11: Chapter 11: The Crisis Brought by the Jade Talisman

Xiao Yuan felt like his head was about to explode.

"Possessing a treasure draws unwanted trouble! The ancients truly spoke the truth!"

Had he thought about handing the item over to the Sect? Or finding some big shot?

Don't be ridiculous! If a big shot saw this jade talisman treasure and greed took hold, crushing him—a mere "low-level Disciple who happened to pick up a treasure"—to death, wouldn't he die an even more wrongful death?

Even if the big shot were upright, if he presented the treasure with such fanfare, would Chen Yin and Zhao Mingfang let him off the hook?

By then, the ones he offended wouldn't be just Chen Yin alone!

He was only at Qi Condensation 4th Layer! He was practically at everyone's mercy!

Irritated, he scratched his hair and forced himself to calm down.

Panicking now wouldn't help; he needed to handle the immediate matters first.

He dumped all the actual junk trash into the nearby Earth Fire Pit in one go.

Watching the flames devour everything, he felt slightly more at ease—at least no obvious clues would be left behind.

"I need to ask around and find out which careless 'tycoon' lost such a deadly item."

Xiao Yuan pondered, but soon shook his head, rejecting the idea.

"Forget it. In a case like losing a valuable treasure, the owner will surely keep it tightly under wraps. How could they go around announcing it? Wouldn't that just be telling everyone 'Come grab my lost treasure'? Look, even before the news leaked, Chen Yin and Zhao Mingfang caught wind of it and came sniffing around, didn't they?"

He glanced outside at the darkening sky, his heart tightening.

He knew he couldn't stay here any longer! Once night fell, those two guys would definitely sneak over!

Thoughts racing, he quickly had an idea—go to the Cultivation Room!

First, he could lay low for a while; second, he had just acquired a large batch of new waste pills, perfect for entering secluded cultivation to push for a higher Realm!

If he pushed his cultivation base to Qi Condensation 5th Layer Peak, combined with his introductory medium-tier Spells, a supreme-grade Spiritual Artifact sword, and a bunch of Talismans...

Even if he ran head-on into Chen Yin or Zhao Mingfang, he would not be completely helpless, and might even have a chance to turn the tables and kill them!

A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Xiao Yuan's eyes.

Strength! In the end, it was still a lack of strength!

No sooner said than done!

He checked his "assets":

Obtained previously from looting Zhou Zheng's corpse:

Low-Grade Spirit Stone: 53

Low Grade marrow cleansing pill: 23

Low Grade Talisman: 3

Low Grade Spiritual Artifact ring: 1

Adding the 23 Spirit Stones contributed earlier by those two Qi Condensation 4th Layer guys, he now had a total of 76 Low-Grade Spirit Stones!

"This guy Zhou Zheng, calling him poor, he's a bit better than those two; calling him rich... well, that's all he has." Xiao Yuan curled his lips.

The Sect's Cultivation Room charged 10 Low-Grade Spirit Stones per day. His 76 stones were enough to open it for seven days with some to spare.

However, he didn't plan to stay that long; opening it for three days first would be enough for him to consume most of his Medicinal Pill resources.

"Right!" He suddenly remembered something. "Spirit Stones... I wonder if the creation cauldron can be used to upgrade their quality? If I can upgrade Low-Grade Spirit Stones to Medium Grade or even High Grade... wouldn't I be rich?!"

This thought made his heart surge with excitement. However, glancing at the small tripod in his Dantian which had only half its energy remaining, he suppressed the urge.

"Energy is precious; I shouldn't test blindly. I'll wait until I have sufficient energy in the future."

Having made his plan, Xiao Yuan hesitated no longer and immediately set off, hurriedly leaving the peril-filled Scrap Yard and rushing toward the Cultivation Room at the Sect's External Affairs Hall.

As for whether Luo Ziyan would come looking for him during this time? Xiao Yuan was not worried.

Those ten Low Grade marrow cleansing pills were enough to keep her busy digesting for a few days.

Even if she did come looking, the probability of her chancing upon Chen Yin or Zhao Mingfang was very low. If she couldn't find him, she would naturally leave, so her safety should be assured.

...

