Chapter 394: Dao Seeking Sect's Treasury
Chapter 394: Dao Seeking Sect's Treasury
Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii
Yun Zhi had indeed forgotten about the patent fees. The Dao Seeking Sect had two major sources of income: one was the patent fees from Hundred Refinements Peak, and the other was the pill revenue from Pellet Cauldron Peak. Combined, these two streams were enough to support nearly half of Dao Seeking Sect's operations.
Fifth Elder and Seventh Elder handed over Spirit Stones to Yun Zhi, the acting sect leader, every month. Especially Fifth Elder, who submitted various patent fees, among which was Lu Yang's patent fee.
Yun Zhi had overlooked it without realizing.
She reviewed the account books and found Lu Yang's patent fee.
"There are two months of flying car patent fees, totaling 110,000 Spirit Stones."
Since the flying car was still a new invention and hadn't gained widespread popularity yet, the initial patent fees were minimal.
"Come with me to the treasury to retrieve it."
Since Lu Yang's patent fees had been deposited into the sect's funds, they naturally had to withdraw it from the official accounts.
"The treasury?"
Both Lu Yang and Everlasting Fairy were surprised, not expecting Dao Seeking Sect to have such a place.
On reflection, it made sense. Even the relatively humble Nine Nether Sect had a treasury, so there was no reason Dao Seeking Sect wouldn't. If they didn't, where would all of Dao Seeking Sect's wealth be stored?
Lu Yang simply hadn't come into contact with it before.
"Is it far?"
"It's right on Heaven's Gate Peak."
Yun Zhi led them down a narrow winding path and through a pine forest. This area was once where Daoist Non-Speaker had been held. After exiting the forest and walking another 200 meters, they arrived.
"This is it."
Under the watchful eyes of Everlasting Fairy and Lu Yang, Yun Zhi lightly tapped the stone wall. Cracks spread across the surface until the entire wall crumbled with a loud crash, scattering to the ground.
"This is the place."
Lu Yang was shocked to discover that the treasury was right on Heaven's Gate Peak. What surprised him even more was that, as the foundation of the sect, the treasury should have been heavily guarded or protected by arrays. Yet, Dao Seeking Sect's treasury didn't even seem to have a guard.
Even though Dao Seeking Sect had a grand protective array and didn't fear external enemies, weren't they concerned about insiders sneaking into the treasury?
After all, Eldest Senior Sister couldn't stay on Heaven's Gate Peak all the time, as she often had to leave on various matters.
Everlasting Fairy chuckled mischievously. "Who says there's no one guarding it?"
"Who is it?"
Everlasting Fairy smirked but refused to answer, no matter how much Lu Yang pressed.
Sharing one body, the two bickered as they noisily made their way into the treasury, finally falling silent as they entered.
Inside the treasury were all sorts of treasures that Lu Yang had never seen before—rare heavenly materials, treasures of various grades, and mysterious artifacts whose functions and levels were indiscernible.
Everlasting Fairy recognized them all.
"That landscape painting contains mountains and rivers. It was painted by a master artist and has the power to stabilize a nation's geography. It's ancient, though its effects clash with the concept of national fortune, so it might be a relic of the Great Yu Dynasty."
"See that small red cauldron? It's made from Blood Vein Iron, which exists in the most perilous regions—the depths of the sea, beneath glaciers, or even within the core of stars. It's a natural material, and some say the blood veins on the iron are from the heavens themselves, though that's likely an exaggeration. Blood Vein Iron is extremely rare, and even a fingernail-sized piece could provoke a fight among Unity Stage cultivators. This cauldron is massive in comparison."
"And that fruit over there, don't let its jade-like appearance fool you. It's called the Qingming Jade Fruit. One of these can transform a mediocre Five Elements Spirit Root into the purest form of a Single Spirit Root, and the best part is, you can choose which Spirit Root it becomes."
"The essence of the ocean spirits, a Sea Soul Crystal..."
"A shield forged from the primordial essence of heaven and earth..."
"These are all remarkable treasures," Everlasting Fairy said with a hint of surprise. The contents of the treasury exceeded her expectations.
