Chapter 435: Space Storage Device

The box contained something unexpected. It was a transparent, palm-sized lotus petal.

Lin Yuheng asked in surprise, "What do you need the Void Lotus for? This item is mostly used in alchemy."

Jiang Fan, his heart pounding, declared, "I want it!" He was glad he had held out and not chosen the Vitality Pills. With over 800 merit points, he could only afford two Vitality Pills, which offered only a 60% chance of breaking through to the Core Formation stage. However, the Pure Void Pill, refined from the Void Lotus and Seven-Colored Profound Ice, guaranteed a 100% breakthrough to Core Formation, with a chance of even reaching the second layer of Core Formation. The choice was obvious.

Lin Yuheng frowned deeply. "The Void Lotus is incredibly rare. Even the Heavenly Secret Pavilion possesses only this single petal. It requires a minimum of 600 merit points. If you exchange for this, you'll completely lose the opportunity to get Vitality Pills." She was genuinely worried for Jiang Fan. As for the "method" Jiang Fan spoke of, if he truly had one, why was he still stuck at the peak of the Ninth Layer Foundation Establishment?

Six hundred? That was certainly not cheap! However, this was the only Void Lotus Jiang Fan could currently obtain. The large one in Kong Yuanba's possession was out of the question; even with two deputy pavilion masters of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion present, Kong Yuanba hadn't shown any deference. It was clear that no one could get it from him. "I'll exchange for this!" Jiang Fan decided without hesitation.

Lin Yuheng sighed heavily. "Why won't you listen to advice?" Resigned, she picked up Jiang Fan's list and deducted 600 points from his total. "You only have 225 merit points left."

Having secured the most urgent item, Jiang Fan felt quite satisfied. He glanced over the remaining resources and asked, "Senior Lin, I once heard that among the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's rewards this time, there's a spatial storage artifact. Is that true?"

Jiang Fan's refusal to heed her advice clearly displeased her, and she huffed lightly. "Yes, there is. But you're spending your merit points so carelessly, do you still think you can exchange for something like that? To redeem it, you need 10,000 merit points."

How much? Ten thousand! Jiang Fan felt a little dizzy. He had worked tirelessly for a month to earn first place on the rankings, yet he only had just over 800 merit points. At this rate, he might not even accumulate that many points in a full year of effort.

"Why are you so surprised?" Lin Yuheng scoffed. "There are only three spatial storage artifacts in the entire Nine Sects region. One is this jade bracelet on my wrist, which is a public spatial storage artifact that can only be requested when the Heavenly Secret Pavilion carries out important missions. Another is the Pavilion Master's spatial storage ring. The third is a spatial storage necklace located in the Heavenly Secret Pavilion's treasury. Even our own people in the Heavenly Secret Pavilion have no chance of redeeming that necklace. Making it available as a reward for the Nine Sects disciples to obtain with merit points has surely made many Heavenly Secret Pavilion members green with envy. They're all eager to go out and earn merit points themselves. For just 10,000 merit points, it's actually incredibly cheap for you all."

Jiang Fan rubbed his nose. Although he had anticipated the rarity of spatial storage artifacts, he now realized he had greatly underestimated it. Apart from the Heavenly Secret Pavilion Master, no one else possessed one. What seemed like an exorbitant 10,000 merit points was actually a significant perk given by the Heavenly Secret Pavilion to motivate disciples to resist the beast tide. The true value of a spatial storage artifact far exceeded 10,000 merit points. "Alright, I was just asking," Jiang Fan said awkwardly. He wasn't too disappointed, though. He had already considered that a spatial storage artifact wouldn't be easy to acquire. Now, he simply stopped thinking about it. That kind of item was certainly not something he should be coveting at his current stage. With just over 200 merit points remaining, what should he exchange for?

