Born with immortal seed

Chapter 247 Selecting Treasures in the Secret Hall
"This moonlight must be the fourth-tier Moon Swirl Sword that Junior Brother Bai obtained from the Heavenly River Sword Sect?"

As the breeze dispersed, Wei Dao revealed a hint of curiosity and envy.

When he was attempting to break through to the Core Formation stage, he requested a large amount of contribution points from the sect in advance to ensure his success.

In addition to the Pure Jade Marrow, two rare treasures from the secret hall that could aid in the formation of the Golden Core were also used, both of which were extremely valuable.

Although he is now a high-ranking Core Formation Ancestor, he has only just paid off his debts and is using two mid-grade magic treasures he picked out from the secret hall.

I originally intended to forge a natal magic weapon that suited me according to alchemy theories, but I was in dire financial straits and was still a long way from gathering the necessary spiritual materials.

"A fourth-tier flying sword coming to us on its own initiative is an unprecedented event... Junior Brother Bai is truly blessed with great fortune. Our sect will surely flourish under your and Senior Brother Ge's leadership sooner or later."

"It's just luck. It can only be used for short journeys. It's not useful for real battles. We still need to find another magic weapon."

Bai Zichen followed Wei Dao all the way and saw a cultivator at the entrance of the secret hall whose aura was so low that he almost managed to hide it from him.

"Wu Shouyang has met with Ancestor Wei and Ancestor Bai."

The cultivator had plain features and wore a gray Taoist robe. He sat quietly at the entrance like a stone, without any expression.

"I brought Junior Brother Bai here to receive the congratulatory gift for his new Core Formation. Shouyang, please open the secret hall."

Wei Dao explained to the man and said...

"As the ancestor commands."

Wu Shouyang turned around and placed his hand on the door of the secret hall. Countless complex patterns appeared on the door, and he filled and awakened it with his magic power inch by inch. Only then did he hear a click and the secret hall was slowly opened.

"Wu Shouyang's lineage is passed down through single-lineage transmission, and they basically do not interact with outsiders, so not many people in the sect know of his existence..."

Wei Dao knew that Bai Zichen was here for the first time, and spoke up.

"They cultivate the Treasure Gathering Technique, which the founding patriarch obtained by chance in a secret realm. This technique is extremely special. It does not have high requirements for the cultivator's spiritual root talent. The cultivation speed is related to the quantity and quality of the treasures in the environment... If Junior Brother can place the Moon Spin Sword in the secret hall, it is estimated that Wu Shouyang can break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment within ten years."

"This technique excels at concealing one's aura and form. The deeper one cultivates it, the closer one becomes to a magical artifact."

Walking down the long corridor, Bai Zichen said in surprise, "There are such cultivation techniques? The world of cultivation is truly full of wonders."

Since the requirements for spiritual roots are not high, with the environment of the secret hall, it is easy to cultivate to the Foundation Establishment stage.

All that is needed is to select disciples who are of good character and loyal to the sect.

Passing through the passageway, a circular storeroom comes into view, where many treasures are neatly arranged.

"This is where the magical treasures are, here are various spiritual materials, and over there are a few one-time use secret treasures... Junior Brother Bai, take a look and choose three items that you find useful."

Wei Dao had been to the secret hall many times and was quite familiar with it.

Bai Zichen glanced at the magical artifacts, each one enveloped in a seven-colored halo, floating quietly in the air.

Once he confirmed there were no flying swords or similar items, he lost interest and turned his attention to the spiritual materials area.

"A three-thousand-year-old peach wood heart, a top-grade third-tier spiritual material, is difficult for ghosts to approach... This material can be used to forge a third-tier peach wood sword, but unfortunately I do not have the corresponding sword-forging secrets."

He immediately thought of the pair of peach wood flying swords he used during his Qi Refining stage. They were of the same lineage. Flying swords made from these kinds of spiritual materials were not known for their sharpness or lethality, but were mainly used for slaying souls and suppressing demons.

