Obtaining a Spiritual Treasure

"Our relationship with the government isn't necessarily that good. Isn't their attitude a bit over the top?"

Once inside the inner city, the surroundings grew much quieter. Some people would curiously watch the procession, but none approached.

"Hard to say. This Prefect of ours is an old fox—who knows what he's really selling." The Eleventh Elder shook his head.

"At the banquet three days from now, Yuan'er, you should go."

Fang Yuan thought it over and ultimately agreed.

Though he wasn't fond of such occasions, maintaining surface-level relations was necessary, and it wouldn't do to refuse outright.

Besides, he also wanted to see which faction within the city had sent those assassins.

"Young Master's might shakes the world! Welcome home!"

Just as he returned to the detached residence, Xiao Zi was already waiting at the gate, her face blooming like a flower.

Fang Yuan smiled and patted her little head, then stretched out his arms for the maids to change his clothes.

"Don't you find this troublesome?"

Xiao Zi shook her head, speaking earnestly: "This servant is overjoyed that the Young Master has returned safely."

"Has anything happened at home lately?" Fang Yuan asked.

Xiao Zi thought for a moment, a hint of daze crossing her pretty face, then suddenly realized:

"Young Master, from when you left until now, it hasn't even been three full days yet."

Two of those days had been wasted on the road, after all—counting the spoils and transporting back the stolen iron ingots slowed things down.

"However, the Rain Listening Pavilion does have a small issue."

Meeting Fang Yuan's puzzled gaze, Xiao Zi explained: "The disciples of the Rain Listening Pavilion basically don't have household registration in the Prefecture City."

"When they run into city patrols on the road, it's easy for trouble to arise."

"We still have to follow the rules. Handle it by the proper procedures."

Outwardly, the Rain Listening Pavilion wasn't affiliated with the Fang Family, and Fang Yuan didn't want to brand it completely with their seal.

"I've already sent someone to take care of it. It should be done in a couple of days." Xiao Zi replied.

Having local household registration was a prerequisite for long-term residence; otherwise, one could easily be treated as an unregistered person and expelled from the city.

This was mainly to prevent a flood of commoners from pouring into prosperous cities, making governance harder for the authorities.

"As I recall, patrols rarely check household registration in the inner city, do they?" Fang Yuan murmured.

"It might have just been a coincidence."

Xiao Zi also found it a bit odd, but didn't dwell on it.

"Yesterday, Miss Fang Qingyun emerged from seclusion." Xiao Zi reminded him.

Fang Yuan smiled. "That little girl's been in closed-door training for so long—her strength must have improved again."

Fang Qingyun, one of the two most radiant and dazzling flowers of the Fang Family, his own blood sister.

"Did you have someone buy pastries from the Crisp Fragrance Workshop and send them over?"

Fang Qingyun loved sweets.

Fang Yuan would have someone buy them almost every so often, and the Crisp Fragrance Workshop was the most famous pastry shop in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Reporting to the Young Master, the pastries will be delivered to the residence today. I'll personally take them to Miss Fang Qingyun shortly." Xiao Zi replied.

Fang Yuan gave a slight nod. Returning to his room, he began studying the two halves of the Jade Cup, his gaze flickering.

He tried piecing the two fragments together, using his true qi as a bridge, slowly pushing them together.

A faint emerald light shimmered, a hazy glow spreading as the two jade pieces fused seamlessly, leaving no trace of a break.

The Jade Cup's shape resembled a bowl, but not as large—oval, much like a hand-held cup.

"What material is this? It's clearly very hard, so why did it break?"

Fang Yuan squeezed the Jade Cup tightly, his grip steadily increasing.

But the Jade Cup was as firm as a rock, without the slightest damage. He even struck it with his Spiritual Sword, leaving no mark.

"It seems like a corner is missing from its front."

Fang Yuan turned the Jade Cup over and over, noticing a missing piece at the front, roughly the size of a pinky knuckle.

He had discovered earlier that the half-cup could continuously absorb true qi, but gave no feedback.

Now that it was relatively complete, the effect should be different, shouldn't it?

"All the acupoints in my body are open, and my true qi reserves are half again what they were. Let me try again."

True qi surged in Fang Yuan's palm as he channeled it into the Jade Cup.

