The Azure-Silk Divine Fire Lamp

Ji Ning walked out of the treasure storage room, his heart filled with elation. “This is what they call a great fortune. No wonder so many cultivators are willing to brave danger to explore such places—they want a stroke of luck like this. With these gains, my strength will skyrocket, and my ability to survive will vastly improve.”

With enough treasures, he could go to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain and trade for whatever else he needed.

Life-saving tools, escape items, cultivation aids, techniques, divine abilities… as long as he paid a sufficient price, he could obtain them all!

Ji Ning currently had two extremely powerful protective treasures from the Water Mansion, one of which had even been personally forged by Daoist Threelives. But two treasures were still just two. The Young Master Shao Yan, ‘Shao Yanong,’ for example, carried over ten protective treasures on his person.

“If I had that many treasures earlier, my Earthfire and Cold-sha would have long since reached the first grade.” Ji Ning continued to move swiftly through the corridors, pushing open the doors to one side chamber after another.

“Boom.”

“Nothing.”

“This one has nothing either.” Ji Ning kept searching.

The treasure palace was enormous. Apart from the storage room he had already found, there might be other hidden treasures.

Just as Ji Ning was searching leisurely and at ease, suddenly—

Hum!

The entire space trembled, making even Ji Ning’s skin and hair vibrate. He turned his head to look down the corridor behind him. From deep within that passage came a faint but incredibly powerful wave of energy.

“That’s the aura of a magic treasure.” Ji Ning had just seen so many treasures in the storage room. He could certainly identify it. “And it’s even more powerful than the Heaven-ranked treasures I saw there!”

A single thought flashed through his mind.

An Immortal-ranked treasure!

“It must be an Immortal-ranked treasure!” Ji Ning vanished from his spot, instantly moving toward the source of the fluctuation.

“This material is pretty good… I could use it to forge a golem.” Mu Northson was also searching the treasure palace. He wasn’t being picky; as he explored, he simply swept up decorative items, tables, incense burners, and the like into his storage. “I found a few decayed corpses earlier. Their treasures were so strong I couldn’t even refine them. Felt like Heaven-ranked at least. The dead were probably Primal-level great demons. Hah, I want another corpse—just one more!”

Back when Immortal Wu Jiang had died, the branch palace had sealed itself shut.

Only those with high status had been able to enter the branch palace in the first place—only to be trapped inside until they died of old age. The treasures left on their corpses were all extraordinary.

“One more corpse…” Mu Northson’s eyes blazed as he continued his search.

Hum!

He felt a surge of energy sweep past him. Mu Northson froze, then spun around to stare at a corridor that bent around a corner. “An Immortal-ranked treasure, for sure!” He immediately transformed into a streak of light and shot off toward it.

“This treasure palace is empty. I wonder if the others have found anything yet.” Cangjiang Zhenren walked along, finding nothing.

“Eh?”

He suddenly halted, sensing the powerful fluctuation.

“Such a powerful fluctuation… definitely an Immortal-ranked treasure.” Fragments of memories from his past life surfaced, telling him exactly what an Immortal-ranked treasure felt like. His eyes turned red, and he too transformed into a streak of light, racing toward the source.

One after another, they all converged on the same direction, chasing the wave.

The Immortal-ranked treasure was in a spacious, tranquil chamber.

The chamber was enormous.

But it was nearly empty. The red-robed youth, ‘Xue Hongyi,’ stood there, staring dumbfounded at a nearby lamp. It was an unremarkable-looking oil lamp, but on it burned a flame of bluish green light. Around the small lamp, rings of fire pulsed with powerful energy, holding back Xue Hongyi’s attempts to seize it.

“This… this is an Immortal-ranked treasure?” Xue Hongyi felt as if he had stumbled into an incredible stroke of luck.

When he first entered the chamber, he noticed the lamp, which seemed like a mere decoration, except that a wisp of flame was still burning within it. His heart stirred: “Immortal Wu Jiang died countless billions of years ago, yet this lamp’s flame is still lit. It can’t be ordinary.”

He immediately tried to sweep it into his storage treasure. But the moment he tried, the lamp exploded with terrifying power.

Rings of fire surrounded the lamp, radiating might, and effortlessly blocked him.

“Hah, who says only Ji Ning gets lucky? I, Xue Hongyi, can have great fortune too!” Xue Hongyi was ecstatic. A horsetail whisk appeared in his hand. He swung it, and countless white threads shot out, wrapping around the lamp.

The lamp remained still, but the flames around it surged, pushing back against the whisk’s threads.

“What?” Xue Hongyi was stunned. “Even with my magic treasure, I can’t take it?”

“A mere Wanxiang Adept dares to try and be my master?” The wisp of flame on the lamp suddenly formed a small, childlike face, glaring at Xue Hongyi. “Know your limits and leave at once.”

The voice echoed through the chamber.

Xue Hongyi only grew more delighted. Legend said that Immortal-ranked treasures gave birth to artifact spirits that could speak.

“It really can speak! An Immortal-ranked treasure!” Xue Hongyi’s eyes turned red with greed. The entire Snowdragon Mountain sect didn’t have a single Immortal-ranked treasure. And now he had the chance to obtain one… To pass up such a gift from the heavens would be a crime.

