Chapter 793: The Mysterious Object

Tyler’s eyes remained fixed on the ancient statue."So the statue teleports?" he asked with genuine interest.

The elderly shopkeeper nodded.

"Yes, Young Master. No matter who carries it away, the moment it leaves this stone platform, it immediately returns to its original position. I’ve tried countless methods over the years, but none of them worked."

Ali folded his arms and looked at the platform beneath the statue.

"Then isn’t the solution obvious?" he said. "We’ll simply buy the platform along with the statue."

The shopkeeper forced a bitter smile and slowly shook his head.

"I wish it were that simple."

He gently tapped the stone platform with his walking stick.

"This isn’t an ordinary pedestal. It’s one of the main Pillar Arrays supporting the entire building. If it is removed, the structural formation of this shop will collapse."

Suzuka looked down at the platform with curiosity.

"Pillar Array?"

Tyler explained before the shopkeeper could answer.

"A Pillar Array is a formation used instead of conventional support pillars. Rather than relying on physical columns, the formation itself distributes the weight of the building throughout the foundation. It allows merchants to build larger halls without having thick pillars blocking the interior."

Realisation dawned upon Suzuka.

"So that’s why this shop feels much more spacious than the others."

The shopkeeper smiled and nodded repeatedly.

"Exactly as Young Master said."

He looked at Tyler with obvious admiration.

"Young Master truly possesses broad knowledge. Very few people outside formation masters know about Pillar Arrays."

Tyler merely smiled.

He had only recognised it because similar structural formations existed in Boundless World too. Most of them are used to build ships.

Ali walked around the platform once before scratching his head.

"Who would even think of placing a strange statue on top of something so important?"

The shopkeeper chuckled helplessly.

"The previous owner. He believed placing an ancient beast statue at the heart of the shop would attract fortune and suppress misfortune. Whether it actually worked or not, this old man cannot say."

Tyler became interested. "And where is the previous owner now?"

"He passed away several years ago after a long illness." The shopkeeper sighed softly.

"He owed me a considerable amount of spirit stones before his death. Since none of his descendants were willing to repay the debt, ownership of the property was transferred to me."

He looked around the spacious antique shop before shrugging.

"To tell the truth, I have no attachment to this place."

"If someone wishes to buy the entire shop, I don’t mind selling it."

He paused before pointing toward the platform.

"Once the ownership changes, you may dismantle the building and take the platform with you if you truly wish."

"However..."

His expression became serious.

"If the platform is damaged while removing the statue, the supporting formation will collapse."

"And once that happens..."

"...this entire building will come crashing down."

Ali laughed bitterly.

"Buy the entire shop?"

He shook his head.

"This is Heaven Mist Pavilion."

"The land alone is worth a fortune."

He looked at the shopkeeper before saying helplessly, "Do you think spirit stones fall from the sky?"

Tyler blinked.

For a brief moment, he genuinely considered answering that question.

After all...

With the Copper Pot, wealth really did seem to appear from nowhere.

Fortunately, he kept those thoughts to himself.

Ali waved his hand.

"Forget it. This Young Master isn’t interested anymore."

Without another glance at the statue, he turned around and walked out of the shop.

His servant hurried after him.

"Young Master, please wait for me."

Watching the pair disappear into the crowd outside, Suzuka couldn’t help muttering, "He actually left just like that."

Tyler smiled faintly.

"He probably realised this matter was beyond his means."

He then looked sideways at Suzuka with a teasing smile.

"What?"

"Are you disappointed?"

"I thought you two were getting along rather well."

Suzuka rolled her eyes.

"I already have a boyfriend."

She answered so naturally that Tyler immediately raised both hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright."

She looked toward the entrance before continuing with a smile.

"I was only curious. I wanted to see his expression after watching you buy this entire shop."

Tyler looked at her in surprise.

"Who said I was buying the shop?"

Suzuka met his eyes without the slightest hesitation.

"My intuition."

Tyler laughed.

"Then never ignore your intuition."

Less than fifteen minutes later...

The old shopkeeper stood motionless with a property transfer contract in one hand and several storage bags filled with spirit stones in the other.

His mouth remained slightly open.

Even now, he found it difficult to believe someone had actually purchased the entire shop without bargaining over the price.

