Chapter 53

At the Qin residence, Qin Bo was sitting in a rocking chair, watching the sunset with a contented look on his face.

Suddenly, he stood up abruptly and gazed into the distant Qin Mountains. His eyes were deep, like the starry universe, and in an instant, his gaze seemed to penetrate the barriers of space, seeing the Wu Pavilion shrouded in thick fog.

"The Hall of War has opened again!"

Tears welled up in Qin Bo's eyes, and his aged body trembled. Suddenly, his withered skin began to move, and his bones crackled. Almost instantly, he transformed into a robust man.

In the next moment, Qin Bo had vanished from the spot.

Inside the Wu Pavilion, Dao Lao suddenly opened his eyes. His face, etched with the marks of time, showed a hint of confusion. Something seemed to have happened, but he could sense nothing. Frowning, Dao Lao stood up from his chair and, with his frail body, shakily walked out of the room.

After browsing through the ten bookstores on the first floor of the Wu Pavilion, Dao Lao's face showed more confusion. He muttered, "That young man of the War lineage is gone. Could he have gone to the fourth floor?"

Shaking his head, he wobbled back to his small room, sat back in his chair, and closed his eyes to rest. The Wu Pavilion fell silent once again.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps approached, and someone quickly entered the small room. Dao Lao opened his eyes and looked at the unexpected visitor, frowning. "Yanyan, what's wrong? Why are you so anxious?"

"Dao Lao, have you seen Zhan'er?"

The visitor was Zhan Yanyan, dressed in purple. She had lost her usual composure and calmness, her voice filled with anxiety and unease. Her beautiful eyes glistened with tears, and her rosy lips trembled. Under the flickering lamplight, she looked incredibly fragile and pitiable.

"Hmm? Yanyan, you didn't find him?" Dao Lao was slightly taken aback, his expression puzzled.

"Yanyan searched the entire Wu Pavilion but couldn't find Zhan'er. I don't know where he could have gone."

"That's impossible."

Dao Lao's expression turned serious. In the Wu Pavilion, divine senses were restricted, and even with his cultivation, he couldn't detect every room or the other floors. However, he was certain that Xiao Zhan had not left the Wu Pavilion.

"Girl, are you sure you searched the entire building?"

Zhan Yanyan nodded. "Yanyan searched everywhere she could, but couldn't find Zhan'er."

Dao Lao frowned. "This is strange. Let's go and check it out together. If that child is lost under my watch, I will have a lot to answer for to Qin Bo."

Soon, the two left the room and began searching the Wu Pavilion, from the first to the fourth floor, and even the basement, but they still couldn't find Xiao Zhan. Faced with this result, Zhan Yanyan's face turned pale, and her eyes lost their focus. She felt as if the sky was about to collapse, unsure of what to do.

"Shall we search the island?"

Without waiting for Dao Lao's response, Zhan Yanyan quickly left the Wu Pavilion. Dao Lao sighed and followed her, searching together in the dense forest shrouded in white mist. The island wasn't large, and the two quickly searched it. In fact, with Dao Lao's cultivation, he could have scanned the entire island with his divine sense, but seeing Zhan Yanyan's anxious state, he accompanied her in the search.

"You don't need to search anymore. The young master is still in the Wu Pavilion."

Suddenly, a voice sounded behind them.

Dao Lao's body trembled, and he turned around in shock. His eyes shot out cold, sharp glares, and his aged appearance vanished, transforming him into a tall, imposing middle-aged man. He was like a drawn war saber, exuding fierce and domineering battle intent, causing the void to distort and shatter under his aura.

"Qin Bo!"

Upon recognizing the person, Dao Lao gasped in surprise. He immediately reined in his aura and hurriedly bowed deeply, showing utmost respect.

Zhan Yanyan, hearing about Xiao Zhan's whereabouts, immediately came to her senses. She turned to look at the now young and handsome Qin Bo, her eyes filled with hope. "Qin Bo, is Zhan'er really still in the Wu Pavilion?"

