Chapter 99: Priceless Treasure

At the Royal Academy of Great Heaven, Du Long and Princess Fire Phoenix had finally returned to register. Su Jinbao, Xia Qinglian, and the others had already reported to the academy that morning; only the two of them had been left.

After lunch in the imperial palace with the Emperor and Empress, Du Long hurried straight to the academy with Princess Fire Phoenix. When the two of them appeared in the first-year common lecture hall of the martial arts department, the noisy room fell silent in an instant.

“Du Long, Xiao Feng! Come over here, we saved seats for you!”

With a sharp eye, Su Jinbao was the first to react. Smiling broadly, he immediately waved and called out to the two of them as they stepped into the hall.

Under the blazing gazes of the countless students inside, Du Long could only rub his nose and, somewhat awkwardly, lead Fire Phoenix toward Su Jinbao and the others. Every time he, the great king of truants, returned to class, he had that strange feeling that he was somehow detached from the whole class.

Along the way, he could clearly hear many classmates discussing what had happened in Fuli County. Their expressions varied widely as they looked at him—some fearful, others full of envy, jealousy, and resentment.

Plopping down beside Xia Qinglian, Du Long grinned at her with concern. “Heh, Qinglian! Your young master is back! So, what do you think? We haven’t seen each other all morning—did you miss me terribly?”

Teased in Du Long’s deliberately flirtatious manner, this gentle and breathtakingly beautiful woman could not help blushing as she covered her mouth and laughed softly. Princess Fire Phoenix, sitting nearby, pretended to be angry and pinched Du Long’s ear. “Oh? Acting like that right in front of this princess, openly pestering an innocent young lady? Do you not want to live anymore?!”

“Ow, ow! It hurts, it hurts!” Du Long cried out as though in pain, cupping his hands in mock surrender. “Your Highness, I know I was wrong! Please, let go...”

“Heehee! Look at you! I haven’t even used any strength and you’re already crying out in pain? What a performance!” Fire Phoenix laughed as she released her hand, then sat down on Du Long’s other side. Sticking out her tongue at Qinglian, she said with a smile, “Qinglian, we have to keep a close eye on this fellow, so he doesn’t get the chance to go out and harm those innocent girls outside!”

As for the mischievous Princess Fire Phoenix, Xia Qinglian could only smile softly without saying a word. With her personality, she would naturally never joke about Du Long so casually. In her heart, Du Long’s place was absolutely unmatched by anyone else.

Just as Du Long and the others were joking among themselves, a graceful figure appeared at the entrance of the lecture hall: their homeroom mentor, Zhao Man.

By rights, they should have been scolded a few times by their mentor for being late after the New Year holiday. Yet unexpectedly, Zhao Man remained silent. She merely swept them with a smiling glance, nodded, and then walked up to the lectern.

The afternoon lesson was about the precautions for breaking through from the Energy-Nurturing Stage to the Qi Vortex Stage. For someone like Du Long, whose strength had long since already surpassed the Qi Vortex Stage, listening or not listening made little difference.

At last, after arduously waiting for class to end, Du Long immediately took Princess Fire Phoenix and Xia Qinglian, bade farewell to their friends, and rode the great lion out of the academy, heading back toward the imperial capital.

The three of them rode in a striking procession: Fire Phoenix in front, Du Long in the middle, and Xia Qinglian tightly embracing him from behind. Under the eyes of many teachers and students of the Royal Academy, they sped out of the gates and vanished in a cloud of dust.

In this world, tamed demon beasts were exceedingly rare, though it was not uncommon to see certain experts riding them through the streets in grand style. Even so, Du Long and the others on the great lion still drew countless astonished glances.

In the imperial capital, the main branch of the Treasure Pavilion.

Leaving the great lion outside, Du Long led the two beauties swaggeringly into the shop. The young female attendant who usually received him was not in the first-floor hall; instead, another attendant hurried up respectfully to greet them.

“Might I ask what treasures the young master and ladies wish to purchase at our shop?”

Princess Fire Phoenix and Xia Qinglian said nothing, both turning their gazes to Du Long. This time they had come out without knowing what they were supposed to buy.

“Bring me one serving of second-grade spirit liquid. And take us up to the third floor for a look,” Du Long replied loudly.

“Very well. One serving of second-grade spirit liquid will be delivered shortly. May I ask whether sir has a pass for the third floor?”

With a flip of his hand, Du Long produced a golden card and gave it a shake. This was the one he had received back when he had spent more than ten thousand gold coins here. The familiar attendant had given it to him, though he had never found the time to go upstairs and browse. Now that he finally had a chance, and with the trip to Fuli County having yielded a rich harvest, it seemed only natural to satisfy his curiosity.

“Esteemed sir, please this way.”

The moment the attendant saw the golden card in Du Long’s hand, her attitude became even more respectful.

