Chapter 2301: The Second Hall
Ling Ximo looked at the keys and held her breath. She knew that it wouldn’t be easy picking the right one from the bunch.
“Brat, be careful.” An old cultivator kindly reminded Li Qiye: “This isn’t about luck, look carefully since each key is different. Look at the runes and symbols on them, these are text. If you can understand these texts, you will be able to read the keys. Doing so would let you find the right one to the next hall.”
This experienced old man didn’t want Li Qiye to waste money for nothing.
“Elder He, that’s easier said than done. Not to mention little characters like us, even progenitors might not be able to understand these keys’ mysteries. They are too profound and bottomless.” His friend shook his head and smiled.
Li Qiye chuckled at the goodwill and answered: “Thank you for reminding me, unfortunately, I have no knowledge about these ancient texts and will only be testing my luck.” Having said that, he picked a key without even looking.
After taking it, the key actually imprinted itself onto his palm.
“Shit, what kind of luck is this?!” The old cultivator was in disbelief.
“Whoa, looks like luck can work too.” His friend’s eyes widened: “Old men like us have been thinking about what makes each key unique and deriving the meanings of the text. Of course, we only saw the bare surface, but now, you picked it right away. This thing is still luck dependent to an extent.”
“Well yeah, otherwise, Xuan Xiao wouldn’t have been able to do it. Everyone knows about his heaven-defying luck and legendary tales.” A different expert laughed.
“Let’s go.” Li Qiye grabbed Ximo’s hand.
A buzz came with a golden glow from the seal. The two of them immediately entered the second hall.
“I’ll do it too!” Many cultivators here saw his success and tried to replicate it.
They didn’t bother looking at the set of keys at all and just picked one at random. Unfortunately, these keys turned to gold powders.
“Why can’t I be that lucky?” Others felt that the heaven was being too unfair.
“Luck is not something everyone possesses, otherwise, Xuan Xiao wouldn’t be the only one truly recorded in history. If everyone was lucky, they would be wealthy already, no need to come here.” An ancestor said disapprovingly.
***
The sceneries changed before Li Qiye and Ximo. Once everything became clear, they were in the second hall.
She immediately looked around and saw the similarities between the first and second hall. The main difference was that these works of art were changed.
Moreover, the first hall was filled with people. Some locations were densely packed. This number decreased in the second hall, only a few hundred people.
This crowd wasn’t in a hurry to live. Some were thinking about how to get to the next one; others thought about picking their treasure here.
It wasn’t easy for them to come here so some took their time to enjoy the arts - something they have been looking forward to.
“Master, do we want to go to the third?” Li Qiye saw the group of cultivators that went here before them.
“No, don’t be too greedy, I can only handle this much with my cultivation so the second hall is the limit. Only True Gods can see more at the third hall and above. At the higher levels, such as the fortieth hall and up, even True Emperors would have problems.” This senior knew his own capabilities.
“Then what treasures should we pick?” The disciples became excited since they were going to stop here.
“Here.” This senior clearly had experiences with this place. After a moment of contemplation, he picked a portrait and placed his palm with the key seal on it.
“Creak.” The painting opened, revealing a stone chest inside. It was sealed so no one knew of its content.
“I wonder what it is?” The disciples became rowdy, stretching out their neck for a better look.
However, their master was much more cautious. He took the chest and stored it in his fate palace before telling the kids: “Let’s go, we’ll look after returning home.”
A portal existed in the center of the second hall. This was absent in the first, allowing people to teleport back to the entrance of the palace.
Of course, many didn’t want to leave like this. Though the treasures were before them, they still wanted to gamble to make it to the next.
“Are we taking it?” Someone asked his friend.
“No, let’s keep going, maybe we’ll get lucky and get to the 30th hall. I heard someone got a painting there comparable to an Ancestral Weapon. The moment this painting is unwrapped, it could take in the heaven and earth and anyone else in the way. This eventually became the defining treasure of a system, so damn magical. If we can get there, we’ll be so rich. Becoming an emperor after coming back is a sure thing.” His friend spoke with such conviction.
He then chose a statue and placed his marked palm on it. His golden key mark moved on to the statue.
“Creak.” The statue opened, revealing the 128 keys inside.
The youth hesitated for a while before picking one: “This one will make us rich.”
Unfortunately, it turned into powder and disappeared without a trace.
“Shit!” The youth blurted out, full of regrets: “I wasted this goddamn treasure.”
He didn’t need to gamble again and could have left with an item. Now, he lost coins for no reason.
“Haha, I got it!” Someone else in the corner heartily laughed. He picked the right key to get to the next hall. His hand started glowing and he was taken to the third hall.
It didn’t take long before the place was filled with waves of laughter and curse. The former naturally found the right key while the latter lost completely.
Some also knew their limit and decided to cash out on their treasures instead by exchanging the key, not wanting to reach the third hall.
Meanwhile, Li Qiye repeated his observation from the first hall, enjoying all the statues and paintings. After getting his fill of arts, he raised his hand.
“Are we exchanging the key or moving on to the third hall?” Ximo quietly asked.
“We’re moving on.” Li Qiye smiled and moved his key mark to a painting. It opened to show off its keys and he instantly took one without thinking.
This key naturally imprinted itself onto his palm.
“Alright, to the third.” He held her hand and the duo disappeared inside a golden glow.
There were even fewer people in this place but Li Qiye didn’t care. He continued to do his own thing - meticulously going through each item.