Treasure Pavilion

"Hahaha, so you're descendants of the Xiao Clan, an Emperor Clan. Your strength is quite impressive."

The Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm.

"You flatter me, Senior. Compared to yours, my strength is like a firefly beside the sun and moon, too insignificant to mention," Xiao Tian Ce said with a smile, cupping his hands.

Seeing him lay on the flattery, Huang Jiuji laughed. "Who would have thought a youngster from the Xiao Clan would be so good at buttering people up? But if you think a little flattery will let you pull the wool over this old man's eyes, you're far too naive."

At Huang Jiuji's words, Xiao Tian Ce smiled, then slowly let his smile fade. His expression turned solemn. "Then what do you believe we should do now that we've entered the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Secret Realm, Senior?"

"Oh! Quite a brave little fellow, aren't you? To dare speak like that before this old man, a peak eight-star Dou Saint. What would you do if I wanted to kill you?" Huang Jiuji's smile faded as well, leaving his aged face covered in wrinkles.

Judging by the bloody aura around him, however, Huang Jiuji must have killed quite a few people in the past.

Facing such a man, Xiao Tian Ce entertained no hope of getting lucky. He cupped his hands and said gravely, "If you intend to kill us, Senior, we won't simply sit and wait for death.

"Please make your move, Senior. Whatever the consequences, I, Xiao Tian Ce, will shoulder them alone!"

As he spoke, the Dou Qi within Xiao Tian Ce began to surge, as though he would launch into battle at any moment.

Huang Jiuji remained where he stood, his eyes filled with appreciation.

He merely waved his hand slowly and said with a chuckle, "At least you haven't disgraced the Xiao Clan's name as an Emperor Clan. Still, a youngster is a youngster after all. Far too impulsive."

"Hmm?"

Xiao Tian Ce was somewhat puzzled. Huang Jiuji didn't seem to be preparing to attack!

"Then what do you mean, Senior?" Xiao Tian Ce asked.

"Hehe, don't be so impatient. It's been so many years since I've spoken to anyone. Since I've finally encountered someone today, naturally I want to say a little more.

"When people grow old, they tend to become like this. You're simply fortunate. Had you barged in like this during the Heavenly Huang Clan's prime, even a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint could forget about leaving alive," Huang Jiuji said with a smile.

That was no empty claim. At its peak, the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Clan had scarcely been weaker than the present Xiao Clan. With its innate racial talents added to the equation, it could indeed keep a Peak Nine-Star Dou Saint here forever.

Xiao Tian Ce had no doubts about that.

Then Huang Jiuji continued, "All right. Since you've come, fate must have brought us together. Come along. I'll take you into the Treasure Pavilion."

With that, Huang Jiuji swept his hand through the air. The space before the Treasure Pavilion abruptly began to churn, and all the restrictive barriers dispersed. Only then did he stroll leisurely inside.

"Third Uncle?"

Beside him, Xiao Qing was worried. Out here, they could still put up some resistance. Once they entered, if the other party harbored ill intentions, they could cry to heaven and earth alike without receiving an answer.

"Don't worry. If Senior Huang wanted to harm us, we'd likely already be dead, our cultivation extinguished."

Xiao Tian Ce said this with a smile, not only for Xiao Qing's benefit, but for Huang Jiuji's as well.

Sure enough, Huang Jiuji heard him and laughed without turning his head. "No need to goad this old man with your words. I'm not shameless enough to trick you inside just to kill you. If I truly wanted you dead, I could do it right here."

After he spoke, Xiao Tian Ce and Xiao Qing exchanged a glance before slowly following him.

Upon entering the Treasure Pavilion, they saw everything enclosed in spheres of light. Though they couldn't make out the contents, they were surely valuable; otherwise, there would have been no need to construct protective halos with spatial power.

