Chapter 4: Chapter Four: Eight Treasures in the Qiankun Bag

Qian Chen did not know what realm the heretic Miaokong had reached, but he had wiped out the entire Louguan Sect—certainly at least a Core Formation cultivator. Though Qian Chen hardly thought a Core Formation cultivator, who back when Louguan Sect was still prosperous couldn’t even dare touch him, was anything special. Yet outside the Grotto-Heavens, among the mortals, this fellow was a notable figure.

Hah! Core Formation really is something to be feared.

To dare commit such a grand crime, Miaokong must be a major player in the Wheel of Rebirth.

This man roamed countless reincarnations, always ruthless, killing and seizing treasures as easily as eating meals. As the saying goes, no man grows rich without sudden wealth—and Miaokong, who constantly struck it rich, had far greater wealth than ordinary Core Formation cultivators. Otherwise, he could never have obtained an ancient talisman capable of slipping past the eyes of a Primordial Spirit True Person.

But to pursue the Dao Dust Pearl, he spent every last bit of his fortune.

Thus, to protect Qian Chen’s life, Miaokong emptied his remaining wealth—except for his true signature items and survival tools, he gave Qian Chen everything suitable for low-rank cultivators. Even a master would not treat his disciple so well.

Miaokong sold off his entire estate to pursue the Dao Dust Pearl; what remained unsold were either unsellable stolen goods or unsold leftovers.

Qian Chen’s Qiankun Bag contained no fewer than eight magic treasures.

Not only did they come with their cultivation methods, but one treasure, too high in rank, had its seals broken by Miaokong. Qian Chen’s first glance fell upon a jade ring of exceptional quality, engraved with a dragon and phoenix on its inner surface; when infused with true qi, it emitted a radiant colored light. A slight spiritual sense revealed that within the ring lay a sealed space existing between reality and illusion.

Once the colored light descended, it could absorb an enemy’s magic treasure or weapon, and even the enemy himself if his cultivation base was weak enough.

It was a top-tier treasure for capturing and seizing, and Qian Chen favored it chiefly because its aura was noble and its quality excellent—among the eight treasures, it was one of the very few orthodox Daoist artifacts. It suited Qian Chen’s identity and cultivation method perfectly; otherwise, several of the other treasures were far more powerful.

But if you, an orthodox disciple, casually unleashed a jet of black demonic light or a skull the size of a dou, fighting with disheveled hair and waving a demonic banner adorned with naked men and women in lewd postures, some passing orthodox high cultivator might simply flick out a sword light and erase you from existence.

This jade ring was called the Dragon Phoenix Ring, acquired by Miaokong True Person from some world where he had killed and seized treasures. The best part was that its cultivation method was complete—any Daoist qi could further refine it. The scripture containing the method was called the *Xuan Yang Bai Ling Jing*, but the orthodox Daoist teachings had been excised, leaving only methods for refining spells and magic treasures.

Clearly, Miaokong had done this deliberately, hoping to distract Qian Chen with arcane spells and delay his true cultivation.

Qian Chen merely sneered. After awakening, he first sat in meditation, then hurried to borrow grain to nourish his body, and only when he had spare time did he attend to these magic treasures and elixirs—his attitude was clear.

During his hundred thousand years as a bead spirit, Qian Chen had recorded few Daoist scriptures or spells—after all, a spiritual treasure visible only once every sixty years made it difficult to memorize much. Thus, beyond the Louguan Sect’s foundational scriptures, he knew nothing of the powerful spells selected by disciples, nor the sect’s secret techniques.

What truly honed him was witnessing how the Louguan Sect’s finest disciples, despite their orthodox lineage, relentlessly refined their fundamental Dao methods, discarding all distractions.

They preferred to polish their qi further, advance their cultivation deeper, rather than divert even a fraction of attention to flashy spells or supernatural arts. Each one pursued transcendence and immortality—and Qian Chen, too, was infected by their resolve, straightening his Dao heart and learning discernment.

But in the first hundred thousand years, disciples still diligently refined protective arts, and the Dao sect had not yet reached its current dominance over this world. Enemies still abounded; facing mortal foes, even the highest cultivation base meant nothing without a potent spell. Yet as the Dao sect flourished, many Louguan disciples, through diligent cultivation within the sect, achieved ascension in broad daylight.

