Chapter 277 - 277 258 Dividing the Treasure

Words : 2048 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

277: Chapter 258: Dividing the Treasure 277: Chapter 258: Dividing the Treasure The obsidian stone pillar rose from the ground, a massive tower over thirty meters high instantly becoming the focus of everyone’s gaze. At its top stood a three-eyed demon statue that resembled a ghost, a cow, and a tiger. It had four arms outstretched as if it were shouting or struggling. Standing beneath it, touching the “Pillar of Time,” the Sound of Rules instantly provided feedback. “…Damn, it’s another paid service.” Lu Ping’an was already a bit annoyed; the Life Bank was truly highlighting its bank-like features in every aspect. [Function 1, Biological Acceleration: Adjusts the individual’s perceived time scale, currently two options – 2x speed consumes 1 life-point every 24 hours, 3x speed consumes 5 life-points every 24 hours (It is not recommended to enable 3x speed for life forms below Decree-level.)] It seemed confusing at first glance, but after a brief trial, the concept became clear immediately. “Huh? Why are your movements so slow?” Watching Lu Ping’an speak rapidly as if he were rapping, the others found it amusing but struggled to keep up. Everyone had a life-point or two to spare (except for White Claw). Once everyone accelerated, it felt as if no one had sped up at all, and communication returned to normal. Soon, they grasped how to use this ability. Biological Acceleration was imperceptible to oneself, but in reality, you would perceive two minutes for every minute that passed…The sheer potential left everyone stunned. With such great facilities, many had wanted to use them to accelerate their cultivation but didn’t have the time…Everyone had their jobs and daily leisure, and workouts meant limited time, rendering a trip here hardly worth it. However, with 2x and 3x acceleration available, this no longer meant double or triple the cultivation time, but even more, much more. For most people, time spent on personal improvement outside of work, eating, sleeping, and adjusting their daily routines was extremely limited – two or three hours at most. When staying up late, one had to consider the effect on their job performance the next day. If one could move necessary activities like work and sleep to this location, then the time spent cultivating could triple or even quadruple. At the very least, one could double their cultivation time; with good planning, a five or six-fold increase was possible. Of course, there was a price to pay. The acceleration offered by the Secret Realm provided 100% physical feedback (cultivation experience). However, it also meant double the life consumption. “…This isn’t even a problem. How many professionals can live to retire?” Just the first ability had many people excited, some even considering making this place their base. With an ever-present smile, Lu Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that his decision was worth it and that this single feature alone could turn a profit. A new society needed some good omens. “With this, people who are free will hang out here. It’ll bring the community together, and at least we’ll have more chances to meet each other.” He tested it and found BUFFs functional for both physical and spiritual states, although they disappeared upon leaving the area. However, the charges stopped, and upon re-entry, the BUFFs would resume automatically – very convenient. [Function 2, Accelerated Recovery of Polluted Items: Hasten recovery speed of ability for polluted items. Black-iron level 1 point/1 use, Brass level 3 points/1 use, Silver level 10 points/1 use.] Lu Ping’an didn’t understand this one at first glance. However, after trying it, he got the concept. Many taboo items had limitations like “usable once per day.” For example, Lu Ping’an’s Self-Healing Gloves were essentially taboo items that functioned as modular pollution sources. After activation, they needed time to regain energy. Many taboo items, even if used continuously, saw their effects weaken over time, much like an energy-depleted electric baton in need of charging. This ability allowed one to spend life-points to quickly recover the item’s energy and use it again. It was practical, but Lu Ping’an was still puzzled. “Didn’t they say the Life Bank works based on accelerating life rules? How can taboo items also be accelerated?” “…How do you know that taboo items aren’t alive?” White Claw added gloomily. Lu Ping’an followed her gaze to the struggling, roaring statue atop the Pillar of Time; it seemed almost alive. He also remembered another important piece of loot he had kept an eye on but chose not to mention it. [Function 3, Providing ‘acceleration’ rule support for other rule buildings.] Though the description was brief, this was actually the main function. Accelerating the healing of wounds, recovery of physical strength, and growth of magic plants were simple yet practical abilities. To learn exactly how much acceleration had been granted, they’d have to perform tests over time. These were the only functions available for now, but they were more than enough…As a society that provided benefits, they could naturally draw people together more easily. With such a promising start, everyone benefited, which made the remaining distribution go much smoother. Xia Qin received a silver-tier short sword first, contributed by a big shot from the Blood Feast. It had a “Life Drain (Vampiric)” curse and was incredibly sharp. Her brass-tier longsword had been destroyed in battle, and the temporary silver-tier replacement was in for repairs. She desperately needed a good weapon. Meow was given the Blood Feast big shot’s cloak and boots set. One was an upper silver-tier and the other a lower silver-tier, both offering increased mobility and protection – exactly what Meow needed. Worth mentioning, after gaining everyone’s approval, Lu Ping’an’s “appraisal” of the items became much more vague, only mentioning their general functions but neglecting the costs… As for those things, he would discuss them privately with the recipients later. Just from a single Lord of the Blood Feast, there were three Silver-tier items provided, showing that they were indeed quite wealthy. Tie Zhenmei only had two items, but the first one