Zhi Xuan suddenly looked up as he felt a gust of wind sweeping down from the sky.
In the sky, he saw several people flying through the air on swords.
Seeing this, Zhi Xuan slightly raised his brows.
"Those people are not affected by this Magic Field at all?"
He touched his chin for a moment.
After some time thinking, he finally came to a conclusion.
He speculated that this Magic Field only used the stone steps as its trigger. In other words, anyone who did not directly step onto the stairs would not be affected by it at all.
In the next second, Zhi Xuan immediately jumped down from the stairs with all his strength and landed below. Then he walked out of the examination area.
"Indeed, the moment I jumped and both my feet were no longer on the stairs, that Magic Field could no longer affect me!" Zhi Xuan muttered.
When he saw Elder Qin and Elder Lin observing him, Zhi Xuan immediately waved his hand and said, "Seniors, I give up!"
The two elders exchanged a glance, then nodded. Elder Lin calmly said, "Very well. You may take this examination again next year once you have sufficient strength."
Zhi Xuan could only nod. As he looked into the distance, his gaze lingered on the previous woman.
Zhi Xuan smiled slightly, then turned and left.
…
A few minutes later.
Zhi Xuan arrived in a forest. He saw a small lake that was only about ten square meters in size. The lake glowed with a golden light, as if fragments of gold had been scattered across its surface. Seeing this, Zhi Xuan revealed a faint smile.
Zhi Xuan walked a few steps forward and found a cave.
Earlier, he had asked several people in the city about the direction of the golden lake, and after learning the route, he rushed here.
However, what he was truly looking for was not the golden lake, but a cave located behind it.
This cave looked very ordinary from the outside, but in reality, it contained an invaluable treasure. Even if the most powerful figures in the world desired it, they would not be able to obtain it.
It was a small box containing eight jade stones.
As Zhi Xuan entered the cave, he immediately walked in the direction he remembered from when he read Zhen Lin Feng's novel.
Although the direction might not be one hundred percent accurate, following the protagonist's path would significantly increase the chances of finding the box.
After walking for a few minutes, Zhi Xuan saw a light at the end of the cave. Seeing this, he quickly ran toward it.
Once he arrived, Zhi Xuan immediately scanned his surroundings, his eyes hurriedly sweeping across the cave.
And in the next moment, he saw a box covered in dust, its surface extremely dirty.
The box was not large, only about twenty centimeters in height and fifty centimeters in width.
Zhi Xuan immediately picked it up and swallowed hard before opening it.
As soon as the box opened, a golden light burst out from within, illuminating the entire cave. Zhi Xuan instinctively closed his eyes.
When the golden light finally faded, Zhi Xuan slowly opened his eyes and looked inside the box.
Zhi Xuan smiled. "So this is jade stones from ancient times, from the war between the gods hundreds of thousands of years ago."
Zhi Xuan then thought for a moment. What should he do next? He did not know how to absorb Spirit Qi, nor even the basics.
"Hmm..."
After thinking for a while, Zhi Xuan decided to store the jade stones and the box inside the cave for now.
"It would be better if I return to the city and see if I can find a cultivation manual there."
As Zhi Xuan stepped out of the cave, after only a few steps, he suddenly tripped over a small stone lying at the edge of the lake.
Zhi Xuan fell forward, his head pointing toward the lake.
Plak!
His head hit the ground. When he tried to get up again, his eyes suddenly widened as he saw his reflection in the lake water.
Zhi Xuan touched his face and murmured, "Is this me?"
He was now wearing a white robe. His skin was as flawless and smooth as jade, pure white without any defects, giving him an elegant and refined appearance. His eyes were crimson red, with golden pupils. Looking closely, his eyes seemed like a sea of blood.
And his black hair flowed down his back.
At that moment, a strong wind blew past, causing his robe to flutter majestically.
Zhi Xuan froze, clearly shocked by his own appearance. But just as he was about to speak, his lips trembled.
He bit his own lip until blood appeared at the corner of his mouth, then shouted, "Isn't this Gu Qingzhou's face!"
Gu Qingzhou was a supporting character in Zhen Lin Feng's novel, but that was not what shocked Zhi Xuan the most. The real reason was that Gu Qingzhou was specifically created to become a stepping stone for the protagonist to obtain a technique.
"Eighteen Thousand Swords of Xianhu..."
This was one of the techniques that made the protagonist invincible across the Nine Continents.
Zhi Xuan calmed himself and strengthened his resolve. In the next moment, he muttered, "I will never follow the plot of that novel!"
He stood up and looked into the distance. "For now, I need to gather strength as quickly as possible."
…
Zhi Xuan returned to the city, and along the way, he asked several people for directions to the Gu Family residence.
The people did not find his question strange, as they themselves had never seen the face of the Young Master of the Gu Family.
However, while he was asking, a girl from a distance watched him with a confused expression.
The girl tilted her head. "What is big brother doing?"
…
In front of the Gu Family residence.
Zhi Xuan glanced left and right before walking toward the gate. Upon arrival, the two guards immediately allowed him to enter with smiles on their faces.
Zhi Xuan did not know much about Gu Qingzhou's situation, as Gu Qingzhou only appeared briefly in Zhen Lin Feng's novel.
All Zhi Xuan knew was that Gu Qingzhou was the eldest son of the Gu Family, one of the four great families in Qingshi City.
And Gu Qingzhou possessed a Sacred Body known as the Body of Calamity.
Ancient records stated that it was the highest-tier Sacred Body in the entire continent, though very little information about it remained in historical texts.
Even so, it did not change the fact that it was one of the most mysterious and powerful Sacred Bodies in existence.
While other Sacred Bodies were already difficult to cultivate, something like the Body of Calamity was even harder to control. However, if successfully controlled, even a single minor breakthrough could allow its user to rival cultivators of a higher realm.
Unfortunately, due to unwillingness to fall behind other young cultivators, Gu Qingzhou forcefully broke through to the peak level of the Xuan Qi Realm using pills.
This resulted in an unstable peak Xuan Qi Realm cultivation.
And it completely ruined his Sacred Body.
A Sacred Body that should have easily suppressed opponents of the same realm or even higher, was now reduced to being on equal footing with others of the same level.
In essence, Gu Qingzhou was no different from someone without a Sacred Body, since his cultivation foundation had been ruined by forced advancement.