19: The wealth of a Foundation Establishment cultivator

"Pfft!"

A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Su Ling's mouth.

He struggled to raise his hand, gripped the sword's blade, and slowly pulled it out.

The violent mana carried by the Flying Sword had nearly shattered his internal organs.

Fortunately, when he had decided to fight to the death, Su Ling had swallowed a funing pill in advance.

As the black iron flying sword pierced his chest, this Tier 3 Medicinal Pill quickly took effect.

The surging medicinal power rapidly repaired his damaged internal organs, narrowly saving his life.

Struggling to sit up, Su Ling stuffed a handful of Tier 1 Blood Coagulation Pills into his mouth.

A scale emitting a faint glow slid down from his chest.

"Jade Bone Scale, I didn't expect you to save me twice."

Su Ling picked up the scale and murmured with a hint of relief and gratitude, "I really don't understand why Cultivators like aiming for the heart so much..."

Two years ago it blocked a strike from a dark bone thorn, and now it blocked a strike from the black iron flying sword.

The gray layer on the surface of the scale had already fallen off, revealing its original jade-like appearance.

Li Huan's final sword strike grazed the Jade Bone Scale and pierced in, barely missing the heart.

Shaking his head, Su Ling put away the Jade Bone Scale and slowly stood up.

His robes had long since been shattered during the battle, making it inconvenient to keep the Jade Bone Scale against his chest.

The medicinal power of the Tier 3 funing pill was indeed domineering; in just a few breaths, the gruesome wound on his chest had healed, and his internal injuries were mostly treated.

With a wave of his hand, he pulled Li Huan's Storage Pouch, the wandering soul boat that had shrunk due to a lack of mana, and the black iron flying sword into his grasp.

Then, he stored the Black Ice Spider's corpse and his own mysterious armor shield into his Storage Pouch.

Only then did Su Ling flick out an explosive flame talisman, incinerating Li Huan's corpse to ash.

The dark bone thorn, fiend soul flying dagger, and Li Huan's mysterious armor shield—these three mid-grade magical artifacts had either exploded or shattered, and were no longer worth recovering.

After quickly cleaning up the battlefield, Su Ling didn't have time to check Li Huan's Storage Pouch and sped toward the edge of the valley without looking back.

In this great battle, he had lost two mid-grade magical artifacts, consumed a Tier 3 funing pill, and completely exhausted his spiritual power.

If there weren't any surprises in Li Huan's Storage Pouch, Su Ling would have suffered a huge loss.

Fortunately, his life was saved.

A moment later, three figures dressed in black robes arrived like bolts of lightning.

"Fragments of mid-grade magical artifacts..."

"Foundation Establishment Spells!"

One of the youths with disheveled hair picked up a fragment from the ground, glanced at the frost that hadn't yet dissipated nearby, and his pupils constricted. "As expected, Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples were fighting here!"

"More than one; there should be three."

Another youth with sharp brows and bright eyes stood on the ground ravaged by the explosive flame talisman, staring at a pile of ash and saying indifferently, "It seems the battle has concluded. This person has been turned to ash!"

At his feet, the shattered spikes of the dark bone thorn, the mysterious armor shield, and the fragments of the fiend soul flying dagger were scattered across the ground.

"There's nothing to scavenge, let's go!"

The gentle youth, who had remained motionless, spoke indifferently and was the first to turn and leave.

"Senior Brother Han, there's only one year left until the Cuiye Secret Realm opens."

The disheveled youth stood up, clapping his hands, and followed behind the gentle youth, puzzled. "These guys are already at the Foundation Establishment Stage, so why do they still love internal fighting so much?"

"Do you really think the Cuiye Secret Realm is some kind of treasure land?"

Senior Brother Han sneered. "Internal fighting is also for plundering resources to strengthen oneself. Otherwise, even if you enter the Secret Realm, whether you can come out alive is still an unknown."

