Ancient World King and the Three Treasure Chests

Lin Shen suspected that Tian Xin had learned on the spot and put the very same tricks Lin Shen had just used on him back onto Lin Shen.

"Do you think I'd believe that?" Lin Shen took out the Leaf Blade, walked up to Tian Xin, and suddenly drove the blade toward his eye.

"I have proof... it's in my backpack..." Tian Xin cried out.

Lin Shen's hand could not stop in time and was forcibly shifted aside. The Leaf Blade did not pierce his eye, instead stabbing the puff beneath it.

It had to be said that a Crystal Gene Level body was truly terrifyingly tough. Even when Lin Shen stabbed him with the Leaf Blade, it only left a shallow wound, barely breaking the skin.

"Sorry, you shouted too slowly. I couldn't quite stop myself. Pay attention next time," Lin Shen said with a smile.

"It's fine, it's fine. You can't be blamed for this," Tian Xin hastily said.

"I'm telling you to pay attention. Shout faster next time. What were you thinking?" As Lin Shen spoke, he walked behind Tian Xin and saw that there really was a small backpack on his back. It was woven from metal wire and tied between his two wings.

Lin Shen removed the backpack. He had originally intended to tear it apart by force, but after tugging twice, the bag was completely unscathed.

"A Heaven Brand backpack, a famous brand, high-end goods. It's made of Crystal Silk, very durable. If you like it, my friend, I'll give it to you," Tian Xin said ingratiatingly.

"It was mine to begin with. What right do you have to give my own things to me?" Lin Shen glared at him.

"Yes, yes, yes. Since the bag is in your hands, it is naturally yours. I was muddleheaded and said the wrong thing." Though Tian Xin said this aloud, inwardly his teeth were itching with hatred. Bastard, trash, idiot. Don't let me find an opportunity. Once I recover, I'll snatch back everything you have. I won't even leave your underwear behind—and I'll rob you ten times over.

Lin Shen could not be bothered with him. After examining it, he discovered that the bag even had a combination lock.

"My friend, the password is six sixes." Tian Xin had become much more sensible. Without waiting for Lin Shen to ask, he gave the password himself.

"You Celestial Race are so advanced and sophisticated. Why are you still using this traditional sort of combination lock?" Lin Shen did not turn the number wheels, instead looking at Tian Xin as he asked.

"Things like fingerprint, iris, face recognition, and even DNA locks aren't very reliable after a defeat. Combination locks can actually hold out longer." Within Tian Xin's heart, a tiny demonic flame was swaying madly. Open it... open it already... How could I possibly give you the real password... The moment you enter the wrong password... I'll let you know just how ignorant and stupid you country bumpkins are...

"That makes sense." Lin Shen reached for the combination lock, his finger already resting on it. But beneath Tian Xin's eager gaze, he did not turn the numbers. Instead, he turned to Tian Xin again and said, "Your civilization is so advanced, Celestials are so intelligent, and you've thought everything through so carefully. You even considered the possibility of your bag being taken after defeat. You must have designed a mechanism to deal with enemies trying to open it too. Say my memory isn't very good and I misremember the password. If I enter it incorrectly, would there be any danger?"

"Well..." Cold sweat appeared on Tian Xin's forehead.

"Oh, right, my memory isn't very good. What was the password you said just now?" Lin Shen asked with a smile.

"Six sixes..." Before Tian Xin could answer, Wei Wufu, who was gulping down Gene Mutation Fluid beside them, wiped his mouth and cut in.

Tian Xin's face instantly darkened. Lin Shen had clearly been trying to give him a way out, but the moment the steps had been built, Tian Xin had only hesitated for a moment before Wei Wufu tore them down.

"Can't you talk properly? If you can't talk, go back to school for a few more years, will you?" Right then, Tian Xin wanted nothing more than to rush over and slap Wei Wufu hard across the face several times.

"No, no, no. He remembered wrong. The password I told you was 994572." Tian Xin forced himself to say it.

Lin Shen had already guessed that the combination lock had an anti-theft mechanism, so he certainly would not open it himself. If Tian Xin did not find himself a way out now, he would definitely suffer later. He did not want to suffer.

"Is that so?" Lin Shen tilted his head toward Wei Wufu and asked.

"No... six sixes..." At precisely this moment, Wei Wufu spoke with far greater fluency.

"You..." Tian Xin silently cursed out a ten-thousand-word essay, yet had no choice but to pile on a smile. "My friend, that friend was a little far away just now, so he definitely didn't hear clearly. I said 994572. Believe me, it can't be wrong. Good friends don't deceive good friends."

"Fine. Since we're good friends, I'll believe you." As Lin Shen spoke, he extended his finger and set the number wheels to 994572.

With a snap, the lock opened.

Seeing that Lin Shen had actually entered the password Tian Xin gave him and opened the lock himself, Tian Xin was filled with such regret and misery that it gnawed at his heart.

If I'd known it would turn out like this, I should've made up another one... Tian Xin regretted it so much that he nearly shattered his teeth from gritting them.

There was no use regretting it now. He could only watch helplessly as Lin Shen dumped out everything inside the bag.

Besides a few pieces of clothing, there was a metal box the size of an eyeglass case, along with several miscellaneous items that looked like everyday necessities.

"Where is the proof you mentioned?" Lin Shen looked at Tian Xin and asked.

"It's inside that box," Tian Xin said helplessly.

