Chapter Forty: The Treasure Divide Cliff

“Nüwa, your temperament is not fond of conflict, and you have great merit yet to accomplish in the future. Therefore, I shall give you the Red Embroidered Ball and the Map of Rivers and Mountains. These two treasures are among the ten greatest innate spiritual treasures, one for attack and one for defense. They should serve you well as protection.”

As he spoke, Hongjun turned his hand, and before him appeared a water-red embroidered ball with golden cloud patterns, and a scroll depicting mountains and rivers, cities and kingdoms.

Nüwa received them and quickly bowed in gratitude, “Thank you, Master.”

Though the Red Embroidered Ball and the Map of Rivers and Mountains were not supreme innate treasures, the two together were not far inferior to the preceding ones, so Nüwa was well satisfied.

“At last, it’s my turn…”

Zhun Ti, standing behind Nüwa, saw Hongjun looking his way and instantly tensed, gazing up with hopeful eyes.

Finally, I will have a spiritual treasure, too!

Hongjun looked at Zhun Ti, hesitated, and then produced a large golden cudgel.

“This is the Divine Blessing Cudgel, a superior-grade innate spiritual treasure. Though not among the ten greatest, it is not far behind. I bestow it upon you.”

Zhun Ti accepted the Divine Blessing Cudgel, but his hopeful gaze lingered on Hongjun, clearly dissatisfied.

Nüwa was given two top-tier treasures—why was he only given one superior treasure?

After a short wait, seeing Hongjun remain silent, Zhun Ti fell to his knees and resorted to his usual tactic, bursting into loud sobs: “Master, pity the barrenness of the West and grant me more treasures!”

Seeing this, others also knelt and began to wail, for many had noticed that whenever Zhun Ti cried, he always seemed to gain more than expected.

“Master, have mercy on my devotion to the Dao! Without innate treasures, there is no hope of severing the corpse!”

“I have struggled from humble beginnings to this day—heaven and earth can attest to my devotion. May Master take pity!”

“Master…”

Hongjun frowned and then simply closed his eyes, saying, “The destined treasures have been divided. After Zixiao Palace, there remains the Treasure Cliff. All the treasures I possess are there. Each of you may go, and those with destiny may claim them.”

Hearing this, everyone immediately ceased their wailing and, realizing what had been said, prepared to fly out of Zixiao Palace.

Li Tian had long been prepared. At these words, he was the first to vanish from sight, and the Three Pure Ones followed closely behind.

Seeing several figures fly out in sequence, the rest of those in Zixiao Palace were momentarily stunned, then hurriedly scrambled after them.

Now, Li Tian’s true form was the innate Golden Crow, whose speed was already astonishing. Having also acquired the Great Roc’s innate divine power, he was now unimaginably swift.

With a single burst of speed, he left the Three Pure Ones far behind. Arriving at the Treasure Cliff, he saw all manner of treasures floating before him, dazzling and radiant. Without hesitation, he summoned the Chaos Bell and began wildly gathering up the treasures.

He didn’t bother to check what they were; he simply swept them all in. By the time he’d collected several thousand treasures, the Three Pure Ones arrived. Seeing Li Tian’s frenzy, they said nothing and each wielded their own treasures to snatch up as much as possible.

By the time the rest arrived, the four of them had already seized nearly a third of the treasures.

The others, seeing this, could hardly contain their fury. Noting this, Li Tian and the Three Pure Ones sensibly stopped. They weren’t fools—one must always leave a line of retreat, lest they incur the wrath of the masses.

The crowd, seeing the restraint, breathed a sigh of relief and then plunged into the Treasure Cliff, joining the wild scramble.

“This treasure is destined for me!”

“Nonsense, it’s mine!”

“If you dare snatch my treasure, I’ll eat you!”

Countless beings fought and squabbled atop the Treasure Cliff. Were it not for the Saints’ oversight, things would surely have turned into a bloody massacre.

Li Tian and the Three Pure Ones watched coldly from the side. Each had collected no fewer than tens of thousands of treasures. Unless something truly extraordinary appeared, they had no intention of fighting further.

Scanning the surroundings, Li Tian recalled a remarkable artifact—the Twelve-Petal Golden Lotus of Merit, which in the original history had been given by Hongjun to Jieyin.

Now that Jieyin was absent, the Golden Lotus would not be linked to him, nor was it present on the Treasure Cliff…

Where could the Golden Lotus be?

But recalling the Heaven-Sealing Seal given to him by Hongjun, Li Tian quickly understood. How many superior innate merit treasures existed in the wilds of the world?

Unwittingly, he had caused trouble for the West again… No, the Twelve-Petal Golden Lotus of Merit was originally a treasure of the East—what did it have to do with the West?

The fierce scramble concluded. Nüwa obtained the Banner of Summoning Spirits, the Lotus Lantern, and the Liguang Shears—three innate treasures—as well as over a dozen unnamed acquired treasures. Fuxi, too, seized several fine items, though most were of lesser rank, except for one nameless ancient zither, which appeared to be a superior innate treasure. Li Tian guessed this was likely the famed Fuxi Zither of later ages.

The rest of the Heavenly Court’s followers each gained some opportunity, but most were acquired treasures; the innate treasures numbered less than a hundred.

Seeing the chaos of the scramble, Li Tian and the Three Pure Ones withdrew from the Treasure Cliff, for nothing remained to tempt them.

Before he left, however, Li Tian happened to notice Houtu acquiring a black, ancient tome, which seemed to be a top-tier innate treasure.

Could it be the Book of the Underworld—one of the three books of Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld, the Book of Life and Death?

He immediately considered approaching for a trade. After all, the Wu Tribe did not cultivate the primordial spirit, so treasures were of little use to them. Offering some rare materials in exchange should not be difficult.

But after some thought, he dismissed the idea.

The Book of the Underworld was of no use to him, and even the future Yama King, who would preside over the Book of Life and Death, was little more than a minor functionary under the Heavenly Court—how much less under his own rule?

Soon, all the treasures on the Treasure Cliff were claimed. Each person gained at least one or two treasures, some better, some worse.

Just as he was about to leave, Li Tian suddenly heard a series of tremors behind him. Turning, he saw a green-robed Daoist using his power to move the entire Treasure Cliff. In a flash of blue light, the Daoist stored the entire Treasure Cliff in his storage treasure.

Li Tian’s expression grew odd. The Treasure Cliff, though somewhat unusual in appearance, was at its core nothing but a chunk of chaos meteorite. On the way to Zixiao Palace, Li Tian had seen countless such stones and never spared them a second glance.

Had he misjudged it?

But probing with his divine sense, Li Tian found that the green-robed Daoist was merely at the Golden Immortal level. If even he hadn’t noticed anything special, how could a mere Golden Immortal?

The Three Pure Ones, Nüwa, Fuxi, and other great beings were also surprised, but in the vast primordial world, the bizarre was commonplace. They quickly dismissed the matter and turned to fly back to Zixiao Palace.

Li Tian shook his head and followed.

None of them noticed the look of deep regret on the faces of the other Golden Immortals.

But then, Li Tian and the other great beings were all top-tier innate gods, and had never experienced the Golden Immortal realm themselves.