The Treasure Pavilion was indeed filled with a dazzling array of treasures, though there were few divine weapons or sharp blades. Most were precious, immensely valuable antiques and curios.
Fang Shuwen spent quite a while choosing among them. He had no need for divine weapons or sharp blades, mainly because he didn't know how to use them.
Taking one would be a waste, and it would be easy to attract trouble.
He had no need for the other priceless antiques and objects either, and selling them would be troublesome.
He wanted to take a set back for Zheng Sihai, but even after searching for a long time, he couldn't find a suitable one.
After wandering around the treasure vault for a while, Fang Shuwen suddenly found his gaze drawn to a pill.
He asked softly:
"What kind of pill is this?"
Zuo Qingshuang glanced at it and said with a smile:
"This is a Ten-Year Dust-Shattering Pill. Taking it can increase one's internal cultivation.
"You can gain roughly ten years' worth of internal power out of thin air."
Fang Shuwen was taken aback:
"There's such a thing?"
Zuo Qingshuang's expression grew somewhat complicated:
"This was left behind by Divine Pill Valley in years past. Their knowledge of medicine was unparalleled, and they brought many formidable pills into the world.
"Unfortunately, Divine Pill Valley was later destroyed, and its stock of pills was swept clean.
"Not many have survived. An expert from our sect happened to come across this Ten-Year Dust-Shattering Pill..."
"He didn't take it?"
Fang Shuwen was curious.
Zuo Qingshuang smiled:
"Good as this pill is, you don't gain without giving something up.
"Although taking it can give you ten years of cultivation overnight, it will also make every step of your future cultivation difficult.
"Unless you're an old person with one foot in the grave, or someone whose cultivation can scarcely advance another inch, it's best not to take it."
"I see."
Understanding dawned on Fang Shuwen, though he also felt that this greatly diminished the pill's effectiveness.
But if he took it back and gave it to Zheng Sihai,
it ought to make a pretty good gift...
After all, Zheng Sihai was only the master of a martial arts school, and his martial skills were limited to begin with. Now that he was old and frail, getting this pill to increase his cultivation by ten years might well be a good thing.
His master had truly treated him well. His care over the years had long since exceeded the little tuition Fang Shuwen had paid back then.
Using this to repay his master's kindness would be fitting enough.
As for himself...
If it had been the Fang Shuwen of before, with no way left to advance, he might have chosen to take it. But now... there really was no need.
After all, he now possessed two supreme arts, [Muscle Tendon Change] and [Beiming Shengong].
Judging by the latter alone, he had no need for a mere ten years of cultivation.
With that thought, he asked:
"Does this only make future cultivation difficult, or can it harm the body as well?"
"No."
Zuo Qingshuang shook her head.
Fang Shuwen asked again:
"Um... how long has it been around? Has it expired?"
Zuo Qingshuang wasn't quite accustomed to the word "expired," but after thinking it over, she understood roughly what he meant. She smiled and said:
"Its medicinal potency should have faded somewhat, but there won't be a problem."
Fang Shuwen decided to trust her this once and immediately said with a smile:
"Then I'll take this."
Zuo Qingshuang hesitated:
"Are you giving it to someone, young hero, or taking it yourself?"
"Giving it to someone."
"That's good."
Hearing this, Zuo Qingshuang breathed a sigh of relief. She reached out, took the pill out together with its box, and handed it to Fang Shuwen.
Fang Shuwen looked it over and felt quite satisfied.
Anything else he might pick from this vault would be cumbersome, but the pill was quite nice. It came in a small box that took up little room on his person.
On their way out, Fang Shuwen asked Zuo Qingshuang about Divine Pill Valley, hoping to broaden his knowledge of the jianghu.
With a somewhat complicated expression, Zuo Qingshuang told him a piece of the jianghu's hidden history.
No one knew where Divine Pill Valley's legacy had come from.
But as soon as their pill formulas and pills appeared, they caused a sensation throughout the jianghu.
The Ten-Year Dust-Shattering Pill was only one of the most insignificant among them. It could increase cultivation by only ten years and would even affect future cultivation.
There were many more extremely precious pills. Some could increase cultivation without any lingering drawbacks, while others could heal exceedingly severe injuries. There were even pills that could greatly expand one's comprehension, allowing a person to grasp supreme arts manuals that would otherwise be difficult to understand in a short time.
For a long time, people throughout the jianghu had flocked to Divine Pill Valley's pills like ducks.
They were so sought after that even those willing to pay could not find them for sale.
But at some point, a rumor appeared.
It said that Divine Pill Valley used an exceedingly cruel method to refine its pills.
They used a human-pill method, taking human hearts, livers, spleens, and lungs as medicinal catalysts and refining them together with various herbs.
The pills had miraculous effects, but offended the harmony of heaven.
The news spread swiftly, leaving many people half convinced and half doubtful.
Then one day, someone happened to witness a Divine Pill Valley disciple killing a person and taking their heart. The witness was quite renowned in the jianghu, so naturally people found his words credible.
For a time, public fury surged.
They had regarded Divine Pill Valley as an upright, orthodox sect and its pills as miraculous medicines, only to discover that they had been eating people!
Some were filled with remorse, some wept bitterly, and those who were furious were beyond counting.
These people joined forces with many sects of the time and stormed Divine Pill Valley, demanding an explanation.
The valley master of Divine Pill Valley explained himself again and again, but could never win their trust.
Then people found sealed hearts, livers, spleens, and lungs in Divine Pill Valley's stores.
The discovery instantly set the tense stalemate ablaze.
In the end, it was a massacre.
Though the valley master of Divine Pill Valley possessed martial arts unrivaled under heaven, he could not withstand the onslaught of so many attackers and ultimately died filled with bitter resentment.
Divine Pill Valley was burned to the ground.
Curiously, however, the pills stored in Divine Pill Valley were snatched up until none remained.
The way the affair ended aroused suspicion, so some people investigated it once more and discovered that it had all been a conspiracy.
There had never been anything wrong with Divine Pill Valley's pills.
Someone had deliberately framed them. The jianghu veteran who claimed to have seen a Divine Pill Valley disciple kill someone and take their heart had been bought off and had told a lie.
The revelation was like a stone stirring up a thousand waves. Those who realized they had been fooled and used into killing innocent people stirred up another storm of bloodshed.
"Turmoil and scattered fragments, dust rising again and again, mists clearing again and again.
"In the end, everything returned to calm..."
Zuo Qingshuang's face was full of wistful sorrow.
Fang Shuwen, too, was speechless for a moment.
He could only wonder whether those people had truly been kept in the dark... or whether they had clearly noticed something was wrong but pretended not to know.
Sometimes, that was simply how things were in the jianghu.
They could neither be explained clearly nor fully understood.
Some people were genuinely muddled, while others only pretended to be.
But Fang Shuwen did not dwell on it for long. It was merely a jianghu story buried in the dust.
When they came out of the Treasure Pavilion, they saw Zhou Qingmei standing there quietly.
Perhaps hearing Fang Shuwen and Zuo Qingshuang's footsteps, she looked up and smiled faintly. For a moment, even the sunlight seemed much brighter.