Taking Stock of the Spoils

Wei Yang tossed the now-empty Storage Ring, which he had held through a handkerchief, back onto the table. He had no intention of taking it with him.

Although it was a mid-grade Storage Ring, worth at least over two hundred thousand Gold Coins.

Still, it made him uncomfortable.

"Brother Yang, this Storage Ring looks quite high-grade. It doesn't seem like a low-grade one. Aren't we taking it?" Seeing this, Xian'er asked regretfully.

"This is a mid-grade Storage Ring with an internal space of around a hundred square meters." Wei Yang shook his head. "I don't want to take it. Leave it for Gute."

"A mid-grade Storage Ring?" Xian'er's eyes widened. She lowered her head to look at the ring on her own hand; she was still using a low-grade Storage Ring.

And he was just giving it up?

"Ahem, I already took one of his mid-grade Storage Rings. Once we get back and sort through what's inside, I'll give it to you." Wei Yang coughed lightly. "As for this one, let's leave it for him. We've already taken plenty from him. We should leave him something."

Wei Yang could hardly explain to her that this Storage Ring had previously been worn on that lecherous old man's private parts.

"Oh, then all right." Xian'er nodded, accepting the explanation. "We took so many good things from him. Leaving him a Storage Ring is fine."

"Mm, leave some room for others. We have no grudge against him, so there's no need to go too far." Wei Yang went along with her words.

"Are we leaving now?" Xian'er asked.

"We haven't searched this place yet." Wei Yang led Xian'er over to a wall. "Once we clear out what's inside, we'll go."

Xian'er looked at the smooth wall before her and blinked. "There's another secret room behind this wall?"

"Mm." Wei Yang nodded as his powerful Soul Power surged forth, covering the entire wall.

A moment later.

With a soft muffled sound, the wall before them slowly split apart to either side, revealing an opening behind it.

"There really is one." Xian'er's eyes lit up. "I wonder if there are any precious medicinal herbs inside."

Wei Yang glanced at her. All she ever thought about was medicinal herbs.

His Soul Power extended through the opening and probed within.

After sweeping through the room with his senses, he withdrew his Soul Power.

Inside was a secret room of around twenty square meters, seemingly used for secluded cultivation or pill refining.

But it was completely empty.

Aside from several tables and chairs, meditation cushions, and a small table, there was nothing.

Wei Yang recalled that in the original story, Gute had deliberately opened this wall in front of Xiao Yan, crawled inside, and then taken out the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

He had thought it was a treasure room containing plenty of good things.

So that was it.

When Gute traded with Xiao Yan, the reason he had specifically crawled inside was to take something out from his crotch...

Damn it, that bastard was really something else.

Wei Yang was speechless.

Then again, if one had valuable things, carrying them close at hand in a Storage Ring was the safest option.

It was not like the treasure vaults of great clans or sects, guarded around the clock by dedicated personnel.

Besides, Gute's Storage Ring had been hidden in such a private place on his body.

"Brother Yang, what's wrong? Is there something inside?" Seeing Wei Yang standing there without moving, Xian'er could not help asking.

"Mm, there are good things inside. Go in and take them," Wei Yang said, glancing at her as he teased her.

"Oh." Xian'er did not doubt him. She obediently crawled inside.

Wei Yang smiled, then turned and slowly strolled to the doorway to wait.

Very soon, Xian'er crawled back out with her lips pursed. She trotted over, reached out to pinch the soft flesh at his waist, and coquettishly complained, "You big liar! You tricked me! I'll pinch you to death..."

"Haha, I was wrong..." Wei Yang laughed as he begged for mercy.

Then he took her hand and left the room. Standing in the corridor, he looked back at Gute, who was still sprawled there snoring soundly, and asked, "Xian'er, how long will he sleep before waking up?"

"Mm..." Xian'er tilted her head and thought for a moment. "Probably more than twelve shichen."

