Chapter 330: The Nameless Black Pearl

Ye Yuan casually beckoned, and the incomplete jade slip flew into his hand.

He immersed his divine sense into it, only to find that the information within was already fragmented.

Especially the latter part, often consisting of only a few words, could not even form complete sentences.

Only a few simple words like "invasion," "bloody battle," and "death" caught Ye Yuan's attention.

"It seems that this Yonghua Palace suffered a catastrophic disaster back then, leading to such a downfall. Perhaps Lu Linfeng alone drained the sect's fortune, causing Yonghua Palace to endure this undeserved calamity," Ye Yuan sighed and murmured to himself.

Ye Yuan then set down the jade slip and approached the fifth-grade cauldron, noticing two characters on its side: "Si Fang."

"This should be the cauldron's name, right? Si Fang Ding—quite a fitting image," Ye Yuan said with a smile.

Ye Yuan swept his divine sense over the Si Fang Ding and could not help but exclaim again, "Truly worthy of the legacy left by Lu Linfeng; the formations inscribed on this cauldron are so extravagant!"

The previous owner of this Si Fang Ding had clearly died long ago, and it was now ownerless.

As long as Ye Yuan left his divine sense imprint on it, he could activate the cauldron.

However, when Ye Yuan tried to leave his imprint, the Si Fang Ding emitted a series of rumbling sounds, showing considerable resistance.

This surprised Ye Yuan, and he sighed, "A mystic tool is sentient; it seems your bond with your previous owner was very deep! I wonder... how my Wuji Ding is doing now, sigh..."

Above spiritual tools are mystic tools, and this Si Fang Ding was a mystic tool!

Spiritual tools already possess spirituality, and mystic tools are naturally even more sentient.

The owner of the Si Fang Ding had passed away for thousands of years, yet it still refused to acknowledge Ye Yuan as its master, showing how deep its bond with its previous owner was.

Seeing the object reminded him of his own; seeing how sentient the Si Fang Ding was, Ye Yuan naturally thought of the Wuji Ding that had always accompanied him.

For an alchemist, the cauldron is no longer just a tool but like a family member.

A small Si Fang Ding possessed such spirituality, let alone Ye Yuan's ninth-grade cauldron, the Wuji Ding.

As if sensing the sorrow in Ye Yuan's heart, the Si Fang Ding's rumbling grew deeper, sounding like sobbing, resonating with Ye Yuan.

This startled Ye Yuan, and he smiled, "You can only gather dust here; do you want to lie here for another thousand years? I know you have deep feelings for your previous owner, but wouldn't it be a hundred times better to find another master who cherishes you than to lie here? Rest assured, I will make you shine even brighter than before!"

The Si Fang Ding naturally could not understand Ye Yuan's words, but it could grasp his meaning through his divine sense.

Ye Yuan's confidence in the Dao of alchemy needed no pretense, because in this world, he was one of the strongest!

Of course, given time, he might be the strongest, bar none!

Perhaps it was Ye Yuan's earlier lament that moved the Si Fang Ding, or perhaps his strong confidence infected it.

In any case, this time it did not resist, allowing Ye Yuan to leave his imprint on it.

Suddenly, the Si Fang Ding flashed with light, and all the dust on its body fell off.

The mystic tool, buried in dust for thousands of years, emerged once again!

Ye Yuan smiled slightly, stored the Si Fang Ding into his spatial artifact, then patted Bai Guang's little head and said, "Let's go, we continue."

For Bai Guang, treasure hunting seemed to be an enjoyable affair; it hopped cheerfully and led Ye Yuan onward.

This time, Bai Guang ran a long distance and arrived at another room.

However, to Ye Yuan's surprise, just as he was about to push the door open, it opened from the inside, and Wu Zhao walked out.

Unexpectedly, Wu Zhao had beaten him to this room.

Just as Wu Zhao was about to appear, the white light vanished with a 'whoosh', having already hidden inside the spatial artifact.

When Wu Zhao saw Ye Yuan, he was startled, then said smugly, "So it's Junior Disciple Ye. You're a step too late—I just found a thirty-two-restriction artifact inside. No need for you to go in, haha."

Having been repeatedly bested by Ye Yuan, Wu Zhao finally got the better of him this time, and felt a surge of satisfaction.

Ye Yuan smiled slightly and said, "Then congratulations, Elder Wu. Since you've already searched this place, I'll look elsewhere."

He figured Wu Zhao wouldn't leave anything behind, so entering would be futile.

Moreover, Ye Yuan knew that the Heavenly Qian Sect must have its own methods to intercept treasures, though he hadn't called it out earlier.

After all, everyone used their own means, and whoever found something kept it.

Ye Yuan believed that with White Light, the treasure-hunting expert, he would find things no worse than what the Heavenly Qian Sect got.

With that, Ye Yuan left.

Seeing Ye Yuan's complete indifference, Wu Zhao felt as if he had punched air, quite frustrated.

After Ye Yuan left, Wu Zhao also departed, feeling bored.

But after Wu Zhao left, Ye Yuan's figure reappeared at the entrance of the room.

Ye Yuan had thought there was nothing worth searching in this room, but after he left, White Light reappeared, tugging at his pant leg and pulling him back.

Could it be that there was still something good in this room?

Still, Ye Yuan had great confidence in White Light's judgment.

The room looked like a storage room, cluttered with all sorts of things.

A quick glance showed some empty spaces, obviously taken by Wu Zhao.

White Light darted over in a few quick steps to a corner of the shelf against the wall, picked up a pitch-black bead, and brought it to Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan took the bead and frowned slightly.

The bead was too inconspicuous; at first glance, it didn't even seem to have a grade—no wonder Wu Zhao hadn't noticed it.

Ye Yuan couldn't help but toy with the black bead, trying to infuse it with a trace of primal energy, but there was still no reaction.

Not giving up, he probed it with his spiritual sense, yet still got no response.

At this point, Ye Yuan was completely stumped.

Presumably, whoever from the Yonghua Palace obtained this bead had tried all sorts of methods, only to discard it like trash when nothing worked; otherwise, it wouldn't have been left in such an out-of-the-way corner.

With Ye Yuan's knowledge, he couldn't tell what the bead was, let alone anyone else.

Could it be that this time White Light had misjudged? Was it just an ordinary bead?

Ye Yuan looked at White Light, who was wagging his tail as if seeking praise, and couldn't help but laugh. "I'm afraid you've misjudged this time."

White Light, upon hearing this, started jumping up and down, baring his teeth, almost as if he was about to roar at Ye Yuan.

Strangely enough, even though White Light was already at the mid-second stage, his size hadn't changed at all; he was still like a little cat.

Ye Yuan had no choice but to put the black bead into the spatial artifact.

But at that moment, a sharp pain shot through Ye Yuan's sea of consciousness, the golden characters emitted a dazzling light, and the black bead vanished with a 'whoosh'!