"Do they have alchemic smithing methods back then, or is this from an original, unaltered metal?" she wondered. Her fingers traced the blade's edge, curiosity buzzing in her mind.
Based on what she knew, it was highly unlikely to make a broadsword this heavy even with the heaviest metal on Cloud Continent unless the metal underwent an alchemic smithing process, adding artificial weight to it.
Valenia ran her Qi through the broadsword for material inspection, and sure enough, the majestic broadsword was made from a metal she had never seen before.
A faint hum of energy rippled through it, revealing secrets locked in its core.
"This metal is amazing! Dense, hard, and its toughness reaches the level of tier-4 spirit weapons. Even the Qi conductivity is high! Great metal for making destructive weapons!" Valenia praised. Her voice lifted with excitement, practically vibrating with the thrill of discovery.
"If I could find this metal, maybe Sawi can enhance it further, reaching the level of a tier-5 material! A tier-5 broadsword… heheh…" Valenia began drooling at the thought of it. Her eyes glazed over, imagining the sheer power she'd wield with such a weapon.
After some time, she snapped out of her daydream. "But… where am I supposed to find this metal? Sigh… if only I had a metal-seeking radar like Madam's Qi-Seeking Radar. That would help a lot. I wonder where Madam is now; I hope she's alright."
She was hired to be Anda's Alchemic Knight, but she never had the chance to actually protect her madam. Valenia lost herself in thought again, this time thinking about her madam.
At the same time, her eyes were still looking around the display cabinet, scrutinizing the weapons on display. Her gaze flicked from spear to axe, half-hoping another broadsword might catch her eye amid the relics.
"Wait a minute, are the other weapons made of the same metal?" Valenia wondered. Her head tilted, a sudden spark of possibility lighting up her eyes.
She rushed to inspect every weapon in the display cabinets, her fingers tracing each blade and haft with growing excitement. After a thorough examination, a triumphant grin spread across her face. About a quarter of the weapons - mostly the massive ones like war hammers, battle axes, and greatclubs - shared the same incredible metal properties.
That meant they could be smelted and reforged into a new broadsword for herself! Her grin widened, already picturing the massive blade she'd wield.
"A tier-5 broadsword… heheh…" Valenia drooled again. Her hands twitched with anticipation, eager to see her dream take shape.
Later, Valenia stored all the weapons here into her space ring, including the cabinets. They could be used to display her broadsword collection in the future.
Next, Valenia turned her attention to the expensive-looking chests in the middle of the room. It was obvious that the chests and the locks were made from the same material as the tough door previously.
She summoned the majestic broadsword and slashed the locks on the chests. The locks were cut in half easily. She didn't have to use Sword Intent at all. The blade sang as it sliced through, a clean, satisfying sound that echoed in the basement.
"This majestic broadsword is even better than my current tier-3 broadsword. It seems that I looked down on the people of the past too much. They might not have the current technology and methods, but they could have a material advantage because, as time passes, good ores became less and less. Maybe this metal was the best metal in the long past, and now all of them were already dug out. That's why Cloud Continent doesn't have them anymore," Valenia talked to herself and speculated.
Valenia then opened the chests and saw spirit stones filling them. Low-grade spirit stones filled three chests, and medium-grade spirit stones filled two chests. The faint glow of the stones spilled out, casting a soft light across her face.
"Wow, so many spirit stones! I'm rich! I can use the spirit stones to buy more unique broadswords!" she exclaimed, but it was noticeable that her excitement wasn't as pronounced as when she saw the majestic broadsword previously.
She didn't think much about it and stored them away.
And so, Valenia exited the basement in a good mood.
Then she got to thinking. "Hmm… Does every house have a basement like that? That's right, they probably didn't have space bags or space rings yet in that period, so they needed a secret place to hide their wealth. Does that mean more wealth can be found?" Valenia's eyes lit up. A greedy little glint flickered in her gaze, her mind racing with possibilities.
