A Resurrection Card.
It was an important item Nangong Yu had accumulated in the infinite-flow game.
Don’t be fooled by how useless it seemed—
[Resurrection Card]: It can be used to resurrect anyone except yourself.
When a player dies, they’re dead for good—unless someone is willing to use a Resurrection Card to save them.
But if a player died, would the person holding a Resurrection Card really still be willing to resurrect them?
Once you died and dropped a pile of equipment, would they inherit your property, or go out of their way to bring you back?
That was why the card was so useless. And yet, it was also extremely popular. Many people needed it to resurrect someone important to them.
For example, Nangong Yu.
She hoped that one day, her card could save her grandparents.
But world after world had passed, and every time she arrived, it was always a new world. She had never once returned to an old one.
“Except that it can’t resurrect its owner.” Nangong Yu looked at Lan Ji and said earnestly, “If I’m lying, may lightning strike me dead.”
Nangong Yu had used the Resurrection Card to revive many bosses. After all, some bosses dropped guaranteed loot, and killing them once yielded another drop.
Lan Ji slowly rose to her feet. Her eyes turned a deep blue as she stared at Nangong Yu. “It can resurrect someone who has been dead for a long time?”
Nangong Yu nodded, then emphasized, “If that person’s soul is no longer there—for example, if their spiritual essence was destroyed by a killing sword—even if they’re resurrected, they’ll only be a mindless corpse.”
That was why she liked the Killing Sword. Even a broken one could completely destroy a person’s spiritual essence, making resurrection impossible. It eradicated the problem at its root and eliminated all future trouble.
“She wasn’t… Her spiritual essence wasn’t destroyed…” Lan Ji murmured. The long hair behind her stirred without any wind, turning dark blue in an instant, like the dazzling feathers of some magnificent bird.
Zhegu gave a light cough, and Lan Ji immediately came to her senses. Her slightly curling hair turned black again.
She steadied herself and looked at Nangong Yu. “Give me the magical treasure. If it can truly save someone, you may buy six items.”
Nangong Yu put on an astonished expression. “Sister, are you joking? This is a seller’s market. I can choose not to buy these heaven-grade treasures. Can you choose not to resurrect that person?”
Lan Ji looked at her twice, then gave a slight nod. “Eight more, for a total of eight. That’s the most I can offer. No—”
She did not finish her sentence before Nangong Yu turned and walked away.
“Wait!” Lan Ji called out involuntarily.
Nangong Yu turned around. “Nine items! Three magical treasures, three bottles of pills, three talismans, and three sets of formations.”
Lan Ji’s brow twitched violently. “That’s twelve items.”
“Oh, just write down nine items on the account,” Nangong Yu said coyly, stamping her foot.
At that moment, the Resurrection Card was tugging at Lan Ji’s heartstrings. She was a little irritated with this tiny Qi Refining cultivator, yet she truly could not remain as calm and composed as usual.
“Nine items. No more.” Lan Ji was beginning to lose her composure.
Nangong Yu’s eyes shifted. “Eighteen items!”
What?
Lan Ji’s eyes widened. She could hardly believe what she had heard. “How many did you say?”
“Sister, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s rules state that a customer can buy at most three items in one visit, right?” Nangong Yu’s eyes shone brightly. “They never said a person could only buy three items in their entire lifetime, did they?”
Lan Ji frowned. “That’s true.”
Once a customer left and returned another day, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion would have new goods, and of course, they could still buy them. That was how a business remained profitable in the long term.
“Exactly!” Nangong Yu said brightly. “Sister, how about this? Nine items as a deposit. Once you resurrect that person, give me another nine items as the balance.”
Lan Ji’s brow twitched violently. She rejected the proposal almost without thinking. “No!”
“What’s wrong with it?” Nangong Yu pleaded.
Lan Ji did not even know what was wrong with it. Her mind was being pulled away by the Resurrection Card, and she was not as sharp as she usually was.
But still, “If I say no, then it’s no.”
“I’m not taking everything at once!” Nangong Yu said. “Sister, can’t I buy them over several visits?”