The group went directly to the third floor. It was noticeably smaller than the two floors below, with fewer display counters, giving the whole space a far more open and spacious feel. Compared with the lower levels, there were also far fewer customers on the third floor; at a glance, there were only three groups inside.

Since this floor was rarely visited, the moment Du Long and the others appeared, they immediately drew everyone’s attention. All of them turned to look.

Du Long naturally glanced over them with curiosity as well. Among the three groups, one in particular caught his eye: an elderly man with a pair of thin mustaches, short in stature yet possessing an aura of explosive power, accompanied by a huge man over two meters tall, built like a bull.

A short old man with a burly fellow like a bull beside him—an odd pairing indeed. No wonder Du Long looked twice. And once he did, he really did spot a problem.

“Ling’er, what level are that old man and the big fellow next to him? I can’t see through them at all,” Du Long immediately asked the spirit attendant girl in his heart, alert and cautious.

“That old man is at the perfection of the Astral Pill Stage. Like you, his physique leans toward the yang attribute, and his astral fire cultivation is extremely dense. As for the big brute, he’s only at the middle level of the Qi Sea Stage,” the spirit attendant girl promptly reported the results of her probe.

“Only middle level Qi Sea Stage?” Du Long could only shake his head inwardly with a wry smile. In the spirit attendant girl’s eyes, a Qi Sea Stage expert might be unremarkable, but to him, reaching that level would still take at least several years.

Quietly withdrawing his gaze from that strange pair, Du Long began to stroll leisurely through the treasures on display. Looking at the many precious items, the cheapest of which still cost several tens of thousands of gold coins, he could not help but feel deep admiration for the owner of the Treasure Pavilion.

Even just the main branch in an imperial capital contained such an enormous quantity of rare and exotic treasures. He truly did not dare imagine how terrifying the strength of the entire Treasure Pavilion must be.

As he made his way around, a sudden, urgent cry rang out in his mind from the spirit attendant girl. “Du Long, hurry! Go to the counter that old man is looking at! Quickly!”

Since knowing her, Du Long had never once seen the spirit attendant girl so panicked. He no longer had the patience to continue browsing slowly and immediately strode toward the old and the burly pair.

“What are you trying to do?”

Seeing Du Long rush over in such a hurry, the iron tower-like giant immediately blocked the way, standing across his path as he rumbled the words out.

His shout disturbed the old man, who had been focusing on the treasure inside the transparent counter. The old fellow turned with some displeasure and barked at the giant, “Iron Bull! What are you yelling about?”

“M-master... it was this kid who suddenly charged over!” Iron Bull answered in a booming voice, true to his name.

“Oh?” The mustached old man turned to Du Long in confusion. “You youngsters, what is it you want?”

“Heh, old sir, we don’t really need anything. We’re just a little interested in this treasure and wanted to have a look,” Du Long replied with a dry laugh, trying to sound as amicable as possible. Knowing full well that the man before him was a perfected Astral Pill Stage expert, he naturally could not act recklessly.

“Could it be that you know the origin of this thing?” the old man asked, his eyes suddenly brightening.

“No, no. It just seems a little strange to me...” Du Long hurriedly denied it, only now taking a proper look at the item inside the counter.

It was something rather like a mirror, old-fashioned in shape, made from materials he could not identify. The entire piece was black, yet one side of it could emit a faint sheen of light.

“It is a bit strange. There are no records whatsoever regarding this treasure. The only thing known is that its hardness is astonishing. The Treasure Pavilion has tried countless methods, yet none have left even the slightest scratch on it,” the mustached old man said with a frown.

“If that’s the case, why doesn’t the old sir buy it and study it?” Du Long asked casually, trying to probe the man’s thoughts.

“Buy it? Young man, haven’t you looked at the price tag?” The old man’s face flushed with anger. “Just for this broken thing of unknown material, you expect this old fellow to go bankrupt? Damn Treasure Pavilion—since they don’t even know where it came from, they still dare to sell it for such an outrageous price!”

Only then did Du Long look at the price tag on the black treasure. Black lines immediately appeared across his forehead.

“Five hundred thousand gold coins? My heavens, has the Treasure Pavilion gone mad from poverty? Something like this is worth five hundred thousand?”

Staring speechlessly at the old man who was spraying words all over the place, Du Long asked in confusion, “Since the price is too high and you don’t want to buy it, why don’t you just leave?”

“Ah...” The old man let out something between a groan and a lament. “Over these years, after observing it, I’ve become certain this thing is definitely made of some kind of metal. A metal material this old fellow has never seen before! Heavens, if only I could study it a few more times!”

Only then did Du Long understand. It turned out that this peculiar old man had been coming here for years, all because he liked to examine this mysterious object.

He was just about to say something comforting when the spirit attendant girl, silent for a long while, suddenly spoke up.

“Du Long! Buy it. No matter what method you use, you must, absolutely must buy it for me!” The spirit attendant girl’s sudden words nearly made Du Long’s jaw drop.