Even when venturing out to test their Dao hearts, few dared offend them.

Within the sect, every Primordial Spirit True Person could divine fate; even temporary peril was merely a trial for disciples. Gradually, Louguan disciples pursued only cultivation depth. They trained only one hammer-blow spell of overwhelming power, and in combat, relied solely on cultivation base to crush opponents. Over time, no one bothered refining spells anymore.

Fewer disciples were taken in; more ascended. Slowly, the sect sank to this state.

One could only say the Louguan Sect had carried the Daoist ideals of non-action and quietude to such an extreme that they had become the ultimate slackers.

“And then a Core Formation foot soldier wiped them out!” Qian Chen sighed. He still felt some affection for Louguan Sect, watching it decline from glorious grandeur to obsessive quietude, and finally to ruin. The fault lay with the Supreme Dao Ancestor—he himself merged with the Dao, then withdrew into lofty sanctity; his disciples naturally followed suit, pursuing only the Great Dao.

As a result, the Supreme Dao Sect had the most Primordial Spirit elders, yet its lower-tier disciples were far fewer than those of the Primordial Jade Void and Lingbao Shangqing branches, which followed a path of elite warriors.

These people sought immortality and the Great Dao. Qian Chen was not so detached—he was already immortal… Even if slain, he would merely return to the Dao Dust Pearl. The Supreme Dao Ancestor’s own crafted treasure—no one in this world could destroy it.

But having emerged from the Dao Dust Pearl, Qian Chen had no desire to return to that state—his Dao heart remained vibrant.

He did not seek immortality, but freedom and ease…

Thus, though he understood discernment and aimed to attain the Supreme Dao, to meet the Supreme Dao Ancestor who had abandoned him, he vowed: “Even the Supreme Dao cannot defy my will.” Yet he also resolved to master peerless spells, so no one in this world could ever force or bind him again.

More practically, if Qian Chen did not diligently refine a few spells and cultivate several powerful magic treasures, when Miaokong returned, he would strip away Qian Chen’s fleeting freedom, destroy his current body, and seize his true essence. Thus, Qian Chen’s lack of interest in these treasures stemmed from one truth: no matter how hard he worked, they could never defeat Miaokong, who had left them behind.

To truly survive this crisis, he must cultivate his Dao base deeply and seek a powerful treasure left by an ancient master.

Or, if he could awaken even a fraction of his true essence’s power—if he could refine the Dao Dust Pearl—he could effortlessly obliterate not just Miaokong, but even a Primordial Spirit Immortal.

Qian Chen was not in a hurry—he could always cling to the Supreme Dao Sect’s skirts! Tell them of Miaokong, and even ten or a hundred Miaokongs would be effortlessly erased.

But unless absolutely desperate, he would never abandon his current freedom.

Qian Chen first put away the Dragon Phoenix Ring, planning to refine it later. Another treasure he intended to refine was a flying artifact. With his current cultivation base, he could never soar through the azure heavens with that Cloud-Carrier; at best, he could hover three feet off the ground, crawling slowly. But this artifact was crucial—it affected his ability to sense celestial qi and gather it for Qi Refining.

The rest were all left-path artifacts, or outright demonic treasures.

Miaokong’s intentions were clear: the two high-quality treasures were either for flight and defense, or for capturing enemies. These left-path and demonic artifacts, though powerful, were easily countered by those familiar with their methods. Clearly, if Qian Chen later used these painstakingly refined treasures to confront his great enemy…

…and Miaokong, prepared in advance, shattered them all—Qian Chen’s cultivation base was far inferior, and even if, against all odds, he surpassed Miaokong’s cultivation, he would still be undone by the countermeasures.

One of these left-path artifacts was a white bone stupa, no larger than a basket, which, when released, transformed into a skull demon that devoured human flesh and blood—it was the demonic artifact whose seals had been broken.

Even a cultivator of low cultivation base could use this artifact to fight enemies two or three realms higher. But such artifacts were prone to loss of control—if the demon could not be restrained, it would turn on its master, devouring his flesh and blood entirely, then becoming a wandering demonic entity that plagued the mortal world. Thus, to prevent this treasure from turning on Qian Chen, Miaokong carried the Dao Dust Pearl far away to a place beyond his reach before breaking its seals.

