The Legend of the Great Desolation: I Am the Fortress

Chapter 203 Vast Treasures

"Hmm? This little guy..."

In the chaotic and hazy void, a faint smile appeared on the face of a girl in white.

"They actually forged their own path under pressure. Although this path is still very small..."

"However, it is far stronger than that extremely ordinary Dao from before."

She had seen far too many people embark on the path of time and space, but they were merely 'embarking' on it, and like this little fellow who had previously ventured into the Demon-Subduing Palace, they were all far too mediocre.

Even finding a path to the strongest position in the future would be difficult.

Such ordinary cultivators are a dime a dozen in the endless chaos.

Even if they are fortunate enough to forge their own path in the future, or even merge with the Dao, they will still be among the weakest...

Of course, Lei Zhan is only slightly stronger than those ordinary ones now, and it can be said that he is not even a prototype of the strongest path. But once he has taken the first step, he has taken it.

It's like planting a seed. Given enough opportunity in the future, compared to others, there's always a slight chance it will take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit.

……

An endless ice world.

As the vast space surrounding Lei Zhan returned to calm, Lei Zhan also awoke from his reverie.

"Is that all?" Lei Zhan looked down and saw that since the Ice Demon Lord was killed, no new demons had appeared in the entire space.

at this time.

Wow~~~
The entire endless ice world froze instantly; the howling wind was frozen in place, and the snowflakes that were drifting everywhere were solidified.

At this moment, even Lei Zhan himself felt the silence of his soul and spirit.

"This, this is..." Lei Zhan's heart trembled, and this extremely peculiar feeling made him somewhat frightened.

call.

Then, the entire world around them went dark.

Endless darkness, not a single ray of light in sight.

I do not know how long it has been.

"Lei Zhan! Lei Zhan!"

A voice echoed in Lei Zhan's ears.

"Huh? Who? Who's calling me?" Lei Zhan's frozen soul seemed to begin to revive at this call, and his consciousness began to return at this moment.

"Hoo." Lei Zhan opened his eyes and looked around. He was now in a huge and magnificent palace.

The palace was exquisitely beautiful, with carved beams and painted rafters, surpassing all the buildings Lei Zhan had ever seen.

"Hmm? Master? Fuxi?"

Suddenly, a tall man in a Taoist robe and a monk in a bright yellow robe with a topknot came into Lei Zhan's view.

"Lei Zhan, what's wrong?" A hint of worry flashed in Tathagata's eyes as he looked at Lei Zhan. "Did something happen when you were storming the Demon-Subduing Palace?"

“Unexpected change?” Lei Zhan couldn’t tell whether the situation he was encountering was an unexpected change or something else.

But even that fleeting feeling in the endless icy world filled him with immense terror.

But now, upon reflection, I realize that the freeze-frame of that moment was also a brilliant use of time and space.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan." An old man in a golden robe walked out from outside the main hall.

"Hmm? Congratulations? What's there to be happy about?" Lei Zhan looked at the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal who walked up to him, his face full of doubt.

“Fellow Daoist, take a look over there.” Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal pointed vaguely to the massive palace wall in the distance. “In this Demon Subduing Hall, there are usually records of the general performance of those who attempt the trials. Fellow Daoist Lei Zhan, have you seen the names on that wall?”

"Huh?" Lei Zhan was taken aback, and looked in the direction that the Nine Flames Ancestor Immortal pointed.

There was a wide wall, and beneath the wall stood a half-person-high stone pillar supporting a crystal ball.

On that wall, it was clearly divided into two parts, each covered with densely packed tiny characters, all written in the most commonly used script in the chaotic world.

Lei Zhan's gaze fell on the wall. He immediately saw the densely packed, tiny characters written on it. They were all the names and evaluations of cultivators.

Read ten lines at a glance, scanning the text.

"Hmm?" Lei Zhan's gaze immediately fell on a line of small print.

"The List of True Gods and Immortals. The True Gods are displayed in a grand manner, and their evaluation is: Class A and Class B."

Lei Zhan read it aloud word by word, the look of doubt on his face not diminishing in the slightest.

"Those whose names are recorded on this wall are all geniuses and prodigies from countless years. Being on the list means that the challenger has great talent."

"Of course, these are just empty titles; the most important thing is the opportunity to obtain even more precious treasures."

Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal revealed a hint of barely perceptible desire, "As long as one has enough merit, even exchanging for the legendary Dao Divine Weapon is not difficult."

"Huh? Enough merits to exchange for a divine weapon of the Dao?" Lei Zhan was taken aback.

Fuxi and Tathagata also showed a hint of anticipation, clearly already aware that above the Chaos Treasures, there existed even more precious Dao Divine Weapons. They also knew how rare such achievements were.

