Chapter 23: Magical Weapons and Spirit Pet

Inside Ge Yi's storage pouch, there were three to four hundred spirit stones, which was not too many for a high end pill master.

The truly valuable items were the medicinal herbs and pills. Just the precious herbs alone were worth at least one thousand spirit stones.

"This old guy doesn't know how much he has embezzled." Lan Chang'an smiled and clicked his tongue. The various bottles and jars contained mainly first-rank pills, worth a few hundred spirit stones.

There were two middle-grade magical weapons, the black net and flying shuttle that Ge Yi had used in battle. Among them, the black net had a slight mind-confusing effect and could be used for both attack and defense, trapping enemies. It was quite comprehensive.

Among the middle-grade artifacts, it was considered an excellent item. There were also three other low-grade artifacts, all of decent quality.

There was one alchemy furnace, including pill formulas, books in the field of alchemy, and so on.

"A superior-grade first-rank alchemy furnace, not bad..." Lan Chang'an stroked the deep purple hexagonal furnace, nodding in satisfaction.

In this life, he was limited by the Evergreen Technique's ability to draw on the Qi of the Ages, so although his advancement was slow, he only needed to cultivate for one or two hours a day after taking the pills, giving him a lot of free time. He was planning to use this opportunity to practice some other skills as well.

All the above spoils of war belonged to Ge Yi. There was also a small flying boat that Zheng Yuanhua lent to Ge Yi.

Flying boats, which were specialized flying magic weapons, were considerably faster than magic weapons of the same rank.

The small flying boat Lan Chang'an obtained could carry three to five people. Of course, the more people it carried, the slower its flying speed and the higher its mana consumption would be.

......

The spoils of war were quite rich.

Ge Yi's net worth far exceeded that of an ordinary late Qi-Refining cultivator. However, most of the valuable medicinal herbs were stolen goods that couldn't be taken out openly in the Mu family, Including Ge Yi's black net magical weapon.

Those precious medicinal ingredients were sealed in jade boxes. If left for too long, their medicinal properties would inevitably dissipate, causing the herbs to wither.

"In the future, I'll have to find an opportunity to sell off these stolen goods." Lan Chang'an calculated in his heart.

There were many miscellaneous items in Ge Yi's storage pouch, including some letters and materials. Lan Chang'an carefully sorted through them, remaining vigilant and removing any suspicious items.

During the sorting process, Lan Chang'an made an unexpected gain.

"Oh! This is Marrow Corroding Powder, and there's also the antidote." Two small black and white jars in the corner of the storage pouch were identified by Lan Chang'an through his spiritual sense after several tests.

It was an unexpected delight.

Previously, due to material limitations, the mixed poison Lan Chang'an had concocted was not particularly potent.

However, the Marrow Corroding Powder was different, it held great killing power against Qi-Refining cultivators.

Only those with deep cultivation in the late Qi-Refining stage could resist it slightly, or people like Mu Xiuyin who had poison resisting treasures could defend against its lethality.

The Marrow Corroding Powder was not completely odorless, with a slight bitter herbal smell. It would blend in naturally in an herbal garden or mountain forest environment.

Lan Chang'an's plan was to apply the Marrow Corroding Powder onto the Seven Ingenious Needles and use them as hidden weapons, injuring the target and allowing the poison to enter through the wound, making it even more vicious and faster-acting.

Apart from the Marrow Corroding Powder, Lan Chang'an had another unexpected gain. It was a brass-colored token with a deep black bead embedded in the center.

"This is... a Beast Taming Token!" With his memories from two lifetimes, Lan Chang'an recognized its origins after a brief examination.

"Could it be that..." Lan Chang'an had a guess and injected his mana into the Beast Taming Token. Immediately, he sensed a consciousness ripple coming from a certain direction underground.

So that was it!

Lan Chang'an smiled and headed to a corner of the herbal garden, between some fields.

Poof!

The soil burst open, and a huge brownish yellow rat demon emerged.

It was the Earth Burrowing Rat. Previously, this Earth Burrowing Rat had unexpectedly attacked Lan Chang'an.

Unable to deal with it in a short period of time using conventional means, Lan Chang'an had no choice but to bind it with the Restricting Vine Technique.

"Squeak! Squeak..."

The Earth Burrowing Rat's eyes flashed red light as it fearfully looked at Lan Chang'an, or more precisely, the Beast Taming Token in his hand.

This Beast Taming Token could decide the Earth Burrowing Rat's life or death. Possessing this token also allowed for simple mental communication and issuing commands.

"The Earth Burrowing Rat has a middle-grade bloodline, and there's a matching Beast Taming Token. It was likely purchased at a high price by the Zheng Family from the Beast Taming Zhou Family." Lan Chang'an's thoughts raced as he deduced.

In this world, demons and beasts were different from human cultivators in that they did not have spiritual roots. They cultivated through inherited bloodlines. The higher the bloodline grade, the greater the potential.

Their bloodline grades corresponded to the ranks of human cultivators' spiritual roots, from low to high:

Mixed Bloodline, Low-grade Bloodline, Middle-grade Bloodline, High-grade Bloodline, Earth-grade Bloodline, Heaven-grade Bloodline.

And the legendary True Spirit Bloodline.

True Spirits were the so-called divine beasts, such as True Dragons, Celestial Phoenixes, and Kunpeng. In the ancient Immortal Cultivation books, there were horrific legends of True Spirits destroying entire realms with unimaginable might.

