Volume 1 Volume 7 Chapter 73

Volume 7 Chapter 73: The Eerie Treasure Hunt (4)

When Mr. Liu heard Liu Ziqing’s question, he smiled faintly but did not answer immediately; instead, he turned to look at Xu Qingfan.

These three artifacts may not be very useful in everyday life, but once inside the "Azure Crystal Treasure House," they can greatly aid in finding treasures. They are very attractive to masters everywhere. Mr. Liu’s title of "Immortal Many Treasures" is largely due to these three treasures. If their existence were leaked by someone with bad intentions, even though Mr. Liu is one of the top masters, it would likely bring him great trouble.

Seeing Mr. Liu’s curious gaze, Xu Qingfan smiled slightly and subtly nodded, signaling that he could handle Liu Ziqing.

Noticing Xu Qingfan’s gesture, Mr. Liu’s face remained unchanged, but he felt relieved inside. He smiled and explained, "This Star Chart is called ‘Spirit Freezing Plate.’ I obtained it by chance when I was a Condensed Core Stage cultivator. Can you see this point of light on the Star Chart? It marks the exit of the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House.’ With this, we will not get lost even if we go deeper inside."

Upon hearing Mr. Liu’s explanation, Wang Zegang looked unconvinced, but Liu Ziqing exclaimed, "The ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ is truly a rare treasure! Most locating artifacts cannot be used inside the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ because the laws of the world change, but this ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ still works here. Its power is indeed extraordinary."

After Liu Ziqing said this, Wang Zegang understood the value of the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate,’ but a puzzled look appeared on his face, and he asked, "So, this ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ should be a rare treasure. Why has no one known about it for so many years?"

Xu Qingfan smiled and explained, "This ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ helps cultivators find treasures in the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ much more easily. If it were you, would you dare to let others know about it? As far as I know, in the cultivation world over many years, there are always some masters who possess many magic treasures because they become rare top experts. It seems that this ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ is the key to that success."

Mr. Liu smiled slightly but pointed at the flag in his hand, which was painted with many ghosts, and said, "This is called the ‘Spirit Ghost Banner.’ I specially made it before entering the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ last time. It contains thousands of Spirit Ghosts and is very sensitive to Spirit Qi fluctuations. With it, searching for treasures in the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ is much easier."

Upon hearing Mr. Liu’s words, Wang Zegang’s smiling face suddenly changed.

Trapping ghosts within a magic treasure to increase its power and effectiveness is a common trick used by dark cultivators. I didn’t expect Mr. Liu to do something like this.

Wang Zegang was about to say something when Xu Qingfan reached out to stop him. He turned to see Xu Qingfan and Liu Ziqing still smiling, seemingly unaware of the meaning behind Mr. Liu’s creation of this magic treasure.

Xu Qingfan’s eyes sparkled with a strange light, and he subtly shook his head at Wang Zegang, then asked Mr. Liu, "Senior, what magic treasure is this golden net?"

Although Xu Qingfan’s face showed no change, he secretly sighed. Mr. Liu was an elder Xu Qingfan respected deeply, yet he used such methods to gain more treasures. Human nature is like this; the righteous path is often just a title.

Mr. Liu seemed not to notice Xu Qingfan and the others’ expressions. Looking at the remaining golden net in his hand, he sighed, "This big net is called the ‘Trapped Spirit Net.’ I just made it over the years. It can cut the connection between Spirit Qi-rich items and the world, halting their Spirit Qi flow. Here, collecting magic treasures will be much faster. However, even though this net took five pieces of ‘Azure Crystal Dust’ and countless rare materials, its effect is still not very good; it’s better than nothing."

Seeing these three treasures, Xu Qingfan shook his head and said, "So, you were well prepared, Senior. I originally thought I could help you gather more rare materials in the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ to repay you for your kindness over the years, but now it seems we will benefit from your preparations instead."

"You can’t say that," Mr. Liu said softly, looking at the endless world in the distance like a deep starry sky. "If I came here alone with these three magical treasures, using the ‘Spirit Ghost Banner’ and the ‘Trapped Spirit Net’ at the same time would be very difficult for me. Not only would it be very slow, but it would also consume too much Spirit Qi. Since I can’t recover Spirit Qi inside the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’, I brought you all along. With your help, my gains from this trip to the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ could double. How about I share the rewards with you, seventy to thirty?"

