The pattern was made clear by the sunlight.
Mingshi Yin was intrigued. He placed his Separation Hook and Scabbard into the groove.
Clack!
The top part of the box turned. There were now slits on all sides. Then, with another sound, the slits disappeared, returning to its original form.
“Eh? My Separation Hook and Scabbard!” Mingshi Yin was greatly shocked. He hastily grabbed his weapon. “It’s stuck? No!” The Separation Hook and Scabbard was like the flesh of his heart. He could not allow anything to happen to it. He held onto the Separation Hook and Scabbard with all his might.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Mingshi Yin swung his arms wildly. The rocks and boulders in his surroundings were almost all destroyed, but the Separation Hook and Scabbard would not dislodge from the box. It was caught in the groove!
“No way…” Mingshi Yin wanted to cry. “Did master regret giving me the weapon and devised such a method to get it back?” He continued thinking to himself, ‘That can’t be right. Master doesn’t need to use such an elaborate method if he wants me to return the weapon.’
At this moment, Duanmu Sheng appeared with his Overlord Spear. “Junior Brother… What’re you doing? I was looking for you everywhere!”
“Senior Brother, I’m afraid I won’t be able to spar with you… My Separation Hook and Scabbard are stuck!” Mingshi Yin pointed at the groove on the box.
Duanmu Sheng said with disapproval in his voice, “It’s only a rotten box. Stand back!”
“What’re you going to do?”
“Further.”
“…”
Bam!
Duanmu Sheng stabbed the mysterious box. The box was sent flying back from the impact. It landed on the rock wall, leaving a dent, before it fell to the ground.
Duanmu Sheng looked at his Overlord Spear. It was perfectly fine. He looked at the box. It was perfectly fine as well. He praised, “It’s tough!”
“Senior Brother, look…” Mingshi Yin pointed at the Separation Hook and Scabbard’s groove. There was another groove.
“What’s this?” Duanmu Sheng asked.
“Why don’t you… poke it with your Overlord Spear?” Mingshi Yin had a feeling this box had a fondness toward heaven-grade weapons.
Duanmu Sheng obediently followed Mingshi Yin’s suggestion. He raised his Overlord Spear before he jabbed it into the groove next to Mingshi Yin’s Separation Hook and Scabbard.
Clack!
The Overlord Spear was stuck in the round groove.
It was as if some mechanism had been triggered. An opening appeared on the surface of the box.
Bam!
“My weapon!” Duanmu Sheng cried out, stunned.
The opening catapulted the two weapons into the air. Mingshi Yin utilized his Primal Qi and made a grabbing gesture with his right hand. The Separation Hook and Scabbard returned to his grasp.
The Overlord Spear flew into the air and dropped down. Duanmu Sheng caught it easily by the ornamental dragon around the shaft.
“This box… is peculiar.” Duanmu Sheng regarded the box with a shocked expression on his face.
One of the box’s six sides had a small opening now.
Realization dawned on Mingshi Yin before he said excitedly, “I get it! As long as we place all of our weapons in the respective grooves, we’ll be able to open master’s box!”
Under the sun’s rays, the patterns of the grooves on the box were exceptionally clear.
Mingshi Yin began pointing at the numerous grooves that had appeared on the box. “This is the Jasper Saber. This is the Longevity Sword. This is the Amorous Hoop, and this is the Peacock Plume.”
Duanmu Sheng was amazed by this. He said, “I wonder who designed this exquisite box.”
“How would I know?” Mingshi Yin shrugged and said, “Fortunately, we discovered the secret to opening the box!”
“What good would it do us? The Peacock Plume is in Seventh Junior Brother’s hands. The Jasper Saber and Longevity Sword are in Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother’s hands. I don’t think anyone under the heavens is able to make them surrender their weapons!” Duanmu Sheng said. He wanted to add, ‘Even master won’t be able to do it’, but he was worried he would bring trouble upon himself. So he swallowed his words and replaced them with something else.
Mingshi Yin nodded. “I don’t dare to look for Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother… I’ll report this to master!”
“Master is resting now. In the meantime, why don’t we spar?”
“…” Mingshi Yin seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Third Senior Brother, I recommend Elder Hua in my stead! You can’t even break his tortoise technique even though he was holding back. How can you live with that? Besides, he’s a Six-leaf elite. He’s much more suitable as your training partner.”
Duanmu Sheng beamed and said, “You have a point. I’ll look for Elder Hua right away!”
After Duanmu Sheng left, Mingshi Yin continued to study the box for a while longer behind the mountain. He only returned in the afternoon and carried the box to the great hall of Evil Sky Pavilion.
When Mingshi Yin arrived in the great hall, he noticed his master, Little Yuan’er, Zhao Yue, Zhou Jifeng, and the others were all gathered there. They seemed to be in some sort of discussion.
Lu Zhou was seated above the rest. When he saw Mingshi Yin coming in, he said, “Just in time.”
Mingshi Yin placed the box on the floor and saluted Lu Zhou as he said, “Master, I’ve unlocked the secret to opening this box.”
“Oh?” Lu Zhou felt slightly excited, but his expression remained unchanged as usual. Although this disciple of his was slightly difficult to control, he was very competent in completing tasks.
“To open this box, six weapons will have to be fitted into the respective grooves… Take a look, master…” Mingshi Yin waved his hand, and the box hovered in the air. “This is the Jasper Saber and Longevity Sword; this is the Peacock Plume and the Amorous Hoop…”
Mingshi Yin held the box at an angle so that the sunlight from outside the great hall would illuminate the grooves.
It was as Mingshi Yin had said. The patterns on the box’s surface were the patterns of his six disciples’ weapons.
“Master, Third Senior Brother and I inserted our weapons into the grooves earlier, and this opening appeared. I think we need two more openings before we’ll be able to unlock the box,” Mingshi Yin said with a hint of pride in his tone.
Lu Zhou nodded. “Good job.”
Mingshi Yin felt as though he was soaring from happiness when his master praised him. He bowed and said, “Thank you for your kind words, master.”
Lu Zhou had thought of that as well. He had even changed Unnamed’s shape to fit the groove, but his attempt was unsuccessful. Clearly, the system would not let Lu Zhou exploit such a loophole. He needed the Jasper Saber, Longevity Sword, and the other weapons to open this box. However, now that the villainous disciples had left the Evil Sky Pavilion, it was slightly impractical to count on them.
Zhao Yue bowed and said, “Master, I think Fourth Senior Brother is the best person to unlock this mysterious box.”
Mingshi Yin was startled by this suggestion.
“How so?” Lu Zhou asked.
“The Peacock Plume is in Seventh Junior Brother’s hands. Seventh Junior Brother has a good relationship with Eighth Junior Brother. With Fourth Senior Brother’s abilities, it’s not difficult for him to locate Eighth Junior Brother. Once Seventh Junior Brother is found, it won’t be difficult for him to contact Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother. I believe they’ll be curious about the contents of the box. They would surely think of a way to open it.”
Mingshi Yin was still stunned.
Lu Zhou stroked his beard calmly and said, “Good idea.”
Mingshi Yin hastily said, “Master, we should take time to consider this before making any decisions… Elder Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother’s cultivation bases are profound. What if they decide to kill me and take the box away?”
When the others heard this, they nodded. They felt that Mingshi Yin had a point.
Lu Zhou, however, shook his head while stroking his beard and said, “Although Yu Zhenghai and Yu Shangrong are rascals, they’re lenient toward their juniors. There has never been an internal feud among the disciples ever since the Evil Sky Pavilion started taking in disciples. I believe they won’t harm you.”
Mingshi Yin wanted to cry. “But, I… I don’t believe that…”