In Lan Chang'an's previous two lifetimes, he had never even heard of a True Spirit, let alone witnessed one.

"The Earth Burrowing Rat is in the upper ranks of the middle-grade bloodline. It can be cultivated appropriately."

Lan Chang'an valued the Earth Burrowing Rat's practicality. It was adept at digging tunnels, knew earth-based spells, and had a tough hide.

During the Qi-Refining stage, the Earth Burrowing Rat could lie in ambush underground, providing a formidable defense.

"You will continue to stay underground nearby. Do not come up without my permission." Lan Chang'an fed the Earth Burrowing Rat a few first-rank pills and sent it back underground.

This Earth Burrowing Rat was a first-rank mid-stage demon beast, equivalent to the sixth layer of Qi-Refining cultivation.

If resources were invested, there was a good chance it could advance to the late first-stage, equivalent to the late Qi-Refining stage.

At that time, this little fellow's strength would be enough to match an ordinary elder of the Mu Family.

......

Deep into the night.

On a certain mountain slope thousands of miles away from the Mu Family's herbal garden.

"This is the last agreed-upon location, but there's still no sign of Pill Master Ge."

"Could he have encountered an accident and been killed by a hidden expert from the Mu Family?" A middle-aged man with a slightly disheveled aura, wearing a tall mountain hat, landed on the mountain slope and murmured to himself.

After investigating for a while and calling out, there was still no trace of Ge Yi.

Zheng Yuanhua's face was cloudy, feeling quite reluctant. If Pill Master Ge had perished, it would undoubtedly be a great loss. In addition, the flying boat and Beast Taming Token that the Zheng Family had purchased at a high price were on his person.

Losing these two items would not be a small loss for the Zheng Family.

"Cough, cough..."

A faint coughing sound came from a distant mountain cave. If it weren't for the deep silence of the night, Zheng Yuanhua might have missed it.

"Who's there? Is that Pill Master Ge?" Zheng Yuanhua's expression brightened, flying towards the direction of the coughing sound. Perhaps it was the heavily injured Pill Master Ge?

The coughing sound became increasingly clear.

Soon, a black mountain cave appeared before Zheng Yuanhua. At the cave entrance sat a disheveled man coughing, with a puddle of blood at his feet.

"Who are you?" Zheng Yuanhua took one look and determined that this was not Pill Master Ge, his heart filling with wariness.

Under the moonlight, he could vaguely make out the man's pale face, straight nose, cracked lips, and a pair of deep black, lifeless eyes.

Hearing Zheng Yuanhua's voice, the disheveled man stared straight at him.

"Cough, do you have any medicine?"

"What medicine? Who are you, and what have you done to Pill Master Ge?"

Zheng Yuanhua was on high alert, as the magical aura emanating from the disheveled man was strange.

At times it was strong, at times weak. When weak, it was only at the fourth or fifth layer of Qi-Refining. When strong, it reached the eighth or ninth layer of Qi-Refining, or even more terrifyingly powerful.

He sensed an aura of danger.

Summoning an iron wood banner, he stirred up a layer of dark purple windstorm that could both attack enemies and defend himself.

The disheveled man remained unmoved, continuing to cough. But his lifeless eyes stared unblinkingly at Zheng Yuanhua.

"Playing tricks!" Zheng Yuanhua felt a chill run down his spine from that gaze and cursed, maneuvering his weapon to turn and flee.

He had only flown a few dozen zhang when a gust of ominous wind attacked from behind.

"Get lost!" Zheng Yuanhua's heart was gripped by dread. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the disheveled man ghostly appearing behind him.

Whoosh!

Without a second thought, he swung his iron wood banner, the purple windstorm capable of crushing iron and stone engulfing the area dozens of zhang behind him.

The disheveled man was swallowed up.

However, there was only an afterimage left in his original spot.

"Ugh..."

A long male arm locked around Zheng Yuanhua's neck.

A suffocating sensation overtook him. Zheng Yuanhua struggled fiercely but soon blacked out.

"Medicine..."

The disheveled man removed Zheng Yuanhua's storage pouch, and his fingertips flicked out a few wisps of scarlet arcs of electricity, breaking open the sealed pouch.

He took out bottle after bottle of pills and precious spirit herbs.

Sniffing them, he poured a few bottles of pills into his mouth, eating them like candy. He also crudely bit and swallowed mouthfuls of several highly nourishing potent spirit herbs.

After a moment, the man's inner magical power surged, and a tinge of color returned to his pale face. His magical power fluctuated, soaring to the Foundation Establishment stage before plummeting again.

"Still not enough..." The man coughed once more, his icy gaze falling upon the unconscious Zheng Yuanhua. His long fingers glowed scarlet as he pressed them against Zheng Yuanhua's crown.

"Ah..."

Zheng Yuanhua's body rose into the air, his limbs thrashing as he let out agonizing screams, as if wishing for death.

"Mu Family...Zheng Family...herbal garden...treasure vault..."

The disheveled man closed his eyes, forcefully invading Zheng Yuanhua's soul to obtain fragmented memories and information.

After a long while.

"Crack!" With a sickening sound, Zheng Yuanhua's head split into two, his anguished screams abruptly ceasing in the depths of the silent mountain.

(End of chapter)