Chapter 5

Inside the treasure pavilion, the pearls and treasures shone with a rainbow of light, and rows of jade cabinets stood tall, each containing dazzling items. Bottles, small swords, jade pendants, and precious pearls were everywhere, making Meng Hao's breathing quicken and his heart race as if blood had suddenly rushed to his head, leaving him stunned.

In his entire life, Meng Hao had never seen so many treasures. At this moment, he was completely overwhelmed by the brilliance, his mind buzzing with the thought of taking all the treasures.

"The value of these treasures... they are priceless. I've struck it rich. The待遇 of working for an immortal is actually this good," Meng Hao muttered, walking past the rows of jade cabinets, his expression filled with excitement. He instinctively looked up, thinking that if the first floor of the treasure pavilion was like this, the treasures on the upper two floors must be even more valuable.

"Immortals... are really rich!" Meng Hao took a deep breath. Suddenly, his eyes focused on a bronze mirror placed in a prominent position in the treasure pavilion.

The bronze mirror was somewhat rusted and unremarkable, with no trace of treasure light, contrasting sharply with the surrounding treasures.

With a sense of surprise, Meng Hao picked up the bronze mirror and examined it closely. The more he looked, the more ordinary it seemed, like a common object, with nothing special about it. However, since it was placed in the treasure pavilion, Meng Hao believed it must have some value.

"You have good eyes, Junior Brother," a voice came from behind Meng Hao. The shrewd man had appeared at some point, looking at the bronze mirror in Meng Hao's hand with praise in his tone.

"Since you picked up this mirror, it means you have a connection with it. There are many legends about this mirror, especially its mystery. It is said that to obtain this item, one needs not only great fortune but also great destiny. I believe you are the type of person who possesses such qualities. With this mirror, you will soon be able to laugh and stride through the heavens and earth," the shrewd man sighed repeatedly, his voice carrying a strange power that left Meng Hao stunned.

"This mirror..." Meng Hao's expression was odd as he looked down at the bronze mirror again. There were no intricate carvings on it, and the rust made it hard to see anything clearly.

"Junior Brother, don't be fooled by the lack of treasure light. You should know that all treasures that have spiritual awareness hide their true nature. The less noticeable they seem, the more extraordinary they are," the shrewd man said, seeing that Meng Hao was about to put the bronze mirror back in the cabinet. He quickly stepped forward to block him, looking at Meng Hao seriously.

"Junior Brother, if you picked it up, it means you have a connection with it. How can you give up just because it seems ordinary? I have been in charge of this treasure pavilion for many years and know the origin of every treasure here. This bronze mirror once caused a sensation in the Zhao Kingdom. It was formed by a ray of light from the heavens and was obtained by the Mountain Relying Ancestor, who studied it intensively and believed it to be a treasure that could connect to the heavens. Although he never fully understood it, he determined that such a mirror, when encountered by someone with a connection, would surely enable them to traverse the heavens and earth."

Hearing the name of the Mountain Relying Ancestor, Meng Hao was taken aback. He had just joined the outer sect and was still unfamiliar with many things, so he hesitated.

"The Mountain Relying Ancestor couldn't figure it out, and I..."

"Junior Brother, that's not the right attitude. I can tell you that the fact that the Ancestor didn't understand it also shows the extraordinary nature of this treasure. Before you, dozens of people have taken this treasure, and although none of them fully understood it, they had no regrets."

"What if... you are the one with a connection to this mirror? Besides, you can take it with confidence. Many of your fellow disciples who took it before you returned it within two or three months. I am a reasonable person, and you will see that over time. I don't like to make things difficult for my fellow disciples, so I gave them different treasures."

"If you take it and can't figure it out, you can return it at any time and choose another one. But if you give up this opportunity, you might regret it for the rest of your life." The shrewd man looked at Meng Hao meaningfully, seeing his increasing hesitation. He inwardly smiled, thinking that new outer sect disciples were easy to deceive. As long as he told them the origin and legends of the mirror and used grandiose words, they would be immediately excited.

The origin and legends of the bronze mirror were not lies, but using it as a lure had earned him a lot of spirit stones. After all, each time someone returned the mirror, he would make things a bit difficult, which naturally required spirit stones to smooth things over.

"But..." Meng Hao, who had read books since childhood and was quite intelligent, clearly understood the shrewd man's words. He knew that the mirror was probably not as valuable as the man claimed. However, the man was blocking him, clearly determined not to let him put the mirror back easily. Even if he casually dropped it, it would be useless. Meng Hao regretted picking up the mirror.

"Junior Brother, don't break the rules on your first day in the sect. Once you pick up a treasure in this pavilion, you cannot put it down." The shrewd man, thinking the time was right, adopted his usual method. His face turned serious, and he shouted, waving his sleeve to create a gust of wind that pushed Meng Hao out of the treasure pavilion and onto the outside.

With a thud, the door of the treasure pavilion closed.

"If you are not the one with a connection to this mirror, you can come and exchange it at any time," the shrewd man's voice came from inside the treasure pavilion.

Meng Hao frowned, looking at the closed door of the treasure pavilion with anger. He sighed, looked at the bronze mirror in his hand, and thought of the opening words of the Qi Condensation Scroll. After a moment's hesitation, he thought that if it was something the Mountain Relying Ancestor had studied, it was worth it. He shook his head, put the mirror in his chest, and gave the treasure pavilion one last angry glance before turning to leave.

Walking on the stone path of the outer sect, Meng Hao found his residence according to the directions in the jade slip. It was located on the edge of the northern area, quite secluded, with many houses crowded together.