"Taiyi Yuanjin, Taibai Yuanjing, Chihuo Zhentong... There are quite a few good things in the secret hall. They are all spiritual materials that can be used to forge a third-order flying sword. If we take them to the Tianhe Sword Sect, there should be a chance to forge a third-order flying sword."

Bai Zichen strolled around Sword City that day, visiting several sword-forging shops.

I chatted for a while with one of the shops that dared to accept commissions to forge third-tier flying swords. They had a secret sword-forging technique passed down from their ancestors.

These are some of the items required in the list of metal and spiritual materials issued.

"The essence of Geng metal!"

Bai Zichen's eyes lit up when he saw the last part. Gengjin essence was a top-grade third-level spiritual material. It could not be used as the main material for sword forging, but it could be added to any five-metal flying sword.

As an auxiliary material, it enhances the hardness and sharpness of the flying sword.

It is almost one of the most favored materials for sword forging by sword cultivators, and its application range is extremely wide.

The piece of Geng metal essence in front of them, weighing at most three ounces, was barely enough for two flying swords, and it emitted a bright golden light.

"Senior Brother Wei, this is the first item I have chosen."

Bai Zichen pointed and made his decision without much thought.

Even if we can't use the essence of Geng metal now, it will definitely be useful in the future as long as we refine new third-tier flying swords, and the more the better.

"Alright, Junior Brother Bai, you can take it directly."

Wei Dao was not surprised by this, as the essence of Geng metal did not even rank among the top ten most valuable spiritual materials in the secret hall.

But in the eyes of a sword cultivator, it is priceless, and such a choice was expected.

Bai Zichen grasped the essence of Gengjin, and the seven-colored light shield generated a resilient resistance, as if his palm was sinking into a quagmire.

Using his true essence, he fused five finger marks within the seven-colored light shield, thus extracting the essence of Geng metal.

Of the remaining spiritual materials, some were tempting, but none were urgently needed, unlike the Gengjin Essence, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Therefore, he had little desire to exchange them.

"Senior Brother Wei, are there no elixirs in the secret hall?"

Bai Zichen turned around and asked the question that had been on his mind.

“Even if a elixir is stored in a spirit-grade jade bottle and sealed with talismans, it can only maintain its potency for a hundred years at most. It is not easy to store. Moreover, if we take a regular third-tier elixir directly, it will not be put into the secret hall.”

Wei Dao smiled faintly, as if he could see through what Wei Dao was thinking.

"Three hundred years ago, the secret hall contained a low-grade fourth-order Heavenly Spirit Pill, which could greatly enhance the intelligence of third-order demon beasts, dissolve their horizontal bones in advance, allow them to speak human language, and open up the barrier before they could become a great demon in human form... Later, a Core Formation True Person from Shen Kingdom asked us to buy this pill, exchanging it for a Tribulation-Crossing Pill and a high-grade magic treasure."

"As a result, that generation of Core Formation cultivator was ambushed not long after leaving the mountain gate, and was almost captured in just a few moves... He could only escape back to the mountain gate by throwing out the Heavenly One Spirit Pill. But he couldn't hold on for more than a few years, and passed away due to his severe injuries."

"Could it be that the cultivator from Shen Kingdom set up a trap, wanting the elixir but refusing a normal transaction?"

"The sect's seniors also thought so at first, but later the body of the Core Formation True Person from Shen Kingdom was found at the agreed transaction location... His whole body was burned to charcoal, and he died without a complete corpse. We then realized that someone else was targeting both of us."

These are all things from hundreds of years ago. Wei Dao only mentioned them briefly when talking about elixirs and did not elaborate further.

"As for pills suitable for Core Formation cultivators like us, there are currently no alchemists in our sect who can refine them. We can only purchase them from the Holy Lotus Sect and the Danxia Sect... Especially the Danxia Sect, which holds a small-scale trade fair every ten years, inviting only Core Formation cultivators. They release a large number of pills suitable for us. If you have the opportunity in the future, Junior Brother Bai, you can go and participate once. You will definitely gain something."

