CHAPTER 101: CHAPTER 101: SPIRIT TREASURY

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

Indeed, it is this...

The Pangolin stopped at the foot of the mountain. The path ahead was sealed off, and the clean, tidy stairs rendered its Filth Concealment almost ineffective. Additionally, an invisible barrier prevented the Pangolin from entering.

Activating ’Spiritual Vision’ was out of the question; it would only turn the screen golden with no other effects. Many visitors were at the base of the mountain. Ren Suo noticed that the crowd’s footsteps had nearly kicked through all 15 layers of the Pangolin’s Armor.

The Armor resembled ’Clothing’—a special Energy Gauze Clothing attached to the body’s surface. However, the Pangolin could choose ’Tough Out’ during its first Evolution to gain 15 layers of Armor. This indicated that while the Armor seemed impressive, it was only at the Pangolin’s level—a human could shatter a layer with a single step.

Mingling in the crowd, Ren Suo could hear people exclaiming through the game screen as they inadvertently kicked the Pangolin. "Who brought a dog here? Pick it up quickly!" one person shouted. "Wow, what’s this hard thing moving around underfoot?" another wondered.

Ren Suo had no choice but to let the Pangolin push through. Its Armor was damaged, and it sustained minor injuries while breaking through the crowd, eventually reaching the edge of the sealed-off area. This spot was at the very edge of the crowd, where no one was stepping, so it was natural for stains to be present here.

This was Ren Suo’s first time seeing this world-class wonder. It confirmed his suspicion that this was the most potent Spiritual Object in Sky Capital—perhaps even in all of Mysterious Country.

This mountain was in East Sky Capital; or rather, Sky Capital was built around it. The mountain wasn’t large. From a distance, it resembled a savory zongzi with its lotus leaf wrapper peeled off. Its slopes had almost no loose rocks, having been polished smooth and translucent by countless people over the dynasties, and it shone like white jade in the sunlight.

Looking up the stairs, one could see rosy light drawn from the highest heavens, descending into the mountain’s peak. The brilliant sunlight, refracted by the mountain’s wondrous material, lingered and danced at the summit, creating a spectacular vista resembling orange Fiery Flames.

This was Mysterious Country’s greatest world-class wonder, a magnificent achievement born from the combination of nature and the wisdom of laborers throughout the dynasties: Heritage Volcano.

It was a dormant volcano that had erupted multiple times in the distant past. These eruptions had reduced the mountain to an ordinary size, and the intense heat of the flames had caused its rock to vitrify. In the pre-Common Era, people discovered the unique beauty of this dormant volcano and took the initiative to maintain this vitrified, jade-like mountain.

Once all loose rocks and dust were cleared from its surface, a wondrous refractive effect emerged. Sunlight underwent multiple Refractions on the mountain’s surface, eventually converging in the crater and transforming into illusory flames, like a divine miracle.

Throughout the dynasties, it was revered as a sacred mountain. After the founding of Mysterious Country, it was officially renamed Inheritance.

However, Ren Suo had never considered that natural landscapes could be Spiritual Objects. After all, natural landscapes are just so vast...

Even if Ren Suo wanted the Pangolin to get close and Absorb Spiritual Energy, it was futile. The Spiritual Energy Golden Column at the base of Heritage Volcano was almost tangible within the sealed-off area. Ordinary people could enter and exit freely, but for a creature like the Pangolin, which was half-Transcendent, it was as if a solid wall blocked its path.

Moreover, Heritage Volcano’s surface was too clean; sneaking in would certainly lead to it being noticed—tens of thousands of people were watching from below.

What to do? Just give up?

Ren Suo was reluctant to give up. After the Pangolin waited for a full five minutes, ’Spiritual Vision’ activated automatically.

"You have found the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country!"

"Would you like to open the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country? You can open the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country earlier as a reward, and you can obtain exclusive Evolution Abilities."

"Be aware: Opening the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country will lead to a series of unpredictable consequences."

"Be aware: After opening the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country, you will be eligible for one ’Trump Card Evolution.’"

"Be aware: The Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country might automatically open within 200 to 400 days."

"Heritage Volcano"

"Spiritual Energy Quantity: ???"

