Chapter 183: Karma Fire Burning Like
“Thank you.” Xu Ziqing accepted the item with both hands.
“Not at all, you’re too kind.”
When Wu Zheng saw Song Yan, he understood the purpose of his visit. He asked them to wait a moment and headed toward the back hall.
Xu Ziqing looked at Song Yan and smiled. “You Qi Refining cultivators have your Sword Tempering competition. We Foundation Establishment cultivators naturally have ours as well.”
Song Yan suddenly understood. When he thought about it carefully, it really made sense.
In the Eastern Abyss Sect, there were quite a few Foundation Establishment cultivators. The observation slots for the Dragon Pool Mountain Nine Lineage Grand Competition were plentiful, but the actual competition slots were limited. Naturally, there needed to be some selection process.
“However, the Foundation Establishment Sword Tempering isn’t as grand. Everyone just closes the doors, exchanges a few blows, and that’s that.”
Xu Ziqing smiled bitterly. “To make me lead the team for the Dragon Pool Mountain trip three years from now, those people really went to great lengths.”
After a brief conversation, Wu Zheng brought Song Yan’s Sword Tempering reward.
“Thank you, Senior Brother Wu.”
“Ah, Junior Brother Song is brilliantly talented. I’m just a useless old bag of bones – I can’t possibly be worthy of being called Senior Brother.”
“Hmm? Nephew Song, aren’t you going to look at the high-grade magical treasures of similar rank?”
When Xu Ziqing saw Song Yan about to leave after receiving the Cosmos Bag, he quickly spoke up.
“High-grade magical treasures are easy to find, but spiritual objects that suit you are not.”
This time it was Song Yan’s turn to be puzzled. “Elder Xu, when the rewards were announced earlier, only high-grade magical treasures were mentioned. There was no mention of exchanging them for spiritual objects of similar rank.”
Xu Ziqing paused for a moment, then explained. “When the rewards were announced, only low-grade and mid-grade magical treasures could be exchanged for spiritual objects of similar rank, because the sect has plenty of those.”
“Disciples can always find treasures that suit them.”
“As for the high-grade magical treasures available as rewards, the sect doesn’t have many.”
“In the past, some cultivators were tempted by many of these items. Even though they weren’t suitable, they insisted on giving up the high-grade magical treasure to exchange for them.”
“So gradually, this was no longer mentioned and became an unwritten rule.”
“Didn’t Elder Qin Xijun mention this to you?”
Song Yan smiled awkwardly. “Uh, she doesn’t know I’m here to collect my reward.”
“For cultivators who are clear about their goals and know when to advance or retreat, I think it’s worth taking a look.”
“Since you’re already here, why not go in and see?”
“Thank you for the guidance, Elder Xu.”
Xu Ziqing waved his hand and departed first.
Song Yan followed Wu Zheng toward the Earth-rank Treasury.
Actually, for him right now, directly choosing a high-grade magical treasure flying sword wasn’t necessarily the best option.
Because he had already begun researching that basic sword formation that required three flying swords, and the Qilin Lord was only a common weapon.
If he could exchange for a high-grade magical treasure, it would be a significant boost.
But since he was already here, there was no harm in looking.
Song Yan followed Wu Zheng through a barrier of flowing spiritual light, and the space opened up before them.
The Earth-rank Treasury wasn’t a storage room filled with wooden shelves like the Worry-Free General Store. It was a circular pavilion.
Countless orbs of light rotated slowly around a central jade platform like stars, each containing a treasure sealed within the glow.
“…The Earth-rank Treasury indeed had all good things.”
The so-called “not many” was actually already quite a lot.
“Junior Brother Song, you can use your spiritual sense to explore the items within the orbs.”
Wu Zheng pointed to a small bronze mirror at the edge of the jade platform. “If you’re interested, you can use this mirror to call up detailed information about the item. Think carefully before making your decision.”
Song Yan nodded, grateful for the reminder.
