The Seventh Elder’s Chaotic Treasure Vault

The Seventh Elder watched Yu Qingxuan, who was gazing at her expectantly.

“The contents of this spatial ring were hard-won, and now that you deliver them to me, the Seventh Elder, on Master’s orders, it would be rude of me to refuse.”

After a moment of contemplation, the Seventh Elder continued,

“How about this, honored niece Yu? I will personally apply to the sect to grant you ten thousand contribution points.”

She said this with a beaming smile.

“Seventh Elder, my junior brother was there too. Without him, this time, I’m afraid…”

Yu Qingxuan began to spin an elaborate tale, speaking as if she would have met her demise in that secret realm without Qin Yan’s presence.

Even Qin Yan found himself curling his toes in embarrassment.

A flicker of suspicion crossed the Seventh Elder’s face; after all, Yu Qingxuan had just been talking about a Corpse Zombie with an Nascent Soul manifestation, and Qin Yan, with merely a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, would have found survival a challenging feat.

However, such matters were clearly not to be exposed. Everyone had their pride, and when someone presented these gifts with good intentions, it was only proper to show them respect.

Moreover, this wasn’t merely giving face to Yu Qingxuan, but to the Grand Elder, who had sent her two disciples and explicitly stated it was her command.

One couldn’t help but admire Qin Nianci’s shrewd decision to send both disciples. It entirely ensured they incurred the Seventh Elder’s favor, while she herself provided backing from behind the scenes, ensuring the Seventh Elder would not dare to trick or cheat them.

“Honored nephew Qin truly endured hardships there as well. How about this, I’ll add ten thousand for him too!”

The Seventh Elder pondered for a moment before speaking.

Hearing this, Yu Qingxuan beamed with delight, for ten thousand contribution points could acquire many excellent items within the sect, equivalent to ten thousand spirit stones!

Nevertheless, the lifelong insights of a Golden Core stage cultivator, particularly in automaton and puppet techniques that aligned with the Seventh Elder’s expertise, meant she was absolutely not at a loss.

After all, such an item was priceless and impossible to find on the market, serving as a foundational treasure for any force.

“Seventh Elder, I have long heard that your automaton and puppet techniques are unparalleled in the Northern Lands. I wonder if you would permit my junior brother and me to witness them?”

Yu Qingxuan suddenly bent down in a deep bow as she asked.

The Seventh Elder immediately understood what scheme Yu Qingxuan was cooking up; this fellow was truly quite shameless, even setting her sights on her puppets, which was truly audacious.

“Haha, since both honored nieces and nephews are so interested in automaton mechanisms, then I shall bestow upon each of you an item from my personal treasure vault.”

The Seventh Elder chuckled as she spoke.

Yu Qingxuan was somewhat surprised to hear this, not expecting the Seventh Elder to be so remarkably generous at this moment.

“Then, many thanks, Seventh Elder!”

However, with her objective achieved, Yu Qingxuan bowed deeply.

“Many thanks, Seventh Elder!”

Qin Yan similarly expressed his gratitude.

His senior sister was just like this; following her, one never had to worry about missing out on benefits. She was truly the type to favor her own over what was right.

“Then, follow me.”

A faint smile played on the Seventh Elder’s lips as she led the two into the grand hall behind her.

****

The two entered the grand hall.

Qin Yan, at first glance, thought he had entered some sort of junkyard. Various items were haphazardly piled everywhere, and as they walked further in, there was barely any space left to step.

“Honored niece Yu, halt your steps!”

Just as Qin Yan and his senior sister were looking around curiously, the Seventh Elder’s voice suddenly reached their ears.

Yu Qingxuan’s foot, poised to step forward, froze in mid-air. She then noticed a disc-like object by her foot, and seeing the Seventh Elder slightly raise her hand, the disc flew out and landed amidst the surrounding piles of junk.

“That was a spirit thunder I crafted just now. If honored niece Yu had stepped on it, I’m afraid the entire hall would have been blown sky-high.”

The Seventh Elder explained.

A trickle of cold sweat immediately ran down Yu Qingxuan’s forehead. She had heard rumors that the Seventh Peak frequently experienced various explosions, injuring and crippling many disciples, some even needing spiritual prosthetic limbs, which was truly terrifying.

Qin Yan, seeing the chaotic assortment of things around him, dared not move recklessly for a while.

“This is my treasure vault. Please, both of you, select your items.”

The Seventh Elder waved her hand, addressing the two.

Qin Yan and Yu Qingxuan exchanged a glance, clearly seeing the same thought reflected in each other’s eyes—

‘How is this a treasure vault? It’s clearly a junkyard!’

However, since the Seventh Elder had already declared it so, they couldn’t possibly contradict her directly. Moreover, this was a purely unexpected windfall, so the two of them split up to choose the treasures that caught their eye.

Yet, finding a valuable item among the small mountains of junk before them was indeed quite difficult.

No wonder the Seventh Elder had agreed so readily before; the trap was laid right here!

Generally, the more valuable an item, the stronger its spiritual energy. But what if one were to rashly test it and, like the spirit thunder from earlier, it suddenly activated? What then?

If such an accident occurred, resulting in extensive damage to the treasures within the hall, how could they possibly compensate? They might not be able to pay it back even if they sold themselves!

The Seventh Elder watched the two struggling before her, a sly smile flickering in her eyes.

‘This is the price of greed.’

Qin Yan and Yu Qingxuan continued their search through the piles of junk.

Soon, Qin Yan spotted a somewhat familiar object amidst the clutter. It looked like a wooden artifact, remarkably similar to a Luban Lock he had played with in his previous life.

So, he walked over and picked up the Luban Lock.

“This item is quite good, indeed a quality piece.”

Just then, the Seventh Elder’s clear, crisp voice reached Qin Yan’s ears.

This nearly startled Qin Yan out of his skin. Looking at the Seventh Elder, who had suddenly appeared beside him, he realized she truly moved without making a sound.

“I’ll take this, Seventh Elder. Thank you.”

Qin Yan bowed slightly as he spoke.

“Very good. Not greedy, unlike your senior sister…”

The Seventh Elder smiled and nodded, then watched Yu Qingxuan, who was still making her way deeper into the hall. She picked up one item, then another, seemingly unsatisfied with any of them.

At this moment, Yu Qingxuan continued deeper into the hall, believing that, following the usual trope, the best items would be deeper inside.

Sure enough!

Yu Qingxuan spotted an object roughly the thickness of a forearm. It was a lifelike divine dragon carved from wood, complete with deer antlers, a camel’s head, tortoise eyes, and a serpent’s neck…

A smile blossomed on her face as she picked up the divine dragon and declared,

“Seventh Elder, I’ll take this one!”

“Are you sure?”

The Seventh Elder gazed at Yu Qingxuan from afar, asking with a smile.

Hearing this, Yu Qingxuan became even more certain that the item in her hand was definitely a treasure!

“Absolutely!”

She replied loudly.

“Very well, then you two may leave. Don’t disturb my puppet research any further.”

The Seventh Elder replied.

“Understood, Seventh Elder, we’ll take our leave now!”

With excitement on her face, Yu Qingxuan bowed, then led Qin Yan out of the hall, eager to try out the treasure she held!