Storage Bag Crab Feast

Let's put aside this minor accident for now.

Xiao Chen was even more curious about the origin of this strange tentacle.

As everyone knows, even cultivators at the same Major Realm can sometimes have significant differences.

Similarly, there are also differences in strength among Great Demon.

It's not hard to guess that since it could lock Xiao Chen's right hand with just a wisp of true essence, this tentacle must be something extraordinary.

It's very likely that among the Fifth-Tier Great Demon, it's one of the stronger ones.

However, this raises a new problem.

Given the opponent's formidable strength, how could they have been injured, resulting in the tentacle severing?

How did it end up here, in Hai Hong's Storage Bag?

Xiao Chen couldn't help but wonder if a battle between Fifth-Tier Great Demon had broken out in the Far Sea, and that the Compassion Sea was probably not far away.

This led Hai Hong, who was passing by, to pick up the tentacle that had been severed during the battle.

If that's the case, the actual situation in the Far Sea is probably even more dangerous than he previously learned from Ancient Books.

"Daoist Xiao, are you really alright?"

Crane Cry True Monarch asked with concern, "The color of that Blood Beads just now was a bit off; it seemed to be poisonous. We must be extra careful."

Xiao Chen waved his arm casually. "It's alright, even if it contains poison, I have my own way of dealing with it."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's take a look at the rest of the items in the Storage Bag first."

Everyone was immediately drawn to the strange tentacle, and didn't even have time to look at the other items.

However, there was no second Tier 5 rare item in the Storage Bag.

The rest consisted of fourth-tier spiritual materials, mainly spirit ore, 307 Spare Array Foundation, 25 Formation Flag, several boxes of Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, and all sorts of Third-Order Spiritual Object piled up like a small mountain.

Of course, in the end, these most numerous Third-Order Spiritual Object turned out to be the least crucial.

However, this is the normal situation, and it's what everyone initially expected.

"Huh, these Array Foundation seem to be a complete set?"

Gang Yuan True Monarch immediately noticed that many of the Formation Base Inscription were similar, had a unified style, and showed obvious correlation.

He carefully scanned it once with Detection Spell before actually looking through it.

In no time, 128 Array Foundation Array Foundation were selected and distinguished from the rest.

They then took out previously seized Core Restriction for comparison.

Gang Yuan True Monarch quickly confirmed. "That's right, this should be a complete Fourth-tier Defensive Formation, and it matches the eight Formation Flag within it."

"Thank goodness we didn't give them a chance to breathe."

"Otherwise, with this Reserve Formation, Hai Hong should be able to rebuild a solid defensive line and continue the resistance within a few hours."

"Judging from the quality and quantity of this Array Foundation."

"Once the grand formation is completed, its power should be quite formidable."

In closing, Gang Yuan True Monarch gently stroked a blue gemstone within a Core Array Foundation and exclaimed, "And the Sea Race is truly damn wealthy."

"These expensive materials are used without any consideration for saving money."

"They just set such a large crystal directly without even considering cutting off some scraps for other uses."

If we follow the Human Race's usual practice, we would definitely have to calculate the array's requirements first, and then calculate how much spiritual material would be needed to power the array.

Finally, using this as a standard, the spiritual material is divided, and the extra fragments are made into necklaces or pendants.

This is called fully exploring the use value of rare spiritual materials and rationally coordinating available resources to maximize benefits.

"Yes, it's such a waste to use such good spiritual materials directly as Array Foundation."

Xiao Chen somewhat shared this sentiment.

Although their specific reflections may differ, their feelings are similar.

If only there were a way to perfectly disassemble the finished product into raw materials.

Even though he had read extensively, he had never heard of any extraordinary methods with such effects in the Cultivation World.

Relying on this path is unlikely to work; hunting Great Demon to obtain spiritual materials is a more reliable method.

As he spoke, Gang Yuan True Monarch had already taken out all the boxes containing Spirit Stone and laid them out in a row.

The crowd scanned the box with their Divine Sense and immediately counted that there were 333,600 Mid-Grade Spirit Stone inside.

That translates to 33.6 million Low-grade Spirit Stone.

Even for everyone present, this is a huge sum of money!

