Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 811 - 811 0501 Mural_2

Chapter 811: Chapter 0501 Mural_2 Chapter 811: Chapter 0501 Mural_2 Before Wen Jian could say anything further, Qi Tian waved his hand to dismiss Luo Xia. Observing Luo Xia’s departing silhouette, Qi Tian shook his head silently. He understood somewhat why the Imperial Master Mansion had been suppressed by the other two national master mansions without a day in the sun, over the years. It was not only because Mansion Master Xiao Xiaowu’s strength was inadequate, preventing him from becoming dominant, but also because the senior management, including the Great Elder and the heads of each hall, had misplaced priorities and lacked clear judgment in their actions—an exceedingly crucial factor.

In Qi Tian’s view, Wen Jian had never been a suitable successor for the Mansion Master. At the very least, Wen Jian’s breadth of vision was too narrow. Not to mention anything else, for all the contributions he had made to the Imperial Master Mansion, Wen Jian had never once told him, “Well done.” Such a person, if he were to become the Mansion Master of the Imperial Master Mansion, would be unable to unite the hearts of the disciples and followers beneath him.

Moreover, Wen Jian’s cultivation aptitude was not particularly outstanding. During Wen Jian’s injury, he was only at the Half-step Golden Core stage. Keep in mind that Wen Jian had received dedicated instruction from Mansion Master Xiao Xiaowu and had the best cultivation conditions in the Imperial Master Mansion. However, Wen Jian was stuck at the Half-step Golden Core realm, unable to break through. How could such a person become the Mansion Master?

In fact, Qi Tian had his plans for the Imperial Master Mansion. He originally intended to select one of his Immortal Slaves to act as the temporary Mansion Master after his departure, to reside in the Imperial Master Mansion and deter all directions. At the same time, he planned to leave behind Xu Jifa, Wang Xiuwu, and several others in the Pseudo Core Realm to safeguard the security of the Imperial Master Mansion. That was his arrangement for the upper echelons of the Imperial Master Mansion. Internally, naturally, he would choose talented and loyal disciples to cultivate so that, in the future, as they grew, he could transfer the power of the Imperial Master Mansion to them. Apart from that, he would also ensure that Prince Zhao gave the Imperial Master Mansion extra attention, allowing them to enjoy treatment far exceeding other sects and forces. In this way, the Imperial Master Mansion would surely be able to develop in the long term within the Great Zhao Nation, becoming a transcendent organization that stood above other powers. This was not a difficult task. However, his ideas, to a certain extent, could only be considered his own wishful thinking. The senior members of the Imperial Master Mansion were still harboring endless thoughts about Wen Jian, which greatly disappointed Qi Tian. Since they were content with being mired in mediocrity, Qi Tian was no longer willing to forcefully support them. He would just let them be, no longer meddling. He had done his best and was without guilt.

Qi Tian found a chair and sat down, watching Gao Jinmei and the others sort through that pile of junk. Qi Tian was now seriously doubting whether he had been duped—perhaps there was nothing of value within this collection, and someone had tricked him. But after calming his thoughts, Qi Tian felt it was highly unlikely. He did not know those cultivators who had suddenly rushed out to bid higher for the decrepit house, and they had no reason to harm him. Moreover, from any perspective, paying a higher price could hardly be considered a swindle.

Gao Jinmei and the others were cleaning very slowly, yet meticulously and attentively. They all made a presumption that there could indeed be a true treasure among these items. Hence, in their cleaning, they were extra careful not to overlook any possible clues.

It took Gao Jinmei and several Gold Core Realm experts working together more than a day to thoroughly review the items Qi Tian had entrusted to them.

“Master, we have finished cleaning. Please come and take a look,” Gao Jinmei said respectfully as she approached Qi Tian.

Qi Tian walked over, with Gao Jinmei following closely behind. “Master, after our arrangement, we unanimously determined that the most likely valuable item is this painting.”

“Painting? What painting?” Qi Tian was completely baffled. He had personally participated in the cleaning of the decrepit house and knew exactly what had been cleared from it. There was definitely no painting there. How had Gao Jinmei and others come up with a painting?

Gao Jinmei led Qi Tian to the front of a house, which they had rebuilt from the bricks, wood, and other materials they had cleared from the ruins Qi Tian had provided. Gao Jinmei ushered Qi Tian into the house and then pointed to one of the walls:

“Master, look here, it’s this painting.”

Qi Tian had noticed that Gao Jinmei and the others had restored the house very thoroughly, unsure how they had managed to return all the bricks, wood, and other materials to their original places, let alone that the items on the wall had been meticulously excavated by Gao Jinmei and the others and carefully reassembled onto the wall.

Qi Tian looked up and noticed that this was a mural painted directly onto the wall. When the owner of the house had painted it, they had applied a layer of adhesive clay on the outside of the bricks and stones, and then covered it with white lime before painting directly on it.

Many things, after a long period of time being eroded, couldn’t be restored no matter how miraculous Gao Jinmei and her people’s methods were, but even so, they managed to restore the mural to more than seventy or eighty percent of its original state.

This was a landscape painting. At first glance, it didn’t seem particularly remarkable. But upon closer examination, one would find a secret landscape within the painting—a multitude of mountains and rivers hidden within, as if a vast area had been condensed together.

If these details weren’t already curious enough, Qi Tian was especially shaken when he saw the few characters in the top right corner of the landscape painting—they spelled out “Horse Mountain.”

Qi Tian had never been to Horse Mountain, but he dared not forget its renown. A few years ago, soon after he began his cultivation journey, he had bought an item from a cultivator. Through the Heavenly Dao Engine, he had obtained a scroll that contained the fist technique of the Eight Desolate Demon Tiger Fist, along with half of a treasure map, which specifically marked Horse Mountain as the location.

Thereafter, Qi Tian sought information related to Horse Mountain whenever he had the chance. Despite having traveled north and south, visited countless places, and read an abundance of documents and records, he never found any that mentioned Horse Mountain. He once thought he might never encounter relevant materials again, yet unexpectedly, he found one today.

Qi Tian hurriedly made a rubbing of the landscape mural on the wall. Not satisfied with just that, he used spells to seal the wall in front of him, and with a wave of his hand, he then stored the entire wall into the storage room of the Heavenly Dao Engine.

Following that, Qi Tian asked, “Have you found anything else related to this mural?”

When Qi Tian asked this question, he did so with a sliver of hope, though he had personally cleaned the place once. If there had been anything, he would surely have known about it.

Gao Jinmei and the others shook their heads in unison. Initially, they hadn’t planned to rebuild the house. Later, upon discussion, they thought it was a good idea, and so they went ahead with it. During the rebuilding process, they discovered the existence of the mural and then shifted their focus to this task, ultimately managing to sort out the mural.

Qi Tian nodded. Gao Jinmei and the others were his Immortal Slaves; it was impossible for them to lie to him. After thinking it over, he asked, “Then have you heard any rumors related to Horse Mountain? Do you know where Horse Mountain is located?”

Gao Jinmei and the others shook their heads again. They could sense that Horse Mountain might be very important to Qi Tian. They really wanted to be able to help him at this time, hoping they might receive a generous reward from Qi Tian, but since they could not deceive Qi Tian, they had to let go of the possibility of such a reward.

Qi Tian looked disappointed, but he didn’t forget to offer a high reward. “Help me inquire around. Anyone who can provide definite information, I will not be stingy with the reward.”