Stranger Danger

"Haha... don't worry, scion Jin."

The sight of the composed Jin Wanliang looking like the world had crumbled around him caused Feng Qingyou to let out a chuckle of amusement. She finally stopped keeping him in suspense and explained, "It's a simple story. Once upon a time, we had a sect called the Gold Maker Sect. The Gold Maker Sect possessed a secret art and a Strange Artifact that can transform stones into gold; objects into valuables. Thanks to this ability to transform the worthless into valuables; the fake into real, they were able to become one of the biggest sects in just the span of a few years. For a time, their renown was unrivaled."

"However, everything has two sides to it. Although this ability allowed the Gold Maker Sect to accumulate an obscene amount of wealth, renown, and status in just a short time, it also incited much greed from others. Later, a thief nicknamed 'Thief of Nine Firmaments' somehow stole the secret art and the Strange Artifact and vanished permanently."

Feng Qingyou hadn't finished her story yet, but Jin Wanliang could already guess what happened next. After the Thief of Nine Firmaments stole the secret art and the Strange Artifact, he escaped overseas, changed his name, and founded a clan. That was the origin of the Jin Clan and Gold Island.

Feng Qingyou continued, "Thief of Nine Firmaments is just the thief's moniker. I heard that his real name is Jin Yiding (Gold Ingot). It was well known that the secret art he stole is called Gold Maker, and the Strange Artifact is the Gold Making Spring."

"Besides that, it was rumored that the mountain where the Gold Maker Sect was located was completely golden. The mountain, the objects, the flora and fauna were all golden yellow like gold. That was why the mountain was also known as Gold Mountain for a time."

Yep, that's definitely our ancestor alright,Jin Wanliang ranted mentally. It was because the true name inscribed on the ancestral tablet and worshiped in the ancestral shrine was none other than Jin Yiding.

Yes, their ancestor's name was that blatant.

It could also be because of their ancestor's influence that everyone who came after him had very down-to-earth names as well. For example, he was called Jin Wanliang (Ten Thousand Gold), and his father was called Jin Manshan (Mountain of Gold). Oh yeah.

But of course, this wasn't the main point. The main point was that their ancestor was definitely the Thief of Nine Firmaments, and both the Gold Making Spring and Gold Maker were his loot.

His ancestor was quite the audacious one as well. Not only did he keep his true name after stealing a powerful sect's greatest treasures, he did not even bother making up a false name for the secret art or the treasure. Was he that confident in his strength and skills, or was he just too stupid to realize the dangers?

He also finally understood what Feng Qingyou meant when she said that a lot of people knew about this.

His ancestor had stolen the very roots of a powerful sect after all. Everyone and their mothers probably knew about it back then. Although that incident had taken place centuries ago, the stories must have been passed down to this day. He reckoned that a lot of people still remembered it to this day.

"So... how is the Gold Maker Sect now?"

Jin Wanliang immediately realized the biggest issue here. According to Feng Qingyou, Gold Maker Sect was one of the absolute strongest sects at the time. Their elites were innumerable, and their forces were massive. Naturally, he wondered how they were doing now. If they remained fairly strong to this day, then this would be disastrous news for Gold Island and the Jin Clan.

After all, if the Gold Maker Sect ever found out about the existence of the Gold Island and the Jin Clan, then they would definitely hunt them to the ends of the earth.

Literally, they would not stop until every man, woman, children, and chicken in their clan was slaughtered!

He wouldn't even be able to blame them for it. After all, their ancestor had stolen what made them them. This was a blood grudge that any sect or faction would pursue until the end; a blood debt that would not be forgotten even after hundreds, even thousands of seasons had passed. It was one thing if they didn't know, but if the Gold Maker Sect ever found out about this... this feud would never end until one side was completely and utterly destroyed.

Of course, centuries had passed since that incident, and the Gold Maker Sect still hadn't sent anyone over. It might be safe to assume that they didn't know. Still, what if? Ye Qing and Feng Qingyou were here, weren't they? What if one day someone from the Gold Maker Sect came here and found out about their existence?

This was a matter that could mean the end of the Jin Clan. Naturally, Jin Wanliang was extremely worried.

"You have nothing to worry about. The Gold Maker Sect had died off a long time ago. They would not seek you out for revenge."

As if she could guess what Jin Wanliang was thinking, Feng Qingyou assured him with a smile, "The Gold Maker Sect's ability to turn stone into gold, and objects into valuables is completely reliant on Gold Maker and the Gold Making Spring. To lose even one of them renders their ability useless, much less both. It is what makes them the Gold Maker Sect."

"That was why they completely lost the ability to create gold out of nothing after the Thief of Nine Firmaments stole their secret art and Strange Artifact. Not only that, they also lost the ability to practice Gold Maker for some reason, meaning that no one could learn the secret art anymore."

"In other words, the Gold Maker Sect did not just lose the Gold Making Spring, they had lost the spell to transform objects into gold as well. Not even the biggest tree can last long without its roots. That is why the Gold Maker Sect fell into an irreversible decline after the incident, one that was actively accelerated by other members of thejianghuas well. Eventually, they completely disappeared from the surface of the earth."

"Phew... I'm glad to hear that." Jin Wanliang instinctively let out a sigh of relief. Then, he grew embarrassed and said, "I apologize for my unsightly behavior, seniors."

It was understandable. He just found out that their wealth and status were the result of thievery after all. Not only that, their ancestor's actions had indirectly ruined a top-tier sect. It was one thing if he didn't know about it, but now? It was impossible not to feel at least slightly ashamed of their ancestor's actions.

It wasn't like his face was thick beyond penetration after all.

Feng Qingyou smiled. "It's nothing."

"You said that the Gold Maker Sect suddenly lost the ability to practice Gold Maker after losing both the Gold Making Spring and the secret art, Qingyou. Why do you think that's the case?" Ye Qing asked curiously.

In fact, he had heard this story from Yi Pin before. However, he only treated it as a story and did not pay much attention to it. The old Taoist did not know nearly as much as Feng Qingyou as well.

Jin Wanliang could not help but pay attention as well, even though he was secretly afraid of the truth. It was a conflicting feeling.

"That, I'm not sure." Feng Qingyou shook her head.

Just when Jin Wanliang was letting out a sigh of relief, Feng Qingyou added, "If I have to guess though, I would say that it's due to the Gold Making Spring."

Ye Qing exclaimed in realization, "Ah! You're saying that the Gold Making Spring is the key to practicing Gold Maker?"

Ye Qing was just making a comment, but Jin Wanliang felt like his heart was struck by thunder. It caused every hair on his body to stand on end.

Before Feng Qingyou mentioned it, he never thought that the secret art, Gold Maker, was connected to the Gold Making Spring. In fact, there probably wasn't a soul in the Jin Clan who thought about it.

At first hearing, it sounded like a ridiculous notion. But when he really thought about it, he realized that it made a lot of sense. It would certainly explain all the unusual abilities and strange limitations around Gold Maker.

What this meant that they—everyone in the Jin Clan—was wrong this entire time. For the longest time, they believed that Gold Maker was the key, and the Gold Making Spring was the support.

However, it was really the other way around. If the Gold Making Spring was present, then they would never lose the ability to use Gold Maker. But without the Gold Making Spring, then no one could practice Gold Maker.

A question surfaced to Jin Wanliang's mind when he arrived at this conclusion: Just what on earth was the Gold Making Spring?

Before this, he always thought that the Gold Making Spring was just a spring with unusual properties. However, Feng Qingyou had called it a Strange Artifact, meaning that it wasn't a product of nature.

He was going to ask when Ye Qing asked his question for him.