Volume 4 Chapter 27

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Volume 4 Chapter 27: Treasure Acquired (The End)

While wandering among countless stone shelves, Xu Qingfan suddenly noticed something not far ahead on a few of the shelves, causing his eyes to light up slightly. He then quickly walked toward those shelves.

Compared to the location of the "Five Spirit Bell" and "Oshine Jade Pendant" earlier, these shelves were crowded with people. Almost half of the eighteen elders were gathered here, clearly indicating that the items on these shelves were extraordinary.

As Xu Qingfan approached and took a closer look, he found that these shelves were filled with over a hundred demon beast eggs. Unlike the other magical items, these eggs were not only sealed but also surrounded by several high-grade spirit stones, arranged in a peculiar pattern around them. This setup emitted waves of mysterious Spirit Qi fluctuations, which could be faintly sensed despite the seals. These high-grade spirit stones were used to maintain the vitality of the demon beast eggs.

"Should I take another demon beast egg from this Secret Warehouse?"

Seeing this scene, Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

In fact, compared to magical artifacts, demon beast eggs hold even greater value in some aspects.

First, once a demon beast matures, its strength becomes extremely powerful, even potentially surpassing its master. It can attack, defend, and be used for scouting. Some demon beasts may develop incredibly special abilities once fully grown, making them far more versatile and powerful than magical artifacts.

Furthermore, and more importantly, demon beasts possess a degree of intelligence, allowing them to engage in attack and defense without needing the cultivator’s control. With a powerful demon beast, a cultivator can easily fight two opponents at once, and if there’s a unique method for merging with the demon beast, the cultivator’s strength can increase significantly.

But in the world, everything has its pros and cons. Perfection only exists in myths.

If a cultivator wishes to possess a demon beast, it is extremely complicated.

First, for a demon beast to recognize its master, one must personally hatch a demon beast egg. Regardless of how fierce a demon beast is, they are very protective of their offspring, making even the lowest level demon beast egg hard to obtain.

Additionally, to have a demon beast recognize its master, beyond acquiring a demon beast egg, some very complex methods are required. The crucial step is for the cultivator to implant part of their Divine Sense into the demon beast’s Divine Sense for control. This means that if the demon beast dies, the cultivator’s Divine Sense will also suffer greatly.

Also, because of the need to implant Divine Sense, a cultivator can only have three demon beasts in a lifetime. Any more, and the Divine Sense would become overwhelmed. In fact, many cultivators in the cultivation world never cultivate a single demon beast in their lifetime—not because they can’t obtain a demon beast egg, but because they don’t want their Divine Sense occupied, even in part.

Most importantly, raising a demon beast is extremely costly because once a demon beast recognizes a master, it loses its wildness and ability to grow independently, relying entirely on its master. From hatching to maturity, a demon beast needs a vast amount of spirit stones and special materials. For example, Ting’er’s Little Green would still be as weak as a puppy without Liu Huaxiang’s constant supply of spirit medicine. If it were an ordinary Condensed Core Stage cultivator, they might never be able to raise Little Green to full size.

Because of these pros and cons, Xu Qingfan initially hadn’t thought about getting a demon beast. But seeing the demon beast eggs before him, he suddenly felt an urge to have one. After all, Xu Qingfan’s cultivation resources were all supplied by Liu Huaxiang, making his two-thousand high-grade spirit stones and fifty bottles of various elixirs every century quite surplus. Thus, the greatest concern for cultivators raising spirit beasts was almost nothing for Xu Qingfan.

Xu Qingfan did the math and found that with his offerings every century, he could certainly afford to raise a fairly good demon beast, assuming no unforeseen circumstances.

Seeing Zhang Hualing still standing emotionlessly by the stone gate, Xu Qingfan knew there was plenty of time to choose, so even though he wasn’t very knowledgeable about the abilities or power of the demon beasts that would hatch from these eggs, he wasn’t in a rush. He just strolled among the stone shelves, observing carefully and picking through the demon beast eggs.

In the second level of Jiuhua Secret Library, there were over a hundred demon beast eggs ranging from low Human Level to high Earth Level. Raising a demon beast was extremely expensive, and the cost of cultivating those high-level Earth Level demon beast eggs was frighteningly high. These newly promoted elders didn’t have savings and weren’t affluent, so even though the most powerful demon beast eggs after hatching were placed in the most conspicuous spots, many young elders were envious but had to abandon them due to the prohibitive costs.

Thus, although those reasonably priced and well-bred demon beast eggs had been snatched up by other elders, all the ones Xu Qingfan was particularly interested in were still there. These demon beast eggs would grow extremely powerful after hatching, but although many elders liked them as much as Xu Qingfan, nobody could afford them and could only look on enviously. So Xu Qingfan was no longer in a rush like when he took the "Five Spirit Bell" and "Oshine Jade Pendant," he leisurely wandered among the stone shelves, comparing the pros and cons of the demon beast eggs he favored. Inadvertently, he gained some understanding of the mindset of wealthy people.

