"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 transactions over the past year. They should have had more than just this, shouldn't they?
When I was listening in before, I heard the words 'Dharma Artifact' several times.
Could they have already sold them off?
But a Dharma Artifact—even the lowest-grade kind—would be worth one or two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones..."
Qian Xiaoyue could not help furrowing her brows.
"Dharma Artifact?"
Zhou Changwang's body jolted, and a glint flashed through his eyes.
Dharma Artifacts were treasures that cultivators needed to keep close for protection when traveling abroad.
The difference in strength between a cultivator with a Dharma Artifact and one without was as vast as heaven and earth.
Take Zhou Changwang, for instance. If he had possessed a Dharma Artifact when he was ambushed, he could have immediately driven it to counterattack. Ordinary martial artists, even those at the peak Innate Realm, would never dare casually attack a cultivator carrying a Dharma Artifact.
Hearing that this room might contain a Dharma Artifact, Zhou Changwang could no longer sit still. He hurriedly searched it with care, leaving almost no corner unchecked.
If they really found one Dharma Artifact this time, they would strike it rich. Two, and they would soar into the sky... As for three, he had not even dared think of it.
Qian Xiaoyue at his side was the same.
Finally, after the time it took to burn an incense stick.
As the two looked at one another, disappointment showed on both their faces.
They had practically turned the entire room upside down, even searching every corner of the sitting room, yet they had still found nothing.
Apparently, the Dharma Artifact was nothing more than wishful thinking.
"Then let us divide the spoils."
At last, Qian Xiaoyue spoke.
Zhou Changwang nodded, feeling a slight tension in his heart.
Though he and Qian Xiaoyue had been neighbors for years, they had previously been no more than acquaintances who nodded in passing. Now that benefits were involved, he could not be sure what she might do.
After all, her cultivation at Qi Refining, Third Layer was indeed a full step above his.
But after observing carefully, he saw that she made no unusual move. On further thought, if she had truly wanted to swallow these Spirit Stones and other items whole, she would never have invited him along in the first place. He relaxed somewhat.
Then, the two began moving everything into one place.
The heaviest items were the three large chests.
Then there was a rice vat in the kitchen.
The vat itself was made of ordinary material, but what it contained was not the ordinary rice he had imagined. It was Spirit Rice.
Not only was it Spirit Rice, every grain was plump and shaped like a crescent moon—it was Crescent Rice.
When Zhou Changwang saw it earlier, his eyes had turned green with envy.
Back then, he, a dignified cultivator at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm, had still eaten ordinary mortal rice. Only after several days of bitter effort had he finally begun eating Spirit Rice and living a somewhat happier life.
Yet these two mortal martial cultivators ate Spirit Rice every meal. Worse still, they ate Crescent Rice, which was far more expensive than Spirit Grain Rice. It left him feeling deeply unbalanced.
There was quite a lot of Spirit Rice in the vat, nearly fifty catties in all. At the price of five catties of Crescent Rice per Low-Grade Spirit Stone, it was worth nearly ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Naturally, he would not leave it behind.
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.
Below where the rice vat had stood were several bricks and clumps of earth that bore marks clearly different from the surrounding area.
"Dig it up and see!"
Qian Xiaoyue said in a low voice. Her tone was calm, but it carried a faint note of anticipation.
Zhou Changwang nodded. His spirit hoe had been cut in half during the earlier battle, and since he had not found a suitable replacement, he simply used the female martial artist's longsword as a tool. After only a few strokes, he dug up the bricks and earth, and soon a piece of yellow canvas appeared beneath them.
"There really is something here."
Zhou Changwang's heart stirred. He swiftly cleared away the bricks and earth, then used the longsword to lift the canvas.
Qian Xiaoyue snatched up the canvas almost impatiently, then slowly 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 so small that only enough was left to pinch between two fingers. Its entire body was pitch-black, and only along the edge could one see specks of cold gleam. Looking more closely, one could vaguely make out fine, winding patterns etched across its body.
It was also extremely light. Resting in one's hand, it seemed nearly weightless.
"A Dharma Artifact.
It really is a Dharma Artifact."
Qian Xiaoyue cried out in surprise, her gaze fixed tightly on the small blade.
Zhou Changwang was equally astonished.
He had not expected that they would truly find a Dharma Artifact.
Those two had hidden it deeply indeed.
A cunning rabbit had three burrows.
If he had not moved the Spirit Rice, he truly would not have discovered this Dharma Artifact.
"Fellow Daoist Zhou."
Qian Xiaoyue reluctantly shifted her gaze away from the black blade and looked at Zhou Changwang. "Could you let me have this Dharma Artifact?"
Zhou Changwang looked at her without speaking.
A Dharma Artifact.
Who would not want one?
"I do not want any of the other items. You can have them all. I only want this Dharma Artifact. How about it?"
Qian Xiaoyue spoke again, her expression solemn.
"Alright."
After hesitating briefly, Zhou Changwang finally nodded.
He truly wanted this Dharma Artifact as well, since it could directly increase his strength.
But Qian Xiaoyue had helped him once before. She had also been the one to first suggest gathering the spoils this time. 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 an ungrateful man.
The Dharma Artifact was good, but the other items together were worth no small amount either. He might not necessarily be getting the worse end of the deal.
Once they had agreed upon the division, neither wished to linger any longer.
Qian Xiaoyue left with a light, cheerful expression.
As for Zhou Changwang, he made three trips under the cover of night before moving all of this haul into his own house.
"This time, I truly harvested a full basket."
Zhou Changwang sat on the edge of his bed, looking at what he had gained this time, his mood incomparably wonderful.
First were the three large chests, filled with gold, silver, jewels, and martial arts manuals. They were of little value to him, and he had no intention of actually hauling that whole chest of gold to the Artifact Refining Hall in exchange for three or five Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
That would be far too conspicuous.
It could very easily attract unnecessary trouble.
Now that he was not lacking in Spirit Stones, he naturally had no wish 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 obtained today and the five from yesterday... does that mean the total number of Spirit Stones on me has actually reached one hundred and sixty-one?"
Zhou Changwang counted them three times in succession, joy welling up in his heart.
This was an enormous fortune.
Especially for the man he had once been.
He had not merely never owned so many Spirit Stones—he had never even seen this many.
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