"Hmph!"

Looking at the two, Qin Bo said disapprovingly, "Since the generation from ten thousand years ago left, each generation has been worse than the last. Look at what the War Clan has become. You've even forgotten the greatest secret of the War Clan. How can you face the ancestors of the War Clan?"

Zhan Yanyan, with Xiao Zhan's image filling her mind, smiled apologetically. "Qin Bo, do you know where Zhan'er is?"

Qin Bo huffed. "Didn't I just say that?"

Zhan Yanyan frowned. "But Yanyan searched the entire Wu Pavilion and didn't find Zhan'er. What's going on?"

Qin Bo's eyes were deep as he gazed far into the fourth floor of the Wu Pavilion. He said calmly, "The young master is on the fourth floor."

"The fourth floor?" The two exclaimed in surprise.

Qin Bo said solemnly, "Do you know why the War Clan selects the most outstanding clan members to enter the Wu Pavilion every year?" Without waiting for their response, he angrily continued, "Do you think it's to obtain the martial arts secrets on the three floors of the Wu Pavilion? Hmph! Wrong! Dead wrong!"

The two looked bewildered, unsure of what to make of Qin Bo's agitation.

"You may not know, but the true martial arts secrets of the War Clan are in the Hall of War. Since the War Clan came to Tianyuan, it has existed for billions of years. The secrets in the Wu Pavilion are all outdated. Compared to the true secrets of the War Clan in the Hall of War, these are just rejects, a pile of garbage!"

"The Hall of War?"

Qin Bo's words were shocking. The secrets in the Wu Pavilion, which the clan members considered treasures, were actually just garbage.

Qin Bo laughed coldly. "Do you know what the portrait of the War God on the fourth floor of the Wu Pavilion is for? It's the first checkpoint to the Hall of War. As long as one passes the divine sense left by the War God in the portrait, they can enter the Hall of War and obtain the true martial arts inheritance of the War Clan. I might as well tell you, the Hall of War houses the four great secrets of the War Clan. For ten thousand years, you've been guarding a pile of garbage as treasures, truly foolish!"

"The four great secrets!"

Hearing this shocking news, the two felt a surge of excitement. The four great secrets were the martial arts secrets left by the four greatest warriors of the War Clan, the highest treasures in the hearts of the War Clan. They thought these secrets had long been lost, but they were actually stored in the Hall of War.

"Look at what you've done. You sealed the secrets in the Wu Pavilion and only allowed ten people to view them each year. Ten thousand years ago, the secrets in the Wu Pavilion were open to all clan members, used to build a foundation for them. You've put them on a high shelf, truly a bunch of fools!" Qin Bo sneered.

The two hung their heads in shame.

At this moment, Xiao Zhan had stepped through the golden door. Immediately, a dense wave of spiritual energy hit him. He looked around and found himself in a vast, boundless universe, with countless massive celestial bodies clearly visible, their starlight brilliant and dazzling.

Xiao Zhan's eyes widened in disbelief at the scene before him.

He was standing on a circular platform ten meters in diameter, engraved with complex array patterns. A transparent dome covered the entire platform, the air inside fresh and breathable. When he turned around, he found that the door behind him had disappeared. Suddenly finding himself in such a strange environment, he felt a wave of panic.

The surroundings were pitch black, with huge meteorites occasionally whizzing by, their jagged edges and terrifying whistles creating a visual impact that made one's heart race and hair stand on end.

If he were to brush against or collide with one, wouldn't he be reduced to dust?

Heaven! What kind of place is this?

Xiao Zhan moved uneasily, and suddenly, a large, transparent staircase appeared out of nowhere, extending slowly into the starry sky. Infinite starlight fell, and the transparent staircase shimmered with silver light.

At some point, in the distant starry sky, a colorful palace appeared. In the dark universe, it was like a palace of the gods.