caused a dispute. It was a set of four white balls with silver threads and matching rings attached, somewhat like toy yo-yos. [Spellball (modified Upper Silver)] [Function 1: Energy Infusion, it can infuse Protection system runes, Elemental system elemental energy, Life system life energy, and Death system death energy. However, only one type of energy can be infused into a single ball, with an energy storage limit of three standard Silver-tier spell units.] [Function 2: Energy Release: release the energy stored inside.] [Function 3: Energy Pipeline (Maya Doll Line), this pipeline is a major component of an ace doll created by a certain master, after being acquired as spoils of war, it was brutally transformed into an energy input pipeline.] [Cost 1: Maya’s Greed (Upper Silver): She thirsts for blood, please prepare a blood bath for her regularly (every two days)…] [Cost 2: Unbearable Emptiness: Energy within the spellball will begin to gradually disappear after 24 hours, needing constant recharging. If it remains empty for more than 30 minutes, it will attempt to drain the user’s energy and life.] This taboo item had a different style from the beginning. After Lu Ping’an asked, he found out that there were such “energy storage devices” on the market. But these items were not only extremely expensive, but also borderline polluting items, with extremely unreliable performance. “…There must have been some method used to turn a borderline polluting item into a genuine polluting item. Even just this technology and resource consumption are quite exaggerated. It even has a remote detachable charging line.” Lu Ping’an still didn’t quite understand, but the others here did, especially Xia Qin and Guan Xinxian, who took an interest in it. It turned out that although the device could be used by the Elemental, Life, and Death systems, those who truly desired it were mainly from the Protection/Binding system. Their runes and array drawings were quick-acting and powerful, but their range was generally short. Xia Qin’s “Moon Pattern” could be released externally, but had high movement and slow speed, with a pathetic hit rate. Guan Xinxian’s “Gravity Control” was even more limited at long distances, but if he had this charged ball, he could release his abilities remotely. The increase in range was one aspect, and more importantly, this ability now had a second exit, increasing the stealth and suddenness of its use in battle, greatly enriching tactical reserves. “This item’s performance isn’t strong, but its value is extremely high. It’s likely it could be exchanged for a weaker Rule-Level item.” Both of the Protection specialists immediately set their sights on the item… As expected, Tie Zhenmei was also from the Protection system. Maybe this was even his main weapon. Lu Ping’an recalled the old man who was beaten up by the fake cat, who seemed to have no room for resistance. “Let’s split it in half.” Lu Ping’an thought for a moment and then proposed. The two looked at each other and agreed. However, after some consideration, Xia Qin still spoke up. “I only need one. To solve the range problem, one is enough for me. Most of the time, it works as a hidden weapon. Guan Xinxian can enrich his tactical library and create tactics centered around it. The more, the better. One more might even create a new tactical combination.” “Is that okay?” Lu Ping’an was a bit surprised. Was this woman too considerate of others? “Mhmm, as a Sword Saint, having an alternative would only split my focus on that one crucial strike.” Everyone understood now. For Xia Qin, this item only offered an extra choice, an additional hidden weapon in a pinch. However, for Guan Xinxian, it was a core piece of equipment that could change his career path. Although there was a difference in the degree of demand, most professionals probably wouldn’t actively yield. Guan Xinxian became even more grateful to Captain Xia, and the club’s atmosphere improved a lot. While Tie Zhenmei’s items satisfied both of them, no one wanted the other item. “Limited chef cooking equipment. Although it looks powerful… never mind, just keep it for now and see if there’s a chance to trade it.” At the same time, Tie Zhenmei’s spatial device was filled with a large amount of “gourmet food”, many luxury items (unused headphones and Sound of Rules), and several Brass-level taboo items, which won’t be elaborated on here. Worth mentioning, these items show that the environments of the two “gourmets” are vastly different. The Lord of the Blood Feast carried dangerous battle-oriented items, while Tie’s belongings were full of modern and borderline polluting items. Not only was the quantity gap huge, but the style of the “gourmet food” also varied greatly. The Blood Feast items were all ‘roughly processed,’ clearly not meant for humans to eat, whereas Tie’s items seemed to use precious materials, with beautiful packaging, appetizing appearance, and enticing aromas. Although it was somewhat presumptuous to infer from this that the Blood Feast had intense internal strife and the Gourmet Association was more comfortable, on the whole, Tie seemed much wealthier. The total value of the two Silver items far exceeded that of the three from the Blood Feast. There were also many special luxury items, including a full set of mobile kitchens, mobile theaters, and automatic massage dolls… Either he knew a high-ranking artisan willing to help him mess around, or the Gourmet Association was already wealthy enough to use valuable technology and human resources in non-combative areas. Most members of the club were inclined towards the latter, believing that the nearby Gourmet Association’s technical craftsmen were not only extremely abundant, but also had high-ranking leaders. The spellball also had obvious modification traces. The taboo items and consumables that everyone couldn’t use were stored in the bank building’s warehouse, with this person contributing more than half. Now everyone’s sights were set high, all eyeing Silver-tier treasures, while Brass-tier items were carelessly distributed… Just a month ago, everyone would have fought over Black-iron tier taboo items. As they went about dividing the spoils, it came to “Gardener” Liu Zibei, and the club’s gardener laughed.

Chapter 277 - 277 258 Dividing the Treasure

Comments (0)