95: Chapter 95: A Pleasant Division of the Spoils

Sensing the oppressive atmosphere, Xiao Yuan smiled faintly.

He stepped over to the four corpses.

To be exact, next to four piles of ashes.

That strike from the jade talisman treasure had blown them directly to dust, and the grand Formation's power was no joke either; not a single intact corpse remained among the four.

However, the Storage Pouches were completely undamaged.

Xiao Yuan picked up the four Storage Pouches, swept his Divine Sense inside, and his eyes instantly lit up.

"Tsk tsk, as expected of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, their wealth is truly substantial."

He casually tossed two of them to Su Ruotong: "Here, the two you took down are yours."

Su Ruotong subconsciously caught the Storage Pouches and froze. She had still been worrying that a conflict might arise with Xiao Yuan over the ownership of the Spirit Medicine.

As for those four Storage Pouches, even if there were good things inside, she had given up hope of getting them.

Looking at the pouches in her hand and then at Xiao Yuan, she was momentarily at a loss for words.

If Xiao Yuan insisted on taking all the spoils of war for himself, she had no confidence in fighting him at all.

She glanced at the lingering aura of the Formation around them, feeling a lingering fear in her heart.

This Formation was terrifying.

If Xiao Yuan wished, he could completely trap all of them inside as well and monopolize all the spoils.

Yet not only did he not do that, he even shared the Storage Pouches with her...

A complex mix of emotions surged in Su Ruotong's heart—gratitude, relief, and a hint of... awe.

"Thank you," she said softly, stowing away the Storage Pouches.

Xiao Yuan waved his hand and said no more, turning to look at the dozen or so stalks of Spirit Medicine. This was the true source of the oppressive atmosphere!

Thirteen stalks of Spirit Medicine grew neatly in the center of the herb garden, each releasing astonishing fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

They were all fire-attribute Spirit Medicine! This was likely why they had survived without being destroyed by the Earth Fire Spirit.

The Earth Fire Spirit had clearly relied on the growth of these Spirit Medicines to stabilize its spirituality and foster its own growth!

Among these Spirit Medicines, the youngest were three to four ten-thousand-years old, while the highest—a Lingzhi completely fiery red with leaves dancing like flames—was at least over a hundred thousand years old!

Xiao Yuan's eyes widened in amazement.

This thing was even more precious than the best fire-attribute Foundation Establishment spirit items! It could definitely be used as a fire-attribute Foundation Establishment spirit item. Obtaining it meant collecting a fire-attribute Foundation Establishment spirit item in advance!

Su Ruotong also looked at those Spirit Medicines, hesitated briefly, and asked, "How... should we divide these Spirit Medicines?"

She looked at Xiao Yuan, handing over the decision-making power to him.

Xiao Yuan found this somewhat amusing.

This former Foundation Establishment Senior Sister, a high and mighty inner sect Genius, was now being so cautious before him, terrified of saying the wrong thing.

This was the confidence brought by sheer strength.

He didn't stand on ceremony either, thinking for a moment before saying, "Let's divide it according to contribution."

He pointed at Su Li: "Although Su Li didn't directly join the fight just now, she has stayed by my side, and she suffered a lot while being chased earlier. Give her one stalk."

Su Li froze, wanting to decline, but Xiao Yuan stopped her with a glance.

Xiao Yuan then looked at Ye Qingcen: "Senior Sister Ye intended to step in to save me just now. Though there wasn't time, I appreciate the thought. You get one stalk as well."

Ye Qingcen's face flushed, and she stubbornly retorted, "Who... who wanted to save you! I just couldn't stand them using numbers to bully the few!"

Xiao Yuan chuckled, not calling out the girl's tsundere act.

He then looked at the two Jade Maiden Palace Qi Refinement Disciples: "You two Junior Sisters were injured just now and nearly lost your lives. One stalk each."

The two female Disciples exchanged surprised glances and thanked him repeatedly.

In truth, Xiao Yuan never intended to keep everything for himself. He wasn't that kind of person. Even though these Spirit Medicines were indeed precious, with the creation cauldron in hand, he didn't care that much about these things!

Having said that, he looked at Su Ruotong and continued:

"As for the remaining nine stalks, that Fire Lingzhi over a hundred thousand years old is useful to me, so I'll take it. In addition, I'll take three stalks that are three to four ten-thousand-years old."

He looked at Su Ruotong: "The remaining five stalks all go to Senior Sister Su. Two of them are over a hundred thousand years old, and the other three are around sixty thousand years old."

Su Ruotong was stunned.

Five stalks? And two of them were over a hundred thousand years old?

This... in this distribution, she was clearly getting a huge bargain!

"This..." She felt somewhat uneasy. "This is too much, isn't it? I didn't contribute much..."

Xiao Yuan waved his hand: "Don't stand on ceremony, Senior Sister Su. If you hadn't used the jade talisman treasure just now, I wouldn't have defeated them so easily. You deserve this."

Su Ruotong opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't decline any further.

Her guard against Xiao Yuan lessened even more.

This person... was truly an honest and generous man.

Remembering how Xiao Yuan had previously returned the jade talisman treasure, she sighed inwardly.

Twice now.

Twice in the face of great treasures, he hadn't succumbed to greed.

Someone like this was truly rare in the cultivation world.

What she didn't know was that it wasn't that Xiao Yuan lacked greed, but that he understood how to weigh gains and losses.

Hesitating for a moment, she pulled out the two Storage Pouches from her bosom!

These were the two Xiao Yuan had given her! She handed them back to Xiao Yuan.

"Junior Brother Xiao, the contents of these two Storage Pouches will count as my compensation to you," she said earnestly. "You put in the most effort, so you naturally deserve to get more."

Xiao Yuan paused, then smiled.

He didn't stand on ceremony either, taking the Storage Pouches: "Then thank you, Senior Sister Su."

Su Ruotong breathed a sigh of relief, a smile appearing on her face.

Having finished dividing the spoils—no, dividing the loot, everyone was in a good mood.

The two Jade Maiden Palace Qi Refinement Disciples held their shared Spirit Medicines, beaming from ear to ear.

Though Ye Qingcen was stubborn with her words, her movements in storing the Spirit Medicine were not slow at all.

Su Li silently put her Spirit Medicine away, her gaze toward Xiao Yuan filled with gentleness.

Xiao Yuan stowed the Fire Lingzhi and the other three Spirit Medicines into the Creation Cauldron Space, clapping his hands.

"Alright, now that business is settled, next up..."

He looked toward the closed Alchemy Rooms beside the herb garden.

Busy fighting and dividing spoils earlier, he had almost forgotten that this was a corner of the Pill Hall. In these Alchemy Rooms, there might be unexpected treasures waiting for them!

Now, they didn't have much time left. Of the six hours, counting it up, nearly one hour had already passed!

If they couldn't find good things quickly, once they were teleported back to the previous hall, they would have no choice but to leave.

He had heard before that some people refused to give up and stayed behind here, but after the main hall opened the next time, those who stayed behind never came out again!

The others realized this as well, their eyes turning in unison toward those Alchemy Rooms.

"Shall we go inside and take a look?" Su Ruotong asked.

Xiao Yuan nodded: "Let's go."

He faintly sensed that within these Alchemy Rooms, there might be something attracting the creation cauldron. After all, the connection and pull between the creation cauldron and the Stone Hall had strengthened a bit after entering the Pill Hall.

Although there was no specific location, there was a general direction, and that pull was pointing right at the Alchemy Rooms before them!

Immediately, the group walked toward the Alchemy Rooms.