Collection

Under the cover of night, Qingshi Town was as peaceful as ever. The townsfolk rested in their homes as usual, unaware that their lord had already died outside.

By the time Leian returned to his bedroom in the small courtyard, it was past midnight. After changing out of his night clothes, he eagerly took a large wooden chest from his ring and began examining it.

The chest was about two meters long, half a meter wide, and one meter tall. Once opened, it revealed seven or eight small wooden boxes of varying lengths inside.

Leian casually picked up a half-meter-long box. Opening it, he found that it contained a dagger.

The dagger was entirely black, its surface carrying a faint, barely visible sheen. Leian studied it carefully in his hand. Though he could not identify the material used to forge it, he could tell it was an exceptionally high-quality weapon. Its owner must have been an expert who cultivated Dark Battle Qi.

"Dark Battle Qi? Could this have been a weapon used by an ancestor of the Cleo Family?"

As he pondered, Leian put the dagger back and took out another wooden box over a meter long, resembling a sword case.

As expected, it also contained a weapon. It was not a sword, however, but an earthy yellow broadsword. Although its quality did not match the dagger's, it was not far behind.

Two boxes in a row had contained weapons. Could this large chest be filled entirely with arms?

With that thought, he swiftly inspected every remaining box. The result was exactly as he had guessed: each box contained a weapon. There were sabers, swords, and long spears, all of varying quality. Only two were of the highest grade—the black dagger and a blue broadsword.

Even the lowest-quality weapons in the chest were better than the ones Leian used. However, he did not find a style he liked, so he ultimately put them all back.

Of course, even if he had found one, he would not have dared use it openly. These weapons most likely belonged to ancestors of the Cleo Family, and it would be serious trouble if anyone recognized them.

After putting away the large wooden chest, Leian took out a square purple wooden chest. When he opened it, there were another dozen or so small wooden boxes inside. This time, however, they were much smaller, only slightly bigger than an adult's fist.

He casually picked one up and opened it, discovering an earthy yellow level-seven magic crystal core inside.

At the sight, Leian smiled silently. I knew it. With the strength of that father and son, how could they possibly not have level-seven magic crystal cores?

With a thought, he picked up another wooden box and opened it. He had only intended to glance at it casually, yet he froze on the spot the instant he saw what was inside.

The box still contained a magic crystal core, but it was somewhat larger than a level-seven core, and its aura was far more restrained. It was pitch-black throughout, with a faint purple halo glimmering across its surface.

"Th-this... could this be a level-nine magic crystal core?"

Leian stared wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief. Magic crystal cores of different grades varied in both size and aura. This core was an exact match for the level-nine magic crystal core illustrations he had once seen.

Therefore, this was a level-nine magic crystal core!

The Cleo Family actually possessed a treasure of this grade. Looks truly could be deceiving!

What shocked Leian even more was that this one possessed the destruction attribute. Its aura was practically identical to the Destruction Battle Qi he cultivated.

As far as he knew, magical beasts of the four rule attributes were publicly recognized as rare across the continent. Had the Cleo Family obtained a magic crystal core of this grade through sheer luck, or did they possess such deep foundations?

As Leian thought, he did not forget to admire this rare magic crystal core. Yet before long, he suddenly frowned and cried inwardly, Something's wrong!

He had focused only on determining the core's grade and overlooked other signs. For instance, its exterior remained bright and lustrous, and upon closer inspection, he could even smell a faint trace of blood.

Judging from those two details, it had clearly not been extracted very long ago.

Just half a month earlier, Elvis and his father had coveted a severely wounded level-nine magical beast, resulting in his father's death.

The timing matched far too closely for it not to bring certain possibilities to mind. Perhaps this magic crystal core had come from that severely wounded level-nine magical beast.

Although Elvis's father had died in battle, that level-nine magical beast had not survived either. In the end, Elvis had reaped a great bargain.

Everything seemed perfectly logical.

The more Leian thought about it, the more convinced he became that this was the truth. Then he could not help thinking of himself. Tonight, he had inadvertently played the role Elvis once had, and he could not help marveling at the strangeness of fate.

Of course, he was the one who had laughed last. So he hoped this strange fortune would remain with him forever, rather than turning him into someone else's "wallet."

With that hope and encouragement in mind, Leian put away the magic crystal core and continued examining the remaining wooden boxes.

As expected, the purple chest should have contained nothing but treasures of the Cleo Family.

Before long, Leian found two more level-seven magic crystal cores, five level-six magic crystal cores, banknotes, gold coins, and even two pieces of mid-grade ore.

Leaving aside the level-nine magic crystal core, the treasures before him alone would be worth more than three hundred thousand gold coins if converted entirely into gold.

It was hard to imagine that the Cleo Family had once sold antiques just to survive. Yet in only twenty or thirty years, Elvis and his father had accumulated such an enormous fortune. Honestly, Leian greatly admired them.

Unfortunately, by the time they had met, the two sides had already become mortal enemies. What a pity!

At that thought, Leian shook his head and casually stored the purple chest in his ring. Then he took out the final black wooden chest.

Based on a family's inheritance, this black chest should contain the Cleo Family's battle qi cultivation methods. As for the "Beast Transformation" secret art Laman had longed for, it should be inside as well. There might even be the family genealogy.

Thinking so, Leian opened the chest with some excitement. Just as he had expected, one half was filled with books, while the other still held wooden boxes.

Judging by the Cleo Family's collecting habits, the items in the wooden boxes were certainly precious. Good things should be saved for last, so Leian decided to read the books first.

In truth, there were not many books in the chest, only seven or eight in total. Moreover, the paper used was fairly thick, so the actual content should not be extensive.

Leian casually picked up one and opened it. Sure enough, it was a genealogy and chronicle of major events. Records of this sort were generally brief, so there were even fewer words.

After some thought, Leian took out all the books, sorted them slightly, and began reading them slowly in chronological order.

These chronicles of major events were like storybooks. Before long, Leian was engrossed. Moreover, whatever interesting content he came across made his expressions exceptionally varied—shock one moment, confusion the next, then contemplation, followed by a look of sudden understanding.

When he put down the last book, he suddenly stood up and took every box from the chest, opening them one by one. He did not stop until he reached a box containing two small green bottles.

Looking at the little green bottles before him, his expression grew ever more excited. He immediately picked one up in each hand, almost unable to wait.

The two small green bottles were only fist-sized. Their material did not feel like jade, but rather like wood. They were a vivid, dripping green throughout and exceptionally beautiful.

Leian held them in his hands and sensed them briefly. He set down the slightly lighter bottle, then brought the other before him and gently twisted open its cap.