Qian Chen could guess with his feet: Miaokong must have tampered with this artifact, ready to command the white bone stupa’s skull demon to turn on its master…

He also despised its material—it was forged from the skull of a cultivator with a foundation. The white bone stupa’s essence was not poor; it used the skull of a Core Formation cultivator, making it an excellent demonic treasure.

Qian Chen casually put it away, planning to destroy it at the first opportunity—he had no intention of keeping it. He didn’t discard it now only because he feared some evil person might find it and harm the world.

Another was the Seven Calamities Demon Banner, forged from seven calamitous energies mixed with the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, thought, fear, dread, grief. It could summon yin demons, confuse the mind, then sweep the calamitous energy to kill. A left-path artifact combining offense and control; though potent, Qian Chen looked down on it—it had no future.

Even if refined to its peak, it could never threaten a Core Formation cultivator. Unless one obtained the Seven Emotions Demons of the demonic path and refined it further… Qian Chen had no time for such nonsense. A slight refinement to get through this phase would suffice—then it could be discarded.

The next demonic artifact was the Soul-Binding Chain—its name said it all: for binding people. Utterly effective against foes far weaker, useless against major enemies.

The last three were worth a look. One was the Black Iron Dark Calamity Hook—the only sword-like artifact. Such weapons rely on their inherent sharpness; in the hands of a skilled swordsman, they could rival all other magic treasures. Their power depended entirely on the wielder’s sword skill. Alas, Qian Chen preferred to personally refine a sword better suited to his Dao method and of superior essence.

To exert effort refining a sword incompatible with his qi and refined by heretical methods was simply wasteful.

Even its value as a model for sword skill was negligible—hooks had unique applications that could not be easily transferred to other swords.

Another was the Heaven Net Umbrella, a defensive treasure. When opened above the head, it repelled all spells and magic treasures. Its seals were the Five Elements Heaven Escape Seal, adept at resisting Five Elements qi and breaking Five Elements spell transformations. Though not orthodox Daoist, it was a pinnacle among heretical artifacts. Most spells in the world fell within the Five Elements—making it highly practical. Qian Chen took it up casually, planning to refine it.

The final treasure was a divine mirror, capable of detecting enemy spiritual light, piercing illusions and seals, fixing formations, and illuminating images over a thousand li. A functional artifact, quite useful. Qian Chen refined it slightly to unlock its basic functions; if he needed greater power later, he could refine it further.

Magic treasures are valued for quality, not quantity. Qian Chen had the Dragon Phoenix Ring for capturing, and the Heaven Net Umbrella for defense.

The Seven Calamities Banner, Cloud-Carrier, and Spirit Light Mirror needed only slight refinement. The Cloud-Carrier required Qian Chen to reach Sensing before he’d use it; the Spirit Light Mirror, unless he encountered stubborn illusions or formations, would never earn his attention.

The Seven Calamities Banner need only function adequately… it would be discarded sooner or later—not worth serious effort.

The remaining talismans had fixed power, unworthy of notice; the elixirs Qian Chen utterly despised and would never touch. The Three Dao Branches, especially the Supreme Dao Sect, excelled in elixir crafting. Even without any spiritual herbs, Qian Chen could perform internal elixir refinement, transforming his golden saliva and jade fluid into spiritual medicine.

Why would he care for the messy junk in Miaokong’s bag?

Thus, Qian Chen spent roughly three hours refining these treasures—only the Dragon Phoenix Ring on his hand, the Heaven Net Umbrella on his back, constantly warmed and attuned with internal qi to familiarize himself with their power and enrich their spiritual energy. The rest were returned to his Qiankun Bag.

Night had fallen. Qian Chen sat in meditation until Zi Hour, feeling his Dao foundation grow purer, then turned to visualization to restore his spirit.

Just before dawn, he circulated his internal breath to expel turbid qi, purifying his Dao foundation and enhancing his cultivation. He ceased his arduous practice near noon, ate lunch, then went out to practice using his magic treasures.