Xuefeng left the room with the two beauties, finding Elder Ming waiting for him. The old man was surprised to see Princess Shan with them, but he didn't comment.
"Elder Ming, we've finished the meeting. You can lead the way," Xuefeng said.
"Yes, Young Master," Elder Ming nodded politely, leading them out of the Clan Leader's mansion.
The Spirit Treasury was located in a side building of the Spirit Awakening Hall. Numerous formations protected it, allowing only authorized individuals to enter. It was also guarded by many Shadow Guards.
As they walked between different courtyards, Elder Ming explained the rules of the Spirit Treasury.
"There are a few things you need to know before entering. First, even though the Clan Leader permitted you to have unlimited tries, you can only take one Spirit Artifact at a time. Even if you try to take more, the Guardian Spirit inside will retrieve the extras. It's pointless to attempt otherwise."
"What is a Guardian Spirit?" Xuefeng asked curiously.
"It's a Spirit Artifact that has gained consciousness. The Spirit Treasury itself is a Spatial Artifact used by many clans to store their rare Spirit Artifacts. While cultivators usually store their artifacts in their dantian, if they have too many, they have to use a Spatial Artifact to keep them safe," Elder Ming explained.
Seeing Xuefeng still confused, he elaborated further. "A Spatial Artifact has a pocket space that allows you to store your Spirit Artifacts. It has a special function that automatically converts the Essence in the air into Qi, which takes care of your Spirit Artifacts.
"Do you also have a Spatial Artifact?" Xuefeng asked the ladies.
"Yes, I have a Storage Bracelet with two cubic meters of space," Princess Shan replied proudly, lifting her hand to show off her purple bracelet.
"I also have one with two cubic meters of space. It's a rank 1 Spatial Artifact," Wuying added, revealing her white bracelet.
Seeing these rare artifacts, Elder Ming felt embarrassed. Despite his age, he still didn't possess one.
"Cough, cough. Continuing my explanation, our Spirit Treasury is a rank 6 Spatial Artifact. Inside, you will walk around and attract Spirit Artifacts with your Spirit Qi. You shouldn't have a problem attracting them with your black talent," Elder Ming continued.
"What artifacts should I get?" Xuefeng asked Wuying, his teacher.
"Even with unlimited entries, you shouldn't take too many. Aim for a high-ranked sword, Spatial storage, a Spirit Armour, and an Aura Spirit to boost your strength. The higher the rank, the better. The Clan Leader will provide you with more artifacts if needed," she suggested.
"Alright," he nodded, listening intently.
"We've arrived," Elder Ming announced.
Xuefeng surveyed the surroundings and noticed many clansmen lingering in the area, mostly teenagers at the Master and Grandmaster Stages. Due to the Purple Heaven Phenomenon, many youngsters had advanced and were there to claim their Spirit Artifacts. However, only a few would succeed.
Xuefeng, accompanied by two beauties, drew attention as they bypassed the queue. The onlookers quieted down, watching the group.
"Who's the guy with Elder Ming? Why are two beauties with him?" one asked absent-mindedly.
"You don't know? It's the Clan Leader's son. We were just talking about him," his friend answered, staring at the veiled lady.
"The lady on his right is Wuying, his servant. I don't know the other one," he added.
"I heard even the Emperor came to the ceremony with his son and daughter, Princess Shan. She was veiled, so no one saw her face. Could this lady be Princess Shan?" another speculated.
"She might be, but why would she follow Liu Xuefeng? Just look at her—she could have anyone. Why choose him?" A young Spirit Grandmaster asked scornfully.
"Don't you know he's a black talent now? He'll catch up to us soon. If he hears you and takes revenge, don't say I didn't warn you," his friend cautioned.
"It's because he ate some legendary flower. Without it, he'd be a mere red talent and remain trash forever," the other continued to trash talk.
Hearing him curse the Clan Leader's son, others distanced themselves from him. It was one thing to do so when Xuefeng had a broken dantian, but now, with his black talent, it was courting death.
Suddenly, two Black Shadows appeared behind the youngster and took him away without a word.
"Sigh, thank goodness we didn't say anything," others breathed a sigh of relief.
Wuying, walking beside Xuefeng, heard the youngster clearly and immediately ordered the Shadow Guards to punish him. 'No one can insult my Xuefeng,' she thought, glancing lovingly at Xuefeng but stopping before anyone noticed.
At the small building, they saw Shadow Guards standing by the entrance, monitoring everyone. Behind a counter stood an old woman responsible for giving out entries to the Spirit Treasury.
Elder Ming approached with a smile. "Greetings, Elder Xiu. I brought Young Master Xuefeng to claim his Spirit Artifacts."
"Ah, Elder Ming, I was expecting you. Usually, there's a queue, but we can make an exception for you," the slim old lady said gently, handing him a few tokens for entry.
Xuefeng smiled knowingly. 'Even Elder Ming has his own sweetheart.'
"Here you go, Young Master." Elder Ming handed him the tokens. "Enter with a token, and the Guardian Spirit will transport you into its space."
"Okay, I'll be right back," Xuefeng nodded, heading inside the building.
As he crossed a certain distance, the tokens in his hand lit up, and he vanished. He reappeared in a space resembling the Fate Fragment space within his Spirit. The main difference was the black space dotted with shining white lights, illuminating his path.
'Ling, can you help me get the best Spirit Artifacts here?' he asked in his mind.
'Yes, no problem. Even without me, your Black Spirit Qi would attract many artifacts,' Ling assured. 'You also don't need to go back a few times. We can take all the artifacts now and store them in my space. The Guardian Spirit won't be able to take it away from me.'
'Okay, let's see what rare artifacts we can find then,' Xuefeng agreed, moving forward and emanating large amounts of Black Spirit Qi. It was his first time using Spirit Qi, so his methods were crude.
With Ling's help, he quickly learned to control his Qi, forming a shield around his body to prevent it from escaping. After walking a few steps, countless shining stars began to shift from their original positions and flew rapidly toward him.