Ancient Method Cultivators ≈ poverty ≈ not worth robbing = country bumpkins. In the eyes of Modern Dharma Cultivators, this equation was basically true.
The reason was simple. In Earth's sociological terms, it was a gap in productive capacity. Ancient emperors possessed all the wealth under heaven, yet their material conditions could not compare to those of an ordinary modern household, because production levels back then were simply that poor. Such was the greatness of productive capacity.
According to Zhen Chanzi's appraisal, the four Ancient Method Cultivators Wang Qi had slain were all elites, on the level of True Disciples from major sects. Their collections lived up to their elite status: between the four of them, they had over eight hundred natural Spirit Stones, twenty-two bottles of various pills, with at least ten pills in each bottle. There were also twenty-six heavenly treasures such as Starsteel, Mysterious Edict Iron, Blackheart Stone, and Essence of Quicksilver; twelve portions of spirit herbs and medicinal plants such as Essence Fruit and Ginseng Flower; and forty-nine Innate Divine Runes from demon beasts.
And yet, all of that... was useless as tits on a bull.
After mastering methods of borrowing from heaven and earth to gather spiritual energy from beyond the skies, Modern Dharma Cultivators had no need for Spirit Stones to aid their cultivation. And to power formations—are you kidding? Could natural Spirit Stones, with their unstable spiritual energy content and unstable output, even be used for that? Everyone used spirit pools, all right?
Heavenly treasures were, honestly, somewhat useful, but their value was truly low! The essence of these treasures was merely ordinary chemical substances infused with spiritual energy in specific eigenstates. Once atomic theory and spiritual energy theory were understood, any heavenly treasure could be mass-produced on an industrial scale, and the