Chapter 359: The Reservoir
Lu Qing’er’s Crystal Heart technique was like a welcome rain on a parched desert for Li Luo. The corruption power of the three-tailed heavenly wolf’s power was just as strong as a Heavenly Disaster Class’ power.
Although he had finally succeeded in creating the Heavenly Libation Mark, the three-tailed heavenly wolf was too strong for his will. He had been forced to sever the connection too quickly. If not, he would have fallen to its madness and gone on a rampage.
This had been a good test for Li Luo to see the extent of the three-tailed heavenly wolf’s power.
No wonder Principal Pang Qianyuan had cautioned him about using it.
However, Lu Qing’er had now brought Crystal Heart into the picture. It might just be the game-changer that he was looking for. Although it might not be able to completely nullify the influence of the heavenly wolf’s will, it could weaken it significantly. Lu Qing’er reacted very strongly to Li Luo taking her hand, but still she pulled back and changed the topic. “What happened to you? Why were you so worked up? You looked like you were in a dangerous place just now.”
Li Luo took a few deep breaths, now fully in control again. “It was just a secret art I was training.” He grinned. “If we want to beat Lin Suo, ordinary methods aren’t going to cut it.”
“Li Luo, if a secret art is making you take such risks with your life, I’d rather not chase the Golden Dragon Qi,” Lu Qing’er said, frowning.
She looked him deep in the eyes, then realized that she was not going to be able to change his mind.
“At our current speed, we’ll be at the Reservoir in two days’ time,” Li Luo said, again changing the topic. He turned to look away into the distance.
“Hopefully, I can get something suitable for myself. These two shortswords are almost unusable.”
If he could not find something decent for the showdown against Lin Suo, he would be at another severe disadvantage.
“The Reservoir is full of treasures, ones far beyond our imagination. All we need is sufficient dao-gold, and we won’t have to worry about choices,” Lu Qing’er assured him.
“That would be nice,” Li Luo said with a gleam of anticipation in his eye.
…
For the next two days, the trio hurried along without much rest. They were already close to the Reservoir. When they climbed a tall hill, they saw a lake in the distance, sparkling like a mirror in the sun. It was filled with tens of thousands of glinting objects.
A dazzling sight.
“That’s the Reservoir? It’s… opulent,” Li Luo marveled.
Treasured artifacts were expensive, and having that many all thrown into the Reservoir was incredible. If one cashed it all in, there probably wasn’t enough skygold in the whole Xia Kingdom to buy it. It was another reminder of the sheer financial power that the Golden Dragon Bank commanded across nations.
Besides, all the treasures within were treasured artifacts, not just resonant artifacts. In terms of refining skill required and durability, they were far more advanced compared to ordinary resonant artifacts. It was said that the final step of creating treasured artifacts was known as the “eye opening.” Simply put, the treasured artifacts were connected to the rest of the world through a small opening that resembled a human eye, which was how the name had come about.
Stronger treasures would have more special eyes that made them more attuned and connected with the world.
Treasured artifacts had three different types of eyes.
White eyes, gold eyes, violet eyes.
Each eye was further divided into upper and lower grades.
The most common treasured artifacts were white-eyes. They probably made up the majority of the treasures inside the Reservoir, but their “common-ness” was a misconception. It was only the wealth of the Golden Dragon Dao Fields that made them seem common and cheap. Outside on the market, even a white-eye treasured artifact would fetch millions of skygold.
Gold-eyes were even more expensive, starting at five million and ranging up to close to ten million.
Violet-eye treasured artifacts went without saying. They were items that even Dukes wanted. Their price was hard to imagine.
“It’s said that although the Reservoir looks like a lake, it’s actually a space that the Golden Dragon Bank made. All of the various Reservoirs that are scattered throughout the Golden Dragon Dao Fields are connected,” Qing’er said.
Li Luo nodded. He looked out to see that there were many other figures hurrying towards the Reservoir. It was even more lively than the showdown over the Golden Dragon Qi.
There had to be close to 80 percent of the teams gathered here.
“You see that mountain behind the Reservoir?” Lu Qing’er pointed in the distance.
Both Li Luo and Qin Zhulu looked, and their eyes widened. There was indeed a golden mountain range, twisting like a golden dragon. At the head of the dragon was an extremely tall peak, almost like the dragon’s horn. It was a majestic sight.
“That is Golden Dragon Mountain, where Golden Dragon Mountain Writs are won. That is the final destination of this training mission,” she told them.
Li Luo nodded thoughtfully. That was where they would find Lin Suo. And have their intense showdown.
“Third Changing…”
He grinned at Qin Zhulu. “If we win, we can hold our heads so high, we’ll be in danger of spraining our necks. It would be a crazy upset.”
Qin Zhulu licked his lips in anticipation.
“But before that, we’ll have to arm ourselves. Get as strong as possible,” he said, waving them on. “Let’s go see how loaded that Reservoir is.”
He could not wait. Treasures with prices untold. Although he could not buy them all, nothing in this life came free.
Lu Qing’er and Qin Zhulu were equally excited, and all of them headed down the slope with some new speed. The atmosphere at the Reservoir was already lively.
The Reservoir shone like a mirror, almost too blinding to look at directly. It rippled and sparkled in the sunlight, throwing large sheets of light all around.
They could see squads walking in with great eagerness. They vanished in a flash of white light when they touched the water.
They also saw more flashes of white light bringing teams back out.
Those that came out all had the same delighted grins on their faces as they marveled at the powerful treasured artifacts they had earned within. Each of their weapons sported white eyes.
“We can only enter the Reservoir once. We’ve split up our dao-gold evenly, so each of us has 930. According to the information I gathered, white-eye treasured artifacts go for about 300 to 700 dao-gold. Which means that we can get one each, and then use the rest for a cultivation breakthrough later. I suggest we don’t spend it all,” Lu Qing’er told them.
“What about gold-eye treasured artifacts?” Li Luo asked.
“They are very rare in the Reservoir. It would be hard to come across one unless you looked hard for it. Even then, they’re often priced at a minimum of 2,000 dao-gold. That’s not something that a team of our level could get,” Lu Qing’er explained.
Li Luo felt a pang of regret. White-eye treasured artifacts were already very expensive, but of course he was greedy enough to lust for a gold-eye treasured artifact. Then again, he was getting ahead of himself. The Golden Dragon Bank had not become rich by handing out freebies and cheapies to outsiders like him.
“Let’s go on in.” Li Luo led the way, and they eagerly ran forward to where riches awaited. The white light took them in a flash, and they vanished.