Chapter 24: Choosing the Treasure

“That’s it!” Arranged neatly within the compartment were three small round bottles, but no samples were left outside.

In his excitement, Lin Feng forgot to use his jade slip to break the ward and reached out to grab one.

Boom! Before he could touch the porcelain bottle, a golden flash shot out. It was as if a bolt of lightning had struck him from above. His mind echoed with a deafening roar, and a piercing pain wracked his head.

Suppressing a groan, Lin Feng steadied himself and glanced around. Everyone else was still busily searching for suitable treasures, paying no attention to him. He breathed a sigh of relief, took out his jade slip, and carefully pressed it to the porcelain bottle. With a flicker of green light, one of the little bottles dropped into his hand.

His heart surged with joy. After calming himself, he hurriedly stored the Feng Shui Essence Gathering Pill and turned his attention to the others.

“Wow! Threefold Phantom Sword Technique!” cried one disciple, clutching a tattered sword manual and shouting in wild excitement. Some cast him envious glances, others scoffed and turned back to their own search.

Suddenly, the disciple’s expression changed. He looked at the jade slip in his palm, then strode toward the exit.

“What’s going on?” the crowd murmured, puzzled. Even if his contribution points were used up, he could at least browse a bit longer. Why leave now? There was still plenty of time.

Lin Feng glanced at the jade slip in his hand. The number 5188 was printed on it. “I can’t take anything else at random. Otherwise, I won’t be able to enter the third floor, and that would be a huge loss. Those two low-grade spirit stones can’t be wasted for nothing.”

Yesterday, after much deliberation, he’d exchanged the two low-grade spirit stones he’d obtained from the Ancient Green Nether Cave. Master Fei had said only after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage could one refine the pure spiritual energy within spirit stones to enhance cultivation. Rather than live in constant fear, it was better to exchange them for contribution points without worry. If he ever reached Foundation Establishment, he could seek out such stones again. Thus, he’d traded them for four thousand contribution points, becoming a leading figure among even the inner disciples.

While everyone was absorbed in their search, Lin Feng slipped up to the second floor. As he set foot on the upper level, a faint blue light flashed in the air.

“Well, this floor looks much the same as the first. I’ll come back to it later.” The second floor was empty, yet aglow with precious treasures and rare items, enough to make anyone linger in awe.

Steeling himself, Lin Feng climbed straight to the third floor.

The moment he entered, a riot of rainbow light dazzled his eyes.

“There aren’t as many elixirs here, but there sure are plenty of divine weapons.” With just a few glances, Lin Feng grasped the general layout.

The arrangement hadn’t changed much—manuals cabinet, divine weapons and artifacts cabinet, talisman cabinet, elixir cabinet, and miscellaneous cabinet from left to right—but the shelves were now made of a fine white jade called “mutton fat jade,” smooth and lustrous to the touch. Yet what truly caught the eye were the five rows of divine weapon cabinets, each displaying a categorized array of treasures. The myriad colors illuminated the airtight chamber, turning the third floor as bright as day.

Brilliant rays shot everywhere, filling the room with radiant splendor.

Almost drawn in by the rainbow glow, Lin Feng hurried over. The first row held swords, sabers, daggers, and spears. Some spots displayed only nameplates—no doubt taken by earlier inner disciples.

The next row offered axes, hammers, maces, and whips. The third held armor and crowns. The fourth and fifth were filled with a variety of strange and unfamiliar artifacts.

Despite his excitement, Lin Feng had to face an awkward truth: even if he could exchange for any one of these treasures, he couldn’t fully control them. Only cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage could wield such artifacts and swords, unleashing their true power. In the hands of ordinary people, these spiritual tools were little better than mundane weapons.

To take or not to take? In front of the first jade shelf, he gazed longingly at two spears labeled for five thousand points each, frowning in deep hesitation.

The Eight-Treasure Gold-Carrying Spear, over ten feet long, forged of purple gold, its head shaped like a gilded dragon—unmatched in sharpness, exuding a chilling aura.

