Zong Shou took out the golden prism again, examining it closely. It was a second-tier magical treasure, just barely manageable with his soul power.

Ye Feihan cast a long, disbelieving look at Zong Shou.

"This object is a treasure refined by an ancient Artifact Master. Legend has it that it was the first spirit vessel in our Cloud Realm capable of traversing the void between worlds, and it is also a formidable magic item. When the Dragon Clan obtained it, several components were already missing. Nonetheless, its speed is astonishing. But what it’s most famous for is the difficulty in retrieving it. The tale goes that fifty Winged Bats were originally kept in a cavern within the Dragon Palace's Spirit Beast Valley. When the spirit array was triggered, they would transfer over. It was fine initially, but soon their numbers began to increase. In just five thousand years, they swelled to three hundred strong. At least three descendants of the Dragon Clan nearly perished within it over the years, thus earning it a notorious reputation indeed." Zong Shou instantly understood; that place certainly didn't feel like an assessment, but rather a death trap.

Fourteen thousand years ago, the number ranged from three hundred to eight hundred. It was a huge stroke of luck that no Black Winged Bats of the Spirit Realm appeared!

Ye Feihan then scoffed again, "I truly don't know how you managed to obtain it, but passing nine trials consecutively in the Inheritance Ground is absolutely unprecedented. Even after fourteen thousand years, you have every reason to be proud!" The implication was that Zong Shou should be satisfied with what he had.

Zong Shou, however, sighed again with emotion, his gaze looking desolate. How could this woman know the agony of having a mountain of gold and silver right before one’s eyes, only to miss it by mere breaths?

Four hundred and ninety-nine Winged Bats—that should have yielded at least a hundred ninth-tier Beast Cores. If their corpses hadn't been pulverized, they could have been sold for a fine price.

Suddenly, a warning sign stirred in his heart. Zong Shou’s gaze swept over. Dozens of cold, sharp gazes were fixed upon him.

One party was the Primordial Demon Sect, and the other was the Dao Ming Sect, whose ninth-tier Spirit Venerable he had just slain.

As for Fang Ming, he was not far off, glancing over deliberately, or perhaps unintentionally.

Zong Shou offered a cold sneer, tucking the golden flying prism back into his sleeve.

"This is not the place to linger. Let’s talk elsewhere!"

About three thousand li from the Dragon Palace, on a small island floating above the sea of clouds, Zong Shou sat cross-legged. He began taking out his spoils from the Inheritance Ground one by one.

For Zong Yuan, there was a second-tier Dharma Weapon, its body gleaming with purple light. Unfortunately, after fourteen thousand years, its sword spirit had reverted to a state of unconsciousness.

According to Zong Yuan, the sword had appeared in his hands the moment he passed through that starlight spirit array. Its value naturally fell far short of the Spirit Essence Marrow, but it was still decent; the pity was that Zong Yuan disliked using swords.

Then there were the nine Intent-Preserving Pills and a copy of the Purple Origin Thunder Extreme Art.

As for the rest of the gains, they had mostly been taken by Zong Yuan's innate guardian spirit.

Zong Shou first took out the Night Demon Wing, and then, to everyone's astonishment, he laid out the entire mass of Spirit Essence Marrow—nearly a hundred drops—the Divine Realm Dragon Pill, and the golden flying prism before him.

Fei Shuang, Fei Han, and Ruo Shui watched beside him. With almost every item revealed, their expressions shifted slightly.

As for the Heavenly Demon Sarira, Zong Shou kept it hidden within his Qiankun Bag. It wasn't that he was reluctant to show it, but rather that this object resonated with the demonic cultivators of the Cloud Realm and would cause too much commotion, immediately attracting the people from the Primordial Demon Sect.

The last items were the three sheets of golden talisman paper that resembled fragmented pages of the Profound Fate Golden Tome.

Glancing at them, he saw that what appeared to be mere ornamentation was actually the golden lines of an abstruse spirit array, bearing striking resemblance to the Profound Fate Golden Tome.

In the center, a name was indeed written: Hong Ming of the Cang Sheng Dao!

Zong Shou’s pupils constricted instantly. This was indeed a roster of disciples from the Cang Sheng Dao. The absence of generational designation meant he must be one of the first generation, one of the dozen or so individuals who established the Cang Sheng Dao alongside Xi Zi.

Just as he was about to turn to the second page, Chu Xue suddenly exclaimed in surprise, flashed forward, and appeared before Zong Shou.

She snatched the golden page with a movement as swift as lightning, snatching it away before Zong Shou could react.

However, her eyes remained half-open, hazy and unfocused.

Just as Zong Shou was about to wrestle it back, Chu Xue abruptly opened her mouth and swallowed all three golden pages.

Zong Shou watched, dumbfounded, his eyes wide with shock. When he recovered, the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably. He flashed forward, grabbed Chu Xue by the shoulders, and shook her violently.

"You little brat! Spit that out! You can’t just eat things randomly! These are the ancestors of our Cang Sheng Dao—how could you just swallow them?"

After shaking her for a moment, Chu Xue remained in that dazed state, seemingly awake yet not quite.

Zong Shou felt an even greater headache coming on. The Golden Tome material was extraordinary; even an Immortal Weapon would have immense difficulty damaging it, so it certainly wouldn't be harmed by Chu Xue "digesting" it.

But if he had to wait for those three golden pages to pass through the cycles of nature—the 'Five Grains Reincarnation'—wouldn't that be the height of disrespect to the Ancestors?

