Once they'd accepted their Golden Dragon Badge, Gao Dongya and Xue Jiye stepped back.
"Disciple Yuan, step forward!"
Long Yijun called him forward.
A moment later, Long Yijun stood in front of him and showed him a badge that looked different from the ones Gao Dongya and Xue Jiye received.
"The Dragon Essence Temple awards Disciple Yuan for his massive contribution in the Mystic Realm, the highest honor that has only been given out two other times since the sect's founding— the Obsidian Dragon Medallion, becoming the third person to ever obtain it in the sect's history!"
"As long as you have this medallion, your status within the sect is akin to that of a Sect Master, and the disciples must respect and treat you as such! Furthermore, this still applies even if you one day decide to part with the sect— granted that you don't betray us!"
Long Yijun handed Yuan a black medallion shaped like a dragon. Compared to the badge the other two obtained, Yuan's badge was crafted with a jade-like material and shaped like the dragon whilst their badges were just ordinary golden medallions with word engravings.
"Thank you, Sect Master." Yuan accepted the badge with a bright smile on his face.
Despite obtaining many trophies in his life, he always finds it a joy to receive a reward for his work, as that meant his efforts meant something for someone and were not wasted.
"Disciples, give a good round of applause for these three young heroes!" Long Yijun turned to face the audience and said loudly.
The Summit Peak immediately exploded with cheering and clapping, and it would not stop until a few minutes later.
Once the noises subsided, Long Yijun gave a short speech about the participants and the Mystic Realm before dismissing everyone but the participants.
"I have more rewards for you three. Come with me to the Treasury Hall." Long Yijun said to them.
"Give me a moment, Sect Master," Yuan said to him before going to where Min Li and Meixiu were waiting.
"You two can go back to the house first. I will return as soon as I'm done with the Sect Master."
"Okay." They both nodded and left the scene together.
Sometime later, Yuan and the other two participants followed Long Yijun to the treasury hall.
"The two of you can pick any treasure you want from the Treasury Hall. Disciple Yuan, you can pick two because of your contribution." Long Yijun said to them.
However, Gao Dongya suddenly opened his mouth and said, "Sect Master, I cannot accept this reward."
"Oh?" Long Yijun raised his eyebrows.
"As much as I hate to admit it, I— we didn't do anything to contribute to the Mystic Realm's result. It was all Disciple Yuan. Before we could even reach the Mystic Pagoda, we were kicked out, barely obtaining any points. If it were not for Disciple Yuan, I cannot even imagine what place the Dragon Essence Temple would be right now. I don't even deserve the last reward, much less this one." Gao Dongya explained his reason for not accepting this reward.
'Kicked out? Oh… I forgot about them… I'm sorry...' Yuan suddenly realized that he'd accidentally kicked out his own teammates when he commanded the Mystic Realm to kick all participants out, and he apologized to them inwardly.
"I-I agree with Disciple Gao, Sect Master! I won't be able to accept this reward. If I could, I would even return the last reward." Xue Jiye said to him.
"Hmmm…" The Sect Master looked at them with a calm expression.
After a moment of silence, he nodded, "Very well. And if you're feeling guilty about receiving the first reward, don't be. It wasn't your fault that you were kicked out of the Mystic Realm. It was an unknown phenomenon that none of us could have expected."
And he continued, " And since you won't be picking a treasure in the Treasury Hall, I will give you guys some spirit stones to cultivate with instead."
"Thank you, Sect Master!"
Gao Dongya and Xue Jiye bowed to Long Yijun before leaving the scene.
"You're quite the honorable guy, Disciple Gao. I truly didn't expect that from you." Xue Jiye said to him afterward.
"Hmph!" Gao Dongya merely snorted at her words before parting from her.
Meanwhile, back at the Treasury Hall, Long Yijun brought Yuan into the vault where they stored most of their valuable treasures.
"Go ahead. Pick whichever two— You know what? Since the other two refused to pick a treasure, I will give you three treasures instead of two. If you need help with an item, just ask me and I'll tell you what it does. And you can take your time." Long Yijun said to him.
"Okay." Yuan nodded, and he proceeded to walk around the place, taking his time to look at the description of every treasure inside the room.
[Dragon Flower]
[Tier 4 Medicine]
[Description: A flower that resembles the shape of a dragon. Grants immense strength to the user for fifteen minutes]
[Dragon Ginseng]
[Tier 4 Medicine]
[Description: Requires 100 years to fully mature. Mostly used as an ingredient in alchemy.]
[Dragon Bow]
[Grade: Earth]
[Quality: High]
[Physical Strength Required: 8,000]
[Mental Strength Required: 12,000]
[Description: A luxurious longbow made of Spirit Wood and Dragon Silk.]
As one would expect from a sect with the word 'Dragon' in it, there were a lot of treasures related to dragons.
However, even after looking at every single treasure in the Treasury Hall, Yuan was unable to pick a treasure. Though, it was not because there were no treasures that caught his attention. In fact, there were too many choices and he couldn't just pick one or two out of thousands.
'I already have enough treasure, and none of the ones in here are better than the ones I already have. I should pick these treasures with Meixiu and Yu Rou in mind since they don't have much.' Yuan thought to himself.
And with that in mind, Yuan went through the treasures in the room. However, instead of thinking about what he wanted, he looked at the treasures as though he was choosing presents for Meixiu and Yu Rou.
'Xiao Hua, Feng Feng, Yingying, which of these treasures do you think would be suitable for Meixiu and Yu Rou?'
Yuan decided to turn to the experts for help. Not only were they more experienced than him when it comes to treasures, but they were also females.