Chapter 453 (1)
“Venerable One, this is the treasury of our Cold Water Palace. Feel free to browse and select anything that catches your eye,” Han Lingshuang said warmly.
After the banquet, Han Lingshuang wasted no time in escorting Lu Qing to the Cold Water Palace's treasury.
It was only then that Lu Qing learned that the treasury was located within their secret realm.
This arrangement made sense. The secret realm was heavily guarded by arrays, making it nearly impenetrable, even for Golden Core Realm cultivators. Storing treasures there ensured the highest level of security.
Han Lingshuang’s invitation didn't faze Lu Qing in the slightest.
On the contrary, it demonstrated the utmost sincerity of the Cold Water Palace.
After all, Lu Qing was a cultivator capable of annihilating Xuankong Mountain.
Inviting him into their secret realm was akin to exposing their greatest vulnerability to him, a significant risk on their part.
“No wonder they’ve been around for tens of thousands of years. Their collection is truly vast,” Lu Qing mused as he stood in the expansive treasury, sensing the faint spiritual aura emanating from the treasures around him.
The treasury housed at least several hundred items imbued with spiritual energy.However, to Lu Qing's discerning eyes, most of these treasures lacked the potency to be of any use to him.
For example, many of the magical artifacts and spiritual tools present were inferior to what Lu Qing could craft himself, given the right materials.
Thus, while the Cold Water Palace's collection was extensive, genuinely high-grade treasures were few and far between.
This was unsurprising, given the decline of the ancient cultivation era. From Yan, Lu Qing knew that during the final days of that era, powerful cultivators scoured the realm, taking the best treasures and spiritual items to ensure their survival.
Most of the truly valuable items had likely been carried away or lost to time.
This scarcity explained why even during Lu Qing's battle with Xuankong Mountain, their monks had lacked exceptional magical artifacts.
Similarly, the Cold Water Palace's current predicament—being cornered by Li Changbo, a newly advanced Golden Core cultivator with unstable foundations—was also rooted in this historical depletion.
The so-called Four Great Secret Realms were essentially remnants left behind by top sects of the ancient era, who carried away most of their prized treasures before departing.
The fact that the Cold Water Palace had managed to gather such an impressive collection, despite millennia of spiritual energy scarcity, was already remarkable.
Faced with the vast array of treasures, Lu Qing didn't examine each item individually. Instead, he released his spiritual sense to scan the treasury.
“Hm?”
Suddenly, his expression shifted slightly, a hint of surprise appearing on his face as he looked toward a particular section of the treasury.
A faint fluctuation came from the Earth Spirit Pearl nestled in his brow chakra. The source of this disturbance was in the direction he was now gazing.
“Venerable One?” Han Lingshuang noticed his reaction and asked.
“I've found something interesting. May I take a closer look?” Lu Qing smiled.
“Of course. If anything catches your attention, it is our honor,” Han Lingshuang replied graciously.
Following his spiritual sense, Lu Qing walked deeper into the treasury, ignoring many other treasures along the way. He eventually stopped before a shelf near the back.
One of the compartments on the shelf held a fist-sized, dark red orb.
As soon as Lu Qing saw it, a realization struck him.
“So, it’s this item.”
Activating his spiritual powers, Lu Qing peered into the orb.
Immediately, a faint purple glow enveloped the orb, and several lines of text floated into view:
[Fire Spirit Pearl: A mystical orb formed from the essence of the fire element. It possesses many wondrous and mysterious functions.]
[It is said that Fire Spirit Pearls only form in the deepest parts of the earth, where fire elemental energy is at its densest.]
[Contains the power of the fire element's laws, making it an ideal natural core for crafting spiritual artifacts.]
[The pearl is currently in a dormant state.]
...
“Just as I thought,” Lu Qing murmured to himself after reading the information.
This orb was none other than one of the Five Elemental Spirit Pearls: the Fire Spirit Pearl.
Its resonance with the Earth Spirit Pearl in his brow chakra was proof of the connection between these elemental treasures.
“Palace Master, I’ll take this pearl,” Lu Qing declared, making his decision without hesitation.
“This pearl?” Han Lingshuang was taken aback, not expecting Lu Qing to choose such an unassuming item.
“Does the Palace Master not recognize this item?” Lu Qing asked curiously, noting her reaction.
Han Lingshuang’s eyes flickered with a hint of realization. “I would appreciate your guidance, Venerable One.”
She had initially dismissed it as a common treasure, but Lu Qing’s interest suggested otherwise.
“This is called the Fire Spirit Pearl, a supreme fire-element treasure. If fully activated and paired with other materials, it can be refined into a formidable fire-elemental spiritual artifact,” Lu Qing explained candidly, watching Han Lingshuang’s reaction closely to see if she might regret her offer.
“This is the legendary Fire Spirit Pearl?” Han Lingshuang’s face reflected her astonishment as she scrutinized the dark red orb.
It was difficult to reconcile this plain-looking pearl with the artifact described in her sect’s ancient texts.
“It seems the Palace Master truly wasn’t aware of its origin. If you regret offering it, I can choose something else,” Lu Qing said generously.
Han Lingshuang chuckled and shook her head. “Venerable One, you underestimate me. Since I’ve invited you to select from our treasury, it naturally includes this Fire Spirit Pearl.
“In fact, this pearl was brought back by one of our sect’s ancestors during their travels thousands of years ago. It has been sitting here ever since, its true nature unknown.
“Without your insight, it might have languished in obscurity for centuries to come. Its ability to shine again is a stroke of fortune.
“If anything else interests you, feel free to take it. Even if you were to empty this treasury, it would be but a small repayment for the immense grace you’ve shown our Cold Water Palace.”
Her sincere tone and magnanimity impressed Lu Qing deeply.
“A person capable of governing a secret realm truly has a commanding presence,” he thought. Compared to the monks of Xuankong Mountain, Han Lingshuang was on an entirely different level.