Inside the first layer of the Floating Cloud Cave, a super-sized bed made entirely of gold lay at the center, adorned with various colorful treasures and jewel pendants.
Dozens of Luminous Pearls were embedded in the ceiling, their radiance cascading down, causing the gold bed to shimmer with treasure light. In a flash, Ye Zhen felt as if he had entered the most luxurious Imperial Palace.
Ye Zhen weighed it up and estimated that the super-sized bed made of gold alone weighed about twenty or thirty thousand jin; counting the jewels, the bed was worth a total of four to five hundred thousand taels of gold.
Four to five hundred thousand taels of gold was not a lot; Ye Zhen had tossed around tens of millions of gold before, but what shocked him was this golden bed.
It seemed that the owner of the Floating Cloud Cave was an extremely extravagant entity.
Apart from the golden bed, most of the items within the first layer were made of pure gold and inlaid with various gemstones, even the chamber pot was set with an emerald.
This layer must have been the bedroom of the owner of the Floating Cloud Cave. In a corner, Ye Zhen discovered more than a dozen skeletons, judging by the bones, they should all be female.
They all faced the same fatal wound, decapitated by a single sword strike.
Ye Zhen was somewhat puzzled, not knowing what had happened within the Floating Cloud Cave. Had an enemy broken in? To have slain over a dozen maids all at once.
Apart from the treasures and skeletons worth maybe two to three million taels of gold, Ye Zhen did not find anything else on the first floor.
Following the Luminous Pearls embedded in the wall, Ye Zhen continued inward, hardly a hundred meters forward and down nine steps, and entered the second layer.
The second layer wasn’t large, and looking at the layout with bookshelves, chess tables, and zither tables along the walls, it should be the study of the Floating Cloud Cave’s owner.
Unfortunately, there were no books left on the shelves, only a pile of book ash eroded by the years. In a corner of the study, there were another eight skeletons, all female, and all decapitated by a sword!
As he stepped into the third layer, Ye Zhen’s pupils suddenly dilated when the skeleton of a meditating figure appeared within a silent chamber on the third layer of the Floating Cloud Cave.
Beneath the skeleton’s posterior was a jade cushion, still brand new and intact.
Yet, Ye Zhen’s gaze landed on the skeleton’s left hand, where an ancient ring hung loosely.
"A storage ring?"
He took two steps in three, eager to remove the storage ring.
However, before doing so, Ye Zhen still bowed respectfully towards the skeleton, "Predecessor, I am being intrusive!"
After a thorough check for any suspicious signs, Ye Zhen removed the storage ring from the skeleton’s left hand.
As divine sense surged in, a glint of light emerged from the storage ring, and Ye Zhen activated it immediately. The master’s demise had long caused the Divine Soul Imprint that remained on this storage ring to dissipate.
"A High Grade Treasure Ring!"
The very moment his Divine Sense flowed into the storage ring, Ye Zhen was astonished.
A space with a length, width, and height of one hundred meters each, appeared in Ye Zhen’s Divine Sense—a vast space that could accommodate a small hill.
Its storage capacity was a thousand times larger than that of a Mid-grade Storage Ring.
Among artifacts, storage-type artifacts were quite common, but High Grade Treasure Rings were still very rare. At least, in Ye Zhen’s knowledge, several familiar elders from the Qiyun Sect, including Caiyi and Liao Feibai, all used Mid-grade Treasure Rings.
Mid-grade Treasure Rings could still be bought with silver, but High Grade Treasure Rings couldn’t be bought with silver. Otherwise, those trading companies traveling across the world wouldn’t need to use Sea Beast ships for transporting goods—if they had two or three High Grade Treasure Rings, the amount of goods they could carry would rival the cargo capacity of the Sea Beast.
Putting aside the rest, within today’s Floating Cloud Cave, this High Grade Treasure Ring was considered a treasure.
The inner space of the High Grade Treasure Ring was large, and it contained a great many items. However, after the initial shock of the gold bed, the items inside seemed somewhat ordinary, although in very large numbers.