“Fellow Daoist, take a look at your own achievements. Those who are on the list and ranked at the top generally have quite a lot of achievements,” said Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal with a smile.

"Achievements?" Lei Zhan nodded slightly and walked directly to that wall in the Demon Subduing Hall.

Beneath that wall stood a magnificent stone pillar, with a transparent crystal ball suspended atop it.

"call."

He spread his fingers upside down and placed his long, jade-like hand directly on the crystal ball.

boom! ! !
Instantly, a massive amount of information flooded into Lei Zhan's mind like a tidal wave.

"Slayed over 986,000 Ice Demons at the True God/True Immortal level, gaining 9,860 merits. Slayed the Ice Demon Lord at the True God/True Immortal level, gaining 8,000 merits?" Lei Zhan flipped through the first piece of information that flooded into his mind and nodded slightly.

Adding the two together, he gained a total of 17,860 merit points from this one battle alone.

Although it is unknown how much merit a typical True God or Immortal has accumulated, at least their name is listed on this True God or Immortal Ranking, so nearly 20,000 merits is not a small amount.

Splash splash ...

Countless memories were still churning in his mind when suddenly streams of information began to be read and processed.

moment.

"These merits can be exchanged for all sorts of magical treasures, supernatural powers, and powerful secret techniques?" Lei Zhan murmured to himself. Everything in this massive amount of information flooded into Lei Zhan's mind at that moment.

It is vast and boundless, and the treasures, magical artifacts, and secret techniques that can be exchanged are as numerous as the stars in the sky.

Countless pieces of information were frozen in his mind, like an incredibly thick book. When he flipped through it, the treasure and the merit points required would automatically appear in his mind.

"Nine Flames Elixir, one merit can be exchanged for one hundred catties?"

With a thought, Lei Zhan immediately opened the thick book in his sea of ​​consciousness, which seemed to be a real object, and went straight to the page that recorded the Nine Flames Elixir.

"One merit point is only worth a hundred pounds?"

"Whoosh~~~" The thought flashed through his mind, and the heavy book in his sea of ​​consciousness turned the pages again, landing on the page about the Ice Heart Essence.

"Ice Heart Marrow and Nine Flame Elixir are of similar value, and one merit can be exchanged for one hundred catties of Ice Heart Marrow?"

Lei Zhan suddenly had a vague idea in his mind. However, the Ice Heart Marrow and Nine Flames Elixir were only considered average among the many chaotic treasures. They usually appeared in large quantities. As for their preciousness, they were indeed just average.

"However, these merit points... If a third-grade Ancestral Immortal wants to cultivate the 'Ice and Fire Tempering Golden Core Technique' to temper their Golden Core into a second-grade Golden Core, they need a million catties of Nine Flame Essence and a million catties of Ice Heart Marrow. Then, they would need 20,000 merit points?"

Lei Zhan was somewhat taken aback.

Don't be fooled by the fact that Lei Zhan gained nearly 20,000 merit points so easily. If Lei Zhan hadn't been able to control the Solar Golden Flame and the Taiyin Profound Water, he wouldn't have been able to wipe out the Ice Demons, kill over 900,000, and even ultimately slay the more powerful Ice Demon Lord…

But how many people throughout the ages have managed to make it onto the list like him?

Those are billions of years, and even then, it's unlikely that one person would appear. The names on the list are densely packed, but none of them are alive today.

Moreover, even a true god or immortal only has three opportunities to venture into the Demon-Subduing Palace at most, making these achievements even more hard-won.

"However, 20,000 merit points... is difficult for true gods and immortals. But it might be easier for ancestral gods and immortals to obtain them."

On second thought, Lei Zhan felt relieved.

It should be noted that the standard he set was the Ice Heart Marrow required for the Ancestral Immortal level. In reality, if a True Immortal wanted to upgrade their third-grade Golden Core to the second grade, they would need ten thousand catties of Ice Heart Marrow and Nine Flame Elixir.

That's about 200 merit points. It's still pretty worthwhile.

"However, this is really not cheap." Lei Zhan thought of the millions of catties of Ice Heart Marrow in his storage magic treasure! His heart was also a little excited. But the most regrettable thing was that merits could be exchanged for treasures, but treasures could not be exchanged for merits in return.

"I wonder if merit points in this Demon Subduing Palace can be exchanged for the treasures needed to cultivate the Eighteen Divine Demons of Tao Wu?" A thought flashed through Lei Zhan's mind, and he immediately thought of this major concern that was giving him a huge headache.

Even if he possessed extraordinary comprehension and could thoroughly understand the clone technique "Tao Wu Eighteen Gods and Demons," it would still be extremely difficult for him to collect all the necessary treasures to fully master it.

Some treasures are even unique to the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom. They cannot be found anywhere in the surrounding Three Realms.