"Heheh, my space ring has plenty of space. Let's just take everything I can find. They're ownerless anyway," she decided. A smirk tugged at her lips, the thrill of scavenging pumping through her.
"Let's turn back and start from the first building." Valenia quickly went back to where she came from.
After that, she swept away all the rubble and remains that had piled up on each ruined building to see whether there were similar secret basements or vaults as well. She did this for an entire day. Her hands moved fast, dust and debris flying as she dug into the past with relentless energy.
Sure enough, some of the ruined buildings had hidden compartments for safes and basement vaults somewhere to stash their wealth; however, most of them were already destroyed. Most weren't made with the same security and toughness to withstand damage, so they had corroded with the passage of time as well.
Fortunately, the ones that survived also meant their owners were wealthy enough to afford better safes or vaults, meaning they would have better things stored.
Valenia found more spirit stones, cultivation manuals, martial skill manuals, more weapons, precious ornaments, alchemy products, and more. Each discovery felt like a small victory, her space ring growing heavier with every haul.
Unfortunately, things like cultivation manuals and martial skill manuals were very outdated. Compared to what they had now, all of the manuals could be labeled as fakes and scams due to their inefficiency. She flipped through one, her nose wrinkling at the clumsy techniques scribbled inside.
Apart from that, all the alchemy products she found could no longer be consumed because they had expired long ago. Instead of getting benefits, people might get poisoned if they consume them.
Thankfully, people of modern times had space bags and space rings. Expiration for consumable products was no longer a big issue. She let out a small sigh of relief, grateful for the conveniences she'd once taken for granted.
However, just the amount of spirit stones she found made all the effort of going and searching from building to building worth it. She was getting super rich at an unprecedented rate! If she kept finding more spirit stones at a similar pace, she might become richer than her madam in just two weeks! Her hands practically tingled with the weight of her growing fortune.
During the seven years in Bara City, Anda's wealth had grown by leaps and bounds from selling tier-4 alchemy products. There was no doubt that she was the richest lady in Bara City by far.
And now, just by searching ruined houses, she could potentially reach her madam's level of wealth in just two weeks? She would be a fool to miss this chance.
Over the following days, Valenia became a one-woman excavation force, scouring every collapsed structure with single-minded determination. She noticed an encouraging pattern - the deeper into the city ruins she ventured, the more intact vaults she discovered. Her riches grew exponentially, and with each new haul, her mood soared.
"Heheh, I wonder what Leyvi is doing right now? There's no way he found more spirit stones than me, right? He isn't allowed to tease me anymore because I'm a rich lady now. Since Madam and I are both rich ladies, we should join forces to tease him instead," Valenia said happily. She didn't bother to think whether her logic made sense or not. Her grin stretched wide, already imagining Leyvi's flustered face.
"It's so easy to become rich. Is this why people went all out to enter the Mystic Realm? But this doesn't feel like adventuring at all… more like tomb raiding," Valenia muttered.
When no more buildings remained in the district, Valenia's gaze turned toward the distant city center. Several kilometers away lay the commercial heart of the ancient city, where shops, trading houses, and merchant guilds had once thrived. If residential areas held such wealth, imagine what treasures awaited where real business had been conducted!
However, while she was on the way there, she suddenly felt something, stopping her in her tracks. Something she was very familiar with.
"Slashy!" Valenia exclaimed. Her heart leapt, a jolt of recognition sparking through her.
Her mental connection with her spirit beast had returned, albeit vaguely, which could only mean that he was not far from where she was.
She didn't know exactly how far he was from her since they had never tested the range limit of their mental connection, but it wasn't hard to know the general direction. So she immediately went toward Slashy's direction. Her feet pounded the ground, a surge of urgency driving her forward.
Fifty kilometers later, Slashy's figure finally entered her spiritual sense range, but what she saw enraged her. She saw Slashy getting captured. Her fists clenched, a hot flare of anger rising in her chest.