“Immortal Dao is a path of pillage.”

Qai was mistaken.

Shu Liang was indeed sincere.

Fortunately, the Scorpion’s movements were restricted. And this came as a surprise to Qai and Shu Liang.

Were it not for the narrow corridor the level 4 Spirit Beast could have used its tail to its advantage. Unfortunately, it could not.

Apparently, the Scorpion was left confined to just moving forward and backward—something that Shu Liang failed to realize when she first encountered the Spirit Beast.

Qai, on the other hand, effectively used his ‘Shadow Steps’ to outran the Scorpion after every attack he made.

Meanwhile, his ‘Raging Bison’ may have not damaged the Spirit Beast much, but it was enough to keep the latter busy and was enough to keep his distance.

In truth, even if Qai’s cultivation base was in the Qi Condensation stage, his knight body was apparently capable of matching ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But against the level 4 Scorpion, which was comparable to early Core Formation stage cultivator, he could only withstand few attacks with his full potential—thus, becoming its bait necessitated him to use the hide-and-seek method.

As a result, the two were like dancing with their back and forth exchange.

It was only after Qai managed to dodge the Scorpion’s third attack that Shu Liang stepped in to throw 2 fire talismans at once.

Booom.

Booom.

The talismans, apparently, were refined by her Core Formation stage master for her to keep as extra life-saving treasures. Surprisingly, they had the capability to truly kill level 5 Spirit Beasts and below. But right now, she just used them extravagantly to hunt.

Seeing the talismans’ power, Qai felt hurt.

He had acquired two talismans from Old Bu before and knew how useful they were in emergency situations.

Talismans were ordinarily disposable—most can be used one time, some twice or even thrice. But all of them were definitely not easy to find.

‘What a waste!’

Qai just shook his head.

If they were in his hands, he would have probably saved the talisman as another trump card. Unfortunately, Qai didn't know that for those doted sons, daughters or personal disciples of elite cultivators, it was normal for them to be ‘squandering’ at times.

Right after dismantling the body of the Scorpion though, Qai and Shu Liang went on to search the entire hall.

Shu Liang who had been impressed by Qai’s performance had the grace to explain the uses and value of everything they found. There was not much. But for the current cultivation bases of both of them, all the treasures they got were truly of great benefit.

In the first room they went into, the 2 only saw a human-shaped faceless puppet lumped in a corner and a Jade slip on one table.

As expected, the Jade slip recorded the incantation to control the puppet which surprisingly possessed strength comparable to a late Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

The second room apparently contained much more treasures.

It enclosed a 3-layered treasure rack and a medium-sized chest. Inside the chest, Qai and Shu Liang saw around a thousand ‘Spirit Stones.’

Shu Liang was not selfish enough to share what they were.

“Spirit Stones have two uses. First, they contained spiritual Qi energy which you can directly absorb through cultivation. Here, take one and recite your cultivation mantra.”

When Qai did as instructed, his eyes were filled with bewilderment. Never had he thought there could be such a thing.

‘If I had plenty of this thing before, it would save me years of seclusion.’

“Its other use is that they are the primary medium of exchange in any cultivation cities. If mortals have copper, silver, and gold as a currency, then us cultivators use Spirit Stones to trade.”

“Does that mean we just got rich?”

“Well, you could say that for our current realms. But as you go up to the peak of cultivation, you will realize that this chest of Spirit Stones amounts to nothing. Besides these are just low-grade Spirit Stones. Although I have not seen medium and high-grade ones, I know that they are the more valuable ones.”

“So that’s how it is.”

The 3-layered treasure rack, meanwhile, displayed a pair of array formation Flags, a bottle of Cleansing Dew, 3 Cultivation Jade slips, a Wooden protection Necklace and a dark brown Cloak.

According to Shu Liang’s estimation, the most valuable one among the treasures was the bottle of Cleansing Dew.

“One drop of Cleansing Dew can purify the spiritual Qi energy within your body. No matter your realm is, it will boost your spiritual Qi energy, and the abilities you eventually produce will surely be more efficient.”

The array Flags, on the other hand, were ones that could produce low-grade restrictions to protect immortal caves and the like.

Qai drooled when he heard the flags’ use.

He had been struck hard by the ability of Array formations and had been wanting to learn how to use them himself.

The 3 Jade slips, however, contained auxiliary cultivation methods—namely, soul search technique, concealment technique, and preliminaries to array formation.

“Most cultivators already have their own soul search and concealment methods. I have one too.. While I am not proficient in Array formations, I also know a thing or two. Although in truth, I am more inclined with Pill alchemy for my secondary cultivation.”

As he listened, Qai somehow could finally grasp the ways of a cultivator more and more.

“You should have one secondary cultivation as well. The Dao of immortal is not cheap, you know. So you should have a good source of income. And Pill alchemy is a stable one.”

At any rate, the wooden protection necklace worked like talismans. It can produce a defensive ability to repel an attack from a Core Formation stage cultivator and it could be used 3 times.

As for the dark brown cloak, it was more like an agility enhancement gear. Once worn, the cultivator can increase his physical speed twice.

Qai, of course, had no say how to divide the treasures.

While he liked to have them all, he knew he could not. So he let Shu Liang make the decision.

Shu Liang did not feel any reluctance when she claimed for herself the faceless puppet, the protection necklace, and the bottle of Cleansing Dew.

However, he gave Qai a drop and told him to consume it immediately. Shu Liang did as well.

Apparently, one drop was enough, any more beyond that would be useless.

What Shu Liang had in mind was to exchange the rest of the bottle for Contribution Points or to bring it into an auction.

Qai, for his part, received the formation flags, the auxiliary cultivation jade slips and the cloak.

“Senior sister, since I am already invited by Elder Li to become an outer disciple, I would have no way to hide the Spirit Stones. I request that you keep my share first since I can't bring them all with me.”

Of course, Qai knew he can't use a storage pouch yet so he considered all possibilities.

That reasoning held true as well for the puppet. Even if wanted to fight for the puppet, there was no way he could keep it.

After they stabilized the drop of Cleansing Dew within their body, they instantly felt the change in their spiritual Qi energy. Their cultivation bases did not increase a bit, but the quality of their spiritual Qi energy improved a lot.

Unknown to them though, they had already stayed in the hall for half a month.

When the two went to the rear part of the hall where the herb garden was, rich spiritual Qi energy suddenly hurled at them.

Shu Liang saw all the precious herb and her eyes glowed as if she had just been sent into the heavens.

They were all aged materials useful for Pill alchemy.

There were Thistles, Moonflower, Purple Ginseng, Blood Sunflower, a bed of Spirit Grass, and many others.

And in one corner, there was a Wood-type Soulflame—a Cornelia Flame flower.

As a Pill apprentice herself, Shu Liang knew what all those meant for her. If she could take them all, she knew her attainment in Pill Dao would advance by way quicker.

With such treasures in front of her, her eyes turned greedy—killing intent suddenly surged in her heart.