He looked Chu Xue up and down, hesitating slightly before placing his hand on her chest.

Fei Han and Fei Shuang immediately blushed, the former spitting and turning her head away. Fei Shuang glanced at Chu Xue's ample bosom, then down at her own, a faint look of inferiority crossing her features; hers was barely graspable, not even half the size of Chu Xue's.

Ruo Shui watched with mild curiosity, while Zong Yuan consciously stepped to one side. "This Xue'er, she’s really..." The moment his hand made contact, Zong Shou’s spirit rippled. The touch was warm, soft, and wonderfully elastic.

He could really do it—this was the purest Yin energy imaginable. The isolated Yang energy wouldn't last long, and for a moment, visions of an innocent face and an intoxicating scent flashed through his mind. Zong Shou quickly cleared his throat like a proper gentleman, suppressing the lustful thoughts rising within him. He parted Xue'er's cleavage and placed his hand near her stomach; applying a slight pressure here should make the girl vomit.

Come to think of it, he could have used True Force or spiritual (thought/will) to achieve the same result; why did he immediately resort to using his hands?

His face flushed slightly, a rare occurrence, and Zong Shou applied gentle force. Sure enough, Chu Xue opened her mouth and spat something out. Looking closely, it was a jade bead.

Zong Shou was momentarily stunned. He took it and examined it. The transparent outer jade was a seal, made of an unknown but clearly extremely sturdy and dense material. At its core were just a few drops of spiritual fluid, derived from some spiritual treasure Zong Shou had never seen before. He only knew this object must be extraordinarily significant.

Zong Shou paused, then sent a thread of divine sense to carefully probe inside Chu Xue’s body. The three golden pages had vanished completely. He looked doubtfully at Chu Xue's lips. Did the Fu Dao Cat race possess spatial abilities? Could swallowed objects be transferred to another dimension?

Chu Xue finally woke up groggily. She then looked at the large hand resting on her chest, her face full of confusion.

"Young Master, why are you touching my chest?" Zong Shou retracted his hand slightly, feeling awkward. He continued to gaze thoughtfully at Chu Xue’s lips.

Where had those three golden pages gone? Had their disappearance been exchanged for an item of at least mid-Earth tier quality?

Heaven, Earth, Black, Yellow—even the God Emperors of later ages, after conquering millions of worlds, had only managed to find a mere handful of Heaven-tier treasures. Earth-tier items were also extremely rare in this world.

A thought struck him. Zong Shou summoned the golden flying prism and placed it before Chu Xue, his expression deeply solemn.

"Xue'er, try swallowing this! You must spit out something good!" Chu Xue was startled, somewhat bewildered. Then, she blinked her eyes with a look of utter helplessness, on the verge of tears.

"Young Master, are you bullying Xue'er?"

A moment later, Zong Shou sat down again, filled with profound disappointment. Chu Xue ultimately couldn't swallow the Demon-Bane Flying Prism, and naturally, nothing good came out.

Those few pages of the Profound Fate Golden Tome had vanished, replaced by an object of unknown origin and function resting nearby.

As for Chu Xue, she had already curled up on the tiger's back and fallen back into a deep sleep, shedding tears even in her slumber, which gave Zong Shou a pang of guilt.

Ye Feihan watched from the side, amused and exasperated. Then her expression grew serious.

"These things were acquired through His Highness's efforts; we sisters cannot use them. For the Spirit Essence Marrow, I will only take ten drops!"

Zong Shou nodded; this was only right. Although these two sisters hadn't exerted themselves in the retrieval, their intimidation of the various sects had secured two entry slots, thanks in part to that peak ninth-tier Ice Flood Dragon. Moreover, the inheritance memories had been of significant help to him.

Ye Feihan was not polite, taking nearly ten drops from the pile of Spirit Essence Marrow.

She then hesitated slightly. "I suspect the Primordial Demon Sect and the Dao Ming Sect won't easily let Your Highness go and will likely join forces. Does Your Highness require the three of us to stay behind?" Zong Shou laughed carelessly and waved his sleeve, completely unconcerned.

"I am fine here! However, if you two face danger in the future, you may seek refuge in the Qiantian Realm. Even if it offends the Five Heavens, no one within Qiantian Mountain City will be able to harm you."

Ye Feihan didn't hesitate further. She nodded, said, "Take care," and soared away.

As for Zong Shou's words about "seeking refuge," she hadn't taken them to heart at all. Saying she could ensure her life was safe while facing imminent peril? How ridiculous! Not wishing to embarrass Zong Shou, she simply pretended not to have heard.

Ye Feishuang, however, was reluctant to leave and was pulled along by Fei Han. She could only look back and say, "Brother Shou! I will visit you at Qiantian Mountain in a few days, alright?" Zong Shou immediately let out a cold snort: "Not Brother, you must call me Brother Shou!"

As he spoke, the Fei Shuang and Fei Han sisters had already vanished from sight.

The moment the figures of the three disappeared, the space around Zong Shou suddenly undulated and trembled once more.

A moment later, a beautiful youth, smooth as fine jade, stepped out of the void and stood before Zong Shou.

He first glanced thoughtfully in the direction where the two sisters had disappeared.

"People from the Ye family? Interesting!" Then the youth looked toward the golden Dragon Pill in front of Zong Shou, frowning slightly.

He summoned the Dragon Pill into his hand. He first contemplated, then his expression shifted to sudden realization.

"So it was him. He was actually sealed in the Third Dragon Palace—"