Treasure Pavilion

Back at the inn, Xu Yan shut his room door tight and sat down beside the table.

He took out the jade pendant, placed it in his palm, and sent his divine sense into the Edict Script once more.

This time, he saw it clearly.

His divine sense was draining slightly faster than before. As ripples of divine sense spread across the jade pendant, the instant they touched it, more ancient characters surfaced in his sea of consciousness!

[Primordial Yin Treasure Jade, condensed from the moonlight essence of the Great Yin. Those who cultivate Primordial Yin arts will achieve twice the result with half the effort when wearing it. Forged by the Primordial Imperial Clan; no more than several hundred remain in the world.]

Xu Yan withdrew his divine sense, feeling slightly dizzy.

"So that was it!"

His thoughts raced.

This Miaoyuan Edict not only had the ability to seek out treasures, but also the power to appraise them!

Within a certain range, it could sense treasures of a certain grade and reveal their names and uses within his sea of consciousness.

Every detection and every appraisal consumed divine sense. The farther away and more precious the treasure, the more divine sense it consumed.

With his current cultivation and divine sense, a radius of twenty zhang was already his limit.

If his cultivation advanced in the future, this range might expand.

This Primordial Yin Treasure Jade was useless to him, but if he sold it, it would surely fetch a considerable amount of spiritual wealth!

After making his calculations, Xu Yan immediately put the jade pendant away.

The next day, Xu Yan returned to the entrance of the Treasure Pavilion.

The Langya Treasure Pavilion had soaring eaves and interlocking brackets, dragons and phoenixes carved everywhere.

The Spirit-Born Artifact Xu Yan had seen yesterday was the treasure that held down this pavilion.

Two Daoists in green robes stood at the entrance, both at the Pulse Opening realm. Their gazes were like torches as they scanned the passersby. Ordinarily, no one stood guard outside, but with the Dragon Ridge Immortal Treasury about to open, all manner of people had gathered at the Immortal Inn.

The grand hall within was spacious and brightly lit, with jade counters placed throughout, displaying all kinds of dharma artifacts, talismans, and pills...

Quite a few Daoists were selecting items at the counters, their low conversations occasionally drifting through the hall.

Xu Yan swept his gaze over the room, then walked toward a young Daoist on duty. Cupping his hands, he said, "Dao brother, I have a business matter and would like to meet the person in charge of your pavilion."

The young Daoist looked Xu Yan over. Seeing that he was only at the ninth level of Qi Exhalation and dressed in plain, ordinary clothes, he became somewhat dismissive. "Our pavilion has its own rules for buying and selling goods. Why trouble an elder over ordinary items? Fellow Daoist, why not let me have a look at whatever you have first?"

Xu Yan shook his head. "This item is no ordinary thing. I must see the person in charge of your pavilion."

The young Daoist frowned, just about to speak when a voice came from behind him. "Young friend, come with this old man."

Xu Yan looked up and saw a white-bearded elder strolling toward him. The old man wore a black robe, his face lean and gaunt.

"Xu Yan greets Senior."

"This old man is surnamed Yu, the steward of the Langya Treasure Pavilion."

This Elder Yu was at the perfected Pulse Opening realm. To become the steward of the Treasure Pavilion with such cultivation, his attainments in treasure appraisal had to be profound.

The two headed one after the other toward a private room on the second floor.

Once inside, Xu Yan went straight to the point. After cupping his hands in salute, he took out the jade pendant and said, "Senior Yu, this is the 'Primordial Yin Treasure Jade,' a yin-yang treasure. Wearing it while cultivating Primordial Yin arts will achieve twice the result with half the effort."

"Primordial Yin Treasure Jade?!"

"Precisely." Xu Yan nodded in reply.

Upon hearing this, Steward Yu had not even taken half a sip of tea before his expression changed in shock. He extended a hand. "Little brother, may I examine this jade?"

He clearly knew of the Primordial Yin Treasure Jade.

It was a rare treasure formed from condensed moonlight essence of the Great Yin, requiring an immensely long span of time to take shape. To those who cultivated Primordial Yin arts, it was an exceedingly rare treasure.

"Please, Senior." Xu Yan presented the jade pendant.

For the next half hour, Steward Yu examined it with divine sense and Mystic Gate methods. His expression was grave as he said, "This is indeed a yin-yang treasure, without question the Primordial Yin Treasure Jade. It was forged by the Primordial Imperial Clan, and no more than several hundred exist in the world. However, most are now in the hands of the Immortal Jade Sect. How did you come by it, little brother?"

Xu Yan paused before saying, "This item... I picked it up from some stall a few days ago."

Steward Yu smiled, then narrowed his eyes and said thoughtfully, "For a disciple to be bestowed such a yin-yang treasure for protection, their status in the Immortal Jade Sect must be extraordinary. They might even be from the sect master's direct line."

Xu Yan remained silent.

Steward Yu glanced at him and said casually, "You do know your treasures. The Langya Treasure Pavilion will take this item. How many spirit stones do you want?"

