Chapter 165: Not Killing The Goose Laying Golden Eggs

Tang San did not look at the treasures in the vault. Instead, he first located the main control array.

The alarm’s main control array was in the innermost part of the vault, inside a sealed metal chamber.

The small chamber had no openings and the door was tightly closed and locked; however, just like the vaults had alarm arrays but no locks, this chamber had a lock but no alarm arrays.

Tang San didn't need to enter the chamber; he simply placed a hand against the metal door, silently sensing the energy fluctuations inside. With his powerful spiritual power, he memorized every subtle change in energy.

When Tang San was a God King, he was the supreme ruler of the divine realm, overseeing it all. The highest governing body in the divine realm was the Divine Council, controlling the heart of the divine realm. This heart once influenced multiple planets, and for their purposes, they relied on an energy array far more advanced than anything else Tang San had seen or used in all his lifetimes.

Though Tang San was no longer a God King and couldn't use his divine consciousness liberally like he once had, his experience remained. What seemed like a complex array to the demons was nothing but child's play to him.

A faint smile gradually appeared on Tang San's face. The arrays of Kali Academy led to the same goal despite different paths!

After days of observation, he had essentially grasped the main layout of the arrays used here. Now, with the Discerning Eye of Heaven evolving to the fourth order, he could confirm his observations: these smaller arrays were indeed based on the exact same principles as the large array wrapping around Kali Academy, and they were likely built by the same hand.

Now, it was simple. Tang San had mentally sorted out the characteristics of these arrays. After reconstructing the array prototype in his mind, he had thoroughly mastered everything.

His smile grew wider; his plan could now be set into motion smoothly.

Inside the vault, there were rows of display cases with different items, each preserved in various ways. Some were tightly sealed, while others were simply displayed in open cases.

Besides the core array that it was housing, it turned out that this vault also contained weapons and armor forged from rare metals.

In Tang San's eyes, the craftsmanship was... truly rough! The items themselves were nothing more than scrap metal in his eyes. However, he couldn't deny that the materials were genuinely excellent, far from ordinary. He was even a little envious of the materials. He had never seen such fine materials on the Douluo Planet. He had only encountered similar-quality materials after becoming the God King and overseeing other planets in the divine realm.

If he was the one to handle these things, producing divine artifacts wouldn't be impossible.

But Tang San didn't touch anything. Yes, he didn't take a single item.

Undoubtedly, he could effortlessly empty the place with his current understanding of the academy store's defense array. Without even looking, he could guess that one of the vaults had to contain storage equipment. Taking everything away would be no big deal.

However, doing so would undoubtedly cause a considerable stir at Kali Academy. To avoid being exposed, he'd need to flee quickly. But while he could escape, what about the academy town? The first suspects would surely be the human vassals, and his actions would undoubtedly be followed by a massive purge and search. What about the Redemption Society?

These were all issues he had to consider. And since he could take the items anytime now, there was no need to rush. He could just consider them temporarily stored here. When necessary, he could take all the resources only when nothing of concern was left. At the very least, he had to ensure the safety of the Redemption Society. The academy town might not reveal much under search, but if the members of the Redemption Society were revealed, that would be a big problem.

Therefore, Tang San never intended to plunder everything directly from the beginning. Instead, he simply wanted to ensure he could enter here anytime he wished. Everything else could wait.

Exiting this vault, Tang San promptly chose the third one and opened its door. Mastering the core array made opening the doors effortless, even quicker than using a key.

Upon opening the metal door, intense natural energy instantly enveloped the area. Tang San could feel his body warming slightly from the dense natural energy.

Most of the treasures were preserved in sealed containers among the rows of display cabinets. These containers were strictly necessary here, because this vault hosted... spiritual medicines.

The natural energy emitted by these spiritual medicines was so rich that the air inside the vault felt almost viscous, even though they were all sealed in containers. Due to their incredible variety, the energy seemed somewhat mixed.

Tang San sensed silently and could perceive hundreds of spiritual medicines here, each more potent than the Dragon Tendon Fruit he had consumed before.

The level of Dragon Tendon Fruits was such that they weren't even qualified to be stored in these vaults.

Wealth, such immense wealth! No wonder the demon race's cultivation progresses so rapidly. So many of these natural spiritual medicines are absolute treasures; if used properly, they could greatly assist me in cultivation.

Although Tang San had some doubts about whether the demon race could fully utilize the effects of these spiritual medicines, even if they consumed them like normal food, the effects were still bound to be impressive!

Truly, all good things! Cultivating in such a place was like being in a treasure land on earth.

Tang San took a deep breath, circulating the Mysterious Heaven Technique, filtering the dense natural energy he inhaled before integrating it into his cultivation. This deep breath alone made him feel his blood pulsating more vigorously.

My, this was truly impressive.

Instead of acting hastily, Tang San carefully observed everything around him, gradually forming a plan in his mind.

Although the plants in this world differed from those in the Soul Land he once knew, the properties of their energies couldn't deceive him. With Tang San's past life experience as the ruler of plants, identifying them was a matter of minutes.

According to Tang San's analysis, the difference between plants and nymphs was similar to that between demonic beasts and the demon race.

These lifeforms were fundamentally the same, but plants without spiritual intelligence, regardless of their high energy levels, could only be classified as treasure plants—treasures of heaven and earth—not as nymphs.[1]

However, whether they were treasure plants or nymphs, they shared similar origins.

Tang San's first target was these high-order plants in the vault.

Based on his experience with magical beasts, these treasure plants were probably also graded in the same way. Once they reached the divine order, they would inevitably develop spiritual intelligence and be truly sentient. Thus, there were no divine-level treasure plants; those would have become nymphs.

Tang San walked to the first row of display cabinets, approaching a glass-like cover. Inside it, a purple-black vine was coiled.

This vine was covered in thorns and emitted a faint cold light, clearly not something to be taken lightly.

Tang San had attended classes on heavenly and earthly treasures at the Redemption Society, but his education was not comprehensive enough. Therefore, he had never learned about this type of thorny vine. However, based on his observations of its appearance, Tang San could roughly guess what kind of plant it was, and by employing the Discerning Eye of Heaven, he could determine its order.

1. The original keeps using “treasures of heaven and earth,” but for clarity and flow, we have replaced this with “treasure plants” where necessary. ☜