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Lu Chen ate the pastry without showing any emotion, then turned his head to look at the Taoist temple behind him.

Sanyuan Guan (Three Elements View)

Upon seeing this, he immediately narrowed his eyes.

Lu Chen discovered many of the same patterns again on the brackets, beams, and railings of the house.

I hadn't noticed it before.

What is the relationship between this Taoist temple and Qingzhu?

"How is it? How does it taste?"

Hu Bufan waved the pastry in his hand.

"These pastries are indeed quite good. Is this a business of the Taoist temple?"

Hu Bufan nodded: "Yes, I heard that this pastry was once a tribute item. Later, for some reason, the technique of making this pastry was passed on to a Taoist priest here, who then opened this pastry shop."

Tribute?

Things from the palace?

Lu Chen had some ideas vaguely forming in his mind.

"Let's go."

……

Late that night, a dark figure appeared outside the Sanyuan Temple.

Lu Chen felt during the day that the Sanyuan Temple was definitely related to Qingzhu, but there were too many people around during the day, so he waited until night.

I chose to come again in the dead of night.

Let's investigate and see if we can find any trace of the child.

During this time, he did not waste any time, but instead tested whether the energy absorbed by his self-created breathing method could unleash greater power like true qi.

The result surprised and delighted him.

This energy, when it adheres to the soles of his feet, allows him to unleash a speed far exceeding his previous speed, almost doubling it.

This is still because he's not very familiar with it yet; once he gets used to it, he can definitely increase the speed even further.

Furthermore, this energy can be hidden inside pebbles, accelerating as they are thrown, and upon contact with the target, it can unleash a powerful shockwave, as if a bomb has exploded.

Its power left Lu Chen speechless.

"Now that my strength has at least doubled again, I shouldn't be forced to flee in defeat if I encounter the Azure Lord!"

This is why he dared to come to Sanyuan Temple to investigate again.

Lu Chen carefully jumped onto the wall and looked inside.

At this time, it was the darkest part of the day, and even with his excellent eyesight, Lu Chen could only see that no one was moving around inside the Sanyuan Temple.

They're probably all fast asleep.

"I don't know if those at the Innate Realm need to sleep. I can stay up all night cultivating and not only won't feel tired the next day, but I'll be full of energy. If those at the Innate Realm are like me, then we need to be even more careful to avoid alerting them."

After observing carefully, he quietly jumped off the wall, as light as a feather, and in a flash arrived at the central hall. He stepped on the railing and jumped onto the eaves of the hall, and in a few moments he arrived at the highest point of the Sanyuan Temple, looking down at the temple.

"There shouldn't be any secrets in this busy area," Lu Chen said, his all-black attire blending perfectly into the night.

Standing on high ground, he looked around and finally discovered a rather strange place.

It was located in a corner of the entire Sanyuan Temple, with many trees planted in front and surrounded by a wall, while the back was adjacent to a river that runs through the city.

There was no path leading to that corner; it was blocked by a wall.

If he hadn't been standing on high ground, with his view extending through the trees to the houses behind, he would have simply overlooked it.

The entire layout is like... a locked room!

Yes, a locked room!

Another hidden space was created in the room, which outsiders could not see at all. They would think that this was just a wall and would never expect that there was a space behind it!

Lu Chen immediately sized up the route he had taken in the air and considered the direction of his retreat before quietly jumping down from the main hall and running forward along the route he had just found.

When he arrived at the destination, rows of tall trees blocked his way.

There's no road ahead.

Lu Chen kicked off a large tree beside him, using the force to fly to a branch in front of him. With a gentle swing, he landed on the wall.

Inside, it was pitch black, and there was no one in sight.

There was only one room, standing alone in the center of this "secret room".

As Lu Chen got closer, he noticed a very well-hidden iron gate locked in the corner. The path leading to the gate was blocked by clumps of bamboo, leading in another direction.

That direction should be where the abbot of Sanyuan Temple practices.

Lu Chen observed carefully for a while before jumping down from the wall.

The ground here is very clean, with hardly any fallen leaves, indicating that it is regularly cleaned.

He arrived at a house and quietly peeked inside.

The lighting was extremely dim, but the layout inside was clearly visible.

The room was completely empty, with a long, rectangular stone tablet in the middle, on which there were indistinct characters.

In front of the stone tablet, there is an offering table with an incense burner on it, with three incense sticks that have burned out.

Along one side of the wall, there was a table covered with a cloth, on which were some incense and candles.

Apart from that, only four bare walls remained.

He thought for a moment, then walked around the area and, near the river, discovered a very wide staircase.

The steps are underwater, clearly connected to the river outside, and are blocked at the bottom by an iron fence with bronze chains binding them.

"What's going on here? Are you bringing things in from outside?"

A scene flashed through Lu Chen's mind: in the dead of night, someone opened the fence here, and a boat was secretly transporting things down, without anyone noticing.

He jumped onto this side of the wall and immediately understood.

This is right at a corner, and the steps are on the side of the corner.

Outside the wall, a row of willow trees was planted, their branches drooping over the water, perfectly concealing the steps.

The opposite bank was the same, with a row of shrubs and rocks along the shore, as well as many willow trees.

I remember that Shanyang Prefecture City had a water gate, and this river led directly outside the city.

"Whether it's bringing things in or out, this place is quite secluded."

Lu Chen jumped down from the wall and walked up the steps to the house.

He quietly opened the door, went inside, and then closed it again.

"I want to see what secrets are hidden here!"

Lu Chen entered the room, and the four bare walls revealed nothing.

The only thing that stood out was the black stone tablet.

However, after studying the stone tablet for a long time, and even picking up the incense burner in front of it to examine it, he found nothing at all.

"Strange, this is so strange. This place looks perfectly normal. Is this normal?"

He turned his gaze to the ground.

Previously, both the Black Stick Gang and the Flower Gang operated underground.

However, the entire house had ordinary floor tiles.

He even had an urge to move the stone tablet to see if it was a mechanism.

"This place is so conspicuous, it doesn't make sense..."

He suddenly paused, stunned.

"Yeah, it's conspicuous! The key is that it's too conspicuous!" He shifted his gaze to the other side.

On that inconspicuous table against the wall, where incense and candles were placed.

This place is really inconspicuous.

He knelt down at the table and lifted the cloth covering it.

Something resembling a handle suddenly appeared before our eyes.

"really!"

He thought to himself, carefully lifted the table away, and lay down on the ground to listen carefully.

"It's so quiet, not a single vibration... Is it because the soundproofing is so good, or is there really no one here?"

He tried to grab the handle and slowly applied force.

"Click click click!"

The sound of mechanical gears turning could be heard.

The sound wasn't loud, even a little quiet, but in this quiet and open space, it sounded extremely jarring.

A crack about the width of a finger slowly appeared on the ground in front of him, and it gradually widened as he pulled it.

A cold wind blew out from inside, making it feel very cool in the scorching summer.

However, a faint smell of blood also wafted out from inside.

Before he could decide whether to continue pulling or restore it, he vaguely heard other sounds besides the gear noise.

Someone's coming!

And it's getting closer quickly.