Chapter 128: The Phoenix Crystal And The Emerald Crystal
The resources the White Emperor city had saved over the years couldn't be compared to those of the Cloud Sect and the Burning Sky Palace, but they were a lot more in number than those of the seven noble clans.
All kinds of spiritual weapons and treasures were stocked up roughly in the wooden frames on the wall, randomly pushed into nooks and corners as if those things didn't seem to be rare in the city.
Zen could choose any three treasures he liked, and he was glad to accept the offer.
He didn't have a strong interest in spiritual weapons as he had quite a stock of heavenly essence in hand, and he could easily barter it for the weapons.
He scanned the top rack of the frame, skipping past the spiritual weapons.
Spencer was surprised to see this. The spiritual weapon was of no use to the powerful men of Illuminating Soul Realm, but Zen, in his position, should be keen on them. His indifference was peculiar.
Spencer pointed to a pair of treasured swords at one side. “This pair of treasured swords are called the Double Ring Killing Swords. They are top-grade spiritual weapons with extraordinary power. If you choose them, they will only be counted as one of your three treasures, and are certainly worth more than their value.”
Zen nodded but didn't answer. He still wanted to see the rest of the stock.
Spencer noticed his disinterest in the weapon and had no choice but to follow Zen as he stalked forward.
After walking for a while in the treasure house, Zen suddenly halted, his eyes locked on a wall not far away.
Three treasures hung on it. They exuded strong energy, but each of them looked incomplete.
The first one was an emerald knife. It seemed to be made of jade all over. Unfortunately, the knife point and handle were missing, and only the middle part of the blade was left.
It wasn't the blade but the purple crystal set in the middle of it that attracted Zen. The crystal was surrounded by a circle of runes.
Zen had seen the runes today. After the second spiritual texture appeared on his body, the latter had become equivalent to a middle-grade spiritual weapon. At that time, two rows of runes had appeared on his arms, same as those on the knife blade.
Zen frowned as he looked at the three broken weapons, lost in thought.
Suddenly, he discerned that the runes on his arms should be used to inlay.
Earlier, Zen had thought that the runes on his arms looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before.
There was a mention either in Evil Lan's secret collections about refining weapons, or in Chase's Weapon Refining Principle that this kind of runes were used to inlay a crystal.
The runes had never before appeared on a human body, so Zen didn't identify them immediately. But now, looking at the broken weapons on the wall with the runes marked on them, he instantly realized what they were.
Zen was struck dumb. It meant that his body was a spiritual weapon, and these crystals could be set in it!
“What is it? Have you taken a fancy to this stuff?” Spencer smiled. “These broken weapons were used by some powerful men of Illuminating Soul Realm. This knife here–it's called 'Jade Butterfly' and used to be the walking saber of Scholar Joss. It was a top-grade spiritual weapon, but unfortunately, it was destroyed by a demon king in a battle. The rest of the knife was broken and only the blade is left now. It's not worth a cent though. Its one and only valuable part is the Phoenix Crystal that rests on it.”
“Can this Phoenix Crystal be used to inlay?” Zen asked.
“Of course. Jade Butterfly is potent because of the Phoenix Crystal's effect. I remember that Scholar Joss wielded this knife to cut a hundred times in the blink of an eye! The speed should give the credit to the Phoenix Crystal,” Spencer explained, “so we kept the blade.”
Zen nodded and pointed to the blade. “I will choose this one as the first treasure.”
“Yes? Zen, are you proficient in refining weapons?” As far as Spencer knew, only a weapon refiner would be interested in the crystals. Was Zen capable of that? Could he really refine weapons with the Phoenix Crystal?
“Refining weapons?” Zen shook his head in the negative. He had a preliminary grasp on the method because of the Weapon Refining Principle, but he had not personally tested it so far. He couldn't claim to be a proficient weapon refiner.
Spencer blinked his eyes in surprise, but still nodded at him. “Zen, since you have chosen the blade as your first treasure, it is yours now.”
The broken spiritual weapons had been hung in the treasury since long. Most people allowed to enter this treasure house were the members of the imperial army. There were weapon refiners in the army, but they wouldn't go to the battlefield to kill an enemy, and rarely got the chance to commit military exploits. They could hardly qualify to enter the treasure house and choose their reward.
Few people chose the crystals as a reward. The top-grade spiritual weapons were already assembled and aplenty. They were more suited to them.
“What about the one next to it?” Zen questioned.
Another broken weapon hung next to the blade of Jade Butterfly. It was a red spear that had been separated into several parts. Again, a blood red crystal rested in the middle of the spear point.
They watched as a dim red light flashed inside the blood red crystal. The light grew bright and dim from time to time, like it had its own heartbeat.
