Chapter 35: Murder and Arson Bring Golden Belts

Aside from the spirit pills, the rest consisted of various spirit materials and spirit medicines.

For cultivators in the True Spirit Realm, first-stage spirit items are already beneath their notice, so these things started at the second-tier.

Those that Jiu Shixiong was just muttering about were, without exception, all second-tier spirit medicines and spirit materials.

These items totaled over a dozen in all; there were some that neither Jiu Shixiong nor Zhao Xuan recognized, and Xu Chen was even more at a loss, knowing only that they were all incredible treasures.

After the inventory was finished, the spirit pills, spirit materials, and spirit medicines were all put back into the storage bag; what remained were four items contained in Yujia and jade bottles—without a doubt, these were the true treasures.

Inside one Yujia lay an egg the size of a goose egg, with a red shell and green spots; its specific species was unknown, but the aura it exuded made one's soul palpitate—it was at least the egg of a third-tier demonic beast or spirit beast.

Inside the second Yujia lay a gray, gnarled tree root, the thickness of a finger and half a foot long, yet when probed with Divine Sense, it seemed to be faintly wriggling, emitting an extremely intense bloodthirsty aura.

"This... could it be... the Blood-Sucking Demon Vine?" Jiu Shixiong exclaimed.

"What is the background of the Blood-Sucking Demon Vine?" Xu Chen asked, his face full of surprise.

Jiu Shixiong took a few careful looks, closed the lid, tossed it into the storage bag, and said, "The Blood-Sucking Demon Vine is said to be an extremely special demonic entity; it is neither a demonic beast nor a plant, but a monster that is a combination of both."

This was the first time Xu Chen had heard of such a strange thing, so he asked curiously, "What is the use of this Blood-Sucking Demon Vine?"

Jiu Shixiong shook his head and said, "I don't know its use, but this thing is extremely rare. Since the people from the Ziyang Sect collected it so carefully, it must have a great use. Let's take it back and give it to the Great Elder; he will surely know."

"That's true, let's look at the rest!" Saying this, Xu Chen opened the third Yujia.

Inside the third spirit box was actually a fist-sized, ice-blue demonic core.

The moment it was opened, Spirit Qi rolled out, and the air instantly began to condense into frost and ice mist, as if a glacier and snowy kingdom were rushing toward them, causing all three to shiver violently almost at the same time.

This was at least a third-tier mid-to-late-stage demonic beast, far stronger in aura than that third-tier Demon Wolf.

Xu Chen made this judgment in an instant.

"What a treasure, it's actually an ice-attribute inner core, how rare." Jiu Shixiong was trembling with excitement, not even noticing that his head and face were starting to be covered in frost.

A moment later, he clicked the lid shut and put the demonic core into the storage bag. The last item was a three-inch-tall round-bellied jade bottle. He opened the stopper, and an extremely dense surge of Spirit Qi rolled out, forming a pale green cyclone at the mouth of the bottle.

Zhao Xuan exclaimed, "Is this Spirit Liquid?"

Jiu Shixiong brought his nose to the bottle mouth and sniffed lightly, shuddered slightly, closed his eyes in intoxication for a moment, then slowly opened them and handed the jade bottle to Zhao Xuan, saying, "It is indeed Spirit Liquid. I didn't expect to encounter such a good thing."

Zhao Xuan also sniffed it lightly, looking equally intoxicated, then gently shook the jade bottle and said, "It's a pity there is not even half a bottle left."

Jiu Shixiong couldn't help but laugh: "I didn't expect Junior Sister to be even greedier than me. This thing is rare and hard to find; some people never get to drink a drop in their entire lives. This small half-bottle right now is worth at least a hundred Spirit Stones. Given our realm and cultivation, even if our vital energy is bottomed out, just two drops can instantly restore it to full. This isn't a question of quantity, but a question of having it versus not having it. With just one drop, you can have an extra life in a critical moment."

