1009 Underground Treasury
"Huh? The artifact stopped working?" At the same time Xuan Hao destroyed the eyeball back in the cave, the old Domain Lord Realm Expert in charge of watching over the artifact controlling the eyeball could not help showing a surprised expression on his face as he said this.
Although Xuan Hao had expected to be found out at the moment he attacked and destroyed the eyeball, he didn't think that the person controlling the eyeball was just someone at the Domain Lord Realm.
For this reason, the next few steps of covering his tracks and destroying the teleportation formation after realizing it was anchored somewhere on the other side of the Frozen Wasteland so quickly.
This was all done with the thought that the one controlling the eyeball was someone in the Soul Ascension Realm. However, due to the fact that the old man controlling the eyeball had only reached the Domain Lord Realm, he did not manage to pick up what had happened and was just left in a state of confusion. Not understanding what had just happened to the artifact that was working perfectly fine only a few seconds earlier.
"Maybe something unexpected happened on the other side… Looks like I will have to contact Lord White Soul…" Muttering this to himself as he glanced in the direction of the large doors of the hallway that Lord White Soul had left through earlier, the old man could not help shivering in fear at the thought of having to go and explain something unexpected happened to one of the ethereal eyes that had been made using several precious and hard to find spiritual metals and other rare materials.
Even if he knew that he should inform Lord White Soul, he could not help hesitating, as he very clearly knew that he would be the one to suffer the consequences if something really did end up happening to the ethereal eye.
And given his Domain Lord Realm cultivation base, there would be no way for him to repay the cost of a single ethereal eye without working like a slave for the two or three hundred years he had left to live. Something that would undoubtedly mean giving up any and all chances of reaching the Soul Ascension Realm in the future…
Maybe I'm just overreacting, it could just be that the ethereal eye powered down after they successfully entered the cave. By now, they have probably reached the hall with the teleportation formation.
Knowing how bad it would be if something really did happen to the ethereal eye, he convinced himself that nothing out of the ordinary had happened and the group he watched over should have already proceed to enter the cave and were about to pass through the teleportation formation.
Standing up the next moment, the old man who had managed to convince himself that nothing had happened to the ethereal eye, made his way towards the exit that was guarded by a Domain Lord Realm Expert who was in charge of watching over the hall with the ethereal eyes inside of it.
"Hm? Did your group pass through the teleportation formation already?"
"Yes, everything is done." Feeling a bit nervous on the inside as he answered the person in charge of guarding the entrance, he made sure not to show any of this as he calmly left the hall after getting a quick nod of approval in response.
Considering that he was the strongest person among the people present inside the hall and only happened to take on the job of watching over one of the ethereal eyes due to having been low on spirit stones, the person in charge of watching the exit didn't think twice after hearing that it was over. The fact that he was faster than the rest could also be considered normal given the fact that he was older and wiser than the rest of the people present in the hall.
Rustle~
So, after noting down that the old man had successfully completed his task, he no longer thought about it. Not even bothering to go up and check the ethereal eye, as it was clear that it had already been powered down.
Only after everyone had finished in their tasks inside the hall did a general inspection of the ethereal eyes take place… And it was at this moment that it was discovered that there was a fault with one of the ethereal eyes.
However, in the end, it just looked like a mistake in how it had been powered down and didn't cause any real damage to the eye and after the elder guarding the hall told them that the old man in charge of the ethereal eye had powered it down on his did they understand how he might have made a mistake and damaged the artifact in the process.
In the end, the repairs ended up costing the old man around half of the spirit stones he got from completing the task and was soon forgotten after this.
The only trace of something having gone wrong would only appear years later in the future, but at that point in time, it would be impossible to deduce where this mistake had occurred.
…
"The sound from earlier came from this place!" Back at the cave that Xuan Hao had filled with all sorts of different things that would be useful for those in the Foundation Establishment Realm and the Core Formation Realm, the older disciple of the sect who had taken the lead in charging inside after hearing the sound of the hall and teleportation formation getting destroyed called out to the people behind him-
"Huh!?"
Before freezing on the spot upon discovering the seemingly countless precious things scattered all over the cave in front of him.
Although he had reached the Peak of the Core Formation Realm, it was his first time encountering such a large number of spirits stones, artifacts, spiritual herbs, and other precious materials gathered in a single location.
The only place where he had in essence seen so many precious materials gathered in one location was when he had visited the spiritual herb fields at the Ninth Star Peak, or the piles of spiritual metals piled up at the core of the Sea of a Thousand Furnaces.
Never had he ever encounter anything like it when adventuring outside the sect, something that had made him initially doubt the description of the person from the Explorer Union, but… Now faced with the real thing, he had nothing to say. Only capable of remaining frozen on the spot with a speechless expression on his face while the rest of the people from the caravan slowly made their way inside the cave.
"Wha- This is…"
"Wah~ So many shiny things~!"
"To think it was real…"
However, much like the older disciple who had entered the larger section of the cave where all the precious things were stored, they also ended up freezing on the spot as they stared speechlessly at the countless treasures in front of them. Not knowing what to say as none of them had ever imagined that the description given by the person from the Explorer Union would actually be accurate- No, it would be more accurate to say that it had been an understatement…
In the end, Xuan Hao dumping a few of the things he had picked up during his journey inside the mystic realm and other adventures and considered useless was worth far more than just a few things that would be useful to those in the Foundation Establishment and Core Formation Realm. On the other hand, the total value of all the treasures stacked up inside the cave could be considered to exceed the value of all the treasures carried by a normal Nascent Soul Realm Expert at the middle stages of the realm…
"So… How are we going to divide the treasure…?"
Only when one of the weaker disciples in the Foundation Establishment Realm asked this question did everyone start to wake up from their frozen states and started to discuss loudly with each other how to properly divide the treasures among each other.
"Blacksmithing notes…"
Not at all caring about any of this, Bai Ning instead began searching through the treasures for the blacksmithing notes together with Hui Ying who had volunteered to help him out instead of participating in the discussion that was happening back at the entrance to the larger section of the cave.
"…"
Observing all of this happening from a corner of the cave where he had hidden himself before the older disciple had shown up, Xuan Hao could not help smiling wryly after realizing that he had thrown out more than just a few useful things.
But in the end, he did not really care too much about it, as it could indeed be considered useless junk that just took up space inside his interspatial ring. Not to mention, most of it would be going to the disciples of his sect anyway…
