txolops Chapter 44: Loot
Chapter 44: Loot
Of course, the most valuable spoils of war, including the mountain-splitting axe, a sword, and three other first-grade mid-level magic weapons, were not to be missed and were immediately taken into their possession.
Tong Bingfeng disregarded the smell and color emanating from each of the corpses of the Tribulation Cultivators, carefully searching them to ensure that no spoils of war were missing. Only after confirming that no such spoils were missing did he drip half a bottle of corpse-dissolving water onto the corpses to erase any traces of battle before transforming into a streak of light and departing.
Corpse-dissolving water is a special spiritual substance used to clean up battlefields. It is made by adding several auxiliary medicinal ingredients to a certain spiritual water as a base.
The blood dripping onto the corpse would completely corrode and destroy it in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, leaving only streaks of blood soaking into the hills.
According to the rules of Ice Spirit Island, cultivators are not allowed to kill each other if they have personal grudges; the matter must be resolved under the mediation of the market guard team.
However, more than ten thousand cultivators come and go on Ice Spirit Island every day, and the market guards, numbering only a hundred or so, are simply not enough to suppress them.
Therefore, as long as a conflict does not break out in the key and vital parts of the Spirit Island, the guards in other locations will not pay much attention to them. Even if they occasionally make a discovery, they will not conduct a deeper investigation.
It was precisely because of the above reasons that Tong Bingfeng was not worried about the investigation from the Ice Spirit Island authorities, after all, the defeated and dead were only three mid-stage Qi Refining Tribulation cultivators.
Their disappearance and death were like a drop of water merging into the ocean within the entire Ice Spirit Island, and would not attract the attention of any cultivators at all.
Of course, to ensure there would be no mishaps, after leaving, Tong Bingfeng chose a hill a thousand feet away to move the spoils, burying all three black storage bags inside.
In this way, even if the other party still has companions and possesses some kind of tracking technique, it will all end there. After losing the ability to respond, there will be no way to take action.
"Three storage bags containing a total of 350 spirit stones, two bottles of mid-grade first-tier Qi-enhancing Pills, one bottle of mid-grade first-tier Qi-restoring Pills, and one bottle of mid-grade first-tier antidote pills."
"These are all spiritual items needed for cultivation or to aid in battle. The other miscellaneous spoils should have been dealt with immediately, which saved me time and energy."
After returning to the courtyard, Tong Bingfeng finished counting the spoils of war, excluding the three mid-grade first-tier magic weapons, and naturally showed a satisfied smile.
The variety and quantity of the spoils were not many, but each one was exactly what he needed at this stage. After a little refinement, they could be transformed into the purest mana in his dantian, becoming an indispensable resource on his path of cultivation.
"The Heaven-Opening Axe is of excellent quality. With the right channels, it can be exchanged for at least two hundred spirit stones. Although the quality of the sword and saber is slightly inferior, they have a wider range of applications and can be controlled by most cultivators. Each of them can be exchanged for one hundred and twenty spirit stones."
"I wonder if there's any chance to exchange it for a mid-grade first-tier water-attribute defensive magic weapon. Having both offense and defense is the most basic quality a cultivator should possess."
Undoubtedly, the three first-tier mid-grade magic artifacts were his most valuable spoils of war. However, Tong Bingfeng had a more in-depth consideration in how to deal with these three magic artifacts. He did not simply and crudely replace them with spirit stones or other spiritual items used in daily cultivation.
Possessing a mid-grade first-tier Azure Water Sword is his current and foreseeable future label, as well as his standard combat tactic.
If one could quietly acquire a mid-grade first-tier water-attribute defensive magic weapon, and ensure that the news did not leak out, it could also be used as one of the final methods to harvest the crystal gourd.
Whether facing obstruction from monsters or being spied on by companions, they can become the most crucial and unexpected lifeline in the most dangerous moments.
However, conducting a series of exchanges in secrecy was not an easy task for him, who was often alone and had a withdrawn personality.
Of the three first-tier mid-grade magic weapons, including the Heaven-Opening Axe, only the Heaven-Opening Axe is of relatively good quality; the other two are just average.
In the cultivation world, defensive magical artifacts are far more difficult to forge and more expensive than ordinary offensive magical artifacts. Moreover, the supply in the market is not large, and scarcity drives up the price, so the premium is obvious.
Even though it's a three-for-one exchange, and the trade is superior in terms of the value of spirit stones alone, a suitable opportunity is still needed to complete the transaction.
"With a relatively abundant supply of Qi-Enhancing Pills and Leech Spirit Water recently, my Qi Refining Level 4 cultivation has improved significantly, but there is still a considerable distance to go before reaching Qi Refining Level 5."
"In the coming months, the focus must shift to daily cultivation, and the frequency of hunting demonic beasts can be slowed down slightly."
There are priorities and urgency in everything. For cultivators, all combat power is based on their cultivation level. Even with a thousand methods, it is sometimes difficult to exert their full strength under the constraints of their cultivation level.
As the owner of Liu's Grocery Store said, only by raising one's cultivation to the fifth level of Qi Refining can one truly be qualified to join the team harvesting crystal gourds and become a genuine member.
After selling the monster corpses and buying the Thunder Pearl, he still had 450 spirit stones left. He also found 350 spirit stones of spoils from the storage bags of the three cultivators. This means that, apart from the spiritual objects he already possesses to aid his cultivation, he has a huge sum of 700 spirit stones at his disposal.
This considerable sum of spirit stones, besides satisfying Tong Bingfeng's daily cultivation needs and allowing him to purchase some powerful spirit talismans, can also be used selectively.
Everything is ready except for the east wind.
With a stable state of mind and an unwavering commitment to his path, Tong Bingfeng swallowed a mid-grade first-tier Qi-enhancing pill. As a considerable amount of spiritual energy erupted, he quickly circulated his Qi through the Great Cycle, entering a high-frequency cultivation phase.
With a clear goal, he only needs to work hard in the right direction at this stage, and everything else is insignificant.
In the following months, Tong Bingfeng went to the Ice Domain every two days to hunt demonic beasts. Apart from exchanging the demonic beast corpses for spirit stones, he devoted all his remaining time and energy to cultivation.
Of course, every half month or so, he would visit the Red Willow District, which was known for its barrenness, among the cultivators of Ice Spirit Island, in an attempt to find traces of Red Willow Leeches with the help of Big Fang, and successfully hunt them down in order to obtain the spiritual water from their bodies to aid his cultivation.
With his repeated visits, the already limited number of first-tier mid-grade Red Willow Leeches in the Red Willow District were visibly decreasing. The success rate of hunting them was constantly declining. Even if he managed to hunt them successfully, the overall quality of the Red Willow Leeches was also declining. The quantity and quality of the Leech Spirit Water obtained were both on a downward trend, and its effect on assisting cultivation was naturally reduced as well.