Although Han Li was by nature a daring man, one glance was enough to make his mind waver, a wave of dizziness washing over him.
Forcing himself to endure the discomfort, he stared fixedly for a while longer, but in the end he withdrew his gaze without having perceived a thing.
His spiritual sense was formidable, yet it could not penetrate such profound depths.
Then, without further hesitation, Han Li headed straight for the pavilion.
As he drew closer, the true scale of the structure became apparent — it was at least three or four times the size of an ordinary tower. The entrance was a semicircular archway, roughly two zhang tall, sealed by a layer of yellow luminous membrane.
When Han Li reached the door, he studied the barrier for a moment.
Tilting his head in thought, a flash of azure light passed across his hand and a foot-long sword beam materialized in his grip. He extended a finger and gently tapped the azure sword beam against the luminous membrane.
Ripples spread outward, and the beam slid through without the slightest resistance.
The ease of it surprised Han Li, but he quickly withdrew the sword beam and thrust his arm inside instead.
A slight chill crept over his skin, as though his hand were being enveloped by a coat of liquid.
Without further delay, Han Li lunged forward. His body passed through the membrane and vanished.
But upon stepping through the archway and standing inside the pavilion, Han Li froze.
Before him stretched row upon row of jade pedestals, each roughly a zhang tall. They were of varying sizes, carved from translucent white jade, and arranged in dense formation across his field of vision.
Light shimmered atop each pedestal — hemispherical domes of every color crouched over their surfaces, and something appeared to be contained within each one.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of excitement crossing his face.
The moment he had seen the three characters "Bao Guang Ge" — Treasure Radiance Pavilion — he had already guessed his luck. This pavilion most likely held ancient treasures.
Yet the pavilion was completely empty. It seemed the previous occupants of this passage had either already selected their ancient treasures and been teleported out, or they had made their way to the second floor.
At this thought, Han Li took a closer look at the pedestals and indeed found that a few of them bore no hemispherical dome at all, sitting bare and empty.
As for the staircase to the second floor?
Han Li frowned in puzzlement. He swept his gaze across the entire room and found nothing.
Curiosity thoroughly roused, he searched several more times before his eyes settled on a peculiar pedestal. It stood alone at the back of the first floor, isolated and conspicuously flat, with deep, abstruse rune symbols carved around its edges.
After his gaze circled it a few times, Han Li drew on his knowledge of formations and determined it to be a simple teleportation array of unusual design.
After studying it for another long moment, he turned away and began walking slowly along the rows of pedestals, browsing the ancient treasures displayed upon them.
As he examined piece after piece, however, Han Li's brows drew together.
"These ancient treasures — aren't they a bit too underwhelming?"
After looking at only a few dozen pedestals, Han Li had completely lost interest. He stood in place with his arms folded, mumbling to himself, a trace of puzzlement on his face.
The items on these pedestals truly lived up to the name "ancient treasures" — every single one was either a long halberd or a long spear, relics of antiquity in the most literal sense. They glowed with mana of various hues, but Han Li knew full well that during the barbarian age these objects had been roughly equivalent to the flying swords and flying blades that cultivators used now. In general, they would not possess any truly astonishing abilities.
That was not to say they were entirely useless.
But having already come into possession of a treasure like the Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, Han Li naturally could not bring himself to care about items of this caliber. What he truly wanted was an ancient treasure with special abilities, something like the azure ring.
Even so, for fear of overlooking something, he forced himself to muster his energy and examine every last pedestal.
In the end, Han Li let out a sigh and walked without further hesitation toward the teleportation array.
He believed the second floor should offer something different.
After setting a few spirit stones into the array, Han Li was enveloped in a flash of white light and transported to a new location.
This was the second floor of the Treasure Radiance Pavilion?
Han Li narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze forward, his lips pressed tightly together.
The space here was small. Apart from a massive spherical barrier not far ahead of him, the surroundings were entirely bare — nothing else at all.
The barrier stood roughly a dozen zhang tall and radiated a soft, azure glow. Suspended about a zhang above the floor at the center of the second floor, it was a dazzling sight.
Inside, dozens of ancient treasures of all shapes and sizes floated quietly.
Han Li recognized scrolls, jade tablets, round bowls, and black banners, and there were others he could not identify — not a single one was a duplicate.