Lian was walking calmly through the endless world of the Celestial Treasury.
Above him a golden sky was spread out and floating islands were moving gently among the glowing clouds.
About ten minutes had passed since he started searching this treasury, but he had not been able to choose anything, choosing among all these treasures was not an easy task.
In fact, it was maybe one of the hardest things he had ever done in his life.
Every time he found something that he thought was worth it, a few seconds later he would see the same thing but with higher quality and rank, and this cycle continued.
Everywhere he looked, there was a treasure that could change the fate of a power.
And this had made him want to trust his intuition, maybe this way he could choose the best.
But the strangest part of it all was that none of them caught his intuition’s attention.
A vague feeling deep inside him was guiding him somewhere else. It was as if something in the distance was waiting for him, something that had been calling him since the moment he entered the treasury.
Along his path he passed by dozens of floating platforms. On one of them was a sword with blue flames dancing around its blade.
Just the pressure coming from it was enough to show that it was a weapon beyond imagination.
The voice of the treasury’s consciousness whispered in his mind.
"Azur Celestial Sword, legacy of one of the Unholy Ones of the third Ruined Realm, capable of splitting mountains."
Lian just glanced at it, then continued on his way.
No... this was not it, besides, he did not need a sword, and even if he wanted one, he would prefer to choose a sword that was unique.
A few minutes later he passed by an armor that was suspended in a field of light, its surface covered with thousands of shining runes.
Each of those runes had a value that could drive academies into madness, if this armor was placed on an awakened one’s body, their defensive power would multiply several times, it had an S rank quality.
S rank armors were bought and sold for hundreds of millions of dollars and they could not be found just anywhere, they were mostly controlled by powerful clans, guilds and governments.
But still... he had no feeling.
No... this was not it either, his intuition was saying no to this too.
"I hope my intuition does not let me down."
A little further ahead, a floating book caught his attention, its pages turning by themselves.
On each page thousands of ancient symbols could be seen, just one look was enough for Lian to understand that this was not a normal skill.
It was probably a skill with potential even higher than Divine rank.
Skills could be upgraded up to five ranks, Common, Great, Divine, which were the highest rank skills he currently had.
But that does not mean that Divine is the highest rank of a skill... in fact, there are two ranks above it, Holy and Eternal.
Although skills that have potential beyond Divine rank are very rare, and above Holy rank, even rarer.
There are less than a hundred known skills in the world that have the potential to reach Eternal rank, and considering that there are millions of skills, and maybe even more, this number below a hundred is insane.
But he only looked at it for a few seconds, after examining it he understood that it was a speed skill, it is not that it was bad, but he felt he did not need it, and then he passed by.
If it was a defensive, offensive or healing skill, he would have chosen it without a doubt.
The more he moved forward, the more he realized the real danger of the Celestial Treasury.
This place was not just a treasure house; this place was a living temptation, every few minutes a treasure would appear that would destroy any human’s sanity.
At one point on his path he saw another S rank sword, at another point he saw the core of an Unholy monster whose power aura was still alive.
This was a monster core that was equal to a Dreadmaw Sovereign.
Several times he also saw books that just looking at them increased the flow of mana in his body.
Every time he was tempted for a few moments, every time his mind started calculating, if I take this... if I choose that... if I use this opportunity...
But in the end a strange feeling always stopped him, as if something more important was waiting for him, something that had the value of all these treasures combined.
Gradually he realized a truth, now he understood that this place had limited entry and even clan members could not come whenever they wanted.
The temptation here was insane, he was barely controlling himself from picking up everything he saw, if he could he would just take everything for himself.
"Why don’t you stop?" the treasury’s voice echoed in his mind again, this time clearer than before.
"Why should I stop?" Lian did not stop his steps.
A few seconds of silence followed, then the voice spoke again.
"You passed by treasures that many rulers of the world would be willing to destroy countries for, why did you not choose any of them?"
Lian gave a faint smile.
"Because what I am looking for has not been found yet."
For a few moments a long silence followed, then the treasury’s voice whispered more quietly than before.
"Interesting..." it was the first time something like curiosity could be felt in its voice.
And Lian noticed this too, it seemed the treasury’s consciousness was no longer just observing him, but had become interested in him.
But this was not something he cared about at the moment.
The further he went, the more he noticed something strange, what was calling him was not located in the center of the treasury.
In fact, the opposite, the closer he got to it, the fewer treasures there were around.
Mana pressure decreased, light became less, the grandeur of the area lowered, this did not make sense.
Normally the most valuable treasures were kept in the heart of the treasury, but this thing... what his intuition was looking for... was guiding him toward the forgotten sections.
To areas that even the treasury’s consciousness apparently did not care much about, this only made him more curious.
In another part of the treasury... Seris was walking calmly among a forest of floating swords.
Unlike Lian, her path was straight, she had no hesitation, no temptation stopped her, hundreds of treasures were around her.
But she did not even look at them, her silver eyes were only following one destination.
The treasury’s consciousness was also watching her with interest.
This girl was strange, very strange, most humans entered the treasury and searched madly for power.
But this girl... did not want power, she ignored legendary weapons, she rejected rare books.
She did not even look at valuable cores, as if she was looking for something else, something very personal, something that only she knew what it was.
In the depths of the treasury, in a place far from reach, an old sword was waiting in silence for its owner to find it...
...
Lian did not know how long he had walked, maybe a few minutes, maybe more, but he could see that only 10 minutes of time remained for him.
And suddenly he noticed that his surroundings had completely changed.
The massive pillars had disappeared, the rivers of light were no longer visible, even the mana pressure of the environment had decreased.
This place looked almost abandoned, and in the center of this area... there was an old stone platform.
A platform that showed signs of wear from time, on it there was only one object.
A cracked red core, a core whose surface was covered with deep cracks.
But what caught Lian’s attention was not its appearance, but the aura that was coming from it.
A dark, destructive and ominous aura, an aura that was different from all the treasures he had seen until today.
Even now he could understand the reason this area was abandoned, no one was willing to get close to such a thing.
But the moment his gaze fell on the core...
His heart pounded strongly, its beat suddenly multiplied several times, a strange feeling rose from the depths of his being, as if something in his blood had awakened.
And right at that moment... the system notification appeared.
[ You have found a Demon’s Core ]