Chapter 8 – Treasure Hoard
Book 8: Chapter 8 – Treasure Hoard
Actually, both the black rat and the gold man truly felt the wish to leave this place. They were bitter that they had to stay in the cavern palace for several hundreds of thousands of years due to the low combat power of the previous generations of Xia Clan Transcendents. There had even been cases of Demigods with grade three and four True Meanings with deity weapons trying to break through the palace! However, the only way for one to break through the palace was for them to have a combat power equivalent or higher to that of Ancestor Black Wind. Yet, hundreds of thousands of years after his death, nobody at all could reach that level of comprehension!
It was too difficult!
With his current ability, it would be impossible even for Xue Ying to tackle the palace head-on.
However, Ancestor Black Wind never said one must do it head-on! If one’s True Meaning was mysterious enough for them to easily get through without having to overcome the obstacles, that too, could be considered combat power!
“To break through the obstacles, to use your own strength, and to be a Transcendent of the Xia Clan!” the black rat said. “All three of the criteria have been met, meaning that you have certainly passed through the trials!”
“Then where are the treasures left behind by Ancestor Black Wind?” Xue Ying looked around him.
“Err…”
The black rat and gold man looked towards each other.
“They’re not in the Black Wind Deity Palace,” the black rat honestly said.
“Not here?” Xue Ying’s eyes widened.
The gold man added, “It’s like this—back then, master prevented the experts who became Deities, as well as those from the Beast Clan from using their combat power to forcibly take the treasures away by not placing them here, in the Black Wind Deity Palace.”
“Right.” Xue Ying nodded before asking curiously, “Even so, Ancestor Black Wind didn’t leave his treasures to the Infernal Palace, instead building the Black Wind Deity Palace to leave behind his inheritance to the one who manages to get through it?”
Many Transcendents, even Demigods, had left behind their treasures before dying to their own sects. A minority would leave them behind to their clans, while the majority would pass them to the Infernal Palace.
The Infernal Palace was, after all, an organization belonging to the entire Xia Clan.
“Differing opinions!” replied the black rat. “That year, master considered leaving behind some of the treasures to the Infernal Palace. However, due to some differing opinions between the Palace Head and master, they got into a bit of an argument! As a result, master left none of the treasures behind to the Infernal Palace, instead keeping them all to himself!”
“Argument?” Xue Ying was puzzled. He could feel that Ancestor Black Wind still held the Xia Clan in his heart. If he didn’t, why would he have spent so much effort before dying to set up the palace? At that time, Ancestor Black Wind… was unarguably the number one expert in the entire Xia Clan, suppressing all the other clans for an entire era. Yet, he had actually argued with the Infernal Palace Head of that time due to some difference in opinion?
“Why did they argue? What differences did they have?” Xue Ying was curious.
“That is something I don’t really know. Master didn’t tell me about it,” replied the black rat.
Xue Ying muttered to himself.
An existence that could suppress everything for an entire era? Arguing with the Palace Head?
He actually possessed a total of seven Deity warriors? Although, the majority of them were slightly weak.
“Wait until you obtain master’s inheritance. By then, you should understand everything,” the black rat replied. “Master had also mentioned that everything he left behind is within the treasure hoard. Other than the many treasures, the command talisman for the warriors is inside it as well, so if you want us to heed your command, you will have to obtain it.”
“Where is the treasure hoard?” Xue Ying asked.
“Hmph hmph.” The black rat was delighted at the question.
“Only the Water Rat knows the location.” The gold man laughed. “None of us shadow brothers know it. Therefore, even if a Deity comes and grabs the Water Rat by force, he can’t go against orders master gave him to tell them the secret!”
Xue Ying looked towards the black rat.
“Please leave,” the black rat said to the gold man.
“Even I am not privy to the secret!” The gold man shook his head. Nevertheless, he turned around and walked out of the courtyard, leaving behind only Xue Ying and that black rat.
Xue Ying was quite curious as to where Ancestor Black Wind hid his treasures.
