Taking Stock of the Spoils (Please Keep Reading)

Within a small courtyard, Ye Jingcheng opened his eyes, let out a long breath, and put away the jade slip containing his notes and reflections.

Naturally, he needed to deeply examine and summarize this battle against another cultivator.

For instance, the Crimson Flame Fox was linked to his mind and will—so why had it been trapped so quickly by that bell-shaped artifact?

And why, when he clearly did not excel at close combat, had he deployed that spirit barrier? What help had that tiny increase in casting distance really been?

Secondly, could the Crimson Flame Fox's triple fireball attack and his Ironwood Plaque coordinate as seamlessly as Gecko Master and his Third Uncle, Ye Xingliu?

When he counted it all up, the experience and tricks of fighting cultivators were no less complicated than alchemy formulas.

One had to remember that this time, he had only faced a Rogue Cultivator, and elders had been keeping watch from the sidelines. If he did not improve, then when he went out alone in the future and faced vicious family cultivators harboring ill intent, how would he deal with them?

Ye Jingcheng also planned to make some adjustments to his upcoming cultivation.

He could not stop refining pills—not until he had refined the pill recipe from that ancient book. Moreover, his nightly cultivation was likewise indispensable.

But he needed to carve out time to improve his coordination with the Crimson Flame Fox. At the very least, whenever they attacked together, the enemy cultivator had to either be struck by one of them or forcibly withstand them all!

Having made up his mind, he finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Then, filled with delight, he began inspecting the spoils from this time. A palm-sized storage pouch fell into his hand.

This storage pouch was about the same size as his own. Since its owner was dead, he only needed to leave a simple spiritual imprint with his divine sense to open it directly.

As spiritual light flashed, Ye Jingcheng soon removed everything from the storage pouch.

There was not much—just enough to barely cover the stone table.

The most conspicuous items were over fifty spirit stones. Apart from those, there were three talismans. Two were mid-grade first-rank Water Shield Talismans, while the last was an Earth Spike Talisman.

There were also some bottles and jars remaining, but the instant Ye Jingcheng opened them, disappointment washed over him. They were all ordinary pills, or inferior spirit pills like those sold from market-stall vendors. Even the fasting pills seemed to Ye Jingcheng to have been refined as inferior-grade products.

He shook his head. As expected of a Rogue Cultivator.

After putting away all the spirit stones and talismans, he inspected the three artifact spoils.

The one that caught his attention most was still that bell artifact. The great bell it transformed into was excellent at trapping both people and beasts. If he could use this artifact in his next battle, he would better be able to capitalize on the innate advantage of many against one.

"Let's call you the Heaven-Trapping Bell for now!" Ye Jingcheng said, stroking the bell's patterns. It had the texture of aged bronze, yet somehow also carried the warm coolness of fine jade.

Besides the Heaven-Trapping Bell, Ye Jingcheng took out nine Silver Snow Needles and laid them across the stone table. Each Silver Snow Needle was as thin as a strand of snow; without divine sense, one might not even spot them with the naked eye.

That cultivator's use of the Silver Snow Needles had left a deep impression on him. Yet in his view, the Silver Snow Needles were better suited for sneak attacks. The dark-faced cultivator had simply lacked any other suitable offensive artifact and had been forced to use the Silver Snow Needles as his primary artifact.

Otherwise, this battle would have been even more perilous.

These Silver Snow Needles, however, consumed an enormous amount of divine sense. He estimated that if he controlled an entire set of them, he would be unable to use any other artifacts.

Conversely, controlling just one needle would be much easier.

Ye Jingcheng put away the Silver Snow Needles with great satisfaction, then finally took out a black-gold iron plaque that looked scorched.

This iron plaque was also a small shield artifact, a mid-grade first-rank one. It had merely been blasted slightly out of shape. From this, one could see that the Crimson Flame Fox's fireball technique was truly no ordinary fireball technique.

This shield would have to be repaired by an artifact refiner.

Though it would not be worth much even after being repaired, it was still no small income for him.

Thus, he carefully put away the small shield artifact as well.

Creak!

The breeze stirred the wooden window. He looked outside and saw a fine rain beginning to fall again.

The capricious weather of the spring equinox, together with the hazy mountain dusk, seemed to unfurl a misty landscape painting of the hills.

At this moment, the mountains' tender charm was displayed in all its fullness.

As usual, Ye Jingcheng released both the Crimson Flame Fox and the Jade Ring Rat. He no longer had spring water with traces of spiritual energy, so he used ordinary Ye Family mountain spring water instead.

He supplemented it with two Spirit Feeding Pills and two Body Tempering Pills each, along with several catties of spirit beast meat. Since he had gained quite a few additional spirit stones and several artifacts, Ye Jingcheng also prepared two Body Tempering Pills and a large chunk of spirit beast meat for the Jade Ring Rat this time.

The Jade Ring Rat had never received such treatment before.

Its large ears' warning effect had likewise shown Ye Jingcheng its potential this time.

The Crimson Flame Fox felt nothing in particular. Such quantities of spirit pills and spirit beast meat had already become commonplace to it. But the Jade Ring Rat's bright eyes held a trace of surprise.

It clearly had not expected to receive Body Tempering Pills this time, not to mention two Spirit Feeding Pills and plenty of spirit beast meat as well.

In the past, it generally received only one Spirit Feeding Pill and a small amount of spirit beast meat.

"Eat. Stay this sharp from now on!" Ye Jingcheng encouraged it.

The two spirit beasts swiftly swallowed the spirit pills and began gnawing on the spirit beast meat!

After they had finished this spirit food, Ye Jingcheng fed some treasure light into both spirit beasts.

The Crimson Flame Fox became even more spirited and fonder of Ye Jingcheng. Its fur grew smoother, and its warm feel always made him unable to resist giving it a few more rubs whenever he stopped.

Under the treasure light, the Jade Ring Rat squeaked excitedly, utterly thrilled.

In the past, Ye Jingcheng had given the Jade Ring Rat less treasure light in order to lower the guard of the others.

This time, however, he was not stingy with it.

Perhaps soothed, the Jade Ring Rat's pair of huge jade-ring ears flapped rhythmically as well.

After feeding the spirit beast, Ye Jingcheng climbed onto the stone bed and began cultivating.

He took out a pill bottle. Inside was an Azure Spirit Pill.

But as if recalling something, he put the pill away again.

He slowly immersed himself in cultivation.

Such days lasted for a full five days!

Just as Ye Jingcheng was still hesitating, beneath the misty rain and evening haze, a streak of spiritual light appeared before his window.

The spiritual light had once again been sent by Ye Xingliu.

This time, it was just as urgent, though it did not explain what had happened. Yet Ye Jingcheng recalled the preparations Ye Xingyu had mentioned before leaving.

A faint expectation stirred in his heart.

So he cast a small spell, making his family robe look cleaner and more refreshed.

After taking a deep breath, he followed the spiritual light's guidance to the front of the council hall. Ye Xingliu was already waiting at the entrance, dressed in an exceptionally neat set of family attire.

"Family Head!" Ye Jingcheng hurriedly bowed.

"Jingcheng, come with me!" Ye Xingliu said no more and continued walking toward the mountainside.

Ye Jingcheng was slightly excited as well and hurried after him.

Before long, they reached a higher part of Soaring Cloud Peak, where the mist was even thicker.

A family ancestral hall came into Ye Jingcheng's view from afar.