Translator: AnubisTL
The sect treasury differed somewhat from Li Qing's expectations. He had imagined it would be as opulent and grand as the Hall of Technique Transmission.
In reality, it was surprisingly plain, resembling nothing more than an ordinary warehouse.
"This..."
Standing at the entrance, Li Qing was stunned for a long moment, unable to believe this was the sect treasury.
The dimly lit space was filled with piles of old objects in the corners, and each step stirred up clouds of dust.
"Heh heh, Junior Brother Li, many are surprised when they first see the sect treasury," the Elderly Elder guarding the treasury chuckled, his reaction entirely predictable.
"Does it seem too ordinary? Don't be fooled into thinking these are just common items. If they were truly ordinary, why would the sect have stored them here for so long?"
"I certainly didn't expect it to be like this," Li Qing admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Though they may appear like mere miscellaneous items, each item here has some significance, however slight."
"Most of these are ancient artifacts from the Ancient Era. I remember years ago, an elder found a rusty lock here. That seemingly ordinary iron lock turned out to be a true longevity lock!"
"If worn continuously, this lock could extend one's lifespan by nearly a hundred years!"
The old elder smiled as he recounted some of the sect's history to Li Qing, all based on true events, not mere fabrications.
Hearing this, Li Qing's eyebrows twitched slightly. He asked, "Why would such a longevity lock be left to gather dust here? Couldn't the sect's Ancestors sense its extraordinary properties?"
"Indeed. The elder who discovered it was deeply immersed in ancient texts and possessed profound knowledge of that era, allowing him to recognize the lock's unique nature."
"Truly unbelievable," Li Qing nodded before entering the sect treasury alone.
A unique formation had been set up inside, rendering all storage-type magic artifacts useless upon entry.
Thus, even without supervision, no one could secretly take extra items.
Li Qing wasn't surprised by this. He was only allowed to choose one treasure and had no intention of stealing from the sect treasury.
Although the formation couldn't prevent him from traveling to the World of Eternal Night, risking exposure of his special abilities for such a meager gain was simply not worth it.
"No matter how you look at it, these are just junk," Li Qing muttered. "But that's to be expected. If there were any easily discoverable treasures, they would have been taken by predecessors long ago."
He squatted down in a corner piled high with ancient relics and began carefully sifting through them.
"Hmm, there's actually something interesting here."
Li Qing casually pulled a tattered, torn scroll from the pile. It was inscribed with a peculiar demon beast. Upon closer inspection with his divine sense, he could sense faint traces of demonic might emanating from it.
"Too bad it's torn to pieces. I can't even identify the demon beast depicted, let alone discern its purpose."
As he spoke, Li Qing rolled up the damaged scroll and placed it back in the pile.
The other relics, upon closer examination, also proved to be quite extraordinary. Their patterns and designs were distinctly archaic, bearing little resemblance to those of the current era.
Unfortunately, Li Qing wasn't an archaeologist of the cultivation world, and he lacked the expertise to distinguish between genuine treasures and mere curiosities.
"No wonder even the sect's Ancestor couldn't discern the purpose of these artifacts. Their spirituality has been severely depleted, making it impossible to judge them through simple observation."
Soon, a Dragon Head Stone caught Li Qing's attention.
The Dragon Head Stone was utterly bizarre. It showed no signs of artificial carving, yet claiming it was naturally formed seemed equally absurd.
"Intriguing," Li Qing mused. "Could this be a fossilized head of a true dragon?"
Of course, that was impossible. Dragons were True Spirit-level beings. Even a single drop of their true blood would be beyond the reach of a mere foundation establishment cultivator, let alone a fossilized head.
"Truly, nature's craftsmanship is awe-inspiring. But this object holds no value for me; I can't detect anything remarkable about it."
In the end, Li Qing shook his head and abandoned the Dragon Head Stone.
When selecting treasures from the sect treasury, the most crucial factor was fate.
These ancient artifacts might appear worthless on the surface, but who could say whether the next item might be another treasure like the longevity lock?
"Azure Lotus Meditation Platform—a platform for meditation. It looks quite ancient."
As he walked, Li Qing extended his divine sense, enveloping the haphazardly stacked artifacts within the treasury.
Unfortunately, he hadn't found anything along the way that resonated with him.
"Sigh, guess I'll just grab some spiritual material with lingering spirituality and be done with it," Li Qing sighed, resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't one of the chosen ones blessed with extraordinary fortune.
Apart from these ancient artifacts, the sect treasury contained only spiritual materials with severely depleted spirituality.
Just moments ago, Li Qing had even discovered a Thunder Spirit Crystal, no larger than his thumb and with its spirituality almost completely drained!
This was a peerless spiritual material capable of refining Thunder Dao Magical Artifacts. If it were larger and retained its spirituality, it would undoubtedly tempt even a core formation realm True Lord.
Back when he worked as a spirit mine laborer for the Liu Clan, someone had unearthed a Thunder Spirit Crystal and received a reward from a core formation ancestor with a thunder spirit root from the Heavenly River Sect.
