Closing the Portal

The Emperor Void was quite knowledgeable of many things concerning the use of Void element so he had definitely heard about 'Chui Shi' although it was the first time he had actually seen one.

"This is a great find," the Purple Mist Sect Master said.

"Ah."

"If I will be able to study this one and find out all the materials used in this thing..," he sighed in addition, "..then perharps our sect will be able to reproduce this."

The sect elders were in awe with the words of the Sect Master.

Should the Emperor Void truly uncover the secrets of such pendant, it would undoubtedly bring great achievement to the sect.

"It would be a great milestone for our sect, Master Han," one of the elders remarked.

"Indeed," the sect master replied while still looking intently on the pendant.

"But I don't think it will be an easy feat," he added. "Looking at the intricacies of this treasure, I am certain that the materials used were no ordinary."

After saying those words, the emperor slid the 'Chui Shi' into his own spatial ring and took a deep breath.

"I am going to take this one," he said.

All the sect elders of course had not raised any qualms about it. It would be even more perfect if the sect master would personally take care of it.

Neither one of the sect elders nor of the sect disciples had learned a 'Beast Taming' skill so it was obvious that it could be of no use for them as of the moment. But once reproduced, some of them may think about learning such skill.

The advantage of having such pendant was the possibility of minimizing the early deaths of 'contracted' demonic beasts. That was because, a tamer would always have the ability to hide his 'contracted' demonic beast at any time should the need call for it.

But from the looks of it, the sect would not only need a high skilled cultivator with Void elemental affinity but also a high skilled blacksmith.

Fortunately, the sect had the Emperor Void himself who had Void affinity and few elders who had Metal elemental affinity. The only problem left for the sect was to research the materials used in it and the blueprint for such pendant.

**************

Eventually, the day for the spatial portal to close itself had come.

So the Purple Mist Sect master finally announced the culmination of the event and expressed his apology to the heads of the clans and families for all the participants who did not make it in time.

"It is my honor to proclaim that this event is truly a success," the Emperor Void said.

But then he paused for a moment and sighed before continuing.

"But it is also my regret that not all who entered came back alive..," he said. "Such is the way of this cultivation world.. I hope none of the patriarchs and elders around here will hold grudges against another.."

He then looked deeply into the eyes of the heads of other sects, clans and families.

"As the head of the Purple Mist Sect..," the emperor continued, "..I am of the opinion that this event should not be a once in a lifetime occassion.. so the sect is pondering about opening a spatial portal again after another five years."

Everyone who heard the announcement were elated.

In fact, some of the clan elders who were present started imagining how to best prepare. For cultivators, a span of five years was short—and definitely a new breed of disciples would take their turn to participate.

The sect made such announcement after realizing that there were more to uncover inside the Desolate Wasteland and also under the strong belief that the huge treasured cauldron was yet to be depleted.

The sect elders theorized that the reason the cauldron was permanently attached to the ground was the possibility that it could regenerate a new set of treasures after being out-stashed. And if such was the case, then the old Soaring Sky Sect palace would, without a doubt, be a good source of treasure from then on.

But the sect elders were of the same thought that they should not open the wasteland in such a short interval—otherwise, the area might truly be 'desolate' in just a matter of time.

After completing his announcement, the Sect Master gestured to his disciples to finally close the spatial portal.

The portal did not need any extra effort for the sect. A number of elite disciples simply removed the runes placed in the corners of the gate and the spatial portal gradually dissolved by itself.

After the portal was closed, everyone in 'The Hunters' Plateau' went into panic mode as they tried to haggle every bit of valuables on sale in the trading area. They knew that the trading area would be soon closed as well.

But as a parting gift, the Purple Mist Sect extended the trading for three more days and even placed few of the treasures found in the cauldron in an informal auction.