Chapter 139: Chapter 135: Special Operation Month Against Tribulation Cultivators
With those two dispatched on their respective tasks, Du Youqian was left to his leisure.
He spent his days lazily nurturing his Sword Intent or studying the Array Dao, thoroughly enjoying himself.
Once he had finished his own tasks, Gu Xiaofang ran over and said, "Brother Fei, you should probably keep an eye on Luo Jinyu. You sent him to retrieve the secret stashes of those Tribulation Cultivators, didn’t you? Aren’t they worth several thousand Spiritual Jade? Can you really trust him with such a huge sum? To be honest, I’m not sure even I could resist that kind of temptation. Several thousand Spiritual Jade! That’s enough for someone to cultivate all the way to Foundation Establishment Perfection and attempt to break through to Core Formation."
Du Youqian just smiled. "I trust Luo Jinyu, and I trust you. You two are my right and left hands. Xiaogu, you must also have faith in my judgment of character."
"Then why didn’t you let me go?"
Du Youqian shot him a disdainful look. "With your Qi Cultivation Middle Stage cultivation, you want to swagger around carrying things worth thousands of Spiritual Jade? Are you tired of living?"
Gu Xiaofang fell silent, looking embarrassed.
「A few days later.」
When Luo Jinyu returned with the entirety of the wealth that Feng Bin had accumulated over his twenty-year career as a Tribulation Cultivator, Du Youqian took a quick tally.
There were over thirty items in total, including Magical Artifacts, Spiritual Artifacts, and Demon Artifacts, worth about 3,000 Spiritual Jade.
Various Treasures of Heaven and Earth, Precious Minerals, and Medicinal Herbs were worth over 3,500 Spiritual Jade.
In addition, there were Jade Scrolls containing inheritances for Cultivation Techniques, Secret Techniques, and other cultivation arts.
This part was difficult to appraise, but the total value was likely around one to two thousand Spiritual Jade.
There was also over 300 Spiritual Jade and special-attribute Spirit Stones worth about 500 Spiritual Jade. These special-attribute Spirit Stones could be used for Array Formation, or as auxiliary materials in Alchemy and Artifact Refining.
This didn’t even count the Concealing Breath Secret Technique, or his trump card that could have seriously injured Du Youqian—a single-use Tier Three Sword Pill that could unleash a strike comparable in power to that of a Tier Three Sword Cultivator. There was no telling where the guy had gotten his hands on such a high-quality item.
Back when Du Youqian was leaving the Sect, he had wanted to get some protective trinkets but couldn’t bring himself to exchange his points for a single-use Sword Pill like this.
All in all, this trip had been a massive haul.
It even made Du Youqian feel a little tempted to launch a "Special Action Month to Crack Down on Tribulation Cultivators."
But on second thought, Feng Bin had been the foremost Tribulation Cultivator in the Wu Kingdom.
Other, lesser Tribulation Cultivators couldn’t possibly be this rich.
If he wanted to crack down on them, it would be better to wait another ten or twenty years, let them fatten up before the slaughter.
Du Youqian had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea.
The haul from looting Li Tai’s residence was also substantial.
Moreover, it consisted mainly of Spirit Stones and various special-attribute Spirit Stones, plus some Inheritance Jade Scrolls, which saved him the trouble of having to sell them off.
All told, it was worth about 4,000 Spiritual Jade.
However, the main prize of Li Tai’s legacy was probably the Soul-Extinguishing Lamp. If sold, it could easily fetch between 3,500 and 4,000 Spiritual Jade.
If Li Tai had been allowed to use this Demon Artifact freely, even Du Youqian would have found it difficult to handle.
It was just that Li Tai had spent most of his fortune on this Soul-Extinguishing Lamp, yet he didn’t even have a single treasure for seeing through falsehoods, eliminating delusions, or breaking illusions, which led to him being toyed with and played for a fool by Du Youqian.
He hadn’t been able to use even one percent of his true abilities before he died.
It was an utterly suffocating end.
If he hadn’t died completely at that moment, he probably would have killed himself out of shame, dying a second time.
