Fear Not Scarcity, but Inequality
Wu Ren's gloomy gaze swept over each of the cultivators who had survived and left the secret realm.
The disciples immediately fell silent, as if they were being watched by an ancient behemoth.
Xiu Jun said angrily, "Wu Ren, you'd better tone it down."
Wu Ren's expression turned solemn, a murderous intent surging in his eyes, and his voice was as cold as a thousand-year-old glacier as he spoke.
"Among these survivors, there must be the murderer who killed my grandson. If you won't let me check the Storage Bag and prevent me from finding the murderer, then I will have no choice but to kill them all."
"I'd rather kill a thousand innocent people than let the murderer who killed my grandson go free!"
Upon hearing this, Huan Yu let out a cold laugh.
"Wu Ren, you can try. Do you really think you're invincible just because you're at the Middle Golden Core Stage realm?"
The atmosphere at the scene grew increasingly tense and chilling, with a murderous aura permeating the air, as if a great battle could erupt at any moment.
Wu Ren suddenly softened his stance, saying, "If you allow me to inspect the Storage Bag of each surviving disciple, I can offer compensation."
Upon hearing this, Xiang Qi, Huan Yu Huanyu, and Xiu Jun's eyes all lit up.
Immediately, the four began to discuss compensation in hushed tones. As for the earlier statement that Wu Ren would never be allowed to inspect each disciple's Storage Bag, the three of them never mentioned it again, as if no one had ever said it.
After a short while, the four of them agreed on the price. Wu Ren reluctantly took out some spiritual materials from his storage ring and distributed them to the other three.
Xiang Qi, Huan Yu Huanyu, and Xiu Jun began to give orders, instructing their respective sect disciples to assemble in an open area.
"The spoils of this exploration of the secret realm will be tallied by Wu Ren, a Golden Core cultivator from the Corpse Demon Sect. You must cooperate fully."
The disciples of the three sects reacted differently to the orders of their respective Golden Core ancestors.
The disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect had no objections.
Anyway, after leaving the secret realm, the sect would check each disciple's Storage Bag, it's just that in previous years it was the Foundation Establishment elders, but this time it was the Golden Core ancestor.
The disciples of the Crimson Blood Gate and the Mysterious Yin Sect had quite a few complaints. Allowing their sect elders to inspect their Storage Bag was somewhat of a disgrace to their sects.
However, intimidated by the presence of the four Golden Core cultivators, no one dared to express the slightest dissatisfaction.
Wu Ren first checked the disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect. A total of nine disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect had survived and left the secret realm. Three were in the Qi Refining Middle Stage, and six Late Qi Refinement.
A disciple of the Corpse Demon Sect handed Storage Bag to Wu Ren. After Wu Ren counted out all the spirit medicine he had obtained from the secret realm, he scanned the disciple several times with his Divine Sense to make sure there were no other Storage Bag before letting the disciple pass.
Upon seeing this, Song Wen remained completely unmoved.
Wu Ren's Divine Sense had just thoroughly explored Song Wen's body and found nothing. This greatly increased Song Wen's confidence in the concealment of his physical aura. Moreover, his Storage Bag contained nothing but the pills, talismans, and a few spirit medicine commonly used by cultivators, so Wu Ren could not possibly have discovered anything unusual.
As Song Wen had expected, he quickly passed Wu Ren's inspection. The few spirit medicine he presented to the sect were not particularly precious, but they were not bad either, which was consistent with his apparent Qi Refining Fifth Layer cultivation.
Wu Ren was somewhat disappointed that he found no clues on the nine disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect.
But the person who was even more unhappy was Xiang Qi.
He discovered that none of these disciples had obtained the most precious spirit medicine in the Withered Blood Secret Realm: the Heavenly Spirit Fruit and the Jade Marrow Fungus.
Xiang Qi's face was extremely gloomy, as if it were about to drip water.
"Hehe, Xiang Qi, you old zombie, your Corpse Demon Sect didn't have much of a harvest, huh?" Xiu Jun mocked sarcastically from the side.
"Hmph!" Xiang Qi snorted coldly, turned to look at the nine disciples who had survived the near-death experience in the secret realm, his expression icy, and muttered a curse under his breath.