"Iron Stone Colossus? Even among high Earth Level demon beasts, it’s top-notch in both attack and defense, but it’s too large—fifteen zhang tall and over twenty zhang long, weighing tens of thousands of pounds. Even if I raise it, there’d be no place to keep it."

"Sky God Eagle? It can manipulate clouds, rain, and lightning, and is extremely fast. It can also be used for reconnaissance. Although it’s hard to control and has low defense, it’s still worth considering."

"The Seven-Colored Divine Deer is a top-tier Earth-level demon beast, even among the best. Although its attack power is low, it is an exceptional support-type. Especially its calming and healing abilities, which surpass even those of specialized elixirs. Should I choose this one?"

At that moment, Xu Qingfan accidentally noticed a dark demon beast egg. Compared to the other glowing demon beast eggs, this one seemed quite ordinary.

What caught Xu Qingfan’s attention was that the high-grade spirit stones sustaining the life of this dark demon beast egg were more than three times that of the other eggs. Clearly, once hatched, this egg would possess immense vitality, hence requiring so many spirit stones to maintain its life force.

Noticing this detail, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but pause and began to observe the demon beast egg carefully.

As Xu Qingfan examined this demon beast egg closely, his expression changed. While using Divine Sense to probe the egg, the mutated Wither Qi within him suddenly stirred slightly beyond his control. When the Wither Qi inside Xu Qingfan stirred, a black mist momentarily appeared on the dark demon beast egg, but vanished as he steadied the mutated Wither Qi.

Sensing this strange phenomenon, Xu Qingfan grew increasingly convinced that this dark demon beast egg was not simple.

With this thought, Xu Qingfan looked at the engraved stone plaque beneath the egg. It bore a few lines of small text, "Dark Crow, a low-level Earth demon beast. Body as hard as iron, extremely fast, can become invisible. Known as the Death God Clone, found in the Western Desert. Highly sensitive to death, the Dark Crow appears when someone in the Western Desert is near death. Can evolve to a high-level Earth beast, with legends of a heavenly-level Dark Crow existing, though the reasons for evolution are unknown."

Reading this description, Xu Qingfan felt a slight stir in his heart and thought, "Is the Dark Crow’s title of Death God Clone related to its connection with death energy? Earlier, when I used Divine Sense on the Dark Crow egg, the mutated Wither Qi inside me moved. That must be the reason."

With this in mind, Xu Qingfan hesitated slightly, then tucked the Dark Crow egg into his sleeve. Although there were several high-level Earth demon beast eggs beside it, he had a faint feeling that this Dark Crow egg was far from being as simple as described.

Moreover, even if the Dark Crow hatches and seems ordinary, its description suggests that, like the Blue-eyed Cloud-foot Beast, it can evolve, reaching up to an advanced Earth level. So, obtaining the Dark Crow egg is not a loss for Xu Qingfan.

"Regardless, I’ll go back and study it carefully."

Xu Qingfan murmured.

After placing the Dark Crow egg into his sleeve, Xu Qingfan had collected all three items: the incredibly defensive "Five Spirit Bell," the "Oshine Jade Pendant" which aids greatly in cultivation, and the mysterious "Dark Crow" egg.

Observing some elders still wandering among the stone stands, undecided about which artifact to choose, Xu Qingfan shook his head slightly, finding himself with nothing much to do.

Suddenly, Xu Qingfan noticed Lv Qingshang was also struggling to decide between two formation artifacts. Recalling that he had seen a useful artifact for Lv Qingshang while researching the green slips, he communicated to Lv Qingshang, "Senior Brother Lv, check the fourth row of the third column on the stone stands. There’s a formation artifact called the ‘Seven Star Banner’ that might be useful for you."

Hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Lv Qingshang hesitated for a moment but then looked at the two artifacts before him. Certain, he quickly walked to the spot Xu Qingfan mentioned and soon expressed admiration.

Seeing this, Xu Qingfan smiled slightly, then helped Dongfang Qingling find a blue ribbon called "Ocean-Turning Ribbon," repaying the favor of letting him have the "Oshine Jade Pendant." He also assisted Jin Qinghan in exchanging for a "Golden Spirit Orb" that could condense Golden Spirit Qi.

Once these tasks were completed, the young elders had decided on their chosen artifacts and each came to Xu Qingfan to register them.

While Xu Qingfan was busy noting which elder took which magical item on the green slip, he suddenly saw Gongsun Huasa approach Zhang Hualing, who was waiting quietly in the distance, and softly say something to him.

It was unclear what news Gongsun Huasa brought, but Zhang Hualing, usually calm-faced, suddenly looked alarmed upon hearing it and immediately walked quickly out of the Secret Warehouse.

Watching Zhang Hualing leave so abruptly, Gongsun Huasa did not stop him and instead walked quickly towards Xu Qingfan.

"Could it be that something big has happened again in Jiuhua?"

Seeing this scene, Xu Qingfan couldn’t help but think to himself.