Zhao Xuan blushed slightly and hurriedly handed the bottle to Xu Chen. Xu Chen also took a sniff and immediately felt a dense surge of Spirit Qi pour from his nose and mouth into his lungs and viscera, instantly turning into rolling currents that surged into his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. He couldn't help but circulate his technique to guide it, and in just a few breaths, this vital energy was incorporated into his Qi sea, which instantly became a fraction fuller.

Holy crap, this is indeed good stuff; it replenishes energy faster than any spirit pill—it is simply a divine object for replenishing Qi.

Xu Chen was so surprised his jaw almost dropped; he hurriedly put the stopper back on and tucked it into his storage bag.

If the dozen or so spirit pills before were items of urgent need, then this Spirit Liquid could be called a life-saving divine medicine. Just by smelling it, his vital energy increased by a fraction; if he were to drink a mouthful, he feared his Qi sea would instantly be blown apart.

No wonder Jiu Shixiong said it should be consumed by the drop.

It would indeed be too wasteful to drink this thing by the mouthful, especially since this bottle couldn't hold many mouthfuls. Now that only about a third remained, it would be finished in two mouthfuls at most.

After putting these four items away, what remained on the bed were dozens of Spirit Stones, several Magic Treasures, a pile of Jade Slips of various colors, and some strange, odd items.

Magic Treasures were definitely good things, each one worth a fortune. Among them, there were three Flying Swords alone, and they were of different styles, new and old; two of them even had bloodstains on them. One look and it was clear they were of dubious origin, most likely obtained by killing and robbing.

There were two other Magic Treasures that were the same.

The pile of Jade Slips contained various cultivation insights, Magic Spells, and illustrated guides to demonic beasts and spirit items collected and organized by the black-clad Daoist. These things were also of considerable value. After the three of them briefly browsed these Jade Slips with their Divine Sense, they were all very excited.

Originally, communication between the Immortal Sects of the Ming Kingdom and the Song Kingdom was very rare. For those experts above the Spirit Transformation Realm who could travel ten thousand miles a day, they might know a bit more about each other, but for low-to-mid-level cultivators in the Refining Essence into Qi stage, information between the two countries' Immortal Sects was pitifully scarce, and they had no understanding at all of the other side's cultivation system and Magic Spell system.

These Jade Slips gave the three of them a relatively clear understanding of the Ziyang Sect's cultivation techniques and Magic Spells. Many of the contents were far stronger than those of the Taiyuan Sect. Even if they couldn't switch their cultivation techniques, they could benefit greatly by using them for reference and integration.

Therefore, the three of them spent the longest time looking at the pile of Jade Slips, taking nearly half an hour. Only after they had finished reading almost all of them did they put them away to organize the remaining items.

Finally, besides the pile of Spirit Stones, the bed was covered in miscellaneous things: ores of various colors, snake skins, demonic bones, as well as beast teeth, shells, and claws. In any case, they didn't recognize most of them.

After briefly looking at these items one by one, they put them away, then let out a long sigh together and sat down.

Jiu Shixiong picked up the already cold teapot, tilted it to his mouth, drank it all in one go, and then sighed:

"Murder and arson bring golden belts, while building bridges and repairing roads leave no remains—the ancients did not deceive me!"

Zhao Xuan giggled and teased: "Senior Brother, do you want to be a poet?"

Xu Chen shook his head and said: "Senior Sister is wrong, Jiu Shixiong just wants to be a robber who commits murder and arson."

Jiu Shixiong threw an arm around Xu Chen's shoulder and laughed: "Hehe, only my little junior brother understands me. After so many years of training down the mountain, this is the biggest harvest yet. Not to mention anything else, this single Guiyuan Pill alone is worth me risking my life for, not to mention so many Magic Treasures and Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasures. I don't know where this guy scavenged so many treasures, but he never expected them all to benefit us."

Xu Chen was also drooling with excitement and said: "I wonder if that guy hiding in the shadows also has this many treasures on him?"

