Chapter 62

The Zangqi Pavilion is a place in the Ice Maiden's legacy where magical artifacts and equipment are stored. After entering the main gate and walking through a corridor about a hundred meters long, Li Ling and his companions soon arrived at the interior of the Zangqi Pavilion.

Dozens of large rooms were connected, but only one room was used to display magical artifacts and equipment. The other rooms were filled with various materials, clearly for the construction of mechanical puppets.

Many materials with unknown names were piled up, along with many luminous spirit stones, which were clearly superior to those outside. In addition, there were various spiritual liquids, even the blood of fairies, used for drawing arrays. Of course, there were also many unfinished mechanical puppets.

Although these materials were clearly valuable, and the luminous spirit stones were particularly eye-catching, what truly made Li Ling and his companions exclaim in surprise was the room where the magical artifacts and equipment were displayed.

In the innermost room, the walls had dozens of niches, each containing a piece of equipment. There were all kinds, whether weapons or armor, and even many with unknown names and functions. Each of these magical artifacts and equipment emitted a glow, though the intensity varied.

Standing in the room where the magical artifacts were truly stored, the aura of treasure was overwhelming, and almost everyone was excited, their eyes filled with greed.

"Magical... artifact... This is a magical artifact that surpasses the twelve-star level..." Li Ling's lips trembled, his voice hoarse. He then lunged directly toward the most radiant magical longsword.

Magical artifacts, divine artifacts, and spiritual treasures are the three grades of equipment, similar to the three major realms of cultivators. The quality gap between magical artifacts and magical equipment is as significant as the difference between the Soul Formation stage and the Qi Condensation stage. Any of these magical artifacts, if taken out, would be of immeasurable value to them. With so many here, they would be rich...

The shock of the treasure made Li Ling and the other male disciples greedily rush toward the displayed magical artifacts. However, almost simultaneously, the magical artifacts they targeted emitted a flash of light, directly repelling their hands. They couldn't even touch them, let alone take them.

"What's going on? This can't be!" Li Ling's face changed drastically. The magical artifact, which seemed within reach, couldn't even be touched. He wiped his hand across his waist, and a longsword appeared. With his Body Tempering stage cultivation, he fiercely slashed at the magical artifact, trying to cut through the light that blocked him.

Just touching the magical longsword with his hand only caused it to repel him. However, when Li Ling's sword slashed at it, even without anyone controlling it, a sword aura shot out from the magical longsword, directly severing the magical longsword in his hand.

"Magical artifacts have spirits. Once the owner dies, they enter an unowned state and become defiled, waiting for someone to call them to awaken. These magical artifacts all belong to Senior Sister Ice Maiden. Although she is no longer here, she hasn't died; she is merely suppressed at the bottom of the East Sea by the elders of the sect. Therefore, these magical artifacts are all owned. Unless someone can erase Senior Sister Ice Maiden's mental imprint from the magical artifacts, no one can use them..."

At this moment, Zi Xiang spoke, comforting Li Ling beside her. Her words made Li Ling and the others realize the situation. However, looking at the magical longsword in his hand that had been severed, they felt a mix of frustration and helplessness. Not only did they not get any magical artifacts, but they also destroyed their own weapons?

"Are we supposed to leave the treasure mountain empty-handed?" Li Ling's eyes were filled with intense reluctance. He threw the severed magical longsword to the ground, making a clanging sound: "So many magical artifacts here, right in front of us, within reach, yet we can't take any. I can't accept it!"

"Alright, don't be sad. Although we can't take the magical artifacts, there are still many materials in the other rooms. Those materials should be very valuable. Besides, the luminous spirit stones left behind, if we take them back, our gains will be very substantial."

Although Zi Xiang's words made sense, how could the value of those spirit stones and materials compare to these magical artifacts? A beggar entering a gold mine and only being able to take a few silver pieces back—how could anyone be satisfied? Even if those few silver pieces were something the beggar could never have dreamed of.

Rumble...

While Li Ling and the others were disheartened, a sudden loud noise caught their attention. Their faces changed, and they rushed out immediately.

After passing through the long corridor, they reached the entrance of the Zangqi Pavilion. They were stunned to see that the door, which had been pushed open, was now closed again, and a mysterious array appeared on the door.

Seeing the door closed, Li Ling and the others naturally rushed to push it, but the door wouldn't budge. No matter how they attacked, it remained closed. The array flickered, blocking their attacks. After a frenzied attack for half an hour with no effect, Li Ling's face turned ashen and he stopped.

