"Is that all you're choosing?" an old man's voice swept into Tian Shi's ears.
He looked around for the owner of the voice, but his efforts were in vain. He realized then that he was dealing with the senior commonly referred to as Senior Bo by everyone. Tian Shi dropped what he was doing, cupped a fist in his palm, and greeted, "This Junior has seen the Supreme Elder."
Senior Bo appeared like a wisp of smoke. Not a single fluctuation of power or energy accompanied his arrival; he somehow slipped through the fabric of space. Tian Shi, long accustomed to the abilities of those in the God Realms, returned to his musings, deciding that he should leave since there were no other artifacts that could prove useful in the mortal realm.
"Are you certain that you've taken everything you need? There are still a few more artifacts that can make the job much easier," Senior Bo said, a spark of anticipation welling in his eyes. "Why don't you take a look at all the other seemingly useless trinkets over there?"
Unsurprisingly, Senior Bo pointed to a rather inconspicuous pile of useless artifacts at the very edge of the treasury. Tian Shi squinted in that direction. At first, he noticed nothing, but only after activating his Heaven Plundering Eyes did he see something amiss in the pile. The travel token in his hands glowed. An instant later, he appeared above the pile.
Senior Bo smiled as Tian Shi rummaged through the pile until he found the object that caught his interest. It was a small round bean, about the size of a conventional mortal marble, emanating a striking azure light from within. Focusing all his attention on the marble, he finally managed to glean something from it.
Senior Bo rubbed his hands together. "This little trinket is one of my...uhm...one of the best artifacts in this place. It's useless to most God Realm experts, but in the hands of an Immortal or below, its value truly shines. Within it lies an endless world that can aid in comprehending the laws of time, among other things. It has three core abilities and six auxiliary abilities. The first is the time flow between the world inside and the world outside—about one to a million."
Tian Shi nodded his head, absolutely impressed. He held the marble in the air and scrutinized it once more with newfound respect.
"Its second core ability is time stop. It can halt the flow of time in a localized area as long as the user can handle the energy consumption," Senior Bo continued, his excitement growing by the second. "The last core ability is revival. After refining the artifact, one gains 100 lives in the mortal realm, 10 in the Immortal Realms, and an extra one in the Lower Stages of the God Realm."
"An amazing artifact, Senior Bo, but I am happy with my choices," Tian Shi said, returning the artifact to the pile.
*Why is this boy putting it back?*
Horror flashed across Senior Bo's face. *What? That was a supreme artifact that essentially guaranteed an unparalleled path to the God Realm.* He couldn't stop his expression from faltering; his age was suddenly more pronounced. *Not even the child was thus spoiled.*
"Are you sure you want to put that back? One of its auxiliary abilities interferes with the Heavenly Dao's perception, allowing you to do as you please in the mortal realms? No?" Senior Bo said, almost pleading.
"No, I'm fine. This sword and the few coffins I have are all I need for my expedition. Tian Yue will sort out all the artifacts she needs," Tian Shi replied.
*What coffins?*
Senior Bo struggled to keep his eyebrows from knitting in livid anger. He made a quick mental calculation, and the result left his eyes blank. He materialized a chair behind him and took a seat.
*A billion coffins. A billion premium-grade coffins. Gone. Just like that.*
Was he out of touch with the times?
What sort of fixation was this that he required a billion coffins but didn't want to take the one artifact that could essentially solve all his problems? *Even I wasn't this wasteful back in my mortal days. Has the showing off reached this level already?*
Senior Bo had to ask.
"Why so many coffins?"
"My mother taught me to bury my problems. She has never been wrong thus far."
Tian Shi promptly exited the treasury.
*Bury your problems? Bury your problems?*
His words left Senior Bo stumped, with no retort to offer.
Senior Bo laughed like he never had before. For the first time in millennia, the treasury tasted the amusement of a deity. All the treasures within glowed and hummed along, as if encouraging Senior Bo to continue. The energy released from his amusement directly strengthened them all.
Meanwhile, Tian Shi flew out of the treasury and headed toward the teleportation formation of the sect. There, he would rendezvous with Tian Yue and her little team. The Teleportation Formation consisted of twin towers that jutted from the ground, towering over the large mountains in the Tian Clan Everglades. They were constructed from large chunks of Purple Violet Obsidian and various other divine metals that channeled Space-Time energies well. From where he was, he looked like a speck of dust in front of their magnificent size.
Guards and personnel necessary to operate the formation flew up and down in droves, like a flock of birds migrating. Tian Shi stopped in the air for a moment and surveyed the surroundings. He spotted Tian Yue and her team at the highest point of the tower. With a burst of newfound excitement, he tore right through the space with his body alone and appeared on the platform.
"Is everyone ready?" Tian Shi asked just as he exited the void.
"Tian Yue has seen the Junior Patriarch," Tian Yue said, giving a curt bow.
"We have seen the Junior Patriarch," the people standing behind her echoed.