The Immortal Cultivator's Lost Treasure!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Tang Jie knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. The black-robed elder's head rolled several times on the ground. Tang Jie wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked back. With the death of the black-robed elder, the two Corpse Puppets also seemed to lose their strength, falling softly to the ground, unable to get up.

"Won... won?"

Tang Jie muttered, a wave of dizziness washing over him, almost making him faint.

Tang Jie's Boyhood Art had reached the fourth level, his internal energy so profound it could pierce through the body to injure others. The Radiant Moon Qi, condensed on the blade, could form a three-foot blade energy, invincible. This was the first time he had used it against an enemy, and it had achieved a miraculous feat, killing the black-robed elder in a life-or-death struggle!

"Tear!"

Tang Jie gritted his teeth and pulled out the Profound Nether Cone stuck in his chest. Blood immediately gushed out, and Tang Jie grimaced in pain.

Previously, when Tang Jie condensed the Radiant Moon Qi, his muscles were as hard as steel. Even so, the Profound Nether Cone had pierced into him. If it had gone in another inch or two, it would have struck Tang Jie's heart, and then there would have been no returning from the dead!

Tang Jie sat down cross-legged, circulated his Boyhood Art to heal his injuries. Silver qi energy circulated in and out of his mouth and nose. The pain and dizziness gradually subsided by more than half, and the wound on his chest had stopped bleeding.

Standing up from the ground, Tang Jie began to search the headless corpse of the black-robed elder.

As a cultivator, this black-robed elder should be very wealthy, right?

Finally, Tang Jie found several items on the black-robed elder. Besides several thousand taels of silver notes and the Profound Nether Cone, the black-robed elder had five other items.

A blood-stained wooden tablet, a black token, an ancient book, a small jade plate of unknown origin, and an opened envelope.

"This is... Corpse Refining Art?"

Tang Jie saw the three large characters on the cover of the ancient book – "Corpse Refining Art".

"How vicious..."

Tang Jie glanced at it a couple of times, and his expression turned grim. This "Corpse Refining Art" recorded the spells for refining Corpse Puppets, turning people into soulless Corpse Puppets for others to command. Moreover, according to the records, it was best to refine Corpse Puppets from living people, as it could maintain the Corpse Puppets' ferocity!

One could imagine how much torment, worse than death, a person refined into a Corpse Puppet would endure if they were not dead.

The reason the black-robed elder attacked Tang Jie was that he valued Tang Jie's strength and wanted to refine him into a Corpse Puppet!

"Hmm? Is this thing a Soul Token?"

Then Tang Jie looked at the small black wooden tablet. According to what he had seen in the "Corpse Refining Art," when refining a Corpse Puppet, a trace of the Corpse Puppet's soul would be extracted and placed in a Soul Token. By dripping a drop of blood onto the Soul Token, one could control the Corpse Puppet. This so-called Soul Token should be this blood-stained black wooden tablet.

Tang Jie glanced at the two motionless Corpse Puppets lying on the ground in the distance. After a slight deliberation, he made a small cut on his finger and dripped the oozing blood onto the wooden tablet.

The blood dripped onto the wooden tablet and quickly seeped in. At the same time, Tang Jie felt a connection formed between himself and the two Corpse Puppets.

"Stand up!"

Tang Jie tried to command them. The two Corpse Puppets swayed slightly and then stood up straight, as upright as pine trees.

The faces of these two Corpse Puppets under their black robes were two pale faces, both appearing to be around forty years old. They were top first-rate martial artists in life, but they were targeted by the black-robed elder and refined into Corpse Puppets.

"With these two Corpse Puppets, it's quite a considerable help," Tang Jie thought.

Corpse Puppets were impervious to blades and spears and possessed immense strength. Even someone like Tang Jie, who could be considered a super first-rate martial artist, would find it difficult to inflict a fatal wound on either of them. With these two Corpse Puppets, he could already dominate the mortal world!

