Translator: AnubisTL
"Heh, that's unlikely," Ji Sha chuckled dryly, clearly having never considered such a scenario. "The Ghost Sword Sect's treasure vault is as vast as the desert sands. Fellow Daoists, surely you won't both covet the same item?"
Crimson Hair Immortal shot Li Qing a cold glance. "That remains to be seen. We should establish some rules beforehand, don't you think?"
True Lord Ji Sha frowned. "If such a situation arises, whoever claims it first gets it. Any objections, fellow Daoists?"
"None from me," Li Qing replied calmly.
In truth, he held little expectation for the Ghost Sword Sect's treasure vault. If there were truly any treasures of significant value, they would likely have already been claimed by the sect leader or supreme elder.
As a former disciple of the Lingyun Sect, he had once entered their sect treasury. While the items inside held some value, there was nothing truly extraordinary. Such treasures were typically reserved for the sect leader and supreme elder, leaving the vault as little more than a pipe dream for ordinary foundation establishment elders and qi refining disciples.
Crimson Hair Immortal hesitated for a moment before nodding. "If that's the case, I have nothing more to say."
With that, True Lord Ji Sha led the two into the massive iron gate.
Buzz!
The iron gate groaned open, gradually revealing a glimpse of the interior.
The entire mountain cavern had been transformed into a treasure vault. Even as the gate opened, an astonishing surge of spiritual energy poured out.
Sensing this dense spiritual energy, Li Qing couldn't help but feel a tremor of excitement.
True Lord Ji Sha chuckled. "Heh, the vault is equipped with a small Spirit Gathering Formation to prevent the treasures from gathering dust."
Of course, this Spirit Gathering Formation differed from those in the Great Wilderness Southern Region. It merely drew spiritual energy inward without completely sealing it off.
Otherwise, the entire Sword Valley's spiritual energy would be drained, severely impacting the surrounding area.
Such was the wondrous nature of formation arts.
Before them stood shelves embedded in the mountain walls, displaying ornate objects that radiated an aura of supreme dignity.
Li Qing narrowed his eyes. The designs of these items felt strangely familiar, as if he had seen them before.
Indeed, Li Qing had seen similar items in the hidden treasures pavilion of the Ancient Imperial City.
If his guess was correct, these were likely items plundered from the Imperial Palace. Since they appeared to have little practical use, the Ghost Sword Sect had simply stored them in the treasure vault.
Before Li Qing could even react, the Crimson Hair Immortal strode into the treasure vault as if afraid the treasures would be snatched away.
Li Qing couldn't help but feel speechless at the man's complete lack of formality.
But he quickly got to work, scanning the surrounding objects with both his eyes and divine sense.
Though the treasure vault was vast, the truly valuable items were likely few in number.
Since each of them could only take one treasure, this approach was essential. Being reserved would only put them at a disadvantage!
Ignoring the items plundered from the Imperial Palace, Li Qing moved directly to another shelf.
"Hmm, this broken blade is actually a magical artifact?"
His attention was immediately drawn to a shattered blade, its broken edge stained with rust, clearly indicating its age.
The material of the broken blade was unknown, but judging by its refining techniques and rust patterns, it likely originated from the ancient era, or even earlier.
The remaining dao patterns on the blade had become blurred and indistinct, suggesting they could no longer unleash significant power.
Once Li Qing confirmed that the dao patterns couldn't be restored, he lost all interest in the blade.
He continued examining the other items on the shelves, and soon, his divine sense detected an anomaly.
It was a small, silver shield resting on another shelf. When he had just attempted to probe it with his divine sense, it had been instantly repelled, making it impossible to examine with divine sense!
Just as Li Qing was about to approach the shield for a closer look, Crimson Hair Immortal suddenly appeared beside him and snatched the silver shield first.
"Hmm, a rare treasure that blocks divine sense probing? Interesting," Crimson Hair Immortal muttered to himself.
