After they disappeared from the teleport Shrine, Shiro found herself standing in the middle of a relatively simple garden of sorts. Tall trees surrounded them with mystic lights floating around like fireflies.
In the distance, they could see a mountain range of sorts with buildings built along the edges. Pathways were carved out in the mountain along with a main hall of sorts located at the very top.
Bridges could be seen connecting from each mountain to another while there were a few flat paved out areas around the sect where people would have a friendly spar.
“Welcome to the sect’s branch area. We’ll go to the treasury for now and see if we can get anything to assist us in the journey.” Nan Tian smiled while walking forward.
“Eh? Are you sure? Isn’t the treasury meant to be for the sect? Are you sure it’s ok to just give us some items.” Shiro furrowed her brows.
“Of course since I collected most of them myself. Though if you want, we can make it so that you are only allowed to take certain items how’s that?” Nan Tian suggested.
“That would be better.” Shiro nodded.
Making their way through the garden, Shiro could see a few distant figures approaching them.
“Branch master, you’ve returned.” They said at the same time and bowed slightly.
“Mn, no need to bow. These three are my guests and one of them is a new member of the sect. As the rules state, I shall take responsibility for them.” Nan Tian smiled.
“Understood. Do you need us to do anything for you?” One of the men asked respectfully.
“You don’t have to trouble yourselves. We won’t be here for long.” Nan Tian waved as they all nodded and left the area.
“Seems like you’ve got a pretty good reputation in your sect.” Shiro raised her eyebrows since she could detect awe, reverence and respect in the members’ eyes.
“Well I am the branch master after all.” Nan Tian chuckled as he went to rub the bridge of his nose as usual but realised that his mask was in the way. Coughing lightly, he showed them the way to the treasury.
“So why do you not show your face around here?” Shiro asked curiously.
“Because I only want you to see my face.” Nan Tian joked as Shiro immediately jabbed him in the ribs lightly.
“Be serious.” Shiro rolled her eyes.
“Fine fine. It’s because showing my face has almost turned the sect upside down because one of the elder’s granddaughters took a fancy on me when I was still a rather low ranking member. We had a few conflicts but nothing major happened in the end after I was taken in by the sect master for training purposes.” Nan Tian replied.
“Oh but don’t worry, I’ll keep myself pure and dedicated only to you.” He chuckled.
“Right. Speaking of people taking a fancy to you, what ever happened to the second rate hacker girl from before? Huan Er or something.” Shiro asked.
“Her? She’s been transferred to another branch as her skill set has evolved quite a bit. Before, she could only hack into devices but after one of her class ups, she’s able to insert machines into a person’s body and control them like puppets. She’s quite a tricky opponent if you’re on the same level. Right now, she’s being trained by one of the elders proficient in control since he sees great potential in her.” Nan Tian replied.
“Heh~ Is that so. Quite interesting if you had to ask me.” Shiro raised her eyebrows as this was quite an unique skill.
She knew of puppeteers that used mana strings but not one that uses machines aside from her.
Sure, she could do the same, but she preferred to use her own hands to accomplish the tasks.
“That is quite true. I’ve seen her trying her skill set out and I have to say, it was quite a sight to behold.” Nan Tian nodded his head.
Arriving at the treasury, Nan Tian allowed the three of them to enter the vault and explore it however they wanted.
Shiro wasn’t too bothered about weapons or armour since she had two that were soul bound and upgraded as she levelled up. If anything, she could just get Helion to help further upgrade them some more.
However, she still had a look around to see if there were anything of use such as alchemy materials or weapon upgrades much like the Soul Weapon Upgrade and the Soul Bound Armour Upgrade she had obtained earlier.
Looking through the materials, she was rather surprised to find a few that she needed in order to craft the Boreas’ Rebirth pill. While her links were fully repaired, consuming the pill would further amplify her ice element so it was still beneficial.
Glancing into her inventory, she noted that she had already collected the Underworld Ice Rose, Glacial Lotus Blood and the Sacred Frost Jade. In Nan Tian’s armoury, she could spot what seems to be the Tears of Winter and the Millennium Ice Dragon’s Essence. The latter of which could have been used to create a very powerful weapon that was soul bound due to the properties of a high level material.
“Lil’ Tian, how much would this Tears of Winter and Ice Dragon’s Essence cost?” Shiro called out while pointing at the two materials.
“You don’t want a weapon or armour?” Nan Tian raised his eyebrows.
“No it’s fine, I’ve already got a good friend of mine to make them for me so all I need are materials or upgrade modules for my current weapon and armour.” Shiro replied.
“Hm, well you can take them for free since there isn’t much use for them. The Millennium Ice Dragon’s Essence was hard to forge despite being a rare material and one that belonged to a dragon mainly due to its elemental affinity being ice. It made it extremely hard for any smith to combine the essence with their weapon since it could put out the flames of the forge. As for the Tears of Winter, the same applied to alchemists. Fusing this with their concoction would turn the entire thing to slush so I haven’t found much use for these two other than its rarity.” Nan Tian shrugged.
“I see… But are you sure you don’t want me to pay for it? I am considered a member of your faction so surely there is a point system I can use to buy these right?” Shiro raised her eyebrows.
“There is but since these are dubbed useless materials, they’re worth virtually nothing aside from their collation value. Just take them. Compared to the other things I have in this treasury, it’s worth nothing.” Nan Tian waved his hand as Shiro nodded and stored them into her inventory.
Now that she had collected two more materials, she only needed to obtain the Sub Zero Spirit Essence, the Crystallised Divine Nuclei and the Eternal Ice Heart in order to craft the Boreas’ Rebirth pill. Once she did that, her ice element would receive another boost which should put it in the mid to high tier range of A class elemental attunements.
As Keiko and Keomi were picking a weapon that would suit them, Shiro heard the sound of rapid footsteps and glanced towards the entrance of the treasury.
At the entrance, there were three men and a woman that looked to be around their 30’s.
Glancing at their stats, Shiro was rather surprised to see that they were all in the A class.
Bai Li Qiu, the woman, was a level 250 Martial Sage. She had long black hair that was tied into a ponytail and a martial attire that made it easy for her to move around in while keeping most of her skin under wraps. A reserved woman.
Su Bo Qin, one the men, was a level 260 Array Grandmaster.
The other two men seemed to be twins as they had rather similar features to one another. The first twin was called Yan Qi and was a level 250 Poison Saint while the second twin, Yan Xiao Li, was a level 255 Void Blade Grandmaster.
“Branch Master, you’ve returned.” They smiled and bowed respectfully.
“Mn, I won’t be staying for long though. I’ll be leaving once these two pick a weapon. In the meantime, if there’s anything important, just tell me now.” Nan Tian nodded.
“Of course. So far, we’ve already finished the clean up process of your last mission and recovered quite a bit of intel in regard to the Black Monarchy. There are signs to say that their next target would be a city near the front lines but we haven’t narrowed it down to which city yet.” Bai Li Qiu replied.
“I see… In that case then allocate a few of the members within the mainland to assist those near the front lines. Once they find traces of any suspicious movement, they are to report to us immediately. Have them take a few teleport nodes too so that they can bring in reinforcements easily.” Nan Tian ordered.
“Understood.” Bai Li Qiu nodded.
“Branch Master, if I may be as rude to ask, but who is this young lady next to you?” So Bo Qin asked.
Since Shiro still had her disguise activated, she looked like a rather plain woman who was standing next to their ‘revered’ Branch Master.
“Oh her? She’s someone I want to make my wife.” Nan Tian chuckled.
“!?!?!”