Half an hour passed. Most of his true qi was consumed, yet the Jade Cup remained utterly still.

"I refuse to believe you're just a bottomless pit."

Fang Yuan shoved two perfect-grade Returning Origin Pills into his mouth.

In an instant, his dantian churned like a small vortex, frantically absorbing external spiritual energy and converting it into true qi.

But the rate of recovery still couldn't keep up with the Jade Cup's absorption.

This process continued for an hour.

Fang Yuan's Returning Origin Pills were nearly gone, and the true qi within his body was almost completely depleted.

The Jade Cup remained as still as an old monk in meditation, showing no change.

"Even a top-grade Spiritual Weapon should react after bearing such vast true qi." Fang Yuan was quite helpless.

Just as he was about to give up, the Jade Cup suddenly trembled faintly, erupting in a dazzling emerald-green light.

Crack!

A very crisp sound rang out.

It seemed some restriction within the Jade Cup had shattered, and in an instant, it transformed into a flowing light, diving into Fang Yuan's dantian.

Before Fang Yuan could react, the Jade Cup had vanished from his hand.

"A treasure that can be stored in the dantian to nurture—its grade is at least Spiritual Treasure."

Fang Yuan sank his consciousness inward, carefully staring at the Jade Cup hovering above his dantian, a look of astonishment spreading across his face.

The grades of magical artifacts, from low to high, are Magical Artifact, Spiritual Weapon, Spiritual Treasure, Heavenly Treasure...

Each grade is divided into three tiers: lower, middle, and upper.

Because forging magical artifacts is extremely difficult, with a very low success rate, they are prohibitively expensive.

Many Foundation Building Realm true men struggle to even own a lower-grade Spiritual Weapon.

Someone like the Mad Blood Daoist, upon seeing Fang Yuan with a Cosmic Pouch at his waist and a Spiritual Sword in hand, would be fiercely envious.

"The entire clan doesn't have many Spiritual Treasures. Even though this is a defective product, it's still far superior to a top-grade Spiritual Weapon."

Fang Yuan was very satisfied.

To gain a Spiritual Treasure from the Green Ridge Stronghold trip was utterly unexpected.

If the other two major families in the city or the Prefecture Lord's Mansion found out about this, they would have already razed Green Ridge Stronghold to the ground.

"But what is this Spiritual Treasure's function?" Fang Yuan sank into thought.

He tried probing his spirit into the Jade Cup, finding it filled with dense true qi, while deeper inside was a hazy, misty expanse.

Fang Yuan pondered for a moment, then, observing the rippling patterns within the inner space, had a realization. Guiding with his spirit, true qi surged forth into his dantian without pause.

In less than a quarter of an hour.

The true qi in his dantian was once again brimming.

This recovery speed was more than ten times stronger than that of Returning Origin Pills.

"If I fill the Jade Cup with true qi in advance, then when I fight others in the future, it'll be like having two dantians!"

What did this mean?

Double the true qi—strength was by no means merely doubled.

One had to know that many powerful martial techniques consumed a great deal of true qi, let alone the divine abilities used by Foundation Building Realm cultivators.

"It's just that I haven't yet condensed my divine sense, so my control over the Jade Cup isn't precise enough. I can only simply make it absorb and release."

As it was now, after the Jade Cup released true qi, it emptied out quickly.

But as soon as Fang Yuan chose to channel true qi from his dantian into it, he couldn't stop the process.

For now, he couldn't yet do as he pleased.

"Breaking through to Foundation Building—it'll be within these few days." Fang Yuan's gaze was confident.

After the battle at Green Ridge Stronghold, he had gained a lot, mainly insights into the realm and control over his own power.

As the saying goes, reading a thousand times or seeing ten thousand times is not as good as trying it once yourself.

Facing a Foundation Building Realm true man head-on—that pressure and the sensation of life and death—was something no simulation could replicate.

Under a state of extreme mental tension, the lingering effects of the Spirit Gathering Pill, not yet fully refined, were brought into full play.

Though he still couldn't condense his divine sense, he was only a hair's breadth away!

Fang Yuan took a deep breath, casting aside his cluttered thoughts.

He hadn't trained yet today—he couldn't afford to slack off.

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