Newspaper Boy

Chapter 150: Treasure Vault

Behind the bronze door was a vault, and everything inside exuded the aura of time. There were quaint bookshelves, display shelves, and carpets embroidered with the Black Bird totem.

Bronze statues of palace maids stood bowing, holding crystal and glass cups in their hands.

Candlelight, like a bean, emitted a soft, bright halo.

At the end of the carpet, directly facing the hall door, was a shrine with an ancient painting hanging above it. The painting depicted a graceful and beautiful goddess, holding an infant in her arms, with a three-legged bronze furnace standing beside her.

On the incense table of the shrine, there were two crystal and glass lamps and a black wooden box.

On both sides of the shrine were niches, each containing a box wrapped in gold-edged corners.

On both sides of the carpet were rows of display shelves and bookshelves, filled with antiques and books, a dazzling array. Neatly arranged near the entrance were wooden boxes, each half the height of a person.

The sound of swallowing saliva at the door stopped after a while. Xiahou Aotian trembled and said:

"Don't, don't move. Let, let me appreciate them first. Don't snatch. Please, everyone, be orderly. Don't fight among yourselves."

"You're the one who wants to rush in and grab them, aren't you?" Zhang Yuanqing muttered. "I want to too..." Zhao Chenghuang murmured. "Mmm." Sun Miaomiao's eyes were glazed over.

Tianxia Guihuo's hand trembled uncontrollably.

Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath, looked at his teammates, and found their eyes filled with greed.

'My expression probably isn't any better than theirs. I really regret inviting them. I provided the key, and I discovered the hidden quest. Why should I share it with them?'

'Calm down, calm down. Don't let the treasure cloud your judgment.' Zhang Yuanqing took another breath, took out the Ghost Mirror, and held it in his palm. Instantly, the evil thoughts and greed in his heart receded like a tide. His mind became clear and his spirit refreshed.

"Everyone, to ensure we don't fight among ourselves, please hold this," Zhang Yuanqing said, handing the Ghost Mirror to Sun Miaomiao beside him.

Sun Miaomiao took the Ghost Mirror, and the excitement and greed in her eyes quickly dissipated. "Hoo~" She exhaled a sigh of relief.

Then, Xiahou Aotian, Tianxia Guihuo, and Zhao Chenghuang, one by one, held the Ghost Mirror, entered the sage mode, and reason took over.

The group first opened the large wooden boxes near the entrance, which were filled with ordinary valuables: cloth, knife-shaped coins, jade, gold ingots, and silver blocks, a total of thirty boxes.

"We're rich! Selling these things, let alone 1.2 million in debt, 12 billion in debt would be a piece of cake," Xiahou Aotian said.

'Still obsessing over his debt. This guy really loves money,' Sun Miaomiao and the others thought. Although they liked these things, they weren't so attached as to be unable to control themselves. They went straight to the display shelves. Xiahou Aotian casually opened a jade box and let out a piercing scream:

"Oh, my God, what am I seeing? Good heavens, Crimson Fire Crystal Sand? A Dominator-grade material, Crimson Fire Crystal Sand!" Zhang Yuanqing was startled, thinking for a moment that Chief Constable had descended from the void. He leaned over to look. Inside the jade box was a pile of crimson sand, emitting high heat and distorting the air. Tianxia Guihuo's eyebrows twitched, and he looked excited.

"Crimson Fire Crystal Sand is a Dominator-grade material for the Fire Master class. It can be used as fuel, for crafting, for alchemy. At the very least, when facing enemies, throwing it out can turn a Saint into ashes." Seeing his excitement, Zhang Yuanqing silently handed him the Ghost Mirror. Tianxia Guihuo:

"This is a flammable and explosive item." Xiahou Aotian carefully closed the jade lid and put it back in its place. Suddenly, Sun Miaomiao screamed:

"Red Jade, Red Jade containing the power of the Sun!"

The others looked over and saw Sun Miaomiao holding up a piece of crimson jade pendant carved with dragons and phoenixes.

At first glance, the jade pendant seemed ordinary, but staring at it for too long caused a stinging sensation in the eyes, as if burned by the scorching sun. Tianxia Guihuo silently handed the Ghost Mirror to Sun Miaomiao.

