Chapter 190: Opening the Storage Bag

In the room, Chen Mobai stared blankly at the more than eight hundred spirit stones that had poured out of the storage bag, covering the floor.

After mastering the Cultivation of Thought and Forging of Spirit Art, he effortlessly broke the previous owner's imprint on the storage bag. Although he had hoped for some gains, such an immense haul still caught him off guard.

He had always been unlucky when it came to winning anything. Who would have thought that a storage bag picked up in the ruins of Qingguang Island would yield such a staggering reward?

Coming back to his senses, Chen Mobai excitedly stacked the spirit stones one by one. He counted and stacked, and the 867 low-grade spirit stones piled up like a small mountain, dazzling him.

After arranging the spirit stones, the other items in the storage bag came into Chen Mobai's view. There were three cultivation technique manuals. He took a look and found them to be the Everlasting Life Sutra, the Scarlet Flame Sword Art, and the Two-Phase Skill!

Could this storage bag belong to a disciple of the Divine Wood Sect? Upon seeing these three cultivation methods, a guess flashed through Chen Mobai's mind.

Only a handful of people in the Qingguang Island market could possess such a large number of spirit stones. Before the beast attack on the island, the Divine Wood Sect had distributed many spirit stones to leading disciples like Wang Yuanwu to recruit and hire rogue cultivators on the island. Coincidentally, these three cultivation techniques were standard for true disciples of the Divine Wood Sect.

Besides the cultivation manuals, there were also two sets of clothes for changing, indicating the owner was a male cultivator, along with over a hundred taels of gold.

There were no pills or talismans in the storage bag. The previous owner likely fought to the last moment on Qingguang Island, consuming all pills and expending all talismans, leaving only the spirit stones and cultivation manuals which were unusable in combat and thus spared. Perhaps, before his death in battle, he placed the storage bag in a hidden spot in the market, where Chen Mobai, thoroughly scouring the area, managed to find it.

Realizing this might be a storage bag belonging to a true disciple of the Divine Wood Sect, Chen Mobai felt that buying Yuan Chizhi's storage bag was an absolutely correct decision. If it were ever recognized, having the 867 spirit stones reclaimed would be a minor issue; but if the Divine Wood Sect accused him of harming a fellow disciple, he would have no choice but to flee.

Chen Mobai transferred the spirit stones into the storage bag he bought from Yuan Chizhi. With his own savings added, he now possessed 1097 low-grade spirit stones. This was enough to cultivate the Tri-Solar Body. As if by psychological effect, he felt the sky-blue pouch suddenly become heavier.

After a good while, he finally recovered from the joy of his sudden wealth. Picking up the three cultivation manuals in front of him, he read for a while, finally calming himself.

He flipped through the Everlasting Life Sutra and the Two-Phase Skill; they were identical to the ones he had exchanged from the sect's library. Only the Scarlet Flame Sword Art was something he had heard about but never read.

However, he was very familiar with this fire-attributed cultivation technique. After all, every Divine Wood Sect disciple he knew on Qingguang Island—be it Qi Hou, Qi Rui, or even Wang Yuanwu—cultivated this art.

Qi Rui had even given him his notes on crafting Scarlet Flame Sword Talismans. It was just unfortunate that finding people in the Heavenly River Realm was inconvenient, unlike the Immortal Sect where one only needed to make a call.

Chen Mobai had also asked Yuan Chizhi how many people the Divine Wood Sect had withdrawn after the Battle of Qingguang Island, and if any of the people he knew were among them. However, Yuan Chizhi found it bothersome and told him to inquire himself after leaving the New Bud Hall.

Unfortunately, as time passed, Chen Mobai became busy with chopping firewood, cultivating, farming, and other tasks, gradually forgetting about it.

Now, seeing the Scarlet Flame Sword Art, he immediately recalled his time on Qingguang Island. That was his first direct encounter with the dangers of the cultivation world in the Heavenly River Realm, and a crucial period for his growth from a naive youth and the transformation of his thoughts.