Suddenly, something familiar caught Jiang Fan's eye. It was a cat's-eye-sized object, rough and pitted on its surface, with residual scorch marks. Faint, almost imperceptible arcs of lightning occasionally flickered from it. This... wasn't this the Sky Thunder Stone dug from the abdomen of the Golden Cloud Splitter? According to the Black Mirror Evil Spirit, some rare heavenly and earthly treasures that incurred the wrath of the Heavenly Dao would be struck by countless bolts of lightning, eventually solidifying into Sky Thunder Stones. The one before him, aside from its barely noticeable lightning power and its ugly, pitted surface, bore a strong resemblance to a Sky Thunder Stone. "Is this a Sky Thunder Stone?" Jiang Fan asked in surprise.

Lin Yuheng froze, then eyed Jiang Fan up and down with astonishment. "You're really something! How did you recognize this? However, it's not a Sky Thunder Stone. This is the closest thing to a Sky Thunder Stone that our Pavilion Master has managed to create after decades of effort."

"Unfortunately, true Sky Thunder Stones are not so easily formed. If an item isn't a rare heavenly and earthly treasure to begin with, it simply cannot withstand the bombardment of ten thousand lightning bolts."

"Over all these years, the Pavilion Master has wasted countless valuable items," she concluded, her voice trailing off, a hint of complaint on her face.

Jiang Fan's heart pounded wildly. The Heavenly Secret Pavilion Master... had been trying to create a Sky Thunder Stone for decades? He suddenly felt the Sky Thunder Stone in his possession grow incredibly hot. He had actually obtained a treasure that even the Heavenly Secret Pavilion Master desired. He forced himself to remain calm and asked, feigning confusion, "But a Sky Thunder Stone is inherently a product of ten thousand lightning strikes."

"It's just a stone containing a trace of lightning power. Besides being useful to cultivators of the Righteous Lightning Sect, it doesn't seem to have much other significant use, does it?"

Lin Yuheng had no idea Jiang Fan was testing her. Instead, she seemed keen to act as his teacher, smiling as she said, "You only know one aspect of the Sky Thunder Stone, not the full truth! Using its lightning power to cultivate the lightning path is merely a superficial application."

"Its true purpose is its ability to counter heavenly tribulation. When cultivators at the ninth layer of Core Formation break through to the Nascent Soul stage, a heavenly tribulation occurs. Its power... is truly world-shattering. Throughout history, less than one in a hundred people have survived heavenly tribulation!"

As if she had witnessed it herself, Lin Yuheng's face was tinged with fear. Jiang Fan was deeply shocked. Even if all the grand elders from the Nine Great Sects were counted, there might not be a hundred cultivators at the ninth layer of Core Formation. Did this mean that among them, it would be difficult for even one Nascent Soul realm cultivator to emerge?

This was assuming they even encountered an opportunity to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. In reality, such opportunities were as rare as finding a needle in a haystack. Obtaining one was already one in ten thousand. To then undergo the baptism of heavenly tribulation made it one in a million!

No wonder, for so many years, there had only been one Heavenly Secret Pavilion Master in the Nine Sects region. Even he must have been extremely fortunate to achieve that breakthrough.

Lin Yuheng continued, "If another Nascent Soul cultivator were to emerge among our human race, we would no longer fear the Northern Demon Clan. For years, the Pavilion Master's sole aim has been to give our human race one more chance at producing a Nascent Soul expert."

Jiang Fan nodded deeply. He thought of the Black Mirror Evil Spirit. Since that entity was at the late Nascent Soul stage, it should naturally know the true use of the Sky Thunder Stone. Yet, it had consistently concealed this information. This showed that the entity's words couldn't be entirely trusted. After learning all this, Jiang Fan's interest in the Sky Thunder Stone diminished significantly. Surviving tribulation was still too distant a prospect for him. How to utilize the lightning power within it seemed more practical.

"Furthermore..." Lin Yuheng added, "Aside from all that, the Sky Thunder Stone is also considered one of the rare natural spatial storage artifacts."

"What?" Jiang Fan's pupils sharply contracted.