Stretching his back, Zhang Xuan walked out of his room.
Cultivating an entire month on the journey here had left him rather exhausted.
“Teacher!”
Upon walking out of his room, Yuan Tao immediately rushed forward with a bitter face.
“Teacher, somehow, I feel that… my cultivation seems to have slowed. For some reason, I find myself unable to concentrate…”
Zhao Ya and Lu Chong’s departure had left an immense pressure of the four remaining students. For fear of lagging behind, Yuan Tao had been working extra hard, but for the past half a month, it was as if he had been shackled, preventing him from advancing no matter how hard he pushed.
Afraid that his teacher might reprimand him, he also dared not ask Zhang Xuan about it.
But eventually, he came to the limit of his tolerance.
The final trigger was Wang Ying’s recent breakthrough. If he didn’t solve his issue soon, the gap between him and the others would widen significantly.
“There’s no need to worry. I know of your condition, and it’s not due to your lack of concentration or talent. Rather… your cultivation has reached a point where if you don’t further awaken your Emperor’s Bloodline, it will hinder your future progress!” Zhang Xuan replied.
He had noticed Yuan Tao’s condition a few days ago on the back of the spirit beast.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t working hard enough, but that the bloodline running through his body was shackling him.
If one possessing a unique constitution were to fully awaken their potential, they would be able to achieve breakthroughs as easily as eating and drinking. But if they were to be unable to do so, it would bind them instead, rendering their cultivation useless.
Due to the very low number of people possessing unique constitutions, it was extremely difficult to find a clear heritage to awakening them. As such, many talented individuals had found their hopes being snapped due to being unable to find a way to awaken their unique constitution further or lacking the required resource for it.
This was precisely the reason why Zhang Xuan eventually agreed to allow Zhao Ya to go to the Glacier Plain Court.
The Glacier Plain Court had a complete heritage for the Pure Yin Body and plentiful resources to groom her. This was much better than Zhang Xuan fumbling around for a solution.
The current Yuan Tao was also facing such a problem. He had awakened his physical constitution by twenty percent and reaching Transcendent Mortal 2-dan primary stage was already his limit. If he wanted to grow any further, he would have continue awakening his unique constitution. Otherwise, his Emperor’s Bloodline would shackle his acupoints and meridians, preventing him from making any progress.
If he could cultivate the complete version of Heaven’s Path Divine Art, he wouldn’t face such problems at all. It was a pity that he could only learn the simplified version.
Zhang Xuan had been thinking over the matter for the past few days, and he found a few viable solutions.
“Alright. Relay my instructions to Sun Qiang, tell him to find out if there’s any place that sells artifacts around here. I’ll look for some artifacts that can resolve your problem!” Zhang Xuan replied.
“Yes!”
Seeing that his teacher already knew about the matter, Yuan Tao felt a little embarrassed. He quickly left, and a while later, he returned with Sun Qiang beside him.
“Young Master, I’ve had someone look into the surroundings, and there’s a ‘Mystical Treasure Hall’ in the vicinity, and you might find what you want there!” Sun Qiang replied.
Knowing his job as a butler, he had been gathering information ever since the group arrived here, and he learned quite a few things as well.
“Mystical Treasure Hall?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.
“That’s right. The Mystical Treasure Hall sells all kinds of unique and valuable artifacts. There are even a few whose worth is comparable to a Spirit high-tier artifact. However, what is bizarre is that… the owner never sells the goods. Rather, he gives it to those ‘fated’ with him!” replied Sun Qiang.
“Gives away?” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
No matter how many valuable, unique collectibles, artifacts, and wealth one had, wouldn’t one go bankrupt if one were to give away everything?
“That’s right. But while I use the word ‘gives’, there’s actually a price to pay.”
