Yang Qing had heard plenty of rumors suggesting the tree was likely to be in one of two places: the Dragon Meadow or the Odyssey Horizon Guild.

He could see why there were those who thought that. These two were the most ancient organizations on the continent. No one could even tell how far back they went, and both were just as mysterious.

No one knew where the Dragon Meadow was, only that it existed. About the only things known about it were these: if you wanted anything stored and safeguarded, there was no safer place than the Dragon Meadow, and they had no limit on what could be stored there. You could store anything, from valuable items like cultivation manuals, pill recipes, artifacts, and natural treasures to ephemeral and abstract things like memories and emotions. Anything could be stored, provided you could reach them, and the only way to reach them was for them to reach you first.

On top of their storage services, they also dealt in goods. It was said that not even the White Rose Pavilion in all its splendour could match the Dragon Meadow when it came to rare goods. Things never heard of, or even those assumed extinct, were likely to be found within the walls of the Dragon Meadow.

As for the Odyssey Horizon Guild, while it wasn’t steeped in quite the same level of mystery as the Dragon Meadow, to the point of not even a single building or location associated with it being sightable, the Guild carried mysteries of its own. The Dragon Meadow held rare, never-before-seen treasures, while the Odyssey Horizon Guild held rare, never-before-seen or heard information.

As a history enthusiast, Yang Qing knew from painful personal experience how frustrating it could be to dig up information about the past. You could go digging, only to find that what was available was sparse, highly exaggerated, or too broken and scattered to give you any real picture. You’d have to sift through countless sources just to catch the marginal edges of something. Say nothing of what it would take to get to the meat and bones of it.

There were countless gaps in history that seemed to have simply vanished into smoke, and piecing them together was no different from trying to collect that smoke and store it as though it were something tangible.

But... it was said that just because you couldn’t find something didn’t mean the information wasn’t there. You just had to know where to look, and the best place for that was the Grand Library of the Odyssey Horizon Guild, open only to Purple Grade members.

That library was rumored to hold every piece of history since the dawn of time, every record perfectly intact and detailed.

The history of the continent was said to be enshrined within its walls. Everything from general information to specialized knowledge such as cultivation manuals, recipes, formation formulae, ancient tongues, and other discoveries from days gone by, all of it held within that library.

If only he could set foot there. Yang Qing would never leave. But alas, it would require him to be a Purple Grade explorer to even get that chance. He wasn’t even a White Grade member, which was the lowest rank, let alone Purple Grade. The Guild’s assessment of rank had little to do with cultivation realm and far more to do with discovery.

The Guild’s aim was demystifying the mysteries of the world. Digging up the past, clarifying the present, and unravelling the future. To them, your grade was assigned according to the value of what you had uncovered or discovered, and had little to do with your accomplishments as a cultivator.

So, someone like Tang Xiadan, though he was a late-stage Palace Realm expert, Yang Qing wouldn’t be all too surprised if it came out that he was a Gold Grade member of the Guild, given all those places and ruins he had uncovered tied to ancient lineages.

As for himself, well, he was a house mouse. It would have to wait till he was in the Soul Formation Realm before he dared sign up for the Guild and rise through the ranks. The juiciest mysteries were often the most dangerous, and danger needed strength to live through.

So until such a point that he was confident enough in his strength to go gallivanting around the continent for secrets and mysteries, that famed library and the secrets it held would be stored under ’daydreaming fantasies.’

Dragon Meadow. Odyssey Horizon Guild. If the Origin Treasure Gourd Jade Tree was still around, it was highly likely to be in one of these two places. And if not, then the only other place it could be, if it hadn’t been destroyed, was...

Millionsfold Treasure Ocean.

One of the more prevalent rumors suggested that after the Treasure Coin Palace disappeared, the tree vanished with it and returned to its source. Given how it functioned and the similarities the Gourd Tree bore to the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, it was often hypothesized that the two were part of the same trunk. Which, if true, meant the Origin Treasure Gourd Jade Tree likely lay at the bottom of the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, right where the core of the ocean’s power was hidden.

And if that was the case, then it was as good as gone, because, as with most things from that ocean, especially the more special ones, you would need to be fated with it to ever see it or have it.

It was already a known fact that acquiring special treasures from the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean was more a matter of luck than skill. A Foundation Establishment cultivator with amazing luck was more likely to get their hands on a Saint Grade treasure or some natural Dao treasure from the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean than a Soul Formation expert with average luck.

No one knew why or how, with all of it attributed to the mysteriousness of the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, but that was how things often went. Treasures of a certain kind could only be gotten through luck more than anything else.

The fated one...

And if the Origin Treasure Gourd Jade Tree was down there, and the rumors were true that it shared the same origin as the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, then it stood to reason that such a treasure, more than anything, could only be obtained through luck.

As for who would be that lucky, or what level of luck such an encounter would require... well. The Qilin was considered an auspicious mythical race of luck, and so was the Bi Xie. Not to mention that mythical races, because of their auspiciousness, had a more than abnormal favor attached to them. That being the case, doing simple math, the amount of luck required to be fated with the Origin Treasure Gourd Jade Tree went well beyond just having heavenly luck.

Yang Qing and his dog luck had the same chances of stumbling across it as a son or daughter of Destiny.

Clearing his mind of superfluous thoughts, Yang Qing gazed at Tang Xiadan. "Yes, I have heard of it. Why do you ask? Has Fellow Daoist come across something interesting related to them?" 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

There was a time to play the detached, calm, and unbothered expert who would remain unshaken and unmoved even when the skies fell, and there was a time to wear your emotions on your face. This moment demanded the latter, and Yang Qing’s eyes, tone, and expression made no effort to hide the excitement within.

Tang Xiadan smiled as he slowly drew something from his sleeve. It was a slender, palm-sized, rectangular, dark brown box, arched at the top. He slid his index finger along one end of it, and as he did, his finger morphed, shifting from a human’s to an animal’s. It was more slender and elongated, with a radiant silver coat of fur and a jade golden fingernail curved into a hook.

Using that nail, Tang Xiadan gently sliced through the base of his thumb. Golden colored blood welled up, which he then used as ink, inscribing something onto the surface of the box.

He inscribed four characters. Yang Qing didn’t recognize any of them, only inferring they were likely something special given the archaic aura they radiated with every stroke. That aura felt almost similar to the one Yang Crapong left behind whenever he was making adjustments to the nest.

After the last character was inscribed, the top of the container clicked and popped open.

Yang Qing’s eyes went wide because before his eyes had even registered what was in the box, he heard a powerful dragon roar echo within his soul, filled with a boundless, ancient, and profound aura.

"Ancestral Dragon..." he muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening even further, reflecting three golden coins neatly placed within the container.