"The secret manuals might be here, but forget about any heavy treasures. Faced with the disaster of annihilation, even the mountain peak where the Ancestral Hall was located was sliced off with a single sword. If there were any major treasures to guard the sect, they would have been taken out to defend against the enemy long ago, and wouldn't be left in the Ancestral Hall," Wang Yu said casually as he walked up the steps to push open the two black doors.

"Oh... that's a pity," the girl said, sounding disappointed.

But soon, she perked up again, saying, "Having secret manuals is still good. High-quality cultivation techniques are also very precious. If we can get a few, this trip won't be in vain."

With a "creak,"

the Ancestral Hall's mountain gate, which had been sealed for who knows how many years, slowly opened, revealing a narrow courtyard. The courtyard was empty, with only a large bronze vat in the middle, covered in green copper rust.

Walking closer, Wang Yu discovered that some ancient runes were chiseled around the bronze vat. The vat was half-filled with clear water, with a dark green water lily floating on top, emanating a strong aura of water-attribute laws.

"Wow, such a strong water vapor..." Hu Xiaocheng, being only a Nascent Soul cultivator, didn't have a deep understanding of the power of laws and exclaimed in surprise.

"Looks like there are still some good things here," Wang Yu said with a smile.

With a wave of his hand, the bronze vat disappeared under a layer of silver light, having been taken into his Flower Branch Grotto Heaven.

On both sides of the courtyard were two spacious corridors, leading to a large hall at the end of the courtyard.

This hall seemed to be just a central hall used for meetings. Apart from some futons that had long decayed, there was nothing else inside, making it seem rather empty.

Passing through this central hall, there was a small courtyard behind it, which was much larger than the front courtyard. The entire courtyard was paved with white stones, looking like a small martial arts field.

Beyond the martial arts field was the last and most important building of the entire Ancestral Hall.

Wang Yu looked up and saw a vermilion plaque hanging above the hall's door, with the four characters "Yuanyuan Liuchang" written on it.

Entering the hall, he immediately saw a high, nine-tiered altar.

On the altar were rectangular wooden plaques, decorated with gold leaf and intricate carvings. They were not shaped like the ancestral tablets found in ordinary households, but rather like longevity tablets for honoring the living.

After a brief count, Wang Yu found that there were more than eighty of them, all belonging to the sect's former sect leaders and elders.

On the lowest tier of the altar were two thick, gold-jade books, covered in a layer of golden light.

Wang Yu stepped forward and examined them briefly, discovering that they both still had sealing restrictions, but due to the passage of time, their spiritual power was insufficient, and they were very weak.

After breaking the seals with a wave of his hand, he flipped through them and found that these two books were not cultivation manuals.

One of them recorded a series of major events from the sect's founding to its destruction, serving as a chronological record of the sect.

The other was the sect's genealogy, recording the names of all members from the founding ancestor to the inner and outer disciples.

"So this sect was called the Qingjing Sect. After so many years of inheritance, it still couldn't avoid the disaster of annihilation..." Hu Xiaocheng couldn't help but sigh.

Hearing this, Wang Yu couldn't help but think of the True Words Sect and the Underworld-Freezing Immortal Mansion. Didn't they also suffer unexpected disasters?

He looked at the highest tier of the altar, his eyes flashing slightly. He suddenly noticed that the longevity tablet with "Chang Qingliu" written on it was a bit strange, so he grabbed it from afar.

The longevity tablet flew over with a "whoosh" and was caught by Wang Yu.

His eyes flickered with purple light as he examined it for a moment. The corners of his mouth curled into an arc, and he raised his hand to tap on the surface of the tablet.

After a moment, a burst of cyan light shone on the longevity tablet, and a jade slip hidden within flew out.

After taking the jade slip, Wang Yu waved his hand and put the longevity tablet back in its place.

"Is that the sect's secret manual?" Hu Xiaocheng, watching from the side, asked with wide eyes in surprise.

"That's right. It's indeed their Qingjing Sect's technique, called 'Formless Record'," Wang Yu said, nodding after placing it on his forehead to examine it for a moment.

"I was worried that you would have made this trip for nothing, and wouldn't get any treasures. Then all that money would have been spent in vain. Now that we have this secret manual, I'm relieved," Hu Xiaocheng said, her face filled with joy.

Wang Yu was slightly taken aback by this, and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips.

He took Hu Xiaocheng and searched the entire Ancestral Hall again. After finding that there was really nothing else, the girl still felt a bit disappointed.

However, Wang Yu didn't think it was a loss. The "Formless Record" was a technique for cultivating the power of water-attribute laws. Although it wasn't of much use to him, his Earth Transformation Incarnation, which was still in the Black Wind Sea Region, could use it.

Moreover, the bronze vat and the golden water lily he had put into his Flower Branch Grotto Heaven were clearly not ordinary objects. Just these two alone were more than enough to compensate for the immortal essence stones he had paid before.

The entire Ancestral Hall was located under the lake, so even though there was no breeze, it still felt unusually cool.

Wang Yu and Hu Xiaocheng sat on the threshold of the Ancestral Hall's gate, looking up at the light curtain above, both of them silent.