Seeing the look of disbelief on the young master’s face, Sun Qiang chuckled. “It’s said that there are two rows of stone pillars within the Mystical Treasure Hall. Through some unknown technology, there is an artifact hidden within each stone pillar, and those who intend to obtain any goods from the store would have to identify the artifacts inside the stone pillar. The store works by a progressive point system. The first artifact identified from the stone pillar will award one point, the second artifact identified will award two points, the third artifact identified will award three points, so on and so forth. In other words, once one identifies one’s fiftieth stone pillar, one will be awarded fifty points straight!
“One can trade the points obtained from the identification of the artifacts for any treasure placed on the shelves of the Mystical Treasure Hall. With sufficient points, one can obtain anything one wants! However… one has to pay ten middle-tier spirit stones before attempting the identification, and if one is able to identify even one of the artifacts hidden in the stone pillars, the spirit stones will be refunded. On the other hand, failure to do so means that the spirit stones go to the shop!”
“Oh!”
Zhang Xuan came to a realization.
In other words, the shop was leveraging on the curiosity of others to create something similar to a gambling den.
The artifacts were hidden in the stone pillars, making it nearly impossible to identify them through guesswork. Earning points would surely be difficult. Even though ten middle-tier spirit stones weren’t much, the shop should be rather profitable if it could attract a crowd.
In a sense, it was somewhat similar to the Harmonious Stream of Flowing Goblet in Honghai City Appraiser Hall.
It hinged mainly on one’s eye of discernment.
It might be difficult for anyone else to identify those artifacts, but to Zhang Xuan… those were as good as giveaways!
With a touch, a book would be formed in the Library of Heaven’s Path, and he would be able to identify even the eighteen generations of one’s ancestors. To him, identifying an artifact in a stone pillar was a walk in the park.
“Let’s go and take a look. If there’s anything useful to Yuan Tao, we can try to obtain it! If not, we’ll just continue looking around.” Zhang Xuan showed a slight smile.
To awaken Yuan Tao’s physical constitution, certain unique items were required. If the Mystical Treasure Hall possessed these items, Zhang Xuan would identify the artifacts in some stone pillars to obtain them.
While it was likely that Zhang Xuan would be able to easily identify everything in the shop, he didn’t think that it was appropriate for him to do so. After all, a master teacher should behave in a way befitting of one. It would be inappropriate for him to grab all of the treasures of another when the other party was simply conducting his business.
Besides, in a foreign place such as Huanyu Empire, it was best for him to maintain a low profile.
“Yes!”
Nodding his head, Sun Qiang walked forward and led the way.
Since they were looking for a treasure relating to Yuan Tao’s constitution, naturally, he tagged along as well.
The Mystical Treasure Hall wasn’t too far away from the royal palace. After a short twenty-minute walk, they found themselves standing before a majestic, towering building.
Three grandly written words, ‘Mystical Treasure Hall’, were written on a board hung above the entrance. These words absorbed spiritual energy from the surroundings, and it felt as though they would leap out from the surface at any moment.
“A sixth level calligraphy?”
Upon seeing it, Zhang Xuan was stunned.
A sixth level calligraphy has already reached the level of Spiritual Wisdom. Even a 5-star painter would find it hard to produce a work of this tier.
Seeing such a work before entering the Mystical Treasure Hall, Zhang Xuan’s interest in it intensified.
Walking through the door, they arrived at an exceptionally vast main hall. There were shelves placed by the walls, and all kinds of artifacts filled its surface.
The three men walked over to take a closer look.
Sword, painting, chess, ore, spirit beast fur…
There were indeed all kinds of treasures here.
“The golden talon of a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan Foxeagle Beast?”
Walking along the shelf, Zhang Xuan suddenly came to a stop.
Placed on the shelf before him was a meter-long, giant, golden talon, and it felt both cold and sharp.
The Foxeagle Beast was a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan spirit beast. Not only were there very few of them, they were also extremely cunning. Even the Beast Hall would be troubled to find one of them, needless to say, capture or kill one.
And the talons of this rare beast were exceptionally valuable treasures. This was especially so for those that were golden in color-it was the ideal material to forging a Spirit intermediate-tier pinnacle weapon.
