Chapter 1125: Where's the Treasure?
As for the secret manuals, these were even messier. Most of them were Earth Grade Martial Techniques and Earth Grade Cultivation Techniques. However, there were none of the Profound Martial Techniques that Xiao Chen needed.
There were many types of Medicinal Pills. Xiao Chen quickly glanced through them and found that these Medicinal Pills would not have much of an effect on quasi-Emperors and above.
These would hold a great attraction for cultivators below quasi-Emperors, as they would provide great help in cultivating.
The war trophies that that Dragon's Gate had collected as they swept through the Heavenly Starry Ocean were all systematically placed in the halls.
However, Xiao Chen saw no hint of what he wanted the most. He could not help feeling disappointed.
Could it be that after the Dragon's Gate destroyed the Minor Leiyin Temple, it used the collected King Spirit Veins, so these were already gone ten thousand years ago?
If that was so, it would be somewhat unfortunate. No matter how many divine materials, Spirit Stones, or Secret Treasures there were, none of them had any direct benefit for Xiao Chen himself.
All these things were a large amount of basic resources required for establishing a sect. By relying on the various treasures in this treasure trove, one could support a huge sect for one hundred years.
Although there were many treasures—a shocking number of them—what was useful at Xiao Chen's level were too few, practically none.
Could it be that the peak items are all hidden in the Azure Dragon Palace in the Savage Battlefield?
However, Xiao Chen felt that this thought was wrong. The Azure Dragon Palace should be hiding treasures related to the Dragon's Gate's line of inheritance. Those would definitely be much better than the things here. However, they should not have much of a relationship with the peak war trophies from the Heavenly Starry Ocean. The war trophies of the Heavenly Starry Ocean would logically be placed in Heavenly Star Island's treasure trove.
In the hall with the divine materials, there were no more stone doors leading forward—which meant this should be the end of the road.
"Mo Chen, what do you think?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Something is wrong. Along the way, I looked carefully. I did not discover anything that truly stood at the peak. This is definitely not normal. I think there should be an independent secret room where the peak items are hidden."
Mo Chen continued analyzing with a serious expression, "However, we will have to search for this place ourselves."
Xiao Chen frowned and said, "If there is truly such a place, then those seniors from before should have told me."
Since those Dragon's Gate War Venerates recognized Xiao Chen's identity, they had no reason to hide such information.
Mo Chen's eyes gleamed as she looked at Xiao Chen. "Perhaps they already gave us the answer."
Xiao Chen felt excited. She must have thought of something. Otherwise, she would not have said that.
Indeed, Mo Chen continued, "Along the way, how many War Venerate badges have you collected?"
Xiao Chen thought back. Aside from the hall with the divine materials they were in now, he collected a War Venerate badge from all the other halls. Including the one with Mo Chen, they had a total of five.
Mo Chen explained softly, "The answer could lie with these five War Venerate badges. The divination skills of ancient times saw five as a supreme number. Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth form the five elements and materialize everything in the world, containing all the mysteries of the universe."
"That profound?" Xiao Chen said, surprised that the concept of five even brought out the mysteries of the universe.
Mo Chen giggled and said, "Actually, I don't believe in it, either. These are the ancient legends from the Immortal Epoch. What is more commonly seen are the various types of five-element formations. Actually, this hall containing divine materials is organized according to the five elements. Look there. Those are all metal-attributed divine materials; there is nothing of other elements at all. That represents metal. Look to the north. If you look carefully, you will discover that those divine materials are petrified ancient divine woods. That represents wood…"
As Mo Chen explained and pointed things out, Xiao Chen realized that the divine materials, which looked no different from others, all fell into categories of the five elements.
The two walked over and searched around the piles of divine materials. At each pile was an indentation—a perfect fit for the War Venerate badges.
When the final War Venerate badge was seated in the last recess, the entire hall started shaking intensely. Xiao Chen felt like the world was spinning. The five connected halls before them parted and moved around the one they were in, materializing some kind of profound five-element formation.
After a while, a hole cracked open in the middle of the hall, revealing stairs to a lower level.
Xiao Chen took the lead and went down. Mo Chen followed slowly with a smile.
An average-sized stone room lay at the foot of the stairs. The place shone with a nine-colored spiritual light. When Xiao Chen saw this, he could not hold back an expression of joy.
Two simple shelves lined the walls. All sorts of rare and precious items sat on the shelves.
At the very end was an altar. Paintings of the various generations of the Dragon's Gate's Sect Masters hung on the far wall. The Azure Emperor's portrait was placed in the very middle.
Three embroidered boxes sat on the altar under the Azure Emperor's painting; each one was extremely ancient and emanated an extraordinary aura. Before the wooden table was a brown prayer mat that looked very ordinary.
Based on the decorations here, one could confirm that this was where the Dragon's Gate kept the peak war trophies.
There was a formation drawn with golden blood on the ground of the stone room. Xiao Chen gently prodded it. He suspected that this was the blood of a Deity Race Martial Emperor expert and could be termed divine blood.
However, compared to the divine blood used to seal the Heavenly Flame's Origin Flame, this was of much lower grade. The master of this blood should be only an ordinary Deity Race Martial Emperor and not a peak expert of the Deity Sovereign level.
However, the other items in the room were not what Xiao Chen was concerned about. What drew his attention was the item sealed by the formation. That was a King Spirit Vein's origin giving off a nine-colored spiritual light.
This was Mo Chen's first time seeing such a formation drawn with divine blood. Her eyes widened with extreme shock.
