“Billy, what is this thing?” Harleen looked at the poorly presented black fruit in her hand, feeling unappetized.
“Billy, can we really eat this thing?” Felicia also wrinkled her nose.
“Stout is right, these are indeed good things.” Billy smiled and explained, “These fruits are called Elemental Spirit Fruits, a rare find once in a hundred years. Whether consumed directly or refined into pills, they have significant benefits for martial practitioners.”
“If a martial artist is below the level of Battle General, eating one Elemental Spirit Fruit can guarantee a breakthrough in one stage within three days!”
“Is it really that amazing?” Felicia exclaimed in surprise.
“You’ll know once you try.” Billy smiled again.
“Harleen, should we clean them before eating?” Felicia looked at Harleen.
“Yeah.” Harleen nodded.
Both of them were not the straightforward types and found it challenging to be as carefree as the others.
“Mrs Knight, Felicia, just eat them. It’s safe.” Night Orchid walked over, smiling at the two.
“As martial practitioners, once you break through to the Battle God stage, your body is different from ordinary people. Even if you accidentally consume some common poison in daily life, it won’t harm your body, let alone the slight dust on these fruits.”
“Really?” Felicia asked, slightly surprised.
“Of course!” Night Orchid smiled again.
“Thanks, Orchid. Then, I’ll give it a try!” Felicia stuck out her tongue, took out a tissue, wiped the fruit, and took a bite.
After chewing for a while, she exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Wow, it’s so delicious! Harleen, you have to taste it. It’s much better than apples!”
On the side, Len Quinn was almost infuriated.
After about an hour, Billy led everyone on a tour of the martial arts and weapons area, discovering many valuable items. Around an hour later, everyone returned from the attic hall.
“Where is the Ink Pool?” Billy turned to Len Quinn and asked.
“It’s in the back mountain!” Len Quinn pointed to the back of the courtyard in response.
“Lead the way.” Billy waved his hand.
“This way, please!” Len Quinn bowed and led everyone towards the direction of the back mountain.
“Boss, is Ink Pool really here?!” Casey asked while walking.
While speaking, a strong hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
“Have you heard of Ink Pool?” Billy asked with a slight pause, then smiled.
“Yeah,” Casey nodded, “I’ve heard people mention it before. I always thought it was just a legend, but I didn’t expect it to be real!”
“Casey, what is it?” Black Tortoise asked.
“If the legend is true, then we’ve hit the jackpot with our trip to Ink Pavilion today!” Casey said, slightly excited. He then introduced to everyone the information he knew about the Ink Pool.
“Is there a magical place like this?” Stout exclaimed, and the others had astonished expressions on their faces as well.
“In the past few hundred years, Ink Pavilion has been on the verge of complete destruction two or three times. However, not long after, it would rise from the ashes again. Now it seems that the Ink Pool plays an essential role in it!” Casey responded.
After nearly half an hour, led by Len Quinn, everyone arrived at a hidden valley located behind the large courtyard. This place was extremely secluded, and without guidance, it would be challenging for outsiders to find it.
Billy and the others looked around. Not far away was a cave entrance, about three to four meters wide and high. Inside the cave, the ground was covered with three rows of differently sized stones, extending to the depths of the cave. If observed closely, one could see that these stones were faintly carved with different inscriptions.
“Is Ink Pool in here?” Judge took a few steps forward to look inside the cave.
“Judge, come back!” Billy slightly furrowed his brow.
“Boss, what’s wrong?” Judge walked back and asked.
“This place probably isn’t straightforward, right?” Casey turned his head to ask Len Quinn.
“Indeed.” Len Quinn nodded. “This is the most core area of the entire Ink Pavilion, and many mechanisms are set up inside.”
“How do we break through?” Casey continued to ask.
“The mechanisms here, like the Ink Pool, are enhanced by formations. If forcibly broken, the entire cave will collapse, and the Ink Pool will be damaged.” Len Quinn responded. “So, to enter the Ink Pool, we can only avoid the mechanisms and not forcibly break through the formation. Otherwise, even if we find the pool, it will be useless.”
“This was specially arranged by the former sect master to prevent Ink Pool from falling into the hands of outsiders.”
“He was quite thoughtful!” Judge paused and continued, “How do we avoid the mechanisms?”
“Have you all seen the inscriptions on the three rows of stones on the ground?” Len Quinn paused before continuing, “To avoid the mechanisms, you can only step on the stones with the character ‘Curse’ engraved on them; otherwise, you will trigger the mechanisms.”
“Is it true?” Azure Dragon spoke as he swiped a gust of wind towards a stone engraved with the character ‘Ink’.
Whoosh!
As Azure Dragon’s palm wind hit the stone, an intensely cold and ruthless aura shot out from the walls on both sides of the cave. The entire passage turned into a large meat grinder, filled with murderous intent. Sensing the power of these auras, the faces of the people couldn’t help but show expressions of astonishment.
Without surprises, these auras would be enough to slay any martial artist weaker than a Novice War God-Emperor.
After the killing formation persisted for two or three minutes, the passageway returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.
“Try again!” Vermilion Bird said and the blade in his hand sent a blade aura towards another stone engraved with the character ‘Heaven’.
Crack!
After the blade aura passed, the stone was split in half. In the next moment, a row of densely packed hidden weapons shot out from the passage, sweeping like a storm, covering every corner. Similar to before, the hidden weapon storm lasted for about two or three minutes before the passageway returned to calmness. Everyone involuntarily gasped.
Just from these two mechanisms, it could be seen that the person who set up this formation was definitely not an ordinary person. They probably were at least at the late Emperor level.
“Alright, let’s go in!” Billy then looked at Len Quinn.
Today, they had the guidance of Len Quinn; otherwise, even if they found this place, they might have returned empty-handed.
“Okay!” Len Quinn nodded and stepped into the passage, stepping on the stones engraved with the character ‘Curse.’ As he did, the passageway remained calm, with no abnormal signs.
“It’s so amazing!” Felicia had an amazed expression.
“Yeah.” Harleen nodded. Both of them were astonished and couldn’t help but exclaim, “The person who set up this formation deliberately placed safe stepping stones with the characters ‘Curse’ on them! Even if outsiders know that these stones provide a safe place to step, they probably wouldn’t think it would be the ‘Curse’ character!”