"Required opening time: 6 instances, each requiring 12 hours"

"Nation-Protecting: ???"

"Exorcising Evil: ???"

Ren Suo blinked and naturally chose to open the Spirit Treasury. It’s just a game, why hesitate? The consequences are severe? Well, I’ll just start a new save then.

During the opening process, the Pangolin had to remain in contact with Heritage Volcano’s Spiritual Energy Golden Column. That wasn’t an issue. The problem was that for every 12 hours of this process, the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country would erupt. These eruptions would paint half the sky red, similar to the sky during a dawn flag-raising ceremony, and the Spiritual Energy radiation from Heritage Volcano would extend to cover half the city district.

After fast-forwarding 12 hours, Ren Suo watched as the Pangolin continuously lost health amidst the crimson nocturnal mist—

Originally, the game had no health loss mechanic. However, the intense Suppression of Otherkind by the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country during its eruption created a similar effect: Recovery ability was reduced to -15 points. If the Pangolin merely remained there, it would rapidly weaken and die!

From the Pangolin’s perspective, even when not in ’Spiritual Vision’ mode, strange, arc-shaped red lights, like polar auroras, were visible in the night sky.

This Red Lotus Aurora was immense, covering almost all of Sky Capital. When the Pangolin ran out from the affected area, it saw many people emerging from their homes, raising their smartphones to photograph the sky.

After spending half an hour escaping the crimson mist and fast-forwarding to the following noon, Heritage Volcano’s eruption finally subsided, its energy beginning to recede. Ren Suo then controlled the Pangolin, attempting to sneak back in.

However, the area around Heritage Volcano was now enclosed with three-meter-high colored steel barriers, similar to those used to isolate construction sites.

Notices posted on the barriers read: "Heritage Volcano is undergoing emergency repairs. We apologize for any inconvenience to visitors."

There was no mention of how many days the repairs would take or when it would reopen.

Yesterday, the Pangolin had initiated the opening of the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country within Heritage Volcano. Today, repairs had begun. Even a fool like Ren Suo knew something was amiss.

It was certain that the state’s cultivation units had identified Heritage Volcano as the source of the previous day’s astronomical phenomenon. Consequently, an emergency lockdown was implemented within half a day.

Ren Suo didn’t dare let the Pangolin venture in recklessly. Optical camouflage wasn’t omnipotent; if there were infrared body-temperature detectors inside, the Pangolin would be doomed if it entered.

This was an autosave game. Dealing with ordinary people was one thing, but if targeted by the army and Cultivators, given the Pangolin’s current strength, it would be time for a reset.

Since he couldn’t pass this part, he naturally had to go back and level up. Sky Capital had plenty of Spiritual Objects and museums. Ren Suo found a museum with a slightly smaller Spiritual Energy Golden Column to sneak into.

Ren Suo wasn’t too worried about others discovering the secrets of the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country. The game clearly stated, "You can open the Spirit Treasury of Mysterious Country ahead of time as a reward, and you can gain an exclusive Evolution Ability from it." This seemed like a privilege exclusive to game characters.

And even if it was discovered, could the Pangolin use its little paws to stop others from opening it?

However, most museums in Sky Capital had strict security. Valuable exhibits were inevitably isolated behind glass cabinets. Unless Ren Suo wanted the Pangolin to end up ’a dish on a platter,’ it couldn’t break the glass cabinets to touch the exhibits, so absorbing Spiritual Energy was out of the question.

Ren Suo spent some time searching before finally identifying a suitable target.

The Imperial College Museum housed a forest of 189 tall stone steles engraved with Confucian classics. It lacked significant protective measures; there certainly wouldn’t be any glass cabinets. It also wasn’t frequently visited, so the stains from the Pangolin’s Filth Concealment would be hard to discern.

The Spiritual Energy Golden Column here was much smaller than in other museums. However, each stele contained at least a Trace Amount of Spiritual Energy, with some even holding ’Moderate Amounts.’ By accumulating these small quantities, the Pangolin absorbed Spiritual Energy from the 65 most potent steles in a single day, gaining 4 Evolutions!

Of these four Evolutions, the most important was naturally the first, achieving ’Super-Evolution’ by reaching its limit!