Chapter 11. Liu Yan.

Li Chen was taken aback, yet it somehow made sense. After all, he possessed a divine cooking system, and the seasoned wok was a culinary item, so it was natural that he could exchange it with the system.

Following Fluffy's guidance, Li Chen navigated to the shop tab, which displayed both sell and buy options. He chose the sell option and sold the wok for thirty soul crystals, increasing his total to sixty. This was more than enough for him to unlock the treasure space.

As soon as he completed the sale, a new system notification appeared in front of him.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

A new item has been added to the shop.

_Item: A seasoned wok (Low tier).

_Ability: Nullifies poison.

_Price: 50 Soul Crystals.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

"Wait, what?" Li Chen couldn't help but feel outraged as he looked at the screen. "Did the system just swindle me?" he muttered, noticing the wok's price.

Sigh!

He dismissed the system screen and stood up, leaving his room. Li Chen decided not to enter the treasure space immediately.

Treasure spaces could be accessed in different ways: some required physical entry, while others only needed consciousness to enter.

Uncertain of which method to use, Li Chen resolved to visit the space at night, ensuring that regardless of the method, he wouldn't leave his unconscious body unprotected or disappear and risk raising suspicion.

Although few people visited him, and he could be absent for hours without notice, Li Chen preferred to be cautious.

After exiting his room, Li Chen headed toward the clan's gate to leave. It was time to complete his system's daily quest.

He had finished the other tasks; only a 20-mile run remained.

Taking a deep breath, Li Chen started running. He was determined to complete his task.

* *

A short while later, Li Chen was seen returning to the clan, breathing heavily.

But as he approached the clan's gate, a notification halted him.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Congratulations! You have completed your daily quest.

_Reward: All stats increased by 3 points.

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Relieved, Li Chen dismissed the notification.

He was pleased with the reward, but the thought of avoiding a lightning strike was even more comforting. For reasons unknown to him, Li Chen harbored a deep fear of lightning.

With some time left before nightfall, Li Chen decided to take a nap.

He didn't know how long he'd spend in the treasure space; he might be there all night and would feel sleepy if he didn't rest now.

With that thought, Li Chen went straight to his quarters for a nap.

* *

At the same time as Li Chen was returning for his nap, at a large manor on the far northern edge of the clan grounds, a figure robed in darkness stealthily bypassed the servants' detection and entered the manor.

Just as the figure slipped inside, a powerful, authoritative voice demanded, "Who is there? Show yourself!"

Hearing the voice, the figure immediately knelt and respectfully said, "Liu Yan greets master," bowing her head.

As she finished speaking, the sound of footsteps drew nearer. Soon, a man who appeared to be in his fifties, with dark hair and a handsome face, came into view. He had an imposing aura about him; he was Li Cheng, the clan leader of the Li clan.

"Liu Yan, is that you?" he asked, approaching the figure with a frown.

"Yes, Master, it's me," the figure replied, lifting the hood that had concealed her face to reveal her identity.

Had Li Chen or Li Jing been present, they would have been shocked to see who it was, it was the same female servant who had served them tea earlier that day.

"What are you doing here at this hour?" Li Cheng asked with a stern voice. "Wait, is there something wrong with Li Jing?" His expression shifted to one of concern.

"No," Liu Yan replied.

"Then why are you here?" Li Cheng's voice became stern again.

"It concerns the young master," Liu Yan said, causing Li Cheng's frown to deepen.

"What about him?" Li Cheng inquired, his brow furrowed.

"Earlier today, he requested twenty petals of the Two-Faced Demonic Lotus flower from the young miss," Liu Yan explained.

"Twenty petals of the Two-Faced Demonic Lotus flower?" Li Cheng repeated in shock. "What does he need those for?" he asked, still in disbelief.

"I do not know," Liu Yan replied. "He did not tell the young miss his plans, only that it was a secret," she said.

Hearing this, Li Cheng was taken aback. He furrowed his brows and fell into deep thought, puzzling over why Li Chen would need such a quantity of the toxic flower. He began to harbor the same suspicions as Li Jing—was Li Chen planning to poison someone? If so, who?

After conveying all the information she had come to deliver and noting that Li Cheng seemed to need some time alone, Liu Yan excused herself and left the manor, sneaking past the guards and servants as before.

