Cultivation of Immortality: Start by Improving Spiritual Root Qualifications

Chapter 998 Gently Touch the Treasure, Time to Reap the Rewards!
After doing all this, Zhou Xun breathed a sigh of relief.

He carefully checked the restrictions inside the cave and confirmed that the shockwaves from the fight had not spread out.

Only then did they turn their attention to the two storage rings that had fallen to the ground.

The rings, one gold and one silver, are of an antique style and are engraved with intricate cloud patterns. They belong to Lu Haiping and Lu Xiuyuan.

"One of them is a veteran Nascent Soul cultivator, and the other is a mid-Nascent Soul cultivator; their wealth must be considerable."

"With the addition of the Nine Immortal City's treasury, the gains from this trip should be enormous."

Zhou Xun reached out and beckoned, and two rings flew into his palm.

He first picked up the silver ring, which was Lu Haiping's storage ring.

His divine sense slowly extended out, enveloping the ring like a tidal wave.

A faint light suddenly appeared on the surface of the ring, which was the divine imprint left by the original owner resisting.

If Lu Haiping were still alive, it would be no easy task to forcibly break through this storage ring.

But now that Lu Haiping is dead, the divine imprint is like a source without roots.

Zhou Xun's divine sense was already comparable to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, so deciphering it was naturally easy for him.

A spiritual light flowed from his fingertips, and streams of pure divine power continuously impacted the restrictions on the surface of the ring.

"Click——"

Within half an hour, a slight cracking sound came from the surface of the ring.

The faint light shattered instantly, and the divine imprint was completely erased.

Zhou Xun's divine sense successfully probed into the storage ring.

The interior space was larger than he had expected, measuring a thousand feet square.

Various treasures were neatly arranged in categories, each radiating its own unique spiritual light.

"As expected of a veteran Nascent Soul cultivator."

Zhou Xun nodded to himself and began to carefully count the items.

First and foremost, of course, is the spirit crystal.

In the corner of the storage ring, hundreds of spirit crystals were neatly stacked.

Each one is the size of a fist, crystal clear, and contains extremely pure spiritual energy.

Zhou Xun scanned the items with his divine sense and counted them one by one.

"one two three"

The clinking of the spirit crystals produced a crisp sound, which was particularly clear in the silent cave.

"A total of 867. It seems he's paying to save his life, or rather, he's offering a truly generous price!"

This number surprised Zhou Xun.

It should be noted that an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator is considered wealthy if they have two or three hundred spirit crystals.

Lu Haiping alone possessed over eight hundred of them, placing him among the extremely wealthy Nascent Soul cultivators.

He carefully put away the spirit crystals and continued to count the other treasures.

Next up are various rare materials.

There are quite a few fifth-tier spiritual materials, most of which are fire-attribute materials.

After all, Lu Haiping mainly cultivated fire-attribute techniques.

"This is... Void Crystal!"

Zhou Xun's eyes lit up, and he took out five silver crystals of different sizes from the pile of materials.

The surface of the crystal has natural spatial patterns that emit a faint spatial fluctuation.

These are the core materials for crafting teleportation arrays.
He was pleasantly surprised.

Zhou Xun originally only crafted two teleportation arrays as a backup plan.

Now that we have these five Void Crystals, we can refine at least two more pairs of teleportation arrays.

"In this way, we can refine more and distribute them throughout the Lu family."

"Even if Lu Xinghai comes to chase after us in person, he will only be able to look on in vain."

He carefully put away the Void Crystal and continued examining it.

Three fifth-tier spiritual herbs were discovered.

A plant entirely crimson, shaped like a phoenix spreading its wings, is called the "Crimson Phoenix Orchid," and is the main ingredient for refining the fifth-grade elixir, the "Phoenix Returning Pill."

One plant, entirely white with petals carved like jade, is called "Jade Marrow Flower" and has a remarkable effect on repairing damage to the divine consciousness.

