Chapter 33: Bitterness and desire

[Opening mystery boxes...

Congratulations, you have received: Low-Grade Artifact—Fan of the Immortal Water Heron (Rank A)

Congratulations, you have received: Five-Color Healing Pill (Rank B)

Congratulations, you have received: Elite Target Detection Card (Rank B)]

[A spatial ring has been detected... Items automatically stored.]

Naturally, the Rank A item was the first to catch Kael’s attention.

An artifact.

He had heard of items at this level before, but he had never seen one up close. In a poor region like this, they were far from common.

Generally speaking, there were nine grades of artifacts.

Low-Grade Artifact, Intermediate Artifact, High-Grade Artifact, Silver Artifact, Golden Artifact, Earth Artifact, Sky Artifact, Immortal Artifact, and Great Immortal Dao Artifact.

Many said that even the Golden Alliance Sect possessed only a single Intermediate Artifact and three Low-Grade Artifacts.

Each one was an incomparable treasure, something the Fallen Sword Sect could not even dream of obtaining.

Honestly, if this artifact were revealed, the sect’s ancestor himself would come out of seclusion to try to seize it.

The only thing capable of preventing that was the story of Kael’s master. A story that, incidentally, would gain even more credibility with an item of this caliber in hand.

’Hm... this is quite convenient.’ He smiled slightly, glancing over the artifact’s status screen.

[Name: Fan of the Immortal Water Heron

Type: Low-Grade Artifact

Description: An ancient artifact from a bygone era, created by a Venerable of the Void as his life’s work. It is perfect for water cultivators, boosting the power of their Qi and all water-based Taoist and martial arts.

Its spatial compartment contains this Venerable of the Void’s martial arts library, holding over a hundred water arts.

It is a bound item. Once bound to a person, it can only be used by another upon the owner’s death or by intentionally breaking the bond.

Rank: A]

To him, the item was useless. But to his stepmother?

Selene was already the most powerful water cultivator in the sect. With that fan in her hands, her strength could very well double!

At that level, leaping eight cultivation layers to face cultivators at the peak of the Spiritual Transformation Realm would cease to be a dream and become a very real possibility.

Of course, the moment an item like this came to light, even the Golden Alliance Sect would want to get its hands on it. Still, they would hardly dare to make a move.

After all, if Kael’s master could hand out items of this caliber so casually—a gift that wasn’t even for Kael, but for his stepmother—then just how high must this man’s cultivation be?

Not even a Perfect Soul Venerable should be that wealthy.

That master might even be a cultivator of the True Soul Ascension Realm, perhaps hailing from the Land of Divine Light itself.

And since Kael had publicly declared that this master would take him to the Land of Divine Light in a few years, that possibility would only grow stronger in everyone’s minds.

The Golden Alliance Sect was powerful. Powerful enough to snatch an artifact of that caliber from Selene’s hands without the slightest difficulty should the item be made public—offering her a paltry reward in exchange, at most.

But with that master’s shadow looming behind Kael, no one would dare to move against him.

If the man truly came from the Land of Divine Light, anyone who tried anything would be inviting a terrible calamity upon themselves.

In the end, Kael let out a sigh and turned his attention to the other two items.

The pill was very powerful, despite being single-use.

It could even bring a cultivator of the Mortal Tribulation Realm back from the brink of death.

The third item, however, left Kael a bit confused.

[Name: Elite Target Detection Card

Description: A card capable of detecting high-value targets in your area. When used, it pinpoints the target most suitable for the user and provides a list of information about that target.

Conquering these targets yields unique additional rewards.

Rank: B]

"Oh..." Kael’s eyes lit up.

It was the perfect item to use once he obtained the Golden Alliance Sect token.

He could use it right now, of course. But on second thought, that would be a waste.

Inside the Golden Alliance Sect, the card would point him toward a target far superior to anything the Fallen Sword Sect had to offer.

With a sigh, Kael stood up, rolling his stiff shoulders until they popped before leaving the cultivation room behind.

It was morning again. Faint light streamed in through the pavilion’s windows, which meant he had likely spent more than twenty-four hours absorbing that divine essence.

Without giving it much thought, he crossed the luxurious pavilion, his footsteps echoing softly against the polished floor, and soon found his stepmother.

She was once again with Seraphine. The two women sat side by side beneath a blooming cherry tree, chatting casually while petals drifted down around them, settling on their hair and robes without either bothering to brush them away.

Seraphine’s face was flushed.

She seemed far more relaxed in Selene’s presence than before, but even so, her shoulders remained stiff and her replies were short, almost robotic, her fingers clutching the fabric of the dress on her lap.

She looked up just in time to see Kael approaching.

The next moment, her gaze dropped to the ground, as if the petals scattered across the grass were the most interesting thing in the world.

Honestly, she really did like Selene.

That beautiful water cultivator had been one of the main experts Seraphine had looked up to as a model when she first began cultivating.

All the other female cultivators talked about her, the older ones and those as young as Seraphine alike.

Even so, every time she laid eyes on Kael, two conflicting feelings welled up in her chest at once, each one pulling against the other.

Bitterness and desire.

She hated him, but she wanted him inside her and filling her up so badly...