Elder Wusheng quickly led everyone to the Treasure Pavilion.
There were six direct disciples this time—three males and three females.
Elder Wusheng brought everyone to the second floor of the Treasure Pavilion and used his Jade Tablet to open one of the doors. "The direct disciples may go in now. You only have half an hour. Once the time is up, the Formation inside will eject you."
Hearing that they had only half an hour, a sense of urgency gripped the direct disciples, and they quickened their pace as they walked into the room.
After the six direct disciples went in, Tantai Xu and the other elders did not leave.
After all, this was also a form of assessment.
Elder Wusheng waved his hand, and the scene of the direct disciples inside appeared before everyone's eyes.
Tantai Xu took a chair from his Storage Ring, sat down leisurely, and cast his gaze on his beloved little disciple.
The other elders followed suit and sat down nearby.
After Song Nianchu entered, she looked around to assess the surroundings.
The others quickly went to choose the treasures they needed.
After all, on the way to the Treasure Pavilion, the elders had already explained to the direct disciples what kind of treasures could be found inside.
If one was a sword cultivator, it might be a sword.
If an alchemist, it might be a pill furnace.
If a talisman master, it might be a talisman brush or talisman paper.
In short, finding out what it actually was depended entirely on one's own discernment and luck.
This was also the time to test the direct disciples' vision and perception.
"Junior Sister Liu has obtained a pill furnace." When Huo Wen saw Liu Rushuang being chosen by a pill furnace, a flash of pleasant surprise crossed his eyes.
When the others saw that pill furnace, a trace of astonishment flashed across their eyes as well.
This was a graded pill furnace, after all.
It seemed Liu Rushuang still possessed a bit of fortune.
Soon after, the other disciples also picked their own treasures one after another.
Only Song Nianchu had found nothing.
Seeing this, a trace of gloating flashed in Liu Rushuang's eyes.
"This..." Seeing that time was running out and Song Nianchu was the only one empty-handed, Elder Wusheng looked at Tantai Xu, worried that the man would throw a tantram.
Inside, the direct disciples saw that time was almost up and began walking out one after another.
Song Nianchu's gaze fell on a transparent box beside the exit, inside which lay a black stone.
The moment her gaze landed on the transparent box, she felt as if a certain connection was drawing her over.
She followed her own intuition and walked toward it, and the transparent box flew into her hand.
"What is that?" an elder asked in puzzlement.
"Looks like a black stone?"
"An Artifact Refining material?" Seeing the stone inside the box, that was the only thing they could think of.
"Has this thing never appeared before?"
"Even if it had appeared, it wouldn't be our turn to go in. After all, the Formations inside are all prepared for the direct disciples, and only direct disciples can enter."
"We'll know once we take a look in a moment." Everyone watched as Song Nianchu put the box away and walked out of the room.
All eyes turned uniformly to Song Nianchu.
"Lass, can you let us take a look at that?" One of the elders walked right up and asked the moment he saw Song Nianchu.
Seeing this, Liu Rushuang's face darkened.
Why weren't these elders reacting this way when they had just come out?
Song Nianchu did not answer immediately, instead looking toward her master.
After all, she was not quite sure what was going on in a situation like this.
Asking her own master was the most appropriate course of action.
Seeing Song Nianchu seeking his opinion, Tantai Xu was quite gratified. "Show it to them."
At these words, Song Nianchu handed over the box in her hand.
Seeing this, several elders immediately stepped forward to examine the black stone they had never seen before.
"What kind of thing is this? Why is there not even a shred of Spiritual Power fluctuation?"
"Some Artifact Refining materials don't have Spiritual Power fluctuations."
"Even without Spiritual Power, there should be some energy, right? What's going on with it having absolutely nothing?"
"Could it be just an ordinary stone?"
"Quite possible..."
Hearing the elders' words, Liu Rushuang almost laughed out loud.
She hadn't expected Song Nianchu to end up with a piece of junk stone devoid of any energy fluctuations.
If the timing hadn't been wrong, she definitely would have burst out laughing right then and there.
"Can't you feel it?" Song Nianchu looked doubtfully at the elders.
"Feel what?" one of the elders asked. "There's nothing at all. It's just like an ordinary stone."
Song Nianchu fell silent.
She could sense it, though.
Inside, there was... the breath of life.
The moment she picked it up, she had sensed it.
And it was extremely active, too.
She refused to believe this was an ordinary stone.
Back in the modern era, her intuition had always been very keen.
It was just that because she only possessed her Wisdom Soul at the time, her focus had been different.
When her Divine Soul returned to its place, she could clearly feel that the missing part of herself had been restored.
Her overall perception of things had become markedly comprehensive.
Even if these elders claimed it was an ordinary stone, she simply didn't believe it.
She trusted her own intuition more.
"Since it's an ordinary stone, stop looking at it." Tantai Xu could tell from Song Nianchu's expression that matters weren't so simple.
He directly took the stone from the elder's hand, placed it back in the box, and handed it to Song Nianchu. "No matter what it is, it's what you earned."
Song Nianchu nodded.
On this point, she certainly agreed.
After all, upon entering the Treasure Pavilion and letting the direct disciples choose, whatever they managed to bring out of the room belonged to them.
"Nianchu, don't be discouraged either," Liu Rushuang hypocritically comforted her. "Even though you're the only one who didn't get a treasure this time, there will still be chances in the future."
Song Nianchu cast a cool glance at her and asked bluntly, "Are you bragging that all of you got treasures while I got nothing, implying that my luck is terrible?"
"I didn't..." Liu Rushuang looked aggrievedly at Huo Wen, hoping the other party would help her.
Huo Wen did not let her down and immediately pointed a finger at Song Nianchu in accusation. "Junior Sister Liu is showing concern for you. Don't go too far."
"Didn't feel any concern at all," Song Nianchu said in an icy voice. "All I felt was pure malice."
"That's right! Clearly, everyone said my disciple's stone is just an ordinary stone, yet she insisted on bringing it up to rub salt in someone's wounds, and then tried to brush it off by claiming she didn't mean it that way—only a ghost would believe that!" Tantai Xu didn't care whether Liu Rushuang was a little girl or not; if anyone bullied his disciple, he had no intention of showing her any courtesy.
Liu Rushuang turned pale as a sheet.
Before she could say anything more, Tantai Xu had already led Song Nianchu away.
No matter how one looked at it, there was a certain sense of urgency to their departure.
"Is... that really an ordinary stone?" Elder Wusheng still understood Tantai Xu to a certain extent.
From the way he shielded Song Nianchu, it was obvious how much he valued this disciple.
If Song Nianchu hadn't obtained anything at all, how could Tantai Xu possibly let the matter rest?
He would definitely have made him pay a price.
Truth be told, Elder Wusheng had guessed right.
Tantai Xu truly believed there was something different about that stone.