The Black-Gold Armor-Piercing Spear, nearly twelve feet, silver-white shaft, trident blade, tempered with refined steel and black iron, easily pierced heavy armor—a rare divine weapon.

Both these artifacts were famous in the weapon annals, perfectly suited for him. Yet after a fierce internal struggle, Lin Feng forced himself away and headed for the talisman shelf.

“Icy Soul Talisman, Thousand-Mile Earth Escape Talisman, Immobilization Talisman... These look good, but they’re too expensive, and I can’t use them anyway. Forget it.”

He moved on to the elixir cabinet.

“Qiankun True Spirit Pill!” “Five-Dragon Golden Leaf Pill!” “Blazing Sun Vitality Pill!” Every name he read made his lips twitch. Just by their appearance, one could tell how precious these immortal pills were. Above each sample, colorful auras swirled—some like clouds and mist, others shaped like dragons or beasts—testifying to their extraordinary quality.

On the last compartment of the shelf, his gaze locked.

Here, the pill’s aura spun like a vortex, releasing a rich, milky-yellow glow from a thumb-sized elixir below, beside a large porcelain bottle shaped like a Buddha’s belly.

Beneath the compartment, a striking label read: Foundation Establishment Pill! Eight thousand points!

Lin Feng couldn’t tear his eyes away. A Foundation Establishment Pill—outside, people would fight to the death for one. Even more shocking, there were two on display at once! And this was only the third floor. What about the seventh, eighth, or ninth? He could scarcely imagine.

As valuable as the Foundation Establishment Pill was, he was not destined to enjoy it—at least not yet. He would have to wait three more years and see if his dantian could be restored. If so, he’d save up the points then. For now, he had to let it go.

Resolved, he turned to the shelf of cultivation manuals. Most were labeled over five thousand points. Lin Feng glanced over them and sighed—he couldn’t afford any. Only when needed did one truly lament a shortage of points.

The last row was the miscellaneous cabinet. He forced himself to search, hoping for an unexpected windfall.

“The sect master said most of this is trash—I’d better keep my eyes peeled.” He searched carefully among the heap of nameless odds and ends.

Even Master Fei from the Treasure Exchange Hall would be stumped by most of these items. Whether anything valuable could be found depended entirely on luck.

The objects were truly odd, and the price was consistent—a flat twenty-five hundred points.

Some were incomplete or unrecognizable, like a black crescent-shaped metal piece, perhaps part of a weapon, or a gold key that not even an immortal could tell which lock it fit.

As his gaze swept dejectedly over the items, a strange sensation came over him—the same feeling he’d had when he first met Cai Yi: subtle and indescribable. He looked again, and suddenly a plain stone caught his eye. Yes, that was it!

It was like meeting a stranger on the street and feeling you’d seen them before, though you never had—a mysterious sense of fate.

Lin Feng now felt a fateful connection with this stone. Black and glossy, shaped like a river pebble, it looked ordinary, yet he couldn’t look away.

Should he take the gamble?

“Why not? If I traded my spirit stones for a river pebble, at least they’re both stones—I won’t lose out! I still have two thousand left for a manual on the second floor.” He made a quick calculation, broke the ward, and took the stone.

It was cold to the touch, like ice. On closer inspection, it was indistinguishable from any ordinary stone.

“Really? That’s it? Just an ice stone?” Lin Feng groaned. Glacial stones were common beneath ancient glaciers, used in summer for cooling and preserving food. Beyond that, they weren’t much use.

“Never mind. I’ll just treat this as a sightseeing trip. Never again will I touch these odds and ends.” With a bitter glance at the dazzling third floor, he headed downstairs.

“Huh? No one here? The senior sisters didn’t come up?” Lin Feng frowned deeply.

Besides him, six others from the first group had access to the second floor, yet he hadn’t seen any of them. Odd!

After the wonders of the third floor, Lin Feng had no interest in the so-called superior arms on the second floor. He went straight for the cultivation manuals.

