CH 71

Chapter 71 Stir-fried Clams (b)

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Gumihou

Xue Qingge’s expression grew cryptic, “I heard that she and Lin Fan are brother and sister disciple under the same teacher.”

“So what if they share the same teacher? Everyone knows Lin Fan is the one with talent. What is she? A Cultivator who hasn’t even reach Core Transformation Stage should be ashamed to call Lin Fan their brother disciple.” Xue Qingruo clearly did not place any importance on Shiyu at all.

In her heart, Shiyu was merely a cook. A status barely a step above slaves. As a high born young lady, of course, her position was obviously above slaves and servants. As a high born young lady, of course, she’s above beings like slaves and servants. It is practically her duty to look down on those beneath her.

Xue Qingge said nothing, since Xue Qingruo had practically spat out her inner thoughts. In the end, however, Xue Qingge sought to maintain a dignified stance said diplomatically, “Those without strength could not show their faces on the stage.” Her expression remained calm and elegant as she surveyed the scene before them.

Elder Liu wanted to close the Treasure Pavilion, but entered the building with Lin Fan. The reason for closing the Treasure House must have something to do with Lin Fan. Why would the normally indifferent Elder Liu treat Lin Fan so courteously?

Xue Qingge was very curious. At the same time, she congratulated herself for her good eye for people. How lucky that she managed to assist him in his time of need. Who would have thought that just by handing over a few necessary medicinal herbs she would have established a relationship with such incredible talent?

Everyone watched as Lin and Shiyu trailed after Elder Liu into the Treasure House. As the door slowly closed in their faces, people’s eyes suddenly went round with shock.

“Hey, don’t tell me Lin Fan bribed Elder Liu to open a backdoor to him for a private tour!” someone said unhappily.

Someone else quickly countered, “If Elder Liu is so easily bribed, why don’t you try it? Elder Liu must have seen something in Lin Fan and thought well of his talent.”

“Fine, I admit that Lin Fan’s Cultivation level is good and he has good talent root, but what of that Shiyu? Isn’t she in the worst Yellow Grade Classroom? Could it be possible that Elder Liu had seen something in her too?”

As soon as this opinion was voiced out, a stunned silence reigned. The subsequent argument that broke out later was even louder than before.

This time, the dissenting voices were not condemning Lin Fan, but were cursing Shiyu instead. More than a few students were determined to march into the principle’s voice and decry against Elder Liu’s blatant favouritism.

When Xue Qingge heard this, she concluded that there was nothing further to be learned from the crowd and left with her sister. However, while the elder Xue sister was able to maintain her composure, younger sister Xue Qingruo was still visibly angry, “Tcheh! How lucky that some people got to bask in the Lin Fan’s reflected light. Humph, but no amount of luck could carry her all the way to Heaven.”

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When the doors of the Treasure Pavilion closed behind them, all outside sounds were cut off too. The silence within the building felt very oppressive somehow. It wasn’t like this the first time she was here. Sure, it was quiet then, but that was more like the silence of a library, whereas this one was more like the silence one would expect from a haunted house or a former slaughterhouse.

“The Third Floor has been unsealed, you are feeling the effects of it,” said Elder Liu.

“Where’s the entrance to the stairs?” Shiyu asked. The last time she was here, she took the time to explore the whole place and did not see anything that resembled stairs.

Elder Liu chuckled and walked to his usual seat and pressed a button. The counter next to him shifted to the side, revealing a wooden staircase leading upstairs. [1] Elder Liu took out a jade card and held it up to the space leading to the stairs. A blue light flashed across the doorway. Elder Liu put away the card and said, “Let’s go.”

The two trailed after him to the Second Floor. Unlike the First Floor which was filled with crystal cabinets, it was lined with opaque wooden cabinets. The air smelled of nothing, it looked like the whole room was sealed up to the point that not even air could freely move in or out.

However, this was only the Second Floor.

Elder Liu pressed another button somewhere else, and the stairs leading to the Third Floor appeared. This time, he held up a black wooden card. After another flash of light acknowledging the card’s authority, they followed the elder upstairs.

