The jade-green palace fell once more into an eternal hush.
The smile on Swamp True Venerable's face slowly faded into indifference, contemplation entering his eyes.
Clearly, he was not usually given to smiling or grand displays of warmth. He had merely been greeting a customer as a merchant would, though his warmth was not unpleasant.
"Ribbit!"
"Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit!"
The jade-green toad on his shoulder croaked several times, growing excited. It spoke in a greedy human voice. "He's just a Spirit Transformation junior with Void Refining talismans, yet he has so many rare treasures! Shall we make a score?"
This jade-green toad was called the Azure Treasure-Fishing Toad, an ancient variant whose greatest ability was detecting treasures.
Swamp True Venerable had risen to prominence in his youth after a chance encounter with a gravely wounded Azure Treasure-Fishing Toad. He had formed an equal contract with him, and from then on, he had turned danger into fortune and found treasure through one chance encounter after another, becoming a legendary figure of the Thunderflame Domain.
"He's tempted you that badly?"
Swamp True Venerable was surprised.
Since his advancement to Void Refining, he could not remember the last time his old brother had been this excited. Even meeting the Nine Firmaments Divine Thunder True Sovereign's ancestor back then had not stirred him so deeply.
That excitement was infectious. It brought back Swamp True Venerable's years as a Rogue Cultivator.
Back then, nothing had been off-limits. He had killed as he pleased, paying no heed even to scions of powerful families with formidable backers. Day and night, he had danced on a knife's edge, liable to grow rich overnight.
Dangerous as that life had been, he found himself missing it a little.
"...That wouldn't be wise."
Swamp True Venerable pondered for a moment. "A