The Treasure Hall’s Windfall

“Don’t be impatient.” Shaoyan Nong was well aware of what Ji Ning and the others were thinking. Smiling, he said, “The treasures aren’t going anywhere. Besides, as I said before, I swear by the Shaoyan clan—whatever you find, it’s yours.”

Ji Ning and the others nodded.

“And these.” Shaoyan Nong pointed at the ground not far away, at the magic treasures left behind by Bu You, the ten Wanxiang Adept death warriors, and the rest.

“We only managed to break out of the immortal estate’s grand formation because of the spirit-beast under Junior Leek’s command. These treasures are nothing special. Ji Ning, you should take them.” Shaoyan Nong looked at Ji Ning.

Ji Ning didn’t refuse. He swept all the treasures into his storage. After all, these were the spoils of eleven Wanxiang Adepts, one of whom was even a two-clawed Yinglong Guard. That was no small fortune.

Xue Hongyi glanced at Ji Ning. What luck. Let’s see how long it holds.

Despite his jealousy, he knew the five Black-White College disciples had the upper hand now.

“Let’s go.” Shaoyan Nong was clearly much more relaxed now.

With Xiangliu Fang following closely behind him, Shaoyan Nong led the way ahead.

The sub-palace was enormous.

However, Xiangliu Fang was a true formation grandmaster. Following a series of corridors, he naturally headed toward the center of the entire sub-palace. In just the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Ji Ning and the others found themselves in a vast hall. At the far end of the hall was a jade bed, while meditation mats were arranged below.

That jade bed was likely where Immortal Wu Jiang used to sit cross-legged.

“There!” Shaoyan Nong’s eyes locked onto the jade bed. His immortal estate key was resonating intensely with the sub-palace’s central nexus.

“That jade bed is the sub-palace’s nexus,” Shaoyan Nong said.

“Let me take a look, young master.” Xiangliu Fang reached out a hand. His palm instantly expanded, and his ten fingers transformed into ten massive serpents that swept across the area in a surging wave. After scanning everything, he nodded. “Young master, there’s no danger there.”

Shaoyan Nong immediately shot forward, landing on the jade bed. Sitting cross-legged, he began to infuse his Yuan power into the bed to start refining it.

This jade bed was the central nexus of one of the five sub-palaces: the Treasure Hall.

Each sub-palace had a core nexus; once all of them were refined, the entire immortal estate would be claimed. The Shaoyan clan’s test for Shaoyan Nong was to refine this immortal estate.

“You may go now.” Shaoyan Nong, seated on the jade bed, said directly, “Search freely for the treasures Immortal Wu Jiang left behind in this Treasure Hall. I won’t be joining you.”

Xiangliu Fang stood silently by the jade bed, keeping guard.

Ji Ning and the others exchanged glances, secretly pleased.

The strongest combatant present, the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang, wasn’t going to compete with them. That was a huge advantage.

“I’ve already started refining this sub-palace’s nexus,” Shaoyan Nong said with a laugh. “No formation or restriction in this sub-palace will activate now. The only things you need to worry about are any hidden puppets. But I suspect there aren’t any puppets left in the Treasure Hall. If there were, they would have attacked us by now.”

“Young Master Shaoyan, we’ll go seek our fortunes now.” Ji Ning and the others didn’t linger. They immediately left.

Out in the corridor, they quickly spread out.

“Senior apprentice-brother, it all comes down to luck now,” Mu Northson said excitedly.

“Maybe there’s an Immortal-ranked treasure in here.” Cangjiang the Immortal sounded hopeful too.

“It depends on each person’s fate and fortune,” Nine Lotos said.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

They all scattered rapidly. Even the Whitewater Hound and Little Qing separated to search on their own.

“I refuse to believe you’re all that lucky.” Xue Hongyi, bringing up the rear, chose his own path with a cold face and began his search.

The Treasure Hall, one of the five sub-palaces, was absolutely enormous.

“My divine sense can’t even penetrate these walls?” Ji Ning had no choice but to use the simplest, dumbest method: pushing open every secret chamber and checking inside.

Boom. A stone door was pushed open.

Ji Ning swept it with his divine sense and glanced at it with his eyes. “Not this one.”

Boom. Another stone door opened. Ji Ning checked again. “Not this one either.”

“No.”

“Not this one.”

Ji Ning rapidly inspected one secret chamber after another.

Boom! Ji Ning pushed open the sixth secret chamber. “Not this… wait. THIS!”

Ji Ning’s eyes instantly turned red. He quickly closed the chamber door and stepped inside.

The ripples of countless magic treasures filled the air.

Feeling those ripples… looking at the treasures laid out before him, Ji Ning felt as though he were dreaming.

“I actually found the real treasure vault. Looks like I really do have fortune on my side.” Ji Ning swept his gaze across the area. On the massive shelves were all kinds of treasures: ropes, flying swords, bells, plates, nails, long shuttles, fine needles, pouches, great hammers, large seals, long staffs, sashes, fly-whisks, mist-and-haze items, jade bottles, colorful robes, grains of sand, and bracelets.

They were densely packed, an astonishing number.

Their auras varied in strength.

The row closest to him had the weakest ripples; the row farther away was stronger; and the row beyond that was stronger still. Clearly, these treasures had been organized by power.

“Did Immortal Wu Jiang really use so many treasures?” Ji Ning murmured. Then he remembered the so-called ‘Wu Jiang tribe’ he had encountered earlier in the immortal estate world. “Right. As a Celestial Immortal, Immortal Wu Jiang naturally had countless demonic followers. He had to take good care of his tribe’s juniors.”