At the Cultivation Hall, the one in charge of registration was a middle-aged steward at Qi Condensation 6th Layer.

Seeing Xiao Yuan coming to rent a Cultivation Room again, he obviously froze for a moment.

Sensing the weak aura of "Qi Condensation 1st Layer" disguised on Xiao Yuan's body using the Great Turtle Breathing Technique, he couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

"Three days again? Thirty Spirit Stones?" The steward muttered in a low voice while registering.

"This kid from the Scrap Yard... last time he came for three days, his cultivation didn't increase a bit, and now he's here again? Thirty Spirit Stones... an Early Stage Qi Condensation Disciple only gets a stipend of five per month, Middle Stage ten, Late Stage fifteen. Ordinary Disciples wouldn't bear to come even once a year, yet look at him, this is already his second time. Really... wasting Spirit Stones."

Still, he only thought this to himself and didn't say much.

The Cultivation Room was open to everyone; as long as one could afford the Spirit Stones, anyone could come.

He efficiently completed the procedures, handed Xiao Yuan a token engraved with the room number, and ignored him further.

Xiao Yuan took the token, voiced his thanks, and turned to look for his Cultivation Room.

Time was pressing for him now. On his way to the Cultivation Room, he had sensed several auras tailing him. Although they were not Chen Yin and Zhao Mingfang, they were clearly people sent by them to monitor him.

If he didn't raise his cultivation base as quickly as possible, what awaited him was only death.

Soon, he found the corresponding stone room and activated the Restriction. The stone door shut with a rumble, completely cutting off the outside world.

Xiao Yuan let out a long breath of relief.

He immediately pulled out the ninety-three waste marrow cleansing pills he had newly gathered, along with the twenty-six Low Grade marrow cleansing pills obtained from Zhou Zheng and the other two, piling them all together.

The creation cauldron glowed brightly, dutifully starting its "purification assembly line" process.

One by one, dull waste pills and ordinary-quality Medicinal Pills went in for a spin and came out as plump, lustrous, fragrance-overflowing pills of perfect quality!

Looking at the small mountain of perfect marrow cleansing pills in front of him, Xiao Yuan was pleasantly surprised in his heart.

Although popping pills to level up would build up pill toxicity if consumed excessively, affecting future cultivation...

...For perfect-grade Medicinal Pills, pill toxicity was practically non-existent—he could take as many as he pleased!

He sat cross-legged, grabbed the Medicinal Pills, and entered a crazy pill-popping Cultivate mode.

One after another, pure medicinal energies dissolved within his body, surging along his Meridians, continuously flushing, widening, and strengthening them.

Under the impact of the massive medicinal power, the barrier of Qi Condensation 4th Layer Peak gradually loosened... and then burst open with a bang!

Inside the Cultivation Room, Spiritual Qi swirled in a dense haze, accompanied only by Xiao Yuan's even breathing and the occasional soft "hum" signaling a cultivation Breakthrough.

...

Right as Xiao Yuan dived into the Cultivation Room and began his frantic pill-popping level rush, his whereabouts were passed along by those monitoring him.

Zhao Mingfang quickly received the message from his subordinate.

"He went to the Cultivation Room? And rented it for three days?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

"This kid... instead of properly guarding his garbage heap, he went to the Cultivation Room to waste Spirit Stones? With his trash Five Elements Spiritual Root and a cultivation base of Qi Condensation 1st Layer, is there any difference between going to the Cultivation Room and squatting at home? Purely wasting Spirit Stones!"

A trace of doubt flashed in his heart, but it was quickly suppressed by his greed for the jade talisman treasure.

Zhao Mingfang coldly instructed the subordinate who delivered the message.

"He can't stay in the Cultivation Room forever. Once he comes out, notify me."

The corner of his mouth curled into a cold sneer.

The item was most likely on that kid!

Not acting earlier was out of concern for the Sect's rules and potential witnesses.

But as long as he found a suitable opportunity, crushing a Qi Condensation 1st Layer nobody to death would be no different from crushing an ant.

When that time came, the jade talisman treasure would be his!

Even if by some chance the item wasn't on Xiao Yuan... killing a useless piece of trash was just killing him; who would care?