Chapter 610: The Pavilion of Curiosities

Stretching lazily, Zhang Xuan walked out of his room.

He was rather fatigued from cultivating all the way.

Teacher!

As soon as he reached the courtyard, Yuan Tao came up to him with a bitter face.

Teacher, I feel... my cultivation has been much slower than before lately. I don't know why, but I just can't concentrate...

With Zhao Ya and Lu Chong gone, the remaining four students all felt the pressure. He too wanted to catch up, but for some reason, for the past half month, his cultivation seemed shackled, unable to advance no matter what.

Afraid of being scolded by the teacher, he hadn't dared to ask until now.

Today, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Just now, Wang Ying had broken through again. If he didn't hurry, he would really fall behind.

Don't worry. I know your situation. It's not that you're not focused or lacking talent, but that... if the Dragon Rhinoceros bloodline within you isn't further awakened, it will form a shackle in your body, constantly restraining you!

Zhang Xuan nodded.

He had seen Yuan Tao's condition a few days ago while on the spirit beast's back.

It wasn't that he wasn't working hard, but a problem with his bloodline.

For those with special constitutions, if the constitution is fully activated, cultivation becomes as easy as drinking water or eating. But if it can't be activated, it becomes like a shackle, making all cultivation futile.

There are countless methods to activate a constitution, but special constitutions are rare, and it's hard to obtain a complete inheritance. Many truly talented individuals end up mediocre because they can't find a systematic method or lack sufficient resources.

That was why, when the Ice Source Palace wanted Zhao Ya, he hesitated but eventually agreed.

With her Pure Yin constitution, the Ice Source Palace had a complete inheritance and unlimited resources, far better than her fumbling alone.

Now Yuan Tao faced the same problem. His constitution was about twenty percent awakened, and his cultivation had reached the early stage of Mortal Transcendence Second Layer, the limit. To grow further, he had to continue awakening it. Otherwise, the heavy Dragon Rhinoceros bloodline would shackle his acupoints and meridians, making progress impossible.

If he were cultivating the Heaven's Path功法, there would be no problem, but unfortunately, he only had a simplified version, which brought many troubles.

Zhang Xuan had been thinking about this for the past few days and had come up with a few feasible plans.

Alright, call Sun Qiang over. Have him inquire if there's any place around here that sells treasures. Let's go look and see if we can find something suitable for you!

Zhang Xuan said calmly.

Yes!

Seeing that the teacher already knew, Yuan Tao felt embarrassed and quickly withdrew. Before long, he returned with Sun Qiang.

Young master, I've asked around about the area. There's a place nearby called the Pavilion of Curiosities. It might have what you're looking for! Sun Qiang said hurriedly.

As the steward, he knew his duty. As soon as they arrived, he had been asking around and gathered quite a bit of information.

Pavilion of Curiosities?

Zhang Xuan looked at him.

Yes. This Pavilion of Curiosities has many rare treasures, some extremely precious, worth no less than top-grade spirit artifacts, and many are unique. However, strangely... they never sell anything, only give it to those fated!

Sun Qiang said.

Give it away? Zhang Xuan was startled.

No matter how many rare treasures or assets one has, giving everything away without selling would surely lead to bankruptcy, wouldn't it?

Well, it's not free. There must be a price.

Seeing the young master's disbelief, Sun Qiang smiled. It is said that the Pavilion of Curiosities has two rows of stone pillars, and inside them, treasures are sealed by some unknown method. Those who wish to purchase curios can go and identify them. Identify the first one and get one point, the second gets two points, the third gets three, and so on. That is, if you can identify the contents of the fiftieth pillar, you get fifty points directly!

Accumulated points can be used to exchange for any treasure in the Pavilion of Curiosities. As long as you have enough points, you can take anything! However... before identifying, you must pay ten mid-grade spirit stones as a deposit. If you identify correctly, the spirit stones are returned. If not, sorry, the spirit stones are forfeited. In other words, if you get zero points... the spirit stones become theirs!

Oh!

Zhang Xuan understood.

In essence, it was a way to make money by exploiting people's curiosity, somewhat like gambling.

The treasures sealed in the stone pillars were invisible and intangible, harder than appraising treasures or betting on luck. Earning points would certainly not be easy. Ten mid-grade spirit stones might not seem like much, but with many people coming, it was a sure profit.

It was somewhat similar to the Flowing Water at the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion in Honghai City.

It was a contest of eyesight.

This was difficult for others, but for him... it seemed like a place that delivered treasures!

As long as he touched it with his finger, the library would form a book, revealing even its ancestors' eight generations. Identifying would be very simple.

Let's go take a look. If there's something Yuan Tao can use, we might as well get a few items. If not, forget it! Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

He needed special treasures to awaken Yuan Tao's constitution. If this so-called Pavilion of Curiosities had such things, he might as well go identify the stone tablets and get some. Of course, if there was nothing, forget it.

He wasn't someone who couldn't move his legs at the sight of treasures. A master teacher should have the bearing of a master teacher; he wouldn't insist on obtaining someone else's treasures just because he saw them.

