After hearing Chu Kuangren's poem, Li Ye's impression of him greatly improved. In addition to his reputation as an esteemed senior of the Black Heaven Sect, he was immediately treated as a VIP with Li Xingchen attending to him.
Xingchen assigned the most luxurious suite in White Cloud Hotel to Kuangren. It was so high class that even Kuangren himself wondered if it were some emperor's grand palace.
"Shall I arrange a banquet for you tonight, Senior Chu? I shall invite and introduce the young talents of the city to you as well."
Xingchen was most excited.
"Sure." Kuangren faintly nodded.
Inside the posh suite, Kuangren was organizing the bounty from his treasure hunt.
As he looked at the dazzling array of treasures inside the Yin and Yang Ring, he unwittingly frowned. "This is just way too messy…"
Potions, weapons, classical books, etc. All the treasure was just randomly stuffed in here, and for someone with mild OCD like Kuangren, it was rather unbearable. Thus, he tidied it up.
Since Honorable Yuan Ling just had way too many treasures, it took him almost half an hour to finish.
"The Fantasy Roulette's space is still more convenient after all."
Then, Kuangren had a thought. That space was an inventory space. As long as he did not take anything out, the same items would be arranged together in order.
Despite being tired, looking at his neatly organized treasures made him grin unwittingly.
"That treasure hunt was so worth it!"
Beside him, Lan Yu could not help but faintly smile when she saw how happy Kuangren was.
"Right, Lan Yu. This is for you."
He took out a white scepter.
That scepter was the very same one that Lan Yu had her eyes on in the vault.
It was pure white, donned with a bedazzling sun-like halo that was engraved with runes. A shining light emanated from it.
This was the weapon of a saint.
Lan Yu's eyes sparkled with mirth but she remained where she was, hesitant to take it.
Kuangren saw her hesitation and shoved the scepter straight into her hands. "Take it. I'm not short of sacred weapons and the scepter would do you more good than me."
To the average cultivator, a sacred weapon was the most powerful item ever, even a saintly cultivator would not have more than a few.
However, to Kuangren it was just a weapon after all.
He only took the Descendant Self Sword from Sword Mountain and nothing else, if not he could have had a sword in each hand while the rest could be thrown around for fun.
Still, he kept those thoughts to himself.
If the Protectors in hiding heard him they would burn him in rage for saying such blasphemous words against the sacred swords.
"Thank you, Master." Lan Yu did not protest further and inspected the scepter.
The scepter vibrated slightly as if it were letting out a cry of joy before turning into a light orb and fusing with Lan Yu.
It had chosen its master.
"Looks like the sacred weapon likes you!" Chu Kuangren grinned.
She suddenly felt a wave of information rush into her head. "This staff is known as the Scepter of Light. It belonged to a Sage Ruler and hero named the Holy King 50 thousand years ago."
"A Sage Ruler weapon?!" Chu Kuangren was shocked.
Just like Sages themselves, the Sage weapons were also split into 3 categories.
Normal Sage weapons, Great Sage weapons, and Sage Ruler weapons.
The weapons that were in the Black Heaven Sect were all normal Sage weapons. Their names had a one-word difference but their power levels could not be more different.
"In the past, it was a Sage Ruler weapon but after a huge war, the Scepter of Light was damaged and is only a normal Sage weapon now."
"What kind of war could damage a Sage Ruler weapon so much?!"
Lan Yu frowned. "That war was just too horrific. Some of the images are too much even for me. Some parts are fuzzy and blurred out, but there were a lot of Sages fighting and killing each other."
With that sentence, even the Seventh Forefather in hiding was shocked, let alone Chu Kuangren.
Just what were the Sages?
Known as an almighty existence that ruled over billions of creatures, even the noblest creatures bowed before the Sages.
To think that Lan Yu said she saw countless Sages brutally murdering each other!
This was incomprehensible!
Kuangren felt like he had very briefly seen the tip of the iceberg that held every secret in this world.
"Interesting…" he smiled but did not put too much thought into it. The way he was now, he was not ready to face those secrets.
...
Nighttime.
Moonlit Balcony, White Cloud Hotel.
This was one of the highest vantage points in the hotel, and the view of the moon at night was breathtaking, hence the name Moonlit Balcony.
It was also the place where Li Xingchen hosted his banquets.
On this very night, the Moonlit Balcony was filled with young talents that Li Xingchen invited. Many of which were from aristocratic families.
"Li Xingchen said he was going to introduce someone to us. I wonder who could be so important that it warrants so much effort."
A particular young lad was curious.
"Ah, he's always like this. Every time a new and good-looking cultivator comes along he immediately befriends and introduces them. This is likely no different."
Another young man laughed softly.
"You're not wrong. When I got here I heard some people gossiping in the lobby that he's bringing 2 cultivators. It stunned them all." A young man in white robes said indifferently.
What good was a pretty face in the world of cultivators?
With no power, one was reduced to a mere plaything for other people.
"On the other hand, I'm more interested in Honorable Yuan Ling's treasure vault that shook half the population of the Azure Dragon Domain"
"Indeed, I heard that the Honorable Swordsman elder also went but it seemed to be a futile trip. Do you know anything, Ye Lei?"
The crowd turned to the young man called Ye Lei.
He took a sip of wine and gently shook his head. "Since I didn't personally go there, I don't know what happened inside the vault."
"Did your father tell you anything?" Another young man asked.
Ye Lei was the son of the extremely talented Ye Baifeng. He was a second to none Sky-pride level cultivator in the main city.
Ye Lei fell silent for a while before shaking his head.
The crowd decided to not push any further.
Ye Lei continued sipping his wine, deep in thought.
He actually did know something.
For instance, the vault was emptied by a guy and a girl. Due to that, Ye Baifeng went home empty-handed and filled with rage.
These were family secrets though. It would reflect ill on him to spill what he knew.
Still, he was curious.
Just what kind of person could have taken everything from under the noses of so many strong heroes and cultivators?
At the same time, Li Xingchen walked onstage.
Behind him were a guy and a girl that followed him on stage into the moonlight.
One wore a white robe with wide sleeves and a jade crown on his head. He had an otherworldly aura like a celestial being.
They wore a blue and white dress and silver-haired shawl. Her skin was smooth and beautiful, her delicate face looked like a goddess that just descended from the moon.
When walking beside those two, the normally prestigious pretty-boy Li Xingchen looked like a peasant.
The crowd stared at the pair on stage as if they were in a trance and time had stopped.
Only when one of the guest's wine glass fell and shattered did the crowd snap back to reality.