"Where the hell am I?" Arthur wondered as he stared at the vast land. It looked like a desert, only that there was no sand.
Instead, it was filled with sparkling stones of different colors. The were mountains and mountains of stones, each of a different color, and they seemed to go on forever.
Above the mountains were numbers floating in gold, and he blinked a few times, wondering what kind of magic it was.
Arthur's eyes dilated as he tried to comprehend what was happening. "How did I come here? What place is this? What are these?"
Picking up one of the stones, he examined it. The blue stone sparkled slightly as he tilted it in his palm. The circular stone was smooth to touch and felt slightly warm under his fingers.
"Master, welcome."
Suddenly, out of nowhere, he heard a childish voice in his mind, and Arthur jolted in shock. Looking around, he tried to find the person, but didn't see anyone in the vicinity.
"Who are you?" he asked, his tone filled with vigilance and a coldness that could freeze his enemies.
"Master, I am the Heavenly Pavilion, your storage space."
"Show yourself to me before I lose my calm," Arthur threatened, his tone menacing.
"Master, I cannot show myself to you. I have no physical entity."
"You..."
"Master, I have been waiting for you for years."
Arthur frowned, finding the Heavenly Pavilion's words absurd.
"What do you mean?"
"Master, I've been lying dormant inside you all these years, waiting for you. What took you so long, Master?" the Heavenly Pavilion asked coquetishly, as if it was throwing a tantrum.
'Is it drunk? Who is it trying to act cute with?' Arthur thought, rolling his eyes.
"Were you really waiting for me? Do you know who I am?" Arthur asked, still unable to fathom what was happening.
"You are my Master, Jin Yuchen," the Heaven Pavilion sounded confused by his questions.
Arthur was disheartened. For a moment, he had thought the Heavenly Pavilion knew his true identity.
Sighing softly to himself, he lowered his guards when he didn't sense any threat to his life.
"What are these stones?" he asked, staring at the blue stone in his palm.
"Master, these are spirit stones."
"Okay, what are spirit stones?" Arthur fired his next question.
"Master, do you not know what spirit stones are?"
The Heavenly Pavilion sounded incredulous, and Arthur quirked a brow slightly.
"Will you answer me or not?" he asked, lowering his voice, making it seem as if he was exasperated.
Just as he had expected, the Heavenly Pavilion crumbled immediately and surrendered before him.
"Master, please do not be angry. I was just asking." The Heavenly Pavilion laughed to hide its fright.
By now, Arthur had grasped its weakness. It was especially scared of his anger. Every time he showed signs of being annoyed, its would voice would tremble.
"Now, tell me. What are these spirit stones? How are they useful to me?"
"Master, spirit stones are like money. You can buy anything with them."
"Ohh!" Arthur nodded, secretly delighted that he had money with him. At least, he didn't have to return outside, looking for money.
"They are more valuable than money actually. You will need a lot of money to buy the cheapest spirit stone here."
'Aha! So, I'm richie rich then," Arthur thought, finding the first silver lining in his predicament.
"So, how many spirit stones do I have here?" he asked, suddenly curious to know the numbers.
Immediately after, a golden scroll appeared before him in which all the spirit stones were listed.
Green - 500,000,000,000
Orange - 2,500,000,000
Blue - 200,000,000
Red - 15,000,000
Purple - 1,000,000
Yellow - 75,000
White - 4,000
Silver - 500
Heaven - 20
"Why are they in different colors?" Arthur asked, finding everything novel. Moreover, he noticed that the count was in perfect figures. Were they rounded off on purpose?
"Master, the Green Stone is the lowest grade spirit stone, while the Heaven Stone is the highest grade. Here is the conversion with respect to green stones."
The wording on the scroll changed, and Arthur studied it, taking his time to digest everything he was seeing.
1 Orange Stone - 1 Hundred Green Stones
1 Blue Stone - 1 Thousand Green Stones
1 Red Stone - 10 Thousand Green Stones
1 Purple Stone - 100 Thousand Green Stones
1 Yellow Stone - 1 Million Green Stones
1 White Stone - 10 Million Green Stones
1 Silver Stone - 100 Million Green Stones
1 Heaven Stone - 1 Billion Green Stones
Arthur gasped when he saw the conversion rates. 1 Billion Green Stones? What kind of freaking gambling game is this?
His mind spun when he thought of the numbers. He quickly calculated his fortune, and his eyes widened when he realized he had around 1.4 trillion Spirit Stones if they were all converted to green Spirit Stones.
Suddenly, his eyes constricted, and a possibility sprang to his mind. "Don't tell me..." he mumbled, finding it difficult to comprehend it. "Did my entire savings on Earth transmigrate with me?"
His voice was so loud that the Heavenly Pavilion also heard him.
"Master?" it asked softly, fearing its master's fury.
Master is quite scary when he is angry. What kind of a master did I end up with?
Arthur was bereft of speech. Usually, he was a very calm person. Very few instances had been able to perturb him.
However, since the moment he had become Jin Yuchen, every moment felt like a dream, a suspenseful story. The twists were never ending, and his mind kept exploding.
He didn't react for a long time, and as time passed, the Heavenly Pavilion started to sweat buckets in fright.
Why is Master silent? Is he angry with me? But I didn't do anything.
"Heavenly Pavilion," Arthur called once he finally accepted his predicament.
"Yes, Master?" It responded instantly.
"How did all these spirit stones come here?"
"I have no idea, Master. They were all here the moment you woke me from my slumber."
Arthur pursed his lips and thought about it, his clever mind beginning to analyze everything. Although he was stunned by the turn of events, he had slowly come to accept that he was now Jin Yuchen.
The Heavenly Pavilion had been with the host since he was born. However, it had been in its dormant state.
'The Heavenly Pavilion was activated the moment I came here. Did my transmigration trigger it?'
Arthur couldn't think of any other possibility.
"Heavenly Pavilion, can you store only spirit stones?"
"No, Master. I can store anything you want. I can also keep track of all your contracts."
"Contracts?" Arthur frowned in confusion. Now, what are these contracts? What new headache is this?
"Master, you can bind anything that has a spirit root with a contract. Once it is bound, it is under your command."
"And how do I do that?" Archer was suddenly intrigued.
"By offering spirit stones, Master."
"Ohh." From the host's memories, Arthur knew he didn't have a spirit root. So, the spirit stones weren't of much to him unless...
His eyes gleamed, and his lips curled into a smirk.
"Heavenly Pavilion?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Tell me what all in this world has a spirit root."
The Heavenly Pavilion was silent for a few seconds, and Arthur didn't rush it for answers.
A few seconds passed before it finally replied, "Everything, Master."