Zhang Haobo, having effortlessly dispersed the stormflood, showed no change in expression. He glanced up at the sky before racing toward the next location threatened by a stormflood.
“From chasing the wind, to severing the wind. What will your next step be?” Li Fan murmured to himself with a soft chuckle. “Time is not on your side, I’m afraid.”
He withdrew his attention, refocusing on the introductory jade slip on arrays.
Another month passed.
Suddenly, Li Fan’s expression shifted and he stored the jade slip away. The cultivator he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
In Li Fan’s perception, a cultivator at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm swaggered boldly toward the Tianbao Pavilion, making no attempt to conceal his aura.
Formless Killing Mechanism instantly locked onto him, and Insect Binding coiled, ready to strike.
Just as Li Fan prepared to seize the man, a flicker of surprise crossed his face. The cultivator showed no intention of meeting Yin Yueting. Instead, he marched directly into the Tianbao Pavilion, his voice booming through the establishment.
“Has the new stock for this month arrived? Show them to me!”
A young shop assistant, recognizing the man, greeted him with effusive warmth. “Ah, Childe Zhao'er! You’re here! Please, come this way! We’ve reserved several rare items specifically for you these past few months, just as you requested!”
The cultivator, Zhao'er, was visibly delighted. He hurriedly followed the assistant into Tianbao Pavilion’s treasure vault.
The young assistant gestured to a few objects displayed separately on a shelf. “As you instructed, we’ve gathered all items bearing this particular motif together for you.”
Zhao'er strode forward, picked up a small cauldron, and carefully examined it, his fingers tracing its patterns.
“Good, very good,” he nodded in satisfaction after a moment. He then lifted a cracked azure porcelain vase, studying it intently as he held it aloft. “The designs are indeed in the style of that place,” he remarked, a note of pleasure in his voice.
He inspected each item on the shelf one by one, praising them lavishly. “Your Tianbao Pavilion is truly efficient, managing to gather so many treasures in just a few months!
“Other shops are full of incompetents! Especially that Wanhua Trade Association—they talk a big game, but they can barely find a few useful items in a whole year!” He ranted vehemently.
Then, beaming, he clapped the young assistant on the shoulder. “Pack these up and have them delivered to the usual place.”
The assistant nodded obsequiously.
When it came time to pay, Zhao'er pulled a handful of gold leaves from his robe and tossed them over without a glance. “Keep the change. Consider the extra your reward. Remember, I’ll take any object with the styles and patterns I described, no matter the quantity,” he declared, puffing out his chest with an air of generosity.
An elderly, grey-haired manager smiled as he collected the gold leaves, “You are most kind.”
“Your Tianbao Pavilion is truly reliable. Why remain tucked away on this small Yelan Island? I foresee your business expanding greatly, spreading across the entire Congyun Sea!” Zhao'er added this compliment before humming a tune and turning to leave.
Flushed with pride, the young assistant couldn’t resist adding, “Of course! Our Shopkeeper...” Before he could finish, the old manager slapped him on the head, cutting him off abruptly.
The young assistant, knowing he had spoken out of turn, clutched his head and fell silent.
Zhao'er’s eyes shifted, but he said nothing more. A faint smile touched his lips as he continued humming his tune and slowly walked away.
He made his way to a small courtyard on Yelan Island. After the Tianbao Pavilion staff delivered the items, he closed the main gate.
A flying boat suddenly appeared in the courtyard. Zhao'er carefully carried the items into the vessel, then performed a spell to conceal the boat’s form. With that, he departed from Yelan Island and flew northward.
Li Fan, who had observed everything from start to finish, felt his interest pique. There was something odd about Zhao'er’s every move.
He disguised himself as a mortal, collecting antiques. He had a storage ring but refused to use it, insisting on employing a flying boat and moving the items himself.
And what was “that place” he mentioned? What could be so special about it to warrant such attention from a cultivator at the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm?
At the very least, Li Fan now understood why Yin Yueting had been targeted by Zhao'er in her previous life—it must have been due to a careless slip of the tongue by that young shop assistant.
That assistant might not have known Yin Yueting possessed a treasure-attuned body, but he certainly knew their Shopkeeper had a unique talent for identifying treasures. And how could an ordinary mortal possibly resist the probing of a cultivator?
Exposure was inevitable. Zhao'er would undoubtedly return for Yin Yueting.
Li Fan decided to wait for him right there. For now, he would see where Zhao'er was transporting the treasures he had collected.
Through the perspective of heaven and earth, Li Fan watched as the flying boat sped north for two full days, eventually arriving at a vast, empty stretch of sea.
No islands dotted the surroundings—only a single, massive, perfectly straight stone pillar stood in the sea.
The center of the pillar appeared to have been hollowed out, with small rooms carved into it.
Zhao'er landed his flying boat atop the pillar and painstakingly carried each item into one of the rooms.
Li Fan saw that several other rooms, including that one, were neatly filled with similar objects. The patterns and designs on them all shared the same style as the items Zhao'er had just purchased. Clearly, he had been collecting these things for a long time.
After admiring and handling his treasures with evident affection, Zhao'er reluctantly boarded his flying boat and set course back to Yelan Island. The stone pillar slowly descended, retracting beneath the sea.
Two days later, outside the Tianbao Pavilion. A furtive Zhao'er stared at Yin Yueting as she sorted through treasures, practically drooling.
“So it’s the legendary treasure-attuned body... With this girl’s help, gathering artifacts from that place will be much easier.” His eyes brimmed with greed as he muttered to himself.
“Where is ‘that place’?” A voice suddenly spoke right beside his ear.
Zhao'er shuddered in alarm and tried to react, but to his horror, he found himself completely immobilized in an instant, unable to move a muscle!
“Come. Let’s have a proper chat at your home.”
A figure, its aura completely concealed, appeared behind him. Then, Zhao'er felt himself being lifted like a chick, soaring into the sky. They flew swiftly toward a familiar location.
Zhao'er’s heart grew cold with dread—the mysterious figure hadn’t been lying; he actually knew the location of Zhao'er's base!
The thought of all the treasures he'd collected over the years falling into someone else's hands made Zhao'er's heart ache so fiercely he could scarcely breathe. This felt worse than death itself.
The mysterious figure flew at incredible speed, covering the distance to Zhao'er's hidden base in just over a day.
As Zhao'er regained control of his body, he heard the man speak in a calm, even tone.
"Well? Aren't you going to invite me in?"