Chapter Thirty: The Astonishing Treasury

“Do you think I am forcing you?” Seeing the frustration on Tu Lu’s face, Gongsun Yan widened her eyes.

“No, I wouldn’t dare!” Tu Lu replied bitterly, unable to help himself. “But even if I agree, my master might not, and besides—”

He hadn’t finished speaking before Gongsun Yan burst into laughter. “As long as I’m not forcing you, nothing else matters. Regarding the inscription preparations, I’ve already gathered the materials. Here is the secret structure of the Nine Dragon Pattern—take it and use it for reference.”

With a wave of her hand, a scroll landed in Tu Lu’s hands.

The instant he saw the scroll, Tu Lu felt his scalp tingle; the Nine Dragon Pattern’s manual was twice as thick as the Fire God Talisman!

“That’s all I needed you for today. Though I’ve prepared the materials, I’m no inscription master. If anything’s missing, you’ll have to sort it out yourself.” She waved her hand again, sending a string of keys into Tu Lu’s palm. “These are the keys to my private treasury. Soon, I’ll have Brother Blueface take you to the vault—take whatever you need. As long as you can successfully inscribe my treasure, it’s yours. I’ll give you three days—prepare yourself.”

“No—!” Tu Lu began, but before he could respond, she waved him off, frowning. “Three days is too long. One day—just one. Go tell those cultivators you’re busy inscribing for me, so you can’t entertain them. That’s settled.”

Tu Lu was dumbfounded. He felt like Gongsun Yan was playing a game herself. If he returned and told the cultivators of Divine Wind City this, their spit alone would drown him.

But thinking of the set of treasures, and the inscription manual thicker than the Fire God Talisman, he couldn’t find it in himself to smile.

“Enough, you may leave. Tomorrow, Brother Blueface will fetch you. The manor has already prepared an ideal place for inscription. Just focus on your work for me!” Without waiting for Tu Lu to speak, she waved her hand, and a gust of fierce wind pushed him straight out of the cave.

“Manager Lu, the City Lord has instructed me to take you to the vault. Please follow me.” Just as Tu Lu was still stunned, Blueface Tiger approached and spoke, then walked ahead.

Tu Lu snapped out of it, hurried after him, and couldn’t help asking, “Senior, what sort of person is the City Lord?”

A look of deep respect crossed Blueface Tiger’s face, but he said nothing.

Seeing this, Tu Lu frowned. He wanted to ask more, but swallowed his words.

Soon, they arrived outside the City Lord’s vault. Blueface Tiger’s eyes flashed; he stepped back and said, “This is the City Lord’s treasury. Please enter, Manager Lu. I’ll take my leave.”

He turned and departed.

Tu Lu glanced at him, then looked at the magnificent building before him, dazed.

No guards at all—Gongsun Yan really meant for him to take whatever he wanted?

“Never mind.” He gritted his teeth, inserted the key, opened the vault door, took a deep breath, and entered.

He stopped in his tracks, mouth agape, staring at the wonder before him.

The vault was the opposite of the manor’s artificial mountain, which appeared as a mountain outside but was a residence inside. The vault was grandiose outside, but within, it resembled a cave—ancient, splendid. The treasures were set in stone hollows atop rocky outcrops, like clusters of honeycombs hanging from the stone walls.

“This is a Sun Pill!”

“This is the Five Deities True Qi Pill!”

Staring at the two outermost stone hollows, Tu Lu’s eyes went wide. These two kinds of pills were invaluable even for cultivators at the Purple Mansion stage!

The vault stunned him at first sight!

And that was only the beginning. The treasures deeper inside were even more precious, leaving him speechless. He felt as if he’d walked from a garbage heap straight into a palace. Especially when he reached the center and saw what lay within a certain hollow, he gasped.

“Yin Sunflower and Century-old Mother Ganoderma!”

He waved his hand, collecting the contents of those two hollows.

The earlier items, though rare, were not immediately useful to him. But Yin Sunflower and Mother Ganoderma were different—they were innate spiritual herbs, essential for practicing the Shadow Guard Formation’s wood-path techniques!

That formation would not only enhance his power, but might even help him break through to the Purple Mansion stage.

He knew that the more he took from here, the more he couldn’t afford to fail the inscription, or the consequences would be dire. Yet without these items, he was destined to fail—the Fire God Talisman itself was beyond his current abilities.

He pressed onward. The treasures he passed—pills, rare flowers, spiritual herbs, magical artifacts—he gathered anything that would be useful in the future.

He couldn’t fathom Gongsun Yan’s intentions, but since he’d started taking things, he had no intention of holding back. Every bit of strength gained before the inscription was vital.

He even doubled back to collect items he’d initially skipped, including a low-grade magical treasure: the Vajra Bowl.

Still, all he’d taken amounted to but a fraction of the vault’s wealth.

Finally, he reached the far end of the cave and was utterly astonished.

Ahead stood an entire mountain—not just any mountain, but one made of Thunder Stones!

A small mountain, entirely composed of Thunder Stones.

He swallowed hard, completely awed.

He’d never felt so poor in his life—there were too many Thunder Stones to count!

Starting from the base, there were Grade One Thunder Stones glowing with a blue halo, then Grade Two stones with blue star points, halfway up pure azure Grade Three stones, near the summit golden-hued Grade Four stones, and at the very top, a Grade Five Thunder Stone the size of a human head!

Just that Grade Five stone alone was worth a fortune beyond imagination!

He reached out without hesitation to take it.

But before his hand touched the stone, he suddenly sensed danger so intense his scalp tingled. He hurriedly retreated, and the feeling only faded after dozens of steps.

“So many rare treasures I could take freely, but this Thunder Stone Mountain is untouchable…”

Tu Lu felt something was amiss, yet couldn’t reason why. Perhaps those treasures didn’t match the value of the stone mountain, but they were still priceless. Some items might even be more precious depending on who needed them.

But there was nothing he could do.

Since Gongsun Yan forbade him from touching the stone mountain, he had to give up, retracing his steps and collecting several more bottles of pills. The rest were of no use to him.

When he exited the vault, the string of keys turned to ash. Tu Lu paused, glanced back at the imposing building, and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Time to go back…”