Chapter 569: All Treasures Have Their Place

Holding the crystal vial, Song You murmured to himself, “Beyond Mount Tian, there lies another Mount Tian, divine glacial lake, imbued with millennia of chilling ice spiritual resonance...”

The icy qi and spiritual resonance sealed within this crystal vial were truly extraordinary. Compared to the True Fire spiritual resonance at the mouth of Flame Mountain wielded by Flaming Sun True Lord, it was not inferior. In fact, it surpassed Song You’s own fire techniques.

Though this chill had been borrowed by that pot-bellied monk—perhaps for the purpose of collecting rare treasures—when he unleashed it, Song You had been caught off guard.

But even if he had been fully prepared, using only fire-based techniques alone would not have been enough to resist it. Even if Flaming Sun True Lord had come in person, he would have struggled to suppress it immediately. The only way to overcome it would have been through attrition, exhausting the vial’s supply of icy qi until it was spent.

Fortunately, the myriad techniques of this world are endlessly varied and marvelously profound. One need not always meet force with force in a clash of magic. Sometimes, a clever detour, a subtle trick, or an approach that targets a weakness can suffice. Even the most formidable power can be undone by a seemingly insignificant method.

Just like what Song You had done earlier.

With nothing more than a simple illusion and a decoy, he had fooled the inexperienced great demon of the Western Regions and tricked him into expending the vial’s icy qi entirely.

Still, the crystal vial wasn’t without its flaws.

While it could borrow or contain the icy qi, it came from a far-off land. The chill had its limits, and the spiritual resonance lacked a proper vessel to anchor itself. Once the vial hit the ground, the spiritual resonance quickly began to dissipate and fade. The ice that followed lacked the potency it had before. As such, the Daoist had been able to dispel it with his

Dashu

spiritual energy.

“Heaven and earth truly are full of wonders...”

Had he not left the mountain and ventured out into the world, how could he have ever witnessed the blazing True Fire of the Fire God at the mouth of Flame Mountain? And how else could he have seen this naturally nurtured icy qi from the Mount Tian region, accumulated over eons?

It made one wonder: up there on Mount Tian, within the divine lakes and glaciers, what kind of marvelous form or origin must this glacial spiritual resonance take?

He would most certainly have to seek it out and see for himself one day.

Song You withdrew his gaze, letting the thought pass, then turned around. Leaning on his staff, he looked into the distance.

From that direction, the sounds of battle and slaughter still echoed.

The fight between the stone giants led by Lady Calico, alongside the demon army of Yuezhou, and the demonic monks from the Western Regions had yet to cease.

The Daoist planted his staff and began walking toward the battlefield.

Outside Jade City, the temples and palaces had been mere illusions—but these temples and palaces nestled within the mountains were real. Every tile, beam, and pillar was genuine, the gold was true gold. Yet now, all of it had been reduced to rubble.

Massive demons were locked in vicious battle across the mountain, at its foot, and in the surrounding ranges—some collided and tore into each other with raw ferocity, others unleashed spells and magic tools in fierce exchange. Among them were figures clad in monk robes, towering stone giants, and even a little girl riding a tiger, darting through the chaos while spitting fire.

The tide of battle had begun to tilt slightly in favor of Lady Calico's side.

In truth, the demons from Yuezhou—drawn into the banner—were roughly evenly matched with the demonic monks and demons of the Western Regions. But Lady Calico was highly skilled in fire techniques and wielded the Water-Splitting Blade.

With the heavy rain pooling into muddy torrents across the mountain, each breath she exhaled surged with True Fire, and every swing of her blade sent roaring flash floods rushing downward. Add to that the powerful stone giants and the Yuezhou demons' fearless, pain-ignoring fighting style, and the balance began slowly tipping in their favor.

This had already become a full-scale battle.

The temples and monasteries across the mountain had been destroyed in the opening clash, and the ensuing demon melee easily turned the once-verdant peaks into a swamp of mud and chaos. Even the thickest ancient trees toppled one after another under the force of these demon collisions. Several mountain slopes had been left in utter ruin.

The young girl rode her tiger with a solemn, tense expression.

It wasn’t until the demonic monks and demons of the Western Regions began to realize that their so-called “Blessed One” had fallen that their will to fight plummeted—down by seventy or eighty percent. Panic crept in. Their formations faltered, their confidence crumbled.

Then, the Daoist walked onto the battlefield.

He raised his bamboo staff and gave it a wave.

“

Whoosh

!”

A fire dragon surged forth, crashing into a brown bear locked in combat with a black bear. The brown bear was knocked to the ground and, in a flash, transformed into a flaming bear.