It was second only to the storages of immortals.
Although she was the leader of the Five Ancient Immortals, she was the poorest among them, with few planets, limited territory, and meager tributes. Sometimes she even had to fake her death to scrounge up some extra gifts.
Even so, she was still wealthier than Dao Seeking Sect!
In ancient times, aside from the five immortals, many Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivators also existed. These cultivators built large and small factions, and Dao Seeking Sect's treasury could rival the wealth of the largest of these factions.
Proudly, Lu Yang said, his tone rising, "Dao Seeking Sect has stood for 120,000 years. With founding ancestors like the Innate Daoist, Xiantian Daoist, the creator of the Immortal Sect concept Lord Guiyuan, and the revitalizer Lord Hanhai, it's no surprise we have such treasures!"
Everlasting Fairy had to admit, he had a point.
Yun Zhi listened to Lu Yang's proud tone and reminded him, "Our Dao Seeking Sect wasn't always this wealthy. Lord Hanhai lived over 50,000 years ago, and the foundations he laid couldn't support us for this long. In fact, around 2,000 to 3,000 years ago, the sect went through a period of decline. To keep the sect running, we had to use up a lot of our valuable resources. Most of the treasures you see now were actually tricked out of Nine Nether Sect about 900 years ago."
Lu Yang: "..."
This was just the outer section of the treasury. Yun Zhi led the two of them deeper inside, and as they ventured further, the value of the items increased dramatically.
About halfway into the treasury, Yun Zhi stopped. On either side of them were two mountains made entirely of top-grade Spirit Stones.
Yun Zhi casually pulled ten high-grade Spirit Stones from the mountain of top-grade Spirit Stones. In this vast pile of priceless stones, the high-grade Spirit Stones looked insignificant, almost like impurities.
The market value of ten high-grade Spirit Stones was equivalent to 100,000 low-grade Spirit Stones.
However, this was only the market value. In real transactions, converting low-grade Spirit Stones to high-grade ones required a premium, so about ten high-grade Spirit Stones would be worth 110,000 low-grade Spirit Stones.
At that moment, Everlasting Fairy was still in control of Lu Yang's body. Eldest Senior Sister handed the high-grade Spirit Stones to her, but Everlasting Fairy stood frozen, staring deep into the treasury.
She realized she had underestimated Dao Seeking Sect's wealth. It was possible that this treasury was worth more than her own personal vault!
If the outer section held items useful to Unity Stage and Tribulation Crossing Stage cultivators, these two mountains of top-grade Spirit Stones marked the boundary. Beyond them lay half-immortal-grade treasures, talismans, and heavenly materials valuable even to half-immortals.
At the deepest part of the treasury, faint glimmers of light flickered. Everlasting Fairy couldn't clearly make out what they were, but judging by their aura, they resembled the embryonic form of an ariya-phala—no, their aura was even more potent than an ariya-phala in its early stages...
"Fairy? Fairy?" Lu Yang called out twice, snapping Everlasting Fairy back to reality.
"What happened to you?" Lu Yang asked curiously.
"It's nothing. I just realized that your sect's foundation barely qualifies to match my title as the greatest of the ancient immortals!" Everlasting Fairy proudly raised her head, filled with confidence.
After leaving the treasury, Everlasting Fairy returned control of the body to Lu Yang, whose face immediately turned pale.
"Oh no! I've been using Village in the Palm this whole time!"
Even though maintaining the Village in the Palm technique didn't consume much spiritual power, using it for such a long period had worn him out.
Hurriedly, he deactivated the spell, dumping out everything stored in his palm—stones, branches, and a quacking duck...
Lu Yang silently watched as the duck flapped its wings and wandered around.
Heaven's Gate Peak was already troublesome enough with Everlasting Fairy; there was no way he could take care of a duck too.
...
Night fell, and the aroma of roasted duck filled the air.
After a brief struggle, Lu Yang first conquered the duck, then successfully dealt with Everlasting Fairy, finally earning the right to cook dinner.
He presented the roasted duck to his Eldest Senior Sister, who had been waiting patiently.
(End of the chapter)