"Well fought, Silas. You've earned this victory. But remember… there are far greater challenges ahead," the old spirit said.
"Thanks, Senior," Silas said as the old man teleported him back to the battle hall.
"How'd you do, boss?" Kai quickly asked.
"I won, of course… but don't underestimate your opponent, or you will lose," Silas quickly added, not wanting the little mouse to face defeat due to his arrogance.
"Would I ever underestimate an opponent?" Kai said with a scoff.
Kai then looked toward the old man and said, "Come on, gramps, teleport me in…"
The old man's face stayed neutral, but Silas doubted the revered treasure spirit of this immortal estate liked being called gramps.
But regardless, a moment later, Kai disappeared.
"Ha, that little mouse better be careful not to get on the old man's bad side… while the master's rules are final, it's not like he wasn't given some leeway in what he can do… after the past two inheritors failed, he vowed to be tougher on the next disciple of the late master, wanting to temper him even more, and now this little mouse chooses to push him like so… ha ha…" the small child mumbled under his breath.
***
Around 5 minutes later, Kai teleported back into the battle hall with a grin on his face.
"You pass?" Silas asked.
"Of course I passed… easy peasy," Kai said.
"Lies," the old man said.
"You barely managed to kill him. You have so little divine power left that if you were to fight again, you would definitely lose… and all because you did exactly what your big brother told you not to do… you played around with the opponent for the first two minutes of the fight, and then once you were tired of playing around, you mocked me and the golem, and then tried to kill it with your strange soul-type innate talent… But unluckily for you, while the golem itself is only a rank 3, the soul controlling it is the soul of a loose immortal that the late master personally enslaved and turned into a golem, so your ability could do nothing to it," the old man said, clearly not happy with Kai.
Kai just stood there and crossed his little arms.
"The master's path is the path of patience and knowing one's limits, while you continue to try and walk your own path of pride," the old man said with a hint of anger. To him, Kai was supposed to be a disciple of the Silent Sage and follow his teachings, but even now, after learning of his master's achievements even as a loose immortal, he continued his ways.
"Kai, I told you not to just use your innate talent whenever you wanted," Silas said.
"I know, boss, but everyone here can be trusted, can they not?" Kai asked as if he was genuinely confused.
"They can, but you should still only use it in life-threatening events…" Silas said.
"Fine…" Kai replied.
"Now that you two have both passed the 1st level of the Battle Hall, you are allowed to select a Spiritual grade treasure… Would you like to make your selection now?" the old man asked.
"Yes." "Yep." Silas and Kai both said.
"Follow me…" the old man said as he walked out of the hall and into the Treasure Hall.
After giving Thea and Red a brief rundown of what had happened, Silas once again entered the Treasure Hall, ready to make his pick.
"Here you go," the old man said as he handed Silas a similar book to the previous one.
Silas began to flip through the pages one by one.
'What should I choose?' Silas thought.
'Should I just ask for spirit stones again so I can jump to Rank 3?'
As if reading his mind, the old man said, "While it wouldn't be a bad idea for you to select more spirit stones, you now aren't too far off from reaching Rank 3 naturally, as long as you're willing to wait a little longer… While you will only have at most two more chances to select one of these precious treasures, I don't think you should waste this chance… Also, toward the end, I think you will find a set of treasures that are very beneficial to you…"
Silas nodded his head and continued to flip through the book.
There were amazingly powerful formation flags, some even made from the souls of cultivators.
There were sword formations made of several top-quality Spiritual grade flying swords.
There was even a spear called the Death-Destruction Mixed Element Spear. Silas, who was currently walking down the path of death and destruction, at first thought this was the treasure the old man was talking about. And while it wasn't his weapon of choice, it was suited toward him. But then he remembered the old man said that there was a 'set' of treasures that were beneficial for him, so he quickly moved on to the next page.
One amazing and profound item after another, and soon he was on the last page.
"This must be the one," Silas said with a smile. This indeed suited him very well.
"I see you have found your pick…" the old man said with a slight smile.
"Yes, I think I have…" Silas said as he read the page once again.
The page showed a set of ten sleek, black sickles, each slightly curved with veins of dark purple and ghostly white running along the blade, constantly shimmering as if they were phasing in and out of the physical realm.
The handles were etched with runes of death, exuding an eerie glow.
Silas felt a cold, yet familiar pull from the treasure, as though it recognized his affinity with death.
When wielded, the sickles seemed to leave a faint trail of spectral light in their wake.
The description read:
The [Ten Sickles of Requiem]. This terrifying and powerful death-element magic treasure consists of ten death-aligned flying sickles. Each one resonates with the cold, eerie energy of death and decay.
Individually, these sickles are capable of slicing through the life force of even the strongest beings.
Together, when used in unison, they create the [Requiem Harvest Formation], unleashing waves of death energy that consume everything in their path.
The more Silas read, the more he felt connected to this treasure. It wasn't just suited for him—it was made for him. With a smile, he closed the book and looked up at the old man.
"I'll take the Ten Sickles of Requiem," Silas said confidently.
The old man nodded, his expression approving, as though Silas had made the right choice.
"You have chosen well," the old man said.
"Now it's your turn. What will be your pick?" the old man asked as he turned to Kai, the smile no longer on his face.
"Hmm…" Kai began to think.
"I think I'll just go with some spirit stones… Yeah, I'll pick spirit stones. I know everyone wants to hit Rank 3 before we leave, and I'm ready to go now, so I'll pick this so we can all rank up faster and get the hell out of this puny and weak realm," Kai said. "Besides, I already have my claws and my armor, so I have no need for anything else…"
"Very well…" the old man said as he pulled out a bag of spirit stones.
"Here you go," he said as he tossed the bag to Kai.
While the bag was small, Kai was forced to increase his size to better catch and hold onto the bag.
He quickly opened it, and his eyes widened.
"How much is it, Kai?" Silas asked. He had previously only gotten four for the top-quality ranked grade magic treasure, so how much more could it possibly be?
"2,500," Kai said, barely a whisper.
"Come again?" Silas quickly asked.
"There's 2,500 spirit stones in here…" Kai quickly repeated.
"2,500?" Silas was surprised and confused… how could the leap from Rank 2 to 3 be so huge?
"You must be surprised…" the small child began, "Not all of these treasures are worth that much, but the most expensive Spiritual grade treasure is a very rare formation that is a simplified version of an immortal rank formation… If you were to sell it in the outside world, you could sell it for a minimum of 2,500 spirit stones and a maximum of likely 3,500 or 4,000… It is on par with a decent earth grade magic treasure, I suppose…"
"Thank you, seniors," Silas quickly bowed to the old man and the small child.
"Kai, quickly thank them!" Silas sent.
"Thank you, seniors," Kai said with a small bow. He too was very happy. With this, all four of them would have no problem reaching Rank 3 in their qi cultivation and would even have some spirit stones left over.