The reason Hai Hong had so many Mid-Grade Spirit Stone was because the Sea Race's original defense period was a full six months.

Furthermore, it should be noted that after the Human Race's victory at the Listening Wave Sea, their manpower was greatly freed up.

A simple deduction reveals that it is highly likely that nearly ten Human True Lord will join the battle in the Shallow Sky Sea.

This is different from previous small-scale battles; a sufficient number of Spirit Stone must be prepared to cope with the prolonged consumption of resources.

Therefore, not only did Hai Hong take a batch of Spirit Stone with her when she set off.

When the Six-fin Barracuda arrived later with the golden talisman, it also brought a large number of Spirit Stone and the Venerable One's order not to be stingy with Spirit Stone.

It's likely that the Sea Race didn't expect that the vast majority of these Spirit Stone would eventually fall into the hands of the Human Race.

However, Xiao Chen didn't value this huge sum of money much.

He was more concerned with whether any of the fourth-tier spiritual materials were suitable for him to use in weapon crafting.

In fact, many raw materials have multiple uses.

In particular, there is a significant overlap between their uses for crafting Array Foundation and for crafting defensive Spirit Artifact.

Because these two have similar needs in many aspects.

For example, it must be sturdy enough to withstand direct attacks from Law Technique or Hostile Spirit Tool.

For example, it should be stable enough to respond promptly to the owner's commands even under the worst possible conditions.

For example, it has a strong enough bearing capacity to withstand the massive flow of Spiritual Power to supply the pre-inscribed Formation Pattern or Artifact Inscription.

Of course, there are fundamental differences between the two.

The goal of Array Foundation is to resonate with the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi as much as possible, and it is necessary to consider the ability to draw Spiritual Qi from Spirit Vein and the response to the surrounding environment.

Defensive Spirit Artifact prioritize ensuring compatibility with the cultivator's own true essence, and secondly, they provide Spiritual Power through Spirit Stone.

For this reason, the two have different processing methods and refining requirements.

Therefore, some of the spiritual materials that have already undergone preliminary processing are no longer suitable for refining weapons.

Fortunately, there are quite a few Fourth-Order Spiritual Item in this batch.

According to Xiao Chen's visual estimation, nearly half of them, namely forty-two types of fourth-order spirit ores and five types of Fourth-Tier Spirit Wood, are the types he needs.

Well, how should I put it?

He definitely wanted to take them all.

However, the problem is that the Compassion Sea rarely engages in such joint operations in the past.

At the same time, the old distribution method was also quite rudimentary.

As is customary, Xiao Chen would need to arrange himself and the others in order of their Combat Contribution.

Then, starting from the top and working down, each person takes turns choosing one item they like as their prize.

If there are any left, then play another round until all the items are used up.

However, in that case, although Xiao Chen would undoubtedly deserve the greatest credit in this battle, he would definitely not be able to take away half of the fourth-tier spiritual materials.

Moreover, objectively speaking, the other True Lord also made considerable contributions.

As the old saying goes, even if they didn't achieve great things, they still deserve some of the spoils of war.

However, Xiao Chen naturally had a solution.

He proactively proposed a new distribution method. "Well, everyone contributed a lot to this victory."

"Now that we've captured the spoils of war, we should naturally think of a way to distribute them fairly."

"I just think that things like Spare Formation, which are part of a set, are most effective when they are not separated."

"In that case, if we select items based on the size of their contribution, it wouldn't be good for anyone to take such an expensive item, including me."

"Then I have an idea, everyone might want to listen."

"The idea is to calculate the price of all these items at a discount, and then refund any overpayment or charge any underpayment."

"Of course, everyone's contributions in the battle are evident to all, such as Daoist Qian Shu's lost Fourth-Order Puppet, and the spirit ships damaged in the collision."

"How about converting all of these things into Spirit Stone and then calculating the total cost?"

This plan sounds quite fair, as it labels each person's contribution with a corresponding price.

In this way, those who contribute more will receive the spiritual objects they deserve.

Those who contribute less won't suffer much loss; they won't miss out on anything in the next round.

Even those who suffered losses could receive the compensation they deserved—it's a win-win-win situation.

