277: Harvest time, bloodbath wealth

The starry sky returned to a deathly silence.

Black Skull's final Divine Soul completely dissipated, leaving behind not even a trace of its existence.

Lin Fan floated quietly in place, feeling the subtle transformation within his Overlord Saint Body from absorbing a massive amount of Soul Power and Law fragments. Obtaining Law resistance gave him the fundamental confidence to face higher-level attacks.

In terms of combat gains, this "undercover" operation had already exceeded its mission objectives.

He put away Black Skull's Storage Ring and the Jade Slip recording the Black Sail's core Legacy, his gaze slowly sweeping across this vast battlefield graveyard.

Now, it was time for the most enjoyable part.

Counting the spoils of war.

His figure flickered for the first time, appearing at the center of the Leviathan's massive wreckage.

Although he had destroyed this Mid-stage Refining Void biological weapon with a single punch, its contained life energy and high-level Materials were almost entirely intact. Every piece of flesh and every drop of blood was a dream treasure for Alchemists and Artifact Refiners.

Lin Fan extended his palm, and a secret technique obtained from some unlucky Body Refining Sect quietly began to operate.

Buzz—

An invisible vortex expanded with him at the center.

The Leviathan wreckage of various sizes floating in the Universe seemed to be pulled by the strongest gravitational force, converging toward him one after another. Under the forced compression of the secret technique, the vast life energy and flesh essence were refined and condensed.

In just a few moments, the countless pieces of wreckage disappeared.

Replacing them were over a hundred fist-sized Flesh-and-blood crystal cores flickering with a dark red glow, floating around Lin Fan. Inside each core, a surging sea of blood seemed to be sealed, filled with explosive power.

"Not bad."

Lin Fan nodded with satisfaction and swept all these top-tier Materials into his possession. These crystal cores alone would be enough for the future Alchemy Room to refine a batch of top-grade Medicinal Pills that would drive even Soul Transformation Cultivators mad.

After finishing this, his gaze turned toward the lonely Blood Raven, which had completely lost its power.

Blood Raven's storage Magic Treasure should still be on board.

The collection of a wise man skilled in planning surely wouldn't disappoint.

His figure flickered again, and Lin Fan appeared directly within the damaged bridge of the Blood Raven. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he found a ring that had been nearly blown in half in the core area of the explosion.

Fortunately, the core space was not damaged.

As his Divine Sense probed inside, Lin Fan's eyebrows twitched slightly.

There were no mountains of Spirit Stones or a dazzling array of Magic Treasures. Blood Raven's collection was very unique. Inside were a large number of Formation Plates, Formation Flags, and countless rare Jade Slips recording various ancient Formations, Mechanical arts, and even poisoning methods.

In addition, there was a small compartment containing detailed information on all the powerful enemies he had dealt with over the years, including their Cultivation Technique weaknesses, personality flaws, combat habits... the collection of a pure technical talent.

"This certainly saves me a lot of trouble."

Lin Fan imprinted copies of all these Jade Slips into his mind. Knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in every battle. At times, the value of this information was even higher than a mountain of Spirit Stones.

Finally, his gaze fell upon the largest and most complete "cake" in this starry graveyard.

The flagship, Black Skull.

And the true treasury accumulated by the Black Sail Pirate Crew through centuries of looting.

Lin Fan's figure appeared silently before the deathly quiet bridge throne of the Black Skull. He took out the Storage Ring belonging to Black Skull and sank his Divine Sense into it.

In the next moment, even Lin Fan's breath couldn't help but hitch for half a second.

The space inside the ring was larger than he could have imagined.

But what was even more exaggerated was the content inside.

No boxes, no Storage Pouches.

Just the most direct and crude piling.

A continuous mountain range made entirely of Top-Grade Spirit Stones occupied nearly half the space in the Storage Ring. Beneath the mountain range was a shimmering "river" formed by various elemental spiritual liquids.

Just how much money was this?

Lin Fan's brain stalled for a moment.

In the past, he had to act for half a day in the Sect just for a few hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Yet the wealth before him was likely enough to buy ten, or even a hundred, Qingyun Sects.

On the other side of the Spirit Stone mountain was an ocean of various Heaven And Earth Treasures and Magic Treasures.

