Zhang Yuanqing swiftly plucked down the staff that clearly belonged to a Wind Mage, while Zhai Cai chose the Knight straight sword of his own profession. His uncle beckoned to summon the puppet.
Its abilities were Hurricane and Flight, granting tremendous area-of-effect damage as well as long-distance high speed! Zhang Yuanqing quickly reviewed the item's attributes and stowed it into his inventory.
It did not mean much to him. For long-distance travel, he had teleportation jade talismans, and for short bursts, he had Star Escape, Dream Leap, and Night Roam—all stealthy and rapid. He had no need for flight at all... The area-of-effect damage of the hurricane was decent, but hurricanes were meant for clearing mobs. Against powerhouses of the same level, only giant wind blades dealt significant damage; a hurricane's damage was too dispersed... After a round of analysis, Zhang Yuanqing realized it was not his cup of tea.
He turned his gaze to the Knight straight sword in Zhai Cai's hands!
"Here!" Zhai Cai tossed the sword over and shrugged. "It overlaps with my own abilities, so it's not of much use to me."
Zhang Yuanqing caught the straight sword with one hand and tossed back the staff with the other. Focusing his mind for a few seconds, the item information surfaced:
[Name: Sword of Covenant]
[Type: Weapon]
[Function: Establish Covenants]
[Description: A sword imbued with the power of covenants. Any covenant witnessed by it is unconditionally binding. Those who violate the covenant shall suffer the punishment of the Sword of Covenant. The Sword of Covenant can sense the violator's location; no matter where they flee to the ends of the earth, retribution will strike them down.]
[Remarks: Uprightness is its cost.]
It was equivalent to the Knight's "Covenant" and "Punishment" skills. A single sword possessing two core skills made it a mid-to-high grade item. Furthermore, the cost was merely uprightness, which was mild enough to be virtually negligible! Zhang Yuanqing praised, "Good stuff!"
"Indeed, good stuff!" Zhai Cai stroked the staff, unable to put it down.
The two skills of Flight and Hurricane hit his sweet spot perfectly. After all, what Knights were least adept at was speed, and they lacked area-of-effect lethal skills.
"It seems both of you are very satisfied with your items, so this puppet will go to me." The President flipped his wrist, and the grinning puppet vanished.
"What are the puppet's attributes? Did you secretly pocket a rule-based item?" Zhang Yuanqing eyed his uncle sidelong.
Zhai Cai looked at Yuanshi Tianzun in shock, thinking, Is this how you treat a demigod? You're just an ordinary Day Wanderer—why are you even more confident than me?
"Just an item of the Alcoholic profession. Its function is to reverse one's sense of direction," his uncle snorted.
Having split the spoils, Zhang Yuanqing impatiently bent down, dispelled the chest's sealing array with the divine power of the sun, and snapped the iron padlock with a flick of his finger.
Clatter!
The lock fell to the floor. Zhang Yuanqing opened the wooden chest. Inside lay a gilded pot, six inches (twenty centimeters) tall, its body carved with vine-like patterns, its spout elegantly curved, the craftsmanship exquisite.
Zhang Yuanqing carefully picked up the gilded pot. After a few seconds, he found no item information.
"Huh, this thing doesn't have item information? Is it not an item produced by the Spirit Realm?!"
Hearing this, Zhai Cai leaned in as well and said, "Open it and see."
He reached out and lifted the lid.
The next second, both of their eyes shut, and with a thud, they tumbled to the ground, snoring in perfect unison.
The President picked up the gilded pot and tilted the S-shaped spout. A single drop of pitch-black liquid dripped onto his palm, rapidly evaporating.
Thud!
Not far away, the vampire also collapsed to the ground, joining their harmonious chorus of snores.
The President sniffed the evaporated liquid, suddenly understanding. Putting down the gilded pot, he swung his palm and dealt each of them a slap—waking them through physical means.
Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai groggily woke up.
"So sleepy... Why do I feel completely limp?" Zhai Cai yawned.
"It's been so long since I felt this exhausted, like pulling an all-nighter gaming marathon... Un—Is this the thing that knocked us out?" Zhang Yuanqing had almost asked, Uncle, what is this thing?
The words reached his lips just as his mind snapped awake, allowing him to pull back at the edge of the cliff.
"This is a high-grade material of the Eternal Night profession—Eternal Night. A single drop can plunge a Dominator into deep sleep. It can be used to refine sleeping talismans, sleeping pills, and the like." His uncle shook the gilded pot, listening to the loud sloshing of liquid. "There's nearly half a pot here. Neither of you can use it, so it's mine. If you ever need it in the future, you can borrow some from me."
This stuff was ridiculously potent. Even though it was just raw material, splashing it to affect an enemy in combat would have unexpected results. Zhang Yuanqing opened the second chest.
Stored inside the second chest was a heart constantly emitting poisonous smoke. It was not an item, but a material.
The President said it was the heart of some gigantic demon, most likely hunted down by high-ranking members of the Holy See in an instance and handed over to the Holy See.
The heart could be used to craft items or to collect the dispersing poisonous fumes to serve as consumables.
