Chapter 166: Chapter 163: Divine Skills Right in Front, but Can’t Be Opened?

A stale, sour, musty smell suddenly billowed out from the cave’s entrance.

The stench was so overpowering that Wang Meng stumbled back two steps and fell right on his butt.

He gasped for breath, staring blankly at the pitch-black entrance.

"Holy shit... In the middle of nowhere like this, what unlucky bastard dug a cellar out here?"

"It’s not a cellar."

Han Feng stood at the edge of the entrance, in no rush to go down.

A faint light flickered in his eyes. He had already activated his [Spiritual Vision] ability.

Below them was a deep stone staircase of about forty to fifty steps, descending diagonally into the unknown depths.

At the foot of the stairs, a nearly transparent mist was slowly churning.

That wasn’t water vapor.

It was a miniature Force Field, formed by Spiritual Qi that had settled over countless ages within the enclosed space.

"Let’s go down and take a look."

Han Feng pulled a Cold Flame Firework from the side of his backpack, snapped it alight with his fingertips, and casually tossed it inside.

The ghastly white light instantly tore through the darkness, illuminating the steps blanketed in thick dust.

The Cold Flame Firework clattered all the way to the bottom without disturbing any living creatures or triggering any traps.

Seeing this, Wang Meng once again shouldered the backpack that made him look as bulky as a bear.

He followed behind Han Feng, axe in hand.

The two of them slowly descended the stone steps.

As they ventured deeper underground, the temperature plummeted, and the air grew viscous.

The texture of the rock underfoot changed.

The brittle structure of the rock outside gave way to hard, smooth bluestone slabs.

Each slab was engraved with intricate patterns.

Though most had been worn down by time, Han Feng could still recognize them as some kind of Rune used for reinforcement and sealing off auras.

This didn’t seem like the work of a major power.

It was more like the sanctuary of a solitary powerhouse, or a private dwelling.

After reaching the end of the stairs, they saw a corridor more than twenty meters long stretching out before them.

That strange, thin mist permeated the entire corridor.

One detail made Han Feng’s pupils constrict.

The dust they stirred up as they descended floated toward the corridor’s entrance, only to stop as if it had hit an invisible glass wall.

The dust was completely blocked, unable to advance a single inch.

The air inside and outside this corridor didn’t circulate.

"Fengzi, I... why do I feel a little dizzy?"

Wang Meng’s voice had suddenly become slurred and indistinct.

Han Feng turned back.

Wang Meng’s gaze was starting to lose focus, and he was unsteady on his feet, like a drunk who had downed three catties of bootleg liquor.

The Alloy Giant Axe in his hand fell to the ground with a CLANG, but he himself was completely unaware.

"Money... So much money..."

Wang Meng broke into a dopey grin, drool trickling from the corner of his mouth. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"They’re all Spirit Coins! Gleaming and golden! That’s mine, it’s all mine! Nobody better try to take it from me!"

He mumbled as he clawed madly at the air.

He ended up clutching a fallen piece of rubble from the corner, treasuring it and rubbing it against his face.

He was still muttering, "I’m rich! I’ll go back to East Sea City and buy a huge mansion..."

’An Illusion Array.’

’And one that preys on the desires of the heart.’

In Han Feng’s Spiritual Vision, this mist was composed of active, psionic-interference particles.

They were all-pervasive, actively infiltrating the mind and amplifying one’s most primitive cravings.

’Aside from getting stronger, all that simpleton Wang Meng thinks about is getting rich.’

’That’s why he was seeing a floor full of gold coins.’

Han Feng, however, stood within the mist and felt nothing unusual at all.

He could even clearly "see" those Energy Particles attempting to burrow into his mind.

But half an inch from his skin, they were incinerated by an invisible power, failing to create even the slightest ripple.

His [Heart Clarity and Nature Seeing] trait, combined with a Spiritual Strength of over two hundred, made this Low Tier Illusion Array no more effective against him than a gust of wind.

"Brother Meng."

Han Feng called out.

Wang Meng gave no response. Cradling the worthless rock, he had already started planning for his future one hundred wives.

The corner of Han Feng’s mouth twitched.

’Forcibly waking him might damage his spirit.’

’Besides, dragging a drunkard who could fly into a fit at any moment would be a liability.’

