Amidst the crisp sound of footsteps, a young girl in red entered, seemingly fifteen or sixteen years old. Her bright eyes and pearly teeth glimmered with an innocent yet lively charm, her slender waist barely an arm’s span. In terms of beauty, of all the women Zhang Yan had encountered, except for Zhou Youchu, none could compare. Yet, despite her meticulous concealment, she could not entirely mask the faint trace of demon energy lingering about her.
Chen Tong noticed this and involuntarily furrowed his brows.
The young girl saw that there were already two people seated in the pavilion and hesitated for a moment before respectfully making a Wan Fu gesture toward Pu Yuzi, saying, "Junior Luo Zhenzhen greets Senior."
Pu Yuzi bore no trace of prejudice; he kindly gestured to the last remaining seat, indicating that she should sit there.
After taking her seat, Luo Zhenzhen noticed the two beautiful maids standing behind Chen Tong and instinctively shifted slightly closer to Zhang Yan.
Though her action was unintended, it sparked dissatisfaction in Chen Tong, who thought to himself, "Hmph, a mere female demon dares to look down on me? Once this place is left behind, I’ll make her learn the capabilities of this young master."
Pu Yuzi watched as the three sat down, then waved his hand. A cloud ascended and enveloped the entire pavilion, leaving the trio unperturbed by this unnatural phenomenon.
With a genial smile, he said, "Since you’ve come here, you must already know our rules. I’ll spare you the lengthy explanation." He pointed to Zhang Yan and said, "You were the first to arrive, so you shall speak first. What is it that you seek?"
Zhang Yan had once heard from Ai Zhongwen that encountering anyone from the Bu Tian House meant having the opportunity to request an item or task from them. Whether they agreed depended on one’s own fortunes. Typically, so long as the request wasn’t excessive, they would comply, leading cultivators to teasingly liken Bu Tian House disciples to land temple gods following the motto: ’With every plea, there shall be a response.’
However, the Bu Tian House disciples rarely gave freely. More often, they would assign a task in return, though these tasks were always light in comparison to what they offered, with no intentional difficulty ever imposed.
After pondering briefly, Zhang Yan said, "Junior seeks an item capable of gathering five energies, something that can be carried while traversing the world."
Initially, Zhang Yan had intended to exchange merit points at the Spirit Mechanism Institute for a Dharma Treasure, yet knowing Ge Shuo might return empty-handed, he doubted he could protect himself either. Even the Five Merits recorded under his name would undoubtedly be an arduous struggle to claim. Now, having stumbled upon members of the Bu Tian Pavilion today—it was a fortuitous encounter. Without hesitation, he decided to request such a Dharma Treasure.
Upon hearing such a straightforward request from Zhang Yan, Pu Yuzi’s expression revealed a trace of surprise, though he quickly nodded, swept his robe sleeve across the table, and presented three glimmering treasures, saying, "Here I have three items: the Hidden Qi Pouch, the Ten Thousand Army Bag, and the Mountain and River One Qi Cloud Scroll."
With a shrewd smile, he added, "You are the only one requesting of me, so I can only offer you the Hidden Qi Pouch. However, if you can persuade the two individuals beside you to give up their own opportunities to request, you may choose any one of the three treasures."
As his words fell, Chen Tong couldn’t help but smirk coldly, while Luo Zhenzhen rested her chin on her hand, her beautiful eyes curiously fixed on Zhang Yan.
Zhang Yan glanced at the three treasures and couldn’t suppress his astonishment. Though the Hidden Qi Pouch was merely a high-grade Spirit Artifact, the Ten Thousand Army Bag was a Mystical Artifact, and the Mountain and River One Qi Cloud Scroll was more extraordinary—it was a True Artifact! One must know that True Artifacts inevitably contained a Primordial Spirit within!
However, as the artifact was unsuitable for combat, its value diminished somewhat. Thus, while Chen Tong and Luo Zhenzhen also recognized its presence, they didn’t consider it exceptionally remarkable.
Observing Zhang Yan silently contemplating, Pu Yuzi smiled faintly and turned to Chen Tong, saying, "You were the second to arrive. What is it you seek?" Before Chen Tong could respond, he raised his hand to stop him, adding, "Wait. If you’re planning to request me to admit you as a disciple, better keep quiet to avoid wasting this opportunity."
Chen Tong smiled and replied, "This young man has already received guidance from my mother and would not overestimate himself so foolishly. My purpose here is entirely different." He extended his hand, and one of the maids behind him retrieved an item from her pouch and placed it upon the table.
The eyes of everyone in the pavilion immediately turned toward it.
It was a scroll with the title "Chi Long True Scroll" etched in four large characters.
Chen Tong cupped his hands and said, "This item was obtained by my father from a loose cultivator. Though it appears to be a mere scroll, it is actually a treasure, said to contain an ancient Minor Divine Power. However, this treasure is exceedingly peculiar, as everything inside is inscribed in Erosion Text. Each person is limited to viewing the scroll for one hour, after which it cannot be opened again. Furthermore, it possesses sentience—should anyone who has previously viewed it stand nearby, merely glancing at it will prompt the scroll to close itself. Therefore, I seek Senior Pu Yuzi’s assistance in deciphering this dilemma."