Inventorying the Spoils of War

"Who are you?"

Lin Fan sized up the two men and asked.

"Brat of the demon sect, telling you won't hurt—we're cultivators from Prince Guangling's Estate."

"Today, we take your life to repay Prince Guangling's favor."

The other man's eyes were cold and vicious as he glared fiercely at Lin Fan.

Lin Fan suddenly understood—these were cultivators under a Feudal Prince, here for revenge.

The New Emperor of Great Jin had sent several princes' sons and family members into the Blood Demon Sect; who could stomach that?

"Little brat, surrender and we'll leave you a whole corpse."

The man with the Red-patterned Mask grinned as he closed in while speaking.

The two flanked him left and right, not only to pincer Lin Fan but also to cut off his retreat.

Judging by their stance, they were dead set on taking his life.

Lin Fan's heart sank slightly, then he let out a cold laugh: "If you two are after money, I can scrape some together. If it's my life, then sorry—I'll have to kill you..."

Before his words faded, Lin Fan's figure vanished abruptly.

When he reappeared, it was like a ghost, right in front of the Red-patterned Mask man.

Such speed caught the two off guard.

"Not good."

The Red-patterned Mask man's heart leaped as he instinctively raised his hand to block.

His entire palm glowed like a red-hot branding iron, brimming with terrifying force.

But the next second, with a crisp crack, the Red-patterned Mask man's arm exploded into a bloody mess as a fist, heavy and powerful, smashed through.

Bang!

The Red-patterned Mask man screamed, his whole body flying like a broken kite, tumbling over ten meters away.

At that moment, a blood shadow appeared behind Lin Fan—a centipede with blood-red wings, under the Skinny Man's control, lunged straight for Lin Fan's back.

Lin Fan remained calm, sidestepping to dodge the centipede's fangs, then quickly lifted his leg and swept it out like a steel whip.

His leg force was sharp as a blade, instantly shredding the centipede apart, and the momentum carried on, crashing toward the Skinny Man.

At the critical moment, a blue light suddenly flared on the Skinny Man's body, blocking most of the attack.

Before Lin Fan could press the attack, a sharp sword thrust toward him, its blade surface radiating chilling light.

"Die!"

The Red-patterned Mask man wielded the sword one-handed, cold light swirling along the edge, stabbing straight at Lin Fan's chest.

Lin Fan moved gracefully, dodging the lethal strike, gathered Internal Breath in his palm, grabbed the sword blade with one hand, then suddenly twisted with force.

The Red-patterned Mask man's hand went numb, the long sword slipping from his grip, only for Lin Fan to seize it and slash across in a single fierce stroke.

Pfft!

Blood met steel, a throat slit. The Red-patterned Mask man stared in terror, clutching his neck as he collapsed helplessly.

Seeing his companion dead, the Skinny Man panicked, never expecting a demon sect brat to be so terrifying. He turned and fled without looking back.

Lin Fan glanced over, hurled the long sword, and in an instant pinned the fleeing Skinny Man to the ground.

The exchange seemed fierce, but the fight was over in five or six breaths.

His target had been to finish in five breaths—looks like he still needed practice.

Then Lin Fan noticed that on the waists of both corpses hung storage pouches.

Confirming no other enemies nearby, he wasted no time, taking down both pouches and stashing them away.

Next, he punched open a pit, tossed the two bodies in, and filled it flat with dirt.

After all that, Lin Fan leisurely walked away.

An hour later, a sound of breaking air suddenly rang out.

Three figures appeared, the leader a Formal Disciple wearing a Black-and-White Mask.

He sniffed the air, then with a slap of his palm, sent dust flying, revealing a pit.

The two Formal Disciples behind him quickly stepped forward to examine the bodies.

"Remnants of Prince Guangling's Estate, died an hour ago."

"From the wounds, they were killed by extremely precise sword techniques."

One Formal Disciple observed for a moment and reported truthfully.

"We've hunted these remnants for a long time without finding a trace, yet today someone killed them."

"Who do you think did it?"

The Black-and-White Masked Man asked in a deep voice.

The two Formal Disciples exchanged glances, shaking their heads almost simultaneously to indicate they did not know.

Lin Fan returned to the Cave Mansion, signaling Zhou Wanqing and the other not to disturb him, then slipped into a bedroom.

He took out two cloth pouches and murmured, "Since they were cultivators from Prince Guangling's Estate, their belongings should be worth a fair amount."

With that, he opened one pouch first. The pouch had a certain storage function.

This pouch came from the Red-patterned Masked Man. Lin Fan quickly retrieved an item from it—a treasure sword sharp enough to cut through iron.

Bloodstains clung to the blade's edge; it was the very weapon Lin Fan had seized from the Red-patterned Masked Man during the earlier fight.

"Azure Gavel Sword."

Looking at the small characters on the blade, Lin Fan's eyes lit up.

The sword had a fine feel to it. Lin Fan raised it and slashed casually, instantly leaving a clear, visible gash on the hard cave wall.

"Not bad. It has the power to cut through iron—a handy weapon."

Lin Fan nodded, then put the sword away.

Next, he searched the pouch and found two pill bottles: Spirit Absorption Pills, which speed up the refinement of spiritual energy; and Blood Burst Pills, which, when taken, could unleash one's potential for an hour, boosting combat power by several tenths.

"The Spirit Absorption Pill should aid in cultivation. As for the Blood Burst Pill, it's suitable for taking in a desperate battle."

Lin Fan muttered to himself.

He then searched the second pouch.

Compared to the Red-patterned Masked Man's pouch, the second one held more items, and they were more varied.

Lin Fan first pulled out a booklet: Spirit Worm Cultivation Record.

"Judging by the cover name, it should be a manual for raising spirit worms."

Lin Fan recalled the Skinny Man manipulating a centipede to attack him. If he wasn't mistaken, the man had cultivated the techniques in this booklet.

Lin Fan wasn't very interested in methods for controlling spirit worms, so he casually set it aside.

He continued examining the pouch and retrieved several jars and bottles: a medicine jar containing worm eggs, pills for raising spirit beasts...

Then a map appeared, making Lin Fan's eyes suddenly brighten.

The map was somewhat blurry, but it marked an important location.

"This seems to be a map of some city."

Lin Fan studied it for a moment, murmuring.

The map's material was very soft, made from some precious beast hide, which made Lin Fan realize it was no ordinary item.

Though he couldn't decipher it, he still put it away with care.

After tallying his spoils, Lin Fan took out the Talisman Materials he had purchased from the Market.

"Finally, I can try my hand at talisman crafting."

Lin Fan took a deep breath.

Knowledge gained from books is shallow; to truly understand, one must put it into practice.

Talisman crafting wasn't as simple as he had imagined. It required not only a certain talent but also a wealth of practical experience.

The more experience one had, the more it would aid in the cultivation of talismans.