“If that still doesn’t work, I can have my junior disciple come and pick up a few items for me. There are two of us, after all.”
“Sister, I have more than a hundred junior disciples. If you insist on this, I’ll call them all over and buy your entire Heavenly Secrets Pavilion empty today.”
Lan Ji no longer knew what to say. She laughed despite herself. “What? Is the Ziyang Sect planning to make a move against the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion?”
“Can’t the Ziyang Sect buy things?” Nangong Yu blinked. “Sister, what are the quotas for the five great sects and eight major schools? Tell me.”
There were no such sect quotas.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s main customers were rogue cultivators. After all, disciples of sects and prestigious clans had deep foundations, and whatever they needed could usually be obtained from their own organizations.
“Stop fooling around.” Lan Ji had no choice but to rub her forehead. “Nine items. I can give you nine at most.”
She was already making an exceptional concession for the sake of the Resurrection Card.
Nangong Yu was about to say something else, but when she saw Zhegu signaling to her from the side, she thought about it.
This was not a one-time deal. The Ziyang Sect still had Elder Fuyun’s coffers to empty.
“All right.” She nodded. “I won’t make things difficult for you, Sister. Here.”
As she spoke, she held out a card.
Lan Ji’s feelings were complicated. On the one hand, Nangong Yu had single-handedly broken the rules and demanded a quota of nine heaven-grade treasures.
On the other hand, the item had not even reached her hands, yet Nangong Yu had given away the card without hesitation.
With trembling fingers, Lan Ji accepted it. “How do I use it?”
“It’s simple. Hold it and say the name of the person you want to resurrect,” Nangong Yu explained.
This was an item from an infinite-flow instance. Its method of use was incredibly simple. There was no ritual, no preparation, and no binding. Whether it was a person or a dog, whoever held it could use it.
“All right.” Lan Ji put away the card. It looked simple enough, but upon closer inspection, it contained an astonishing and indescribable aura.
She looked at Zhegu and tossed him an item. “From today onward, you are the chief steward. Take good care of our honored guest.”
Then she glanced at Nangong Yu. “If you deceived me, there will be no place for you in the Canglan Nine Provinces.”
Before Nangong Yu could reply, the window flew open, and a blue-and-green breeze drifted out.
“Wow.” Nangong Yu leaned against the windowsill and stuck her head outside. “She’s gone?”
Zhegu wiped the sweat from his forehead and tightened his grip on the token of the Young Mistress, which Lan Ji had temporarily lent him. Without that token, he could not bring out more than three heaven-grade treasures.
“Little Ancestor, close the window.”
Only then did Nangong Yu close it. She walked back and said, “Then I’ll start choosing.”
Three magical treasures. Three bottles of pills. Three talismans. Three sets of formations.
“That’s twelve items,” Zhegu reminded her. “The Young Mistress said you could have nine at most.”
Nangong Yu sighed. “Give me nine first. I’ll have my junior disciple come and collect the other three.”
Zhegu sighed as well. “Did you really bring that many spirit stones?”
Even the cheapest heaven-grade treasure cost several million spirit stones. The more expensive ones cost tens of millions.
Nine items would amount to hundreds of millions, if not more. Did her family own a spirit stone mine?
“Have you calculated the price of my things?” Nangong Yu asked.
Zhegu nodded and handed her the list. “I have. Everything is recorded here.”
Every single trinket, valuable or worthless, that she had scavenged from Elder Xuanqing was listed out, adding up to hundreds of items in total.
Her gaze swept quickly across the list and landed on the final tally, which came to a grand total of 12,576,000 spirit stones.
This generous sum was all thanks to Elder Xuanqing's famously lavish lifestyle.
If she had rummaged through her master, that NPC whose sword hut was as shabby as a outhouse, Nangong Yu would not have earned even a fraction of that amount no matter how thoroughly she looted the place.
"The price is perfectly fair," Zhegu stressed.
Fair as it was, there was still a massive gap to fill if she wanted to get her hands on those nine heaven-grade treasures.