Lin Shen picked up the box and inspected it from all sides. Then, surprisingly, without any pointless talk, he slowly opened the unlocked box.

"What is this?" Lin Shen asked, looking at the item inside with some surprise.

"Haven't you heard the story of the Ancient World King and the Three Treasure Chests?" Tian Xin was slightly taken aback, but immediately continued. "The Ancient World King was the World King I told you about. He conquered the universe and, in merely ten thousand years, became a generation's World King, establishing his own cosmic dynasty—the Ancient Dynasty. Unfortunately, the Ancient Dynasty existed for only a little over twenty years before being replaced by another dynasty."

"A dynasty built over ten thousand years was replaced in just over twenty years?" Lin Shen felt the gap was far too great.

"Exactly. The Ancient Dynasty was the shortest-lived dynasty in Cosmic History. It really was a pity. But the story of the Ancient World King and the Three Treasure Chests spread far and wide. Even after hundreds of millions of years, people still talked about it with relish." Tian Xin vividly began recounting the story of the Three Treasure Keys.

The Ancient World King had almost never known defeat in his life. Ten thousand years might sound like a long time to establish a dynasty, but throughout the universe's history, there had only been a few who could rise from nothing and establish a dynasty in merely ten thousand years.

After the Ancient Dynasty was founded, the Ancient World King encountered something strange.

His closest relatives and friends—anyone he cared about—began dying in accidents one after another.

The Ancient World King possessed boundless divine abilities. If someone had been using underhanded means to deliberately harm those around him, he had already taken strict precautions. Yet even his most beloved Imperial Concubine still died before his very eyes, and there was nothing the Ancient World King could do.

Afterward, relatives continued to die before his eyes one after another, proving that this was definitely no ordinary scheme. It was fate, Heaven's punishment for killing too many living beings while founding his dynasty. Heaven wanted to sever all his family and friends, leaving him alone to grow old.

The Ancient World King, who had swept through the universe in an invincible stance and found no rival beneath the heavens, exhausted every possible method. Yet he could only watch helplessly as brothers, closest friends, wives, concubines, and descendants died before his eyes in accidents one by one.

In the end, the Ancient World King had no choice but to issue a reward notice across the universe. Whoever could resolve his plight would have power and wealth within easy reach.

If they wanted power, they could make the heavens tremble beneath their authority; if they wanted wealth, they could become the universe's richest person.

Once the reward was issued, many capable people and swindlers alike went to try, yet no one could resolve his plight.

It was not until the Ancient World King's direct bloodline had dwindled to a single young prince and two young princesses that someone finally arrived who could free him from his predicament.

That person had the Ancient World King make three treasure chests. Then he opened the first chest and told the Ancient World King to place inside it the item he considered most valuable, repeatedly warning him that it had to be the most precious and valuable thing he possessed aside from matters of sentiment.

The Ancient World King thought the man wanted his most valuable possession as payment. At that time, the Ancient World King had already reached the end of the road. What did mere worldly possessions matter? Without nearly any hesitation, he placed what he considered his most valuable and precious item inside.

The man nodded, opened the second treasure chest, and again told the Ancient World King to place inside it what he now considered his most valuable and precious possession.

The Ancient World King still did not hesitate and placed the thing he currently cherished most inside.

The man nodded again, opened the third chest, and once more asked the Ancient World King to place what he now considered most valuable inside.

This time, the Ancient World King felt somewhat unhappy. He thought the man was simply too greedy, asking again and again. He had already put his two most treasured artifacts inside, yet the man was still not satisfied.

The Ancient World King thought that the man merely wanted valuable things anyway, so he casually chose an extremely valuable item and placed it inside. Though it was not what he cherished most at that moment, its value was not much lower.

The man locked all three treasure chests. Then, unexpectedly, he returned the three keys to the Ancient World King and spoke words that were even more unexpected.

What he meant was that if the three treasures the Ancient World King had just placed inside truly were what he considered the most precious and valuable things at the time, then the Ancient World King's predicament had already been resolved.

But if the three treasures inside were not the three things the Ancient World King considered most valuable, then for every one he got wrong, one blood relative would die. If he got two wrong, two would die. If he got all three wrong, three would die.

The Ancient World King had only three blood relatives left. If he got them all wrong, every last one of them would die.

The Ancient World King asked the man, "What counts as wrong, and what counts as right?"

"That is a question the World King should ask his own heart." After saying this, the man drifted away. He asked for no reward at all and did not take the three treasure chests with him.

In the end, the man's words truly came to pass. The young prince died, while the two young princesses survived.

"The Ancient Dynasty's short life had a great deal to do with this matter." Tian Xin sighed. "Later, no one knew where the Ancient World King died. With no successor, the Ancient Dynasty fell apart into four pieces and five fragments. No one ever saw the Three Treasure Chests again, but the Three Treasure Keys did circulate. Legend says that the Ancient World King carried the Three Treasure Chests with him. As long as one can find where the Ancient World King was buried and gather the Three Treasure Keys, one can obtain those three most precious treasures in the universe."

"You aren't trying to tell me that this is one of the Three Treasure Keys, are you?" Lin Shen said as he looked at the key inside the box, a complicated expression flashing through his eyes.

"That's right. This is one of the Three Treasure Keys," Tian Xin said with certainty.

Tian Xin's expression did not seem false, yet Lin Shen still found it difficult to believe that this key was one of the so-called Three Treasure Keys. That was because it looked extremely similar to the golden crystal key he had found on Lao Ye.