Chapter 26: So I Have My Own Treasure Too

Ji Yao never imagined that the item she casually picked out, a stone which appeared ugly and unremarkable to ordinary eyes, would turn out to be the Five-Colored Stone.

Yes, the very Five-Colored Stone from the legends of her previous life—the one Nuwa used to mend the sky. Although the tale varied slightly here, the essence remained.

Legend tells, when heaven and earth first opened and the Heavenly Dao revealed itself, monsters and demons, born from the essence of creation, grew powerful and unruly. They sowed chaos throughout the realms, causing the four pillars to collapse and the nine continents to fracture. Fire raged without end, water flooded without respite, fierce beasts preyed upon the people, predatory birds snatched the weak and elderly, and calamity reigned.

The ancestral goddess of humanity, moved by compassion, resolved to restore the Heavenly Dao. She sought to fill the missing parts of its rules, harnessing their power to restrain monsters and demons, hoping for balance and mutual constraint among all beings, thus preserving the human lineage and ensuring its enduring prosperity.

She severed the legs of the giant turtle to establish the four pillars, slew the black dragon to stabilize the nine continents, brought gentle rain to extinguish demonic fires, and amassed reed ash to halt the floods.

Once humanity found peace, she gathered the essence of the Five Element Stones throughout heaven and earth, harnessed the power of light, wind, thunder, and darkness, and used divine fire to temper them over ninety-nine days and nights. Ultimately, they transformed into intangible force, dispersing through the world and evolving into the complete power of the Heavenly Dao.

The Five-Colored Stone, then, was the primal remnant left after the goddess had refined the Five Element Stones.

Though merely what remained, its nature was unchanged. If used to repair great arrays or seals, so long as the world’s elemental force persisted, the formation would continue to function without fail.

“Senior, are you certain this is the Five-Colored Stone?” Ji Yao scratched her head, incredulous at the stone’s ordinary appearance.

“No one in this realm could recognize it in its current form,” Situ Jing raised a brow, leaving the sentence unfinished.

Curious, Ji Yao quickly asked, “Unless what?”

Situ Jing glanced at her, “Unless someone, like me, comes from the upper realm.”

Ji Yao’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be...

“But knowing is useless! Not everyone possesses enough immortal power to break its outer seal,” Situ Jing flicked her fingers dismissively.

Ji Yao caught the hidden meaning—this stone’s ugliness was due to a layer of seal concealing its true face.

Breaking that seal required immortal power, which Situ Jing possessed, or perhaps a secret treasure capable of channeling such force.

“Senior Situ, can the Five-Colored Stone only be used for repairing seals?”

Situ Jing gave her a sideways glance before answering slowly, “You’re asking whether it can be used for forging artifacts, aren’t you?”

Ji Yao felt uneasy under Situ Jing’s gaze, but with such a treasure in her hands, she was unwilling to let it go unused.

She bowed her head, forcing herself to ask, “Yes, Senior Situ. If it could be crafted into a usable artifact, it wouldn’t go to waste, would it?”

“It would be the true waste to use it for forging magical artifacts! This is a natural foundation material for arrays!” Situ Jing snorted coldly.

“Even if you could forge an artifact, who would you trust with the Five-Colored Stone once its seal is broken?”

Situ Jing’s words struck Ji Yao like a blow, dispersing what little excitement she had managed to muster.

“Don’t look at me!” Situ Jing waved her fingers.

Not to mention finding a craftsman, as soon as the sealed Five-Colored Stone was revealed, it would be impossible for someone like her, a mere beginner in cultivation, to keep it safe.

By the time Ji Yao’s cultivation was sufficient, the Five-Colored Stone might be little more than a rare treasure, its significance diminished.

Ji Yao felt disheartened, sighing, “Then let it sit here as a keepsake.”

Situ Jing found this amusing, uncertain what setbacks this girl had suffered during her period of seclusion, that she would give up so easily.

Choosing not to tease her further, Situ Jing reached out, and the dark Five-Colored Stone floated up, landing lightly in her palm. She summoned the Universe Disk, opening her hand and drawing the stone inside.

“I’ll keep it for now. Breaking the seal is not an overnight task—it requires immortal energy to slowly erode it, which will take some time. Enough time for you to think things through.”

Ji Yao made no objection. Breaking the seal was better than leaving it ugly and black, so she said nothing more.

Looking at Situ Jing now, her spirit was fully consolidated, every facial detail vivid; no longer the indistinct outline Ji Yao had seen at first. Even wielding magical power and controlling artifacts seemed effortless.

Except for her inherently incorporeal state, she was little different from a living person.

Thinking of her encounter with Ling Ruho earlier that day, Ji Yao intended to ask about the Wood Origin.

But Situ Jing raised her hand toward the bamboo lodge.

“Sword, come!”

At her command, a long sword unlike any ordinary flying sword shot out from the lodge, hovering before Situ Jing and radiating a sharp yet gentle light—strangely beautiful.

Most flying swords were either brimming with sharpness or subdued in brilliance, but this sword blended two opposing qualities, not at all awkward but strikingly harmonious, possessing a unique balance.

The blade was slender, just over a finger’s width, and the hilt matched the blade in length—indeed, on closer inspection, the hilt was slightly longer.

Moreover, the hilt differed from the norm, featuring twelve holes, shaped like a jade flute in pale blue and white.

“Senior Situ, is this your life-bound flying sword?” Ji Yao was instantly attracted by its form.

Not for any particular reason—only because in her past life, she too had possessed such a jade flute, the last gift from her mother. It had accompanied her for more than ten years, until the final car accident shattered it before her eyes.

“Isn’t this yours? I was about to ask you, where did you get this sword and the fruit stored with it?”

Hers? Ji Yao had no recollection of owning such a sword. She had assumed her first flying sword would be a standard issue from the Lingyun Sect after joining.

Seeing Ji Yao’s puzzled expression, Situ Jing was exasperated—this occasional confusion was nothing like the clever girl she first met.

Good-naturedly, Situ Jing reminded her, “The wooden box you left in the study, sealed. Inside were only this sword and a fruit.”

Wooden box? Ah! That box.

Ji Yao had nearly forgotten it existed. It was the first stroke of fortune she received, thanks to Daoist Yan He’s talisman, which had saved her life. The box had come from him as well.

She hadn’t planned to open it, simply stored it away, and then forgotten.

Ji Yao scratched her head, embarrassed, “I forgot all about it. The box is also from the Northern Wilderness, gifted by a Daoist.”

“Well, let’s leave it at that. Did he mention anything about the fruit?”

Situ Jing produced a fist-sized fruit with a brown, rough skin, using spiritual power to float it before Ji Yao.

At a glance, the fruit seemed unremarkable, even a bit lumpy and unsightly. Its appearance was far from appealing. But on closer inspection, natural patterns could be seen on the skin—peculiar but not out of place.

“Try weighing it in your hand,” Situ Jing said again.

Ji Yao reached out as instructed, only to realize with surprise—

This—could it be a solid lead ball?