Continuous Gains

"We have arrived. We have reached the Ancient Sect Ruins."

After walking to the end of the karst cave and passing through layers of rock walls to reach another massive cavern, Li Hai followed the cold, eerie voice of Qiu Fangzheng and slowly raised his eyes to look ahead.

There, barely a hundred feet away, sat a vast and deathly silent complex of ancient buildings, crooked and leaning, already fused and intertwined with countless stalactites.

No, calling it an ancient ruin would perhaps be more appropriate.

Because at a single glance, Li Hai could not see a single intact structure in these ruins; whether they were towering pavilions or spacious halls, all had collapsed into piles of broken walls and debris.

"It has fallen into such a state of decay. Could there really be any treasures left?" Li Hai felt somewhat disappointed.

"There are, my lord. There are."

Qiu Fangzheng, standing to the side, replied, "I have explored these ruins many times over the past few decades. I know exactly where the treasures are hidden. I will take you there."

With that, his figure flickered as he flew toward the ruins.

Seeing that Qiu Fangzheng had already entered, Li Hai naturally could not stay behind alone, so he followed at a leisurely pace.

Upon officially stepping into the ruins, he suddenly felt as if he had trespassed into a world forgotten by time.

Broken paths, collapsed stone walls, twisted eaves, shattered window lattices... every brick and tile that composed them seemed to be whispering the echoes of the ages.

A massive earthquake over a thousand years ago had ruthlessly dragged this martial sect into the dark abyss of the earth. While crushing countless people to death, it had also reduced building after building to rubble, lying across the crooked and broken ground like so many corpses.

Now, as Li Hai looked around, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and fine gravel.

Beyond that, there was nothing else.

However, after following Qiu Fangzheng through many twists and turns and flying over numerous collapsed structures, a dazzling golden light suddenly appeared before Li Hai's eyes.

"Gold?!"

Li Hai stared blankly ahead, looking at the collapsed building where Qiu Fangzheng was hovering.

There... a massive amount of gold was piled up.

It was a mountain of gold, taller than a man, built from individual gold bars. Right next to the gold mountain were a dozen golden sculptures of various shapes.

Supporting the mountain and the sculptures was a golden "foundation" piled high with gold coins the size of dinner plates, gold nuggets the size of fingernails, and gold chains of varying thicknesses.

Although Li Hai did not care much for money, the sudden appearance of such a vast quantity of gold still made his heart race.

As the saying goes, small wealth can relieve worries, great wealth can change one's fate, and immense wealth can reach the heavens.

If one could, who wouldn't want a little more money in their pocket?

"It just so happens that I've been spending quite freely lately, and I was starting to run low."

Li Hai walked over slowly, stroking the mountain of gold, and laughed heartily, "With this gold, no matter how extravagantly I spend, it will last me a long time."

Then, he asked with confusion, "But... it was just a martial sect. Why would they possess so much gold?"

"My lord."

Qiu Fangzheng said, "The inscriptions left behind by this sect state that they discovered a treasure trove, and this gold was obtained from that very hoard."

"Is that so?" Li Hai grinned, "Their luck was too good. Perhaps it was precisely because their luck was so heaven-defying that the heavens sent a disaster to bury them."

"My lord, what you say makes sense." Qiu Fangzheng echoed, "That must be it."

Immediately, Li Hai added, "Fangzheng, I suspect this mountain of gold was something you piled up bit by bit over the decades, wasn't it?"

"Yes, my lord."

Qiu Fangzheng admitted, "I gathered all the gold from throughout the ruins and stacked it piece by piece. Now, it all belongs to you."

He spoke without a hint of reluctance, as if he were merely handing over a pile of useless stones.

"I am nothing but a homeless, wandering ghost."

Qiu Fangzheng picked up a gold bar, looked at it, and tossed it back, "No matter how much gold there is, it is meaningless to me."

"Good."

Li Hai did not offer any hypocritical words of refusal. He nodded, raised his hand, and the characters Naihe lit up on his palm, sweeping away all the gold before him.

Brother Blade and the others guarding the cave heaven would naturally stack this gold neatly, piece by piece.

"My lord, there are other things."

Seeing Li Hai use a type of immortal magic he could not comprehend to take away all the gold, Qiu Fangzheng did not ask a single question, only saying, "Please follow me."

With that, he took the lead, turning into a wisp of black smoke and flying into the intricate gaps of the ruins in the distance.

Li Hai followed closely behind, likewise turning into black smoke and swirling into the depths.

Before long, Qiu Fangzheng led him to another location hidden deep within the ruins.

There, dozens of magical artifacts of various shapes and forms were piled up.

Although most of these artifacts were cracked or broken, a few still emitted faint fluctuations of Dharma Power, which Li Hai naturally accepted with a smile.

In the time that followed, Qiu Fangzheng led Li Hai to several more locations, allowing him to obtain numerous weapons, sets of armor, and two ancient manuals.

The first manual was titled Jade Toad Pill Canon, which detailed the refining methods for various medicinal pills.

However, due to the erosion of time, this pill manual was mostly damaged, and now only five pill formulas—known as Tongfu, Anshen, Jieqi, Heshou, and Wangsheng—remained with complete records.

Even with just these five pill formulas, their value remained exceptionally high.

Take the Crane Longevity Pill, for instance; it is a type of elixir that can help a person extend their lifespan.

According to its records, a person can consume three of these pills in their lifetime. The first pill extends life by fifty-six years, the second pill's potency is halved to extend it by twenty-eight years, and the third is halved once more to extend it by fourteen years.

If all three pills are consumed, they provide a total of ninety-eight years of extended lifespan, nearly a full century.

Furthermore, this Crane Longevity Pill is effective for anyone who consumes it. Even a Thousand-Army Rank martial artist nearing two hundred years of age, if they were to take this pill as their death approached, could still instantly gain ninety-eight years of life and return to their youth.

If this medicine were to appear on Earth, there is no telling how many billions it would sell for.

As for the second secret manual, it is titled the Art of Beast Servitude.

It contains a vast amount of information on how to take ordinary beasts as raw materials and cultivate, train, and mutate them into so-called demon beasts.

Regrettably, this book has also become damaged after passing through a thousand years of time.

Now, it only contains the cultivation methods for six types of demon beasts: the Six-Eyed Crystal-Winged Moth, the Black Roar Tapir, the Phantom-Scaled Demon Dog, the Soul-Mimic Ape, the Iron-Scaled Fungus Ox, and the Five-Tailed Blue-Winged Snow Fox.

Yet, even with only six types remaining, the abilities of each one left Li Hai marveling in astonishment.

He could not even help but mutter to himself, "Is this asking me... to change my profession to a Pokémon Trainer?"