The entire hall was vast, and Lin Yi stood within it as if he were a miniature figure in a giant's world. Enormous pillars supported the entire hall, and dragon-shaped patterns adorned the pillars vividly. On the main wall of the palace, a lifelike stone dragon clung to the surface, its body probably spanning several dozen yards.
As the totem of the Cloud Dragon Nation, Lin Yi couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence when he saw such a realistic dragon.
"I didn't expect the young hero to be proficient in the art of formations. The speed of breaking the formation is no less than mine," remarked the fish demon with admiration.
"Lucky me, I found the location of the formation eye, allowing me to escape from the illusion formation," Lin Yi replied.
"The first time I broke through this illusion formation, it took me several days. Human cultivators have too much advantage in the way of formations," said the fish demon.
"Why don't you mention the envy and jealousy caused by the long lifespan of your demonic race?" Lin Yi glanced at the fish demon.
"At the top level, your human race still has the upper hand. Now, the demonic race is lacking in successors," the fish demon replied.
"Friend, this dragon looks so lifelike. Have you touched it?" Lin Yi changed the subject and returned to the center of the hall.
"No, I was busy searching for other exits, checking if there were any secret chambers or the like. I didn't bother with this statue," replied the fish demon.
"Look at the teeth inside the mouth of this dragon head; they are almost the size of your body. If this dragon were to come back to life, could it swallow both of us in one bite?" Lin Yi joked.
"I don't mind if you want to be a snack for the giant dragon, but count me out. I still want to live a few more years," said the fish demon speechlessly.
Lin Yi surveyed the walls of the hall but found no cracks. In the empty hall, only two tiny figures, one human and one demon, stood.
"Have you, in all your visits, not discovered any secret passages or hidden doors?" Lin Yi asked.
"No," the fish demon replied concisely.
Lin Yi walked towards the dragon statue, ascending the huge stone steps one by one. As he approached the dragon statue, he felt an extremely rich spiritual energy around it. Even the Qiankun Peak of the Taiyi Sect, located in the Copper Bo Mountain, couldn't match the richness of the spiritual energy here.
Lin Yi couldn't help but sit down and cultivate in front of the dragon statue. The fish demon also approached, feeling the exceptionally rich spiritual energy around, and couldn't resist devouring it. The human and the demon practiced side by side.
Several days passed swiftly, and Lin Yi's Taiyi Lingqing Technique advanced to the ninth layer during these days of cultivation. His injuries had also healed, and he appeared energetic and refreshed.
Seeing the fish demon still cultivating, Lin Yi, with nothing else to do, tapped and knocked on the surrounding walls to check for any hollow areas. Unfortunately, he found nothing.
Lin Yi found it very strange. With such a grand spatial layout, it couldn't merely be presenting a dragon statue. There must be unknown secrets waiting for him.
The surrounding walls had been examined without any findings. The dragon statue couldn't be casually tapped or knocked on. That left only the four pillars, each with a diameter of five zhang.
"No, no, these four pillars must have some issues," Lin Yi almost let the principle of the dark becloud his judgment.
Lin Yi came to the side of one pillar, carefully observed, and then tapped and knocked around. No clues were found.
He, unwilling to give up, flew to the top of the pillar. After careful observation, he finally discovered a slight anomaly.
There was a pattern at the top of the pillar, and its direction was opposite to the pattern on the pillar's body. Lin Yi flew to the tops of the other three pillars to check.
Sure enough, at the same position, there were different patterns. Suppressing his excitement, Lin Yi gently touched the pattern.
As he pressed down, a small door appeared beside the top of the pillar. Lin Yi called out to the fish demon, who woke up with a response.
Seeing Lin Yi unexpectedly opening a small door beside the top of a pillar, the fish demon was overjoyed. It leaped to Lin Yi's side, and the two of them rushed into the hidden door together.
As the two figures disappeared into the hidden door, it closed behind them.
Having struggled to return to the location of the hidden door, the King of Miao Ying, who was trapped in the formation, finally entered the illusion formation. After forcefully breaking through the illusion formation, he arrived at the hall but found no traces of Lin Yi and the fish demon. Lin Yi and the fish demon had already entered the hidden door beside the top of the pillar for several days.
Seeing the empty hall, the King of Miao Ying vented his anger on the Azure Dragon statue. Several vigorous forces hit the statue, but it remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.
Just as the King of Miao Ying was curious and approached the Azure Dragon statue to see if it was a treasure, the head of the Azure Dragon suddenly came to life.
Opening its large mouth, a powerful suction force directly sucked in the King of Miao Ying. After devouring him, the Azure Dragon quickly returned to its original statue-like appearance, as if everything that had just happened was an illusion.
In the hidden chamber exploring treasures, Lin Yi and the fish demon were unaware that their pursuer had met his demise. They were still troubled by the long secret passage.