Pushing open the door of his residence, it creaked open. Inside was a bed and a table. Meng Hao stood there for a while, quite satisfied. This place was much better than the servant quarters.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Meng Hao took a deep breath, took out the bronze mirror from his chest, and studied it carefully. However, even as the sun set and night fell, and he lit an oil lamp and continued to examine it, Meng Hao still couldn't figure out what the mirror was for.

No matter how he looked at it, the bronze mirror seemed very ordinary.

Late at night, Meng Hao put the bronze mirror aside and looked out the window at the bright moon, thinking of the little fat boy and missing the sound of his snoring.

The moon outside the window was flawless, and the moonlight fell on the eaves, making the surroundings very quiet. The only sound was the rustling of the wind through the trees. Meng Hao took a deep breath, reflecting on the past few months, feeling as if it were a different world. He muttered to himself,

"I am no longer a scholar from Yunjie County; I have become a disciple of the outer sect of the Mountain Relying Sect..."

After a long while, Meng Hao calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and began to meditate, circulating the threads of spiritual energy within him. This life had continued for several months, and he was already used to it.

The outer sect was different from the servant quarters. Here, no food was provided for the disciples, and they had to find their own food. If they starved to death, no one would care. However, in all the years of the Mountain Relying Sect's outer sect, no one had actually starved to death.

After all, at the first level of Qi Condensation, one could absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which, though it couldn't solve hunger, could maintain one's vitality.

A few days later, at noon, Meng Hao was meditating when a惨叫 came from outside. He immediately opened his eyes, got up, and went to the window to look out. He saw an outer sect disciple being stepped on, his chest bloody and injured, though not dead. His storage bag was taken, and the attacker left with a cold snort.

The injured disciple struggled to get up, his eyes filled with a fierce look, and he staggered away. Many people were watching, most of them with cold, mocking expressions.

Meng Hao was silent. He had seen such scenes several times in the past few days, and his understanding of the rules of the outer sect of the Mountain Relying Sect deepened.

Time passed, and seven days went by. During these seven days, Meng Hao saw several more incidents of robbery in the outer sect. The disciples fought and competed with each other, making Meng Hao more cautious and reserved, especially after he witnessed a second or third-level Qi Condensation disciple being killed in the public area of the outer sect. These scenes made Meng Hao more careful when he went out.

Fortunately, although his cultivation was low, he had nothing valuable on him, so most people ignored him.

Meng Hao's cultivation also stagnated. The second level of Qi Condensation was different from the first. Although it involved the absorption of spiritual energy, it also began to change the body, making it more suitable for spiritual energy. Therefore, it required several times more spiritual energy than the first level.

Similarly, Meng Hao learned about the concept of talent. The degree of integration between the body and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was called talent. The better the talent, the higher the integration; the worse the talent, the lower the integration. In the same amount of time, those with better talent naturally absorbed more spiritual energy.

According to his calculations, it would take him one or two years to reach the second level of Qi Condensation, and several times longer to reach the third level.

Unless he obtained elixirs or spirit stones, which could be transformed into spiritual energy, greatly reducing the time required. This was why the competition within the sect was so fierce, as the outer sect distributed elixirs and spirit stones every month.

"The stronger become stronger, and the weaker become weaker. The Mountain Relying Sect uses this method to cultivate inner sect disciples..." Meng Hao was silent.

One morning, just as dawn was breaking, Meng Hao was sitting cross-legged on the bed. He didn't have outstanding talent, but he had a strong will, and he didn't give up on meditation and breathing exercises even at night. At this moment, the sound of a bell echoed through the sect, and Meng Hao opened his eyes.

"This bell..." Meng Hao's eyes focused, guessing something, and his expression became excited. As he got up and left his room, he saw many fellow disciples around him, their expressions brightening, and they quickly headed for the distance.

"The bell ringing means it's time to distribute spirit stones and elixirs."

"It's today, as expected." As the bell continued to ring, more people ran out, not just from this area but from the entire outer sect. Almost all the outer sect disciples were doing the same.

"The day of elixir distribution." Meng Hao took a deep breath and ran with the crowd, reaching the central square of the outer sect in a short time. The square was vast, surrounded by nine dragon-carved stone pillars that emitted a dazzling light. At the front, a ten-zhang platform was covered in colorful mist, with vague figures hidden within, making it hard to see clearly.

There were over a hundred outer sect disciples, all wearing green robes, whispering and occasionally looking up at the mist-covered platform on the stone pillars.

The mist on the platform had slightly dispersed, revealing clear figures. A man in a golden robe stood there, his face marked with spots, but his expression was stern and his eyes like lightning. Beside him were a man and a woman, both in silver robes. The man was exceptionally handsome, with a calm and righteous demeanor. As for the woman, when Meng Hao saw her clearly, his eyes narrowed.

This woman was the one who had captured him from Dacheng Mountain three months ago.

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Important Notice!! I checked the monthly clicks and found that we are in second place, but when I checked the monthly recommendations, we are in fifth place. Fellow Daoists, after today is Monday, and this fresh new book will be put on the list for everyone to see. I am very nervous and excited. I humbly request that all fellow Daoists help me tonight after midnight. Let's seal the list first, then seal the heavens. This first step needs your help!

Use all your strength, we need to seal the list and be number one!!! Tonight, even if Qidian doesn't allow me to burst, I will violate the rules and add an extra chapter!

I have shown my sincerity, fellow Daoists, are you willing to help me seal the list and be number one?!!

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