“You’d better come with me.” A white silk ribbon appeared before Xue Hongyi—one of his favored treasures, far more powerful than the whisk. It shot toward the lamp, wrapping around it.

The lamp stayed put.

It was, after all, merely an Immortal-ranked treasure. It could not yet move or fly on its own. But it could still summon some of its power, and even a fraction of an Immortal-ranked treasure’s might was beyond most Wanxiang Adepts. The rings of fire around it grew denser, the fluctuations more intense, holding back the white ribbon.

“You cannot take me. Your strength is far from sufficient,” the flame-child mocked. “Leave now. An Immortal-ranked treasure in the hands of one too weak to wield it is a curse, not a blessing.”

“Hmph. I’ll trade you for a top-grade Heaven-ranked treasure and a hoard of other treasures. I’ll go straight to the Yinglong Guard branch, go into secluded meditation, and won’t come out until I’m a Primal Daoist. By then, my strength will have soared, and the entire Snowdragon Mountain will bow to me!” Xue Hongyi’s eyes were wild with obsession. “I refuse to believe I can’t capture a mere dead object!”

He attacked again and again with his treasures, trying to seize the lamp.

But he couldn’t.

He didn’t dare grab it with his bare hands. He wasn’t a Fiendgod Body Refiner; touching it would likely burn him to ash.

Swish.

A fluctuation came from outside the chamber. The stone door was pushed open.

“Someone’s coming!” Xue Hongyi had no more time to waste.

“Come to me!” He let out a sudden roar, forcibly activating a forbidden technique. His face flushed red. A mass of flying needles erupted with violent power, forming a massive hand that seized the lamp. The rings of fire around the lamp were crushed.

Swish.

He stored the Immortal-ranked treasure away.

Only then did Xue Hongyi turn to look. Two figures had appeared in the doorway—Ji Ning and Yu Wei.

“Decisive. Ruthless.” Ji Ning’s voice was soft.

Xue Hongyi smiled, quite pleased with himself. At the critical moment, he had used a forbidden technique and managed to suppress and store the treasure. He felt he had shown excellent judgment.

“A pity. You were just a step too late,” Xue Hongyi said, glancing at Ji Ning.

“It’s the Azure-Silk Divine Fire Lamp!” Yu Wei’s voice was soft. “It can be used to nurture Heavenly Flame, raising it all the way to the third grade. You can also draw upon its Azure-Silk Divine Fire to attack. It poses a significant threat to Loose Immortals and Earth Immortals, though it’s of limited use against Celestial Immortals… Not a bad Immortal-ranked treasure. If sold to the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, it would fetch three million catties of Primordial Liquid!”

Ji Ning’s heart clenched.

Three million catties of Primordial Liquid?

According to what Senior Apprentice-Sister Yu Wei said, the Azure-Silk Divine Fire Lamp had a similar effect to the ‘Earthfire Heart Lamp’—it could raise Heavenly Flame to the third grade—and could also be used for combat…

Swish. Swish. Swish.

One figure after another flew in. Nine Lotos, Cangjiang Zhenren, Mu Northson, the Whitewater Hound, and Qingqing.

“Where’s the Immortal-ranked treasure?” Mu Northson looked around frantically, then glared at Xue Hongyi. “Don’t tell me that Xue Hongyi got it?”

“He did,” Yu Wei said.

In the grandest hall of the treasure palace.

Shao Yanong was seated cross-legged on a jade bed, still refining treasures. He, too, had sensed the fluctuation of the Immortal-ranked treasure.

“An Immortal-ranked treasure?” Shao Yanong was surprised. “Was Immortal Wu Jiang so wealthy that he left even an Immortal-ranked treasure lying around?”

Powerful cultivators always carried their most important treasures with them. A Celestial Immortal typically had only a few Immortal-ranked treasures. Shao Yanong had assumed the Immortal Wu Jiang’s estate had none left, so he hadn’t bothered.

“Young Master, shall we take it?” Xiangliu Fang asked.

“No need.” Shao Yanong shook his head. “I gave my word in the name of my clan. Besides, they are still useful to me inside this estate.”

Xiangliu Fang nodded.

“Once they’re no longer useful…” Shao Yanong’s eyes suddenly gleamed with scorching heat. “I have to say… that Fire Rainbow Immortal, Yu Wei… she’s quite something.”

Xiangliu Fang smiled. He knew what his master was thinking.

“Young Master, a word of hint and she’ll understand. She’s a reincarnated Immortal. To a cultivator, the Dao is what matters most. Physical pleasures are trivial. She will bow to you for the sake of her own Dao,” Xiangliu Fang said in a low voice. His master was no stranger to such extravagance even in the Grand Xia Imperial Capital.

A future Duke of Plumes and Feathers… such status came with exceedingly decadent pleasures. It wasn’t uncommon for reincarnated female Immortals to submit as servants.

“No, this Yu Wei is different. She surpasses any woman I’ve enjoyed in the capital,” Shao Yanong licked his lips. “As for that Nine Lotos… tsk, that aura of hers is truly extraordinary. But elites from such top-tier clans know how to read the situation. It should be easy to get a few pleasurable nights with her. Yu Wei will be harder to crack.”

“Shall I…” Xiangliu Fang’s voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper.

“No need. I still need them for now.” Shao Yanong shook his head. “There’s a time for everything.”

“Understood.” Xiangliu Fang bowed.