"A bunch of useless trash!"
Next is the Crimson Blood Gate. The Crimson Blood Gate has even fewer surviving disciples than the Corpse Demon Sect, which suffered a near-total loss of its members. Only seven disciples survived: two in the Qi Refining Middle Stage and five in the Late Qi Refinement.
After checking everything, Wu Ren still found nothing.
Huan Yu's face was equally gloomy. Among the disciples of the Crimson Blood Gate, not a single one had obtained the Heavenly Spirit Fruit or the Jade Marrow Fungus.
Seeing this, Xiu Jun became even more smug.
"It seems that our Mysterious Yin Sect has emerged victorious from this trip to the Withered Blood Secret Realm."
Thirteen disciples of the Mysterious Yin Sect survived, six of whom were at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. They were the strongest among the surviving disciples of the three sects, and logically, they should have gained the most.
The thirteen Mysterious Yin Sect disciples lined up one by one, and Wu Ren checked them one by one. In order to avenge his grandson, he checked very carefully and did not miss any details.
As the examination progressed, Mysterious Yin Sect, the Golden Core Xiu Jun of the Golden Core Sect, gradually became gloomy.
Wu Ren had already checked the twelve Mysterious Yin Sect disciples, and not a single one of them had obtained the Heavenly Spirit Fruit or the Jade Marrow Fungus.
In contrast, Huan Yu and Xiang Qi looked much better than before.
The problem isn't scarcity, but inequality!
To refine Foundation Establishment, each batch requires one of the three main ingredients: Heavenly Spirit Fruit, Jade Marrow Fungus, and Seven-Star Grass, along with more than twenty other auxiliary spirit medicine. The process is carried out by an experienced Alchemist, yielding three to five Foundation Establishment Pills per batch.
In other words, if all three main medicines are gathered, it is possible to add up to five more Foundation Establishment cultivators.
It's not terrible that our own sect didn't obtain the precious Heavenly Spirit Fruit and Jade Marrow Fungus; what's terrible is that our opponents obtained too much.
If that were the case, the strength of the two sides would be greatly diminished, which would be extremely detrimental to the long-term development of the sect.
Currently, no one has obtained the Heavenly Spirit Fruit or Jade Marrow Fungus; instead, the existing balance has been maintained.
At this moment, only one disciple of the Mysterious Yin Sect remained unchecked. This person had an ordinary appearance and was a female cultivator at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
The female cultivator took out all the Storage Bag she had on her, a total of four. In addition to her own Storage Bag, the other three Storage Bag were obtained in the secret realm.
Seeing that the female cultivator had four Storage Bag, the others didn't react much. It was common for cultivators to fight each other in the secret realm.
She wasn't the only cultivator with several Storage Bag on her person; many of the cultivators she had checked earlier had multiple Storage Bag, with one person even having Storage Bag.
Most importantly, in previous years' explorations of the secret realm, there has never been a case where killing a junior member resulted in the senior member jumping out to seek revenge.
This made the battles between the disciples of the three sects during the exploration of the secret realm unrestrained, with life and death depending entirely on individual skill; many people never even considered that killing someone should be done discreetly.
Wu Ren's eyes sharpened; he recognized one of the Storage Bag as belonging to his grandson, Wu Sui.
Without any visible movement, the Storage Bag rose into the air and flew into Wu Ren's hand.
Wu Ren probed it with his Divine Sense and indeed found the broken chain Law Artifact inside.
His gaze was cold and sharp, like a blade, piercing straight at the female cultivator.
The female cultivator's previously calm expression instantly turned to extreme terror. The sharp killing intent emanating from Wu Ren made her feel as if she had fallen into an abyss.
"Tell me, how did you end up with this Storage Bag?" Wu Ren demanded sharply.
The female cultivator's legs went weak, and she collapsed to her knees.
"Reporting to Senior, I found the Storage Bag not far from the exit of the secret realm, and I have no idea whose Storage Bag is."
"Hmph! Nonsense."
A powerful aura erupted from Wu Ren, pressing down on the female cultivator like a mountain.
The female cultivator's expression turned to one of unbearable pain. Her bones creaked and groaned, as if Wu Ren's terrifying pressure could crush her into a pile of mud at any moment.