“Gasp...” The prices made him suck in a sharp breath.

“Falling Leaf Palm, three thousand points! Hua Ning’s Frost Sword Technique, thirty-five hundred! Blazing Sun’s Fiery Yang Skill, four thousand!”

“Heavens! This is a crime!” he wailed, glancing at his jade slip—only a pitiful 2638 left. Entering and exiting each floor cost fifty points, leaving him with exactly twenty-five hundred to spend.

“Please, please, let there be a cheap manual.” He scanned the shelves carefully, but time and again he was disappointed. These advanced manuals, each worth over three thousand points, were rare treasures for anyone in the latter stages of Qi Refinement.

Having obtained the Feng Shui Essence Gathering Pill, Lin Feng was already planning ahead. Without a top-tier manual, even at the late Qi Refinement stage there would be a huge gap between cultivators.

At last, in the final compartment, he found a suitable manual—Overlord’s Force! Two thousand five hundred points.

Just as he was about to take it, he noticed a line of small characters beneath the label.

“Huh? What does this say?” He bent closer. It was two words: Fragmentary Copy.

“Outrageous! A fragment for twenty-five hundred points? Who priced this—an idiot?” Lin Feng fumed, cursing loudly in the Treasure Pavilion.

Elsewhere, in a mysterious corner, two old men sat cross-legged, playing a leisurely game of chess. The board floated upright, more than forty feet tall, with gold-lit grids through which one could see the opponent. Stuck in the board were countless rainbow-hued swords, spears, sabers, and daggers, shooting out rays of light. Suddenly, one man’s face turned ashen with anger, while the other burst out laughing, his cherubic face beaming.

“Outrageous! Such disrespect deserves punishment!” barked the old man who had appeared at the pavilion’s entrance—the one addressed as Grandmaster by Zhuo Ran.

“Ha! Calm down, Junior Brother. Have you forgotten how we were when we first entered the second floor six hundred years ago?” the cherubic old man teased, eyes twinkling.

“Enough, Senior Brother. This isn’t the time. Let’s play on.” The old man, hiding his guilt, dropped the matter and flicked his finger. A snake-shaped double-bladed spear flew from the rack and embedded itself in the board. Below the still-trembling empty slot hung a lonely tag: Eight-Foot Serpent Spear.

Meanwhile, after venting his anger, Lin Feng calmed down. “A fragment is worth twenty-five hundred—if it were complete, it might be worth over five thousand. In that light, maybe it’s still a good deal. Why not try my luck?”

The poor boy, always forgetting his pain once the wound heals, took the manual. But when he opened it, he was dumbfounded.

Aside from the barely legible ancient script on the battered cover, inside were only three thin pages. The manual contained just the general outline and the first two levels.

As he brooded, a voice echoed in his mind: “Contribution points below a thousand—leave immediately!”

The command was stern and irresistible. Lin Feng instantly understood—the other disciples must have taken their treasures and been forced out early, which was why the place was empty.

Sighing, he put away the manual and hurried toward the exit.

“He’s out! He’s out!” A crowd of disciples spotted Lin Feng leaving empty-handed and rushed over enthusiastically.

Even the two elders glanced over. At the center of the plaza, beneath the giant cauldron, Senior Brother Yi Yuan and the white-clad girl turned to look.

“Well? Little Lin, let’s see what treasure you got,” Du Songsong was first to greet him.

Everyone had guessed Lin Feng had gone to the third floor, so they were all eager to hear about his adventures there. After all, they were still within Longxiang Peak and could speak freely. Even Nan Gongke and the others put aside their arrogance to listen in.

“No treasures. If you want to exchange for a suitable artifact on the third floor, five thousand points are nowhere near enough. Each manual costs at least six thousand, the elixirs are even pricier, and the Foundation Establishment Pill requires eight thousand points...” As Lin Feng spoke, many felt their hopes dashed.

(The treasure selection ends. The world of cultivation is about to unfold...)