Chapter Ninety-Three: The Turtle Shell Illusory Treasure

The Wu family held little real power within Yellow Dragon County City.

Yet the weapons forged by the Wu family were unquestionably formidable.

As Su Yizhao stepped inside, he was immediately surrounded by mystic arms and divine weapons filling the room.

For more than thirty yards in every direction, the walls were hung with all manner of mystic arms and divine weapons.

Cultivators came and went, arriving in high spirits and leaving well satisfied.

Su Yizhao passed the first three rows of mystic arms and walked straight toward the back.

A few of the attendants merely glanced at him before turning away to serve others.

Fine bearing, perhaps, but plain dress and unremarkable cultivation. He did not look like someone who could afford a divine weapon.

Su Yizhao stopped.

Before him was a complete set of flying swords.

Nine swords hung together, as if born of the same source, resonating with one another.

Superior divine weapons.

And not just any superior divine weapons, but a matched set.

“The Nine Swords of Shared Purpose were forged from a single piece of ten-thousand-year mineral crystal. They were cast together and came out of the furnace together. Wielded properly, their power is beyond imagination!”

At that moment, a cultivator came over and began explaining beside him.

Su Yizhao gave a slight nod, acknowledging it.

The cultivator smiled and said, “Nine superior divine weapons forged and fired together like this are exceedingly rare. Judging by your expression, fellow daoist, you seem rather interested?”

Su Yizhao shook his head.

The flying sword he used now was also a superior divine weapon, forged by the Tang family, who had passed down their craft for a thousand years. In terms of quality, any single sword of his was certainly no worse than the ones before him.

But one had already been devoured by the old turtle’s attack.

If the Heaven-Breaking Sword Art were executed with nine flying swords, its might would surely increase by a full ten percent.

There were even rumors that the seventh-tier Cosmos Sword Art could command ten thousand flying swords.

“Do you want it or not, fellow daoist? There are still plenty of customers over there!”

Su Yizhao answered crisply, “I want it.”

The cultivator lit up. “Really?”

Su Yizhao nodded. He was not short of mystic stones, so naturally he meant to replace the swords.

“Three million seven hundred thousand superior mystic stones!”

“No problem, but I want to meet the master who forged these swords,” Su Yizhao said, turning to stare at the man.

The cultivator first looked as though it were impossible, then showed a troubled expression. “Master Wu is very busy.”

Su Yizhao casually flicked his hand, and ten superior mystic stones flew over.

The cultivator caught them with both hands, overjoyed. “What matter brings you here, fellow daoist? Under ordinary circumstances, the master truly does not see outsiders!”

Su Yizhao said softly, “I have a treasure and would like Master Wu to appraise it.”

Seeing how serious he sounded, the cultivator was startled and said, “Please wait here, fellow daoist. I’ll report it, but I cannot guarantee Master Wu will agree to see you.”

With that, he hurried off toward the inner courtyard.

Su Yizhao continued studying the divine weapons on the wall.

There were no void treasures here.

After all, void treasures were far too precious; even the most ordinary one cost more than ten million.

More importantly, a void treasure had to be nurtured within the dantian. Without being tempered by a cultivator’s own essence, it could not unleash much power at all. In fact, it might not even be as useful as a cultivator’s bare fist.

Void-realm cultivators were already capable of tearing through space. In battle, the fist arrived in an instant, carrying the combined force of essence, body, and soul. Compared with an untempered void treasure, it was far more practical.

Su Yizhao was recalling the records in the books when the cultivator came running back.

“Master Wu happens to be free! Please come with me!”

Following him into the inner hall, Su Yizhao was greeted by a middle-aged cultivator with a ruddy face, who got straight to the point.

“What treasure do you need me to appraise?”

Su Yizhao asked, “Master, how is the Wu family’s reputation?”

The middle-aged cultivator straightened his back. “Our ancestors came from the Mystic Arms Hall of the Mystic Heaven Sect. What do you think of our reputation?”

Su Yizhao nodded. If they dared use the Mystic Heaven Sect as their guarantee, they should not be lacking.

