#1766 - Three-story loft

And so, amidst everyone's busy treasure hunt, two hours flashed by.

By this time, Wu Fan had already passed through the outer area and arrived at the central part of the ruins.

Here, the buildings were noticeably more luxurious than those in the outer area. Occasionally, he could see a few two-story pavilions, and he even found several cave dwellings hidden in the jungle.

It was just a pity that, up to this point, Wu Fan's gains were not significant. The best things he found were some relatively rare materials and a slightly damaged ancient treasure in a cave dwelling that was clearly a refiner's.

It could be said that he had wasted several hours for nothing.

But there was no way around it. He was always afraid of missing something good if he didn't enter a building.

He figured everyone else was doing the same.

It wasn't until he passed through a small grove and arrived at an open area that his eyes suddenly lit up, but soon after, he frowned.

Ahead was a plaza spanning a hundred zhang, no longer with a sandy surface, but paved with bluestone, clean and tidy.

In the center of the plaza stood a magnificent three-story pavilion, carved with dragons and painted with phoenixes, very impressive. It looked like the residence of a high-level cultivator or a place like a council hall.

It could be said that this was the largest building Wu Fan had seen so far.

However, there was already someone standing at the gate.

"Oh! What a coincidence, Fellow Daoist Wu has also come here!"

Sensing someone arriving behind her, a dignified and beautiful woman at the gate frowned, turned her head to look, and her pupils shrank when she saw who it was, a hint of regret flashing across her face. However, the woman quickly smiled calmly and said.

That's right, this woman was none other than Madam Yan.

"Hehe, it is indeed quite a coincidence. It seems Madam Yan has just arrived!"

Wu Fan also regained his composure at this time, and walked over with a smile.

"Yes, I just arrived and was studying the restrictions here. However, I don't know anything about the Dao of Restrictions, so I was just about to forcibly break them."

Madam Yan glanced back at the vermilion gate and shook her head with a wry smile.

"Hehe, then why not leave it to Wu?"

Wu Fan was not surprised, and raised his eyebrows with a smile. He had recognized that this woman had just arrived because he saw that there were restrictions here, and they didn't seem to be damaged.

However, since this woman was the first to arrive here, he couldn't just ignore her and rush to snatch the treasure. He had to get her consent at the very least.

Of course, he wasn't worried that she would refuse.

Sure enough, only a trace of hesitation flashed in her eyes, and then she said with a charming smile:

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I just don't know if this is a place where treasures are hidden. If it really is, should we send a message to those few?"

The woman's last sentence had a deeper meaning, clearly seeking Wu Fan's opinion on whether they could take the treasure for themselves.

"Don't worry, fairy, let's go in and take a look first. But according to my estimation, this is most likely a council hall. A treasure trove wouldn't be placed so obviously here."

Wu Fan naturally understood what she meant. After a little pondering, he didn't say anything definitive, but he didn't think this was a treasure trove.

"Well, Fellow Daoist Wu is right, then let's go in and take a look."

Madam Yan's eyes flashed with a trace of disappointment, and then she stepped aside, making a gesture of invitation.

Wu Fan didn't waste any words, stepped forward and stood still, his eyes flashing with black light.

"Just ordinary restrictions, not difficult to break. But from this point of view, I'm afraid we won't have much to gain."

Before long, Wu Fan saw through the mystery of the restrictions, and shook his head with a wry smile. Then, without waiting for Madam Yan to reply, he began to inscribe in the air with his right hand. In just a moment, more than a dozen restriction runes appeared, and they shot towards the vermilion gate all at once.

Perhaps sensing the threat, a burst of chirping suddenly sounded outside the gate, and then a layer of golden transparent barrier emerged, covering the entire hall.

At this time, the restriction runes that Wu Fan shot out happened to hit the barrier.

There was no loud noise. As soon as the restriction runes collided with the barrier, they merged into it like water into milk. Then there was a series of slight noises, and at the same time, the barrier light curtain began to shake, but there was no sign of shattering.

Seeing this, Wu Fan was not in a hurry, and calmly shot out a few more restriction runes.

Finally, with the blessing of these restrictions, the barrier light curtain could not bear it, and began to melt outward from the middle, revealing a large hole. Before long, the entire light curtain dissipated.

"Alas! Whether there are good things or not, we have to go in and take a look. Let's go, Fellow Daoist Wu."

Hearing Wu Fan's words, Madam Yan inevitably felt a little disappointed. Saying this, she stepped forward and pushed open the long-sealed door, and then walked in.

Wu Fan shrugged and followed closely.

As soon as they entered the gate, the two began to look around, but before long, they exchanged wry smiles.

Sure enough, as Wu Fan had guessed, there were no treasures here, not even anything containing spiritual energy.

Within the two's sight, the hall was not small, but inside there were only dozens of chairs and tables, and some potted plants in the nearby corners. But unfortunately, the time was too long, and no one paid attention to these green plants. They had long since become withered and yellow due to insufficient soil nutrition. There were also some fallen withered yellow leaves on the ground, which were not beautiful.

In addition, there were some tea sets on the table, and a painting hanging on the wall directly in front.

Wu Fan had seen this painting before. It was the old man with the sword on his back standing on the cliff, but this painting was extremely large, more than ten zhang long.

"Let's go, fairy, let's go upstairs and take a look."

After discovering that there were no hidden back doors on the first floor, Wu Fan made a suggestion, and then, without waiting for the other party, he walked towards the stairs on the left.

Madam Yan naturally did not dare to let Wu Fan rush ahead, and hurriedly followed.

As soon as they entered the second floor, what came into view was a small living room, surrounded by several rooms with closed doors.

In addition to two chairs and a table, there was nothing else in the living room.

Wu Fan stepped forward and pushed open the nearest door.

But when he cast his gaze inside, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he walked in quickly.

Seeing this, Madam Yan's heart tightened, and she also flashed in.

This room was clearly an alchemy room. Against the wall was a shelf with wooden boxes, jade boxes, jade slips, pill bottles and some other things, quite a few in number.

As for the ground, there were only two items, one was a futon, and the other was a pill furnace. And what excited Wu Fan was this pill furnace.

Because he could see that this pill furnace was no ordinary object. Judging from the array patterns carved on it and the soaring spiritual energy it emitted, it was definitely a treasure. Although he wouldn't dare to say that it was more powerful than his Violet-Gold Phoenix-Patterned Furnace, its grade was definitely higher than his Golden Crow Blazing Flame Furnace.

You must know that the Golden Crow Blazing Flame Furnace was a veritable high-grade ancient treasure, which also meant that this pill furnace was at least an ancient spiritual artifact.

Discovering this, Wu Fan was naturally ecstatic. Although he had a world-rare pseudo-spiritual treasure like the Violet-Gold Phoenix-Patterned Furnace in his hand, it would still be a great joy to obtain an ancient spiritual artifact-level pill furnace.