Tyler calmly put away the ownership documents before looking toward Suzuka.

"Store everything inside the shop. We’re taking all of it."

Suzuka nodded.

She and several storage bags quickly emptied the shop shelf by shelf.

Half an hour later, the once-crowded antique shop had become almost completely empty. Only the ancient statue and the stone platform remained.

Tyler slowly walked forward.

"Hazel."

The corpse girl immediately stepped beside him. Tyler pointed toward the statue.

"Do whatever you want to do."

Hazel obediently reached out.

This time, instead of punching the statue, she grasped it firmly with both hands and lifted it away from the platform.

The instant the statue left its pedestal, she quickly crumbled it with her own hand.

Then something unexpected happened.

A small object hidden beneath it was finally revealed.

Hidden within the shattered statue was an exquisite pendant no larger than a thumb. An azure gemstone rested at its centre, encased in intricate golden patterns, while a tiny cross-shaped charm dangled beneath it. It looked less like an accessory and more like an ancient relic that had survived countless ages.

The moment Hazel saw it, she bent down without hesitation and picked it up.

A sharp cracking sound echoed through the room.

Krrk...

The stone platform beneath the statue suddenly split apart.

Countless formation lines hidden within its interior began collapsing one after another.

Suzuka’s expression immediately changed. The entire shop trembled violently.

Cracks spread across the floor like spiderwebs before racing toward every wall.

Dust rained from the ceiling.

Without wasting another second, Tyler activated an Array Disc.

A translucent barrier immediately expanded around himself, Suzuka, and Hazel.

Boom!

Another loud rumble shook the building.

The supporting Pillar Array had completely failed.

Without the formation distributing the weight of the structure, every supporting beam immediately began collapsing under its own burden.

Massive cracks spread across the walls.

The ceiling caved in.

Wood, stone, and bricks crashed down in every direction.

Outside, countless cultivators turned toward the antique district in shock as the entire shop collapsed with a deafening roar, raising an enormous cloud of dust that swept across Heaven Mist Pavilion.

"Well... looks like we caused quite a commotion." Tyler scratched the back of his head with an awkward smile.

Suzuka glanced at the mountain of rubble that had once been a prosperous shop and let out a helpless sigh.

"’Quite’ is a rather humble way of putting it."

The two of them instinctively turned towards Hazel Sky.

She stood quietly amidst the chaos, carefully holding the small cross-shaped object in both hands as though it were an ordinary trinket. Despite being the cause of the entire incident, she neither examined it nor attempted to use it. She simply waited for Tyler’s next order.

It didn’t take long before several guards from Heaven Mist Pavilion arrived.

The collapse of an entire shop naturally attracted countless spectators, and the authorities quickly came to investigate.

Fortunately, the ownership transfer had already been completed.

Suzuka patiently explained the entire sequence of events, from purchasing the shop to dismantling the statue. After showing the ownership documents and apologising for the disturbance caused by the collapsing pillar array, the matter was finally settled.

The Pavilion officials could only shake their heads.

Although the incident had created a huge commotion, Tyler hadn’t broken any rules. He had merely demolished his own property.

---

A few minutes later, the three of them had returned to a nearby inn.

After making sure nobody was watching, Tyler closed the room’s door and sat down.

"Let’s see what this thing actually is."

He extended his hand.

"Hazel."

Without the slightest hesitation, Hazel Sky placed the object into his palm.

Tyler turned it over several times.

It looked like nothing more than a small wooden cross, its surface smooth and completely ordinary. There were no runes, no inscriptions and no visible formations.

Tyler slowly poured his spirit qi into the cross, but it remained completely unresponsive. He even swept it several times with his spirit sense, yet discovered nothing unusual.

"It feels like ordinary wood..." Tyler muttered, frowning. "But it’s surprisingly sturdy."

He tried bending it with both hands, but it didn’t move in the slightest.

Unable to figure it out, he tossed it to Suzuka.

She examined it for a while before shaking her head.

"I can’t find anything either."

She handed it back to Hazel Sky.

Hazel accepted it silently. After staring at it for a moment, she instinctively pressed it against her chest.

In the next instant, she disappeared.

Tyler and Suzuka froze.

"Damn..." Tyler cursed.

"She teleported away!"