After glancing at the altar table, Marquis Nanlong and the old man's eyes involuntarily met. In each other's gaze, they saw deep wariness.
Even if the two had shared some friendship in years past, before a treasure within arm's reach, such ties had long since evaporated.
After a moment of silence, it was the old man who spoke first, letting out a low chuckle: "Daoist Nanlong, we both know full well what's going through each other's mind. My cultivation was a shade below yours before, but since you suffered a grave loss of vitality on the Mulan Prairie, I'd say we're about even now. There are so many spirit medicines here—let's not entertain any underhanded thoughts and simply divide them honestly. Better that than end up dragging each other to the grave."
"Brother Lu speaks truly. I was thinking the same. But what if we split the spirit medicines evenly, and I take only that round bowl—everything else goes to Brother Lu? What do you say?" As he spoke, Marquis Nanlong cast a sideways glance at the round bowl that drew the eye above all else on the altar table.
"The round bowl? Very well, let's settle on it then! All I want now is to push my cultivation a step further and gain some more years of life. I couldn't care less about these worldly trappings." The old man's expression shifted slightly, but after a brief moment's thought, he agreed readily.
Marquis Nanlong was momentarily stunned, then overjoyed. He had expected it would take considerable effort to convince the other to give up this treasure, yet the old man let it go without a fuss. Still, out of caution, he studied the old man's face several more times.
But Lu Weiying's expression remained perfectly calm, without the slightest hint of anything unusual. He even seemed to sense Marquis Nanlong's hesitation, and suddenly smiled again: "What's this? Has Brother Nanlong changed his mind and decided to yield the treasure to this old man?"
Marquis Nanlong fell silent, his eyes flickering, and did not answer for the moment.
After a while, finding nothing amiss, Marquis Nanlong finally let out a hearty laugh and replied with a smile: "Brother Lu jests. Since you've put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony. Let us both act at once—you take the three treasures and jade talismans from atop the bowl, and I'll take the bowl itself. Then we'll divide the spirit medicines. How does that sound?"
"I'll follow Brother Nanlong's word!" The old man agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Marquis Nanlong nodded with satisfaction, and the two moved almost simultaneously.
The old man swept his sleeve toward the altar table, and a sheet of white, misty radiance surged directly toward the three artifacts and the several jade talismans. Meanwhile, Marquis Nanlong carefully opened his mouth, and a ball of golden light shot from his lips toward the round bowl.
Everything proceeded smoothly. Under the sweep of the old man's white radiance, the treasures and talismans were gathered up from atop the bowl without the slightest resistance. Then the golden light enveloped the round bowl and carried it toward Marquis Nanlong.
When the round bowl drifted lightly into Marquis Nanlong's hand, he couldn't help but show a look of delight.
The old man across from him lowered his gaze to examine the three treasures in his hands, his face utterly expressionless.
Looking at the bowl in his hands, its lid sealed without the slightest crack, Marquis Nanlong suddenly dropped his smile. He flipped his palm and slapped it down onto the bowl's lid in a flash. Instantly, a yellow talisman adhered to its surface.
"Brother Nanlong, what is the meaning of this?" The old man's face changed drastically at the sight, and he couldn't help but cry out in alarm and anger.
"What meaning? Did Brother Lu truly believe I couldn't tell that those three treasures and the jade talismans are artifacts that ancient cultivators used to suppress the bowl? I don't know what's sealed inside this bowl, but it is absolutely a supreme-grade ancient treasure, and whatever lies within must be no less extraordinary. However, if Brother Lu expected me to rashly open this bowl, I'm afraid he'll be sorely disappointed. Without absolute confidence, I would never do such a thing." Marquis Nanlong spoke with a peculiar expression, and as he did, his palm slapped talisman after talisman onto the bowl in rapid succession, affixing five or six more of various colors without pause.
"Heh heh! I never imagined that a momentary gesture of courtesy on my part would lead to such a misunderstanding. But I don't feel the need to explain. Let's divide the spirit medicines and leave this place. For reasons I cannot quite explain, I have no wish to linger here any longer." The old man's expression returned to normal in the blink of an eye, and he spoke with calm indifference.
"Hmph! So be it, Brother Lu. The Celestial Origin Fruits that can extend one's lifespan—we'll split those evenly. As for the remaining spirit medicines, each of us picks one." Marquis Nanlong gave a cold laugh. Holding the bowl in one hand, he reached toward the several Celestial Origin Fruits on the altar table with the other, his fingers grasping at empty air.
Immediately, a golden hand of light about a foot wide materialized above the altar table and swooped down.
Lu Weiying's face darkened. Without bothering to respond, he raised his hand, and a white hand of light similarly materialized above the altar table, reaching for the purple spirit mushroom beside the Celestial Origin Fruits.
Two muffled sounds rang out. The Celestial Origin Fruits and the purple spirit mushroom on the altar table flashed with green light, then suddenly blurred and dissolved. Both light hands grasped at nothing. Then the altar table blazed with radiance, and all the spirit medicines and fruits vanished within the brilliance like bubbles, disappearing without a trace.
Marquis Nanlong and the old man stared, struck dumb with shock.
At that moment, the round bowl in Marquis Nanlong's hand underwent a bizarre transformation.
The talismans pasted on its surface suddenly flickered wildly with spiritual light, then ignited on their own.
Under the pitch-black, ink-like demonic flames, the talismans were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Marquis Nanlong, already seething with fury over the vanishing of the spirit medicines, sensed something and turned his head slightly. What he saw—the bowl in his own hand—turned his face deathly pale. Without a second thought, golden light flashed on his free hand, and a slightly tattered golden talisman appeared between his fingers. He slammed it fiercely onto the round bowl.