"There are three floors here in total. Everything you see now consists of cultivation methods and Dou Techniques collected by our Heavenly Huang Clan over thousands of years. The lowest-ranked among these cultivation methods and combat skills are black tier, and when used well, their power rivals earth tier techniques. There are even a dozen or so scrolls of heaven tier cultivation methods and combat skills. Take any one of them outside, and it could whip up a rain of blood and a wind of slaughter across the Central Plains."

As he spoke, the two followed Huang Jiuji farther upstairs.

Soon, they reached the second floor.

Huang Jiuji continued his introduction. "This is the second floor. Everything here consists of magic cores, high-tier pills, and high-tier medicinal ingredients. Of the medicinal ingredients you gathered in the Medicinal Garden earlier, only those over ten thousand years old would qualify to be collected here."

Hearing this, Xiao Tian Ce was filled with astonishment. He couldn't help saying, "Truly worthy of the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Clan. Even an Emperor Clan would struggle to match such deep reserves."

"Hahaha, there's no need to say all that, youngster. Come. Now that you've seen this floor, let's head farther up."

Huang Jiuji laughed heartily, leading Xiao Tian Ce and Xiao Qing upstairs as he spoke.

Soon, they reached the third floor. To their surprise, although they had expected the treasures here to be even better, there were only two spheres of light and nothing else.

Huang Jiuji had no attention to spare for the two of them. He simply strode excitedly toward the two spheres, his eyes shining with delighted surprise and relief.

It was clear that he valued the things within those two spheres immensely.

Only after quite a while did Huang Jiuji explain, "You must be very curious about what's inside, aren't you?"

Xiao Tian Ce and Xiao Qing nodded. Huang Jiuji waved his left hand, and the spheres of light abruptly broke open. The one on the left contained two eggs, while the one on the right held a mass of golden flame.

"How is that possible? It's actually golden emperor burning heaven flame, ranked fourth on the heavenly flame ranking! Isn't that the Gu Clan's inherited flame?" Xiao Tian Ce and Xiao Qing exclaimed together.

According to the original novel, although golden emperor burning heaven flame was not as mysterious as purifying lotus demon flame, it had still enjoyed a formidable reputation in ancient times.

Moreover, this heavenly flame was the Gu Clan's inherited flame, and very few people could subdue it.

It was a terrifying heavenly flame reputed to burn even Dou Qi. Legend held that its first master had once used it to burn an entire space created by a Dou Sheng Expert into nothingness.

Yet golden emperor burning heaven flame actually existed here? Surely this had to be some enormous joke?

Beside them, Huang Jiuji was quite pleased with their astonishment. He smiled and explained, "This flame is indeed golden emperor burning heaven flame, the immensely powerful heavenly flame ranked fourth on the heavenly flame ranking.

"Three thousand years ago, our clan chief paid a great price to obtain a wisp of child flame from the Ancient Clan Chief. After two thousand years of painstaking nurturing, this flame is now no weaker than the Gu Clan's."

"Truly impressive. The Ancient Heavenly Phoenix Clan's reserves really do make one's scalp tingle," Xiao Tian Ce said with feeling.

"Hahaha, this is nothing. Our clan's history stretches back ten thousand years. Given that much time, even weak magical beasts could grow powerful.

"Take the green lotus core flame on your shoulder, for example. Our clan retrieved it from deep within an underground magma pool two thousand years ago.

"It was still far too weak at the time, so we brought its accompanying Qinglian back as well. A thousand years ago, I personally planted the Qinglian in the Medicinal Courtyard and placed restrictive barriers around it to recreate the environment deep within the underground magma. I also added quite a few fine materials. Only then was it able to become a Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus in a mere thousand years, while the Qinglian Earth Core Flame developed sentience," Huang Jiuji explained with a smile.

"So that's how it happened. I thought there was volcanic magma beneath the Ten-Thousand-Year Green Lotus, so I didn't find it strange at the time!

"Your methods are extraordinary, Senior. You have my sincere admiration," Xiao Tian Ce said, cupping his hands.