"Miss Hu, when the steward elder asked you to follow me, did he also instruct you to report my whereabouts at any time?" Wang Yu suddenly asked.

"How did you know?" Hu Xiaocheng said in surprise.

As soon as the words left her mouth, the girl regretted it. She scratched her head and said,

"Actually, it's not just you. The sect sends someone to follow all the distinguished guests who come here to rent. Of course, this is not mandatory, and you can refuse. It's just that the others are all extremely beautiful fairy sisters, and usually no one refuses. This time, I don't know what happened, but Elder Lu actually sent me to come along."

"That elder looks down on me, doesn't believe I can break the Water Mansion's restrictions, so he sent you here," Wang Yu said, seeing through everything.

"So that's how it is..." Hu Xiaocheng said with a sudden realization.

"Remember, others can look down on you, even despise you, but you must not look down on yourself. I see that your cultivation aptitude is good, but you're still stuck at the late Nascent Soul stage bottleneck, probably due to a lack of resources, right?" Wang Yu said seriously.

Hu Xiaocheng didn't know why Wang Yu was mentioning this and nodded in confusion.

Wang Yu flipped his palm and took out a small vermilion porcelain bottle, handing it to her.

"I don't have any elixirs suitable for low-level cultivators. The ones in this small bottle can only be used after you reach at least the Integration Stage. Keep it safe and take it when you've cultivated to a certain level in the future."

Hearing this, Hu Xiaocheng was stunned and didn't dare to reach out to take it for a moment.

Seeing this, Wang Yu placed the small porcelain bottle in her hand and raised his finger, tapping it on her forehead.

Hu Xiaocheng felt a shock in her sea of consciousness, and her whole body felt a bit ethereal. She swayed for a moment, then sat back down, realizing that Wang Yu's hand had already been withdrawn.

She explored her sea of consciousness in a daze and found that many characters had appeared in her mind, which were actually the technique called "Formless Record."

"Distinguished guest, you..." Hu Xiaocheng's body trembled, and she stood up suddenly, so surprised that she couldn't speak.

"Soon, the entire Three Rivers Lake will be turned upside down," Wang Yu said solemnly, standing up from the threshold, and slowly saying.

"Senior rented this Water Mansion, is it to do something big?" Hu Xiaocheng asked, changing her address.

"It's not a big deal, just waiting for someone," Wang Yu said indifferently.

"Is it a friend?" Hu Xiaocheng asked tentatively.

"Enemy."

"Ah... what can this servant do to help you?" Hu Xiaocheng asked, frowning.

"I've removed the mark left on you by the Combing Stream Sect. You should leave Combing Mountain immediately and go as far as you can. Cultivate well in the future and don't come back here," Wang Yu said, shaking his head slowly.

"Senior, why are you treating me like this?" Hu Xiaocheng asked, feeling a bit ashamed of her low cultivation level.

Wang Yu glanced at her, sighed, and said,

"Consider it compensation for my guilt towards another girl..."

Seeing that Wang Yu's expression was a bit bleak, Hu Xiaocheng felt inexplicably sad as well.

"If that's the case, I will repay your kindness one day when I've cultivated to a certain level," the little girl said after thinking for a moment, bowing deeply to Wang Yu respectfully.

"Go," Wang Yu said with a smile.

Hu Xiaocheng bowed again and then flew away.

After her figure disappeared, a ripple suddenly appeared beside Wang Yu, and the figure of the Soul-Devouring emerged from it.

"Master, aren't you afraid that she'll turn around and report you to the Combing Stream Sect and ask for a reward?" the Soul-Devouring asked impatiently.

"When have I ever been so inaccurate in judging people?" Wang Yu said with a smile.

Hearing this, the Soul-Devouring smiled and said nothing more.

"Even if she really disappoints me, it doesn't matter. I'm not making any disguises, coming here with my true appearance, and even leaving my real name with the Combing Stream Sect, isn't it precisely to let the people of the Immortal Palace know that I'm here?" Wang Yu changed the subject, saying leisurely.

"This time, we'll definitely make sure they come and never return," the Soul-Devouring nodded and said.

"Alright, now that we've decided to open the door to welcome guests, we have to arrange things properly, we can't be impolite," Wang Yu clapped his hands and said.

With that, he turned around and entered the Ancestral Hall.

...

Half a month later.

On Combing Mountain by the Three Rivers Lake, a white shuttle ten zhang long, glittering with spiritual light, hovered in the sky above the mountain cliff.

There were four people standing on the shuttle. The leader was a middle-aged man in a white brocade robe, followed by an old man with a long nose, a brightly dressed youth, and a black-robed man.

They were naturally Dongfang Bai and Tao Ji's group of four.

On the mountain peak below them stood a handsome young man in a green gauze robe and a round-faced old man. The former was the current sect leader of the Combing Stream Sect, and the latter was the steward who had previously received Wang Yu.

At this moment, both of them had slightly flattering smiles on their faces, looking at the four people high above.

"Apart from reporting the news of that person to the Immortal Palace, have you leaked it to anyone else?" Dongfang Bai asked, looking down at the two.