180: If billions of spirit stones were placed in front of you, could you distinguish right from wrong?

Zhou Yan could feel himself falling rapidly.

The sudden freefall was hard to react to, and there seemed to be some special restriction here; his Divine Sense had once again become useless.

Just as Zhou Yan was worrying about what might be below, the surrounding walls suddenly changed.

This was originally a structure similar to a vertical shaft, but halfway through the descent, the surrounding walls transformed from a special material to a transparent one.

Zhou Yan could therefore see the scene below.

In the vast, dark space, he seemed to see specks of starlight.

That was not ordinary light, but the radiance of Spiritual Qi.

"This is... a massive amount of Spirit Stones?"

As he pondered, he suddenly felt himself pass through two thin membranes.

The downward force was instantly nullified, and an arc appeared at the bottom of the shaft. Zhou Yan slid straight down as if on a slide.

When he stood up and looked at the Spirit Stones stacked into a giant cube before him, he couldn't help but be astonished.

He was about to step forward to examine the quality of these Spirit Stones when a few soft 'thumping' sounds came from beside him.

Zhou Yan subconsciously turned his head, and the surroundings lit up. Light, whose source was unknown, streamed down from above, illuminating other cubes of Spirit Stones.

At the same time, a familiar BGM began to play.

"Ink has entered the water~ crossing a pond of blue flowers."

"Embracing five parts of crimson glow~ gathering bamboo to go home."

Zhou Yan's pupils dilated, his legs trembled slightly, and he walked step by step towards another, larger cube.

As he advanced, beams of light fell one after another, and cubes of Spirit Stones were illuminated in sequence.

"Gentle breeze comes~ burying a field of mulberries and hemp."

"A kasaya on one's body~ letting go of yearning."

Ever since he escaped poverty, Zhou Yan had lost any concrete concept of Spirit Stones, but the sight before him re-established his understanding.

Each cube of Spirit Stones here was equivalent to all the Spirit Stones he had obtained from confiscating corrupt officials' homes in the past.

Such a massive quantity left Zhou Yan dumbfounded. He could only numbly walk forward step by step, watching the light illuminate the Spirit Stone mountains one after another.

His mouth remained agape the entire time.

"20."

"46."

"78."

"128."

He silently added a number in his mind after passing each Spirit Stone mountain.

When he reached the end and no new Spirit Stone mountains lit up, Zhou Yan had counted a thousand.

Each Spirit Stone mountain contained millions of Spirit Stones; these thousand mountains meant there were at least billions of Spirit Stones here.

Zhou Yan's legs went soft, and when he stopped, he could barely move forward or backward.

He knew that if he took another step, he might collapse to the ground.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and clenched his fists, veins protruding.

If billions of Spirit Stones were truly laid out before you, how would you feel?

Zhou Yan didn't know.

His mind was in chaos now, and he felt somewhat dizzy.

He recalled cultivation novels or TV shows he had watched in his previous life, which often featured plots where vast amounts of gold and silver treasures were used to bewilder Cultivators or adventurers.

Those people knew there was a problem but couldn't control their greed, ultimately leading to a series of troubles.

But bystanders see clearly, while those involved are confused.

When a person truly understands their value and personally sees a massive amount of high-value items piled together, that shock and greed are hard to suppress.

Zhou Yan knew very well that these things were not his Opportunity; he had actually been tricked by the little Emperor.

After all, most of the diaries in the Royal Treasury were related to Cultivation, which should have been the little Emperor's original intended payment.

Because with the blessing of national destiny, an Emperor would reach Soul Transformation upon ascension.

Their starting point for comprehension was higher than ordinary people. By the Late Stage, after thoroughly integrating the cultivation brought by the national destiny, they were already outstanding among Soul Transformation Cultivators.

This would greatly assist Zhou Yan in his future Breakthrough to Soul Transformation and even Body Integration.

