You Zilin and You Ziling finally understood Feng Feiyun’s plan.
You Zilin happily followed behind Feiyun and said: “The evaluation must be too important and competitive. Elder Lin doesn’t want to offend all the lords so he wishes to maintain neutrality, at least in appearance. This doesn’t mean that he’ll refrain from taking advantage of it in the dark. That’s why he’ll work with our first princess, am I right, haha?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Feiyun had the same thought but he didn’t know Elder Lin enough to be confident.
Nonetheless, You Zilin was impressed with Feiyun’s analysis, thinking that the half-demon shouldn’t be underestimated.
You Ziling had seen him scheming back in the white spiders’ camp and didn’t find this surprising. She thought to herself: ‘The first princess is extremely intelligent and now, with this half-demon’s help, she’s a tiger with wings.’
Feiyun performed the Grand Change Art and created a stealth barrier. The trio then approached the gate.
Since it was night time, it was lit brightly with lamps and only one patrolling beast flying above. Moreover, a youth stood in front of the door, seemingly waiting for someone.
The trio walked out of the night and got closer. The youth saw them and didn’t say anything. Once they got close enough, he smiled and said: “This is the personal palace of Elder Lin. Please walk around.”
“My name is Feng Feiyun. I’m here to visit Elder Lin since I’ve been told that he is an exceptional treasure master, a true expert of the art. Since I’m a treasure master as well, I wish to learn from him.” Feiyun smiled and said.
“Well…” The youth didn’t know how to answer after hearing this.
“I’ve journeyed a long way from Crimson Territory because the elder enjoys teaching juniors. Please go send a message.” Feiyun went on.
“I see.” The youth said: “Wait out here a bit, I will let the elder know but I do not guarantee anything.”
The youth turned around and soared back into the palace.
You Zilin and You Ziling were ecstatic to see this.
A bit later, the youth returned and said: “You three are in luck, the elder is cutting spirit stones at Myriad-stone Mountain right now. He heard about juniors coming to visit and was quite glad. Follow me right now.”
Feiyun thought to himself that this elder was quite wily, seeing visitors under this pretense.
The palace was rather grand with numerous floating buildings. It was comparable to the residence of a territory lord.
The youth led them through a mountain range spanning dozens of miles, completely made of various ores. There wasn’t a single regular glass or pebble.
Some stones had powerful spirituality and a frightening aura. There seemed to be ancient paragons sealed within them.
The twins’ cultivation was still weak so they couldn’t withstand the pressure, feeling as if the soul was about to leave the body.
Feiyun stopped and said: “Stay out here, I’ll go alone.”
“No, we’ll go with you.” Ziling insisted.
“I forgot to say, there are many forbidden spirit stones here. One must put on a stone talisman to hide your presence first.” The youth suddenly said and then handed three talismans over to the group.
‘And here I thought he was strong, so it’s just the talisman.’ Yilin was frightened earlier, thinking that the youth was stronger than him.
The twins attached the talisman to their palms. A stone layer wrapped around their hand then an aura did the same to their body. This separated them from the outside world and turned them into non-living statues.
Feiyun handed the talisman back and said: “I’m a treasure master, I know how to nullify the forbidden stones’ power.”
The youth looked a bit surprised but didn’t say anything. He continued to lead the group forward.
Along the way, they saw many servants and a few armored patrols. The maids were relatively pretty but the guards could travel freely without talismans. They looked like spear-wielding specters. This mountain range was absolutely a highly-guarded location.
Finally, they came to a flat area. The stones here were large. The smallest was seven meters tall while the largest were hidden by the clouds. They had massive shadows, looking like immobile behemoths.
This place had a large gathering of cultivators, servants, and more than a hundred guards. Some were strong enough to prevent Feiyun from seeing their actual cultivation.
“He is the visitor who wishes to see the elder.” The youth bowed toward a muscular man.
“The one from Crimson?” The old man glanced at Feiyun and spoke softly.
The youth nodded.
The old man whispered something else before closing his eyes.
The youth returned and said: “The elder is looking for a forbidden stone that has run away. Please wait, Young Noble Feng.”
Feiyun smiled and said: “It’s alright, the elder’s matter is more important.”
“How does a stone run away?” Yilin whispered.
“All things can have spirituality and sentience, more or less. The ores here are special, any of them will fetch a sky-high price outside. It’s normal for this to happen.” Feiyun said.
Liu Suhong mentioned how this elder loved collecting special spirit stones. This turned out to be rather accurate.
He began looking at the cultivators here. All of them had the same uniform from Elder Lin’s mansion.
There was one exception – a youth, the only person who was sitting down. He looked around twenty years of age and was rather handsome with seemingly-sculpted features and thick brows.
He sat on a boulder and looked to be immovable. He didn’t have a talisman on him either.
When Feiyun stared at him, he sensed it and looked back at Feiyun. He narrowed his eyes before revealing a friendly smile. He then turned and focused on the stones again.
Not long after, a gray-haired old man returned. His face was full of wrinkles. He wore inexpensive clothes like a farmer.
However, everyone else tidied their robe and seemed to treat him with respect.
The muscular old man bowed and said: “Elder, did you find the stone?”
Elder Lin shook his head in response: “No, this stone was dug out from an immemorial ruin. It has the blood of a saint so it knows how to hide its own aura. Finding it will take some time.”
Elder Lin then bowed towards the sitting youth and smiled: “I was not told of your arrival, Second Prince. Please excuse me.”
The youth hurriedly stood up and stopped him from bowing: “Elder Lin, please don’t be so polite. I will always be your student. If you bow, then I’ll have to get on my knees.”
Elder Lin still slightly bent his back and said: “May I ask why you are here, Second Prince?”
The youth’s name was Ning Jialin. He took a jade box from one of the maids and respectfully handed it to the elder: “I’m here to see how you are doing, also to give you this medicine.”
Though the elder acted with reverence, it was clear that the prince was here to curry favor.
Feiyun watched quietly and analyzed the situation.
“An immemorial stone escaping is a big deal indeed. It might cause a lot of damage in this mountain range, would you like my help?” Ning Jianlin asked.
“Indeed.” Elder Lin nodded: “But wait a bit, Second Prince. I have another friend who has traveled far to come here so I can’t be rude.”
The elder knew how to interact with people. Even a servant would feel that he was somebody while talking to the elder.