Just as he himself had to plan for the Ji clan.

Immortal Wu Jiang had to plan for his own descendants, and as a Celestial Immortal, his tribe was certainly far larger than the Ji clan. Granting treasures to them required a proper system. Building a dedicated ‘Treasure Hall’ for this purpose, rewarding those with merit or high talent… that was perfectly normal.

“Refine!” Ji Ning’s body instantly emitted countless streams of Yuan power, forming a dense net of light that surged toward the treasures.

Countless ages had passed. Even if these treasures had once had owners, they were masterless now. There wasn’t a trace of residual magic power left inside them. The refining process was effortless.

“Human-ranked treasures, Earth-ranked treasures… this one I can’t refine. Haha, at the very least it’s a Heaven-ranked treasure.” Even as calm as Ji Ning was, he couldn’t help but feel ecstatic.

This was it.

This opportunity was huge. He had originally thought that the most powerful treasures would be carried on Immortal Wu Jiang’s person and that not many would be left behind in this hall. But who would have thought that this treasure vault contained such a staggering hoard? These were all prepared for Immortal Wu Jiang’s Wu Jiang tribe.

Sadly, after Immortal Wu Jiang died, the seniors of his tribe who had been trapped in the Treasure Hall were unable to leave and eventually died of old age. The descendants outside, fortunately, had other treasures, so they were able to rule over this immortal estate world.

After a full cup of tea’s worth of effort, Ji Ning had finished refining everything he could.

“Heavens.”

Ji Ning drew in a sharp breath. His heart was pounding so hard he could hear it in his own ears.

It was simply too shocking.

“Over 180,000 Human-ranked treasures, over 16,000 Earth-ranked treasures, and over a hundred treasures I couldn’t refine.” Ji Ning was stunned. This… this was too much. Although he was quite wealthy for a Wanxiang Adept, compared to this ocean of treasures, he was nothing.

“Probably not even some Loose Immortals or Earth Immortals have this much wealth,” Ji Ning marveled. “As expected of a Celestial Immortal. Even a small portion of a Celestial Immortal’s belongings can surpass that of an ordinary Loose Immortal or Earth Immortal.”

“Collect.”

“I’ll collect you all.”

“Come to me, my pretties.” Ji Ning was overjoyed. He stored all the Human-ranked treasures into his storage magic treasure and sent all the Earth-ranked treasures into his Violet Palace.

His Violet Palace was vast and boundless. The tens of thousands of Earth-ranked treasures entering it only took up a tiny corner.

Whoosh!

Ji Ning flashed to the widest and most spacious table. On it were placed several treasures radiating powerful ripples—the ones he hadn’t been able to refine.

“If I’m not mistaken, these should be Heaven-ranked treasures,” Ji Ning said softly. Although it was possible they were Immortal-ranked, reason told him that these unrefinable treasures were placed on the same long table. Their ripples varied in intensity, but they were likely all of the same tier. Some were probably mid-grade Heaven-ranked, others high-grade, maybe even top-grade.

“Even a Primal Daoist typically only has a few Heaven-ranked treasures. I’ve got over a hundred of them. And since these were a Celestial Immortal’s stash, their quality probably isn’t poor.” Ji Ning felt his blood boil.

Even the cheapest low-grade Heaven-ranked treasure cost at least a thousand jin of Primordial Liquid.

A slightly better, high-quality one could cost ten thousand jin.

If…

If all these hundred-plus treasures were Heaven-ranked and of decent quality—even if none of them were top-grade—their total value would still be over a million jin of Primordial Liquid. That was a fortune that would make even Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals tremble.

“A Celestial Immortal plucks a single hair, and it’s thicker than my thigh. And this isn’t just a hair—it’s an entire leg.” Ji Ning was too excited. He babbled a little as he carefully caressed these Heaven-ranked treasures. The powerful ripples from them filled him with joy. A few of them, in particular, had exceptionally strong ripples, which filled him with anticipation.

“Haha, the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation? That’s just over seven hundred Earth-ranked flying swords. Easy.” Ji Ning was thoroughly delighted. “As for the treasures containing the essence of the Five Elements I need for the second stage of the Six Cycles of the Starseizing Hand, I can just trade for them at Heavenly Treasures Mountain.”

He had been so tight on resources before.

Feeling so poor, lacking this and lacking that.

Now, he suddenly felt incredibly wealthy. Even ordinary Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were probably poorer than he was—though, of course, some top-tier Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals were still richer.

“Collect.” Ji Ning savored the moment for a while, then gathered all the powerful Heaven-ranked treasures. Since he couldn’t refine them yet, he simply stored them in his storage magic treasure.

“Coming to this Celestial Immortal’s immortal estate with Shaoyan Nong was totally worth it. A Celestial Immortal… ah, a Celestial Immortal truly is something else.” After sweeping the entire treasure vault clean, Ji Ning blinked. “Hmm? The wood these shelves and tables are made of… isn’t it quite special? This is Phantom-Sinking Fragrant Wood? One jin of Phantom-Sinking Fragrant Wood is worth one tael of Primordial Liquid. There must be at least a million jin of this wood here. Tsk, tsk. Well, of course—Immortal Wu Jiang had to put on a good display for his demonic tribe. Gotta use decent materials for the stands. I’ll take it! Collect!”

In the blink of an eye, even the shelves and tables in the treasure vault were taken by Ji Ning.

The entire treasure vault was now empty. Nothing was left.