"That treasure of yours can count as one," Zhegu whispered, "and that's the absolute maximum it can cover."
For any cultivator, the most precious thing in the world is the ability to bring themselves back from the dead. A treasure like that would easily be worth trading for three heaven-grade artifacts, no question.
After all, heaven-grade artifacts can always be bought with enough resources, but a lost life can never be replaced. But the ability to resurrect someone else...
Just like in an infinite-stream survival dungeon, the value of this item had been heavily discounted.
What's more, the resurrection card Nangong Yu had was only a partial credit that she had traded for with Lan Ji.
By agreeing to count it as one full heaven-grade artifact, Zhegu was taking a huge risk. If Young Mistress Lan really did manage to resurrect the person she cared most about, she would not blame him for arbitrarily giving Nangong Yu a heaven-grade artifact as a gesture.
Not only would she not blame him, she would even praise him for building a good rapport with Nangong Yu. After all, Nangong Yu possessed a treasure that could bring the dead back to life. Where had she gotten it from? Was there a second one hidden somewhere?
"I have a immortal-grade sword," Nangong Yu said mysteriously, cupping her hand over her mouth as she spoke. "How many artifacts can that count for?"
Zhegu froze for a moment. "There's no such thing as an immortal-grade sword in this world."
Even if one did exist, how could it possibly end up in the hands of a mere Qi Refining stage disciple like her?
Don't even try to say her master gave it to her. Her master was just a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, who could not even afford to own an immortal-grade sword himself, let alone pass one down to his disciple.
"Never mind where I got it. Just tell me how many artifacts it can cover," Nangong Yu said, standing up straight.
Zhegu wiped the sweat off his brow and said, "If you really do have one... it still depends on the quality of the immortal-grade sword, whether it's damaged, and how much of its original power it still retains—"
He never got to finish his sentence. His eyes went wide and unblinking.
Right there in Nangong Yu's hand was a long sword glowing with bright white light, brimming with surging, majestic power.
"Imm... immortal-grade sword..." Zhegu's throat felt as if a feather was stuck in it.
Nangong Yu huffed and said, "Well? How many artifacts can this count for?"
Zhegu did not reply. His legs gave out, and he plopped heavily onto the ground, sweat pouring down his face.
"Little Ancestor, wait a second. Let me catch my breath."
This had been one shocking day after another. Zhegu had never in his life closed a deal this big.
Even with the Young Mistress's token temporarily in his possession, he did not have the authority to make this call. He pulled out his communication artifact and sent a voice transmission to Young Mistress Lan: "Reporting to the Young Mistress, this subordinate has a matter to bring to your attention..."
Young Mistress Lan had been impatient, in a huge rush to go resurrect someone, until she heard what he had to say. "What?! An immortal-grade sword?!"
Moments later, the window shattered open with a bang. A wisp of blue-green spiritual energy darted inside, and solidified into the form of Young Mistress Lan as it landed.
"Where's the immortal-grade sword?" She waved her hand to close the broken window, then spoke in a lowered voice.
Nangong Yu pulled out the quantum light sword once more. "Sister, you're back."
Lan Ji glanced at her. She really did not want to turn back, but the immortal-grade sword was far too important to ignore, so she had no choice but to return.
"This isn't an immortal-grade sword," she said, holding the quantum light sword and sensing its power carefully. The dizzy feeling in her head faded a little as she regained some clarity. "But it is a heaven-grade artifact."
She gradually calmed herself down. "This can only count as one artifact."
Nangong Yu sighed, took back the quantum light sword, and said, "You all are far too good at appraising treasures. I'm going to head over to the Myriad Treasures Chamber of Commerce, find some rube who doesn't know what they're looking at, and scam enough money to cover the rest—"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lan Ji and Zhegu both stepped in front of her at the exact same time.
"Get out of my way," Nangong Yu said.
Zhegu was practically wailing. "Little Ancestor!!"
Lan Ji fought to keep her composure and said, "You don't need to go there. I'll count this as two artifacts for you."
