Post-Battle Spoils

"You-ge, is everything over?" Huo Yuhao asked blankly as she stared at the wreckage strewn across the ground.

She had killed people—many people.

Although most of the damage had come from Lin You's technological creations, in the end, she had been the one to use the tools that killed them.

Yet Huo Yuhao did not regret it. Even if she were given another chance, she would still choose to kill.

Because without fighting, there was no way to survive.

But now that she had begun taking the lives of others, she probably could no longer turn back.

"Mm, it's over."

Lin You stepped forward and gently wrapped an arm around Huo Yuhao's shoulders. A heavy sense of security immediately enveloped her.

"Alright, get some rest." Enduring the twitching pain radiating from the blood-crusted wound on his head, Lin You comforted her softly.

Then, Huo Yuhao felt endless exhaustion and numb soreness surge over her like a tide. Her eyes stung unbearably, and even her Soul Power had been drained dry.

From the beginning of the battle, her nerves had been stretched taut. Not to mention that she had consecutively been struck by a Soul Skill, flung from the carriage and scraped by the jolting ground, then knocked down and beaten at close range. The fact that she had held on until now was already no easy feat.

Now that the battle was over, all the discomfort she had forcibly suppressed came crashing down at once, leaving her with a weary urge to fall into a deep sleep.

The next second, sheltered by this safe harbor, she no longer had to force herself to endure. Her body went limp, and she collapsed into Lin You's arms.

Looking at the girl's delicate sleeping face, Lin You let out an almost imperceptible sigh. "You worked hard. Fighting must have been exhausting, huh? It's my fault too. My Martial Soul is weak in close combat. Otherwise, I never would have let you end up in a situation like this."

The carriage was ruined. If they left too slowly and those people failed to return, the White Tiger Duchess would definitely grow suspicious and send more people. By then, he would not have a second High-Explosive Hydrogen Grenade to use. He needed to get moving quickly.

He was tired and in pain as well, but right now, he was the only one who could move freely.

So Lin You removed the front frame of the carriage, separating it from the cabin. After taking it apart for a while, the original carriage became a Flatbed Cart open on all four sides.

Before leaving, the thrifty Lin You did not forget to loot the bodies nearby. The first one he went to was the nearest captain of the Shadow Blade Guard. He had not forgotten that the man seemed to possess a Soul Guidance Device capable of launching long-range Moon Blade attacks.

Squish—

With difficulty, Lin You pulled the White Tiger Dagger out of the man's chest and remarked, "Damn, that went in pretty hard. I almost couldn't pull it out."

He first took the Soul Guidance Device from the man's hand. It was roughly 1.2 meters long and had an exaggerated curve. With no time to study it, he quickly grabbed the money pouch as well. After weighing it in his hand, Lin You revealed a satisfied smile.

"A Third Level Soul Guidance Device Moon Blade. Its close-combat attacks are strange, and when infused with Soul Power, it can also unleash long-range killing attacks. Its damage is comparable to a thousand-year Soul Skill. More importantly, it receives an all-around boost under moonlight—its damage and sharpness both improve. It's worth at least two thousand Gold Soul Coins. And there are somehow still over three hundred Gold Soul Coins in his pocket. Damn, he was rich."

Next came Black Crow and the corpses of the other three unlucky bastards. Lin You would not let them go either. Aside from the first guy who died, who was simply too far away and inconvenient to reach, he did not want to waste any of the rest.

After all, opportunities to get rich like this were extremely important during the crucial early stages.

Besides the captain's Third Level Soul Guidance Device, Black Crow had a used Second Level defensive Soul Guidance Device on him: a Soul Power Shield.

After a certain amount of Soul Power was stored inside it beforehand, it could actively release a circular barrier around the user's body when danger arose. The barrier would move with the user and last for a certain period of time, or shatter after absorbing its maximum damage threshold.

Lin You had not yet seen the maximum damage it could absorb. However, the effective range of a Second Level Soul Guidance Device generally would not exceed that of a three-ring Soul Master. He estimated that it could withstand, at most, one thousand-year Soul Skill before shattering. Still, it could be activated without infusing Soul Power, meaning it was essentially a precaution prepared in advance. It was worth the price of a Second Level Soul Guidance Device. Lin You roughly estimated it at around eight hundred Gold Soul Coins.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be half-ruined already. Considering that this guy had survived the High-Explosive Hydrogen Grenade despite being seriously injured, the device had probably completely exhausted its energy in the explosion just now. Even its main body had suffered a certain degree of damage.

Its remaining value could not yet be estimated precisely. After all, his understanding of Soul Guidance Device prices was still rather vague. He would need actual study before he could reach a complete conclusion.

Sure, he liked to joke that Soul Guidance Devices could not beat super divine artifacts or Divine Kings, but what did fighting a Divine King have to do with his three-thousand-a-month salary?

Soul Guidance Devices were still something he had to learn. Even if they could not compete in high-level battles, they could still benefit ordinary people and improve his quality of life. He could not be bothered to oppose this and oppose that—except for the Holy Spirit Cult. Everyone had the right to kill an evil cult.

Besides those, Lin You obtained two completely damaged Second Level Soul Guidance Devices. They were identical standard-issue equipment. He also found four First Level Soul Guidance Devices called Shadow Daggers. From the outside, they looked like black daggers about twenty centimeters long, sharpened on one side and quite sharp. They could add corrosive dark-attribute Soul Power damage and had a slight shield-breaking effect, but beyond that, there was nothing special about them.

Their close-combat damage was fairly impressive, making them well suited for Soul Masters who were fast and capable of closing in.

After taking stock, Lin You looked at the bag full of Gold Soul Coins in his hand and the various Soul Guidance Devices. He could barely suppress the smile tugging at his lips.

In total, he had acquired 728 Gold Soul Coins, ten Soul Guidance Devices, three gem-inlaid ornaments, and five gold teeth. Most of the Gold Soul Coins had been dug out by Lin You from shoe soles, the insides of belts, and hidden pockets in clothing seams. If he had not happened to see a flash of gold inside Black Crow's mouth, he probably would have missed those five gold teeth.

By his estimate, those gold teeth were worth at least twenty to fifty Gold Soul Coins each. They might have been small, but their craftsmanship was quite good. Compared with Gold Soul Coins that were merely gold-plated, these pure gold teeth had a solid market and were especially popular with old men.

After sorting everything out, Lin You suddenly felt that his waist no longer ached, his legs no longer hurt, and he even had strength to walk again.

"Done. Let's go!"

After tossing Huo Yuhao beside the unconscious Huo Yun'er, Lin You lifted the cart's handles. Once he checked that the bearings and wheels were intact, he began pulling it.

There was no helping it. The carriage had overturned, and the horse had been severely injured, so he could only moonlight as a beast of burden himself.

The moment he tugged at his injuries, Lin You's face twitched slightly.

"Forget it. Some things have to be done by someone."

With a sigh, he put his whole body into it, pulling the Flatbed Cart toward the main road.

The night was fairly bright, and Lin You was not worried about encountering any Soul Beasts here. This was one of the main thoroughfares within the Star Luo Empire, maintained regularly by people. And if a Soul Beast really did appear, the Soul Guidance Devices he had just acquired would not necessarily be a disadvantage.

Before long, the slowly moving cart vanished into the night.

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