Killing and Arson Bring a Golden Belt

Zhao Bai Jiang's storage bag contained these things.

Three measly bottles of Pure Qi Pills, a bottle of wound medicine, and a bottle of Calming Pills, worth no more than 30 spirit stones.

But the pile of spirit stones amounted to a full 50.

This was probably Zhao Bai Jiang's entire life's savings.

The other miscellaneous books and two low-grade cultivation techniques were completely useless to Su Hao.

"What is this?"

Su Hao noticed an inconspicuous object in the storage bag: a long, slender banner. The banner was pitch-black from top to bottom, with a thin texture. A ring of white curse-script surrounded it, and the large character "soul" was written in the center.

It looked seventy or eighty percent similar to the Soul Refining Banner from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

After thinking it over, Su Hao immediately began refining the magical artifact.

There was a space inside the Soul Refining Banner, where more than ten Yin Souls floated. Every one of them looked dull and foolish, without the slightest consciousness.

"It should indeed be the Soul Refining Banner."

Su Hao confirmed it after examining it a little. This was a magical artifact whose power grew stronger the more powerful the souls had been in life and the greater their number. Its potential far surpassed that of ordinary magical artifacts.

But Zhao Bai Jiang was useless, and his strength was poor. Of the more than ten Yin Souls in the Soul Refining Banner, only one belonged to a Qi Refining Level 1 cultivator. The rest were the souls of mortal Martial Artists.

The power of this kind of Soul Refining Banner was pitifully weak. It simply could not be used in actual combat.

Su Hao was amused. He had no idea where Zhao Bai Jiang had gotten this Soul Refining Banner. It sold for two or three hundred spirit stones at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

How laughable that this old man had dared covet Lin Zhi Shan. He really had lived long enough!

Su Hao accepted the Soul Refining Banner with a clear conscience. After some time, he would look for a method to use it, then find an opportunity to refine souls.

Next, he examined Lin Zhi Shan's storage bag.

"Damn..."

The storage bag looked unremarkable on the outside, but its interior space was astonishingly large!

"This should be a medium-grade storage bag, right?"

According to the old man at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, storage bags of this quality were scarce and in high demand. Their prices fluctuated, and when expensive, they sold for over two hundred spirit stones.

In any case, they were not something low-level cultivators could afford.

Its fifteen cubic meters of space was like a small room, with three rows of small wooden shelves.

There were countless bottles and jars displayed on them.

And in the corner was a large pile of glittering spirit stones.

"Thirty bottles of Tiger Heart Pills and ten bottles of Golden Snow Spirit Pills."

Su Hao took a closer look at the pills.

Tiger Heart Pills were commonly used cultivation pills for cultivators from Qi Refining Level 6 to Level 9, and a bottle cost 20 low-grade spirit stones.

He had previously broken through to Qi Refining Level 6 with the great help of the Tiger Heart Pills he had obtained from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.

As for Golden Snow Spirit Pills, they were the finest among the cultivation pills for Qi Refining cultivators. They were Spirit Grade pills, and even more expensive, costing 150 low-grade spirit stones per bottle!

If he sold just these after changing hands, he could earn over a thousand spirit stones.

The pile of spirit stones was not quite as large, numbering around 400.

"Sure enough, killing and arson bring a golden belt!"

Su Hao exclaimed excitedly.

Just by killing Zhou Cui Feng, Zhao Bai Jiang, and Lin Zhi Shan, he had obtained wealth worth more than 2,000 spirit stones!

No wonder the outer sect was rife with private fights and struggles.

To survive in the outer sect of the Golden Light Sect,

one could either suffer miserably mining ore and digging bones, becoming the lowest-level ox or horse and committing slow suicide, ultimately exhausting oneself until one's foundation was ruined and making wedding clothes for someone else.

Or one could follow the law of the jungle and seize other people's pills and spirit stones.

Everyone with sense knew which to choose.

There were also two Divine Sense Jade Slips in the storage bag.

"'Medicine King's Secret Codex,' 'Hundred Profound Medicine Veins.'"

Su Hao eagerly took the jade slips. Once his divine sense touched them in succession, he learned their contents.

As an alchemist, these two books on pills were the most precious things Lin Zhi Shan possessed.

The Medicine King's Secret Codex encompassed over a thousand pills for Qi Refining-stage cultivators, including more than a hundred Spirit Grade pills and five Mystic Grade pills.

As for the Hundred Profound Medicine Veins, it was a true cultivation technique—a Mystic Grade technique!

Its cultivation content only extended to the perfection of Qi Refining. Its main purpose was to explain how to cultivate the Hundred Profound Gang Body; it was a secret art.

Cultivation was merely supplementary. This included the secret Essence Absorption technique, the "Medicine Slave Chapter," all for the sake of assisting in the cultivation of the Hundred Profound Gang Body.

Lin Zhi Shan had gone to great lengths and spent enormous amounts of spirit stones and resources to complete the Hundred Profound Gang Body. He had spent more than 5,000 spirit stones on it, with most of his continued expenditures poured into it!

After years of planning, he had finally succeeded over the past few days. Not only had he effectively stepped halfway into the Foundation Establishment Realm, he could also advance another level in alchemy.

With those Golden Snow Pills and other pills, he could rely on pills to reach Qi Refining perfection. With a little more effort, once he obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill, he would have a sixty-to-seventy-percent chance of entering the Foundation Establishment Realm.

As for Medicine Slaves like Su Hao, who had consumed Origin Blood Pills and those who had taken large quantities of Heart Nourishing Pills, a special method was also recorded. They could be refined into Blood Pills again, recovering most of the medicinal power.

"Comprehend the Medicine King's Secret Codex."

