Plundering the Heavens

Not even Fang Xing knew how many rooms he snuck into or how many Flames of Desire he took that night.

The process naturally wasn’t without its problems. Some had already finished and were resting, while others had a spirit sense that was more sensitive than normal. If he found people resting, he’d let them be and would come back for them later, and as for those with a sensitive spirit sense, they still weren’t as fast as Fang Xing; even if Fang Xing wasn’t able to take their Flame of Desire, he’d still knock them unconscious to keep them from hindering his grand scheme of stealing flames.

A total of eight hallways led into countless numbers of rooms, and Fang Xing managed to go through all of them. When it came to Flames of Desire, the higher one’s cultivation, the stronger the desires of blood and flesh and the more valuable the flame itself would be. Although Fang Xing hadn’t managed to get the flames of the dragon girl who had the highest cultivation level, the trip to the Red Convention hadn’t been in vain; he compensated with quantity and was able to completely light up the green lantern with an extremely vivid flame. This should be enough.

When the cultivators were indulging in these pleasures, an aura of obscenity had risen above the Colored Glass Palace and caused absurd clouds to form that covered up any other auras and scents. Those who were familiar with aura identification would see this place was akin to a cave of sin, and not even Fang Xing had expected the sky above to actually become much clearer when he collected all these Flames of Desire.

‘I’ve gotten what I want, so should I leave?’ Fang Xing hesitated, but soon thought, ‘I still haven’t seen that stupid bi*ch of a dragon girl. Maybe she’s hiding somewhere having fun with some little pretty-boy. I can’t just leave things at that after being toyed with by her; I have to leave a lesson for her….’ 

Rather bizarrely, the restrictive areas in this large Colored Glass Palace was only protected by restrictive formations; there wasn’t a single guard to be seen, as though all of the guards who were supposed to stand watch had been sent elsewhere. It was quite the strange sight, and although Fang Xing didn’t mind this, it did put him on alert as he wandered through the Colored Glass Palace like a sneaky thief.

The palace was simply too large and there were too many rooms, however, and finding a treasure vault in such a short period of time proved difficult. Without any other choice, Fang Xing made his way to a secluded area before dragging the sea-snake beast from his storage sack. Just as he was about to wake her up for questioning, he considered it for a moment and was a bit concerned he wouldn’t get anything out of her given how tough she’d acted before, so he shoved her back inside and pulled out the clam beast instead.

After putting on a fierce expression, Fang Xing interrogated the clam beast on where the dragon girl’s treasure vault was hidden. The clam beast was merely a little girl and was easily frightened, and she was so afraid Fang Xing would truly drag her out of her clam and dip her in vinegar to eat her she sniffed and cried while pointing towards where the vault was hidden. Fang Xing joyfully put her back inside and quietly headed where she’d pointed.

Restrictive formations became more and more common as Fang Xing drew closer to the heart of the Colored Glass Palace, and he was forced to pay extra attention to avoid them. By the time he’d arrived at the end of the hallway, he saw a staircase heading down into seawater. The Colored Glass Palace was half-immersed under the sea and the treasure vault itself was also underwater; if someone wanted to get inside, they first had to dive into the water.

Fang Xing was someone who wouldn’t be able to hold himself back after he’d decided on something. Put nicely, it could be called “determination”, but putting it more bluntly, it was the kind of temperament where he wouldn’t step away until the moment he saw his own coffin. He already knew the rough location of the treasure vault, so even if it was inside a mountain made of blades or housed in a sea of flames, he’d go. Besides, this was nothing more than diving into some water, so he clenched his teeth, took out the bead that allowed him to control water, and dived right inside with the bead in hand.

The dreary water-filled hallway was dimly lit and not even a hint of man or beast could be seen, making it look like a place devoid of life. There faintly seemed to be some kind of power passing through the water, collecting and gathering with an aura that inspired awe and left one terrified. This kind of feeling was like the breathing of some kind of giant, and it carried a natural suppression that seemed to be above anything and everything. It would cause people to feel as though they were suffocating in the water, but Fang Xing was able to precisely tell with his spirit sense that this giant had yet to discover his existence, so he used his great guts and borrowed the power of the Water-Repelling Bead to skulk deeper into the depths.

The bead actually made Fang Xing quite capable in the water, to the point he was nearly as agile as he would be on land. After half an incense’s time of swimming, however, Fang Xing had no choice but to stop and use the Book of Revelation on a very complicated restrictive formation at the very end of the hallway. It was too complex to solve quickly and was powerful enough that even if he did solve it through force, the person who’d placed it would know and he’d no longer be able to sneak in unnoticed.

‘Dammit, this dragon girl is very cautious indeed. A mere treasure vault, yet she’s hidden it so well….’ Fang Xing silently cursed in his mind while studying it underwater, but he wasn’t confident he could open it without alerting its owner. Such a sight left him feeling extremely helpless.

