Chapter 867: Killing and Arson Make Money Fast

What incredibly valuable information this is! Perhaps, this is the direction he should strive for in the future?

After a few steps, he suddenly felt his limbs turn to lead, exceptionally weary. General Hong's armor placed an immense burden on the body; it was not easy to wear. Furthermore, the battle with Nārakadeva's avatar was mentally exhausting; he had been on edge and calculating every move throughout. Now that he finally relaxed, He Lingchuan couldn't help but yawn.

How could such a cunning opponent as Nārakadeva be made to drop its guard and send down an avatar? He Lingchuan's strategy was to make Nārakadeva believe that every step of its journey to the Coiling Dragon Ruins was orchestrated by itself, and that the greatest danger within the ruins came from the Heavenly Palace and the Grand Cauldron itself, not from He Lingchuan. In short, he needed to make its greed override its caution. And a skilled hunter sometimes has to appear as the prey.

He Lingchuan tapped the divine bone necklace. “Hey, you didn't digest Nārakadeva's avatar, did you? Otherwise, all this effort today would be for nothing!” Why did he go to such lengths to set up this trap? Wasn't it to lure Nārakadeva's avatar in and trap it? To trap it, not to kill it! A celestial deity can only have one avatar in the mortal realm. Now that Nārakadeva's avatar was trapped in the Grand Cauldron, as long as it remained in an undying state, Nārakadeva's true form could not descend to the mortal realm again. The slot was occupied. Therefore, He Lingchuan wasn't worried at all, even though he knew the divine mark in his sea of consciousness hadn't faded. As long as Nārakadeva's true form couldn't descend to the mortal realm, it would have no power over him in the future. And because the physical body couldn't be transferred and the mark couldn't be removed by other deities, no other deity would dare to covet He Lingchuan's body. Given that He Lingchuan himself couldn't erase the divine mark, this was the best compromise.

The divine bone necklace remained unresponsive, as always. He Lingchuan wasn't very worried; although the Grand Cauldron didn't communicate with him, it still operated by rules and reason. Just by observing that the Coiling Dragon secret realm allowed human adventurers to enter directly this time, yet blocked the celestial deity's avatar within the vast ocean, he knew it was indeed silently cooperating with He Lingchuan's plan. He even considerately said, “When you have time, remember to let me see it with my own eyes. That’s reasonable, isn’t it?” Having to both trap Nārakadeva's avatar and merge with the Spiritual Treasure Canopy, the Grand Cauldron must be terribly busy right now.

He simply sat down and meditated for two cycles, only then feeling his body somewhat recover, no longer in an emptied state. As soon as he stood up, He Lingchuan noticed a faint glimmer on the ground not far away. What was that? He walked over and picked up a small yellow seal from the ground. Turning it over, he saw a shallow but fresh indentation on the bottom of the seal. “The Heavenly King Seal?” Just now, Daoist Threewaters had used this seal to suppress him, but it had been repelled by General Hong's black spear. He Lingchuan had thought it was a magical artifact conjured by Daoist Threewaters, never expecting it to be a genuine treasure. General Hong's combat power, combined with the Great Wind Army's elemental force, hadn't managed to shatter this seal. Indeed, the personal weapons of ancient grand immortals were extraordinary. It should be quite valuable, shouldn't it?

He Lingchuan wiped off the blood and dirt from the seal and bowed respectfully toward the sky. “Thank you, Daoist Threewaters.” Deciding to finish what he started, he began to clear the battlefield, collecting the belongings of the fallen. They would be useless if left here; it would be better if they accompanied him from now on. He would treat them well. Then, he found Daoist Threewaters' token in a rock crevice. “Oh, jackpot!” This token was carved with three pythons—black, gold, and blue—and He Lingchuan recognized them at a glance as the Three Rivers Pythons that had tirelessly fought him earlier. However, having gone through a major battle, they were all depleted of vitality and would need some time to recuperate before being released again. This was Daoist Threewaters' renowned magical artifact; it had accompanied its master, stifled within the Spiritual Treasure Canopy for thousands of years, yet had not perished. Unfortunately, with the weakening of spiritual energy in the world, the artifact could not unleash its full power. Otherwise, those three great serpents, at their peak, were said to possess the power of three rivers; He Lingchuan wouldn't have been able to withstand them even in General Hong's armor.

He then searched the other deceased. Whether they were from Baling, Andong, or just miscellaneous adventurers, they were all dirt poor, unable to scrape together ten taels of silver from their entire bodies. But the Heavenly Palace team, on the other hand, was quite wealthy. The gold and silver jewelry He Lingchuan found on them alone was worth over seven thousand taels of silver, along with dozens of magical artifacts whose value was difficult to estimate for now. Killing and looting really is the quickest way to get rich. He picked out Zhang Lianhai's candle and asked the divine bone necklace, “Want this?” Previously, the Grand Cauldron had shown interest in the candles and lamp spirits of Bai Ziqi, the White Envoy, but He Lingchuan hadn't been able to acquire them at the time. The divine bone necklace accepted all comers, swallowing it in one gulp. He Lingchuan shrugged and continued searching. He Jing also had a pale golden candle. As a Cloud Envoy, his treasures were naturally of a higher caliber, so He Lingchuan decided to keep it for himself. He then uncovered the Big Dipper Kui Star Formation. The formation implements were perfectly preserved, but unfortunately, all the Kui Star Stones had been expended in battle. This formation integrated offense, defense, and replenishment. The Heavenly Palace team had relied on it to resist over a dozen waves of attacks from the Que Beasts, and He Lingchuan had been quite envious at the time. Right, keep it safe, and see if there's a chance to replenish the Kui Star Stones later. He also removed several high-capacity storage rings from He Jing's hand; they alone were quite valuable. Inside them were numerous supplies, a complete set of small 'Mountain-Moving' copper talisman arrays, and tokens to control several mummified demonic puppets. “I'm rich, I'm rich.” He was just short on money; the Heavenly Palace people were all good guys!

