Chapter 291: Unexpected Gain

Inside the stone chamber.

Qin Ming opened each of these bottles one by one to inspect them.

He found that the first few bottles contained elixirs.

One of them even held Fu Yuan Dan, an elixir that enhances cultivation base at the late Foundation Establishment stage—similar in effect to the Yu Xuan Dan he had crafted.

Then Qin Ming opened another porcelain bottle and discovered it contained spirit seeds.

He immediately poured them out and carefully examined them, his expression turning sharply delighted.

The Shi Tian Rat, watching him so pleased, asked: "Master, what are these spirit seeds?"

"Several rare second-rank Jipin spirit plant seeds," Qin Ming replied.

He put away the spirit seeds and picked up another jade bottle, preparing to open it.

But no matter how hard he tried, he could not open the jade bottle, leaving him puzzled.

If he used brute force to break it open, he might damage what was inside.

"Master, let me try!" The Shi Tian Rat, seeing a chance to prove himself, spoke up.

Qin Ming immediately handed the jade bottle to the Shi Tian Rat.

The Shi Tian Rat took the strange jade bottle and spat out a jet of pitch-black arcane light to dismantle its seals; after a full incense stick's time passed.

The sealing restrictions were finally lifted.

"What could possibly be inside that it was sealed with a third-rank superior restriction?" the Shi Tian Rat marveled.

"Third-rank superior restriction?" Qin Ming was even more astonished upon hearing this.

He immediately took the jade bottle from the Shi Tian Rat's hands, gently unscrewed the cap, and a powerful stench of blood and malevolence surged forth.

Qin Ming and the Shi Tian Rat both tensed instantly, staring into the bottle.

Inside lay half a bottle of golden blood, radiating an overwhelming pressure unlike that of ordinary beast beasts.

"It's the essence blood of a high-rank beast!" Qin Ming exclaimed in delight.

"No—this aura—"

The Shi Tian Rat sensed it briefly, then stammered: "Not only that—it's royal blood from the beast clans."

"Oh? Do you recognize this essence blood?" Qin Ming asked immediately.

The Shi Tian Rat nodded. "I can sense the beast soul within—it belongs to the Mountain Colossus Ape, one of the beast royal lineages."

Qin Ming froze, his expression filled with disbelief.

"Mountain Colossus Ape."

This reminded him of the thousand-zhang giant ape he had seen while cultivating the Hundred Beasts Contemplation Map—also from the Mountain Colossus Ape lineage.

"A second-rank peak Mountain Colossus Ape—such a terrifying being, even the Double-Pupil Demon Ape pales in comparison."

"How did Zhao family's ancestral elder come to possess the essence blood of such a legendary beast?" Qin Ming wondered.

The Shi Tian Rat gazed at the jade bottle for a moment, then said: "I estimate this bottle is at least several thousand years old—it wasn't obtained by Zhao Wuyang in battle."

"Perhaps it was left behind in this chamber—that makes sense," Qin Ming nodded, his heart swelling with excitement.

He hadn't expected such a windfall here.

With this second-rank peak Mountain Colossus Ape essence blood, he could fully complete the third transformation of True Gang Form Transformation!

'It seems fate intended it—when I chose the Mountain Colossus Ape from the Hundred Beasts Contemplation Map, the final step of the Foundation Establishment section of the Heavenly Demon Body Refinement Codex granted me its essence blood.'

Qin Ming suppressed his excitement and carefully stored the essence blood.

He checked the other jade bottles and found several more containing second-rank beast essence blood—but all were below mid-second rank, far less valuable than the previous one.

"The greatest gain of this trip was right here."

After searching again and confirming nothing was missed, Qin Ming cast a fire spell to burn the several rotted demonic seeds and Zhao Wuyang's corpse.

Having done this.

Qin Ming left the stone chamber and retrieved the Corpse Pearl from the recess.

CRASH!

The stone door slammed shut again, sealing the chamber completely. Qin Ming returned to his original spot and placed the Corpse Pearl back into Mo Lingwei's hands—after all, this demonic artifact held no use for him.

He then quickly departed the demonic cave with the Shi Tian Rat.

Half an hour later.

Inside the demonic cave, Mo Lingwei slowly awoke. Her first action was to check her entire body—finding herself unharmed, she sighed in relief.

She then woke Mo Lao nearby.

"Cough! Clan Leader, it seems Elder Long had no intention of harming us."

"But why did he do this?"

"Hmm—Elder Long must have his own reasons. Counting this and the previous favor, I now owe him two."

"Without Elder Long, we would have been doomed this time."

"I never expected Yuan Feng to have his master's Soul-Calling Banner."

"Mo Lao, how are you? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine—old bones like mine won't die so easily."

"Clan Head, what do we do next?"

"Return to Ten Thousand Souls Valley."

…

spiritual energy Archipelago.

Qin Ming put the Shi Tian Rat into his spirit beast pouch, restored his original appearance, and took to the skies, preparing to return to Moonwatch Island.

But halfway there, he encountered several massive vessels of the Scatter Alliance, escorted by a group of enforcers, heading toward him.

"Huh?! It's Brother Qin!"

A deep, resonant voice rang out; a white light shot from the Scatter Alliance vessel and landed before Qin Ming.

"Heh! Master Li, long time no see." Qin Ming bowed in greeting.

The man was Li Yuanqing, leader of the Scatter Alliance, now with half-white hair.

"Brother Qin, it's been a long time."

Li Yuanqing gazed at Qin Ming—his appearance unchanged since years past, like an evergreen tree, radiating a tranquil, water-like aura.

He looked no different from when he first arrived at the spiritual energy Archipelago.

In contrast, Li Yuanqing couldn't help but sigh at his own aging.

Qin Ming spoke first: "Master Li, what's the occasion for such a large gathering? Has something happened?"

"Brother Qin, please come aboard."

Li Yuanqing invited Qin Ming onto the vessel, poured him spirit tea, then said: "Sigh—Brother Qin, don't even ask. One crisis hasn't settled before another arises!"

"Our alliance received intelligence from the Immortal City's True Person Canghai: the demonic sects have begun stirring again."

"For reasons unknown, they've been active near the spiritual energy Archipelago."

"I'm preparing to reinforce key passes with additional patrols to prevent demonic cultivators from infiltrating and causing chaos within the archipelago."

"Brother Qin, be cautious when traveling in the near future."

Qin Ming heard this and felt a wave of silent exasperation.

The demonic cultivators had already infiltrated—every last one eliminated by him. "I see. Thank you for the warning, Master Li."

Li Yuanqing smiled slightly and added: "Since we've met, I'd like to purchase some elixirs from you."

"If the situation worsens, consumption will surge—we must stockpile in advance."

"No problem—I still have some on hand."

Seizing this opportunity,

Qin Ming sold all the elixirs taken from the ten or so bandits at Fangcun Mountain Market to Li Yuanqing, making a modest profit.

(End of Chapter)