Sun Miaomiao took it. Under Xiahou Aotian's lead, the group appreciated the items on the display shelves one by one. Identifying materials was an essential skill for a Physician.

They found a total of nine types of Dominator-grade materials, including fist-sized Living Soil. Of course, there were also non-Lingjing materials, pure antiques and paintings.

Some were relatively pure, but all were priceless.

A single auction could fetch billions. More valuable than Dominator-grade materials. The difference between the two lay in historical value rather than materials. After examining the items on the display shelves, Zhang Yuanqing suggested that everyone take turns holding the Ghost Mirror to enter the sage mode.

Next, they headed to the bookshelves on the other side.

The ancient books on the bookshelves were all cultivation manuals.

Not the breathing techniques that ancient cultivators regarded as the foundation, but spells, similar to the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record.

They covered the eight orderly classes and the three evil classes.

There was the Crimson Flame Burning Fire Blade that Tianxia Guihuo couldn't resist, and the Weapon Crafting Chapter and Cloud Sea Pill Formula that Xiahou Aotian was excited about.

There was also the Starry Sky Eight Arts that made the three Star Lords covet.

"These spells are techniques created by ancient cultivators, and they are the basis for their superiority over The Way of the Extraordinary," Zhang Yuanqing said.

Under the influence of the Ghost Mirror, they didn't become obsessed with the spells. They walked excitedly towards the shrine and the niches on either side of it.

Clearly, the things that could be enshrined there, the items in the boxes, were no ordinary things.

Zhang Yuanqing strode to the shrine, reached for the wooden box on the incense table, and opened it in front of everyone. A palm-sized, round jade lay quietly in the box lined with yellow silk.

The jade was carved with two lifelike dragons, their heads fighting for the red gem in the center. Zhang Yuanqing took out the jade, held it in his palm, and after a few seconds, the item information appeared:

[Name: Double Dragon Jade] [Type: Jade] [Function: Mountain Jade, a jade pendant crafted by artisans. It is said that the divine blood in the jade is from the heart's blood of Nuwa during the ancient period.] [Introduction: The First Emperor mined jade from Mount Shou and ordered artisans to craft this jade pendant.]

[Note: From ancient times to the present, no one has understood its secret. The First Emperor was the closest to the truth.]

'The heart's blood of Nuwa... So it is, so it's Nuwa, so it's here!' Zhang Yuanqing felt an unspeakable excitement in his heart. Fu Qingyang's and his own guess had been verified.

Back then, the First Emperor understood its secret through the divine blood, learned that Nuwa's relics were hidden in Takamagahara, and sent Xu Fu overseas under the guise of seeking the elixir of immortality. Xu Fu lived up to the Emperor's expectations and found Takamagahara, but he wanted to take the treasures in Takamagahara for himself, so he returned to the Central Plains to trick the Emperor into giving him the divine blood.

The process during that time is unknown and cannot be verified, but the result must have been unsuccessful. In the end, the First Emperor built this underground palace, using the Takamagahara Jade Disc as the key and setting up a ban.

Xu Fu might not have failed. He probably successfully deceived the First Emperor, but later, from this result, it seems that Xu Fu might not have failed. The development was that the Qin Dynasty fell after the Second Emperor, and the Chu-Han contention began. Xu Fu died in Takamagahara with regret.

Xu Fu probably didn't expect the Qin Empire to fall so quickly.

"I want this thing," Zhang Yuanqing said, not even giving his teammates a chance to check the item attributes. He put it into his inventory, looked around at everyone, and said,

"I have three priority selections."

Tianxia Guihuo opened his mouth, but said nothing in the end. Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang remained silent.

Xiahou Aotian was the most clueless: "At least let me see the attributes." Zhang Yuanqing refused without any psychological burden: "No."

He then turned his attention to the painting hanging on the wall. After carefully examining it, his pupils constricted slightly, and a huge shock surged in his heart.

He didn't recognize the goddess in the painting. He guessed that she might be the so-called Nuwa. But what really made his heart flutter was the infant and the three-legged bronze furnace.

The infant was very similar to the Xie family's Holy Infant, lifelike, and he had seen the three-legged bronze furnace before: Lian Sanyue's Hundred Refinement Furnace.