Du Youqian casually gifted this priceless Demon Artifact to Luo Jinyu. One can only imagine how deeply grateful Luo Jinyu felt, to the point that he would have gladly died to repay the favor.
This trip had been a massive haul for Du Youqian.
He had earned so much Spiritual Jade that he could buy a common Fifth-class Sect with plenty to spare.
In other words, if Du Youqian wanted to, he could go and establish a Fifth-class Sect right now and become its founding ancestor.
It was said that the annual income of a True Disciple from the Holy Blood Sect, both overt and covert, was only about 1,000 to 1,500 Spiritual Jade.
Du Youqian’s earnings in the last few days were equivalent to nearly ten years of income for a True Disciple from a First-class Sect.
Just as a horse doesn’t get fat without nighttime grass, a man doesn’t get rich without a windfall.
When the nearby Sects and Cultivation Families sent people over and saw the bodies of Feng Bin and the others, Du Youqian’s prestige naturally soared.
Amidst their reserved flattery and shameless sycophancy, Du Youqian made copies of the Inheritance and Cultivation Technique Jade Scrolls that had been stolen from their respective factions for his own use, then returned the originals. This move boosted his reputation immensely.
However, they didn’t let Du Youqian suffer a loss. They pooled their resources and presented him with about 800 Spiritual Jade as a small token of gratitude for "protecting the region and its people."
Once this motley crew had dispersed, Du Youqian sent Gu Xiaofang to a nearby Marketplace to slowly sell off the Spiritual Artifacts, Demon Artifacts, and other items from Feng Bin’s stash that they had no use for.
This was to avoid selling too quickly and taking a loss on the price.
He himself took Luo Jinyu and, carrying Li Tai’s corpse, made a trip back to the Sect.
First, of course, was to pay his respects to his benefactor and greatest backer, Chun Xiao Master.
Although Feng Xiaoyi wasn’t in seclusion, she seemed busy with something. She exchanged a few lukewarm words with Du Youqian before sending him away.
Du Youqian didn’t think much of it.
Having spent two years with Feng Xiaoyi, he was already used to it.
As a Core Formation Ancestor, Feng Xiaoyi might have already undergone Slaying the Red Dragon and no longer had ’that time of the month,’ but her moods were still as fickle and unpredictable as the weather.
When she was in a bad mood, it was best not to bother her and just make a swift retreat.
The next time she was in a good mood, she would feel a little guilty and offer some compensation.
After taking his leave of Feng Xiaoyi, Du Youqian went to the Bright Law Hall to report his discovery of Li Tai’s conspiracy and how he had decisively lured him out and killed him in one fell swoop.
With the Memory Stone as evidence, there was naturally nothing to criticize in Du Youqian’s actions.
As for killing Li Tai directly instead of beating him half to death and bringing him back to the Sect for trial...
This wasn’t some Profound Sects Orthodox Sect, so what the hell was there to put on trial?
For a Demon Sect, if two fellow disciples had a conflict, they were expected to fight it out.
Kill one, and the conflict is gone.
This wasn’t called disciples slaughtering each other.
It was called survival of the fittest.
Survival of the fittest was one of the supreme laws the Demon Sects believed in.
It was just that within the Sect, duels had to take place in the Life and Death Arena, and various terms and conditions had to be signed beforehand.
After all, there had to be rules.
But outside the Sect, there weren’t so many formalities.
Of course, when fellow disciples fought and casualties occurred—especially when it involved the death of an Inner Disciple or True Disciple whose soul information was recorded on a Life Soul Plate—the Sect would investigate.
If the survivor was not in the right, they would receive some form of punishment.
For example, if Li Tai had managed to kill Du Youqian, the Sect would have definitely disciplined him, even if he managed to pin the blame on Feng Bin.
A fine of some Spiritual Jade, a suspension of Sect Contribution, and so on.
If the truth was exposed and his attempt to shift the blame failed, he would at least be punished by being sent to garrison some bitter, cold wasteland.
But for someone like Du Youqian, who was in the right and had a Core Formation Ancestor as a backer, killing his opponent would naturally have no repercussions.
