.
The old Taoist priests were completely focused, extremely cautious, and on high alert, fearing any mishap.
A tiny purple light flashed from Feng Baiyi's palm and, under everyone's astonished gaze, slowly disappeared into the scroll.
"Not good." Old Daoist Yiming suddenly exclaimed softly, "She actually attacked the secret scroll. Be careful of the defensive formation's counterattack."
The Tianyi Sect Master and the others were also greatly shocked. No matter what, they never expected that Feng Baiyi would be so bold as to openly attack a secret manual that had been passed down for three thousand years. She was the first person to do so.
Fortunately, they were prepared. They held their breath and circulated their spiritual energy rapidly, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.
The moment the purple light touched the secret scroll, it instantly transformed into a purple electric current, emitting a soft crackling sound.
The Tianyi Sect Master and others looked solemn as they observed carefully.
The purple current intensified, gradually morphing into a thunderous roar.
"It's coming, everyone attack!" Old Daoist Yiming waved his hand, and a defensive formation was launched.
The Tianyi Sect Master and others almost instinctively released the magic arrays and magical treasures in their hands.
Instantly, the area around the square became ablaze with color, and under the command of several experienced Taoist priests, protective formations slowly enveloped the entire square.
In mid-air, dozens of magical treasures flew along irregular trajectories, creating a dazzling and breathtaking spectacle.