This fire-attributed cultivation technique surprisingly allowed for both talisman and sword cultivation. Other aspects were fine, as Chen Mobai had already mastered the "Scarlet Fire Talisman" and "Sword Qi Talisman" recorded within. He was confident he could draw the "Scarlet Flame Sword Talisman" after his studies at the Daoist Academy, but due to the need for specific talisman ink, he hadn't had the chance to try. As for the subsequent "Two-Sword Talisman" and "Three-Sword Talisman," he might need to further refine his talisman-drawing skills.

However, the Scarlet Flame Sword Art surprisingly also recorded the first three realms of sword cultivation: Sword Cultivation into Auric Qi, Auric Qi Transformation into Sword Qi, and Sword Qi Like a Rainbow!

Among these, Sword Cultivation into Auric Qi involves condensing spiritual power into sword aura, which can be attached to anything, cutting through metal like mud. The rogue cultivator brothers who once tried to rob Chen Mobai of his Sword Forging Ring were at this very stage; they imbued their longswords with sword aura, granting them sharpness comparable to flying swords.

Auric Qi Transformation into Sword Qi, on the other hand, is a higher realm. It involves condensing the sword aura into sword qi, allowing for long-range attacks. The more refined the sword qi, the greater its range and power. Generally, cultivators capable of Auric Qi Transformation into Sword Qi, at the same Qi Refinement stage, can unleash an almost unavoidable killing blow, as their divine sense cannot yet extend beyond their body to perceive incoming attacks.

The final stage, Sword Qi Like a Rainbow, can only be achieved after reaching the Foundation Establishment realm.

Chen Mobai thought of the "Sword Forging Ring" at the very bottom of his storage bag. Since this item was also found, and was exclusively for the true disciples of Golden Light Cliff, Chen Mobai dared not ask Yuan Chizhi about it, nor did he have the time to look it up in the library. But this thing seemed very helpful for sword cultivation? Chen Mobai thoughtfully recalled the rogue cultivators who had tried to snatch this brass ring.

However, he only read through the Scarlet Flame Sword Art once before putting the manual back into his storage bag. His main priority now was to break through to the ninth level of Qi Refinement, then attempt Foundation Establishment. If he had any spare time, he also wanted to improve his spiritual roots; for now, he couldn't afford to be distracted by sword cultivation.

Moreover, if he were to practice sword cultivation in the future, he would undoubtedly follow the path of the Immortal Sect's Sword Arts. This was because the Immortal Sect had certainly researched the Way of the Sword Cultivator much more deeply than the Heavenly River Realm.

One of the Immortal Sect's seven Divine Transformation cultivation techniques, and the only one not passed down within the four Great Daoist Academies, was the "Immortal Sect Sword Art," which could only be cultivated by the three Hall Masters of the Immortal Sect, and was renowned as paramount in lethal combat. Another example was Patriarch Yuanyang, a Divine Transformation True Monarch and a grandmaster of sword cultivation. At his peak, wielding the Yuanyang Sword, he possessed the grandeur of a single sword strike breaking all techniques.

Lost in thought, Chen Mobai took out the Sword Forging Ring. This ring had been appraised by Wu Wan before, but Chen Mobai now knew that Wu Wan's appraisal was incomplete, and there were still hidden functions that had not been identified. He felt it was necessary to fully understand the purpose of this magic tool.

He stood up. Instead of going to the Divine Wood Sect for answers, he made a phone call. "Brother, I found a very interesting magic tool at the flea market. Do you have time to help me appraise it?"

On the other end of the line was Ming Yihua, who had also been making a name for himself in the Artifact Forging Department over the past six months. Unlike Chen Mobai, who was a somewhat nominal genius, Ming Yihua was a true genius. Not only did he pass the First-Class Appraiser exam in his first month of enrollment, but he also recently passed the First-Class Artifact Forger exam, earning him the reputation as the most talented artifact forging genius of the Dancing Weapons Daoist Academy in the past decade.

Ming Yihua agreed readily, directly telling Chen Mobai to meet him at the Artifact Forging Room in Building No. 6.