Furthermore, most Emperors had decent Aptitude, many could Breakthrough to Body Integration, and a few could even reach Void Refining.

Therefore, if Zhou Yan could filter out the content related to dark history and family dramas from the diaries and extract the Cultivation-related knowledge, it would indeed be greatly beneficial to a Prodigy.

However, when 'Royal Treasury' is mentioned, people usually first think of precious resources.

The little Emperor exploited this, deliberately being vague.

While a normal person would be angry after being scammed, they would realize the value of those things after their anger subsided.

So this wasn't exactly deception; Zhou Yan still made a profit overall, just not as much as he had imagined.

If it weren't for the impression of Emperor Taizong's armor in his memory raising his expectations, he might have calmed down and organized it carefully at the time.

The immense shock and the driving force of greed can make one maintain abnormal calmness in excitement, and one's thoughts become exceptionally active.

Upon seeing these Spirit Stones, Zhou Yan understood the little Emperor's intention and realized that the mechanism he had inadvertently triggered was likely due to establishing a connection with the little Emperor.

Without him, the little Emperor might have been crushed by the subsequent pressure, come to the Royal Treasury seeking a glimmer of hope, only to find a pile of useless books.

Normally, at his age, he might have read them as stories, but in a crisis, things that couldn't immediately be converted into strength would only infuriate him.

If he were to casually throw a book then, he might, like Zhou Yan before him, trigger the mechanism.

Then he would have a good chance of coming to this place.

Zhou Yan was self-aware; having been in this world for a few months, he hadn't received any protagonist treatment, and his Luck was clearly not strong.

This experience of casually throwing a book and triggering a miracle, to be honest, quite fascinated him.

But if he wanted to take these things, with his Luck, he probably wouldn't be able to keep them and might even attract trouble.

But if he could seize the Opportunity to perform the Python Swallow Dragon technique, and take that fate and Luck... "Heh."

"It's really just a little bit short."

"Which Senior is playing a joke on me? Would you care to show yourself?"

Zhou Yan took a deep breath, feeling his physical state recover somewhat.

He admitted he was greedy and didn't particularly enjoy being a good person.

But his sound moral compass wouldn't allow him to easily harm an innocent child.

And his pride as a Transmigrator wouldn't allow him to feel inferior at every turn.

Of course, most importantly, Zhou Yan truly had no concept of Spirit Stones. No matter how much was said, he wasn't short of money in this world.

If it were stacks of red banknotes, he might lose control, but Spirit Stones were another matter.

"Clap, clap, clap."

"Remarkable."

"Among all those who have come here throughout history, you are the first to clear your head so quickly."

Zhou Yan looked in the direction of the voice.

In an inconspicuous corner, a beam of light fell, illuminating a clothes rack.

Hanging on the rack was a set of armor, precisely one of Zhou Yan's objectives for this trip: Emperor Taizong Yu's armor.

And in front of that armor floated a ghostly figure.

As he finished speaking, the entire underground space lit up completely.

The dim walls around the Spirit Stones slowly disappeared, revealing a wider space behind, along with various dazzling rare treasures.

The figure slowly floated towards Zhou Yan.

"You are not the current Emperor, nor do you possess my Imperial Bloodline."

"But since you could come here and maintain your original heart in the face of massive Spirit Stones, the contents of this Royal Treasury should also have a share for you."

"Be fortunate."

"If you were not of the Imperial family and so greedy, I would not merely clear your memory and throw you out, as I would with a member of the Imperial family."

Zhou Yan looked at the resources revealed before him and couldn't help but calculate in his mind.

He never expected to have such an Opportunity.

But with so many good things, wouldn't it be a pity if he could only take one share?

Moreover, this person seems to be just a soul... and he just happens to have a bit of Tribulation Lightning left.

If he could wield the Divine Ability of Imperial Lightning... "Hehehe."

"Bold Demonic Soul, how dare you trespass into the Royal Treasury! This Venerable One shall execute justice on behalf of the heavens today."