Shiyu’s first impression of the Third Floor was… it was not very big. Only about as large as a regular bedroom.

The Second Floor cabinets were made of wood, but the ones on the Third Floor… all the shelves and cabinets here were made with jade crystals. There were not many jade crystals in existence as it could only be found within the very centre of very large jade deposits. Medicinal herbs stored within jade crystals would seal its spiritual powers so well not a trace of it would escape. Therefore, only the most precious items were stored within jade crystals,

There were not many jade crystal boxes before them, only about a dozen or so. However, Shiyu was sure that every one of them contained something incredibly valuable and precious. The things inside certainly looked bizarre and precious.

There was just one problem.

Shiru had no idea what Fat Cat wanted her to fetch from this place.

Could it be one of these precious medicines?

She was just pondering over this question when Fat Cat’s voice whispered into her ear, “Go to the cabinet on the left. The one against the wall.”

Shiyu turned to the left, and saw a black cabinet there. Fat Cat called it a cabinet, but without any door, it was basically a shelf with a mish-mash of random things on it. Broken bits of swords, black stones the size of her fist as well as some books that looked like it came out of a bad fight with fire… in short, it looked like someone had taken a blacksmith’s rubbish bin and lined up the trash on the shelves to trick some unwary buyer.

However, there was no way the Treasure Pavilion will keep actual rubbish on the Third Floor, right? Though they looked like this, there must be some value to them. Shiyu tried asking Fat Cat what she should pick, but there was no answering instruction from the normally bossy cat. Perhaps, it didn’t want to influence her choice? Could it be that it wanted to see what she would pick? [2]

Shiyu studied the shelf before her.

It was a five-tier shelf filled with hundreds of broken or incomplete things scattered all over it. Shiyu felt like she was standing in front of a bargain bin, trying to hunt for hidden treasures, unsure whether something would turn out be treasures or utter rubbish.

As she pondered over the items, Lin Fan came over and both of them stood staring in front of the cabinet. [2] Lin Fan asked, “Have you found anything you like?”

At the question, Shiyu recalled that the original novel mentioned that Lin Fan found a fragment of a Divine Level Martial Arts scroll here. Although he got into the Third Level a little earlier than the original version, he should be able to get his hands on it again.

“I’m still looking, what about you?”

“Me too,”

After this brief exchange, both went back to studying the items within the room. [2] They would randomly pick up some items, held it briefly in their hands for a moment, putting it back down before picking up the next item and repeated the process all over again.

Lin Fan picked up a black, fist-sized rock, studied it for a long time before saying, “This might be a Crow Spirit Meteor Iron. But… there’s something odd about it.”

Shiyu looked at the black rock in his hand and held out her hand for it. When he dropped it into her palm, it sank down immediately. The little rock felt much heavier than it looked, she was convinced that she was holding something that weighed over a 100 catty.

“Heavy!”

Lin Fan said, “It’s heavier than a normal Crow Spirit Meteor. My guess is there must be something hidden within the rock.”

At this, Shiyu stared at the rock with more interest. However, they only have one chance at this, so it’s better not to gamble with an unknown. They replaced the meteorite and sifted through the ‘junk’ again.

Lin Fan ran his hands over the random items and paused over a book. The title of the book proclaimed it to be a <<Thousand Character Classic>>. Lin Fan picked it up and began flipping through it, “Heaven, Earth, Arcane and Yellow, desolation flooded the Cosmos…”

Seeing nothing interesting about it, Lin Fan was about to return the book when Old Gu suddenly whispered to him, “Don’t return it yet. Look at it closely, there’s something odd about it.”

Lin Fan paused, and studied the book again.

Shiyu merely gave him a brief glance before squatting down to look at the lower shelves for something that might be more suitable for herself.

[Gumihou: I think someone else has replaced Mo Yin as the most annoying female character for me.]

[1] Structural Changes: Attached two short paragraphs together. Also, instead of ‘Elder Liu took out a jade card and placed it in the void for verification’, just described his movements. Someone who ‘raises a cup to their lips’ could be inferred as ‘they drink’ after all.

[2] Structural Change: Combine two short paragraphs