Artifacts! Artifacts!

"Indeed."

Qian Xiaoyue nodded.

Though she worked under an alchemist, her monthly stipend was not high. Even with the talisman parchment she painstakingly made and sold from a stall, she could barely earn a little over ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones a month.

This haul was equivalent to nearly a year of her efforts.

"However.

These two had made quite a few moves over the past year. They should have had more than just this, shouldn't they?

When I listened in before, I heard the words 'artifact' several times.

Could they have already sold them off?

But artifacts—even the lowest-grade ones—would be worth one or two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones..."

Qian Xiaoyue could not help frowning.

"Artifacts?"

At those words, Zhou Changwang's body jolted, and a glint flashed through his eyes.

Artifacts were indispensable treasures for cultivators traveling beyond their doors.

The difference in strength between a cultivator with an artifact and one without was like heaven and earth.

Take Zhou Changwang, for instance. If he had possessed an artifact when he was ambushed, he could have immediately driven it to counterattack. Ordinary martial artists, even peak Innate Realm experts, would never dare casually lay hands on a cultivator carrying an artifact.

Hearing that artifacts might be hidden in this room, Zhou Changwang could no longer sit still. He immediately began searching carefully, almost refusing to overlook a single corner.

If they really found one artifact this time, they would strike it rich. Two, and they would soar into the sky... As for three, he did not even dare think about it.

Qian Xiaoyue beside him was the same.

Finally, after the time it took to burn an incense stick.

As the two faced each other, disappointment appeared on both their faces.

They had practically turned the entire room upside down, even checking every corner of the sitting room, yet they still found nothing.

Clearly, the matter of artifacts could only have been wishful thinking.

"In that case, let's divide the spoils."

At last, Qian Xiaoyue spoke.

Zhou Changwang nodded, feeling slightly nervous inside.

Though he and Qian Xiaoyue had been neighbors for years, they had previously only known each other in passing, mere acquaintances who nodded when they met. Now that personal interests were involved, he could not guarantee what she might do.

After all, her cultivation at Qi Refining, Third Layer was indeed a notch higher than his.

But after observing her carefully, he saw no unusual movement. On further thought, if she had truly intended to swallow these Spirit Stones and other items for herself, she would never have invited him along in the first place. That eased his mind somewhat.

Then, the two began moving everything together.

The heaviest items were the three large chests.

After that came a rice vat from the kitchen.

The vat itself was made of ordinary material, but what lay inside was not the ordinary rice Zhou Changwang had imagined. It was Spirit Rice.

Not only was it Spirit Rice, but plump, full grains of Crescent Rice, each one like a crescent moon.

When Zhou Changwang saw it earlier, his eyes had practically turned green.

Here he was, a dignified cultivator at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm, yet he had still been eating ordinary mortal rice. Only after several days of hard work had he finally begun eating Spirit Rice and living a somewhat happier life.

Yet these two mortal martial cultivators ate Spirit Rice every meal, and worse still, they ate Crescent Rice, which was far more expensive than Spirit Grain Rice. It left him deeply unbalanced.

There was quite a lot of Spirit Rice in the vat, nearly fifty jin in total. At the price of one Low-Grade Spirit Stone for five jin of Crescent Rice, that was nearly ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Naturally, he would not let it go.

He directly lifted the rice vat and was about to drag it away when Zhou Changwang's gaze suddenly sharpened.

"Fellow Daoist Qian, look here."

Before long, Qian Xiaoyue hurried into the kitchen.

Beneath where the rice vat had stood were several bricks and patches of earth that were clearly different from the surrounding traces.

"Dig it up and see!"

Qian Xiaoyue said quietly. Her voice was calm, but it carried a faint extra trace of anticipation.

Zhou Changwang nodded. His spirit hoe had been cut apart in the earlier battle, and unable to find a suitable hoe, he simply used the female martial artist's longsword as a tool. After only a few strokes, he dug up the bricks and dirt, and soon, a piece of yellow canvas appeared beneath them.

"There really is something."

Zhou Changwang's heart stirred. He quickly cleared away the remaining bricks and dirt, then used the longsword to lift the canvas.

Qian Xiaoyue almost snatched the canvas impatiently, then opened it bit by bit.

At once, a small black blade appeared before them.

The blade was not large, only eight inches long. It had no hilt, or rather, its hilt was tiny, leaving only enough space for two fingers to grip. Its entire body was black, with only faint cold glints visible along the edge. Looking closely, one could vaguely see fine, threadlike patterns etched across the blade.

It was also extremely light. Resting in one's hand, it felt as weightless as nothing.

"An artifact.

It really is an artifact."

Qian Xiaoyue cried out in surprise, her gaze locked tightly onto the small blade.

Zhou Changwang was equally astonished.

He had not expected them to truly find an artifact.

Those two had hidden it deeply indeed.

A cunning rabbit had three burrows.

Had he not moved the Spirit Rice, he truly would not have discovered this artifact.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Reluctantly shifting her gaze away from the black blade, Qian Xiaoyue looked at Zhou Changwang and said, "Could you let me have this artifact?"

Zhou Changwang looked at her without speaking.

An artifact.

Who would not want one?

"I don't want any of the other things. You can have all of them. I only want this artifact. How about it?"

Qian Xiaoyue spoke again, her expression solemn.

"Fine."

After hesitating slightly, Zhou Changwang finally nodded.

He did indeed want this artifact, since it could directly increase his strength.

However, Qian Xiaoyue had helped him once before. This search for spoils had also been proposed by her first. Most importantly, though her cultivation was higher than his, at Qi Refining, Third Layer, she had not used that to forcefully claim more benefits... He was not someone who failed to appreciate kindness.

Though artifacts were good, the other items added together were also worth quite a bit. He might not necessarily be getting the short end of the stick.

After agreeing on the division, neither of them had any intention of lingering.

Qian Xiaoyue left with a lighthearted expression.

As for Zhou Changwang, under cover of night, he made three trips before moving all of this haul into his own house.

"This time, I truly returned with my arms full."

Sitting on the edge of his bed and looking at this haul, Zhou Changwang felt incomparably delighted.

First were the three large chests, filled with gold, silver, jewels, and martial arts manuals. They held little value to him, and he had no intention of truly hauling that entire chest of gold to the Artifact Refining Hall to exchange for three or five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

That would be far too conspicuous.

It could very easily bring unnecessary trouble.

Now that he did not lack Spirit Stones, he naturally had no desire to take such a risk.

"Then there are the Spirit Stones.

One hundred and forty-eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones in total.

Adding the eight I gained today and the five from yesterday... doesn't that mean the total number of Spirit Stones on me has already reached one hundred and sixty-one?"

Zhou Changwang counted them three times in succession, joy rising within him.

This was an enormous fortune.

Especially for the person he had once been.

Not only had he never possessed so many Spirit Stones—he had never even seen this many.