"Danxia Gate, I'll remember that."

Bai Zichen nodded. When he left Zengguang Immortal City and encountered the Youlongmen cultivator who was seriously injured, he bought healing pills in the market of Danxia Sect and rented a cave to heal.

Everything went smoothly along the way, and he didn't encounter any Danxia Sect disciples who tried to rob him or were greedy for money, which left him with a fairly good impression of the sect.

The final treasure area contained an even wider variety of items.

Many of these items, whose origins and uses were unclear but whose significance was known only to be extraordinary, were also collected into the secret hall.

Bai Zichen wandered around for a while, took out a Five-Eyed Blood Bodhi, and then went back to the magic weapon area to grab a spirit boat with two pointed ends.

"Senior Brother Wei, I've finished choosing, I can leave now."

Wei Dao looked deeply at the items in his hand and said, "Alright, junior brother, channel your true essence into the holes left after these three items were taken away, and leave proof that you took them."

After the two left the secret hall, Wu Shouyang sat down cross-legged again, seemingly blending into the building behind him.

It simply vanished from his divine perception, becoming invisible to the naked eye.

'This cultivation technique's ability to conceal one's aura is truly powerful; a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator almost evaded my divine sense detection... Unfortunately, the technique itself has too many flaws, making it hardly worth cultivating.'

Bai Zichen's spiritual strength is even greater than that of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator.

If one doesn't exert their full strength, a sweep of divine sense will only regard Wu Shouyang as part of the secret hall's architecture.

However, the highest level of the Treasure Gathering Technique can be cultivated is the Perfect Core Formation stage, and the characteristics of the technique dictate that the cultivator must stay near the treasure vault and cannot stray far, which is no different from being imprisoned.

The speed of cultivation is primarily determined by the grade and quantity of treasures in one's environment; other factors are almost negligible.

This leads to a situation where breakthroughs in cultivation are extremely dependent on the stimulation of high-level treasures.

“Cultivators who have mastered this Treasure Storage Technique can hardly leave the treasure vault. It feels like a technique tailor-made for the guardians of the treasure.”

With this thought in mind, Bai Zichen returned to Weidao Cave and chatted with him for a while. Then he heard Wei Chuming outside reporting that he had found Bai Zu's relatives.

After receiving permission, Wei Chuming led a young boy and girl into the main hall.

"Senior Brother Wei, then I won't disturb you any longer... I'll come back to discuss the land reclamation war with you after I return to my clan."

Bai Zichen glanced at the two bright and talented young men standing timidly below the stage.

The girl was bolder; she even dared to slightly raise her head and glance around out of the corner of her eye—innocent and adorable.

With a single grab of his true essence, he lifted the two of them, and after leaving the cave, he tossed them into the colorful white cloud robe and leisurely left the mountain gate.

"Master, does Bai Zu intend to reignite the war of reclamation?"

Wei Chuming stood there with his hands clasped for a long time before cautiously asking.

"Junior Brother Bai is a young prodigy with lofty ambitions. He doesn't even care about Jade Moon Lake and wants to build his own cave dwelling on a spiritual vein that truly belongs to him..."

Wei Dao leaned back in his chair, his eyes slightly closed, and spoke softly.

"That's perfect. The sect is already lacking in spiritual lands, and now with another Core Formation cultivator in charge, ordinary third-tier demonic beasts can't possibly stop the sect."

Wei Chuming looked excited and raised his voice a little higher.

The war of pioneering inevitably involves fighting and death, but for someone like Wei Chuming, who is full of ambition and wants to climb the social ladder, it is a fast track.

Once you achieve this honor, you'll have the opportunity to surpass your competitors and directly take charge of a section.

"I'm afraid this Junior Brother Bai has too big an appetite and won't even look at ordinary third-tier demonic beasts..."

(End of this chapter)