Chapter 24: The Treasure He Sought
Zhou Dufu's tomb naturally contained nothing ordinary. The wooden shelves displaying the ceremonial artifacts were likely made of extremely expensive wuhua pear wood. However, this number one powerhouse beneath the stars was clearly not well-versed in antiques and implements. He only knew that wuhua pear wood was exceedingly rare and resistant to insect damage, but he did not know that this type of hardwood required a humid environment to preserve. In the dry, cold conditions of a tomb chamber, it would rot and decay in just a few decades. The pile of rotten wood in the corner of the stone room, when intact, might have sold for an astronomical price, but now it was nothing more than a heap of worthless scrap.
What made Xu Yourong, a talented young woman who had seen much of the world, gasp in surprise was naturally not that pile of rotten wood, but the object buried within it.
Chen Changsheng walked over, picked up a ruler-like ceremonial implement, and used it to push aside the rotten wood. Beneath it lay another artifact, dark and lustrous, made of some unknown material. It felt smooth and glossy to the touch, resembling the fossil of a peculiar tree from the western seaside.
"What is this?" He handed the black artifact to Xu Yourong and asked.
Xu Yourong took the object, examined it carefully for a long time, and slowly rubbed it with her fingers before finally saying, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Soul Pivot of the White Emperor City."
Chen Changsheng was somewhat surprised. He had never seen this name even in the Three Thousand Daoist Scriptures, and asked, "Soul Pivot?"
Xu Yourong handed the black artifact back to him and gestured for him to keep it, saying, "Yes. The most incredible power of this Soul Pivot is its ability to command demonic beasts. Even the legendary peak-level demonic beasts that are on the verge of stepping into the sacred domain cannot resist its orders. The White Emperor clan has ruled the demon domain for so many years precisely because of this. Of course, this is also their greatest secret. Very few outsiders know about it. If I hadn't seen a painting of it at my elder's place, I probably wouldn't have recognized it either."
After a brief pause, she continued, "I never expected that this supreme treasure of the demon race was taken from the White Emperor City by Zhou Dufu and used in his Zhou Garden. The demonic beasts on that grassland dare not approach this tomb, yet they have silently guarded it for centuries—likely because of the Soul Pivot's presence."
Chen Changsheng hadn't realized this artifact was so important. Without hesitation, he stored it away.
By principle and his usual temperament, he should have discussed with Xu Yourong how to divide the treasures found in this tomb. But now he was in a hurry to find something else and couldn't spare the time. More crucially, since the Soul Pivot belonged to the White Emperor clan, he believed it should naturally be returned to Luoluo.
Xu Yourong observed his actions but showed no reaction. The tacit understanding and trust built along their journey had made misunderstandings between them rare. Instead, she reminded him, "According to the description in that painting, the Soul Pivot should be used with Soul Wood to unleash its full power, but Soul Wood isn't here."
Chen Changsheng casually poked around the pile of rotten wood with the iron ruler-like discarded artifact. As Xu Yourong identified the artifacts he uncovered, he learned that these seemingly worthless scraps of metal and wood had once been famous. In fact, three of them had even appeared on the Hundred Artifacts List issued by the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion.
These artifacts didn't make him linger longer. Confirming that the stone room didn't contain what he was looking for, he turned without hesitation and headed toward the second stone room on the right. Only while moving did he find a moment to say to Xu Yourong, "We'll split everything we find equally."
Xu Yourong leaned on his shoulder and said softly with a smile, "If we can get out."
The items in the second stone room hadn't decayed. Though not the most precious things in the world, they were undoubtedly things everyone loved. Even if certain refined scholars often criticized them as vulgar or even compared them to dirt, if they saw this scene, they would tremble with excitement and lose control.
It was a room full of gold. Even after centuries, it still shone with dazzling brilliance, forcing anyone who saw it to squint, as if to avoid being burned.
Xu Yourong was speechless with shock, thinking, just how many families had Zhou Dufu plundered and destroyed during his rampage across the continent? Chen Changsheng was much calmer. Not because his cultivation was so high that he could regard wealth as floating clouds, but because he had once seen even more gold in the cold space beneath the Great Zhou Imperial Palace.
Someone with experience naturally wasn't easily excited, but that didn't mean he had no interest in this room full of gold.
Earlier, having confirmed the tomb posed no danger, he had sheathed his short sword. Now, he took the sword, still in its scabbard, from his waist and walked among the gold, pointing here and there.
A great scholar expounding the Dao could make even stubborn stones nod, but he had no ability to enlighten gold into wisdom. Turning stone into gold was possible, but he didn't want to turn this gold back into stone to teach later generations about returning to simplicity. What he wanted to do was collect all the gold, not leaving a single piece behind.