After a brief moment of thought, everyone nodded in agreement.

Crane Cry True Monarch also praised the idea as fair and just, far superior to the old method.

Of course, this way, Xiao Chen could also conveniently avoid the restrictions of the old rules and directly select the spiritual materials he needed.

It's important to understand that he not only made the greatest Combat Contribution, but also suffered extremely high combat casualties.

It wasn't just the crucial Reinforced Formation Breaking Cone; there was also the Yang Fire Evil used to dispel the fog, and the Special Formation found in the 'ruins'.

These are losses that everyone witnessed, and they should be factored in and compensated for.

Xiao Chen brought up the loss of Qian Shu True Monarch because he wanted to calculate a share of the compensation for himself here.

Although these items of his are all once-in-a-millennium finds, they are indeed difficult to value.

But a price tag of 30 million Spirit Stone for all three isn't unreasonable at all.

After Sha Qi, in terms of rarity, it takes tens of thousands of years for a single instance of malevolent energy to be born.

At the same time, the Special Formation that can control Sha Qi can definitely be called Top Secret Transmission.

"Hey, Daoist Xiao, isn't there something you forgot to calculate?"

Iron Fan True Monarch, holding the account book, inquired, "That Family Heirloom Talisman Treasure of yours, its value must be quite high, right?"

"This use was also to prevent Hai Hong from activating the Sea God Talisman, so the corresponding losses should be taken into account."

He specifically mentioned his Family Heirloom Talisman Treasure, which is Mechanical Grappling Claw.

Firstly, it was indeed to help Xiao Chen calculate the losses and make up for the deficit.

However, it was also to gain some insight into its approximate usage frequency and total value, thereby increasing our understanding.

To be fair, everyone is actually quite wary of this thing.

"Um, the value of this talisman... well, it's a bit inconvenient to go into details."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment, then simply declined, saying, "Let's just skip this; it doesn't need to be included."

He knew very well that the Mechanical Grappling Claw was actually not worn out and would not break no matter how many times it was used.

As long as he doesn't reveal it, no one else will know this.

You can also take advantage of the situation and gain more benefits.

However, after thinking about it, Xiao Chen still felt it wasn't necessary. It wasn't for any other reason, but mainly because he estimated that he already had enough Points.

Now that he has already taken what he needs, there is no need to use such deceptive tactics to gain more profit for himself.

Even if he took other things, whether it was spirit ore or Array Foundation, he wouldn't actually need them.

In the end, they actually sold them to exchange for Spirit Stone.

The problem is that Xiao Chen now has the ability to travel to New Cultivation World, so the least of his worries is not having enough Spirit Stone. There's absolutely no reason for him to lie about it.

That's why he chose to decline the offer by saying it was inconvenient to disclose the price.

Of course, the other cultivators were unaware of his specific thoughts.

After listening, everyone had different thoughts.

Some people were filled with awe and admiration for Xiao Chen's noble act of not seeking personal gain.

It should be noted that no one knew anything about the 'talisman treasure,' so Xiao Chen was essentially left to his own discretion in making the offer.

Theoretically, even if he claimed that it would cost several million Spirit Stone to use it once, no one could refute it.

Even Nascent Soul True Lord rarely remains unmoved in the face of millions of Spirit Stone.

Not to mention voluntarily giving up such a large sum of money.

These cultivators were all impressed, saying that Daoist Xiao was not only highly skilled in cultivation, but also of impeccable character, practically without any flaws.

Of course, some people felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.

They couldn't help but wonder what kind of divine weapon that ' Family Heirloom Talisman Treasure ' was, that it was worth giving up so many Spirit Stone to conceal its secrets.

Under normal circumstances, this can be inferred from the logic of choosing the lesser of two evils.

People will always choose the option that results in less loss.

In other words, in Xiao Chen's view, the secret contained in that ' Family Heirloom Talisman Treasure ' should be more important than millions of Spirit Stone.

This is a huge amount of information!

So much so that some people couldn't help but wonder, was it really just a magical talisman?

Hmm~, could it be some kind of Law Treasure that can be used even at the Nascent Soul Realm under special conditions?

This makes much more sense than using talismans!

