When Jiang Wang first came to Qi, he deliberately avoided the State of Jing. He crossed the Long River early and traveled through the States of Wo, Ji, and You… all the way to Qi.

The State of Jing held the three prominent lineages of Taoism, making it the undisputed core among all Taoist nations. Having just escaped from the State of Zhuang, Jiang Wang instinctively wanted to stay far away from it.

In truth, if he had been familiar with the route, traveling straight down the Long River by waterway to the vicinity of the Xia State in the Southern Domain, and then heading north to the Qi border, would have been much faster.

This time, as Jiang Wang left the State of Qi and headed back, he wanted to avoid the State of You again, minimizing contact with the scheming Grand Preceptor Zhao Cang. Therefore, the final route he planned was almost hugging the border of the State of Jing.

Xiang Qian never voiced any opinion on the route. Any route was fine with him.

His only concern was how to get more rest.

However, Jiang Wang completely ignored him.

Since leaving the State of Zheng and officially starting their journey, Xiang Qian’s only rest time was during Jiang Wang’s cultivation.

Another day of travel ended, and the two stopped in a mountain forest. The early winter night was very quiet. Xiang Qian casually found a large tree and lay down on its branches.

He usually fell asleep as soon as he lay down, but for some reason, he couldn’t fall asleep immediately tonight.

It wasn’t the environment. He was never picky about environments.

The young man named Jiang Wang was sitting cross-legged on an open space in the forest, bathed in moonlight.

Traveling was actually very tiring. Even though cultivators’ physiques far surpassed ordinary people, traveling day and night for tens of thousands of miles would still bring an unsuppressable fatigue.

But along the way, Jiang Wang only traveled and cultivated. He never slacked off in his daily morning and evening exercises, his familiarization with Taoist arts, and his sword practice.

Although Xiang Qian didn’t say it, how could he not know about the fame Jiang Wang had made in Linzi, being in the Yang region? In the small Qingyang Town, even Dugu Xiao, merely a maidservant, was treated respectfully by the new City Lord of Jia City. Wasn’t it all because of Jiang Wang?

Jiang Wang, already praised as a genius of the State of Qi, with a future of boundless promise, was still working so hard.

Xiang Qian couldn’t help but admit the envy in his heart.

He wasn’t envious of the fame Jiang Wang had earned.

He envied Jiang Wang’s ability to move forward so firmly, while he himself had lost his goal long ago.

If…

Xiang Qian paused, and finally closed his eyes again.

There were no “ifs” in the world.

He should just sleep.

Unlike Xiang Qian, who was heavy with thoughts, Jiang Wang was free from distractions when he cultivated.

If one were to visualize their Five Viscera Sea, with the Taoist Meridian Dragon resting on the lonely island between Heaven and Earth, and the lonely island suspended above the sea, and a great sun hanging high in the sky above the sea, that would be the location of the First Inner Palace.

The divine soul leaped into the Inner Palace, and the inside was different. It wasn’t just the interior of a fireball.

Instead, it was a series of connected rooms. The rooms were small, with only four walls.

Each room was the same size, width, and even brightness.

This once reminded Jiang Wang of Ji City, the Tian family’s city, which was like the character “田,” with all the rooms identical and monotonous. He wondered if it was designed to imitate the Inner Palace.

Jiang Wang “walked” through the completely identical rooms, using his divine soul to sense every detail. This process was called “sweeping.” Upon reaching the Inner Palace realm, cultivation began to require the use of the divine soul.

The process of “sweeping” the Inner Palace was itself a process of tempering the divine soul.

If the divine soul were likened to an infant, for a long period after its birth it would be nurtured in a “swaddling cloth,” which was the Palace of Reaching Heaven. Only after opening the Inner Palace would it be considered to have left the “swaddling cloth,” initially learning to “walk,” taking unsteady steps. Only later would it “run” and even “fly.”

But Jiang Wang’s situation was different. Because he had received the gratitude of the people of Qingyang Town, and had survived the Calamity of the Flying Snow in the Rouge Mirror, his divine soul was far stronger than that of ordinary Inner Palace cultivators. Even while still in the swaddling clothes, he could already run and even fly.

At this moment, as he “swept” the Inner Palace, three hundred black Hidden Snakes roamed around, greatly shortening the time he spent “sweeping the rooms.”

The number of “rooms” in the Inner Palace was limitless, theoretically infinitely explorable.

Buddhism says, “In a grain of sand, one can see three thousand worlds.”

In the most minute place, there is also the possibility of infinite expansion.

The Inner Palace, as the location of the human body’s secret treasure, was also the same.

But it wasn’t necessarily the case that the more rooms explored, the stronger one became. After all, no matter how far one explored, one could only choose one secret treasure.

Within an Inner Palace, multiple secret treasures were hidden. One could choose any one, but once missed, it would never reappear.

Some cultivators would continue to move forward, constantly giving up and constantly discovering, single-mindedly seeking the best secret treasure. But they would find that the later ones were not as good as the ones they had initially given up, and they would become increasingly unwilling, only to sink deeper and deeper, ultimately wasting time and moving forward in vain.

Therefore, in the Inner Palace realm, the advice Jiang Wang received from Zuo Guangshu, Chong Xuansheng, and even Guan Yan, was to seize the suitable secret treasure immediately when encountered.

Greed has no end.

The Palace of Reaching Heaven truly resembled a palace, and the Inner Palace was indeed like a mansion.

In Jiang Wang’s case, the Palace of Reaching Heaven was ancient and lofty, while the Inner Palace was cramped and complex.

Every room in the Inner Palace was empty, but at the same time, all the rooms had a faint light. The faint light came from the illusory image of a seed suspended from the ceiling.

It was a fiery red, slender, oval seed, representing the divine ability of the Samadhi True Fire.

The divine ability illuminated every room Jiang Wang explored in the Inner Palace, helping him to more easily discern the details.

With the help of three hundred divine soul Hidden Snakes, the number of rooms Jiang Wang had explored had just reached one thousand two hundred and ninety-six today.

A sudden surge of emotion captivated Jiang Wang.

He relaxed his mind and manifested his divine soul in the farthest Hidden Snake.

The rooms were identical, but there were different traces.

The Samadhi True Fire divine ability seed materialized, illuminating everything. In a certain instant, Jiang Wang’s mind was trapped in the vast void.

In the boundless universe, two stars collided. A huge explosion occurred, and the power of destruction spread far and wide. Countless tangible and intangible existences were destroyed. However, those who looked up at the starry sky might only see a point of light.

That was a spark.

Jiang Wang found the answer.

Secret Treasure: Starfire.

Once activated, this secret treasure could last for a quarter of an hour. Its effect was to increase the power of fire-attribute Taoist arts by a full 10%.

Jiang Wang mastered a Thorns Crown, which could amplify the power of Taoist arts by 20-30%. However, the initial level of that Taoist art was only Grade B Upper Rank. Although it had been deduced by the Stage of Evolution later, its effect was becoming increasingly limited. Its amplification effect on Grade A Middle Rank Taoist arts such as Eight-Sound Flame Sparrow and Flame Sparrow Carrying Flowers was extremely weak, and it also increased the casting time.

Therefore, he rarely used it anymore.

But secret treasures were different. The secret treasures of the human body would grow along with the cultivator, and could be used forever. At different levels, it could maintain its effect.

Jiang Wang did not hesitate and grasped the ball of Starfire.

This may not be the most powerful secret treasure, but it was undoubtedly very suitable for Jiang Wang’s current combat system.

No matter how many choices there were ahead, he didn’t plan to look at them anymore.