A Pile of Junk?

Deep within Scarlet Valley, in a hidden corner surrounded by natural rock walls, three figures descended. They were Qin Han, Zi Yan, and Wu Tianlang.

All of them were injured, yet their faces carried unconcealed delight.

After all, nearly half of Fire Pavilion's belongings were now in their hands.

"Quick, let's see what good stuff is inside!"

Qin Han plopped down on a warm rock, ignoring the charred wound at his waist as he urged Zi Yan on with shining eyes.

Zi Yan perked up as well. With a sweep of her little hand, several Storage Rings of different styles appeared in her palm.

Aside from the one belonging to Earthflame Gate's Fifth Elder, the rest had been snatched from their opponents during the chaotic battle.

She picked one up, and a purple glow spread over her delicate body as her Soul Power surged violently into it.

Anticipation first appeared on her little face, only to swiftly turn into disdain.

With a clatter, she dumped out all sorts of Medicinal Herbs and Spirit Fruit stored in jade boxes, most of them Third Grade and Fourth Grade.

Muttering under her breath, she unceremoniously stuffed them all into her own little Storage Ring.

Next, she pulled out several Jade Bottles, removed their stoppers, and poured out a few pills.

The moment the pills landed in her hand, they gave off a faint moldy, dusty smell. Their once-smooth surfaces were covered in fine cracks.

Zi Yan gently pinched one between her fingers.

Poof.

The pill immediately crumbled into a small pinch of grayish-white powder.

"Pah! They're all spoiled! There's not even a trace of medicinal potency left!"

Zi Yan's little face fell. Pouting angrily, she emptied the remaining Jade Bottles as well, only to find that they were all in the same condition.

After a hundred years, without any special restrictions preserving them, these ordinary Third Rank and Fourth Rank pills had long since lost all their potency.

"Here, take it."

Zi Yan tossed the Storage Ring into Qin Han's arms. Having lost interest, she began chewing on a Spirit Fruit in each hand.

Qin Han swept through them one by one with his Soul Power.

The original owners of these Storage Rings were probably neither particularly powerful nor highly ranked. There were indeed over a hundred assorted items inside, just as Zi Yan had said.

But most of them were merely mediocre ores, low-level Magical Beast materials, a small amount of gold coins, several ordinary weapons, and a few Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques recorded on Animal Skin or Jade Slips.

Only Fifth Elder's Storage Ring contained a few decent items. The best was a high-level Mysterious Rank earth-attribute defensive Dou Technique, along with two mid-level Mysterious Rank Blade Techniques and Fist Techniques.

They might have been decent for ordinary Dou Ling, but to the current Qin Han, they were rather useless—especially since none of them were fire-attribute.

"Well, that was excitement for nothing."

Qin Han curled his lip and casually tossed the Storage Rings to Wu Tianlang beside him. "I thought we'd get our hands on something worthwhile."

After a brief inspection, Wu Tianlang showed no disappointment. Instead, he smiled. "Don't be so greedy. Fire Pavilion may hold a high position, but think about it—aren't the most numerous and basic Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques in Jia Nan Academy's Library Pavilion also meant for Dou Shi and Da Dou Shi to cultivate?

"Truly high-grade goods capable of tempting Dou Wang and Dou Emperor are rare no matter where you go. Most of them are kept by major figures, like that Old Thing Yun Sha."

As he spoke, Wu Tianlang flipped his wrist. Among the dozen or so streams of Flowing Light he had previously taken, a dark-red scroll with an exceptionally heavy aura and a flame-patterned seal on its surface appeared in his hand.

This had not been among the dozen or so items shown to Xiao Yan.

"Take a look. This thing might actually be of some use to you."

Wu Tianlang tossed the scroll over.

The scroll felt heavy in his hand, and a scorching heat immediately traveled through his palm.

It was unknown what kind of Animal Skin the scroll had been tanned from, but it was tough in texture. Its edges were set with dark-golden metal, while several ancient characters, sharp and forceful as iron strokes and silver hooks, were written across its center.

A fiery glint appeared in Qin Han's eyes as he carefully lifted a corner of the seal.

