Chapter 2281 — The Real and the Fake Treasure

"Then if you tell me now... won't that violate the agreement with your master?" Wei Zhao asked.

"That sect no longer exists, and besides, you two have some connection to it. Telling you hardly counts as breaking the agreement," the Heaven-Rank Spider said.

Wei Zhao nodded and sighed. "An ancient sect, wiped out just like that. Do you know who the enemy was?"

"Not clearly." The Heaven-Rank Spider shook its head. "The enemy was very strong—many Heaven-Rank experts..."

"An innocent man's only crime is the treasure he carries!" Wei Zhao sighed. "To make such a massive mobilization over a so-called supreme treasure..."

Wei Zhao had originally intended to scout out information about Uncle Qing's enemies, but now it seemed even the Great Fire Lion and the Heaven-Rank Spider were utterly in the dark.

"The supreme treasure... naturally that was one reason... but what those people were actually looking for was not the supreme treasure!" The Heaven-Rank Spider's words shocked Wei Zhao immensely.

"Not the supreme treasure?" Wei Zhao said, stunned.

"You could say it was, and you could say it wasn't," the Heaven-Rank Spider said. "This sect produced two people who pursued the Heavenly Dao, which naturally drew the covetous eyes of certain factions. From what I heard those visitors say, they came to seize it because they had heard this sect possessed something that could break through the Heaven-Rank and pursue the Heavenly Dao... Only, that supreme treasure in your hands was mistaken for the thing that could break through the Heaven-Rank and pursue the Heavenly Dao..."

"Mistaken for it?" Wei Zhao frowned. He carefully savored the Heaven-Rank Spider's words, then suddenly understood something. "What they were really looking for was the teleportation formation, right? They just didn't know there was a teleportation formation here—they thought the supreme treasure was the treasure that could break through the Heaven-Rank and step into the Heavenly Dao?"

"Exactly." The Heaven-Rank Spider nodded. "That treasure is indeed a treasure—it can provide human cultivators with pure true qi—but whether it can help a cultivator of peak late Heaven-Rank, great-perfection strength, step into the Heavenly Dao, I do not know. But this treasure was discovered by this sect only in the last few decades, so it absolutely cannot be what those people imagined..."

"So... it was all a huge mix-up..." Wei Zhao smiled bitterly. Uncle Qing really was unlucky—producing a treasure had only caused others to misunderstand.

"You can't quite call it a mix-up. After all, the value of this treasure is immeasurable," the Heaven-Rank Spider said.

"True enough," Wei Zhao agreed. He knew well the benefits of his jade pendant's space. Though this white strange stone could not be compared to the jade pendant space, taken on its own it was still a rather rare treasure in this world.

Sun Jingyan listened quietly nearby as Wei Zhao and the Heaven-Rank Spider conversed, and enormous waves surged in her heart! These matters were too astonishing, bordering on the inconceivable. Only, Wei Zhao seemed not to guard against her in the slightest?

Heaven-Rank, the Heavenly Dao—though these matters were very distant from Sun Jingyan, she was a cultivator herself and naturally understood the significance they represented. If word got out, it would likely stir up a terrifying storm!

A mere legend could annihilate an ancient sect. Then if the teleportation formation were actually found, what consequences that would bring was truly hard to say!

Was this... trust in her?

Watching Wei Zhao as he conversed with the Heaven-Rank Spider, the corners of Sun Jingyan's lovely lips curled into an indefinable arc, and her dark brows lifted slightly. A strange feeling rose in her heart—did he truly treat her as one of his own?

Knowing so many of his secrets, would she from now on... always remain at his side?

But thinking of the fierce competition for the position of girlfriend at Wei Zhao's side, Sun Jingyan felt somewhat conflicted again. Qiu Lingshan, Shen Yushu—both of them were queuing up and waiting, weren't they?

"However, once you take this treasure back, do not spread word of it, or it will bring serious trouble!" the Heaven-Rank Spider warned.

"Naturally. A force that even you and the Fire Lion clan combined cannot contend with—I had best be careful," Wei Zhao said in full agreement. After his earlier clash with the Great Protector, Wei Zhao had already begun thinking along these lines.

"Then I will say no more." The Heaven-Rank Spider nodded. "Are you not anxious to know where that teleportation formation is?"

"What use is being anxious? If you won't take me there, there's nothing I can do," Wei Zhao said with a shrug.

"Taking you to see it is naturally no problem, but with your current strength, you had best not activate the teleportation formation. Setting aside the unknown dangers that might await at the destination, the energy produced when the formation teleports cannot be withstood without Heaven-Rank strength!" the Heaven-Rank Spider explained.

"I understand. I'm only curious to have a look—I'm not that reckless," Wei Zhao said with a smile. "With my strength, going to some Cloud-Rank Island would be no different from courting death, wouldn't it?"

"That teleportation formation lies at one end of another mountain-ravine chasm. Even for us of the spider clan, crossing over is not easy—we must spin silk one after another. With only your current strength, you could never cross," the Heaven-Rank Spider said. "If you want to go have a look, I will have my people spin a silk bridge. It should take about a night's work—you can go take a look tomorrow!"

"Then I'll have to trouble you!" Wei Zhao said.

"It is nothing—merely within my power," the Heaven-Rank Spider said.

By this time, the spider subordinates had already prepared a lavish banquet. The wine was a fruit wine they brewed themselves, said to be infused with heavenly and earthly treasures and highly beneficial for cultivation, while the food consisted of natural fruits, much the same as what they had eaten at the Great Fire Lion's abode.

Wei Zhao did not stand on ceremony. After eating heartily together with Sun Jingyan, the Heaven-Rank Spider yielded the cave to Wei Zhao, Sun Jingyan, and the Heaven-Thunder Pig for their rest, while it led its swarm of spider subordinates—and even the little spiders—to work through the night building a silk bridge for Wei Zhao.

Outside the spider clan's cave there were ancient restrictions, so there was no fear of danger. Thus this was the most secure night Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan had enjoyed...(to be continued) RQ