Arc 15: Heavenly Secret Realm | Chapter 271: Trade Off
Because there were so many treasures, it actually made disputes less likely. After all, everyone present was a cultivator of the Immortal Path, and even if some were selfish, they would still need to maintain appearances. For rare but non-essential treasures like this, it was unlikely that anyone would risk openly falling out with others.
According to the convention, with so many Henghe Xingsha everyone could simply divide them based on their respective cultivation levels.
However, once everyone extended their spiritual sense, they hesitated.
It wasn’t because of anything else—only because their spiritual senses couldn’t penetrate the blue light screen. In other words, they would have to break through the screen to obtain the Henghe Xingsha.
But then, who would break the screen? Who would count the treasure once the screen was broken? How could they ensure that no one would take advantage? These were all issues that couldn’t be easily resolved.
Moreover, aside from the brothers Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie, and another pair of master and servant, the remaining seven people had entered alone, making it difficult for them to trust one another. Especially when it came to distributing treasures, they couldn’t afford to let down their guard.
As everyone was feeling conflicted, the lazy young man spoke again: “This thing is of no use to me. I don’t have the time to waste here.”
He was implying that he intended to leave early.
One of the cultivators, the Golden Core stage Zhenren1Golden Core stage cultivators will be added honorific Zhenren from now quickly voiced his discontent: “We all agreed to enter the stone chamber together. How can you just leave us here?”
Aside from the master-servant pair and Yun Lie, this Golden Core stage Zhenren was the only one on this path who could speak up, as Yun Lie had remained silent.
The lazy young man curled his lip and said, “I don’t want this treasure. Do I really need to wait for you? If it takes you a year or half to break the restriction, am I supposed to wait that long? That’s unreasonable.” His words were not without reason.
Everyone looked at each other, unsure of how to respond, and even the Jindan Zhenren was momentarily speechless.
In the end, they were just traveling the same path. Everyone wanted to obtain rare treasures and legacies, but no one could force another to do anything. If others had higher cultivation levels, the lazy young man wouldn’t have been able to speak up in the first place.
Then the lazy young man added, “Don’t blame me for not warning you. Who knows what this inheritance is about? There may be five paths, but there’s no guarantee that only one of them leads to the legacy. If something unexpected happens at the end…”
His words caused several people to change their expressions.
Xu Ziqing understood clearly as well.
While Luofu Zhenren had indeed left behind a legacy, no one knew how he intended to test those who walked the five paths. Although it was possible that the legacy was on one of the paths, it was also possible that the true inheritance would only be revealed at the end of the road… If it was the latter, wouldn’t the first one to reach the end have the advantage?
The situation became tense.
Those who needed the Henghe Xingsha were reluctant to leave, but eventually, they came up with a plan: “Why don’t we refrain from taking the treasure for now? We can check the stone chambers first. If we don’t find the inheritance by the end, we can always come back for the treasures!”
Hearing this, the lazy young man smirked ambiguously and then, along with the tall, burly man, walked out ahead of the others.
Xu Ziqing glanced at his Shixiong and nodded.
Yun Lie’s expression remained unchanged as he followed suit, walking out of the chamber.
Seeing the more powerful cultivators leaving, the six or seven others quickly followed, all exiting the stone chamber.
Just as the last person stepped out, there was an explosion inside the chamber!
Everyone’s expressions changed as they hurriedly looked back into the chamber.
Inside, for some unknown reason, the restriction had exploded, and all of the Henghe Xingsha had turned to ashes.
Not a single grain was left!
At this point, the weaker cultivators couldn’t help but gasp.
Someone bitterly smiled and said, “It seems that on this path of inheritance, Luofu Zhenren doesn’t want us taking any shortcuts…”
For a moment, many felt a deep regret over the loss of the Henghe Xingsha.
Xu Ziqing, however, only grew more impressed with Luofu Zhenren and couldn’t help but say, “The Zhenren’s wisdom is truly exquisite.”
Yun Lie even nodded slightly. “This is the way of choosing between gains and losses.”
By this time, everyone present was no fool and understood Luofu Zhenren’s intent.
Each stone chamber likely contained a treasure, but each treasure was protected by a restriction.
If one didn’t break the restriction, they wouldn’t obtain the treasure; if one attempted to break the restriction, it would take a lot of time, delaying their chance to find the inheritance. If anyone tried to both obtain the treasure and the inheritance by taking a shortcut, the treasure would self-destruct, causing nothing but heartache.
Thus, anyone walking this path had to make a choice.
Should they pursue the treasure or the inheritance?
If they chose the inheritance, they might end up empty-handed; if they chose the treasure, they might regret it when someone else obtained the inheritance later… So, what should they do?
For a moment, everyone was silent.
Then they pushed open the second stone door, revealing another blue light screen. This time, there were eighty-one flying swords inside, all top-grade spiritual weapons, clearly forming a sword array. There was also a rhomboid jade slip glowing brightly, likely a part of the set with the flying swords.
If a cultivator obtained this set of flying swords and practiced the a.s.sociated techniques, it could become a powerful life-saving tool, even allowing them to dominate a region.