Besides, the Imperial Capital of Phantom Feather was an unfamiliar place; it was better to keep a low profile.

Yes!

Sun Qiang nodded and led the way.

Since they were looking for treasures suitable for Yuan Tao's constitution, they brought him along.

The Pavilion of Curiosities was not too far from the imperial palace. After walking for less than twenty minutes, they saw a majestic, towering pagoda before them.

The three large characters "Qizhen Tower" were written in a flamboyant style, slowly absorbing spiritual energy, as if they might take flight at any moment.

"Sixth-level calligraphy?"

Zhang Xuan glanced at them and was stunned.

Calligraphy at the sixth level of painting and calligraphy had already reached the level of spiritual intelligence; it could hardly be produced by anyone below a four-star or five-star calligrapher, and was considered extremely powerful.

Before even entering the tower, he saw such impressive calligraphy casually displayed outside, which sparked great interest in this Qizhen Tower.

Stepping through the main entrance, the hall was extremely spacious. Around the walls near the edges were arranged counters, on which were displayed all kinds of treasures.

The three of them walked over.

Long swords, calligraphy and paintings, chess pieces, ores, spirit beast fur...

All kinds of treasures, everything one could imagine.

"A golden claw of a Fox-Eagle Beast at the fourth level of Mortal Transformation?"

After looking along the counters for a while, he suddenly stopped.

In the counter before him was placed a huge claw about three feet long, entirely golden, giving a feeling of sharpness like ice.

The Fox-Eagle Beast was a spirit beast at the fourth level of Mortal Transformation. Not only were they few in number, but they were also as cunning as foxes. Even the Beast Hall could not tame one, let alone capture and kill it.

Such creatures were rare, but their claws were invaluable treasures, especially those that had turned golden—they were excellent materials for forging peak-grade spiritual weapons.

Many people could not even obtain a single knuckle, yet here was a complete one, of immeasurable value.

Looking down, he saw a line of text written on the sheepskin beneath the claw: "Fox-Eagle Beast Golden Claw, one!"

"What does this 'one' mean?"

He couldn't help but look at Sun Qiang.

"Oh, the 'one' below means it can be exchanged for one point!" Sun Qiang thought for a moment and said.

"Can be exchanged for just one point?"

Zhang Xuan was stunned.

The golden claw of a Fox-Eagle Beast was extremely rare and hard to find. If sold, even if it didn't cost dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, it would still require at least ten or more. To be able to exchange it for just one point—this point system was far too valuable!

"Almost everything on the first floor can be exchanged for one point. The higher the floor, the more precious the items!"

Sun Qiang smiled.

"These items, one point each, can exchange for one piece?"

Drawing in a cold breath, Zhang Xuan was astonished.

No wonder many people, knowing full well that items in the Hall of Curiosities couldn't be taken easily, still came to try their luck—the things here were indeed too precious.

Passing by the fox-eagle beast's claws and continuing to look ahead, he saw many more good items, none of which were inferior to the claws, and all were marked with just the character 'one' below.

"Impressive. This place truly deserves the name 'Hall of Curiosities'!"

He gave a sigh of admiration and quickly made a full circle.

Although there were many treasures on the first floor, they were of little use for activating Yuan Tao's constitution.

The Dragon Rhinoceros bloodline was very special. Though he wasn't sure exactly what could activate it, he had a general direction.

"Let's go check the second floor."

Knowing there was nothing on the first floor, he lost interest.

No matter how good the treasures were, to him they were inferior to spirit stones; other items, no matter how fine, were less valuable than enough cultivation techniques.

Thus, he was indeed not very interested in these treasures.

If he were truly interested, he wouldn't have returned the items from the Flowing Wine and Winding Water event at the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion back then.

The three of them headed upstairs.

The second floor had noticeably fewer people than the first, and the variety and quantity of treasures were also less, but at a glance, they were far more precious.

Many were unique pieces that even the Treasure Appraisal Pavilion couldn't produce, and some he couldn't even name with his current discernment.

"Is this... a seventh-level painting?"

Soon he spotted a seventh-level painting, which seemed to require at least a six-star painter to create. The animals and plants within were so lifelike they seemed ready to leap out at any moment, gathering spiritual energy.

Items at the Spirit Wisdom Breaking Mortal Realm already possessed their own intelligence and could break free at any time.

Looking down, he saw a line written on the marked sheepskin: "Spring and Autumn Arrogance Painting, two!"

"Only worth two?"

Zhang Xuan was astonished.

This painting was far better than the 'Drunken Dream Awakening' auctioned off in Honghai City back then.

After all, that painting was flawed. Though with his help it barely reached the seventh level, it was still the lowest grade, eventually selling for forty thousand low-grade spirit stones, equivalent to four mid-grade spirit stones.

This one, clearly a work left by a six-star painter, would never sell for less than fifty mid-grade spirit stones at auction, yet it was valued at 'two'...

This Hall of Curiosities was indeed formidable, and the abundance of treasures even exceeded his expectations.

"What good things could there be in a small place like this? If you really like something, I'll find it for you when we get back!"

Just as he was about to continue looking, he heard a faint voice not far away, and then two figures approached.