He said, “Can you handle the shell of an old turtle at the peak of the Ninth Void Realm?”

The middle-aged cultivator gave a violent start. “Really?”

With a thought, Su Yizhao drew a turtle shell out from his storage ring.

The shell was enormous, taller than a man.

The middle-aged cultivator stood up, reached out to touch it, and said, “I am Wu Yingyou. I’ll handle it for free. Come back in three days.”

Su Yizhao turned and left.

Three days later, he entered the inner hall again.

Wu Yingyou was still beaming brightly. “Fellow daoist, catch!”

A scale the size of a palm flew before Su Yizhao, and he hastily reached out to take it.

That huge turtle shell had been reduced to this?

Wu Yingyou showed no trace of embarrassment; if anything, he seemed rather pleased with himself. “At last, the ancestral forging method has had a chance to prove itself. This is the cream of the cream, so do not underestimate it. As for that set of flying swords, take them as my thanks. They are yours now!”

Su Yizhao was speechless.

So that was what had happened. They had used the shell for practice.

A set of flying swords was certainly valuable, but compared with an old turtle at the peak of the Ninth Void Realm, it was still far too little.

“What level is it?” he asked.

“A top-grade void treasure!”

“How do I use it?” Su Yizhao was quite satisfied upon hearing it was top-grade.

Then again, it made sense. That old turtle was already at the peak of the Ninth Void Realm; it was only natural that its accompanying treasure would be of a higher grade.

Wu Yingyou said in surprise, “You still want to use it?”

Su Yizhao was even more puzzled.

What was the issue?

Wu Yingyou explained, “A void treasure can only be used once you’ve at least reached the Void Realm. For now, you can refine it first and nurture it within your dantian!”

Su Yizhao was speechless once more.

That was exactly what he meant by using it. Did the other man think he had not even known that void treasures required the Void Realm to wield?

Activating a void treasure consumed far too much mystic energy. He suspected that even his mid-stage Six-Spirit Realm cultivation would not be enough for a single use.

He took his leave of Wu Yingyou and returned to the inn.

Taking out the palm-sized scale, he began to refine it.

Refining it, in truth, meant branding the internal formation with his own spiritual imprint.

His spiritual sense sank into the scale, and one natural array after another appeared within it.

Formation work was itself a path of cultivation.

Some cultivators specialized in formations and, by comprehending the Dao through arrays, could become incomparably powerful.

Su Yizhao had come from a remote backwater in the southwest, so he naturally knew nothing of formations.

But that did not stop him from leaving his imprint upon them.

Within the scale, profound formations were arranged in neat order.

Following Wu Yingyou’s instructions, he found the central core array and slowly etched his mark into it.

“Why has the Su Yizhao from Backhill City still not arrived?”

In the hall of the Gou Family Auction House in Yellow Dragon County City, more than ten cultivators were glancing around uneasily.

Gou Jianren was somewhat annoyed.

That Su Yizhao had borrowed fifty million mystic stones. Could he be afraid of being pressed for repayment?

But debts must be repaid; that was only natural.

More to the point, he had heard that Su Yizhao had won 3.7 billion in the matches in Backhill City.

3.7 billion.

As the master of the auction house in Yellow Dragon County City, he had never possessed so many superior mystic stones in all his life.

“Senior Gou, for so many years in Backhill City, only one person entered the second round this year, and even then he entered in first place. Could there be some problem involved?”

A young cultivator suddenly spoke up.

Gou Jianren shot him a look and said sourly, “What the hell problem could there be? What problem could possibly exist in front of the supervising cultivator?”

The young cultivator did not understand why his mood had suddenly turned so foul, and quickly explained, “I meant, could the Backhill City branch be breaking the rules set by the main branch?”

Gou Jianren immediately shook his head. “Impossible. The main branch set this rule for a reason. It is a good thing. All these years, everyone who has walked out of the Gou Family Auction House has gone far and risen high!”

“Let us hope so,” the young cultivator said. “Otherwise, should I try probing him in a moment?”

Just as Gou Jianren was about to stop him, he suddenly felt something and looked up toward the entrance of the hall.