'I remember the item attributes of the Hundred Refinement Furnace said that it was a furnace for powerful beings, and countless well-known items came from it.' Zhang Yuanqing combined the description of the furnace's attributes and had a guess in his mind.

The Hundred Refinement Furnace and the Holy Infant were the tools of this Nuwa from ancient times. He withdrew his gaze.

Xiahou Aotian asked knowingly, "Who is in the painting?"

Xiahou Aotian analyzed it plausibly:

"The Qin Dynasty believed in God and ancestors, consolidating power with divine authority and symbolizing bloodlines with ancestors. The woman in the painting should be a deity."

"Did they have God back then?" Sun Miaomiao asked. Xiahou Aotian sneered:

"It's obvious that you have no culture. The God I'm talking about refers to Haotian, also known as the Old Man in the Sky. The God of that religion is a translated name, which is not the same as what our ancestors understood as God. You can also understand it as a name appropriation."

After a pause, he continued:

"But I don't remember the Qin Dynasty worshiping that goddess. If I had to guess, it might be Nüwa?" Tianxia Guihuo said:

"Perhaps it is Nüwa. Look at her holding an infant. Legend has it that humans were created by Nüwa using mud. Remember the history of Lingjing class? The Dean said that the only person whose real existence can be confirmed in mythology is called Nuwa."

"Are you saying that Nuwa is Nüwa?" Sun Miaomiao frowned. Before Tianxia Guihuo could speak, Xiahou Aotian nodded and said:

"Yes, without any surprises, Nuwa is Nüwa. That bronze furnace is the proof. Also,"

He looked at Tianxia Guihuo: "Is your brain so fast? You don't seem like a Fire Master at all. Red Chicken Bro was right, you really are a disgrace to the Fire Master."

'Can you shut up.' Zhang Yuanqing interrupted the possible infighting in time and asked, "How so?"

Xiahou Aotian was never inferior to others in showing off knowledge, standing with his hands behind his back:

"In the concept of The Way of the Extraordinary, alchemy furnaces and crafting furnaces are symbols of scholars, and in mythology, Nüwa also has another identity: a highly skilled craftsman.

"The most well-known example is her patching the sky with stones.

"Nüwa, Nuwa, a The Way of the Extraordinary, combined with the alchemy furnace and the infant in the painting, we can speculate that Nuwa cultivated both Musician and Scholar."

"Well-reasoned," Zhang Yuanqing praised, then said, "Let's look at the things in the shrine." The group left the shrine and walked to the niches, each choosing a box to open.

The boxes were locked with bronze beast head locks. Zhang Yuanqing held the lock body and exerted force with his palm, easily twisting it off.

He opened the box, inside which was a pure black lotus poncho, that is, a cloak, embroidered with golden cloud patterns, which was gorgeous and beautiful.

The touch was smooth and very textured, perfect for wearing to show off. Zhang Yuanqing spread out the cloak, and item information appeared:

[Name: Court Swordsman Cloak] [Type: Armor] [Function: Amplification]

[Introduction: The First Emperor created this cloak for the number one swordsman in Qin, which took three years to complete. However, when the cloak was completed, the swordsman had already betrayed Qin. The First Emperor was very sorry and sealed it in the treasure house. In addition, focus is a must-have cultivation for swordsmen.]

[Note: All skills of Scout, Swordsman, and Artificer are amplified by 40%.]

'Scout exclusive, Dominator-grade superb item!' Zhang Yuanqing's eyes widened.

'All skills are amplified by 40%. What concept is this? This is the concept of fighting beyond levels, of being invincible at the same level. The original ability is amplified by 40%, and the scout who owns this cloak is directly comparable to the peak class. And this amplification is still useful in the Dominator stage.'

'The best of the best.'

'It's a pity that it is Scout exclusive. According to the note, it is of no value to other classes.' "It's just right to give it to Fu Qingyang," Zhang Yuanqing thought.

'Even Qian Gongzi probably doesn't have a Dominator-grade superb item, after all, he has only just been promoted to Dominator. Even if he did, this cloak would still be a temptation that is difficult to refuse for him.'

'Because this is a Scout exclusive item.'