After advancing to Martial Emperor, even an ordinary human's blood would turn extraordinary, what more a Deity Race's Martial Emperor's.
According to ancient legends, the Deity Race came from a faraway place across the Starry Heavens. In their world, they would become gods the moment they were born, enjoying great reverence.
After the war of a hundred races in the Kunlun Realm, the Deity Race stood above the rest. If not for the Azure Emperor's appearance ten thousand years ago, it might have ruled the entire Kunlun Realm.
However, after ten thousand years, the Luck of the Deity Race had recovered, and the race was now regaining its previous might and glory. Even in the distant Heavenly Starry Ocean, the reputations of Deity Race cultivators were great, deterring one from underestimating them.
Now that Mo Chen suddenly saw the blood of a Deity Race Martial Emperor being used for a formation, extracted as though from a common beast, how could she not be shocked?
When Xiao Chen saw the thing that the Deity Race blood formation was sealing, he could not help feeling happy. King Grade Spirit Vein! There really is a King Grade Spirit Vein here.
Xiao Chen asked excitedly, "Mo Chen, can you break this formation?"
Mo Chen knelt there and investigated for a moment. Smiling, she replied, "It's not too difficult. However, this formation is not used to keep people out. It prevents the Spirit Vein from leaking energy. This is really extravagant, using so much Deity Race Martial Emperor's blood for such a simple formation."
Xiao Chen controlled his excited expression and said, "Let's break it, then!"
"It's best not to."
Xiao Chen looked at Mo Chen strangely and waited for her explanation.
Mo Chen added slowly, "This formation is too crude. Once it is broken, the aura of the King Spirit Vein will leak out immediately. At that time, the resulting commotion will alert the entire Western Sea. You know what the consequences of that will be."
Xiao Chen had not thought that far. He calmed down and considered for a moment, since he was not in a rush now.
He already saw the King Spirit Vein. It was right before his eyes and would not fly away. By thinking about it carefully, a solution would be found.
"Let's put this aside first and look at the other things."
Xiao Chen recalled that there were many other treasures here. These were all things that could excite him. He should take account of them first.
The wooden shelves all had very simple restrictions for locking down Spiritual Energy, which meant that the treasures here had not corroded and deteriorated with the passage of time.
"This is a Profound Cultivation Technique! How impressive!"
Mo Chen opened one of the restrictions and cried out in pleasant surprise. The difference in value between a Profound Martial Technique and Profound Cultivation Technique was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Profound Martial Techniques could still be found in auctions, although most people could not buy them. However, very rarely could Profound Cultivation Techniques even be seen or heard of.
"This is a King Grade Medicinal Pill, the Divine Essence Pill, which can directly raise the cultivation of a quasi-Emperor. It actually really is a Medicinal Pill that can boost a quasi-Emperor's cultivation! I had only read of such Medicinal Pills in ancient records. The Alchemic Recipes for such things were lost long ago.
"This is an Emperor Grade Secret Treasure. If I recall, this is likely to be the signature Secret Treasure of a Rank 9 sect in the Heavenly Starry Ocean from ten thousand years ago. Unfortunately, it is damaged."
There was simply no comparison between what was placed outside in the halls and the items on the shelves. While there were much fewer of these things, they were several times more valuable. The duo's eyes sparkled in pleasant surprise.
After accounting for everything, they had six Profound Cultivation Techniques and eleven Profound Martial Techniques. These had all been collected by the Dragon's Gate after destroying sects in the Heavenly Starry Ocean.
There were also one hundred King Grade Medicinal Pills, ten peak King Grade Secret Treasures, and one damaged Emperor Grade Secret Treasure, as well as a few other miscellaneous items.
Xiao Chen could use every item here. However, he was not in urgent need of them. The one thing that could excite him was that King Spirit Vein.
Since he had already reached the peak of Small Perfection quasi-Emperor, no matter how much resources he had, they were useless. He did not lack Profound Martial Techniques or Profound Cultivation Techniques, even if they were Medial Grade or Superior Grade.
After thinking for a while, Xiao Chen got Mo Chen to store everything. He intended to leave these items to Yue Chenxi, Mo Chen, Lan Shaobai, and the others.
The precious treasures on the shelves could help them advance quickly after they reached quasi-Emperor; these were resources rivaling those of the Immortal Holy Lands.
After passing the divine blood formation, Xiao Chen arrived at the side of the prayer mat. Then, he focused on the three embroidered boxes on the altar.
First, Xiao Chen bowed slightly to his ancestors. Then, he opened up one of the embroidered boxes and saw a jade strip inside.
Xiao Chen sent in his Spiritual Sense and discovered that the jade strip held the refining skills of the Dragon's Gate. It contained a complete set of blueprints for the Dragon's Gate's Secret Treasures.
Dragon's Gate Battle Armor, Dragon's Gate's warship, Dragon's Gate's War Banner, Dragon's Gate's weapons, Dragon's Gate's Totem, and even the method for refining Heavenly Dragon City—a complete set of blueprints for all these were within.
Xiao Chen picked up the jade strip and toyed with it. This was an excellent item, unlike the other various treasures, which had been snatched from other sects.
This was the foundation of the Dragon's Gate. If Xiao Chen relied on things from other sects to reestablish the Dragon's Gate, it would just be the Dragon's Gate in name. It would not have anything to do with the Dragon's Gate of the past.
Xiao Chen had always thought that such items would be in the Azure Dragon Palace. After all, the largest treasure trove of the Dragon's Gate was there.
Unexpectedly, there was a jade strip containing the Dragon's Gate's refining skills. This was truly a pleasant surprise.