Whether considering its abnormally strong power or the fact that it has been used more than five times without being damaged.

Or perhaps it's due to Xiao Chen's cautious nature in not even revealing the price.

It's highly likely that it's actually a Law Treasure.

Every True Lord thought of this place felt a pang of apprehension, followed by a sense of envy.

There was no other way; that was Law Treasure!

These are rare treasures that only appear once every tens of thousands of years. Normally, even if they are Nascent Soul True Lord, they might never see such a rare item in their entire lives.

Even in the Ancient Times mentioned in Ancient Books, those who possessed Law Treasure were mostly Spirit Transformation Venerable.

After all, without the ability to gather the heavenly materials and earthly treasures of a region for one's own use, it would be difficult to collect the raw materials to forge a Law Treasure.

What's remarkable is that not a single person present harbored any thoughts of killing and robbing.

However, this is probably largely due to the fact that none of them could defeat Xiao Chen in a one-on-one fight.

Moreover, without specific means, even if they obtained Law Treasure, they might not be able to use it, so there was no need for them to harbor evil intentions.

"Daoist Xiao, your willingness to... exert all your strength to Resist Sea Race, without regard for personal gain, is truly admirable!"

Crane Cry True Monarch suddenly spoke up and praised him.

What he actually wanted to say was that he was willing to risk losing the Law Treasure weapon and bring it into battle, but after thinking about it, he felt that it would be inappropriate to say it directly, so he changed his mind at the last minute.

Coincidentally, the other True Lord around them also chimed in.

It's unclear whether they were thinking the same thing or simply praising Xiao Chen for not caring about Points.

In short, everyone showered him with praise and compliments.

Xiao Chen blushed slightly upon hearing this.

Despite blushing, his hands moved swiftly.

After the allocation began, the first person took the pen, circled all the Fourth-Order Spiritual Item he wanted, and then handed them to the next person.

In the end, they successfully obtained a total of seventy-three fourth-tier spiritual materials and six thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

The reason there were twenty-six more items is because the spiritual materials collected from those ten Great Demon were also included.

In fact, only thirty-five items were collected in total, and Xiao Chen took almost half of them all by himself.

Of course, no one had any objections to this, since Xiao Chen had the most Points, and they were all contributions that everyone recognized, so he deserved to receive the most spoils.

As for the extra six thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone...

This is because he had remaining Points after exchanging for the spirit item, hence the extra compensation he received.

With this harvest, plus the spiritual materials obtained earlier...

Xiao Chen has already gathered more than half of the spiritual materials needed to customize the spiritual Spirit Artifact.

At this rate, if he goes to Universal Salvation Temple and wins the final battle against the Sea Race, he should be able to return with a full harvest.

It can only be said that hunting Sea Race Great Demon is indeed the fastest way to obtain fourth-tier spiritual materials.

And currently, there seems to be no other option.

After all, no matter how you look at it, it's impossible to collect hundreds of fourth-tier spiritual materials in such a short time using any other means or methods.

It's worth noting that Xiao Chen only spent about six months back before returning.

This was because he had spent a lot of time cultivating in the Listening Wave Sea, during which he deciphered a large number of fourth-order formations and dealt with the Thirty-Six Revolving Cold Smoke Golden Talisman.

Theoretically speaking, let alone Nascent Soul True Lord.

Even if Spirit Transformation Venerable were to do it personally, it would be difficult to replicate such exaggerated efficiency.

Well, of course, this refers to normal circumstances, and does not include the Venerable One directly robbing the warehouses and Storage Ring of Great Powers.

"Reporting to the True Lord, the time has come!"

Suddenly, a Golden Core cultivator walked in, taking small steps to approach Iron Fan True Monarch and report the situation, "The Earth Vein Flame Crystal in the furnace are about to burn out."

"Shall we serve the food now, or should we order more?"

Previously, in order to calculate the Points and distribute them, everyone had also called back Iron Fan True Monarch.

Upon hearing the report from his disciples, he immediately got up and rushed back to refine his secret formula.

Not long after.

Suddenly, a fragrant aroma of wine wafted in from outside the main hall.

