Lan Shuyao checked the 11 items and smiled. "Quite interesting choices, I must say."
The spatial ring she lent Yasenia was returned, and Lan Shuyao summoned all the treasures in front of her, keeping them floating in order of quality. Tatyana glanced at them and was satisfied with what Yasenia chose. If it were her, she might've chosen differently, but if Yasenia thought these were the ones that suited her best now, she would trust her daughter.
With them lined up in front of her, Yasenia's tail couldn't help but wag. She had many hundreds of Transcendence Ranked treasures, stolen from others, and the amount of Heaven Ranked and below items could pile up in mountains. Yet, Supreme Ranked and above treasures were rare even among top-tier powerhouses.
Do not see the Lan Family's treasure and think that a single individual could have this many treasures. The reason there were so many was that the Lan Family's heritage extended across hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of descendants. In truth, the number of treasures in the treasury would not even make a dent in their needs were they to be shared among everyone in the family.
Without constant replenishment, the Lan Family would go bankrupt within a few decades. For a millennial family, this was like a mortal family's immense wealth vanishing in a few days.
Curious about them, Yasenia glanced at Lan Shuyao. "So… What are their names? Do they have some special quality that I need to know about?"
Lan Shuyao nodded and started from the first to the last one. "Let's begin with this cauldron. For starters, it is not an alchemy cauldron. So, if you picked it because you thought as such, I would like to advise you against it."
Yasenia smiled. "Don't worry, I know it is a Transmutation Cauldron."
Tatyana had heard of Yasenia's surprising talent in transmutation, which made her quite happy. Among the myriad useful professions, Transmutation was one of the hardest to develop. 'With Spiritual Cooking and Transmutation, Yasenia would be welcomed in almost any sect or family, even if she had poor cultivation talent.'
This gave her a way to hide her true cultivation talents if the need ever arose.
Lan Shuyao also noticed and gave Yasenia a peculiar look. She muttered with a sigh. "Really, some people are blessed with endless talent. Transmutation, Spiritual Cooking, and Acupuncture expertise are niche yet powerful skills to have."
Faint laughter appeared in Yasenia's eyes, but she held back from commenting. Lan Shuyao smiled and explained a bit about the item.
"Let's start then. Your first item, a Seven Star Supreme Ranked Treasure, is named [Cataclysm-Forging Transmutation Cauldron]. From our records, it comes from an ancient ruin. It was found as the grand treasure of that ruin, and the surviving records depicted that a mighty Demigod of the past used this item to once transmute a mortal weapon into a Transcendent Treasure with abilities comparable to some Supreme Treasures."
Yasenia was stupefied. "That sounds ridiculous. How does this differ from forging something from scratch?"
"Greatly." Lan Shuyao smiled. "When a piece is created, the effects are usually fixed depending on the skills, understanding, and intent of the crafter. However, when transmuting, you are sublimating myriad things into a single item. Of course, the more disruptive the effects, the higher the chance of failure. But where there are risks, there are rewards. If one uses myriad materials and succeeds, the effects of the items will resemble those peerless treasures that are born from Heaven and Earth."
Yasenia's eyes widened. "Doesn't that mean that, among all professions, Transmutation Masters are the ones who can approach natural creators the most?"
"Hmm…" Lan Shuyao pondered and smiled. "That statement is not wrong. While all paths converge into a single Dao, and no path is incorrect, Transmutation does tread one that's close to Heavenly Abilities."
Yasenia nodded a few times. She had studied Transmutation, but her knowledge was superficial at best. If she didn't have an innate affinity to it, her skills with it would be even worse than her skills in Alchemy and the other professions.
Tatyana spoke up softly from the side. "Yasenia, you should focus more on learning about Transmutation if you ever find time. It will serve you greatly wherever you go."
Lan Shuyao nodded in agreement. Then, she pointed at the six Spiritual Cooking tools. "These six tools are part of the [Heavenfire] set. They belonged to a famous chef who risked his life to cook using Tribulation Heavenly Fire. Sadly, he failed. However, in the process of cooking, the Heavenfire Chef decided that he didn't want to disappear without making a name for himself. Hence, he poured his life force and cultivation to forge his six precious cooking tools."
Yasenia was stunned once more. "Does no Supreme Artifact have a normal background? If I understood correctly, these six tools are cooking tools refined with a Seventh Realm cultivator's life through a Heavenly Fire Tribulation."
"That's indeed their background." Lan Shuyao smiled. "One of our deceased ancestors was close to Heavenfire Chef, so he took the tools once the Tribulation ended and stored them away, hoping that someone with good qualities would appear to inherit them."
Yasenia fell silent, her gaze on the six tools taking on a touch of respect. 'A man with aspirations. Even if he failed in the end, his will created incredible artifacts during his last moments. Truly worthy of being remembered.'
Lan Shuyao told her each of their names. "These six tools are named [Heavenfire Chef's Blade], [Heavenfire Culinary Cauldron], [Heavenfire Spirit Wok], [Heavenfire Pairing Chopsticks], [Heavenfire Grinding Mortar], and [Heavenfire Stirring Ladle]. When you use two or more of them to create a dish, the effects of your food will become no worse than some legendary pills."
Yasenia nodded firmly and waved her hand, storing them in her storage treasure world. Her gaze moved toward the last three items, somewhat expectant. "Do these three also have grand origins?"
"Naturally." Lan Shuyao chuckled. "The first one is the [Vermillion Sky-Phoenix Divine Flute]. It was created by an expert artisan who luckily found a broken Vermillion Bird Feather. Although the feather of the legendary bird had lost most of its former splendor, the craftsman was able to bring out the inherent nature of the material and craft it. It's truly a great masterpiece that will invoke the images of soaring Vermillion Birds when played."