Countless rare Ores and ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines were tossed together carelessly like trash, emitting staggering fluctuations of Spiritual Qi. Magic Treasures of various grades—sabers, spears, swords, halberds, bells, tripods, towers, and seals—were stuck haphazardly into the piles of Ore, forming a bizarre metallic forest.

The Black Sail Pirate Crew did not produce wealth; they were merely porters of wealth.

Now, all this wealth was surnamed Lin.

Forcing down the throbbing excitement brought by this sudden fortune, Lin Fan's Divine Sense found what he wanted in a corner of the Storage Ring.

An authorization token and an internal structural diagram of the treasury.

The true core treasury was not in the Storage Ring but was established deep within the hull of the Black Skull, protected by layers of physical Restrictions and Formations.

Holding the token and following the map's guidance, Lin Fan passed through layers of hatches and arrived before a massive door, a hundred meters thick, cast from an unknown black metal.

He pressed the token into the slot.

Rumble—

The heavy massive door slowly opened amidst a tooth-gritting sound of metal grinding.

What rushed out was not Spiritual Qi, but a cold aura mixed with bloodlust and resentment.

Behind the door was a vast space.

In the center of the space, there were no treasures, only a massive light screen covering an entire wall.

It was a star map.

A dynamic star map detailed to an outrageous degree.

It marked all known shipping lanes across over a thousand nearby Star Domains, including secret wormholes and jump points known only to a few.

On the star map, countless points of light were flickering.

Red ones represented hostile forces, such as the official fleets of certain Star Domains.

Yellow ones represented neutral forces or those under observation, such as major merchant guilds and Sects.

And the green ones represented the... eyes and ears, and internal moles planted by Black Sail within various forces!

Looking at those dense green dots spread across hundreds of Star Domains, Lin Fan's pupils shrank slightly.

This was the true Foundation that allowed the Black Sail Pirate Crew to roam the sea of stars for centuries without being wiped out!

A terrifyingly vast intelligence network!

Besides the star map, this room also stored tens of thousands of Jade Slips.

Inside were detailed records of various forces, ranging from Sect Cultivation Techniques and fleet configurations to the life histories and preferences of important figures, and even their unknown scandals.

Lin Fan took a deep breath.

If the wealth in the Storage Ring could instantly make him a top-tier tycoon in the Cultivation World.

Then the intelligence database before him gave him a pair of... eyes that could look down upon this Star Domain.

He casually picked up a Jade Slip and probed it with his Divine Sense.

"Cuiyun Sect, a second-rate Sect. Sect Master Liu Changfeng, Transformation Initial Stage cultivation... His daughter Liu Qingqing possesses a special Wood-attribute spiritual body, suspected to be related to an ancient spiritual wood Bloodline. She has been targeted by the Young Lord of the 'Heavenly Charm Sect' and listed as one of the candidate Cauldrons..."

Hmm?

Lin Fan's movement paused.

Liu Qingqing?

That innocent and kind girl he had met once in the Lower Realm.

In his mind, the scene of the girl leading her fellow disciples, clumsily trying to act heroically only to be saved by him, couldn't help but surface.

He didn't expect that she had also ascended to this Star Domain.

Moreover, she seemed to have run into quite a bit of trouble.

Heavenly Charm Sect... Lin Fan quickly found information about this Sect from the intelligence database.

An Evil Path Sect famous for its Dual cultivation harvesting techniques, acting ruthlessly and having a deep background.

Lin Fan silently noted the name and put the Jade Slip back in its place.

He continued walking deeper into the treasury.

Passing through the intelligence room, he reached the last and smallest room.

Here, there was no staggering wealth or complex intelligence.

There was only a solitary stone platform made of Ten-thousand-year-old profound ice.

On the stone platform sat a simple, palm-sized black wooden box.

The box was locked behind dozens of powerful and complex Restrictions. Even through the Restrictions, one could feel a heart-palpitating aura emanating from within.

This should be Black Skull's—or rather, the Black Sail Pirate Crew's—most precious treasure.

Lin Fan stepped forward and scrutinized the wooden box.

He was in no hurry to break the Restrictions.

His gaze was drawn to an inconspicuous corner on the side of the wooden box, to an imprint somewhat blurred by time.

It was an emblem.

A jade-green auspicious cloud supporting a verdant leaf.

Lin Fan's expression instantly became peculiar.

He recognized this emblem.

Just ten minutes ago, he had seen an identical pattern on an intelligence Jade Slip.

Cuiyun Sect.