Many people would die to obtain even just a small piece of its talons, and yet, there was a complete one here. Its price was inestimable.
Lowering his head to take a closer look, he saw a goatskin label placed beneath the claw, and written on it was, ‘Golden Talon of the Foxeagle Beast, 1!’
Zhang Xuan couldn’t help but ask Sun Qiang, “What does this ‘1’ mean?”
Sun Qiang pondered for a moment quickly before replying.
“The one refers to the number of points required to trade for it!”
“One can trade for this with just a single point?”
Zhang Xuan was stunned.
The Golden Talon of a Foxeagle Beast was incomparably rare and valuable. If one were to put it in an auction, it would be worth dozens of spirit stones. And yet, one could trade for it with just a single point. Wasn’t the worth of the points here a little… way too high?
“The items on the first floor can be traded with just one point. The higher one ascends, the more valuable the items become.”
Sun Qiang smiled.
“I can trade for any one of these items with just one point?”
Shocked, Zhang Xuan breathed in a large mouthful of cold air.
He suddenly could see why anyone would come and try their luck despite the seeming impossibility of the task. The items on display were simply too valuable!
Moving along, Zhang Xuan saw a few more valuable items whose worth weren’t beneath that of the Foxeagle Beast’s talon and labeled on the goatskins beneath them were ‘1’ as well.
Impressed, Zhang Xuan exclaimed, “Impressive. This place indeed lives up to the words ‘Mystical Treasure’!”
Soon, he finished looking around the first floor.
Even though the items on the first floor were indeed valuable, none of them were truly effective in awakening Yuan Tao’s unique constitution.
The Emperor’s Bloodline was special even among unique constitutions. While Zhang Xuan wasn’t too sure what items would work, he had a rough idea in mind.
“Let’s move on to the second floor!”
Knowing that there was nothing he needed on the first floor, Zhang Xuan lost his interest.
To Zhang Xuan, no matter how good an artifact or item was, its worth couldn’t possibly exceed that of spirit stones or cultivation technique manuals.
As such, he didn’t bear much interest in such stuff.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have returned the artifacts he claimed from the Harmonious Streaming of Flowing Goblets back to the Appraiser Hall back then.
The three men moved on to the second floor.
There were significantly fewer people on the second floor, and the number and variety of items were also more limited as well. But with just a glance, it was clear that the items here were much more valuable.
There were many one-of-a-kind artifacts and items that, despite Zhang Xuan’s extensive knowledge, he couldn’t name.
“This is… a painting of the seventh level?”
Soon, Zhang Xuan saw a painting of the seventh level. Judging from its quality, the painter who created it must be at least 6-star in rank. The animals and plants inside were so lifelike that it felt as though they were truly living beings that would leap out of the painting at any moment.
A painting at the level of Enlightened Spirit already possessed spirit and sentience, and the creatures within were capable of leaving the painting on their own accord.
Taking a closer look, he saw a line of words written on the goatskin below, “Proud Conception of Spring and Autumn, 2!”
“It’s worth only two points?”
Zhang Xuan was astonished.
This painting was much better than ‘Rousing From the Drunken Dreams’ that was auctioned in Honghai City back then.
After all, the creation of that painting was a mistake in itself. Even though it barely managed to reach the seventh level under Zhang Xuan’s hands, it was ranked amidst the lowest within that tier, and it was eventually sold for only twenty thousand low-tier spirit stones, which was equivalent to two middle-tier spirit stones.
On the other hand, this was a masterpiece left behind by a 6-star painter. If placed in an auction, its price would surely soar above fifty middle-tier spirit stones. To think that its value would only be ‘2’ here…
This Mystical Treasure Hall was indeed fearsome. The range and value of the treasures displayed here had far exceeded his expectations.
Just as Zhang Xuan was about to continue browsing around, a faint voice echoed from the stairway, and soon, two figures could be seen walking over.
“How can one find anything good in this remote place? If there’s anything you want, I can get it for you after we return!”
