Chapter 256: Chapter 161: Not Proactive in Picking Up Money, Problematic Ideology

Furthermore, the Northern Wanderer had been carrying a whopping 13,229 low-grade Spirit Stones.

Nine thousand of them were packed into three identical large chests, looking like they had been stolen directly from a Spirit Vein Warehouse.

Next, there were several secret manuals.

These included the Blood Refining Divine Technique and the Blood Sacrifice Secret Technique: Soul-breaking Needle, as well as a copy of the Yellow Springs Nine Secrets: Frost Water Divine General that was hidden inside a storage box.

’The Yellow Springs Dao again?’

Xiao Chen briefly skimmed through them. Although he saw no direct connection, the layout and style were almost identical to the manual for the Immortal Binding Rope.

He wondered just how many secret techniques this Yellow Springs Dao had left behind.

It had gotten to the point where several Demon Sects were using Yellow Springs secret techniques. It seemed the more powerful a Demon Cultivator was, the more they favored cultivating the secret techniques of the Yellow Springs Dao to use as their trump cards.

The rest were just some uninteresting Earth Level magic techniques.

There were also some inconsequential backup magical artifacts and miscellaneous items, worth a little over three thousand Spirit Stones in total.

Beyond that, there were three other particularly valuable items.

The first was a vial of Red Fire Marrow.

It was a special Tier Three Spiritual Object that looked like a Spiritual Liquid. When he gently shook the specially-crafted Jade Purification Bottle, he could see the substance inside flowing.

In reality, however, the entire vial contained only a single drop of Fire Marrow.

A properly prepared cultivator—specifically, one who could withstand the assault of Fire Qi and had a body tempered for something like Molten Rock Body Refining—could consume the Red Fire Marrow directly.

For the next twelve hours, their control over Fire Element Spiritual Power would be drastically enhanced.

When cultivating any Fire Magic at or below Tier Three, their efficiency would increase by at least tenfold.

Furthermore, for each tier lower the magic was, this amplification effect would at least double.

’Donghe?’

Xiao Chen was surprised to find an inscription on the bottom of the Jade Purification Bottle, along with a pattern of flowers encircling a moon.

If he recalled correctly, there was a Donghe County about one hundred and thirty li away.

Moreover, according to that Hezhou Travelogue he’d read, most of the local shops displayed that same mark of flowers encircling a moon.

It signified that they belonged to the Yan Family, Donghe County’s sole Foundation Establishment family.

In all likelihood, this item had come from the Yan Family.

’Tsk, tsk. The Yan Family’s ancestors must have been incredibly wealthy.’

Xiao Chen put away the Red Fire Marrow, shaking his head in amazement.

Based on his experience in the Li Huo Sect, any Tier Three Spiritual Object that appeared within their domain was considered the private property of a Golden Core True Man. No one else would get so much as a sliver.

For the Yan Family to have possessed this drop of Fire Marrow, they must have been quite formidable back in the day.

But in the end, they still failed to survive this Demonic Calamity. It was a truly lamentable fate.

The second item was a pair of Heaven-Replenishing Ganodermas, a rather special type of Tier Two Wood Element Spirit Grass.

As the primary ingredient, it could be used to refine the Heaven-Replenishing Life-Extending Pill. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The first dose could extend a Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s lifespan by three years, an effect that wasn’t particularly potent compared to other pills of its kind.

However, the Heaven-Replenishing Life-Extending Pill’s advantage was that it was one of the very few Spirit Pills that could be taken multiple times with continued effect.

It could be taken three times in total. The second and third doses extended one’s lifespan by two years and one year, respectively, for a grand total of six additional years.

Xiao Chen had seen this Pill Formula before in Elder Chen’s Pill Book.

’One batch makes six pills. Since I have a pair of the main ingredients, it’s like a buy-one-get-one-free deal. That’s another six pills, for a total of twelve Spirit Pills.’

’Even if I only sell each pill for a thousand Spirit Stones, that’s over ten thousand Spirit Stones in total.’

If he handled this pair of Heaven-Replenishing Ganodermas correctly, they could be worth at least twenty thousand Spirit Stones.

Xiao Chen did a quick mental calculation and felt like he had just made an absolute fortune.

Even setting aside the Red Fire Marrow, whose value was difficult to estimate, the rest of the items added up to a haul of over sixty-five thousand Spirit Stones.

’Since the Northern Wanderer was so loaded, the other two probably won’t be too shabby, right?’

The Eastern Wanderer was definitely out of the picture, but the Western and Southern Wanderers had already been spotted.

Xiao Chen’s expectations weren’t high; he’d be happy if they were just as wealthy as the Northern Wanderer.

’If I catch the other two, doesn’t that mean I have a shot at another one hundred and thirty thousand Spirit Stones?’

He sucked in a sharp breath.

In that moment, a profound sense of duty, of the noble mission of Demon Extermination and Protection of the Dao, suddenly welled up within him.

The feeling was so intense it urged him to hurry up and find the other two so he could make a withdrawal.

He let out a breath. ’Calm down. First, let’s study this map.’

The last item was an up-to-date strategic planning map, along with an Array Plate that hadn’t been used yet.

On the map, he could clearly see Qingyang County colored in red, planned control zones in blue, and a dense smattering of other markings.

The most eye-catching of these were six specific locations marked in purple.

One of them was Du Song Ridge, where Xiao Chen was right now.

Xiao Chen used his Magical Power to trace dotted lines connecting the six locations and discovered that they formed a perfect convex hexagon.

Furthermore, one of its vertices pointed directly toward Luoyan Mountain.

Clearly, this was an array related to the front lines.

Of course, whether it was an array or not wasn’t the important part.

The crucial point was that, logically, each of these six points should have its own Array Plate.

’This isn’t a strategy map at all. This is a damn treasure map!’

His spirits soaring, Xiao Chen immediately set off to the southwest, toward the nearest location, ready to dig up the remaining four hundred Middle Grade Spirit Stones.

’If you’re not quick to pick up free money, you’ve got a screw loose!’

At the same time, the Divine Fire Sect’s various operations were also unfolding with great intensity.

「Several thousand li away, in the Valley of Ten Thousand Flowers.」

A biting cold wind swept through, yet several branches of red plum blossoms were in full bloom.

But the many female cultivators bustling about had no time to admire them, instead gathering at the valley’s entrance with tense expressions on their faces.