They couldn’t possibly punish a living genius who had made a minor mistake for the sake of a dead genius who had erred, could they?
Wouldn’t that be just as hypocritical as the Profound Sects Orthodox Sect?
So after viewing the Memory Stone, the Bright Law Hall didn’t even formally question Du Youqian and hastily closed the case: Li Tai, the Guiyan Mountain Spirit Stone Mine Guardian, had committed insubordination, colluded with outsiders to harm a fellow disciple, and his crimes were unpardonable.
As he was killed by Wu Kingdom’s Guardian Envoy Yu Fei, Yu Fei was entitled to all of Li Tai’s personal property, including his soul and body.
Du Youqian had no use for Li Tai’s body, so he simply gave it back to Li Tai’s master, whose own time was running out, to avoid being resented.
The Foundation Establishment Perfection Cultivator even had to express his gratitude, giving Du Youqian 80 Spiritual Jade—which was about the going price for a well-preserved corpse of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator on the black market.
After all, the corpse could be refined into a zombie, and many of its parts could be used to concoct Evil Pills or be refined into a Demon Artifact to increase its power.
If one were truly ruthless and sold the body off piece by piece, it might even fetch up to 100 Spiritual Jade.
After finishing all this, Du Youqian went to the Artifact Refining Hall, wanting to upgrade his sword, "Jinhuan."
The one who received Du Youqian was a short, middle-aged man at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage with a Tier Two Peak Refining Technique. His face was as red as a jujube, and he sported a magnificent beard.
If he were a bit more handsome and a little taller, he would have perfectly matched Du Youqian’s mental image of Guan Yu.
"It can be done." After carefully inspecting the Jinhuan sword, he gave an affirmative reply.
"The foundation of this Flying Sword is excellent; it must have been crafted by a Tier Three Artifact Refining Master. Although it looks like a casual piece of work, its fundamentals are solid, and some parts are quite innovative."
"Upgrading it to Upper Grade won’t be a problem. However, the cost of the materials required probably won’t be any lower than buying a new, excellent Upper Grade Flying Sword. Are you sure?"
Du Youqian smiled. "Fellow Daoist Tan, just tell me what materials you need."
That Tan Quangong quickly listed more than a dozen materials.
Du Youqian’s own Artifact Refining skill was already at Tier Two Middle Grade.
Upon hearing the list, he immediately knew what scheme the man was up to—he had padded the list with several extra precious materials.
However, he didn’t call him out on it for the moment, simply smiling. "I have some of those materials right here."
With that, he opened his Storage Treasure Pouch and took out a few items.
Then he asked Tan Quangong, "Fellow Daoist Tan, do you have the remaining materials?"
Tan Quangong stroked his magnificent beard and smiled. "I have most of them, but there are two materials..."
If this were one of the xianxia novels Du Youqian had read three lifetimes ago, this would be the point where the protagonist would definitely have to go out and search for the materials himself. Along the way, he would rescue a damsel in distress, thwart a villain’s plot, stumble upon another fortunate encounter, or kick off a quest chain.
But Du Youqian didn’t have that kind of time.
He directly threw down his accumulated Sect Contribution Points and posted a procurement task for the two materials at the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall.
He then went into seclusion to comprehend the Concealing Breath Secret Technique.
Only when both materials had been acquired did he leisurely go and find Tan Quangong.
Just as Tan Quangong took the materials and was about to begin the refining process, Du Youqian stopped him.
"Fellow Daoist Tan, I’ve paid a considerable price to have you do this..." Du Youqian slowly listed the names of several materials that were completely unnecessary for the process—the ones Tan Quangong had clearly intended to pocket for himself.
Seeing sweat bead on Tan Quangong’s forehead, Du Youqian smiled. "I’m not stingy about this. If the Flying Sword is successfully upgraded to Upper Grade, then everyone will be happy, and you can consider these materials a gift from me to you, Fellow Daoist Tan."
"But if it fails..."
Tan Quangong shook his head repeatedly. "It will succeed! It will definitely succeed!"
