Chapter 2386: Wealth Explosion

After advancing to the Void Refinement stage, Wang Changsheng rarely used the Nine Flood Dragon Drum. This treasure had accompanied him for a long time, helping him eliminate powerful enemies on numerous occasions. He wouldn't have exchanged it if True Monarch Taiyang hadn't taken a liking to it. However, he didn't incur a loss, having exchanged it for a bottle of Heaven Yang Calamity Transformation Pills and two strands of Divine Wood Lightning, as well as two bottles of Nine Yang Spirit Forging Pills.

"The artifact spirit couldn't be a Mahayana cultivator, could it? True Monarch Taiyang seemed to revere her greatly."

Wang Ruyan had a bold conjecture.

"It's hard to say, perhaps so!"

Wang Changsheng's face was filled with confusion. To his knowledge, the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda had existed in the East Sea Realm for tens of thousands of years, while True Monarch Taiyang had ascended to the Xuan Yang Realm less than ten thousand years ago. The two couldn't have had any intersection.

After a brief chat, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan returned to their private chamber to rest.

Wang Changsheng took out three storage rings of different colors. With a flick of his sleeve, three streaks of colorful light swept past, revealing a pile of items on the ground.

Besides three sets of Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures, there were also twenty-five individual Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures: five mid-grade and twenty low-grade, most of which were attack-type. Among them was a seventh-tier Nine Yang Demon Extermination Talisman, an attack talisman effective against ghosts. There were also four sets of sixth-tier formations—three defensive and one offensive. Had Jin Shuo been given enough time to set up these formations, Wang Changsheng wouldn't have been able to eliminate him so easily.

The haul included nearly twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones, ten supreme-grade spirit stones, four types of wind-attributed Dharma Idol materials, a batch of sixth-tier refining materials, and some seventh-tier refining materials. There were hundreds of jade slips and over twenty pieces of sixth-tier beast hide, notably a sixth-tier Lightning Ray hide, which is the primary material for crafting the Heavenly Lightning Spirit Transformation Talisman. The Heavenly Lightning Spirit Transformation Talisman can weaken the power of lightning tribulations, aiding high-level cultivators in passing their trials.

Wang Changsheng carefully examined the items on the ground. Inside a golden jade cauldron, he found two strands of Divine Metal Lightning. With these, once he acquired Divine Earth Lightning, Wang Mengbin could attempt to break through to the Void Refinement stage.

The five mid-grade Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures were the Azure Flame Spirit-Extinguishing Gourd, Golden Roc Pendant, Thousand Spirit Bottle, Azure Roc Ruler, and Wind Stabilizing Pearl. The sets of Sky-reaching Spirit Treasures included the Golden Glaze Spirit-Slaying Blades, Sky Wind Banners, and Four Seas Demon-Locking Chains. After a period of exploration, Wang Changsheng gradually figured out the uses of these treasures. The Azure Flame Spirit-Extinguishing Gourd and Azure Roc Ruler were offensive treasures; the latter sealed the spirit of a mid-grade sixth-tier Azure Wind Roc, allowing it to transform and attack. The Thousand Spirit Bottle, an imitation of the Myriad Spirit Bottle, could collect essence from the sun and moon to produce Thousand Spirit Jade Liquid for cultivating spiritual herbs. While its effect was naturally inferior to the Myriad Spirit Jade Liquid produced by the Myriad Spirit Bottle, it was better than nothing. There were thirty-six Golden Glaze Spirit-Slaying Blades in total, three Sky Wind Banners, and nine Four Seas Demon-Locking Chains. Among these, the Golden Glaze Spirit-Slaying Blades possessed the greatest power.

Wang Changsheng picked up a blue jade slip and placed it against his forehead. Over an hour later, Wang Changsheng finished reading the contents of the jade slip. The contents recorded in these jade slips were varied, including sea maps, cultivation techniques, secret arts, formation manuals, and even pill recipes. Some of these items originated from human cultivators, while others belonged to the Golden Roc race. Among them were several demon cultivation techniques. The "Heavenly Roc Grand Technique" was particularly suitable for Wang Xiao to cultivate; this technique was created by a Soul Transformation stage Golden Wind Roc, and its accompanying secret arts and cultivation techniques were quite good.