‘Since it won’t work, I won’t go in. I’ll just set this Colored Glass Palace on fire to vent….’ Fang Xing made his decision and was about to turn to leave, but he suddenly realized something was amiss. The bead in his hand released a pale blue light that followed the movements of the waves in the water, and although it was normal for the bead to release an aura in such a manner, what was abnormal was how it actually joined up with the formation. The light seemed to enter the formation without setting it off at all, like water mixing with water or fire meeting fire. There weren’t any ripples or signs of anything odd occurring, as though it was a part of the formation itself.

This discovery caused Fang Xing’s emotions to swell. He remembered the time in the immortal’s hall at the Qingqiu Tombs where he casually took this bead and how the original owner had the upper torso of a dragon and the lower torso of a man, all adorned in a Rain Cloud Robe. Based on what the golden crow had said, it was very likely this person had been the Dragon King of the Azure Seas, although he couldn’t tell which generation he belonged to.

If Fang Xing was still unable to connect the dots between this and the dragon girl, he would’ve been simply too stupid. ‘So the origin of this bead’s power is the same as that clan of long worms in the Azure Seas?’ He decided to put the bead in his mouth and circulate the Qi surrounding the it along his body. His entire body was quickly covered in pale blue light, and he directly dashed towards the formation.

He’d prepared himself to flee the instant something didn’t seem right, but—under the cover of that pale blue light from the bead—Fang Xing fortunately managed to enter without any resistance, and the formation itself moved as usual without any abnormalities. He was instantly overjoyed and filled with enthusiasm, so he dived deeper into the corridor like a fish while congratulating himself on his great luck.

The bead he’d reflexively snatched actually had the same origin as the formation in this Colored Glass Palace. By having this bead, it was as though Fang Xing had received the key to the entire formation—as though he’d become the formation’s owner.

Fang Xing was thoroughly pleased and continued swimming quickly forward, but he soon arrived at a giant Refined Iron gate at the corridor’s end. A giant dragon head with vicious-looking teeth had been engraved into the center of the gate, and it had been inlaid with restrictive formations as well. The formations had the same power source as the one before, however, and when Fang Xing pressed his palm to the dragon’s head so the blue light could transfer over from him to it, this formation opened up for him as well.

Creak ….

The Refined Iron gate opened on its own, revealing the glimmering shine of all manner of treasures and jewels.

‘I’m going to be rich…!’

Although Fang Xing technically wasn’t poor, seeing someone else’s treasure vault still left him extremely giddy. After silently listening and not hearing any abnormal movements within, Fang Xing quietly sneaked inside, closed the gate shut, and turned back around with widened eyes. ‘My god, the Dragon clan is indeed one of the best at accumulating wealth!’ This was the Colored Glass Palace’s treasure vault, and the number of rare treasures and precious jewels couldn’t even be counted. Even if a person just reached inside and snatched something at random, they’d still find something that could scarcely be seen in the world.

‘Ohhh, a spirit essence half the size of a man that’s been carved into the shape of a horse? I’ll take it!’

‘Sh*t, a formation flag fully engraved with Midnight Pearls? How extravagant; I’ll take it!’

‘Is this an accessory for a Flying Sword? Why would they make it so pretty? I’ll take it!’

‘Jewels as large as mandarins? Damn her uncle, how mighty would I look wearing these on my head? All nine of them, I’ll take them all!’

Fang Xing finding his way to this treasure vault was no different from a rat falling into a giant jar of rice. He directly took out the two largest storage sacks he had while glancing around, and the way he giggled and shouted in excitement was exactly the same as the lotus girl whenever she saw food.

He was still somewhat lucid, however, and rather than trying to steal everything here, he intended to pick out only the most valuable treasures he could find. After collecting more than a dozen treasures, he was satisfied and about to leave when he suddenly noticed a red sandalwood box at the western corner of the room. It had been placed in such a clever manner as to keep people from noticing it, and Fang Xing had a bit of understanding so he brisky ran over to open it up. Joy filled him once more when he took a look inside and found nothing less than the Shanbao Mountain Treasure he’d seen at the Dragon King daughter’s banquet. This was different from all those treasures and jewels—this was a true spirit treasure! Although it might look to be nothing more than a miniature mountain, it was in actuality a giant full-sized mountain.

Although the miniature mountain had the same size as when it had been revealed at the banquet, a spell had been placed to keep it secure and its weight was no different from a normal-sized mountain. Fang Xing was naturally unable to move it, but after some close inspection, he quickly realized the spell on this Shanbao Mountain Treasure had the same origin as the formations from earlier as well, so he quickly used the bead to try to resolve this.

The light from the bead had been able to solve all of the restrictions within the Colored Glass Palace, and the spells on the Shanbao Mountain Treasure were no exception. The restraints were erased with only a few passes, and Fang Xing soon raised the treasure into his embrace with great satisfaction and even went so far as to give it a few kisses.

‘Now that I’ve gotten the Shanbao Mountain Treasure, I wonder where the Fusang Wood might be?’ he wondered. He decided he wanted that other treasure for himself as well, and before he’d even finished his thought, he heard a loud rumbling noise. The stone walls in front of him opened up to reveal a passageway with light flickering inside, and Fang Xing was immediately left dumbstruck when he looked inside.

The second treasure!