Tundra stood in the personal archives of the Hailstorm Temple, and Lord Saljuk led him through the old temples that contained books so old that he instantly became suspicious. He was relieved he returned in one piece, and for Azin, Azin was in recovery mode.
The boy went through so many blood replenishment and restoration pills that he looked horrified at the prospect of eating more, so it’s a good thing he didn’t have to, for a while.
All in, they collected about ten cups of purified Heavenly White Ice Serpents, one cup was stored somewhere safe, and now, the remaining nine cups underwent a process of accumulation.
Once that was ready, Lord Saljuk would likely attempt to infuse the purified blood back into Azin’s body.
“These books-” Tundra remembered an archive of similar age, but he only encountered it when he was well into the ninth realm, about four to five thousand years into the future. “They are from the post-primordial era?”
The telltale signs of that age were the materials used to make the books. The paper and its bindings were made from a brownish type of pulp, usually from a now-extinct type of tree known as the Winding Heart Tree, though some evolutions and variants still survived. There was a popular folktale about how men learned to write the first words and use paper from a Winding Heart Tree that attained sentience. Ever since that time, men coveted the paper of the Winding Heart Tree for their hardiness, and their dried petals for their calming scent.
Many other alternatives and imitations emerged since that era, perhaps as a result of the ridiculous price tags and overhunting of the Winding Heart Tree, but the era when the paper was widely available came to be known as the Post-Primordial era.
“Not all of them.” Lord Saljuk said. “Some are from the later eras.”
“I did not know the Hailstorm Temple’s history went so far back.”
“It didn’t.” Lord Saljuk shook his head. “My predecessors just had a habit of collecting old books and paying a fortune for it.”
Cultivation geniuses existed in all eras, but those closest to the primordial era benefited from the direct guidance of the progenitors, and it was in the post-primordial era that the first of the Old civilizations of men came to be. Though the leaders and men were strong, it was not Man’s golden era. It was a time when spirit beasts ruled the world, and when even the Golden Dragon had to contend with powerful spirit beasts who didn’t want to coexist with man.
“Call it one of my predecessor’s vices. One that I somehow inherited.” Lord Saljuk said with a grin. “Now, I promised you ten books. Have your pick, anything except those in these two rows.” Lord Saljuk tapped two cabinets that were clearly newer. “These are my collections.”
Tundra laughed. In many ways, Lord Saljuk still came out ahead. Someone with a fairly strong manifestation of a primordial spirit beast bloodline should be able to reach the 8th realm fairly quickly. “Very well.”
***
“Where is the Sect Master?” Anna asked, curious. They had not seen their father for almost three weeks.
Elder Jussa Joen smiled at the young lady. “Do not worry, Lady Anna Fox, your father is alive and well, and just having a good time selecting his reward from the Sect Master. You will see him in about-”
The door opened, and the two old men walked through. Anna saw his father looking rather tired, but somehow, happy. Lord Saljuk grinned. “Well, well, it’s time I bring all of you to what I promised. Come with me, everyone.”
Anna thanked Jussa Joen for his clarification, and they all followed Lord Saljuk to one of the Hailstorm Temple’s buildings, where they were all swiftly ushered into one of the Hailstorm Temple’s flying ships.
It was only in the flying ship that they knew what they were going to do. Lord Saljuk stood there, flanked by her father, and he explained.
“Well, your father’s assistance with my problem has been absolutely instrumental, and in return, I’ve agreed to bring all of you to experience a real Treasure Realm.”
That made everyone gasp in surprise.
“So sit tight, and prepare for one of the most unique experiences of your life.” Lord Saljuk said, and Anna felt her heart pound.
Edison, now mostly recovered from his injuries, looked at Anna. “-Are we really going to a treasure realm? Did- Did my ears deceive me?”
“No.” Jashen tapped the young master on the shoulder. “You did not, young master. Your father’s pulling out all the stops to get you all ready. Come, do your best.”
***
The flying ship brought them well into a secluded area of the Hailstorm Temple’s territory, and landed on the peak of one of the many snow-capped mountains. Here, the winds were freezing cold, and at a single glance, there didn’t seem to be anything here.