"Comprehend the Hundred Profound Medicine Veins."

After the time it took an incense stick to burn, Su Hao slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

The Medicine King's Secret Codex was enough for him to master ninety-nine percent of the pill formulas for the Qi Refining stage, though he had no immediate use for them.

As a Mystic Grade technique, the Hundred Profound Medicine Veins could only be cultivated to Qi Refining perfection, but it still surpassed the Crimson Flame Sword Art by several levels.

Changing cultivation techniques did not cost much, so long as one's talent was sufficient to meet the technique's requirements.

The transformation process would cause some loss of spiritual power, while the time it took varied from person to person.

Now that he possessed the Wood Emperor Physique, his talent in the wood element far surpassed that in the fire element. The Hundred Profound Medicine Veins was clearly more suitable for him.

This technique had no particular strengths in combat, but it excelled in being profound and enduring, making it suitable for alchemists.

No matter how poor a Mystic Grade technique was, it still left a Spirit Grade technique dozens of streets behind. He could seek out several better sword arts later.

As for the Crimson Flame Sword Art, it was merely a common sword cultivation technique, so there was no need to agonize over it.

Su Hao transferred all the spirit stones and pills into his new storage bag.

Then he sat cross-legged and prepared to cultivate by taking pills.

He poured an entire bottle of Tiger Heart Pills directly into his mouth.

The instant the technique began circulating, Spiritual Energy gathered above Su Hao's head and transformed into a vortex.

The Spiritual Energy in an area of several dozen square meters above the cave residence also surged together, forming a small tornado. It continuously entered Su Hao's body through the rock walls.

Su Hao suddenly opened his eyes, deeply shaken.

This orange talent was far too powerful!

Before the pills had even begun to dissolve, the continuously arriving Spiritual Energy had already transformed into spiritual power. An incense stick's worth of cultivation could match the medicinal power of one Pure Qi Pill!

At this cultivation speed, even without taking pills, his progress would be astonishing!

When he began actively dissolving the medicinal power, he was likewise shocked by the absorption rate and speed.

One bottle contained five pills, enough to equal three months of arduous cultivation!

In only half an hour, an entire bottle of Tiger Heart Pills was absorbed, all of it transforming into spiritual power. At the same time, the spiritual power gradually changed. Following the circulation route of the Hundred Profound Medicine Veins, the fierce and scorching fire spiritual power slowly became gentle.

A pill contained ten parts of medicinal power. Cultivators with poor aptitude and limited potential often lost two or three parts after taking a pill.

Another one or two parts would accumulate in the body and could not be absorbed immediately, requiring three to five days to fully transform.

Some of the remaining components would either be expelled through the body's metabolism or turn into pill poison and impurities.

Su Hao, by contrast, had achieved an absorption rate nearly reaching ten parts out of ten!

Over the years, he could take far fewer pills than other people and save a great many spirit stones.

Not to mention that his current physique was already immune to pill poison and impurities.

After Su Hao finished digesting the Tiger Heart Pills, he took out another bottle of pills in a black porcelain vial: Moonlight Spirit Pills!

This was the supreme-grade Spirit Pill he had obtained from Zhou Cui Feng's storage bag at Joy Peak. Its value was incalculable. At least, the outer sect's Heavenly Treasure Pavilion did not sell such supreme-grade Spirit Pills. They were on the same tier as Golden Snow Spirit Pills, but of better quality, representing somewhat stronger medicinal effects.

There was only one pill in the bottle. It was pale blue all over, surrounded by a faint glow formed from a light medicinal fragrance.

Normally, a Qi Refining Level 10 cultivator would be unable to digest this pill in ten days or half a month. Those with weaker strength would lose even more of its medicinal power.

Su Hao had no such trouble.

If Liu Mei had not suddenly interrupted him, he would have eaten this Spirit Pill then and there.

As the Moonlight Spirit Pill entered his stomach, Su Hao once again entered a state of cultivation.

This time, refining the Moonlight Spirit Pill took even longer.

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was already bright.

"Another pill. Although I'm out of Moonlight Spirit Pills, Golden Snow Spirit Pills aren't bad either. One or two should be enough to break through to Qi Refining Level 8!"

Su Hao was calm as he put away a bottle of Golden Snow Spirit Pills beside the bed.

He did not choose to continue cultivating by taking pills.

The side effects of taking pills were already negligible for him, but breaking through too quickly would leave his spiritual power unstable and his foundation unsteady. That problem still existed.

Now that the crisis had been resolved, he could spend a few days consolidating his cultivation.

Su Hao walked out of the pavilion and stood before the flower garden, silently weighing things over:

"At present, whether I'm at Qi Refining Level 8, Level 9, or higher is not the key. Once my identity is exposed and the matter comes to light, even if I possess Foundation Establishment strength, I won't be able to survive.

What matters most is how to continue wearing the identity of Lin Zhi Shan's disciple. That will determine whether I can keep Heavenly Medicine Mountain and continue my disguise.

Lin Zhi Shan still hasn't completed the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion's pill commission.

Either I deceive the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and push the commission aside, or I personally try refining Pure Qi Pills and Spirit Gathering Powder.

The former won't conceal things for long and carries hidden dangers. As for the latter, the difficulty of refining them isn't high. Both pills are recorded relatively early in the 'Pill Dao Scripture' or the 'Medicine King's Secret Codex,' and are comparatively simple cultivation pills."

Su Hao's eyes flickered. He had already made his decision.

I'm going to refine pills!

Only by displaying sufficient value, by proving that I can replace Lin Zhi Shan—

even that I can be more useful than Lin Zhi Shan—will others refrain from troubling me over a dead man!