Lei Zhan casually flipped through the pages. Although this vast amount of memory existed in the form of books within Lei Zhan's sea of ​​consciousness, it was still essentially a collection of memories.

Lei Zhan's divine soul, now at the level of a true god, is incredibly powerful. With a thought, he immediately found the treasures and rare items he needed.

"Nine-star bamboo. Heavenly wind fruit. Withered wind and secluded green stone..." Lei Zhan searched and explored one by one, but the results of his exploration made him extremely happy.

Just a moment.

"Yes! They're all there! All these treasures exist!" Lei Zhan shouted inwardly, his excitement reaching its peak.

"Nine-Star Bamboo: True Gods and True Immortals need seven stalks, requiring approximately 700 merit points. Heavenly Wind Fruits: Sixteen fruits are needed, requiring 800 merit points..."

Lei Zhan pondered for a moment and suddenly realized that if he were to cultivate the third level of the Tao Wu Eighteen Gods and Demons at the True God and True Immortal level, the treasures needed for his main body and second primordial spirit would be worth about 13,600 points! And the merits he had obtained now were more than enough.

"But..." After the initial excitement, Lei Zhan became somewhat disappointed.

"I only have two avatars in this inner world, and both are second primordial spirits," Lei Zhan thought to himself. "Even if I could exchange all the treasures, I wouldn't be able to take them out. I would have to become an ancestral god or ancestral immortal and break through the Ice Demon Valley to get out."

"But the price to become an Ancestral God or Ancestral Immortal also skyrockets. The required merit also increases considerably..."

It should be known that the "Eighteen Gods and Demons of Tao Wu" is an extremely powerful technique for creating clones. And at the third level, once mastered, one can freely create and disperse clones.

Scattered like countless stars, each clone possesses the strength of the original, and each clone is identical to the original.

"Gathering" refers to the merging of eighteen clones possessing the power of the original into one.

They can directly rival half-step Ancestral Gods at the level of ordinary True Gods, and this is only the most basic improvement in body and divine power!

However, to cultivate to the third level, one must have all eighteen clones, not even one!

Lei Zhan felt helpless.

As for letting both the second primordial spirit and the original body, which were far away in the Three Realms, enter, Lei Zhan did have this thought. But it was completely annihilated in the end.

At least, now is not the time.

"Having looked at some treasures, let's take a look at some magical artifacts." With a thought, Lei Zhan continued flipping through the items.

Instantly, the heavy book in his sea of ​​consciousness seemed to move without wind, and as the memories were unfolded, it directly revealed a divine sword of the innate top-grade spiritual treasure level.

This time, he wanted to confirm the specifics of the exchange. Even though treasures couldn't be exchanged for merit points, merit points were incredibly valuable, enough to exchange even for treasures unique to the Nine Directions Chaos Kingdom.

How to use this naturally requires a set method.

"The Black Lotus Divine Sword, a supreme innate spiritual treasure, has three swords in one sheath, each one a supreme innate spiritual treasure? It requires 1,500 merit points?" Lei Zhan pondered to himself, and after a moment, he continued reading.

"Are they all Chaos Treasures?" Lei Zhan's eyes lit up, and he immediately scanned the merit points required for each exchange. "The Chaos Treasure Heavenly Origin Axe is worth 11,000 merit points? This superior Chaos Treasure, the Hellfire Radiant Gold Staff, is worth 35,000 merit points?"

Lei Zhan pondered for a long time, as various pieces of information surfaced in his mind. He had a general idea of ​​what to look for.

“This can indeed be exchanged for Chaos Elixir,” Lei Zhan pondered. “But Chaos Elixir is clearly similar to a magic weapon; two thousand merit points can be exchanged for one bottle…”

To exchange merit points for a Chaos Treasure, one typically needs between 8,000 and 15,000 merit points to exchange for a high-grade Chaos Treasure.

The value of a top-grade Chaos Treasure ranges from 35,000 to 100,000 points.

As for the even more top-tier Chaos Treasures, or even the Dao Divine Weapons mentioned by the Nine Flames Ancestral Immortal, the required merit points are calculated in the hundreds of thousands or even millions.

As for the worst Dao Divine Weapon, it requires at least ten million merits!

"In the endless chaos, the most ordinary Chaos Treasure is worth about one to ten bottles. More precious or special ones may be even more valuable. But that Chaos Treasure, the Heavenly Origin Axe, requires 11,000 merit points, which is about five bottles of Chaos Spirit Liquid. So it's not that much different."

Lei Zhan pondered in his heart, and then immersed himself in this massive amount of memories.

"And there are also secret techniques, supernatural powers..."

The memories transmitted from this crystal ball not only contain magical treasures and artifacts, but also record precious magical techniques and supernatural powers.

These are all things that Lei Zhan needs right now, so naturally we can't let them go.

……

(End of this chapter)