Wang Xiao had made significant contributions this time, and Wang Changsheng naturally wouldn't treat him poorly. He planned to give the "Heavenly Roc Grand Technique" to Wang Xiao for cultivation. As for the Dharma Idol materials, he would consider them after Wang Xiao made further contributions. The total value of these items exceeded one billion spirit stones. Unfortunately, they could not be openly displayed or easily used in public. Without this battle, it would have been difficult to collect these items even in ten thousand years.

Wang Changsheng sorted and put away the materials on the ground, then sat in meditation to adjust his breath.

In a guest room within a nine-story pavilion, True Monarch Taiyang sat cross-legged on a futon, with the Nine Flood Dragon Drum and Nine Python Drum placed before him.

"Ye Xuanji! Is that you? Did you come to the lower realm to avoid the Great Heavenly Tribulation? Or did your true body perish under the Great Heavenly Tribulation, and a soul fragment came to the lower realm to cultivate and return to the Xuan Yang Realm?" True Monarch Taiyang muttered to himself, his expression solemn.

"Immortal Suppressing Pagoda, artifact spirit!" True Monarch Taiyang gently tapped the ground, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Hundreds of millions of li away, on a deserted island a thousand li in circumference, thousands of Golden Roc clan members were gathered on a steep peak. At the summit, Jin Ao was listening to his subordinates' report.

"Jiao Mingzhu personally stated that the young master was killed by Liu Yunlan. She herself was also killed by human cultivators, and her spirit was captured." A tall, thin, gold-robed elder said cautiously.

"Liu Yunlan, Thousand Bamboo Island!" Jin Ao snorted coldly, his face filled with killing intent. If someone else had said it, he might not have believed it, but Jiao Mingzhu had always been with Jin Shuo and had no reason to lie for human cultivators.

"Clan Leader, what should we do now?" The gold-robed elder asked cautiously.

"First, find a safe place to heal. Gather our clan members and recuperate. As long as the green mountains remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood." Jin Ao instructed, stating that he was severely wounded and would need at least several thousand years to recover. It wouldn't be too late to seek revenge on humans once his injuries healed.

"Yes, Clan Leader." The gold-robed elder breathed a sigh of relief, agreed, and departed to carry out the order.

A cold glint flashed in Jin Ao's eyes. If it weren't for the current need for manpower, he would have wanted to kill this person, who couldn't even protect Jin Shuo. Truly a waste. Jin Shuo's strength was considerable; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to become the young clan leader. His death was too suspicious; it might not have been Liu Yunlan who killed him. However, one thing was certain: Jin Shuo was killed by a human cultivator.

The human cultivator capable of killing Jin Shuo was definitely not an ordinary Void Refinement cultivator. His first suspect was the Cold Flame Sect; perhaps a disciple from there killed him, giving the credit to Liu Yunlan to bolster the Liu family. Alternatively, it could have been a disciple from Zhenhai Palace, intending to "kill with a borrowed knife" by using the Golden Roc race against the Cold Flame Sect. It was also possible that other forces were responsible. The Fiery Spirit race had no reason to do this; whether Jin Shuo was alive or dead, the blood feud between the human race and the Golden Roc race could not be resolved.

Without evidence, Jin Ao didn't bother to guess. He had spies within the human race anyway and would simply wait for information to return. No matter who killed Jin Shuo, blood debt must be paid with blood. To seek revenge, he would have to wait until he recovered. The Golden Roc race was greatly weakened by this battle; without a major stroke of luck, they might not recover their vitality even after ten thousand years of recuperation.

Human cultivators attacked from all directions. Without the support of the Fiery Spirit race, the dozens of smaller surrounding races were no match, retreating in defeat and suffering heavy casualties. The human race seized this opportunity to expand its territory, occupying numerous islands, setting up formations, and relocating cultivators and mortals. They encouraged inland cultivators to develop overseas, and some inland forces moved to the sea, vacating many territories.