But if this were truly a peerless spiritual material suitable for refining magical artifacts, why would it be casually left here? It would have been claimed by the sect's core formation ancestors long ago.
As Li Qing continued his listless search, several pieces of gold suddenly caught his eye.
"Huh? Secular gold? How could something like this have been stored here?!"
Intrigued, Li Qing approached and picked up a piece to examine it closely.
These gold—no, these golden flame-shaped objects—certainly looked exactly like gold.
But as soon as Li Qing held one, he confirmed they weren't gold. They were far too hard!
Even with his current fleshly body's strength, he couldn't leave a single mark on them. If they were ordinary gold, they wouldn't withstand such forceful kneading.
"The shape of these strange flames... it's strangely familiar," Li Qing thought to himself.
Suddenly, a pitch-black forge flashed into his mind.
The Black Furnace!
That's right. He had once discovered flame-shaped indentations on the inner walls of the Black Furnace, resembling these peculiar objects.
Due to the passage of time, he struggled to recall whether the indentations perfectly matched the shape of these five golden pieces.
However, he was certain they were the same type of substance.
"Incredibly hard yet utterly devoid of spirituality, even spiritual energy can't refine them. They share the exact characteristics of the Black Furnace," Li Qing murmured to himself, a peculiar glint in his eyes.
He carefully collected the five flame-shaped golden materials, then searched the treasury again, but found nothing else similar.
"Should I just exchange these five gold pieces? Wait, could they count as five separate treasures?"
Unable to think of anything else to exchange, Li Qing decided to take the gold pieces back to study them thoroughly.
The other items seemed worthless to him anyway. He figured it would be better to compare them with the dents in the Black Furnace and see if he could uncover any clues.
Clutching the five flame-shaped gold pieces in his hands, Li Qing approached the treasury entrance.
"Senior brother, I've made my choice. I'll take these five gold pieces."
"These should count as a single treasure, right? They're all the same type and were stacked together." Li Qing said with an awkward chuckle, feeling a little embarrassed.
The elderly guardian of the treasury immediately recalled Sect Leader Xu Yun's earlier instructions: Under no circumstances should you treat Junior Brother Li unfairly.
The elder immediately chuckled, "Of course, when gold is piled together like this, it can only be counted as a single treasure."
"Junior Brother Li, since you've made your selection, take it all back with you."
Before leaving, Li Qing asked curiously, "Senior Brother, do you know the origin of this gold? It looks quite festive, and I was thinking of using it to decorate my cave abode."
The elder guarding the sect treasury chuckled awkwardly. "Heh, Junior Brother Li, you're putting me in a difficult position. I've only cultivated for two hundred years. While that's a decent lifespan, these artifacts date back to the Ancient Era, or even earlier. How could I possibly know their origins? Even Ancestor Devourer of Heaven himself probably wouldn't recognize them."
Hearing this, Li Qing nodded, gathered his chosen items, and returned to his cave abode.
Back in his cave abode, Li Qing's expression turned serious.
"Let's see what secrets you're hiding, you strange object!"
With that, Li Qing retrieved the Black Furnace from his storage pouch and leaped inside.
The Black Furnace remained as ancient and mysterious as ever, its pitch-black surface radiating no spirituality, only solid durability.
The flame-shaped indentations lining the inner walls were still present. Li Qing began systematically exploring them.
"There are thirty-six flame-shaped indentations in total. What could their purpose be?"
As he spoke, Li Qing compared the flame-shaped gold pieces in his hand against the indentations.
Suddenly, his hand stopped at a particular spot on the furnace wall.
The flame-shaped gold piece fit perfectly into the indentation, seamless and flawless.
"It actually fits! Perfectly snug, without a single gap."
Li Qing gasped, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he continued his careful search.
Soon, all five gold pieces he had exchanged from the sect treasury were perfectly embedded into the Black Furnace.
Of the original thirty-six flame-shaped indentations, five were now illuminated, glowing like tiny flames flickering against the pitch-black furnace walls.
Next, Li Qing pressed his hand against the furnace wall, trying to sense any changes the Black Furnace might be undergoing.
"It's still completely silent, no changes at all!"
Li Qing was dumbfounded. He had expected some miraculous transformation, like the Black Furnace fully awakening and becoming a powerful treasure.
"Does this mean I need to collect all thirty-one remaining pieces?" Li Qing muttered, his lips twitching.
He knew this was an almost impossible task. After all, he had acquired the Black Furnace at the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion in Heavenly River Market, yet now he had only found five flame-shaped gold pieces in the Lingyun Sect's treasury.
"This is utterly disappointing. It seems my trip to the sect treasury was a complete waste of time!"
"Sigh, what a waste of a treasure selection opportunity!"
Li Qing chuckled bitterly. While the treasury indeed contained little of value, he couldn't help but feel frustrated.
"Well, whatever. After all these years of using you to refine magic artifacts, might as well use these pieces to decorate your little broken furnace!"
With those words, Li Qing stowed the Black Furnace back into his storage bag, dismissing it from his thoughts.
Having nothing pressing to attend to, Li Qing finally retrieved the wind spear and a small, fluorescent green bottle.
(End of the Chapter)
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