Even Tundra sensed nothing.
Then, Lord Saljuk took out a strange golden key, and then, a gate warped out of existence. The world itself bent to reveal it.
Tundra blinked. He recalled seeing such things a few times in the later years, and was amazed. Even now, watching how the royal family’s treasure realm emerges out of nowhere still amazes him.
The power over space to the point of creating treasure realms was something he did learn in the later realms. At that realm of power, most cultivators learn some limited way of creating such secret realms to store one’s belongings. But those created by a 10th realm cultivator usually still lagged behind those created by the royal family. The Golden Dragon’s power over reality was more profound.
He stopped.
“That reality spear from the Scarlet Thunder Sect.” Tundra asked.
“Youfinally realized.” Lord Saljuk smiled. “They’ve wanted the spear for a purpose. There are hidden guardians, some they could only reach through the unique qualities of such weapons.”
Tundra wondered whether Lord Saljuk knew that the Zuja likely existed in a different world altogether. He decided to leave a hint. “I doubt it’s so simple. I wonder whether something with power over reality, even if it is fairly limited, could help with summons.”
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Lord Saljuk stopped briefly, as if processing the statement. He was a smart man, likely he could pick up his suggestion.
“Is there a great sect that’s willing to take this threat seriously?” Tundra asked, unsure if any of the Great Sects knew.
“There are some within the Great Sects trying to move against them, but the bugs are not the only threat the myriad worlds face.” Saljuk sighed. Demons. Spirit beasts. Other great sects. Tundra knew and dealt with these other threats all too well. “Come, let’s enter the treasure realm.”
***
Tundra stood from his fairly unique vantage point. A ‘control room’ that gave them full vision of all the participants in the Treasure Realm, located above it all yet somehow with the ability to zoom into the performance of each and every participant.
The Treasure Realm itself was a giant volcano, and there were rivers of lava everywhere.
Each of the participants would have to fight the lava beasts that emerged from the rivers of lava, and then somehow cross the lava river and reach the other side, where even more lava beasts awaited.
There was a strong fire that prevented them from using flight or other such similar abilities. Anyone that tried would be blasted with a strong flame, and so, the only way they could cross was by solving the puzzles and defeating the monsters.
The participants were also separated from each other.
“Heartwrenching, isn’t it?” Lord Saljuk mused as he noticed Tundra’s expression. It was painful looking at his children stumble at some of the challenges. Luckily, the lava monsters were not particularly strong, since their strength scaled to match the challenger.
“Yes.” Tundra said, but he noticed Anna doing quite well. Surprisingly, Edison also did decently, that Tundra almost had his hopes up- and then he made many reckless mistakes.
He shook his head. His son’s mindset wasn’t in the right place.
Lord Saljuk laughed. “I’ve seen that expression a lot in teachers when watching their disciple’s performance.”
“I must’ve been fairly lucky that I have good disciples.”
“Indeed. You have a superb eye for talent, one that clearly served you very well.” Lord Saljuk praised as their attention watched how Yavin, Julia and Agnia all deftly solved their own puzzles and then managed to somehow multitask their battles against the various lava monsters while trying to hop over to the other side.
“It is mostly luck.” Tundra generally trusted his guts when it came to recruitment, and so far that hasn’t failed him.
“If I make some progress with Azin, I’ll send him over to you for training.”
“-I’m not sure if I can protect him.” Tundra decided he wasn’t ready to face that kind of problem yet.
Lord Saljuk stopped, and rubbed his chin. “Fair point. We’re not ready.”
Tundra’s attention was redirected to Anna and Edison, both of them were trying to solve one of the puzzles given by the Treasure Realm. But even from his vantage point, the mere presence in the Treasure Realm should be beneficial. The energies within the Treasure Realm were dense, and seemed to contain a bit of the Golden Dragon’s pure energies. Such treasure realms would be incredible places for cultivators to climb within their minor realms.
Anna was busy trying to solve a puzzle, trying to move the strange pieces provided into place. Tundra could recognize it for what it is, it was a kind of cultivation puzzle that was fairly common to help 3rd and 4th realms try to make sense of how their spiritual realms grow.
