Plundering the Heavens

While Yuan Bizhan was speaking, the words from his father flashed across his mind: ‘The palace master of the Colored Glass Palace is not only the eldest daughter of the old Dragon King, but she also rules over the spirit mines of the Thousand Streams Sea and has countless treasures. If you were to marry her, not only would you be able to borrow the power of the Dragon Palace so your position could soar into the sky, you’d also have access to all of her treasured collection within the Colored Glass Palace; how could there then be any issues with cultivation resources in the future?’

However, Yuan Bizhan did not agree with these words in his heart and felt the Sword Embryo was far more valuable than the so-called treasures within the Colored Glass Palace—this Sword Embryo had come from the Mysterious Domain, after all. His earlier words had inadvertently revealed such thoughts, and it had undoubtedly triggered some anger from the Dragon King’s daughter.

“My Colored Glass Palace of course can’t compare to the Dragon Palace, but I do have a few treasured items,” she coldly replied. “How do you—Mister Yuan—know not a single one among them is more valuable than this Sword Embryo?”

Yuan Biazhan was slightly taken aback, but he believed Ao Yinzhu was simply trying to belittle the value of his Sword Embryo. “Miss Yinzhu, the value of this Sword Embryo truly is not low at all. Even if it is not of highest tier, it would still be considered second-tier, which I believe does not need further elaboration,” he said with a smile, “If Miss Yinzhu truly does have a very rare treasure, why not bring it out so both I and the fellow Daoists here can take a look?”

Ao Yinzhu’s eyes were already filled with contempt, but she faintly smiled all the same. “Even if I did take them out, I’m afraid you wouldn’t know what they are!”

“Having grown up in the Yuan clan, I’d say I’ve seen quite a number of rare and precious treasures. I am rather confident in my appraisal abilities!”

By now, their words had become competitive and harsh. Ao Yinzhu slightly closed her eyes for some moments of careful thought before she called over one of the sea-beast maids and muttered something to her. The maid left, and Ao Yinzhu lightly pushed the sword box towards Yuan Bizhan while saying, “In that case, I shall test Mister Yuan’s knowledge. I have three very special treasures I have unintentionally obtained over the years. Since Mister Yuan believes his appraisal abilities are great, why not help me do some appraisals? If you win, all three treasures will be given to you, and even I…” her words paused and her expression immediately changed. Her eyes were so alluring it was enough to take one’s very soul.

Yuan Bizhu’s mind was suddenly muddled and his mouth became dry. The only thing on his mind was to throw himself at this woman and listen to her no matter what was said. He was born and raised in a large clan, however, and he quickly rotated his Qi. ‘This charm spell of hers is so strong even I nearly fell for it….’ Although his heart was shaken, he collected himself in time and immediately realized an important question: “And what if I lose?” It was good if he won, but what would happen if he lost?

With how quickly Yuan Bizhu reclaimed himself, It was instead Ao Yinzhu’s turn to be surprised. She smiled before replying, “If you lose, then I won’t be giving you back this Sword Embryo….”

Yuan Bizhan was shocked, but he fully understood now. The original purpose of the Sword Embryo was as a betrothal gift and it wouldn’t be a problem at all to give it to her if she agreed to come to Videha and wed him, but it seemed this bi*ch had been planning this all along. She wanted to be free in this area of the sea, but after seeing this Sword Embryo, she also wanted to cheat it from his hands. Yet despite seeing through it, he’d just boasted about his capabilities and the woman made it so refusing wasn’t much of an option….

After a few short moments of silence, the cultivators all realized the eldest princess wanted to use herself as the wager in a gamble with Yuan Bizhan. Although they were shocked, they started to quietly discuss this below and the hall was soon filled with a buzz of words.

Another voice shouted out amidst the chatter, “You already said it, yet you want to pretend it wasn’t said?” Everyone turned to look towards where the voice had come from—which happened to be where Fang Xing was—but when everyone looked over, Fang Xing was giving Zhou Luwei a peculiar gaze.

Zhou Luwei began to sweat and quickly wave his hands while saying, “It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me….”

“If it wasn’t you, why are you so desperate in denying it?” Fang Xing replied.

Zhou Luwei was let completely speechless.

Even Yuan Bizhan viciously glared towards that direction, but after some quick and urgent thoughts, he spoke in a low voice, “Since the eldest princess wants to test my knowledge, I naturally would not dare to refuse. However, there is no need to use this Sword Embryo as the wager. Since this Sword Embryo was originally meant to be used as a betrothal gift for the eldest princess, no matter whether it is my win or loss, it all belongs to the eldest princess; what need is there to wager it?”

Hearing this, quite a number of cultivators below began to nod to themselves; it seemed to them this Videha cultivator had some skill with words.

Even Fang Xing could only curse in his mind, ‘Dammit, this bastard is actually terrified yet his words made it sound like everything is his generosity….’ He didn’t like this Yuan-named cultivator at all. Fang Xing was trying to get the Red Order from the Dragon King’s daughter so he could use the secret technique the lotus girl taught him to complete his True Samadhi Fire, yet this Yuan person had stepped in the middle to try to take the Dragon King’s daughter away. Was that not simply forcibly ending everyone’s fun? His actions were like the mayors who shut down brothels and didn’t allow them to open for business—not a good government official at all.

