Inventorying the Spoils

Shen Miaoyin returned to the crowd on Tianyin Peak and unconsciously glanced at the location of Luofu Peak.

Her gaze didn't find the familiar figure, which caused her delicate brows to furrow slightly.

Over the years, he was the only man who had intimate contact with her and stole her first kiss.

Although she clearly understood that there could be no intersection or connection with him, seeing that he hadn't come out still made her heart suddenly filled with mixed emotions, an indescribable feeling welling up in her chest.

Just then, several more lights lit up on the formation.

Shen Miaoyin subconsciously looked over, her pupils contracting slightly. But when she saw that they were only registered disciples from other peaks, a wave of disappointment washed over her.

As several lights flashed one after another, the ancient formation began to dim, nearing its closure.

Shen Miaoyin couldn't help but bite her lip, feeling inexplicably nervous.

"What's wrong? Are you looking for someone?" The elder in palace attire, noticing Shen Miaoyin's unusual expression, leaned in and whispered into her ear.

"No... I'm fine!" A flicker of panic flashed in Shen Miaoyin's eyes as she subconsciously shook her head and denied it.

As soon as she spoke, she saw two more figures appear on the formation.

She secretly let out a sigh of relief, her tense emotions finally relaxing.

This also caused the elder in palace attire to involuntarily cast her gaze towards the formation.

On the teleportation array, two young figures, one fat and one thin, appeared.

These two were Zhu Hanwei and Su Shi'er!

Whether it was because their location was too remote or because they were in a cave, Su Shi'er found that the Teleportation Talisman had no reaction for a long time after he finished organizing his items.

After a long time had passed, he only then belatedly realized! Fortunately, he managed to return to the sect at the last moment!

As soon as the two emerged, the formation's light completely dissipated, and the formation, with a rumbling sound, sank into the ground and disappeared.

Because they were the last to emerge, all eyes in the area were focused

on the two of them.

Seeing that they were only disciples at the second level of Qi Refining and the third level of Qi Refining, everyone was merely a little surprised that they had survived and returned. They then curled their lips and paid them no further attention.

Facing the gaze of the crowd, Su Shi'er and Zhu Hanwei both flinched and quickly walked behind Lu Mingshi, taking their places at the end of the crowd.

"Senior brother, your Luofu Peak disciples are truly remarkable. To dare participate in the trial at the second and third levels of Qi Refining and still manage to survive. Truly commendable!"

Upon seeing Su Shi'er and Zhu Hanwei, and then looking at the seven people behind Lu Mingshi, Fu Boren immediately spoke with a hint of mockery.

With so few people on Luofu Peak, even without any prior arrangements, he couldn't imagine losing.

"Hmph!" Lu Mingshi's head was filled with dark lines, his expression clearly unable to maintain composure. He let out a cold snort impatiently, not responding.

His gaze swept over Su Shi'er and the other, and a hint of contempt and disappointment appeared in his eyes.

He still had some impression of these two disciples: one with Mixed Spiritual Roots, and one without any spiritual roots. For them to survive, it was obvious they must have found a place to hide as soon as they entered and waited until now.

Disciples like these could never have any gains!

His mood was already bad, and seeing them made him feel even more suffocated! If it weren't for so many people watching, he would have wanted to drive these two away immediately.

Fu Boren, with a face full of smiles, pressed his advantage and continued with a laugh, "Senior brother, now that everyone is out, shouldn't we quickly tally our gains? The sooner we finish, the sooner I can take the Hundred Year Cold Jade back for cultivation."

With his opening, it should have been a simultaneous tally of gains by each peak. But at this moment, the other five peaks couldn't be bothered to tally. From the peak masters to the elders, including the disciples, they all turned their attention to Tianhua and Luofu

Peaks.

Everyone was excited, looking as if they were about to watch a good show.

Based on the number of people on both sides, everyone had already roughly guessed the outcome.

No one thought Luofu Peak still had a chance of winning!

However, such good shows were rare, and everyone still wanted to see how big the difference would be.

Of course, there was one exception.

Shen Miaoyin swept a glance at Su Shi'er without changing her expression, feeling a little speechless.

Su Shi'er stood at the end of the crowd, shrinking his neck, looking dejected. Those who knew and those who didn't would think he had gained nothing from seeing him like this.

But she knew clearly that in this trial, if anyone had the most items, it was Su Shi'er and no one else.

"Hmph! Let's tally then!" Lu Mingshi's expression was somewhat awkward, and he shouted weakly.

At this moment, he couldn't help but feel regret.

He should have just admitted defeat earlier!

Such a disparity in numbers was practically public humiliation for him.

But since things had reached this point, admitting defeat now would undoubtedly be even more embarrassing, so he could only brace himself and continue.

"Haha, then our Tianhua Peak will show off first!"

Fu Boren laughed heartily, his face beaming. He turned to the crowd behind him and called out loudly:

"Alright, hand over your storage bags. Don't think about hiding anything. There are spirit-sensing formations in this valley, and your storage bags should all be marked with spiritual energy."

"After the Spirit Materials are submitted, the sect will deduct fifty percent. The remaining fifty percent will be returned to you upon your return."

As Fu Boren spoke, the disciples before him immediately sprang into action, taking out their respective storage bags and lining up to approach Fu Boren.

Only then did Su Shi'er notice that all the storage bags had a fingernail-sized spiritual symbol of spiritual power glowing on them.

His own storage bag was no exception.

However, his gaze fell upon the storage ring on his finger, and his heart leaped with joy.

This storage ring looked plain and unremarkable, without the slightest fluctuation of spiritual power, let alone any spiritual symbols.

"Could it be that this spirit-detecting formation can't detect this storage ring? That's great. Fortunately, I transferred all the good stuff to this storage ring in advance."

Su Shi'er secretly rejoiced. He had already decided that unless the Peak Master discovered it, he would never voluntarily hand over this storage ring.

With his mind at ease, he continued to observe the situation on Tianhua Peak.

He saw disciples taking out items from their storage bags and placing them on the ground.

After Fu Boren nodded, they would put their items back and finally hand over their storage bags to Fu Boren.

The disciples of Tianhua Peak were not weak in strength, and their harvests were also abundant.

Only a small number of disciples did not meet the standard and could only submit three to five Spirit Materials. Most disciples found over ten, or even dozens.

Among them, a small portion of disciples even found hundreds or thousands of Grade 2 Spirit Materials, which drew a gasp from the crowd.

Fu Boren stood at the front of the crowd, smiling so widely his mouth could barely close.

When he saw Ye Liangchuan step forward, his spirits lifted. The Spirit Materials from the Spiritual Plant Garden were tens of thousands!

Ye Liangchuan couldn't be happy at all. He had wanted to speak to Fu Boren for a long time but never had the chance. When it was his turn, he busied himself by taking out over five hundred Grade 2 Spirit Materials and placing them on the ground, his head bowed.

"Five hundred?! What's going on?" Fu Boren's mouth twitched slightly, his smile suddenly stiffening as he cast a questioning glance at him.

"Master! Something unexpected happened when we went to the Spiritual Plant Garden..." Ye Liangchuan said dejectedly, quickly informing Fu Boren about what had transpired in the Spiritual Plant Garden.

After finishing, he also handed over the Purple Lightning Sword. "This disciple's performance was inadequate. I ask for your punishment, Master!"