There is also a plant that resembles a lingzhi mushroom, but glows with seven-colored light, called the "Seven-Colored Lingzhi," which can enhance the cultivation of Nascent Soul cultivators.

These three medicinal herbs are all very well preserved and retain their medicinal properties.

Each one is worth tens of spirit crystals.

Suddenly, Zhou Xun's gaze fell on a fan in the corner.

The fan is entirely gold, with its ribs made of some unknown metal and its surface woven from fiery red feathers.

Take out the fan and warm it in your hand.

After a little refinement, one can immediately feel the powerful fire-attribute spiritual energy contained within.

"Golden Flame Fan..."

Three small characters are engraved on the fan handle.

With a gentle wave of his hand, Zhou Xun caused golden flames to ignite on the fan, causing the temperature to rise sharply.

"Its power is considerable; among low-grade spiritual treasures, it would be considered a top-grade one."

Besides these, there are also many rare materials in the storage ring.

The inner cores and furs of demonic beasts, various rare ores, spirit wood, and so on.

Zhou Xun roughly estimated that the total value of the treasures in this storage ring exceeded 1,300 spirit crystals!
This does not include the value of the Golden Flame Fan.

If we include the spirit treasure, the total value is probably close to 1,600 spirit crystals.

"As expected of the ancestor who is in charge of a celestial city, he is indeed rolling in wealth."

Zhou Xun nodded in satisfaction and carefully put away Lu Haiping's storage ring.

Next, let's take a look at Lu Xiuyuan's collection.

Then, Zhou Xun picked up the golden storage ring.

This belongs to Lu Xiuyuan.

As a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, the restrictions on his storage ring were significantly stronger.

"He's a bit more difficult to deal with than Lu Haiping."

It took Zhou Xun several attempts and half an hour to finally solve the problem.

Divine consciousness penetrates into it.

The interior space is similar to that of Lu Haiping's, also measuring thousands of feet square.

He began to carefully count the items.

The first thing to focus on is naturally the spirit crystal.

In the corner of the storage ring, a pile of spirit crystals was neatly stacked.

Upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Five hundred and twelve yuan?"

This number surprised him somewhat.

Despite being in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, Lu Xiuyuan actually had fewer spirit crystals than Lu Haiping.

Continue to examine other treasures.

There are only a handful of fifth-tier spiritual materials, and their quality is generally ordinary.

It pales in comparison to the rare materials collected by Lu Haiping.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Xun guessed the reason.

"After all, Lu Haiping controls a celestial city and holds a high position of power, which is naturally incomparable to Lu Xiuyuan."

"When it comes to collecting spiritual resources, the leaders of major powers are always the fastest."

He continued counting.

Apart from some fifth-grade spirit pills, they were all ordinary items.

Even Lu Xiuyuan's natal spiritual treasure, a black long staff, is not as good as Lu Haiping's Golden Flame Fan in terms of quality.

This long staff is entirely black, with wave patterns engraved on its surface, and exudes a strong water-attribute spiritual power.

However, it is indeed inferior to the spiritual power of the Golden Flame Fan.

"In terms of value, Lu Xiuyuan's storage ring is far inferior to Lu Haiping's."

"A dignified mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator reduced to this state? Truly incompetent!"

Zhou Xun couldn't help but sigh, looking angry and frustrated.
"what?"

Just then, a token caught his attention.

The token was entirely black and felt cold to the touch, with the words "Chongyuan" engraved on the front.

The reverse side features an island pattern surrounded by cloud patterns.

'This is... the cave dwelling token?'

Zhou Xun examined it carefully and refined it slightly, thus obtaining a piece of information.

This is actually a fifth-tier high-grade spirit island token from the Northern Cloud Islands!
The Hokugumo Islands are an archipelago in the northern part of the Senseiran Islands, and are quite far from here.

'Could it be that Lu Xiuyuan has other cave dwellings?'