"Five hundred high-grade spirit stones."

"Agreed."

Xu Yan came down from the second floor without changing expression, a bulging Qiankun Bag weighing in his hand.

That jade pendant was clearly worth more than this, or Steward Yu would not have agreed so readily. But its origins were improper, and Xu Yan had not named an exorbitant price.

The master of the Langya Treasure Pavilion was an elder of the Dragon Spine Mountain Dao Academy. It was precisely because of that backing that the pavilion dared to accept anything.

An ordinary shop would have had to weigh the matter carefully.

Such a rare yin-yang treasure had been taken from a true disciple of the Immortal Jade Sect. How could it not have a divine sense imprint placed upon it?

Erasing that imprint alone would take no small amount of effort.

Xu Yan did not leave immediately. The Langya Treasure Pavilion was the largest treasure pavilion in the Immortal Inn and had almost everything.

Xu Yan browsed for half an hour and bought several things.

A high-grade dharma artifact, the Green Pattern Sword.

A bottle of Spirit Essence Pills: these pills were refined from flawless spiritual essence of heaven and earth. After being refined by those at the Qi Exhalation realm, they could raise one's cultivation.

The Treasure Pavilion also sold Daoist scriptures, though they were all the most basic kind. Those superior divine abilities and cultivation methods could only be studied after becoming a disciple of a Dao Academy.

There were, however, many scriptures of unorthodox paths and side doors. Xu Yan bought several books on observing meridians, Five Elements Meridians and True Explanation of Spirit Meridians.

The Green Pattern Sword was the most expensive, costing Xu Yan twenty high-grade spirit stones. After all, it was a high-grade dharma artifact. Gangqi formation patterns were inscribed upon its blade; with merely a slight infusion of dharma power, gangqi would surge forth in all directions. It was incomparably sharp and could cleave through gold and stone!

After leaving the Langya Treasure Pavilion, Xu Yan found a nearby inn. It was the largest inn in the Langya Immortal Inn, and it even had a Dao Field for guests to practice divine abilities.

On the spacious Dao Field, Xu Yan held the Green Pattern Sword, his expression slightly solemn.

With a turn of his wrist, he channeled dharma power into the Green Pattern Sword. He casually traced several sword flowers, and azure gangqi howled out like a hurricane, slashing against the Dao Field floor with a ringing clang!

Had the Dao Field not been protected by formations beneath it, sword marks would already have been carved into its surface.

"The consumption is enormous. With my ninth-level Qi Exhalation cultivation, if I wield it at full power, my dharma power will be exhausted in less than half an incense stick's time."

Xu Yan panted lightly as he thought this, then placed the Green Pattern Sword back into his Qiankun Bag.

A common man was innocent, but possessing a jade invited disaster. Carrying such a huge sum of spiritual wealth, Xu Yan could not shake the feeling of danger. Staying in the Immortal Inn was still all right, as rules here forbade fighting with dharma arts. But once he left the Immortal Inn, no one could control what others did.

This might be the territory of the Taiyuan Divine Sect, but unless one was a true disciple or someone with an extraordinary background—

Otherwise, even if a registered disciple of the Hundred Dao Academies died, the Dao Academies would rarely investigate to the bitter end.

The Hundred Dao Academies were, in the end, merely the outer sects of the Taiyuan Divine Sect. There were at least a hundred thousand registered disciples; how could they possibly manage them all? Still, if a disciple of the Upper Three Academies died outside, the Dao Academies might look into it.

The Upper Three Academies: Chongxu, Taiqing, and Wanxiang.

They were the three most renowned Dao Academies of Dragon Spine Mountain.

Each year, the greatest number of registered disciples selected to become true disciples of the Divine Sect, travel to the Divine Land, and receive the inheritance of the great Dao of longevity came from these Upper Three Academies.

After familiarizing himself with his dharma artifact on the Dao Field, Xu Yan washed up. By the time he returned to his room, it was already the hour of the Rooster.

Deep within Dragon Spine Mountain, that soul-seizing dragon roar arrived as scheduled. It seemed to ring on from the primordial age until now, scattering birds in terror as violent winds swept through the mountains and dense forests, shaking the earth's veins.

It was already the fourth day. No one knew how much longer it would continue.

Xu Yan looked out the window. The sky remained a vast black gloom, shrouded by chaotic-colored mist.

After four successive days of roars, apart from Daoists who had only just arrived at the Immortal Inn and still came out to look about in every direction, most had grown accustomed to it.

By the time people rested in the dead of night, not a single sound of conversation remained outside. Only the wind howled ceaselessly beneath the vault of heaven, day and night. The atmosphere was not merely oppressive—it was filled with murderous chill.

"The storm is coming."

Xu Yan drew a deep breath and shut the door and windows tight. Several layers of formations protected the inn both inside and out, so he did not need to worry about anyone coming to his door in the middle of the night. Only then did he relax a little.