Outside the cave, the stench of blood had long since dissipated.
Qiong Xiao moved cleanly and efficiently, without the slightest hesitation.
Those Golden Immortal experts who had been arrogant not long ago, chasing her until she had nowhere to flee, had now become a pile of cold storage artifacts and materials.
She felt no discomfort whatsoever. Instead, she felt the thrill of avenging a great wrong.
More importantly, this was the first task her master—and teacher—had entrusted to her.
She had to handle it flawlessly.
Qiong Xiao carefully inspected every inch of ground, picking up every scattered artifact fragment, even pieces no larger than a fingernail, sorting and storing them away.
Only after finishing all that did she return to the cave respectfully, carrying a large pile of storage rings and spoils.
Lin Feng stood with his back to the cave entrance, his hands clasped behind him as he gazed over the distant sea of clouds. He stood as steady as an abyss and as towering as a mountain, his aura fused with heaven and earth.
Qiong Xiao instinctively lightened her steps. She stopped three paces behind Lin Feng, not daring to come any closer.
She gently placed all the spoils on a stone table nearby, then took a deep breath as though she had made an incomparably momentous decision.
Buzz!
A dazzling golden glow slowly rose from Qiong Xiao's palm.
It was a palm-sized little cauldron forged from some unknown divine gold. Its design was ancient, and its body was engraved with countless unfathomable innate Dao patterns. Strands of Chaos energy flow swirled around it, radiating Terrifying Pressure capable of suppressing the heavens and overturning heaven and earth.
The Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron!
This Companion Spirit Treasure had accompanied her since her birth. Bound to her very life and cultivated alongside her, it had long become one with her. It was her most treasured possession and her most powerful trump card.
Yet at this moment, there was not the slightest reluctance in Qiong Xiao's eyes—only absolute devotion.
She raised the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron high with both hands, slowly knelt to the ground, and held it above her head.
"Master, this is your disciple's Companion Spirit Treasure, the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron. Please accept it."
Her voice carried a faint, nearly imperceptible tremor.
It was not because she was reluctant to part with it, but because she was excited and honored to offer her most precious possession to her master.
In her eyes, her life, her path of cultivation, and everything she possessed had all been granted by her master.
What was one mere Companion Spirit Treasure worth?
If her master needed it, she could offer up her primordial spirit, true soul, and everything else without hesitation!
Lin Feng slowly turned around.
His gaze fell upon the dazzling Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron.
Even with his composure, a faint ripple flashed through his eyes.
Good heavens, this was the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron!
In the later Investiture of the Gods war, it had struck fear into the Twelve Golden Immortals, cut away the Three Flowers on the Head, extinguished the five qi within the chest, and beaten countless Great Beings back to their original forms. It was a terrifying weapon.
In terms of rank, it was undoubtedly a top-tier Innate Spirit Treasure. In terms of power, it was in some respects not inferior even to certain innate supreme treasures.
Qiong Xiao was really... offering it to him just like that?
Looking at the girl's utterly devout expression, as though she were sacrificing everything she had, Lin Feng understood.
This move had completely won over this future Empress Sanxiao.
However, Lin Feng's face still bore that eternally indifferent expression.
His gaze lingered on the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron for less than a breath before drifting away, as if it were not some peerless treasure, but merely an unremarkable stone by the roadside.
Qiong Xiao's heart instantly leaped into her throat.
Master... doesn't like it?
Does he think my artifact is too low-grade and unworthy of catching his eye?
For a moment, intense panic and unease surged through Qiong Xiao's heart.
Just as her thoughts ran wild, Lin Feng's calm voice slowly rang out.
"Since it is something that has accompanied you since birth, keep it for yourself."
What?
Qiong Xiao abruptly raised her head, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.
What had she just heard?
Her master... was telling her to keep it?
This was the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron! A top-tier Innate Spirit Treasure that could drive even Grand Unity Golden Immortals mad, one worth stirring up a bloody storm to seize!
And her master... had so casually... refused it?
Qiong Xiao's mind buzzed as it went completely blank, leaving her utterly unable to think.
Then Lin Feng's next words struck the depths of her soul like a divine thunderbolt that created the world.
"My people cannot go without a proper artifact."
Boom!!!
Qiong Xiao's body trembled violently.
She stood frozen on the spot, as though she had been struck by lightning.
My people...
My people!