"A low-level Earth Rank Dou Technique, and it just happens to be a fire-attribute offensive type. Consider yourself lucky, kid."

Once the seal was undone, the scroll slowly unfurled on its own.

An even more blazing and violent torrent of information, accompanied by scorching spiritual intent, poured into Qin Han's mind.

At the top of the scroll were five large characters that seemed to have condensed from flames, nearly scorching his eyes: Great Sun Burning Heaven Seal!

Below the title, densely packed small print and several diagrams of circulating energy routes explained the mysteries of this Dou Technique in detail.

Qin Han skimmed through it rapidly, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

It was said that this Dou Technique had been created in ancient times by a Dou Zun Strong Expert who witnessed the heavenly phenomenon of "the blazing sun sinking westward, burning away the sea of clouds." Inspired by the sight, he combined it with his own violent fire-attribute Dou Qi.

This Dou Technique did not emphasize delicate fire control. Instead, it pursued the ultimate release and destruction of Dou Qi, seeking to imitate the magnificent heavenly might of a falling sun...

Its power was closely tied to the strength of the practitioner's fire attribute. If one could refine flames and fuse them into the Seal Gesture before unleashing it, its power would become even greater...

"Good stuff!"

Qin Han closed the scroll, the delight on his face growing even stronger.

A low-level Earth Rank Dou Technique would absolutely trigger a frenzy if placed in an auction house within the Black Corner Region.

That's right—literally snatching it, not bidding for it with gold coins through an auction house.

Once Dou Techniques of this level got out, all the earlier transaction procedures were meaningless. In the end, it came down to whose methods were tougher.

But he quickly remembered something and looked at Wu Tianlang, asking hesitantly, "Old man, this scroll was the reward from your mission, right? Logically speaking, shouldn't it be handed over to the academy?

And you're just giving it to me privately... isn't that against the rules?"

Wu Tianlang glanced at him. The scar on his face twitched as he revealed a half-smile, carrying the air of an old fox. "Of course it's against the rules."

"Huh?" Qin Han froze.

"So,"

Wu Tianlang unhurriedly took out another Mysterious Rank High-Level Dou Technique scroll and said openly, "I also kept one for myself. We'll keep each other's secret and pretend neither of us saw the other taking anything. Understand?"

Qin Han: "..."

Tsk, experience really did come with age!

"Use this time to heal and recover. The real show is still ahead. Those bastards from the Black Corner Region suffered a major loss, so they may very well try something dirty in secret. Recover quickly and go support the Vice Dean."

Wu Tianlang smiled as he weighed the scroll in his hand. After saying that, he found a spot for himself and began regulating his breathing to heal his injuries.

Zi Yan remained silent, crunching away at Spirit Fruits and medicinal herbs without seeming to stop.

For her, the best healing medicine was precisely these snacks filled with pure energy.

After swallowing several high-grade Spirit Fruits, the trace of pallor on her little face quickly faded, and her aura became steady and robust at a visible pace.

Even Qin Han could not help envying that terrifying recovery ability.

"Don't just focus on eating. Keep watch for me—I might need to break through."

Feeling that the Dou Crystal within him was nearing its limit, Qin Han spoke in a low voice.

Hearing this, Zi Yan patted her chest with the solemnity of an old hand. "Break through without worry! Whoever dares cause trouble, I'll punch him into the ground!"

"I'll break through as quickly as possible. Behave yourself and stay in the valley. Don't run around."

After saying that, Qin Han wasted no more time. He found a flat rock, sat down cross-legged, and slowly closed his eyes.

That previous chaotic battle had seemed perilous and consumed a tremendous amount of energy, but for Qin Han, it had also been an enormous boost.

The energy fed back by more than a dozen different flames had been surging through Qin Han's body all this time.

At this moment, although the Dou Qi within his Meridians was somewhat depleted from the fierce battle, a large amount of scorching energy that had yet to be fully refined had settled deep within his flesh and bones.

As his mind sank into his Dantian, Qin Han began circulating the Devouring Flame Technique. Pure flame-origin energy surged toward the Qi Whirlpool in his Dantian like countless rivers flowing into the sea!