Heavenly Treasure Vault

Whew!

Chen Qiu let out a long breath of stale air. Though he had not slept all night, he did not feel the slightest fatigue. After reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, he still could not forgo food, but his spirits had improved greatly, and he felt several years younger overall.

When he stepped out of the guest room, Fat Dragon was already waiting outside, just as he had been yesterday.

The two left Heaven-Question Market together and found Scholar and the other man at their usual spot. Scholar sat cross-legged on the ground as usual, cracking melon seeds while reading the little picture book in his arms. The bearded brawny man was not down the mountain soliciting customers today either; he simply stood beside Scholar in silence, solid as a rock.

"Let's go to that wasteland from the day before yesterday and test our methods."

"Alright."

After that brief exchange, Chen Qiu and the other three returned to that same wasteland from two days ago.

Chen Qiu drew a deep breath, then nervously squeezed his eyes shut. A moment later, his eyes snapped open.

At once—

Three bolts of lightning as thick as wrists appeared from thin air at his side, then shot like auroras toward the parched ground in the distance. Countless clouds of dust exploded into the air. Once the dust settled, only three shallow pits the size of washbasins remained.

At the sight—

The corners of Chen Qiu's mouth rose slightly. He lowered his head to look at his right hand. So this was what using a spell felt like? This was his first time casting one, and it felt quite good. If he used this to chop firewood, he could surely fell a great many trees at once.

No.

He shook his head, flinging that strange thought from his mind before turning his inner sight toward his Foundation Establishment. The spiritual energy he had worked so hard to fill it with last night had been reduced to only around thirty percent after those three Lightning-Channeling Arts.

This spell was powerful, but it consumed far too much spiritual energy.

Still, he had proven one thing: as long as he had enough spiritual energy, he could cast the Lightning-Channeling Art several times in one go.

"Young Master Chen."

After hesitating for a long while, Scholar, who was sitting cross-legged nearby, finally said uncertainly, "You cannot fight like that, Young Master Chen. The spell you used should be the Foundation Establishment Realm mid-grade spell, the Lightning-Channeling Art. It looks like it has already reached Major Accomplishment."

"Although its power is not weak, it consumes too much spiritual energy. A normal First Level of the Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator can cast it at most four or five times before the spiritual energy in his Dao Foundation is exhausted. Once it is depleted, he will fall into an extremely dangerous situation."

"Therefore, under normal circumstances, Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators pour their spiritual energy into their spirit weapons when fighting enemies. This saves spiritual energy while bringing out the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator to the greatest extent. Then, when they find the instant their opponent's spiritual energy runs dry or they reveal a flaw, they cast a spell to deliver the fatal blow!"

"If you begin by throwing out several spells, and the other side evades them or uses some kind of protective talisman to forcibly block them, then with insufficient spiritual energy, Young Master Chen, you will remain at a disadvantage for the rest of the battle."

"I understand."

Chen Qiu nodded lightly to show that he understood. He had merely been testing the results. If he truly encountered a calamity, he certainly would not fight this way. After all, his storage ring still held one hundred talismans, each equivalent to a full-strength strike from a Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

While the width of his Dao Foundation was still insufficient, talismans were far more useful than his spells.

Just then—

The ground trembled faintly.

Before their eyes, a scarlet stone pillar grew from beneath the earth. It stopped growing when it extended four chi above the ground. At the same time, two lines of scarlet characters formed from spiritual energy floated above the pillar.

"Heavenly Treasure Vault."

"Those with affinity shall come."

"This is..."

Fat Dragon stared blankly at the scarlet stone pillar several zhang away, which had pierced through the ground and stood exposed in midair. For a moment, he was completely bewildered. He instinctively took a step back. Based on his experience over the past few months, such inexplicable things were often accompanied by danger.

"It's the Heavenly Treasure Vault!"

At the sight, Scholar, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground, could not help crying out in shock. "Young Master Chen, you truly are a man of great fortune. The Heavenly Treasure Vault is a random opportunity in the cultivation world."

"It appears without any warning, at random, and each appearance lasts only the time it takes to drink a cup of tea."

"Over the years, I have often heard of lucky people encountering it, but I have never seen it myself. Today is my first time as well. Many fine treasures are placed atop that scarlet stone pillar, and many are exceptionally rare treasures that only have a chance of being produced within the Heavenly Dao Secret Realm."

"Every treasure has a listed price, but each has a different discount. As long as you have enough Spirit Stones, you can exchange them for the treasures."

Although he had once been a Golden Core Realm cultivator, he truly had never encountered an opportunity such as the Heavenly Treasure Vault. There were countless opportunities in the cultivation world—who could guarantee that they would encounter every one of them?

For an opportunity like the Heavenly Treasure Vault, how could one have the chance to encounter it without great fortune? Yet even if one did encounter it, if one happened to have few Spirit Stones in one's pocket, one could only watch helplessly as the opportunity slipped away. That merely meant one was not truly a person of great affinity.

But since Young Master Chen could give him 3,100 Spirit Stones, he surely was not lacking Spirit Stones.

"Let's go."

Upon hearing that this Heavenly Treasure Vault would last only the time it took to drink a cup of tea, how could Chen Qiu dare delay any longer? He immediately strode over. Only when he drew close did he discover that the scarlet pillar's surface was a full seven chi wide and seven chi long.

Its surface was a square.

The seven-chi-wide, seven-chi-long square surface had been divided neatly into six compartments, with one item placed in each. Small writing beside every item described its name and effects.

A translucent film covered the items. Merely probing it with divine sense allowed one to sense the might of the Heavenly Dao within that film. Trying to seize anything by force was certainly not an option.

The film above each item bore its name and price.

For example, the first compartment held ten stacked talismans.

"Foundation Establishment Realm mid-grade Qi-Absorbing Talisman ×10."

"Can increase your speed of absorbing spiritual energy tenfold for one hour."

"10 Spirit Stones."

"Ten-percent price."

Worried that Young Master Chen did not know the market prices, Scholar had his younger brother carry him on his shoulders. Looking down at the six compartments atop the scarlet stone pillar, he explained, "Foundation Establishment Realm mid-grade Qi-Absorbing Talismans are common talismans that can be used together with Spirit-Replenishing Pills."

"During battle, these talismans can help you rapidly replenish the spiritual energy in your Dao Foundation, allowing you to have more spiritual energy to fight enemies."

"The market price for one Foundation Establishment Realm mid-grade Qi-Absorbing Talisman is ten Spirit Stones. Here, ten cost only ten Spirit Stones. It is an excellent bargain, whether you use them yourself or take them to the market to sell."

"Although this first compartment can earn a little, it cannot earn much. Young Master Chen, look at the Spirit Beast Ring in the second compartment. It has a certain chance of making a severely injured demonic beast below the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer acknowledge you as its master, turning it into a major force at your side."

"Though it will not possess the spiritual nature of a demonic beast raised from childhood, nor the tacit understanding where master and pet's hearts beat as one, it is still quite good. Most importantly, it costs only fifty Spirit Stones."

"Its market price is two hundred Spirit Stones."