"Bury this guy's body."

Then Tang Jie had the two Corpse Puppets dig a hole in the wilderness and bury the black-robed elder's body.

Tang Jie was certainly not doing this out of kindness to help him bury the body; it was merely to avoid trouble. If others discovered the black-robed elder's body and reported it to the authorities, there would undoubtedly be some trouble.

After dealing with all of this, Tang Jie hurried home.

By the time he returned to Qingyuan Town, it was already late evening. Tang Tianhao was not at home, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Tang Jie had the two Corpse Puppets enter the warehouse and covered them with two cloths, so as to prevent anyone from seeing them.

Then, while recuperating, Tang Jie began to study the items he had obtained from the black-robed elder.

First was the Profound Nether Cone. This item was a magic treasure. It had easily torn through Tang Jie's protective true qi earlier, making it an absolutely sharp weapon that could cut through iron. Unfortunately, Tang Jie was not a cultivator and could not unleash the full power of the Profound Nether Cone. Even in his hands, it could only be used as a short hand weapon.

Next was the envelope from the black-robed elder. He opened it and was immediately surprised.

"Brother Hei Ya, please bring the token to the gathering on November 15th. I've also invited a few other fellow cultivators. We rogue cultivators, without any sect or school, can gather together and exchange treasures that we need."

The letter was brief, and its content was simple. It was from a cultivator who had organized a gathering, and several cultivators would participate. The purpose of the gathering was, in essence, a trading fair to exchange and purchase treasures from each other.

The signature was a title called True Man Snow Goose, and it also indicated the meeting location and time.

"A gathering of cultivators?" Tang Jie pondered for a moment before putting down the envelope. True Man Snow Goose had invited the black-robed elder, Hei Ya, to attend the gathering, but unfortunately, Hei Ya had died by his hand and could no longer go.

As for the token, it should be that black token engraved with a white goose.

A trading gathering of cultivators would certainly be very interesting, but their traded items were cultivator treasures, and they probably wouldn't accept silver, right?

Tang Jie shook his head and continued to examine the last item. It was a small round plate made of some unknown wood, with several transparent crystals embedded in it.

"What is this thing?"

Tang Jie was full of doubt. Was this wooden plate also a magic treasure of a cultivator?

Tang Jie saw a small pattern in the center of the wooden plate. He tried to poke it hard with his finger, and a strange thing happened!

Whoosh!

The pattern on the round plate began to rotate, and the embedded crystals on the plate also began to shine.

"Hmm? The air around me... it seems to have gained something!"

Gradually, Tang Jie also discovered something strange. He felt as if something had been added to the air around him. Tang Jie tried taking a deep breath, and felt refreshed, as if the fatigue from the entire day had vanished.

"Could this be... spiritual energy? It's said that the cultivation of immortal cultivators involves absorbing and refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which is why immortal cultivators are also called Qi refiners. This wooden plate can gather the spiritual energy between heaven and earth!"

A thought stirred in Tang Jie's mind, and he recalled some things about immortal cultivators.

Immortal cultivators refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to strengthen themselves, and this wooden plate might be a treasure like a Spirit Gathering Plate, capable of gathering the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to aid cultivation!

"I wonder if this Spirit Gathering Plate will have any effect on me?"

Tang Jie thought to himself. Many immortal cultivators cultivate in places with abundant spiritual energy. As a martial artist, if he could use the Spirit Gathering Plate, would it help his cultivation?

Tang Jie decided to test it out. He sat down cross-legged and began to practice the Boyhood Art.

Beside Tang Jie, the Spirit Gathering Plate continuously rotated, gathering the surrounding spiritual energy.

Strands of spiritual energy surrounded Tang Jie, flowing into his body and cleansing his muscles and bones, making them stronger and more resilient.

"This..." Tang Jie's body trembled. The circulation speed of the true qi within his body seemed to be divinely aided, increasing by at least three times!