Upon hearing this, Jiu Shixiong became interested, his eyes shining brightly in the night, and he said excitedly: "The Ziyang Sect came from ten thousand miles away to the Great Song to intercept the Princess and snatch the spirit medicine; they must be well-prepared, and they surely have many good things on them. I am really looking forward to killing him!"

Zhao Xuan was caught between laughter and tears as she reminded him: "Senior Brother, you had better watch your own life. You are eyeing their treasures, but he is also eyeing ours. Don't end up losing the Blood God Grass and your life as well; that would be a huge loss."

Jiu Shixiong waved his hand with high spirits: "Junior Sister, don't worry. This guy has been hiding and not showing himself; his strength certainly won't be stronger than that man in black. Although it will be difficult to kill him, it is not impossible. We need to carefully plan it out, and of course, little junior brother will need to put in more effort."

Xu Chen was already full of interest in robbery, so he nodded without hesitation: "Senior Brother, don't worry. I have fully recovered recently, and what's more, I have the Soul Bead to help restore my Soul, so I am not afraid of my Soul being damaged. As long as he appears, I can naturally go all out to break his Soul."

"Good, with those words from Junior Brother, I can rest easy. Tomorrow we will go and communicate well with the Daoist Friends from the various Immortal Sects, and by the way, make another trip to the Treasure Pavilion to try and get a few more powerful weapons. We'll give him a surprise then. Don't worry, the old rules still apply: little junior brother gets first pick of the treasures we harvest." Jiu Shixiong patted Xu Chen's shoulder vigorously, his heart full of joy.

Xu Chen was also so happy he could barely contain himself.

The contents of the storage bag opened today alone were worth at least a thousand Spirit Stones. Even if he only got one-third, that was a huge fortune of several hundred Spirit Stones.

In addition, there was a second-tier Array Disk and a storage bag; the two combined were worth no less than five hundred Spirit Stones.

Although these two items wouldn't fall into his hands, after taking them back to the sect, the three Elders would certainly provide other compensation; the Magic Treasures, spirit pills, and Spirit Stones would also be a great wealth.

If another haul of the same or even greater wealth came along, the entire Taiyuan Sect would become significantly wealthier because of it.

Therefore, compared to truly prestigious sects with deep foundations like the Ziyang Sect, the Taiyuan Sect was truly poor enough to eat dirt.

The opponent was just a powerhouse in the Zhenyuan Realm; if they killed one in the Danyuan Realm...

The more they thought about it, the more excited they became. The two junior brothers looked at each other, seemingly sharing the same mind, and both saw a trace of uncontrollable excitement and greed in the other's eyes.

"Haha, little junior brother, you've only been down the mountain for a few days, and you've really started to go bad." Jiu Shixiong pointed at Xu Chen and laughed.

Xu Chen rolled his eyes and said: "I was originally very kind, okay? It's all because you led me astray."

Zhao Xuan covered her mouth and giggled as she stood up: "Alright, it's almost dawn. Everyone hurry back and get some more sleep. In two days, the Emperor's birthday will arrive, and there might be other things happening then. We must not be careless."

Jiu Shixiong curled his lips and said, "I heard the dog Emperor is only using his hundredth birthday to pass the throne to the Crown Prince; as for what might happen, we just need to find an opportunity to kill the people from the Ziyang Sect. I am extremely excited right now and have no desire to sleep; let me take a good look at the treasures in the Storage Bag again."

Watching Jiu Shixiong hold the Storage Bag and start rummaging through it while drooling, Xu Chen looked at the pitch-black night outside, and only then did he feel a wave of inexplicable fatigue.

In order to open this Storage Bag, he had spent almost the entire night focusing all his attention on activating the Blue Jade Bead; although he had not activated it with full force, the accumulated burden of such a long time still made him feel very uncomfortable.

Therefore, after this burst of excitement, he was also unable to hold on any longer.

So, he lay down on the bed fully clothed, covered his forehead with the groggy Xiao Huli, and soon began to snore softly.