“In the deepest underground level of this Black Wind Deity Palace,” the black rat began, “there is an extremely large hall. Inside, there’s actually a hidden gate to another world, leading you into a major Transcendent World! This world is very unique in that it grows within the fold of this world’s outer layer, ensuring that it entirely enclosed—the world membrane cannot be torn apart. None of the natives of this Transcendent World have ever torn through space to enter the mortal world.”
“Oh?” Xue Ying was startled.
No wonder.
No wonder this ninth major Transcendent World had been kept secret from everyone else. It was the completely sealed environment which resulted from its location in the void that led to the lack of connection with the void layer in between space. To tear apart this completely sealed world membrane was equivalent to completely tearing apart the entire outermost layer of the mortal world! That was too difficult.
Usually, tearing space meant merely tearing apart the membrane at the innermost layer, before being able to enter the void layer in between space.
Other than this void layer… there was still another external membrane that was the thickest.
This outermost external membrane surrounded the entire mortal world, including all sorts of minor and major Transcendent Worlds.
Because the major Transcendent Worlds were interconnected with the mortal world, there were ‘World Doors’ formed as a result. And the only exit from a space-sealed major Transcendent World… was precisely one of these World Doors!
“Master’s treasures were precisely hidden in this major Transcendent World at a certain underground place,” answered the black rat. “I’ll pass you the map.”
“Wasn’t he afraid that someone would discover it and take it away?” Xue Ying was shocked.
“First of all, these treasures are very unique in that they can only be seen with one’s naked eyes. There are no other methods of observation to discover them. With such a vast major Transcendent World and the seemingly boundless the underground space, how hard would it be for one to find the hoard with their naked eyes? Who could ever find it? Before you, there is nobody to have even known that there are treasures located within, so nobody would be foolish enough use their naked eyes to slowly search for them,” the black rat said. “Secondly, even if they found the hoard, they couldn’t open it! The key to open it is with me! Finally, the entrance, which is the World Door, can only be used by human Transcendents!”
“To sum it up, it’s absolutely safe.” The black rat was confident in this.
Extending his hand, an octagonal ink-black talisman appeared on his small and hairy claws. “This is the key. I’ll give it to you.”
Xue Ying took it.
“I’ll draw the map for you.” The black rat waved his claws, causing waves from the black lake to fly upwards before instantly forming into an enormous, clear map in the air.
“This is the detailed map of the major Transcendent World, and the treasure is located there!” The black rat pointed towards a point on the enormous map, causing that spot to glow with golden light.
Hu.
The enormous map dissipated and the waves returned back to the lake.
“I’ve given you the key and told you about the map,” said the black rat. “You must be careful when proceeding on your own. This is, after all, a major Transcendent World. Hundreds of thousand of years have passed, so nobody can truly know what sorts of native Transcendents will be inside.”
There were weak and strong native Transcendents.
For instance, the second ranked Demigod, the ‘Infernal Emperor’, was unrivalled within his Infernal World! There, Mountain Lord He as well as other Demigods with Deity weapons had been similarly defeated by him.
Thus, one could never look down upon the native Transcendents.
“Originally, I thought that after obtaining the key, it’d be quite easy for you to retrieve the treasures. However, your current combat power is still quite weak, so you must be careful.” The black rat reminded him. He did not wish for Xue Ying to die. After all, who knew when someone powerful enough to free them of this place would appear once again?
“Don’t worry.” Xue Ying made his decision.
Major Transcendent World?
It might be dangerous.
By relying on his True Meaning of Mirage, however, he could still explore the place. As long as he was careful in sending his own Qi Avatar, it’ll be enough. A Qi Avatar’s comprehension of the realms would be similar to that of the true body, so it could enter the Mirage as well.
“Oh, right. That underground Great Hall seemed to have been damaged, with signs of battle having occurred inside,” Xue Ying added. It had been precisely due to those traces of battle which
“You know about it?” The black rat was startled. “That’s right. A truly terrifying big battle occurred at that location before!”