"This can't be. How could the door close on its own? This is impossible. Open it quickly, I don't want to die here..." Trapped in the Zangqi Pavilion, Lu Xiaoman, the short and thin disciple, looked deranged, still attacking the door frantically. However, even Li Ling, at the Body Tempering stage, had no effect, so how could his attacks be effective?

The faces of the others were also very grim, and even Zi Xiang's expression became serious. She looked at Lu Yuling, who still had a cold demeanor, showing no worry, and felt relieved.

With the door closed, everyone was trapped inside. Their faces were ashen, knowing they would eventually be trapped to death. With bloodshot eyes, Li Ling suddenly looked at Lu Yuling with a murderous intent: "It's you! Didn't you say you knew a lot about the Ice Maiden's legacy? Why are we in this situation?"

"My knowledge is only relative to yours. This isn't my home; how could I know everything? Now we're all trapped here. Do you think I want this?" Lu Yuling's voice remained cold, showing no fear even in the face of Li Ling at the Body Tempering stage.

"You still dare to talk back?" Li Ling's eyes widened, his murderous intent growing. Although Lu Yuling was a rare beauty, compared to his life, which was more important was obvious.

"Alright, alright. We're all trapped here. We should work together to find a way out, not argue. Let's look for other exits or secret passages," Zi Xiang stepped forward, speaking softly.

Zi Xiang's personality was selfish and ruthless. She had no good feelings toward Lu Yuling. Whether she lived or died was of no interest to Zi Xiang. However, Zhuge Xiang was hiding in the shadows, and they were partners. If Lu Yuling was in danger, he might come out, ruining their plan.

With Zi Xiang's words, Li Ling calmed down a bit, nodding. Although he didn't think the Zangqi Pavilion had other passages or secret passages, any hope was better than wasting time here. Fortunately, the Zangqi Pavilion only had a dozen rooms. They split up, each searching with a glimmer of hope.

Lu Yuling and Zi Xiang searched together, whispering a few words. Then Zi Xiang nodded and walked over to the short and thin disciple, Lu Xiaoman.

Lu Xiaoman, like the others, was carefully searching every corner of the Zangqi Pavilion, not missing any clues, hoping to find a secret passage to escape. Suddenly, a loud, unhidden sound of footsteps rang out. Turning around, Lu Xiaoman was slightly stunned to see Zi Xiang approaching.

Lu Xiaoman suddenly turned, and Zi Xiang seemed startled, grabbing the hem of her clothes, looking down as if she had something difficult to say.

"Junior Sister Zi Xiang, is there something wrong?" Looking at Zi Xiang's pitiful appearance, Lu Xiaoman's eyes showed a strange light. However, thinking of Li Ling, he didn't dare to be too forward, only speaking softly.

"That...," her face flushed, hesitating for a moment, she seemed to gather great courage and asked Lu Xiaoman, "I wanted to ask Senior Brother Lu, are you okay after being kicked by Senior Brother Li Ling?"

Zi Xiang's words were filled with concern and shyness. Lu Xiaoman's eyes widened in disbelief, not expecting Zi Xiang to come to him out of concern. Seeing her expression, he felt overwhelmed by sudden happiness.

Nodding hurriedly, although the memory of being kicked in public made Lu Xiaoman hate Li Ling even more, seeing Zi Xiang's appearance, he was very excited: "Don't worry, Junior Sister Zi Xiang, I'm fine."

"Actually, now that we can't get out and are about to die, there are some things I want to say to Senior Brother Lu. Since we have time now, I'm afraid I won't have another chance," her face and even her ears were red, gathering great courage, Zi Xiang said, "Actually, Senior Brother Lu, I really like you."

"R-Really?" His voice trembled. Although he had a premonition, when Zi Xiang said it, he still couldn't believe it.

"Everyone is in mortal danger. Would I lie to you? I've always wanted to tell you this, but Li Ling is too strong, and I didn't dare. Besides, I don't think he's a good person," her eyes were filled with helplessness and bitterness.

"Of course not. Li Ling has killed many people. He's not a good person," he nodded vigorously, his eyes filled with intense hatred.

"Although we're all going to die, I'm content to die with you. Before I die, I can say what I want to say. However, in a few days, with food running out, I'm afraid Li Ling will do something even more cruel. Both Lu Yuling and I are women, so he might not act on us so soon, but you are the weakest, and I'm afraid..." As she spoke, Zi Xiang held Lu Xiaoman's hand, showing concern for him.

Zi Xiang's tenderness was touching, but her words made Lu Xiaoman's face pale... (PS: Last night before going to bed, I checked the website and barely made it to the homepage's new book list. But this morning, it dropped to over 20th place. The indices of those in front of me skyrocketed, and I still don't understand what happened. Is there something wrong with my browser?)