He flicked the bamboo staff again, almost lazily.

“

Boom

!”

A bolt of thunder struck down from the sky. A giant stag-headed demon, whose eyes had been glowing with divine light, was turned into a charred husk, smoke rising as his body collapsed.

He then gave a casual flick of his finger.

“

Swish

!”

A point of spiritual light shot out, instantly paralyzing a monk who had been casting earth-controlling spells. Frozen in place, he stood motionless—until a massive black serpent lunged in, bit down, and swallowed him whole in one gulp.

Little by little, the battlefield quieted.

Off in the distance, Lady Calico had still been fighting with full intensity. But as she fought, she suddenly sensed something was off. Turning her head, she stared blankly at the Daoist strolling toward her as if on a leisurely walk.

She froze for a moment, then snapped out of it—only to start fighting even harder, almost frantically, as if racing him to take down the remaining demons—like two kids fighting over a cloth ball.

Of course, she had no chance of winning that contest.

Soon, the battlefield was completely subdued.

By then, the wind had stopped, the rain had ceased, the dark clouds had cleared, and sunlight broke through. Aside from the devastation across the forest and mountains, all was calm.

Only a few small demons on distant peaks—who had merely been observing—fled in a panic. Some monk-robed figures twisted their bodies and turned into yellow weasels, leaving only their robes behind as they bolted into the deep forest, vanishing without a trace.

There were simply too many demons to chase down. Some of the lesser ones hadn’t actually committed much wrongdoing—they had merely followed the pot-bellied monk out of instinct. Song You couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

He withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Lady Calico.

The little girl, riding atop her tiger, had already come before him. She looked up at him with a serious expression, meeting his gaze directly—though what she was thinking remained a mystery.

“Thank you, Lady Calico. Thank you, Yan An. You’ve both worked hard,” Song You said to them.

“You’re welcome!”

“It wasn’t hard. Lady Calico’s the one who had it tough.”

“We all worked hard.”

After speaking, Song You turned his head and looked toward a fissure revealed on the mountainside. It led into the mountain’s interior, which had been hollowed out and filled with the many rare treasures the demon had collected over the years.

At the same time, explosions echoed from within the mountain.

Countless demons erupted into black smoke, as if dark clouds were forming once again across the land. All of it surged toward this spot, growing denser and darker, before rushing into the flag held tightly in the little girl’s hands.

Then, from all directions across the surrounding mountains, packs of wolves came bounding forth.

Each wolf carried something in its mouth—magical tools and treasures once wielded by the demonic monks and demons. After their deaths, these items had fallen to the ground. Now, the wolves brought every last one over and dropped them in a heap.

It was clear that this had been done under Lady Calico’s orders.

“So many treasures!” she exclaimed.

Lady Calico looked up at him with her usual seriousness.

“There’s no need for all this,” Song You said gently.

From his hand, he produced a golden cone-shaped awl.

“Bring me the silver wine jug and cups that the Emperor of Great Yan gifted to the current ruler of Jadeite Kingdom.”

As he spoke, he tapped once into the empty air.

“

Boom

!”

A flash of golden light streaked across the space.

Before them appeared a silver wine jug—its base inlaid with golden flowers and studded with red and green gemstones—along with three cups in the same ornate style. Song You controlled them to float in midair.

The jujube-red horse stepped forward, quite sensibly.

Song You placed the set into his pouch, then added, “Now, bring over all magical tools and objects imbued with spiritual energy within a ten-li radius.”

As he finished, he tapped the air once more.

“

Boom

!”

A dazzling golden light suddenly burst across the world, so bright that even Lady Calico reflexively closed her eyes.

When the golden light faded, a large pile of strange and unusual items had appeared before them—at least two to three hundred pieces, large and small, all in different shapes and forms, stacked into a small mound.

“Wow!” The little girl couldn’t help but widen her eyes in amazement.

Then she suddenly noticed her left hand was empty.

“Ah!” Lady Calico’s expression turned serious once more as she said to the Daoist, “My little flag was taken too!”

After saying this, she turned her head to check her right hand.

“The blade is still here!”

Beside her, Yan An—standing atop the stone giant’s head—hurriedly turned around and checked herself after hearing that. A moment later, she said, “My Skybinder is still here too!”

“Bring back the Demon Flag.”

“

Boom

!”

A faint glimmer of golden light.

At once, a small flag appeared in Song You’s hand. He held it, furrowed his brow, then bent down and handed it back to Lady Calico. “Lady Calico, you must take better care of it from now on.”

“Got it!”