But when it came to choosing…
Before long, someone gritted their teeth and spoke first: “I, Lin, have practiced water-based techniques since childhood, and this sword array is perfectly suited to me. I… have decided to stay!”
With someone stepping forward, a few others who had been tempted decided to give up. Otherwise, staying behind would only lead to a dispute with this Lin-named cultivator, which wouldn’t be ideal.
After that, the group continued forward, moving on to the third and fourth stone chambers in turn.
This place truly deserves its reputation as a location of hidden inheritance, for Luofu Zhenren indeed left behind many treasures. Not only were there various heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but even top-grade spiritual weapons were presented in sets.
The treasure seekers were resolute and could ignore many temptations, but when a low-grade magical weapon appeared, some couldn’t help but stop.
How precious is a magical weapon, especially one that is highly suitable for oneself?
Gradually, only four Golden Core Realms cultivators, along with Xu Ziqing and another Transformation Realm cultivator, continued onward.
They arrived at another stone chamber, where the blue light revealed a black, metallic-like stem that seemed extraordinarily heavy and carried an air of mysterious profundity.
Xu Ziqing did not recognize this item, but the lazy youth did. He made a sound of recognition and then said, “Jiazi, take this item and come find me afterward.”
The nine-foot-tall, muscular man who had been silently protecting the youth bowed and responded, “Understood.” His voice was deep and resonant, as if from an ancient, buried tree.
The lazy youth, satisfied, left, while Jiazi, the tall man, turned and unleashed a powerful surge of energy against the blue light screen, causing ripples to spread out.
With Jiazi’s departure, the Transformation Realm cultivator and the Golden Core cultivators visibly relaxed.
To them, Jiazi was the true deterrent, while the seemingly harmless youth, in the early stage of Golden Core Realm, didn’t intimidate them much. Even the Transformation Realm cultivator felt that even if they couldn’t defeat him, escaping would be no problem.
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie walked side by side a little further behind. Xu Ziqing observed the lazy youth, not underestimating him. Though the youth’s aura seemed to be of this realm, Xu Ziqing felt something was off.
It seemed that this person shouldn’t be like this…
As Xu Ziqing quietly observed, the lazy youth, being very perceptive, noticed and looked over. Xu Ziqing felt a bit embarra.s.sed and, with an apologetic smile, quickly averted his gaze.
After all, regardless of who this person was or whether he was concealing his true power, Xu Ziqing should not have been so impolite.
However, based on the other’s reaction, his temperament did not seem bad.
The next two stone chambers also contained excellent treasures, but the group did not linger. When they reached the next chamber, Jiazi, the muscular man, had already caught up and respectfully handed a storage ring to the lazy youth, clearly the item he had collected.
The Golden Core Realm cultivators were naturally stronger in dealing with the blue light screen compared to the Transformation Realm cultivators, spending less time. However, greed can be a problem—if one cannot control it, they might waste their opportunity. This is another form of choosing.
When they reached the next stone chamber, Xu Ziqing stopped.
Inside the blue light floated an item that greatly stirred his interest.
Geng Metal2Previously it was Heavenly Metal? I don’t think that’s an appropriate name, so let’s just keep it like this..
A piece of Geng Metal measuring five feet on each side.
The essence of Geng Metal, known as Geng Metal Essence, was Xu Ziqing’s primary goal in coming to this secret treasure place.
Now, the place he was in was a fragment of a map from Xuan Ze, and the Geng Metal Essence was on a map fragment obtained from the Fox King. He had previously seen that reaching this place required a fragment thrown by Xuan Ze, so the other location likely required a similar approach. However, he had not obtained a map fragment from the Fox King but only noted the map’s details, so he could not be certain if he could truly reach the other map location.
Therefore, if he could not obtain the Geng Metal Essence, acquiring this piece of Geng Metal would still be valuable.
After all, this piece of Geng Metal was extremely pure and without impurities. Although it was slightly inferior to Geng Metal Essence, it was several times better than ordinary Geng Metal.
Thinking of this, Xu Ziqing said, “This Geng Metal is useful to me; I will stay here to break the restriction.”
The lazy youth glanced at him and then at Yun Lie, giving a noncommittal smile and saying, “As expected, you have a strong bond.”
With that, he led Jiazi away. Another Golden Core cultivator, who was interested in the Geng Metal, noticed Yun Lie’s cold aura and decided to give up, while the Transformation Realm cultivator quickly left.
Soon, only Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie were left in the stone chamber. Xu Ziqing then said, “Shixiong, let’s quickly break the restriction and obtain this Geng Metal.”
Yun Lie nodded slightly and then, with a flick of his finger, released a sword aura as thick as an arm, shooting like a long rainbow toward the blue light screen!
Translator: Lynn
Translations are not 100% correct. Please let me know if there are typos/mistakes in the chapter.
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- 1Golden Core stage cultivators will be added honorific Zhenren from now
- 2Previously it was Heavenly Metal? I don’t think that’s an appropriate name, so let’s just keep it like this.