Once Liu Yan had departed, Li Cheng let out a heavy sigh and said in a somber tone, "What are you planning to do?" He muttered to himself, then turned toward a portrait of a very beautiful woman. His eyes filled with sadness, he said, "Li Hua, our son has grown so much. I don't even think I know who he is anymore." He paused, then added in a whisper, almost to himself, "Just like I don't know who you are." A tear rolled down his cheek.

* *

Meanwhile, outside the manor.

Liu Yan, after leaving the manor, wasn't in a hurry to return to Li Jing's quarters. Instead, her gaze lingered in the direction of the manor. After some time, she let out a heavy sigh and muttered sadly, "Master Li, you still can't seem to get over Miss Li Hua's death." With a tone of concern, she added, "Why can't you move on? Is she worth all this sorrow?" With those words, she turned and walked away.

* *

Li Chen, oblivious to the events transpiring, was deep in his sleep, without a care in the world.

As nighttime approached, he finally awoke. It was time for him to visit the treasure room.

With that intention, he summoned Fluffy to assist him.

Fluffy appeared immediately after Li Chen summoned it. Without being told he already knew the reason for his summoning.

"Try to delve into your sea of consciousness. I'll link the connection to the treasure map with you," Fluffy instructed.

Li Chen, without any hesitation, did as he was told.

Initially, as he entered his sea of consciousness, nothing occurred. After some time, however, a scroll emitting a shimmering light appeared before him. Without hesitation, Li Chen reached out to grasp it.

The moment Li Chen touched the scroll, there was a boom!

His entire sea of consciousness quivered as if from a loud explosion, and the next moment, Li Chen felt himself being forcefully ejected from his sea of consciousness.

Regaining his awareness, he was surprised to find a notification screen shimmering before him.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Congratulations, you have unlocked the (???) Legacy Treasure Space Map.

Would you like to view it?

[YES] / [NO]

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Li Chen stared at the screen, his brow furrowed. What did the (???) mean? The question arose in his mind, but he chose to ignore it for the moment, focusing on the second part of the message on the screen.

He had expected to receive a treasure space ticket or something similar, not a map. Nevertheless, curious to see what was next, Li Chen selected the 'YES' button.

As he did, a large map unfolded before him, and a message appeared below it.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

This is the map to the (???) Treasure Space. Each part of the map can be unlocked with the required amount of soul crystals and level.

Here are the parts available for your current level:

_The Spirit Pond (120 soul crystals)...

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Li Chen began to go through the list of available parts of the map slowly, searching for what he needed at the moment: the Legacy Tower.

To his shock, even the sixty soul crystals he had, which he thought would be sufficient, were far from enough; all parts he saw required a hundred soul crystals or more. Doubts crept in as to whether his sixty soul crystals were indeed enough.

However, as if answering his question, Li Chen finally found the listing for the Legacy Tower after scrolling past about twenty-three other parts.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

_Legacy Tower (30 soul crystals)

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Seeing this, Li Chen was satisfied. Thankfully, sixty soul crystals seemed to be enough for his endeavors.

Without hesitation, he selected the Legacy Tower and proceeded to unlock it with thirty soul crystals.

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Congratulations, you have unlocked the Legacy Tower.

Would you like to visit the tower? (-20 soul crystals)

[YES] / [NO]

┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

Li Chen smiled at the screen; it seemed Fluffy had been right about him needing fifty soul crystals to visit the Legacy Tower.

Without any hesitation, Li Chen selected the 'YES' option.

As soon as he did, he felt the ground beneath him quake. The sensation of being pulled into a vortex with blinding white light overcame him, causing him to shut his eyes. After a moment, when the tumultuous sensations ceased and the nausea subsided, he ventured to open his eyes and survey his new surroundings.

He found himself on a rocky path, and not far ahead stood a very tall and imposing tower. It was the same one Fluffy had shown him, except it was no longer blurred. The tower was golden in color and surrounded by a potent magical aura.

"Wow!" Li Chen gaped at the majestic appearance of the tower.

Before he could take in more of his surroundings, however, a chill ran down his spine, prompting him to whirl around.

Behind him stood a very handsome young man, about twenty years old, with white hair and golden dragon horns. The young man's eyes were filled with a killing intent that was directed squarely at Li Chen.