“This spear is named Tronson and is also a top-grade spiritual weapon. The crystal embedded in the spear point is an Emerald Crystal. Complemented with the Emerald Crystal, Tronson had the strongest penetrating effect and could easily penetrate an enchanted barrier,” Spencer said patiently.
“Penetrate an enchanted barrier?” Zen stared at the crystal with interest. After getting locked in the box several times, he had become wary of Yolande's transparent enchanted barrier. Even if he got his hands on a weapon like Tronson, it was possible he would be unable to break her enchanted barrier. However, if he encountered other ones in the future, it could prove to be a handy weapon.
Spencer nodded. “Yes. Emerald Crystal's strength has a strong influence. Tronson was destroyed by the demon king Sheen. In those years, Sheen had mastered the skill of the enchanted barrier. Initially, the powerful men of Illuminating Soul Realm in White Emperor City could do nothing to Sheen, but the Emerald Crystal broke through his enchanted barrier. At long last, Sheen was defeated, but unfortunately, in the process, Tronson too was destroyed...”
Looking at the pieces of the broken Tronson, Zen could readily imagine the intensity of the battle.
“I will take this one too,” Zen stated, pointing at Tronson.
“Of course. I will take it out for you in a while.” Spencer smiled. “There is another crystal left. Would you like that too?”
Zen glanced at the remaining weapon that hung on the wall - a formidable broken ax. He shook his head. The crystal on the ax radiated with a brilliant light, but Zen only had two rows of runes on his arms that could inlay two crystals. The extra crystal would be impractical.
After choosing the two crystals, Zen walked down further.
The kind of riches the treasure house was heaped with were far beyond Zen's imagination. Besides all sorts of weapons, there were different types of defense treasures, jade symbols, hidden weapons, pills, and so on.
It boggled his mind. The treasury had almost everything in it, and each of the resources was valuable. Zen was nearly dazzled as his eyes scanned the hall.
Unfortunately, he only had one spot left. If the two crystals he chose weren't helpful to him, he would return one of them.
Zen sought for a long time and finally fixed his eyes on a small, inconspicuous box, probably used to store pills. He stared at it for a while before reading the words on the box out loud. “Nirvana Pill.”
With a cautious expression on his face, he asked, “Is this the grade 6 Nirvana Pill concocted by the legendary pill refining master Churchill?”
Among so many pills, Zen had the sagacity to pick this one. He certainly had a good eye. Spencer smiled ruefully. There were all kinds of fortunes in the treasure house of the imperial army, but only a dozen of them were truly valuable, and the Nirvana Pill was one of them.
If one took the Nirvana Pill, he or she would be recovered of all wounds, no matter how dangerous they were. As long as the person had breath and could swallow the medicine, he would become right as rain in an instant. The pill could also cultivate the soul. If the soul was damaged or hurt in any form or manner, the Nirvana Pill could repair it.
At the same time, the Nirvana Pill could raise the consumer's strength to three levels. A warrior at the fifth step into the nature level could be promoted to the eighth step within three days after taking the pill.
The pill was exceptional magic but also had a fatal flaw. It could only be used by a refiner below the Illuminating Soul Realm, and was quite unusable to a powerful man of the Illuminating Soul Realm, such as Spencer.
Even so, the pill attracted the greedy eyes of the noble clans.
Many large families would donate a large quantity of lifesaving objects to cultivate their elite disciples.
The Nirvana Pill was undoubtedly the best of the lot. It could cure the wounds of the body as well as raise strength in a short amount of time.
Regrettably, the creator of the Nirvana Pill, Churchill, died at an early age, when he was just 43 years old. Warriors commonly had long lives worth hundreds of years, but Churchill was shortlived, so he left only a few Nirvana Pills behind.
Its number had dwindled over the years as they were taken, so the pill had become rarer to find in the market. Initially, it didn't have a high cost, but it went up all the time. Today, a Nirvana Pill was worth nearly one hundred thousand cubic crystals. It was beyond the purchasing capacity of a nature creature.
More often than not, it was the elder of a family who bought the Nirvana Pill to give to the elite of a young generation.
The one who bought it didn't eat it, and the one who ate it didn't buy it, which meant that the Nirvana Pill's price had gone through the roof.
“This Nirvana Pill will be my third choice,” Zen announced, nodding with satisfaction.
Truth be told, Spencer had planned to secure the pill for a younger elite in his family. As long as the young man gained some sort of accomplishment in the imperial army, the pill could be rewarded to him.
But now, Zen had picked it as his own, as one of the three treasures Spencer had promised him. As the governor of the imperial army, Spencer couldn't go back on his word, so he just nodded reluctantly. Zen's eye was far too clever.