However, its flavor was not strong at first, but then it transformed into an increasingly rich and exotic aroma.

Then, the voice of Iron Fan True Monarch came from outside. "Fellow Daoists, you have been waiting long. Please move outside the hall and enjoy the delicious food!"

oh?

Curious, the group went outside and immediately saw a massive Pill Furnace that was ten zhang tall.

He stood in the very center of the high platform that had been erected outside the hall during the earlier discussions.

Meanwhile, the area around it was filled with delicacies, and twelve seats were set up according to the twelve two-hour periods of the day.

Judging from this, it seems that Iron Fan True Monarch cooked this Ancestral Steamed Crab in a large Pill Furnace.

To be honest, this utensil is rarely used for cooking.

Xiao Chen sat down with the others and first looked around the table.

Sure enough, a huge table was set out for a crab feast.

Each dish is accompanied by an ivory stick with the dish name, preparation process, main characteristics, and other descriptive information.

First, there are four cold dishes: Pepper-Pickled Crab Shell, Peony Crab Roe, Snow-Rosé Crab Rolls, and Amber Crab Claws.

Then there are eight hot dishes: Coiled Dragon Crab Roe Soup, Gilded Hibiscus Crab, Thousand-Layer Crab Roe Pastry, Eight-Treasure Crab Shell Cup, Pearl Crab Meatball, Jade-Board Crab Fragrant Cake, Coral Crab Claw Soup, and Snow Clam Crab Roe Soup.

Several dishes of various sauces were also served.

It includes regular ginger, garlic, vinegar, and sauces, as well as special spices such as plum sauce, Six-Colored Spirit-Stamen Powder, and Eight-Fragrance Spirit-Fusing Liquid.

All the dishes were served in small tricolor cups and placed beside each person, allowing them to mix and match according to their own taste.

Of course, the most important dish is the steamed crab with perilla leaves.

Its production process is extremely complicated.

First, you need to use green bamboo leaves dipped in spiritual spring water to scrub the crab shell to remove any remaining Yao Qi.

The steamer is made of century-old Spirit Fir Wood. The bottom of the steamer is first lined with a layer of Calming Moon-Gazing Grass, and then with a layer of century-old Spirit Perilla Leaves.

Then, the Earth Vein Flame Crystal, with their long-lasting and even heat, were used to replace ordinary Spirit Fire for heating.

Three different kinds of Spirit Wine are added in sequence during the process to remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma.

The wine turns into mist when heated, and its sweetness is enhanced after the crab meat absorbs it.

"Fellow Daoists, have you watched carefully?"

Iron Fan True Monarch raised his hand and lifted the furnace lid.

Steam rose up, and a wisp of blue smoke appeared faintly above the steamer, transforming into the phantom image of a small crab before vanishing in an instant.

After steaming, the crab shells in the cage exhibit a blend of blue and gold, like the patina of ancient jade, with subtle frost-like patterns visible through them.

Lifting the crab shell reveals a rich, golden crab roe that gleams like amber in the light.

The crab meat is snow-white and delicate, with distinct textures, like it was carved from the finest Mutton Fat Jade.

The first aroma is a faint fragrance of perilla, followed by the sweetness of the crab meat itself, mixed with the mellow aroma of the Spirit Wine, unfolding layer by layer.

As the heat dissipates slightly, a faint, delicate fragrance of evening primrose emerges, subtle and lingering.

Xiao Chen tried tasting it.

First, pick up a piece of crab roe. It melts in your mouth, sweet and rich like honey, without any fishy or greasy taste. Instead, it carries a hint of the sweetness of Spirit Grain wine.

A lingering fragrance remains in the throat after swallowing.

The crab meat is tender and bouncy, bursting with sweet juice with a gentle bite, and has a subtle salty taste. When dipped in Ginger Vinegar, the tangy aroma brings out the deep umami flavor.

The most amazing part is the crab claw meat. The fibers are like silk, and you can feel how firm it is when you tear it apart, but it's not dry at all. Instead, it releases a warm feeling left by the Earth Vein Flame Crystal while you chew, making you feel completely comfortable.

The flavor of this crab is fresh without being overpowering, rich without being cloying, and delicate without being bland.