Li Qing's expression darkened slightly. "Fellow Daoist Crimson Hair," he said, "I discovered this shield first."
Crimson Hair Immortal merely glanced sideways at Li Qing before turning his attention back to the silver shield.
"Just because you claim to have found it first doesn't make it yours. Can't you see it's in my hand now?"
As Crimson Hair Immortal spoke, he tapped the small silver shield with his finger.
His arrogant tone infuriated even the usually calm Li Qing, who couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.
However, this was clearly not the place for conflict. Suppressing his rising emotions, Li Qing continued deeper into the treasure vault, which had been carved into the side of a small mountain.
It had to be said, the Ghost Sword Sect's foundation was truly profound. Though the sect's history couldn't compare to the other major powers of the immortal dao, the treasures within their vault were dazzling in their variety.
Li Qing had initially assumed most of the items would be worthless trinkets, but now he realized how wrong he'd been.
At that moment, Li Qing held a stone disc etched with strange patterns. Even a single glance at it made him feel dizzy and disoriented.
"These patterns... they resemble formation arrays. Could this be a simplified formation plate?" Li Qing murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
Simplified formation plates were devices that allowed even novices to easily deploy complex formation arrays.
Crafting such a formation plate was an incredibly difficult task, far beyond the capabilities of ordinary formation masters. It required an exceptionally high level of mastery in formation techniques.
Even in the Great Wilderness Domain today, one could barely find a handful of formation masters capable of creating even simplified formation plates.
Formations possessed the power to harness the forces of heaven and earth, channeling their immense power to unleash terrifying might.
But to inscribe a formation onto such a small stone disc and make it easily deployable by laymen was no simple feat.
Despite the "simplified" in their name, simplified formation plates were anything but easy to create.
"Fellow Daoist Ji Sha," Li Qing inquired, "may I ask what formation is inscribed on this plate?"
This time, however, Ji Sha remained silent, his smile speaking volumes.
As the supreme elder of the Ghost Sword Sect, why would he actively explain the origins and value of the treasures to outsiders he had brought into the sect's treasure vault?
In other words, he was hoping Li Qing and Crimson Hair Immortal would make a mistake and take some low-value items.
As a staunch loyalist to the Ghost Sword Sect, how could he possibly betray the sect's interests?
Seeing this, Li Qing chuckled bitterly. He had been presumptuous; directly asking such a question was clearly inappropriate.
But he remained curious about the formation inscribed on the plate. After a moment's thought, he sent a divine sense message to True Lord Ji Sha:
"Fellow Daoist Ji Sha, I apologize for my earlier presumptuousness. If you ever need assistance with refining treasures, you can find me at Hundred Refinements Peak in Giant Deer Prefecture. I might be able to help.
"However, regarding this formation plate, I would be grateful if you could enlighten me."
Upon receiving Li Qing's divine sense message, True Lord Ji Sha was momentarily stunned. His expression shifted through various emotions before settling into one of genuine admiration.
Soon, a divine sense message appeared in Li Qing's mind:
"Fellow Daoist, your eye is sharp. This is indeed a simple formation plate. It's inscribed with a small Spirit Gathering Formation, but this formation also blocks divine sense probes, making it a defensive formation as well."
Hearing True Lord Ji Sha's explanation, Li Qing understood why the other elders of the Ghost Sword Sect hadn't taken this simple formation plate.
To them, it was rather useless.
In Sword Valley, a superior spiritual vein, there was no need to worry about spiritual energy depletion, making the Spirit Gathering Formation less valuable.
Opportunities to select treasures from the treasure vault were rare, so no one would typically choose a formation plate inscribed with a small Spirit Gathering Formation.
If they truly needed to gather spiritual energy, they could simply pay a price to have a formation master from the sect set up a Spirit Gathering Formation in their cave abode.
After a moment's thought, Li Qing temporarily set the formation plate aside and continued searching for other treasures.
Soon, in a corner, a withered vine caught his attention.
(End of the Chapter)
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