Piles of Low Grade Spirit Crystals, neatly arranged, were estimated by Ye Zhen to be around one hundred thousand pieces—a considerable fortune, indeed.
But what truly surprised Ye Zhen was a small pile of Spirit Crystals next to the mountain-like pile of Low Grade ones.
Low Grade Spirit Crystals exhibited a faint cyan color, looking like a raw jade with a sense of quality, but also many impurities. The small pile next to it was a shade darker than the Low Grade Spirit Crystals and was incredibly pure, faintly emitting powerful waves of energy.
"Mid-grade Spirit Crystals!"
"At least three thousand Mid-grade Spirit Crystals!"
Joy was almost uncontrollable in Ye Zhen’s eyes. The exchange ratio between Spirit Crystals was extremely exaggerated—one Mid-grade Spirit Crystal was worth a hundred Low Grade ones.
But conversely, if you wanted to use a hundred Low Grade Spirit Crystals to exchange for a Mid-grade one, the answer would be just two words—impossible!
Without hesitation, Ye Zhen slipped the High Grade Treasure Ring onto his finger, and the Spirit Crystals inside were now fully his.
However, Ye Zhen still needed to clean it up.
Apart from these Spirit Crystals, the High Grade Treasure Ring contained a large amount of water, food, various ingredients, clothing, and jewelry that had been stored for who knows how many years.
The most numerous items inside were the various dresses for young ladies.
After sorting it all out, Ye Zhen’s eyes suddenly shifted as he spotted a sheepskin Secret Manual tossed in a corner.
Because it was within the storage ring, it was very well-preserved.
"Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal!"
Especially the words "Divine Power" made Ye Zhen’s pupils suddenly shrink to their limits.
Divine Power Martial Skills were in fact Vital Vein Forging Divine Abilities that only Vein Forging Realm powerhouses could cultivate—a powerful Martial Skill that could solidify on one’s Innate Bloodline. The lowest grade of a Divine Power Martial Skill was the Heavenly Level Lower Grade.
Sect Leader Guo Qijing’s Green Jade Handprint was one such Divine Power Martial Skill that could be cultivated into a Vital Vein Forging Divine Ability.
Heavenly Rank Divine Power Martial Skills were extremely scarce and precious.
Although Ye Zhen was currently unable to cultivate the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal, it did not prevent him from recognizing its value.
After carefully examining the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal, Ye Zhen suddenly understood why there were poisonous miasmas, poison bees, poison snakes, and poison ants in the Floating Cloud Cave.
These poisonous creatures were likely the necessary conditions for cultivating the Five Poison Seal. The skeleton hiding in this Floating Cloud Cave must have been there to cultivate this Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal.
Moreover, this skeleton had a taste for luxury. Those dozens of female skeletons who had been killed were probably his maids. As to why they were killed, that remained a mystery.
The skeleton before him had no visible wounds; he seemed more likely to have died in meditation.
"Died in meditation?"
A thought suddenly struck Ye Zhen’s heart. Could this skeleton be an old monster from the Vein Forging Realm who had exhausted his lifespan?
To Ye Zhen’s disappointment, aside from the Divine Power Martial Skill Five Poison Seal, there were no other cultivation technique manuals in the High Grade Treasure Ring.
But, this was quite normal.
Once a martial artist’s cultivation reached the Spirit Summoning Realm, they could use a sliver of Divine Sense to create simple Communication Jade Messages. If, in the future, their cultivation reached the Soul Sea Realm and their Divine Soul Cultivation was very strong, they could easily turn anything from their mind into a Jade Talisman for posterity.
In other words, for martial artists in the Soul Sea Realm or above, all cultivation technique manuals were stored in their minds. They could produce a manual in a Jade Talisman whenever they wished to forge it, and once learned, they generally did not carry it with them or even keep it on hand.
Light shone from the back of the third-floor silent chamber. Ye Zhen stepped in, and before long, he entered a seemingly hollow mountainside.
