The Thorne of Destiny-Chapter 102: First floor

Julian tossed the spear aside with a clatter, his expression darkening. "Useless," he muttered. "All of it."

The young man hesitated before speaking. "Senior Brother, perhaps the upper floors hold something of greater value?"

Julian exhaled sharply, his frustration palpable. In his anger, he seemed to have forgotten that this was only the ground floor.

"Let’s hope so. Otherwise, this entire trip was a waste."

With that, he strode toward the staircase at the far end of the room, his boots echoing against the stone floor. The young man hurried after him, casting one last glance at the scattered weapons and ruined shelves.

The staircase spiraled upward, its steps worn smooth by time. The staircase was longer than it seemed, and the climb wasn’t overly steep, with smooth stone steps that bore traces of frequent use. They walked leisurely and soon they emerged onto the second floor.

This level was notably different. This was the thought that passed through the minds of both men as soon as they entered.

Unlike the wide, open expanse of the ground floor, the first floor was noticeably smaller with fewer items inside. The air here was heavier, suffused with an energy that made their skin prickle.

The scene before them was similar to that of the ground floor. Except this time, instead of five shelves, there were only two shelves on the whole floor, filled with different books and scrolls.

Julian didn’t waste any time and began inspecting them one by one. This time, his face lit up in excitement. The book he had just picked up was a cultivation technique. One that could make one reach the Nascent Soul realm.

Though it was of a different element, the value of the cultivation technique was far more than everything that was on the ground floor. He continued inspecting it and realised that all the books and parchments on the shelves were cultivation techniques.

Furthermore, these techniques were either Gold rank cultivation techniques or Spirit rank cultivation techniques. The number of Gold rank cultivation techniques surpassed that of the Spirit rank cultivation techniques, occupying about seventy percent of the shelves’ contents.

Still, the value of the entire shelf was enormous. Julian was so excited, switching between different books, excitedly checking their contents.

Even the young man beside him was checking out some of the cultivation techniques discreetly. He had basically forgotten about his injuries as his mind was focused solely on the items in front of him.

His current cultivation technique was also of the Gold rank, meaning it could only help him reach the peak of the Golden Core realm. When he reached the ninth level of the Golden Core realm, he would have to find a higher rank cultivation technique in order to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.

At that time, the contribution points needed to exchange for one from the sect would be enormous, something that would likely take years for him to accumulate.

Now, he would no longer have to worry about it. He already had the solution to the problem in front of him now. Multiple solutions, in fact, as he browsed through some of the Spirit rank cultivation techniques.

After checking through the cultivation techniques, Julian went to the other shelves, already having a clue about what was on them.

He picked up one of the scrolls on the shelf and blew away the dust that had accumulated on it. He unfurled it and found out it was a martial skill.

He was delighted when he noticed the grade of the martial skill. It was a spirit rank martial skill. Though a lot of time had passed, the writing on the scroll was still as clear as the day it was written. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

It was an earth element martial skill, which meant he couldn’t learn it. But that didn’t mean it was useless for him. There were many things he could do with it. Selling it would net him a huge amount of money.

That was only one of the ways he could use it. He quickly browsed through the others and figured out their ranks. There weren’t many martial skills, so he was able to go through them quickly.

Compared to cultivation techniques, martial skills were far rarer than cultivation techniques. The shelf was noticeably less populated than the shelf containing martial skills.

Still, the amount was staggering. The number of cultivation techniques and martial skills that Julian had acquired in this castle was enough for him to establish a mid-sized sect of his own.

If he presented this to his family, it would help them immensely. As the young master of the Richards family, he was aware of the troubles that his family was facing in Stonehold City.

Helping his family would guarantee that they would be able to retain their position as the City Lords of Stonehold City. A title that he would eventually inherit. So if one thought about it, he was actually helping himself.

He finally peeled his eyes away from the shelves and started inspecting the remaining items on the floor.

His eyes wandered toward the pile of Qi stones in the corner. Unlike on the ground floor, this pile was not even close to the amount. There was a noticeable difference in its size.

However, the aura he could sense from them was noticeably different. At a glance, he could tell that they were mid-grade Qi stones. From the amount, he estimated that it was only about two hundred thousand mid-grade Qi stones.

While the amount was smaller, the value of it vastly surpassed that of their haul on the ground floor. A single mid-grade Qi stone was equivalent to a hundred low-grade Qi stones.

That meant that the value of the pile in front of them was about twenty million low-grade Qi stones. Double the amount that they found on the ground floor. He excitedly stored all the Qi stones inside his storage ring.

He then went towards the last thing left on this floor. The weapon’s rack. The number of weapons here was also not much. There were barely fifty weapons on the rack, making it look noticeably empty.

However, the aura that he could sense on these weapons was no joke. The weakest he could sense was a low-grade Gold rank weapon. After inspecting each weapon thoroughly, he found out that most of them were Gold rank weapons, with a few Spirit rank weapons among them.

Spirit rank weapons! As Julian held a sword that shone in a silver light, the ecstasy he felt in that moment couldn’t be described.

These were Spirit rank weapons. Weapons of this rank were not something he could come across easily. Even in his family, only those with sufficient power had them.

Now, here he was with more than one in his possession. He waved the sword around, marvelling at its shining edge. With the amount of weapons and resources here, he could cultivate a small team of loyal supporters that would follow his every command.

He could even use them to increase his power and status inside the War Machine sect. While he was the Rank 1 outer disciple, it was just a nominal title. It didn’t bring him any power, even over his fellow outer disciples.

However, he would soon change all this. However, his daydreaming was interrupted by the excited chattering of the young man beside him.

He glanced at him to find him shaking with excitement as he held a Spirit rank saber.

"S-Spirit rank weapon! With this, my power will surely increase exponentially.

With all the cultivation techniques and martial skills here, I’ll surely be able to reach the Nascent Soul realm in less than a decade.

Becoming an inner disciple is no longer a pipe dream. Hahaha"

The young man had lost himself in his excitement and forgotten that he wasn’t alone. The looming shadow behind him snapped him out of his excitement as he turned to see Julian smiling at him.

"Ah! Senior Brother, we’ve struck it rich, haven’t we?" He asked, not noticing the glint in Julian’s eyes.

"That’s certainly true. We have made a significant finding today."

"Store these weapons in your storage ring. I want to test this sword." Julian instructed.

"Ah, of course, Senior Brother." The young man replied. Though he was also curious about how the Spirit rank weapon would perform, he also knew not to offend Julian.

The young man turned around and started storing the weapons in his storage ring. He didn’t notice Julian charging the sword with Qi. The sword let out a low hum as it began to shine in a silvery light.

The young man’s attention was drawn, and he turned around, intending to sneak a peek. However, the sight that greeted him was completely unexpected.

He turned around to find a streak of grey Qi coming towards him at an alarming speed. Before his mind could even comprehend what was happening, he was split into two, separating his torso and his legs.

The last thing he saw was Julian smiling maniacally, before his vision faded to darkness. He was dead. Not at the hand of beasts or from the traps in the mystic realm, but from the hands of his fellow sect disciple.