"It's good as long as he wakes up." Wei Yang nodded. "After all, we're only after wealth, not lives. And he's Pill King Gu He's older brother. Taking his things is one thing, but if he dies, Pill King Gu He will probably go mad."

"Mm, I know. Don't worry. When I prepared the sleeping drug, I controlled the dosage. With his Da Dou Shi cultivation, he'll wake up in at most around twelve shichen," Xian'er explained.

"By then, we'll have long since left Black Rock City far behind." Wei Yang smiled and led Xian'er away.

After leaving the building, they closed the main door behind them.

Wrapped in wide black robes, the pair soon vanished into the darkness.

Early the next morning, Wei Yang and Xian'er left the city.

After departing Black Rock City, they immediately took to the air and hurried onward.

Five days later, having flown across nearly half of the Jia Ma Empire, they finally returned to Wu Tan City.

That evening, after returning home, the two casually cleaned up the house before each going to rest.

Only after getting up the next morning did they begin taking stock of their haul.

Xian'er had forty-eight kinds of precious, rare medicinal herbs between Grades 4 and 5.

Among them were three Grade 4 Medicinal Herbs useful for restoring the soul, called Soul Nurturing Lotus.

As for Wei Yang, aside from the Ice Spirit Cold Spring and the pill formulas for the Dou Spirit Pill and Emperor Extreme Pill, he had the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill and Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill.

There were also four thick, ancient books.

After sorting through those, it was time for the Storage Ring taken from Gute. Its internal space was nearly twenty square meters, with a height of around five meters.

This was already a very fine Storage Ring.

With a thought from Wei Yang, all the items inside came pouring out, piling up on the floor of the main hall.

"This Storage Ring is for you." Wei Yang casually tossed the now-empty Storage Ring in his hand to Xian'er.

Xian'er caught it and examined it, then said in surprise, "The internal space is so large. It's practically the size of a room. Brother Yang, don't you want it?"

Wei Yang raised his hand to reveal the ring he had obtained from the Cliff Cave Opportunity and smiled. "I have a bigger one."

This Storage Ring had an internal space of around three hundred square meters and was roughly three stories high. It was an extremely rare high-grade Storage Ring.

"Oh." Seeing this, Xian'er happily put the ring away.

The one she was currently using was still the low-grade Storage Ring taken from Mu She, with an internal space of only five square meters.

Then, in high spirits, the two began sorting through the mountain-like pile of items before them.

They first picked out the various bottles and jars.

There were some commonly used third-grade pills inside, such as Qi Returning Pills, Healing Pills, antidote pills, and the like.

Next came some relatively common Grade 2 and Grade 3 spiritual grasses and Spiritual Herbs, which were presumably Gute's everyday reserves.

Then there were numerous books and notes. Most of them contained foundational knowledge for alchemists, and Wei Yang specifically organized them and set them aside.

These fundamentals of alchemy were the true priority.

Among them were several sets of notes written by a few Third- and Fourth-Grade Alchemists, including Gute himself, containing their experience and insights regarding pill refining.

Next came a great number of pill formulas and scrolls, ranging from Grade 1 to ordinary Grade 4 pill formulas. They were quite comprehensive and mostly common formulas.

They were not particularly valuable, but the variety was complete.

They also found several Mysterious Grade arts and battle skills, as well as a fire control technique.

One Mysterious Grade Intermediate Fire Attribute Art, the Blazing Flame Art.

One Mysterious Grade Intermediate Fire Attribute Battle Skill, the Blazing Flame Palm.

One Mysterious Grade Elementary Fire Attribute Battle Skill, the Blazing Flame Finger.

There was also a copy of the Gu Clan Fire Control Technique. Judging from its contents, it seemed to contain annotations from two different people.

One person's annotations were proper and measured, with a gentle tone.

The other person's annotations seemed somewhat arrogant, and in some places deliberately targeted the former's comments.

There was no need to guess. These were the annotations of the brothers Pill King Gu He and Gute.