Chapter 368: As Expected, It’s Not That Simple

Luo Linlang’s face was somewhat pale. She shook her head and said, "It’s nothing serious. I’m just a bit tired. Don’t worry, I have it under control."

She was now proficient in the Word Spirit Technique. Logically, manipulating Lu Sangjiu’s luck for a specific goal should have been a simple matter.

But when she had actually tried to use it, she’d vaguely sensed that this place was covered by another kind of law, which had placed a subtle pressure on her.

This had forced her to change her phrasing several times. As a result, she now felt she had let Lu Sangjiu down.

After explaining, she said guiltily, "I’m sorry, Little Junior Sister. This was the best I could do."

Lu Sangjiu, of course, shook her head. "I’m sorry, Senior Sister. I’m the one who troubled you. Please, rest. Just increasing my chances is already a huge help!"

With that, she handed Luo Linlang an Elixir Pill and urged her to quickly meditate and recover.

Soon, an incense stick’s worth of time had passed. The Stone Gate opened again, awaiting the next person.

This time, Li Qiancheng stepped forward first. "I’m the Eldest Senior Brother. I’ll go."

Lu Sangjiu hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t argue with him. She just nodded and said, "Eldest Senior Brother, if you find any Elixir Pills that can extend one’s lifespan, don’t worry about anything else. Just take those."

Li Qiancheng nodded and entered.

Luo Linlang had just expended too much energy and needed time to recover, so she would naturally go last.

Lu Sangjiu had planned to go after Li Qiancheng, but Shen Yuzhao interjected, "I’m your senior brother, so I’ll go first! Besides, Little Junior Sister, you have the aid of Senior Sister’s Word Spirit Technique. If we can give you even more of a boost, your chances of getting the Heavenly Luo Pill will be that much greater."

Lu Sangjiu considered his point and realized he was right. She nodded and said, "Alright. In that case, Third Senior Brother, be careful."

Those who entered would leave through a different exit. Since people only went in on their end, not knowing what was happening inside was rather unsettling.

As a result, this incense stick’s worth of time seemed to drag on longer than usual. Only after what felt like an eternity did the Stone Gate open again.

Lu Sangjiu looked at the meditating Luo Linlang. "Senior Sister, I’m going in now. You’re last, so please be careful."

Luo Linlang opened her eyes, smiled, and nodded at her. "Don’t worry, I’ll be fine."

For some reason, however, Lu Sangjiu couldn’t shake a faint sense of unease in her heart.

She paused, then turned back and placed her Six-sided Exquisite Dice in Luo Linlang’s hand.

"Senior Sister, keep this for your protection."

The Six-sided Exquisite Dice had a miraculous effect when used with Luo Linlang’s Word Spirit Technique. Furthermore, Luo Linlang was at the Nascent Soul Stage; she could bring out its greatest potential.

The resulting lightning strike might possess the power of a blow from the Body Integration Realm. It could very well prove useful.

Luo Linlang had just used her Word Spirit Technique. Even though she had rested for a bit, she still wasn’t in her best condition. Lu Sangjiu felt more at ease leaving the Six-sided Exquisite Dice with her.

Luo Linlang hesitated for a moment, but then she considered that if they were to be separated, the dice wouldn’t be very useful to Lu Sangjiu without the aid of her Word Spirit Technique.

So, she nodded readily. "Alright."

Only then did Lu Sangjiu turn and walk toward the Stone Gate.

From the outside, the area beyond the Stone Gate had looked pitch-black, but upon stepping through, she found the space to be brightly lit.

Lu Sangjiu instinctively glanced back, but the Stone Gate behind her had vanished. ’Is this some kind of spatial-overlapping Spell?’

Pulling her focus back, Lu Sangjiu looked ahead. Before her was a straight corridor, with a long row of cabinets lining the wall to her left.

The cabinets had four rows of drawers each, from top to bottom. Every drawer was shut tight and appeared identical.

But then she noticed faint marks on some of the drawers, as if they had been scratched with a knife.

Looking closer, she saw some had one scratch, while others had two, or even three. With a little thought, Lu Sangjiu guessed that her master and senior brothers must have used these marks to grade the value of the items inside.

With that in mind, Lu Sangjiu reached for the first drawer in the top row, one that bore a single scratch mark.

She had assumed opening a drawer would be easy, but when she actually tried, she found it felt impossibly heavy. Even she had to use her full strength to pull it open slowly.

After pulling it open, she glanced at what was inside: just some ordinary Third-grade Elixir Pills. Not a great find, indeed.

She then tried to pull the next drawer, but it wouldn’t budge no matter how hard she tried. She had no choice but to push the first drawer closed again.

Pulling it out took effort, and pushing it back was just as difficult.

Lu Sangjiu mentally calculated the time. Opening and closing a single drawer took five or six breaths and consumed a significant amount of her Spiritual Energy.

By this calculation, in the span of an incense stick’s burning, including the time spent walking, she could probably open around a hundred drawers. And by the end, she would likely have exhausted more than half of her Spiritual Power.

’So much for a "bonus,"’ she thought. ’It’s not nearly as simple as it seems.’

As she mulled this over, Lu Sangjiu pulled open a second drawer.

To test her theory about the marks, she again chose a marked one—this time, a drawer with two scratches.

Inside was a Low Grade Magical Treasure. In terms of value, it was indeed worth more than the previous Elixir Pills.

Having verified her hypothesis, Lu Sangjiu stopped wasting time and started opening the unmarked drawers.

Three people had gone before her, likely opening around three hundred drawers in total. If none of them had found the Heavenly Luo Pill, it meant she had to find the single pill among the remaining seven hundred drawers with only about one hundred attempts. ’This really isn’t going to be easy.’

To open more drawers in the limited time, Lu Sangjiu had to use her full strength, shortening the time spent on each one.

This would drain her Spiritual Power faster, but luckily, she had Demonic Qi in addition to her Spiritual Energy. Depletion was the least of her worries.

As time passed, she found a dazzling array of treasures in the drawers, but none of them caught her eye. They were the sort of items she wouldn’t regret missing out on.

When she reached the midpoint of the corridor, she was about to open the drawer right in front of her when, for some reason, her gaze was suddenly drawn to the one beside it.

She had a strange feeling that there might be something good inside this one.

Lu Sangjiu knew this must be Luo Linlang’s spell taking effect. Without a moment’s hesitation, she reached out to open that drawer.

However, when she opened it, it wasn’t the Heavenly Luo Pill. It was still a great find, though: a Seventh Grade Demon Pill.

A seventh-grade elixir was already quite a remarkable item. ’Should I take this one?’