Those three simple words were like a scorching torrent containing Supreme Power. In an instant, they shattered all her mental defenses, coursed through every limb and bone, and branded themselves into the deepest part of her true soul!
At that moment, Qiong Xiao felt an indescribable sense of immense happiness and belonging swallow her completely like a mountain flood and tsunami.
So... in her master's heart, she was already "his person"!
So, her master had not looked down on the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron. He simply did not wish to take what was bound to her by birth!
He had not rejected this Spirit Treasure. He was telling her this way that his people deserved the very best!
What magnanimity was this?
What grandeur was this?
He could simply refuse a top-tier Innate Spirit Treasure and even turn it into encouragement for his subordinate.
Looking across the entire Primordial World, even the lofty Saints likely could not remain so indifferent before such a treasure!
No, even Saints could not do that!
Her teacher, Sect Master Tongtian, possessed plenty of treasures, did he not? Yet when faced with a fine Spirit Treasure belonging to one of his disciples, he certainly would not refuse it.
And her master, this teacher whom she had only just entered into a master-disciple bond with—his realm, his level, had long surpassed that of Saints and reached a supreme domain she could neither imagine nor comprehend!
Having understood all this, the shock and gratitude in Qiong Xiao's heart could no longer be described in words.
Her eyes reddened instantly, and a layer of crystalline mist spread uncontrollably through them, blurring her vision.
Lin Feng paid no attention to the turbulent drama in her heart. He merely reached out and lightly pushed the Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron.
Buzz!
The Primal Chaos Golden Cauldron gave a soft hum, turning into a streak of golden light as it flew back into Qiong Xiao's Purple Mansion on its own.
"Get up."
Lin Feng's tone remained calm. "Take stock of those things."
"Yes... yes, Master!"
Qiong Xiao snapped back to her senses as if waking from a dream. She hurriedly climbed to her feet, wiped at the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, and took several deep breaths before barely calming the emotions that were nearly bursting out of her.
She walked to the stone table and began counting the spoils one by one.
It had to be said, those few Golden Immortals had truly been wealthy.
Among the dozen or so storage rings, there were tens of millions of high-grade immortal stones alone, enough to cover a large sect's expenses for a hundred years.
The immortal pills for healing and improving cultivation were piled up like mountains, and their quality was not low either.
Besides that, there were large quantities of artifact-refining materials, including quite a few rare divine metals of heaven and earth.
As for artifacts, there were seven or eight Acquired Spiritual Treasures. Although their quality was ordinary, they would still be enough to make Heavenly Immortals and True Immortals fight desperately over them.
If this wealth were placed in the outside world, it would be enough to make any Golden Immortal green with envy.
Yet as Qiong Xiao counted them, her heart remained as still as water, without the slightest ripple.
After witnessing her master's grandeur in treating a top-tier Innate Spirit Treasure as nothing, this so-called wealth looked no different from a heap of scrap metal to her.
She merely sorted and organized everything methodically, waiting for her master to decide what to do with it.
Lin Feng only swept his gaze over the items casually before losing interest.
To him, their only value was trading them to the system for a few points.
Just as Qiong Xiao picked up the final storage ring, the one belonging to that late-stage Golden Immortal expert, her movements suddenly paused.
"Master, there's... something strange inside."
She took something out of the ring and handed it to Lin Feng.
It was a piece of animal hide tanned from the fur of some unknown ferocious beast. It looked extremely tattered, with scorch marks along its edges and dark red bloodstains that had long dried upon it.
Had it not been stored so solemnly in a jade box, anyone would have taken it for a useless piece of trash.
Lin Feng took the hide. It felt icy cold in his hand, and its material was exceptionally tough.
A faint glimmer lit up at his fingertip as he injected it into the hide.
Buzz!
Golden patterns suddenly emerged across the surface of the once dull hide, interweaving into an incomplete map.
Most of the map was covered in mist, with only one corner clearly marking out a route.
At the end of that route, deep within the boundless East Sea, stood an immortal island surrounded by Chaos energy flow.
Upon the immortal island, an ancient seal bearing the character "Mansion" flickered with a faint glow, carrying an aura of primordial desolation.
"The East Sea, an Ancient Cave Mansion?"
Lin Feng's brow lifted slightly.
His gaze rested on the outline of that immortal island for a moment, and a faint curve rose at the corner of his lips.
It seemed the next destination had been found.
Before you continue