Yasenia felt a touch of guilt. 'Sorry, grand master. Your masterpiece will serve as food for my own artifact.'
Lan Shuyao didn't notice Yasenia's strange expression, but Tatyana did. Her eyebrow gently rose, amusement flashing in her eyes. 'So, these last three are for her treasures. No wonder they looked somewhat random at first.'
"For the last two, they are materials more than finished products. Are you sure you want to take them? A single completed Supreme Ranked treasure is worth ten to twenty times more than these raw materials. Even when they are the highest ranked."
Even after she heard that, she didn't plan to change it. They were for her precious treasures, after all. So, Yasenia nodded. "I am sure. Please explain their origins."
Lan Shuyao no longer tried to convince her. If Yasenia had thought it through, she would have realized she was in no position to go against her wishes. "Alright then. Let's start with this crystal. While it looks small, being palm-sized, it is much more valuable than it seems. This item is called [Astral Star-Heart Crystal]. It's a material created when a small star dies and freezes over. Once the process is complete, at the very center of the star, you will find different types of precious materials. Among them, the [Astral Star-Heart Crystal] is one of the most commonly found."
Yasenia didn't underestimate it because of it. The fact that it came from the core of a dead star was already exceptional. Even the most common materials at those locations would be invaluable, not to mention this piece of [Astral Star-Heart Crystal].
Her gaze moved toward the core that pulsed with immense energy. "What about this one?"
Lan Shuyao pondered for a second before she recalled its origin. "This one is the heart of a Seventh Realm Dragon slain by a Lan Ancestor a while ago. We stored it away, hoping to find a pill recipe that would make use of it. Eventually, we found something, but the difficulty in connecting is sky-high. Even our current ancestor is unable to complete it. So, we gave up. Since then, this core has been gathering dust in our treasure. It is called [Ancient Tyrant-Dragon Heartcore]."
The powerful energy it pulsed with made Yasenia nod with satisfaction. Honestly, she was a bit tempted to use it herself for her own cultivation. A crystal like this would probably help her break through a very large chunk of her cultivation. But she knew that it was better for Draheart.
Draheart had become stronger over time, and she had reached Peak-level Transcendence Realm Treasure. If Yasenia fed it this core, she was pretty sure that it wouldn't be long before Draheart broke through into the Supreme treasure rank.
After storing those three treasures in her Storage World, Yasenia stealthily threw them into her dantian so that her three girls could eat them at their own pace.
Yasenia saw Draheart's red-colored planet open a gargantuan maw, swallowing the core whole before closing down and returning to its original calm. This left her speechless for a moment. '...She can do that? While I've fed her weapons in the past, and she didn't chomp them down like this!'
Soluna was similar, her body grew in size, becoming an all-encompassing sea of celestial fire that engulfed the crystal. Once inside, Soluna condensed into a ball so bright that even Yasenia had trouble looking at it. Soluna burned brightly, consuming the crystal and increasing her own strength and elemental purity. 'Look at her! She is so happy with her new crystal.'
Dramel was last, whom Yasenia was the most curious about. If she compared both treasures, Dramel was nothing in comparison. After all, the flute was a Seven Star Supreme Ranked treasure, while Dramel was a High-level Transcendence Ranked treasure. The difference between them was as vast as the distance between Heaven and Earth.
To her surprise, Dramel shamelessly floated in front of the Celestial Black Hole Energy Star and talked to it. "Big Boss, help me eat it! I am too weak!"
Yasenia would have slipped and fallen to the ground if she were walking. 'Can't you at least give it a try, Dramel!? Be a bit more courageous!'
The Celestial Black Hole Energy Star completely ignored Dramel, making the Pipa complain. "Help me! Help me! Help me! Yasenia will be happy if you help me! She will become stronger as well!"
Yasenia could swear that she could feel the star give Dramel a disdainful look, even when it had no eyes! Still, it seemed to relent and do as she was saying.
The Supreme Ranked flute, feeling danger, wanted to escape. However, a pressure so large that it felt as if the world was collapsing on top of it pinned it down on the spot, leaving it helpless.
Before Dramel became gloating, she felt a pull together with the flute. "H-Huh? Wait, Big Boss! Wait! I can do it by myself. Waaaaaait! Yasenia, heeeelp!"
And so, Dramel and the flute were swallowed into the large star, starting their own refinement. Yasenia's eyebrow twitched. 'Good luck, Little Dramel. I am sure that the Big Boss, as you call it, is doing this for a reason.'
After observing all of that, she noticed that Lan Shuyao and Tatyana were looking at her with curiosity but patiently. Clearly, they knew that she was doing something with those treasures and waiting for a resolution.
Blinking her eyes, Yasenia smiled and glanced at the last treasure. "Let's move on to the last one."
Lan Shuyao shook her head. "We are unaware of what this flag is for or its origins. It is a treasure that an ancestor once found in the middle of an ancient battlefield. This flag was the only treasure that survived that war. After searching across all our libraries, we managed to get its name, but nothing else."
Looking at the ancient flag, Lan Shuyao spoke its name.
"This Two Star Ancient Ranked treasure is called [Everlasting War Calamity Battle Flag], belonging to a power that was annihilated millions of years ago. A power even more ancient than the Heavenly Catastrophe. It is a piece of equipment crafted with unknown methods and nourished by endless war and the remnant intent of the souls that died on that battlefield. Our clan's ancestor almost died to get it. Sadly, we've never been able to utilize it. No one in our family developed a War or related Intent."
Yasenia's eyes glimmered. "Interesting."