If the Black Dragon woke up and found he had left even one piece of gold behind, she would surely make a huge fuss.
As he moved his scabbard, the gold in the stone room visibly decreased until it all vanished, gone to who knows where.
Xu Yourong had long known there was something strange about his sword—it was likely a spatial artifact. She had a similar artifact on her, storing her Tong arrow, Wu bow, and some close-fitting clothes inside. So she wasn't surprised, just curious that his sword's space seemed so vast. Along the way, she had seen him stuff far too many things into it.
Moving the entire room of gold didn't take much time. Soon, carrying her on his back, he left and entered the third stone room.
This room was filled with crystals. Over time, the energy within those crystals had partially dissipated, leaving only about a third of the original amount. But they were still good things. Without needing Xu Yourong to say anything, he handled them the same way as in the second room, quickly clearing the space.
The fourth stone room held various treasures.
This time, Chen Changsheng moved even faster. Xu Yourong only had time to blink before those night pearls, corals, jadeite, white jade, and other treasures were all swept into his scabbard. She wondered if her eyes were playing tricks on her—had those things even been there in the first place?
The fifth stone room contained all kinds of secret manuals and techniques. Xu Yourong thought he would be more careful this time, ensuring the manuals weren't damaged during transport. After all, these manuals belonged to countless powerful figures of the continent, representing Zhou Dufu's countless battles. They were the history of the cultivation world, their value and importance self-evident. Yet Chen Changsheng quickly left this room too, without lingering longer. Where his sword pointed, everything vanished. In his eyes, these manuals seemed no different from worthless scrap paper.
Xu Yourong was very puzzled. When he reached the sixth stone room's entrance, glanced inside, and turned away, her confusion peaked.
She remembered that earlier, whether facing the room full of gold or the crystals and artifacts, his eyes had been so clear, without a trace of greed. Not even the joy that everyone should feel was visible. He took those gold, crystals, and artifacts with an indifferent air, as if he just grabbed them because they were there. So what exactly was he looking for?
"Is there something in this tomb you absolutely must obtain?" she asked.
Chen Changsheng didn't answer her question. He had no time to answer. He rushed between the stone rooms, his pace growing faster and faster.
When he entered the ninth stone room, Xu Yourong noticed that his eyes finally lit up, and a hint of joy appeared.
This room had no shelves. Many bottles and jars were casually placed on the ground. Some bottles were made of celadon; some jars resembled earthenware pots for simmering chicken soup. It was fortunate they weren't on shelves, or they would surely have been broken.
Chen Changsheng walked up to these bottles and jars, his fingers moving slowly over them, his gaze intensely focused.
Suddenly, his fingers stopped. He picked up a jade box with no label, its contents unknown. He lifted the lid, and a faint fragrance wafted out. He brought it to his nose, sniffed, and after a moment of savoring, confirmed he was right. Joy spread from his eyes to his face, and his body finally relaxed.
Xu Yourong, leaning against him, felt it most clearly. His shoulders had become noticeably softer, no longer as stiff and tense as before.
"What is this?" she asked.
"This is the Flowing Fire Pill."
Chen Changsheng took out a pill from the box and said, "Its main ingredient is the juice of the fire thorn. Its fire nature is extremely strong, ranking among the top three in the world. It has miraculous effects for generating blood, especially for you."
Hearing this, Xu Yourong was stunned. She remained silent for a long time.
Only then did she realize why he had been so tense, so hurried, why he had ignored the crystals, treasures, and manuals.
He was in a rush to find medicine for her.
This moved her deeply.
She cultivated a transcendent Dao, shedding worldly attachments. For her Dao heart to remain clear, she couldn't be swayed by joy or sorrow. So in the eyes of the world, she was proud, aloof, a lofty phoenix. She saw herself that way too. She thought she shouldn't have emotions that harmed her Dao heart, and she wouldn't be moved by anything.
In this grassland, from that reed marsh to this tomb, several times she had nearly been truly moved by him, but she had controlled it with unimaginable mental strength. For someone like her, controlling joy and sorrow was relatively easy, controlling anger was easy too, but being moved was a very special emotion, hard to control.
This emotion never appeared suddenly; it required long immersion. But the moment it truly appeared, it was inevitably sudden, needing a certain trigger. Accumulation, then release… this could describe cultivation, or this emotion. At this moment, that emotion finally broke through the hard rock wall and began to flourish in the breeze.
She was truly moved.
(Please cast your recommendation votes, and let me be moved too. Also, wish you a happy weekend.)