Chapter 162: Chapter 51: Checking the Loot

Wang Ping remained calm. Just then, Yu Lian said from within his Spirit Sea, "Young Master Ming’s consciousness is definitely a separate entity!"

Beside them, Hu Qianqian struggled to process what Zuo Xuan had said. Puzzled, she commented, "I got the sense that Zhong Tong desperately wanted to kill Young Master Ming with his own hands. His emotions couldn’t have been faked."

Zuo Xuan replied, "He wasn’t the one leading this mission anyway. Unfortunately, he was too reckless, and it cost him his life. It truly feels... like a cruel twist of fate."

"..."

Hu Qianqian fell silent. Zuo Xuan’s words made her instantly realize Zhong Tong’s intentions. She had to admit, his scheme was clever, but in the end, he couldn’t escape fate’s cruel game.

"What about his body?" Wang Ping asked.

"I’ve already handed it over to his two disciples. Rest assured, they won’t be able to tell I read his memories. It’s just... as for that great demon senior..."

"When you were reading his memories, I deliberately used Wood Spirit Qi to shield you. It’s highly unlikely anyone could have detected your actions." Wang Ping had done so subconsciously.

"It’s a shame, though. His storage bag was full of good stuff, especially Blood Pills. There were hundreds of twenty-year ones, and I only took fifty." As she spoke, Zuo Xuan moved to take out the Blood Pills.

"Keep them for yourself. They should help you advance, right?"

"Yes. In that case, I’ll gladly accept." A smile appeared on Zuo Xuan’s face.

Just then, Hu Qianqian took out the oil-paper umbrella she had just acquired. "This Demon Soldier, refined from the monster, works by channeling the Evil Qi within the user’s body to emit a strange sound," she explained. "This sound briefly alters the laws of space. The user is also distorted by this change, and prolonged use will turn them into a creature like that one. The distorted space seems to create a temporary link between the Inspiration Realm and the real world."

"People actually fuse with this kind of Demon Soldier?" Yu Lian asked aloud.

Hu Qianqian replied, "Because the fusion process is incredibly simple. You just have to surrender your physical body to the Demon Soldier. The success rate is nearly one hundred percent, but the cost is also immense."

Wang Ping thought for a moment. "You could create a puppet and fuse this Demon Soldier with it." He was giving the weapon to Hu Qianqian. He then added, "If you have any questions while making the puppet, feel free to ask me."

"Thank you, Master!"

Hu Qianqian was overjoyed.

Wang Ping nodded and turned to Zuo Xuan. He handed her the file in his hand and said, "Return to Jinhuai Prefecture first and report our situation to Daoist Zi Luan."

"Understood!" Zuo Xuan lowered her head. She and her disciple bowed respectfully and took their leave.

After Zuo Xuan left, Yu Lian flew to the entrance of the tent and stared outside for a long time. Then, she flew up and perched on the crossbeam at the top of the tent. "How do you think she’ll report this when she gets back?" she asked.

Wang Ping smiled. "Her main priority right now is her advancement."

"So?"

"So she won’t want any new complications to arise from this." As he spoke, Wang Ping tapped his finger lightly. Two soldiers woven from grass and wood formed at his side. They then linked with the surrounding vegetation, becoming sentinels for him.

"Go stand guard at the entrance. Don’t let anyone in without my permission," Wang Ping instructed Hu Qianqian after setting up his sentinels.

Hu Qianqian immediately bowed and retreated to the entrance, taking up her post.

Wang Ping first took out the three storage bags that Young Master Ming had been carrying. He stared at the bags for a long while, until Yu Lian grew impatient. She flew down from the crossbeam, landed on Wang Ping’s shoulder, and urged, "Well, open them."

"Patience."

Wang Ping took out two Copper Coins and tossed them onto the Commander’s Desk...

The reading was perfectly normal.

After putting away the Copper Coins, Wang Ping picked up the storage bag on the far left and opened it. Inside were all sorts of puppet-making materials, mostly Spirit Wood cultivated for hundreds of years. The most valuable items were two Thousand-Year Spirit Wood Roots.

Wang Ping put a mark on the surface of this storage bag before tucking it away. He then turned to the second bag. Its contents were miscellaneous, consisting mostly of Elixirs. The majority of these were Yin Pills, which are used by Taiyin Cultivators to restore their Qi Sea True Essence and are refined from herbs rich in Taiyin Energy. There was also a small portion of other Elixirs that Wang Ping didn’t recognize.

Besides the Elixirs, there were two ornate Longswords, both of the Wood Spirit attribute. SHING! Wang Ping drew one of the blades and saw the insignia of the Six Heart Sect etched upon it. Below the insignia was a name: Zi Ming.

Wang Ping knew the files on the Xiao Shan Lord and the Six Heart Sect by heart. This Zi Ming was the Xiao Shan Lord’s youngest disciple, one he had raised from childhood. But it was said that his talent for cultivation was abysmal; he had failed to enter the Second Realm and died when his natural lifespan ran out.

Seeing the sword didn’t make Wang Ping nervous. Instead, it was another stark reminder of the cultivation world’s cruelty. Even someone under the protection of a Lord couldn’t escape the shackles of mortality, ultimately becoming a twisted being that was neither human nor ghost.

After putting away the two Longswords, Wang Ping looked at the other items. There was a secret manual. On its cover, in large script, was the title: *Essence Wood Technique*. Seeing this manual, Wang Ping’s face immediately lit up with joy. Aside from the *Taiyan Talisman*, the Six Heart Sect’s greatest asset was this very *Essence Wood Technique*.

Unfortunately, when Wang Ping eagerly opened the manual, he discovered the inside had been messily defaced with an ink brush, as if someone had been venting their frustrations. Some critical sections were even torn out, to the point that even his status screen couldn’t read it.

The scribbles reminded Wang Ping of his own days being tormented by exam questions. He quickly shook his head to banish the thought. Yu Lian said softly, "That poor fellow."

Wang Ping put the manual away and looked over the other items. The rest were far more jumbled: a black Token, a dozen or so small, grayish-black tokens, several dozen gold ingots, over ten sets of blue Daoist robes marked with the Six Heart Sect insignia, and a very distinctive metal box. Opening the box revealed six empty indentations inside.

"This must be for those bronze bells, right? Why is it so small?" Yu Lian blurted out.

Wang Ping had the same thought. ’Perhaps the bronze bells can change size after being refined.’ He probed the box with his spiritual sense, but there was truly nothing inside; it felt like ordinary metal.

’How can that be?’

"It’s a bloodline issue," Yu Lian said. "I can sense the bloodline of a great demon within it. It requires a matching bloodline to be used. I felt something was strange about Young Master Ming earlier, too. His consciousness seemed to hold the trace of a great demon."

’Did the Xiao Shan Lord kill a great demon just to refine this new body for his disciple?’ Wang Ping wondered.

"I don’t know," Yu Lian replied. "The Sealing Array inside the bronze bells is very unique. You’re so clever; you should see if you can learn it."

"We’ll deal with that later."

Wang Ping suppressed his curiosity and opened the final storage bag. The Centennial Blood Pills that Young Master Ming had taken from Crescent Mountain were likely inside.

"Huh?"

Wang Ping tried to open it, but surprisingly, he couldn’t. It was protected by a Shielding Array. However, something like this couldn’t stop him; he could break it within half an hour at most.

However, Wang Ping didn’t do so.

He reached out, patted his own storage bag, and took out Young Master Ming’s head, still ensnared in vines.

This Young Master Ming’s greatest treasure was his memory.

But that memory was dangerous!