The little girl took the flag, examined it carefully, then gripped it tightly before once again lifting her head to gaze at the small treasure mountain before her.

But then came the Daoist’s voice. “If these items were brought here by you, or if you know where they came from, then please return them to their rightful owners—all of them.”

The little girl’s eyes suddenly widened.

“

Boom

!”

Though the strike was made into thin air, it rang out loud and clear.

In an instant, golden light flared once again.

The little girl forced her eyes open, unwilling to blink even once. Thankfully, the golden light faded quickly.

Now, more than half of the magical items had vanished—the once substantial treasure mound had shrunk considerably.

Roughly thirty to forty percent remained.

“As expected...” Song You looked down at the golden awl in his hand.

As expected, the majority of these treasures had been stolen by those monks using this golden awl. It truly was a peerless treasure, on par with the Water-Splitting Blade—and just as strange.

As for the many items that still remained, there were likely a few reasons why they hadn’t been returned.

Some may not have been stolen with the awl, and so it couldn’t trace their origins. Some may have lost their original owners, or the locations were no longer known—or too far away—so the awl couldn’t send them back. And some, like the Water-Splitting Blade and Skybinder, were treasures in their own right, not inferior to the golden awl.

With such powerful spiritual resonance, the awl couldn't move them and naturally couldn’t return them.

Still, while around a hundred magical items remained, not all were of any real value.

The stronger ones had already been taken out by the demon monks and used in battle against Song You’s group. Many of those had been damaged or even destroyed in the process. There were only a few intact ones left. The rest were minor trinkets, mostly useless—some were just ordinary objects that had been touched by spiritual energy or spiritual resonance. Taking them would be more trouble than they were worth.

Song You swept his gaze over them and quickly picked something out. It was that sharp short sword.

With a light wave of his hand, the sword flew into his grasp.

It was about the length of a forearm, with a silver hilt and matching silver scabbard, inlaid with multicolored gemstones. The blade gleamed like snow, brimming with spiritual resonance—its luxurious craftsmanship carried a distinct Western Region flair.

Song You drew the blade slightly to examine it. It remained undamaged.

“Lady Calico, you already have the Water-Splitting Blade. There's no need for you to have another short sword. Let’s give this to Yan An.”

He didn’t hand it to Yan An directly. Instead, he casually sheathed it and slid it into the saddle on the horse’s back, sparing the bird from having to come forward and accept it.

For a bird with Yan An’s personality, receiving a gift could be a stressful ordeal. Besides, the ground was muddy. If he turned into human form and came down to accept it, he’d have to step into the muck—entirely unnecessary.

“This sword can fly on its own, and it suits you well. Even if you don’t use it to slay evil and subdue demons, it’s a fine weapon for self-defense.”

“Th-thank you, sir...”

“There’s just one thing: this sword only strikes to decapitate. It’s somewhat vicious in nature. Use it with caution, and never abuse its power,” Song You warned him. Then he added, “As for the incantations and usage, you’ll have to figure those out yourself.”

“I will remember.”

Only then did Song You continue scanning the pile.

The little girl had her mouth slightly open, staring at him with wide, expectant eyes.

“Don’t worry, Lady Calico. There’s something nice in here for you too.” Song You beckoned again, pulling another item from the pile.

It was a cloth shoulder pouch made of brocade.

The moment Song You held it, he found it quite pleasing to the eye.

One mustn’t underestimate the aesthetics of this era. This pouch wasn’t some crude drawstring sack or a perfunctory sachet—it was a thoughtfully designed crossbody bag. It had a simple and elegant form: roughly rectangular in shape, expanding into a bucket-like form when filled.

It was large enough to hold a cat or a few books. Its base was a rich blue, with a gold-colored drawstring closure, and a single vertical embroidered stripe running down the middle as decoration. A single strap allowed it to be worn over the shoulder—making it a true crossbody pouch.

It looked quite like a

dalian

, though slightly smaller.

But far more stylish.

Now

this

was how it should be. Cultivators, especially Daoist ones, ought to have a refined appreciation for beauty. They should pursue aesthetics. For a treasure as rare and valuable as this, it deserved to be beautiful.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

“Lady Calico, you were quite taken with this when you heard of it last time,” Song You said as he handed it to the little girl. “Now, it’s yours.”

“Mm...” The girl quickly reached out to take it.

She widened her eyes thoughtfully, then remembered—this was the very item those senior monks outside Jade City had tried to barter for her Water-Splitting Blade more than half a month ago. They had said it was something called a

Qiankun Pouch

in Great Yan—a bag even smaller than her

dalian

, yet capable of holding several baskets' worth of things.

A true treasure indeed!