Edison had already completed it, but now was trying to jump over the rivers of lava to get to the next stage. Yet, rather than figure out how to make use of the torrents of hot air in the chamber, or the various exploding gasses that could’ve helped him gain some additional distance, he tried to jump normally, and fell into the lava.
Luckily for Edison, he already discovered he couldn’t die in this part of the challenge, and was swiftly teleported back to where he started.
Tundra couldn’t help but rub his head.
“Let’s look at more pleasant things.” Lord Saljuk laughed and pointed at how Yavin, Julia and Agnia all reached the end of their challenge, and at the end was a spirit beast that matched their realm. The battle went well, and all three of them won.
At the end of the road, was a weapon for each of them, once they grabbed it they were sent out of the treasure realm and back to the real world with their prize.
“They can’t die in this treasure realm?” Tundra looked at Lord Saljuk.
“They can’t. This treasure realm was made by a rather benevolent prince. Instead, if they fail in the final battle, or fail to solve the puzzle, they’ll just get ejected.”
There were a series of puzzles, battles, and obstacle courses, and while his newly promoted elders managed to complete it within a day, and the lesser disciples all managed to eventually complete it after four or five days.
But, in the end, time ran out for Edison, Anna and Larian, and all three of them were ejected. Anna did manage to get her way to the final battle, but couldn’t overcome the final boss. Both Larian and Edison were still stuck against one of the last few puzzles.
***
After they returned to the Hailstorm temple, Tundra summoned those who attempted the treasure realm to review their performance. Naturally, he congratulated the disciples and allowed them to keep it. For them, the reviews were fairly short, and he could easily get through explaining their mistakes.
Then, it was his three children’s turn.
“How’d you think you did?” Tundra asked the three of them. The three of them were the only ones that did not return with a prize, and that made Larian’s face turn absolutely pale.
He immediately knelt before his father. “I”m sorry, father! This one is incompetent and unable to complete the treasure realm!”
Tundra nodded, and with a sigh, said. “Rise up, Larian. I expected it.”
Anna and Edison were both silent.
“But, I saw how you three performed, and there were certain good parts. Anna did slightly better on the puzzles, and I think a good amount of studying some common scriptures would help you solve those puzzles faster. Edison generally fared better at the battles, but you failed to take account of the environmental aspects of the obstacle courses.”
Anna and Edison looked at each other. Edison couldn’t believe it. “You- you saw?”
“Yes.” Tundra admitted. “It seems the keymaster of the Treasure Realm can see how those who participated in the treasure realm performed.”
Tundra started with Larian, and recounted his actions through the treasure realm’s various challenges. The boy made a lot of mistakes, but ultimately, his children were just not at the level they needed to be. They were students who didn’t study and were unable to solve the examination’s questions.
Anna was slightly easier, but it was the difference between the student who scored last and the student who was still in the bottom half. It would be a lot of work before she could get there. Still, at least she seemed receptive, and at the end of it, Tundra saw his daughter thinking about her actions.
Then, Edison.
“There are certain parts you did quite well.” Tundra started, as he remembered the lessons and sayings from his wives. The boy needed reassurance. Hopefully he could take the criticisms together with the positives and swallow the bitter pill. “You did quite well in the combat stages, and it seems you are starting to develop combat instincts. This is something you should continue to hone.”
Edison trembled but didn’t say a word.
“Now, similar to Larian, the foundational concepts and the puzzles are where you need more work.” Tundra tried his best to water down the criticism. It was easy to be a harsh master, but it didn’t work with Edison.
His son looked at him, and then looked away. Tundra wondered what he felt then.
“These questions are a muscle that needs practice. The treasure realms are all designed as a test for those who would inherit its prizes. There are good scriptures and books that have these kinds of questions, once we return it would be a good idea for all of you to study them.”
“I thought we already did like twenty of those books.” Edison suddenly asked, perhaps not thinking it through. “Why are we still not good enough for the treasure realm?”
“The treasure realms are created from the experiences of their maker, and they often test what their creators think are important. Lessons they wished they knew when they started out. How can books encapsulate the experiences of so many different cultivators?”