Fortunately, the Dragon King’s daughter didn’t seem to be an easy character, either. She was not intimidated by Yuan Bizhan’s words, but she didn’t argue and only calmly said, “We’ll know after Mister Yuan sees these three treasures of mine.” While she spoke, sea-beast maids raised three plates covered in red silk before placing them neatly on the table in front of her. With a gesture, all of the red silk was removed, and the cultivators in the hall started craning their necks out of curiosity to see just what kind of treasures she would present. Some a little farther away even used Mystic Eye to see more clearly.

Fang Xing had activated Mystic Eye as well. Atop the three plates from left to right was a miniature mountain, a piece of burnt thunder-struck wood, and a compass with a missing corner that—at first glance—seemed to contain very little Qi and wasn’t special at all.

The Dragon King’s daughter glanced over at Yuan Bizhan. “Since Mister Yuan’s knowledge is very broad, please do appraise the name and usage of these three items. If Mister Yuan is able to speak with accuracy, according to our agreement, all three treasures will be handed over to him!” She only mentioned half of their agreement and omitted the other half involving the Sword Embryo. It was clear things would be fine if Mister Yuan managed to get everything correct, but if he did not, she would directly take the Sword Embryo for herself. She hadn’t given an answer to his earlier magnanimous words, which meant whether or not the bet was in place at the end of the day was all up to her.

Yuan Bizhan originally wanted to refuse, but he began to hesitate when he saw the treasures in front of him. He was able to directly see through the first two treasures and he felt as though he’d seen the third one as well; wasn’t it a compass used to seek mountains and the ocean? He felt as though his chances at winning were great, so he didn’t try to refute her and instead began quietly investigating….

The Dragon King’s daughter let out a light laugh. She pulled out a water-crystal hourglass and flipped it over while placing it on the table. “There’s also a time limit!”

As the sand in the hourglass fell, Yuan Bizhan made up his mind and directly picked up the miniature mountain. He showed it to the cultivators below before clearing his throat and saying, “Since the eldest princess has ordered it, I shall do my best. This first treasure appears to be a miniature mountain, but it is in fact a very powerful weapon. Eldest Princess, if I did not guess incorrectly, this miniature mountain is in fact a real mountain that has been sealed, right? If its seal was removed, even all of the Thousand Streams Sea would be completely filled up….”

“A mountain that has been tempered into a weapon?” All the cultivators’ shocked gazes locked on to the treasure in Yuan Bizhan’s hand.

When the Dragon King’s daughter heard this, surprise and even a sense of admiration seemed to twinkle in her eyes. She lightly clapped her hands and praised, “True enough, you are indeed a disciple of Videha’s Yuan clan. Even I have started to admire your knowledge….”

A look of pride swept across Yuan Bizhan’s face before he put down the miniature mountain and picked up the second item for a closer inspection. All the cultivators looked at Yuan Bizhan with seeming reverence, and it was only Fang Xing who looked at him with disdain while thinking it was going to be this bastard’s unlucky day.

After a short while of carefully studying the burnt wood on the second plate, at first he felt this piece of wood was extremely ordinary, but when he came in closer, he felt the a terrifying chilling aura that could cause hair to stand on end. It was so cold it was as though even the gazes of others would be frozen solid, making him extremely uncomfortable.

He looked closer, and after confirming he didn’t see anything wrong, he displayed it to the cultivators in front. “This second treasure should be a piece of wood struck by lightning. If I did not see it wrong, this wood should be mythical Fusang Wood ¹ that has been near the seafloor? This wood was then struck by the nine tribulation thunders, causing this very Yang-type wood to be tempered to a new level, until its Yang was reduced and its Yin grew to the point it became Yin wood instead. It has the ability to protect one’s soul, and it should also offer protection to those practicing Yin-property techniques and skills….”

The Dragon King’s daughter suddenly began to clap her hands with a smile. “Brother Yuan, your knowledge is indeed impressive!”

With these words, all the cultivators below began to chatter once more.

“It is said the Dragon clans have many collections of treasure. Fusang Wood is invaluable, yet it seems she actually has some….”

“What’s more, this Fusang Wood was struck by the tribulation thunder, making it even rarer. And for Mister Yuan to see through it with a single glance and guess the usage of this wood… this knowledge and understanding is really impressive and admirable!”

Surrounded by everyone’s praise, even Yuan Bizhan was full of smiles. He placed the dried tree branch down and cupped his hands.

The more pride Yuan Bizhan displayed, the more Fang Xing became annoyed, and the latter began to once again yell, “Show off after you’ve seen the third one!”

The cultivators looked over again, but this time Zhou Luwei immediately pointed at Fang Xing and shouted, “He was the one who said it!” Although he did not dare to offend Fang Xing, this bastard would continuously bring him down and he was no longer able to restrain himself from ratting him out.

Fang Xing rolled his eyes. “You said it twice earlier, but I can’t say it even once?”

Zhou Luwei was left speechless again; wasn’t this simply reinforcing that the past two times were all his doing? The dissatisfied look Yuan Bizhan shot over terrified Zhou Luwei so much he was on the verge of crying.