Chapter 633

Chapter 633: The Useless Treasure Tower

Above the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake, a spiritual boat drifted gently with the wind.

On the boat, two men were fishing leisurely.

"It’s been ten years since we last met, hasn’t it?" Wang Yulun said.

"I’ve been tied up refining puppets all this time, but now I’m finally done. I can take it easy for a bit," Xu Fan replied with a smile.

"By the way, how’s everything with your daughter and her master? Any updates?" Xu Fan asked, clearly fishing for gossip.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Didn’t Grape fill you in? Senior Xiuxin has entered the Overcoming Tribulations stage and has gone into seclusion," Wang Yulun said.

"Since she’s reached the Overcoming Tribulations stage, I guess I’ll need to make some preparations," Xu Fan mused.

"Preparations for what?" Wang Yulun asked, intrigued.

"What else? A heavenly tribulation energy collector, of course!" Xu Fan chuckled.

Last time, he hadn’t succeeded, so this time he was determined to be fully prepared.

"There’s such a thing?"

As Wang Yulun spoke, he reeled in a proper big blue fish.

"Hey, a real fish! That’s a rare catch," Xu Fan remarked.

"While you were busy with your puppets, I’ve been coming here to fish. I’ve gotten pretty good at it—now I can actually catch something decent," Wang Yulun said with a hint of pride.

Has my good brother finished his task and now it’s time to renew? Xu Fan thought to himself.

"Well, if you’re catching real fish, let’s get a few more. We’ll have a full fish feast tonight," Xu Fan said with a grin.

"Absolutely! You’ve got to try the fish I’ve caught, Big Brother Xu!"

Just as the two were chatting, Xu Fan suddenly received a message from Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign.

"Grand Elder, help! There are four beast kings chasing me, and each one is stronger than I am."

Seeing that the Invincible Beast King wasn’t among them, Xu Fan didn’t bother much.

"Grape, deploy four Great Ascension stage puppets. You’re in full control—let’s see how much fighting strength you can muster."

"Kill one and leave the other three," Xu Fan instructed.

A massive light curtain lit up not far from the two.

Inside the light curtain were the figures of the four beast kings.

"What kind of beasts are they?" Wang Yulun asked curiously.

"They’re from the Fire Cloud Bird clan, one of the more well-known clans in the beast race."

"Want me to catch one for you to play with?" Xu Fan teased.

Things were different now—he had the power to back up such a boast.

At that moment, four beams of light shot up from the Hidden Spirit Sect, heading straight for Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign’s location.

"Why keep them? They’d burn your backside if you tried to ride them," Wang Yulun laughed, waving his hand dismissively.

"You don’t like it? That’s fine. Honestly, the Fire Cloud Bird isn’t exactly the most charming creature," Xu Fan remarked, his eyes fixed on the light curtain.

"I’ll catch a prettier bird for you later."

"No need to trouble yourself. I can handle it. With the gear you gave me, Big Brother Xu, catching a few little birds will be a breeze once my cultivation improves," Wang Yulun said confidently.

Hearing this, Xu Fan felt a pang of responsibility. It was time to upgrade his good brother’s equipment.

But then a thought struck him—over the years, the sect’s reserves of spirit ores, both artifact-level and celestial tool-grade, had dwindled to almost nothing.

Everything had been used up crafting magical tools and puppets.

Just then, a flash of lightning crackled nearby, materializing into the Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign.

The beast looked worse for wear, with deep gashes across its chest.

Xu Fan pulled out a jade bottle and tossed it to the Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign.

"Here’s a Holy Bone Healing Pill. Go rest up; you’ve earned it," Xu Fan said with a warm smile.

"Thank you, Grand Elder," the Swift Thunder Beast Sovereign replied gratefully.

"You’ve done well. Get some rest and heal up," Xu Fan added.

With a nod, the beast transformed back into a streak of lightning and zipped off toward the Hidden Spirit Sect.

Meanwhile, the battle on the light curtain had begun, and Wang Yulun was completely engrossed.

Xu Fan, however, furrowed his brow slightly.

The basic version of the Great Ascension stage puppet wasn’t quite as strong as he’d hoped.

"Grape, how much computing power are these four puppets using in battle?" Xu Fan asked.

"Currently, they’re using ten percent, and the usage is gradually increasing. I’m testing to find the upper limit," Grape replied.

"At this level, the Great Ascension stage puppet feels a bit underwhelming—it’s comparable to the Spirit Cut Elder at his peak," Xu Fan said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Master, the battle formation hasn’t been activated yet. Once it’s running, the performance should improve," Grape assured him.

"Maybe I rushed things. Take your time with the tests," Xu Fan conceded.

"Understood, Master," Grape responded.

"Big Brother Xu, the Hidden Spirit Sect is really thriving. I used to think Core Formation stage puppets were impressive, but now we’ve got Great Ascension stage puppets—and not just one!" Wang Yulun exclaimed.

"These advancements are born out of necessity. If you’re not strong enough, others will take advantage of you," Xu Fan explained.

Wang Yulun nodded, understanding the gravity of his words.

Just then, Wang Yulun’s fishing rod jerked, and a wooden box emerged from the water.

"Here we go again with these oddities," Wang Yulun sighed, eyeing the box.

"Come on, isn’t this more exciting than fishing?" Xu Fan teased with a grin.

He picked up the box and carefully opened it.

Inside was a miniature nine-layer treasure tower, each layer a different color.

"Big Brother Xu, what is this?" Wang Yulun asked, curiosity piqued.

"Obviously, it’s a nine-layer tower," Xu Fan deadpanned.

"…"

"Just kidding. I have no idea what it is either," Xu Fan admitted, lightly tapping the tower with a finger.

But the tower remained unresponsive.

"Maybe I’m doing it wrong?"

Xu Fan tried various methods to activate the tower, but nothing worked.

"Interesting. This tower might be something special," Xu Fan mused.

In the past, when fishing with Wang Yulun, Xu Fan hadn’t paid much attention to the state of Wang Yulun’s fishing rod.

This time, however, he noticed something peculiar—when Wang Yulun cast his line, the fishhook seemed to vanish into a strange space. Xu Fan couldn’t sense what lay beyond.

The plain wooden box had been pulled out of that mysterious space by Wang Yulun’s fishhook.

"Could this be an ancient celestial tool?" Xu Fan wondered aloud, though he quickly dismissed the idea.

Returns like that were too good to be true.

While Xu Fan and Wang Yulun were puzzling over the tower, the battle had come to an end.

The three beast kings of the Fire Cloud Bird clan had been defeated and tossed into the Beast Cage.

After some fruitless examination of the treasure tower, they decided to call it quits.

"Big Brother Xu, let’s just stash it in the treasury. It’s useless for now," Wang Yulun suggested.

"Agreed. We’ll revisit it when we have more time," Xu Fan said, closing the box.