In the hollow mountainside, hundreds of meters tall and spanning thousands of meters in length, the surroundings were full of hand seals and knife scars. This hollow space must have been the skeleton’s training ground.
Yet, Ye Zhen’s gaze was captured by a line of characters on the mountain wall.
"I started martial arts at six, tempering my muscles and bones. By fifteen, my innate bloodline emerged, revealing only Four Veins! Despite breaking through to the True Essence Realm within two years at an astonishing pace, my family completely abandoned me, primarily because my innate bloodline had only Four Veins!
I refused to accept it!"
The words ’I refused to accept it’ were written as if etched with silver hooks and iron brushes, full of indignation. From these three words, Ye Zhen seemed to perceive a stubborn, unyielding youth!
"Consequently, I ventured into Jianghu alone, nine deaths for a single life, stumbling upon many serendipities! Finally, at the age of thirty-seven, I achieved the Spirit Transformation Realm, which the Clan Elders said I would never reach in my lifetime!
I was greatly content!"
"Returning to the clan, the Clan Elders were shocked, yet they predicted I would not advance further!
I refused to accept it!
Wandering the world for forty-three years, I broke through to the Soul Sea Realm at the age of eighty.
Returning to the clan, the whole clan was astounded, but the Clan Elders had perished in battle by then.
Only then did I truly understand the heart of seeking the way and the road of martial arts!
However, limited by my innate bloodline, my cultivation progress was extremely slow. After another fifty years, I was close to the peak of the Soul Sea Realm, only to be stuck ever since. I have been cultivating arduously for nearly sixty years, with no hope of Vein Forging and my lifespan about to end.
At the time of my death in meditation, I reflected on my life, bound by the four words of innate bloodline.
If it weren’t for the limitations of my innate bloodline, would my life have been as frustrated as it was? I could have dominated the world and laughed at the Nine Heavens!
Thinking about it fills me with hate and rage!
Curse you, heavens!"
The words ’curse you, heavens’ were vivid as if imbued with endless fury. From a distance, it was as though someone was pointing at the sky, weeping blood and cursing in anger, making Ye Zhen look solemn.
"Should later generations be fortunate enough to see these words of mine, remember to prioritize improving your innate bloodline above all else, or else, you’ll end up like me—an existence as fleeting as floating clouds... Floating Cloud Master leaves these words!"
Looking at the lines of stone inscriptions, Ye Zhen’s face was heavy, suddenly feeling an immense sense of desolation.
Floating Cloud Master also had an innate bloodline of Four Veins and so did Ye Zhen.
Would that mean, Floating Cloud Master’s future was Ye Zhen’s destiny?
A feeling of utter dejection poured over Ye Zhen, making him incredibly crestfallen.
"This can’t be!"
"My heart of martial arts cannot be swayed by the life of Floating Cloud Master! His failure is his failure, my path of martial arts is my own!
As long as my heart towards martial arts remains unchanged, even if my path ends at the Soul Sea Realm, that would still be my pursuit, my success! Because, that is the path of martial arts I seek!"
"In this world, there is always a higher mountain. I will walk my own path of martial arts, regardless of how high the mountains or how long the rivers others face!"
With this thought, all the despondency that had just arisen in Ye Zhen dissipated.
In an instant, Ye Zhen was once again spirited and full of fighting spirit!
"Moreover, Floating Cloud Master only reached the Spirit Transformation Realm at thirty-seven, while I am only eighteen and a step away from the Spirit Transformation Realm. How can I be compared with the likes of Floating Cloud Master?"
Confidence returned to Ye Zhen’s face.
Ye Zhen regained his confidence and continued to explore the depths of the Floating Cloud Cave.
After passing through a narrow staircase, a faintly luminous, colored Light Gate appeared before Ye Zhen.
Exclamations of surprise couldn’t help but spill from Ye Zhen’s mouth.
"A Secret Realm!"(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation vote at Qidian (qidian.com), and your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

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