When his spiritual sense probed into the first orb of light, he began to understand why the situation Xu Ziqing described could occur.
“Soul-Calming Incense. Burns to calm the soul, soothe… vengeful spirits?!”
Young Song confirmed the description text three times.
These things were all manner of strange and wonderful. Even if they weren’t useful to him, they were very tempting to exchange for…
“Brewing ingredient, Spiritual Terrace Medicinal Seedling.”
“Within one incense stick’s time after drinking, it can slightly extend the duration of avatar-type Taoist arts.”
“…”
Avatar-type Taoist arts – Song Yan had limited contact with them, but their rarity was probably comparable to methods for cultivating spiritual sense.
No wonder this item was placed here.
The benefits of powerful spiritual sense revealed themselves at this moment. Song Yan simply divided his spiritual sense, quickly touching the orbs around the jade platform.
Countless dazzling spiritual objects flashed before his eyes. Several times he nearly couldn’t resist exchanging for them on the spot.
Fortunately, with his sword heart now clear and bright, he came to his senses in time.
After considerable effort, he had looked through most of the treasures.
So far, what tempted Song Yan the most was an ancient artifact called the Proxy Death Puppet.
“Proxy Death Puppet.”
“Can replace the user’s position with the puppet when facing a fatal blow from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
“The nature and origin of this item remain unclear. It is unknown whether it has negative side effects after use.”
It was a rather powerful life-saving artifact.
The Proxy Death Puppet was about the same size as a mud puppet from Nan Hong, appearing to have a texture similar to silk.
The uncertainty of this item left Song Yan with a sliver of hesitation.
“Hmm?”
Just as Song Yan was wavering, a scorching red color caught his eye.
Within the orb of light, a purple-red spiritual flame burned quietly.
“A supreme spiritual object, Karma Fire Burning Like.”
“An spiritual fire of unknown origin. Can be used to assist in cultivating certain fire-element techniques or secret arts.”
“…It was actually a supreme spiritual object…”
Seeing this spiritual fire, Song Yan stopped.
His mind began to calculate and ponder.
There were three choices before him now. One was to leave this place and go to Guiyan Peak to honestly pick a high-grade flying sword magical treasure.
The second was the Proxy Death Puppet.
The third was this Burning Karma Fire.
“Although high-grade magical treasures are precious and can directly increase combat power, they won’t be impossible to obtain in the future.”
The Proxy Death Puppet could give him a slim chance of survival against Foundation Establishment cultivators. Logically, this was the best choice.
Once you’re dead, everything is over.
However…
First, the Proxy Death Puppet was too strange, and its description stated that the specific negative effects were unknown.
Second, this supreme spiritual object could strengthen his Sword Dao Seed, greatly benefiting his future sword dao cultivation. It held considerable appeal for Song Yan.
“…Forget it. The Proxy Death Puppet is ultimately an external tool.”
After considerable deliberation, he finally made his decision.
“Besides, having this with me might make me take greater risks, putting me in even more danger.”
Song Yan looked at the flame and hesitated no longer.
“I’ll choose this.”
Supreme spiritual objects weren’t easy to come by normally…
After double-checking with Wu Zheng, Song Yan took out a jade token from the Cosmos Bag he had just received as his Sword Tempering reward.
It represented the opportunity to exchange for a high-grade magical treasure.
Handing over the jade token, Wu Zheng assisted him in retrieving the true spiritual fire.
The outer layer of “Burning Like” was dark red, like solidified blood scabs. The flame’s core, however, was utterly pure, tinged with a hint of purple-gold.
It burned silently, yet faintly exuded a scorching heat that made one’s heart tremble.
Facing this object directly, Song Yan finally felt the violent fire-element spiritual power beneath those calm flames.
The quantity of Burning Karma Fire wasn’t large – just a small flame the size of a fingertip.
However, he didn’t mind at all. As long as this object existed within the Twin Jade Realm, even just a little would allow his Sword Dao Seed to improve.
At his current cultivation level, too much would be more than he could handle.