He walked behind Wang Meng, extended two fingers, and pressed neither too lightly nor too heavily on the Dazhui acupoint on the back of his neck.

Wang Meng’s body went limp, and he slumped to the ground. Snores instantly echoed throughout the corridor.

"Just have your get-rich-quick dreams out here. It’ll keep you from causing trouble inside."

Han Feng dragged Wang Meng into a corner and sprinkled a circle of Insect-Repelling Powder around him.

The Illusion Array itself was the best defense; Wang Meng was actually safer here than he would be outside.

After seeing to his teammate, Han Feng walked through the corridor alone.

At the end was a stone door, left slightly ajar.

He didn’t use his hands, instead nudging the door open with his scabbard.

"SCREEECH—"

The long-rusted hinges let out a grating screech that set one’s teeth on edge.

Behind the door was a stone chamber of about fifty square meters.

There was none of the imagined splendor, let alone mountains of treasure chests.

It looked more like the study of a destitute scholar or the seclusion chamber of an ascetic.

On the stone bed in the corner, a straw mat had decayed into dust.

The stone table in the center had a broken leg and leaned crookedly against the wall.

A few meditation cushions were scattered on the floor. When Han Feng touched one with the tip of his boot, it went POOF and disintegrated into a puff of dust.

Several large wooden chests were stacked in a corner of the room.

Han Feng walked over and lifted the lid of the first one.

A thick, carbonized smell wafted out. The clothes and fabrics inside had long ago turned to a pile of black powder in the river of time.

The second chest: bottles and jars.

He picked up a Porcelain Bottle and pulled out the stopper, but all that came out was a hard, blackened clump of medicinal dregs that reeked of a pungent, sour smell.

’The Elixir Pills were ruined long ago.’

He opened all the chests one after another.

The result was the same.

The iron weapons had become lumps of rust that crumbled at a touch, and as for the wooden bases for the Talismans, not even a speck remained.

The length of time this place had been abandoned was likely longer than the entire history of East Sea Fortress City.

"After all this, it turns out I’m just here to do some archaeology?"

Han Feng brushed the dust from his hands, finding the situation somewhat amusing.

But he didn’t give up.

’Since there was a protective Array, the master of this place couldn’t have been an ordinary person. It’s impossible they left nothing behind.’

He activated his [Spiritual Vision], his gaze sweeping across the stone chamber inch by inch like a searchlight.

Finally, his gaze locked onto the crooked stone table.

Beneath a layer of dust thick enough to bury a person, a palm-sized object was emitting an extremely faint, yet incredibly resilient, spiritual glow.

The glow was muted, completely imperceptible to the naked eye without Spiritual Vision.

He walked over and gently blew away the dust.

A pale green Jade Scroll lay there silently.

The surface of the Jade Scroll was as smooth and gentle as water. Despite being buried in dust for countless ages, it remained utterly spotless.

Han Feng reached out and picked it up.

A chill that seeped into his very bones spread up from his fingertips.

An idea struck him. He carefully tried to probe it with the precious, newly-formed wisp of Sword Essence inside his body.

BUZZ!

The Jade Scroll trembled violently.

A power far more immense and ancient than he had ever imagined erupted from within the Jade Scroll, forcefully repelling him.

It wasn’t an attack.

It was a condescending expulsion that would brook no defiance.

Han Feng felt his fingertips go numb. The wisp of nigh-indestructible Sword Essence was forcefully repelled, sent rampaging through his meridians.

’I can’t get in?’

His brows knitted together as he tried again.

The result was the same.

This Jade Scroll was like a safe protected by the highest-level password.

And he didn’t have the key.

’Divine Sense...’

Those two words popped into Han Feng’s mind.

This kind of vessel, used by High Tier Cultivators to record their core legacies, could not be opened with energy or brute force.

It recognized only one thing—Divine Sense, which was Spiritual Power condensed to its absolute limit, capable of leaving the body to interact with physical matter.

Though his Spiritual Power was strong, it was like scattered sand, unable to be twisted into a single rope.

Han Feng gripped the cold Jade Scroll, sensing the vast, ocean-like presence within. For the first time, an intense feeling of powerlessness washed over him.

The Divine Skills were right in front of him, yet he couldn’t even touch them.

This was worse than death.