Then, he discovered a very peculiar corpse. He Jing had brought four attendant children, but only three of them successfully summoned child-devouring Ghoulish Beasts. The last Ghoulish Beast never emerged to fight because its host had secretly taken medicine. Judging by He Jing's reaction, this Ghoulish Beast should have been quite powerful, but unfortunately, it failed to turn the tide for the Heavenly Palace. It should still be hidden within the attendant child's corpse on the ground. He Lingchuan tried to put the attendant child's corpse into his storage ring, but he failed. As expected, storage rings couldn't hold living beings. He then checked the corpse's pulse again, and to his surprise, found that the attendant child was barely breathing; he wasn't dead! This was truly unexpected. The attendant child's eyes and brain had been burned by the pale golden candle's flame, which should have killed him instantly. At the time, He Jing was desperate to summon the Ghoulish Beast and completely disregarded this life. Although the Ghoulish Beast had been in a state of slumber, once its host died, it would have no source of sustenance. Just as a person looks for food when hungry, if it woke up from hunger, it would free itself and search for sustenance. He didn't know if this creature was simply prone to sleeping or not hungry, but it hadn't appeared even after He Jing was killed in battle. With his brain destroyed, the attendant child certainly wouldn't wake up, but his body was still clinging to life. Perhaps this was also due to the Ghoulish Beast. A living Ghoulish Beast was still very valuable. How should he deal with it? This didn't stump He Lingchuan. He tapped the Soul-Capturing Mirror. “Take it!” The mirror contained a small world of its own, so taking in a few living creatures was no problem.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror spat out a few drops of clear water, which turned into foam upon hitting the ground. He Lingchuan asked, surprised, “What is this?” “Daoist Threewaters' blue python!” the Soul-Capturing Mirror complained. “You shoved it in me and then ignored it! It's been thrashing around in my little world for ages!” It only ceased to exist when Daoist Threewaters perished. “Can your little world still handle it?” Since joining him, the mirror had received many benefits, and its small world should have improved, no longer so fragile. “...It's fine, it died quickly.” The mirror silently absorbed the Ghoulish Beast's body. “What do you want this thing for? What if it wakes up and bothers me again?” “A toy for Dong Rui.” Dong Rui's demonic puppets and the Ghoulish Beasts shared a similar essence; he'd probably grin from ear to ear if he saw this thing.

As soon as he straightened up, he noticed the mud, sand, and pebbles on the ground turning into black smoke. Looking around at the surrounding structures, the ruined walls, bricks, and tiles also transformed into wisps of smoke, as if summoned, drifting towards General Hong's tomb. The Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed, “This secret realm is about to collapse! No, it's dissolving.” It held a small world within itself, so it had the most authority on the matter. He Lingchuan walked alone amidst the ruins. Around him, a world was breaking apart. The base color of the sky gradually turned light red. Ethereal, desolate, magnificent. This was the end of a secret realm, the final moments of an unknown world. How many people in the world would be fortunate enough to witness such a sight? He Lingchuan understood that the secret realm he and Sun Fuping, Nian Songyu, and others had entered two years ago was also this very one. It had facilitated the handover between Zhong Shengguang and General Hong, served as the battlefield for the Grand Cauldron to refine the Spiritual Canopy, and was also He Lingchuan's trap to ambush Nārakadeva's avatar. Its mission was complete; it could now withdraw. He Lingchuan closed his eyes, his thoughts turning to: What about the Coiling Dragon World? Were it and this secret realm essentially the same? And how would it meet its final end?

He Chunhua led his army back to the oasis and ordered tents to be set up. A military doctor came to treat the wound on his shoulder blade. With the tent flap rolled up, He Chunhua gazed silently at the rising sun in the east. The statue of Nārakadeva in his arms had been radiating heat, but he paid it no mind. Basin after basin of blood-stained water was carried out, yet whether it was due to medication or a psychological effect, he felt no pain. After the relief of escaping the Coiling Dragon secret realm and surviving the ordeal faded, his mind automatically replayed his eldest son's passionate scolding. Was that really Chuan'er? If not, why had he risked his life to save him on previous occasions? If so, then the changes over the past year and a half were too immense, weren't they? From a dissolute young master in the frontier to a pillar of talent. His tone of voice, his way of doing things, and the look in his eyes were all different. But isn't this the ideal son any father dreams of—accomplished, responsible, bringing glory to the family? Chuan'er had grown up after all. It wasn't uncommon for children to suddenly mature and become sensible overnight; as the saying goes, a prodigal son's return is worth more than gold. Why couldn't he, He Chunhua, have two good sons?

The military doctor softly said, “My lord, the wound has been treated. It's best to rest quietly today.” A new day had just begun, but He Chunhua looked utterly exhausted. “You may leave,” he said. He dismissed everyone. Zhao Qinghe, being perceptive, first helped him sit up, then took an incense burner, lit seven sticks of incense, set up a barrier for him, and finally secured the tent flap to prevent drafts. He Chunhua sat alone in the tent, contemplating for a long time, before finally pulling out the statue of Nārakadeva and murmuring a prayer.