Lin Yi and the fish demon were initially ecstatic when they entered the hidden door. Unexpectedly, after entering, the door closed, and a long passage illuminated by embedded pearls on both sides appeared. The entire passage was lit up.
Lin Yi and the fish demon followed the direction illuminated by the pearls, walking towards the depths of the passage. After walking for a long time, they unexpectedly encountered a wall.
In other words, there was no discovery at the end of the secret passage. When the two turned back to the entrance, the situation had changed, and they couldn't return.
This meant that Lin Yi and the fish demon were trapped in this rectangular passage, with no way forward and no way back.
Lin Yi and the fish demon exchanged glances, feeling at a loss, as neither had a good solution.
"Let's split up and search. I'll go to that end, and you stay here. We can meet in the middle. How about that?" Lin Yi suggested.
"No problem," agreed the fish demon.
The two of them began a meticulous search. Without any obvious anomalies, Lin Yi and the fish demon had to use the most straightforward method, searching inch by inch in all directions of the rectangular passage.
Lin Yi's luck was obviously better than the fish demon's. Soon, he discovered a clue. He knocked on a hollow top brick and shouted, "Fish friend, come quickly, I've found something here."
The fish demon swiftly arrived at Lin Yi's side. Lin Yi had already removed the hollow top brick, revealing a circular groove. The fish demon approached and said, "Young hero, press it and see."
Lin Yi inserted his hand into the circular groove and felt a button-like object inside. After pressing it forcefully, the wall at the end of the secret passage opened. Lin Yi and the fish demon exchanged glances, expressing their joy.
The two dashed into the hidden door, finally seeing the possibility of rewards. In the square room, there was a cushion, indicating it might be a secret room for closed-door cultivation.
After a thorough survey, the entire room was laid bare. Lin Yi reached out, grabbed the cushion, and absorbed it into his palm. Upon careful examination, he found a small item. Breaking open the cushion, he discovered it was a ring, but not just any ordinary piece of jewelry; it was the famous Mustard Seed Ring.
The fish demon gazed enviously at Lin Yi's Mustard Seed Ring, and Lin Yi immediately bonded with it by infusing it with his blood.
After Lin Yi established a bond with the Mustard Seed Ring, he could instantly sense the space and items within it using his spiritual consciousness.
Unfortunately, there were no items inside the Mustard Seed Ring. Although a bit disappointed, the Mustard Seed Ring itself was a rare treasure.
Lin Yi placed everything from his spatial ring into the Mustard Seed Ring.
Seeing the envy in the fish demon's eyes, Lin Yi said, "Fish friend, if we come across good things later, you'll have the priority."
The fish demon nodded, hoping that the subsequent secret rooms would contain better treasures, as the number of treasures in this secret room was indeed disappointing.
Exiting through another small door in the secret room, the two surprisingly found themselves at the bottom of the pillar they entered earlier. The mechanism was cleverly designed: the entrance only allowed entry but not exit, while the exit only allowed exit but not entry.
The two proceeded to the second pillar with the same tactic. This time, the room behind the hidden door turned out to be a small pool, filled with a translucent greenish substance.
Approaching and examining it, Lin Yi and the fish demon exclaimed simultaneously, "Millennial Spirit Ointment!"
This was a valuable item. The most direct use of the Millennial Spirit Ointment was to instantly restore the expended spiritual power in one's body.
An even greater use was to apply the Millennial Spirit Ointment to any part of the skin on the body, and after refining and absorbing it, it could accelerate the absorption speed of the surrounding spiritual energy, at least three times faster than before.
"So much Millennial Spirit Ointment. It should be enough for both of us," the fish demon marveled.
"I'm afraid it's not just a millennium. Look at the color; the ointment is already translucent green. The Millennial Spirit Ointment is only a light shade of green," Lin Yi reminded.
"Fish friend, you can use it first. Whatever remains after you use it belongs to me," Lin Yi generously said.
"Thank you, Young Hero, for your great kindness. I, Old Cangyu, have lived for thousands of years, and this is the first time I've encountered such a righteous friend. I would like to propose becoming brothers with Young Hero. What do you think?" The fish demon sincerely proposed. Now, whether the fish demon could obtain the Millennial Spirit Ointment depended entirely on Lin Yi's decision.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yi was so trustworthy. It was the first time the fish demon, as a member of the demonic race, had encountered such a righteous and trustworthy person. Feeling a mutual understanding, he couldn't help but appreciate Lin Yi.
"Oh, if Fish Friend has such intentions, Lin is naturally willing to accept," Lin Yi replied, looking at the fish demon's sincere eyes.
The two declared their brotherhood, swore blood oaths, and paid respects to the heavens and the earth. Lin Yi, with his strength, became the elder brother, and the fish demon willingly became the younger brother.
(End of this chapter)