Chapter 1036 - 1035: Five Treasures

Simon drew the Myriad Venom Heartroot out of the floating row.

The Nether Ice Origin Crystal and Void Origin Marrow followed. After a final look at the books, he brought the Abyssal Soul Fortress beside them.

"These four."

The remaining cases drifted farther away.

His gaze lingered on the dark-red herb.

The Poison Empress had searched desperately for a Myriad Venom Heartroot and never found one. Without it, the creation she had been so certain of remained unfinished.

Simon had found the missing herb in another world, among treasures whose owners probably knew nothing about her.

Leaving it here would be foolish.

He might find another useful technique elsewhere. He might never encounter a second Heartroot.

With the Ice Corpse Flower and Hydra’s Blood Essence already in his possession, he was close enough to completing the preparations that the possibility no longer felt distant.

He moved the long case closer to his side.

The Abyssal Soul Fortress was an easier decision than the other techniques.

His offensive mental abilities had received plenty of attention. His defensive techniques had not.

A powerful mind did not remove the need to protect it. He knew how to attack another’s sea of consciousness, but he lacked a comparably developed method for stopping someone from doing the same to him.

The book offered something he genuinely needed to learn.

As for the two elemental treasures...

Simon watched the silver-white marrow shift within its vial.

He could improve his affinities through Devour. That did not mean reaching S grade would be easy.

The higher an affinity rose, the less he gained from consuming creatures with weaker affinities. Even those whose grades matched his own could offer disappointingly small improvements.

Moving from Intermediate to High, then from High to Peak, would require increasingly valuable prey. He might need to devour several demons or Daemons with powerful affinities just to advance one subgrade.

And before he could consume them, he had to find them.

Then kill them.

He glanced at the vial again.

Finding suitable prey with Space affinity would be especially troublesome. He couldn’t assume that every rare spatial creature he encountered would be something he could defeat.

Why spend months searching for uncertain gains when the marrow was right in front of him?

His Space affinity was probably A grade, though he still couldn’t identify its precise subgrade. The Void Origin Marrow could raise it to peak S.

The Nether Ice Origin Crystal would bring his High C-grade Ice affinity to S grade.

Once refined, both would strengthen abilities he already understood how to use. He wouldn’t have to master an entirely new art before benefiting from them.

His choices settled, Simon looked at the rejected techniques.

Horizon Severing Art. Void Gale Steps. Shadowless Void Art.

They were worth studying, but he believed he could develop similar techniques himself.

He had the relevant affinities, decades of combat experience, and exceptional control over his demonic energy. Given time to experiment, he should be able to work out how to combine those advantages.

That didn’t mean reading a description had taught him the technique.

He would have to test his ideas, discover their weaknesses, and correct his mistakes. Still, creating an art suited to himself was possible.

He felt much the same about the Cinder Bloom and Winter Burial Arts.

The poison techniques could wait.

Simon let the Hundred Calamities Venom Pearl drift beside the Ever-Changing Venom Scripture.

They worked well together, but he wasn’t walking the poison path yet.

Until he brought the Poison Empress’s ultimate creation to life, he had little reason to make poison a major part of his cultivation. Using it to threaten someone or keep a slave obedient was one thing. Building his strength around it was another.

He had enough to develop already.

Taking the pearl and scripture now would mean giving up something he could put to better use.

His eyes moved to the Cursed Spirit Codex.

That had been tempting.

But it offered information, not an immediate increase in strength. Its incomplete entries didn’t even give him a clear method he could cultivate toward a reliable improvement later.

He suspected The Abyss had other books about cursed energy and spirits. There were enough Heart Daemons here that such knowledge should not be limited to one incomplete volume in a treasury.

And there was Lilith.

He could ask her when he needed guidance. Between her knowledge and whatever records he could access as a member, he doubted leaving the codex would prevent him from investigating Joren’s cursed energy.

Simon lowered the rejected cases.

They settled gently against the floor beside the partition, spaced apart so that none rested on another. He kept the passage clear, then withdrew his Will from them.

For a moment, he looked at the small collection.

"Surely they won’t accuse me of anything just because I didn’t return these to their original places... right?"

Lilith gave a quiet snort within his mind.

[You’re just lazy.]

Simon raised a brow.

[You’re one to talk.]

[I’m not lazy. You just ask too many questions.]

Simon shook his head and decided not to speak. He glanced toward the ramps.

Some of those galleries were several terraces apart.

He shrugged.

The cases were sealed, nothing was damaged, and he hadn’t taken anything he wasn’t entitled to. The guard had said nothing about returning every rejected item to its pedestal.

With his four choices floating beside him, he headed toward the entrance.

By the time he reached the registration point, he had spent over twelve hours inside the Myriad Vault.

More than half a day.

He hadn’t examined everything. There were galleries he had only glanced into, and entire rows of displays whose descriptions he hadn’t read.

He had concentrated on the things that caught his interest.

His restrictions had made that easier. The Chaos Blade and Chaos Wraps left him unable to make use of the weapons, armour, and certain offensive and defensive artifacts stored here.

Without those limitations, he might still have been comparing displays when the vault threw him out.

Simon brought the four cases forward for registration.

He waited while the selections were recorded, watching the light pass over each container.

The Myriad Venom Heartroot. The Nether Ice Origin Crystal. The Void Origin Marrow. The Abyssal Soul Fortress.

Together with the dead True Dragon egg, that completed his five choices.

Only after registration was finished did he put them into his spatial ring.

His hand lingered there briefly.

Now he needed somewhere to use them.

The silver sand parted before him, revealing the outside of the vault. Simon stepped through, and the barrier closed behind his back with a soft hiss.

The Daemoness stood beside the black pillar.

Her deep-violet coat lay neatly over her armour, and the narrow sword remained at her waist. She turned toward him as he emerged.

Simon raised a brow.

"Have you been standing here since I went in?"

"Yes."

He looked from her to the entrance.

"The whole time?"

"Yes."

"And if I’d stayed for the full twenty-four hours?"

"I would still have been here."

There was nothing in her expression to suggest she found the question unusual.

Simon shook his head slightly.

Over twelve hours spent standing before an entrance while someone else browsed treasures.

He couldn’t say he envied her.

"Were you able to choose items to your satisfaction, Blackmoon?" she asked.

"Yes. Very much so."

"Then I hope they serve you well."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"So do I."

He stepped away, then glanced back at her.

"You take this job quite seriously."

"It is my duty."

"I can see that."

Simon shook his head with a quiet laugh.

"Next time I complain about spending hours choosing treasures, remind me what you were doing."

The corner of her mouth lifted.

Simon raised a hand in farewell and walked away.