Neither Zhang Yuanqing nor Zhai Cai had much interest in it. Moreover, the poison fumes were quite potent and prone to corroding their owner, so it was likewise handed to the President to deal with.
The President agreed to compensate them with a Dominator-level item, leaving how to divide it up to the two of them.
Next, Zhang Yuanqing opened the third bronze chest.
The moment the lid opened, a flash of bright blue electric light met his eyes.
Inside the chest were two lightning orbs. Their cores were blazing blue, constantly collapsing inward, while their outer layers discharged arcs of electricity.
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. Reaching out with both hands, he grasped the two lightning orbs. Soon, the item information surfaced:
[Name: Lightning Boots]
[Type: Footwear]
[Function: Lightning Manipulation, Speed]
[Description: An item forged by an indescribable entity from harvested lightning cores, possessing formidable offensive power and speed. Item skills: Lightning Strike, Flash of Lightning.]
[Remarks 1: A component of the Thunder God Battlegear. The remaining four pieces are: Bracer, Armor, Helmet, and Spear. Gathering all five pieces grants the power of the Thunder God.]
[Remarks 2: Lightning is forever the natural nemesis of carbon-based lifeforms.]
...
[Name: Thunder God Helmet]
[Type: Armor]
[Function: Electromagnetic Barrier, Magnetization]
[Description: An item forged by an indescribable entity from harvested lightning cores, possessing formidable defensive power and magnetizing ability. Item skills: Electromagnetic Barrier, Magnetization.]
[Remarks 1: A component of the Thunder God Battlegear. The remaining four pieces are: Bracer, Armor, Boots, and Spear. Gathering all five pieces grants the power of the Thunder God.]
[Remarks 2: Ah! My brain is trembling~]
The final two pieces of the Thunder God Set really were in the Holy See's treasury! Zhang Yuanqing's heart pounded wildly, his blood racing, like an ordinary person who bought a hundred thousand lottery tickets, swept the entire jackpot clean, and was even exempted from taxes.
His excitement was maxed out!
What did a Dominator-level set represent?
Except for Level 9 Dominators and demigods, everyone else here is trash!
The Thunder God Set's bracer and armor were Saint-grade items, while the Thunder Spear, Lightning Boots, and Thunder God Helmet were Dominator-grade.
Across the entire Spirit Realm, sets like this were exceedingly rare.
Zhang Yuanqing had never seen a set where every component was Dominator-grade. Even the Heaven-Worship Set consisted of one Transcendent piece, one Saint piece, and two Dominator pieces.
"These two items go to me, and the item compensated by the President goes to you," Zhang Yuanqing said, looking at Zhai Cai. "With these, my set will be complete."
"Complete a set?!" Zhai Cai's voice involuntarily rose several octaves, his face overflowing with envy, jealousy, and resentment. "Both of these pieces are Dominator-grade. What tier is your set even going to be? What kind of dog shit luck did you step in, brat?!"
Zhang Yuanqing chuckled. "Do you think my moniker of Item Tianzun was earned for nothing?"
Seeing that Zhai Cai had no objections, Zhang Yuanqing eagerly stowed the two items into his inventory to review their functions and costs.
The Lightning Boots had two main skills: Lightning Strike and Flash of Lightning.
The Lightning Strike skill was not particularly outstanding, equivalent to a full-power strike from a Thunder Bishop (the class name for Dominator-level Thunder Mages).
For an ordinary Dominator, this was a rather formidable offensive measure, but for Item Tianzun, a full-power strike from a Thunder Bishop was merely passable.
Conversely, the other skill, "Flash of Lightning," was an extraordinarily powerful life-saving and gap-closing ability.
Flash of Lightning allowed the wielder's body to transform into pure electrical current, moving forward at the speed of light for a certain distance—roughly three hundred meters—during which they were immune to all physical attacks.
Star Escape had a wind-up time of a few tenths of a second. In high-level duels, a fraction of a second was enough to kill or interrupt an enemy.
However, Flash of Lightning activated instantaneously, and once triggered, moved at the speed of light. No attack could outpace light.
With this skill at his disposal, he would have nothing to fear from focused fire or siege tactics.
The Thunder God Helmet's two skills: Electromagnetic Barrier and Magnetization.
The former overlapped with the defensive function of the Bracer of Thunder, except the bracer's defense was at the Saint stage, whereas the helmet's barrier was Dominator-grade. Following the Golden Dragon Shield and the Purple Gold Shield, he now had another Dominator-grade defensive ability.
Yet what delighted Zhang Yuanqing most was Magnetization. This skill could magnetize any metal within sixty meters, placing magnetized metal under his control and influence.
Against melee professions like Bewitching Demons or Scouts, it was practically a divine skill.
Of course, the individual item skills were mere bonuses. What Zhang Yuanqing craved most was the set effect.
That was the true significance of gathering a set.
"I'll try out the set skill."
Under Zhai Cai's envious gaze, he retrieved the other three components from his inventory and was just about to equip them when an aura, majestic, righteous, and surging like mountains and seas, radiated from behind them.
At the same time, Zhang Yuanqing heard the mental fluctuation of a spirit body resonate behind him:
"Trespassers in the Holy See's treasury shall be punished!"
Chapter 914