Zhou Xun guessed.

They immediately removed Lu Xiuyuan's nascent soul. The nascent soul, bound by chains of lightning, appeared listless and weak.

But when he saw the token in Zhou Xun's hand, a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

"Tell me, what's the deal with this Chongyuan Island?"

Zhou Xun's voice was icy.

Lu Xiuyuan gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Zhou Xun didn't say much, and lightning flashed at his fingertips.

"what--!"

The nascent soul let out a shrill scream and trembled violently amidst the lightning.

But Lu Xiuyuan was quite stubborn; despite being in great pain, he refused to speak.

Seeing this, Zhou Xun said nothing more.

With a thought, he summoned the soul-devouring beast, Xiao Qing.

A flash of gray light appeared, and a small beast resembling an ape appeared in the air.

Its entire body is golden, its eyes are like two obsidian stones, and its nose takes up almost half of its face.

Several people were excited when the beast appeared.

It twitched its nose, its gaze fixed intently on Lu Xiuyuan's nascent soul:
"Master, are you going to feed me this Nascent Soul?"

The voice was young, yet it was chilling.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiuyuan immediately felt a chill run down his spine.

Especially when faced with the dark eyes of the Soul-Eating Beast, a strange fear arose from the depths of their souls.

"If he doesn't behave, you'll get to eat him!"

Zhou Xun said calmly.

Xiaoqing was overjoyed and punched her nose.

Instantly, a gray light emanated from its body, enveloping Lu Xiuyuan's nascent soul.

"Do not--!"

Lu Xiuyuan let out a terrified scream.

He felt his soul being pulled by a terrifying force, as if it would be devoured at any moment.

That feeling was a thousand times more terrifying than death.

At that moment, he instantly realized that once he was devoured by this little beast, he wouldn't even have a chance to be reincarnated!

Overwhelmed by fear, he disregarded everything else and immediately begged for mercy:

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you everything! Please, fellow Daoist, spare my life!"

Zhou Xun gestured, and Xiao Qing withdrew the gray light with some regret.

It licked its lips and looked at Zhou Xun with pleading eyes:

"Master, is it really not okay to eat this?"

"Let him live for now."

Zhou Xun said calmly, then looked at Lu Xiuyuan:
"I'm giving you one last chance. If you don't behave, you'll become Xiaoqing's snack."

Lu Xiuyuan nodded repeatedly, his voice trembling:

"This junior will definitely cooperate and would never dare to utter a single falsehood!"

Zhou Xun then inquired about "Chongyuan Island".

Lu Xiuyuan dared not conceal the truth and confessed truthfully:

"This is a spirit island that I purchased privately, located in the Northern Yuan Islands. The clan is unaware of this."

It turns out that this spirit island was a spirit island he had secretly placed there.
Even within the Lu clan, no one knew about this.

Zhou Xun was moved upon hearing this:
"If that's the case, I'll get a spirit island for free, which is exactly what I need—a place to stay!"

No wonder Lu Xiuyuan isn't very wealthy; he probably used it all to buy this Spirit Island.

A fifth-grade superior spirit island is worth at least a thousand spirit crystals.

Moreover, they are often available at a price but not in demand.

"very good."

Zhou Xun nodded in satisfaction and retrieved Lu Xiuyuan's nascent soul.

As for that island, we'll deal with it after we've retaliated against the Lu family.

He carefully considered what he had just gained:
Lu Haiping's storage ring was worth about 1,600 spirit crystals, while Lu Xiuyuan's storage ring was only worth a little over 500 spirit crystals.

But with the addition of that fifth-grade high-quality spirit island, the total value exceeds 1,500 spirit crystals.

In total, the profit is over three thousand spirit crystals.
"Murderers and arsonists wear golden belts"—the ancients were right!
……

"Oh right, there's also the Immortal City's inner treasury, which I haven't checked yet."