Hearing Mr. Liu’s words, Xu Qingfan smiled and nodded, saying, "In that case, we younger ones will boldly take advantage of the elder."

Although Mr. Liu would only give him, Liu Ziqing, and Wang Zegang thirty percent of the rewards, Xu Qingfan knew that even that thirty percent was several times what they would gather on their own without Mr. Liu.

Moreover, with Mr. Liu leading the way, they could avoid the endless chaos and fighting near the entrance of the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’, reducing a lot of danger.

"Shall we begin now?"

Liu Ziqing asked.

Mr. Liu shook his head and said, "There might still be Shura Clan members nearby, and the treasures here are not as precious as those deeper within the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’. Let’s go a bit further in first."

Mr. Liu’s knowledge of the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ was much greater than that of Xu Qingfan and the other two. They had no reason to disagree with his opinion. Following Mr. Liu’s words, all three nodded in agreement and continued flying deeper into the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’, disappearing into the endless starry world in the blink of an eye.

However, after the four of them left, their original position suddenly shook with spatial waves, and in the next moment, two human masters appeared out of thin air. One dressed as a scholar, holding a peach blossom folding fan, and the other as a warrior, carrying an ancient bronze long sword on his back. They were two of the four Soul Splitting Stagerogue cultivators that had appeared before.

The two people exchanged a guarded glance, as if they had a grudge against each other, and the atmosphere suddenly became heavy.

Suddenly, the man dressed as a warrior smiled slightly, and the mood lightened a bit as he cupped his hands and said to the scholar, "I see Martial Brother Wen Ru is here too."

The scholar waved his folding fan gently in front of him and said coldly, "Of course I am here. Inside the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House,’ we cannot see beyond a hundred feet, like blind people. Liu Ji cannot notice your presence, and you cannot notice mine either."

"Indeed, the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ is a wonderful place," the warrior master sighed with a smile.

"It seems you also have your eye on the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ from Liu Ji?" The scholar’s voice grew colder as he asked.

"Yes, I only suspected before why Liu Ji had so many magical treasures. It turns out he has the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate.’ That item belongs to our school. Our ancestor was gifted and created two treasures: the ‘World Crafting Cauldron’ and the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate.’ The ‘World Crafting Cauldron’ can open the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ at will, while the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ allows us to come and go freely inside. Unfortunately, by the time of our ancestral master, these two treasures were hidden away, preventing us from obtaining them, and the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ has been lost. Over a thousand years ago, we each received half of the ‘World Crafting Cauldron,’ and we have fought for it for more than a thousand years. Since the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ is also a treasure of our school, I naturally want to reclaim it."

The warrior nodded in agreement.

"Hmph, if you hadn’t killed our master to get those two treasures, our ancestral master would not have hidden them! If it weren’t for you, this greedy person, the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ would have long been my private garden, and I wouldn’t be facing so much trouble!"

The scholar’s eyes grew colder with killing intent as he snorted.

The warrior looked like he had suffered great injustice and said with a feeling of grievance, "Senior brother, back when you killed our master, weren’t you even more eager than I was? Why now do you put all the blame on me?"

"No matter what happens, whether it is the ‘Spirit Freezing Plate’ or the half ‘World Crafting Cauldron’ in your hands, they will definitely be mine sooner or later."

As he spoke, the master dressed as a scholar suddenly swayed and disappeared from the spot, seemingly chasing after Mr. Liu and the others.

"Alright, let’s wait and see."

With this mocking remark, the master dressed as a warrior also suddenly vanished.

…

At the same time, Xu Qingfan and the other two were following Mr. Liu deeper into the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House.’

Just as Mr. Liu had said, the deeper they went into the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House,’ the more rare treasures and ‘Azure Crystal Dust’ they encountered, and they became more and more precious.

Many times, Liu Ziqing and Wang Zegang couldn’t help but stop to collect, but still, Mr. Liu stopped them and urged them to fly deeper.

Time passed without anyone noticing, and Mr. Liu finally stopped and said with a smile, "Let’s collect here."

In this place, the starry world became deeper and more mysterious, with stars all around. These stars were either ‘Azure Crystal Dust’ or treasures collected by the ‘Azure Crystal Treasure House’ over the years. It seemed like these stars were very close, but that was because it was hard to tell distances and directions in this world. They looked near, but in reality, it took real effort to find out how far away they really were.

"Let’s begin."

While speaking, Mr. Liu took out the "Spirit Ghost Banner" from his sleeve.