Zhou Xun suddenly remembered an important place.

"As the public warehouse of Jiuji Immortal City, one of the three immortal cities of the Lu Clan, it must have a lot of goods in stock."

With that in mind, he immediately took action.

With a slight thought, the Thousand Faces Mask activated once again.
His face blurred for a moment, and his figure began to change. In just a few breaths, he transformed into Lu Haiping's appearance.
Not only do they look exactly alike, but their aura and demeanor are also identical.

"However, we still need to force them to reveal the inner treasury token and how to open it."

Zhou Xun then retrieved Lu Xiuhaiping's nascent soul and began to interrogate him.

Lu Haiping wasn't as tough as Lu Xiuyuan. Before Zhou Xun could even use any tricks, Lu Haiping honestly confessed everything.

"The inner treasury is located behind the Nine Seas Palace, guarded by Lu Yuanwu, a peak Nascent Soul cultivator."

Zhou Xun carefully noted down every detail, and only after confirming that everything was correct did he retrieve the nascent soul.

He straightened his robes and stepped out of the cave.

At this moment, he had completely transformed into Lu Haiping, even his walking posture and eyes were no different from the original.

"I've met my ancestor!"

The guards he encountered along the way all bowed respectfully upon seeing him.

Zhou Xun simply nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Soon, he arrived at the back of the mountain.

The environment here is serene and filled with spiritual energy.

In front of an inconspicuous mountain wall stands a simple and rustic building.

The small building is entirely constructed of bluestone, with an unremarkable exterior that blends seamlessly with its surroundings.

An elderly man with white hair sat at the entrance, resting with his eyes closed.

Sensing someone approaching, the old man opened his eyes.

When he saw "Lu Haiping", he immediately stood up and bowed:
"I've met my ancestor!"

This person was Lu Xinwu, a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, who was specifically responsible for guarding the inner treasury.

Zhou Xun mimicked Lu Haiping's tone and responded with a faint "Yes."
"Ah."

He then walked straight towards the small building.

Lu Xinwu dared not ask any more questions and simply stood respectfully to the side.

Zhou Xun arrived at the door of the small building and took out a cyan token, which was the inner treasury token that he had forced out of Lu Xiuyuan.

He affixed the token to the groove on the door, while simultaneously forming hand seals and releasing beams of spiritual light.

"Om-"

A ripple spread across the surface of the small building, and a portal of light slowly opened.

Zhou Xun stepped inside, and the portal immediately closed.

The internal storage space was larger than he had expected.

Looking around, the entire space was tens of thousands of feet square, and it was divided into dozens of warehouses according to different categories.

The first thing that catches the eye is a mountain of spiritual stones.

From the most common low-grade spirit stones to mid-grade, high-grade, and even top-grade spirit stones, they were all piled together in different categories.

It emitted various colors of spiritual light, illuminating the entire inner treasury as if it were daytime.

Zhou Xun scanned the area with his divine sense and made a rough estimate.

The total value of these spirit stones is at least over six hundred spirit crystals!

This is only the part about spirit stones.

Besides these, there were mountains of various materials and elixirs.

They were sorted and arranged neatly.

Among them are many rare fourth- and fifth-tier materials.

Zhou Xun even saw several pieces of Void Crystal the size of human heads, which were even larger than the ones he had found in Lu Haiping's storage ring before.

"As expected of one of the three great immortal cities of the Lu clan, it truly has a profound foundation."

He took out the storage rings of Lu Haiping and Lu Xiuyuan, barely managing to empty all the treasures. Since they belonged to the Lu family,
Naturally, not even a single low-grade spirit stone should be left for the other party!

"almost."

Zhou Xun nodded in satisfaction.

He checked carefully and confirmed that no traces had been left.

He then straightened his robes, reverting to his Lu Haiping appearance, and calmly walked out of the inner treasury.

"Time to move on to the next destination!"

(End of this chapter)