"What a pity; those were three mid-grade magical artifacts."

The youth with bright eyes shook his head and said with a hint of relief, "The contribution points rewarded for Foundation Establishment Stage missions issued by the Sect are far too low. Senior Brother Han was wise to remind us to suppress our strength and not Breakthrough..."

"Hurry up and complete missions. Strive to have three or four mid-grade magical artifacts each before breaking through to Foundation Establishment!"

"Yes, Senior Brother Han!"

"Understood, Senior Brother Han!"

...In a cave, Su Ling set up a Phantom Hiding Array before sitting cross-legged to adjust his breathing.

After a long time, he slowly opened his eyes. Feeling the abundant spiritual power within him, the unease in his heart gradually dissipated.

Under the powerful medicinal effect of the funing pill, his internal injuries had completely healed.

"Let me see just how much wealth you have, 'Martial Uncle Li'..."

Taking out Li Huan's Storage Pouch, a glint of anticipation flashed in Su Ling's eyes.

After checking through it, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

[spirit gathering pill x10, Tier 2 Low Grade cultivation Medicinal Pill.]

[Qi Condensing Pill x5, Tier 2 Low Grade recovery Medicinal Pill.]

[rejuvenation pill x5, Tier 1 Medium Grade healing Medicinal Pill.]

These were the main types of Medicinal Pills used by Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators, with a total value of about five hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

[Mid-Grade Spirit Stone x20]

[Low-Grade Spirit Stone x650]

Seeing the Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, the corners of Su Ling's mouth curled up slightly.

He had previously wondered about going to the market to see if he could exchange for some Mid-Grade Spirit Stones after returning to the Sect.

When breaking through to Foundation Establishment, if Mid-Grade Spirit Stones were used as an aid, combined with the concentration of Spiritual Qi within the Sect, the success rate would be much higher.

He hadn't expected 'Martial Uncle Li' to deliver them to him.

[Vast Sea Art, Low Grade Foundation Establishment technique, includes Spells Frost Technique, Water Flow Binding, and Water Essence Shield.]

[Detailed Explanation of Basic Artifact Refining]

[Introductory Treasure Book of Artifact Refining]

[Illustrated Guide to Refining Materials]

And two or three basic techniques.

"As expected, this guy was the academic type who wasn't good at fighting and spent all his time in the Artifact Refining Hall."

Su Ling placed several techniques on the ground and murmured while holding the Jade Slip containing the Vast Sea Art.

This also explained why, as a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, 'Martial Uncle Li's' combat proficiency was so low.

Even though Su Ling's spiritual power reserves were comparable to a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator due to cultivating the Nine Nether Secret Record.

However, the condensation of his spiritual power and the power of his Spells were still quite a bit inferior in comparison.

Normally, even with a sudden sneak attack and the self-destruction of Magical Artifacts, it shouldn't have made Li Huan so panicked.

The reason was simply that Li Huan had too little combat experience and insufficient reflexes.

At the very least, his Flying Sword should have been aimed at the head the second time, not the chest.

That would have at least resulted in mutual destruction.

[black iron flying sword, mid-grade magical artifact]

[wandering soul boat, Low Grade flying Magical Artifact]

As a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator who also knew Artifact Refining, Li Huan didn't even have a single Low Grade Magical Artifact in his Storage Pouch besides the wandering soul boat; he was truly unusually poor.

But thinking about it, with two mid-grade magical artifacts—the shattered mysterious armor shield and the black iron flying sword—Low Grade Magical Artifacts were indeed dispensable.

Although the wandering soul boat was Low Grade, the price of flying Magical Artifacts was not inferior to mid-grade magical artifacts.

It was excellent for traveling and escaping.

After a quick organization, he put the Medicinal Pills, Spirit Stones, and the two Magical Artifacts into his own Storage Pouch.

Then he put the corpse of the Foundation Establishment Yao Beast, worth hundreds of Spirit Stones, into another Storage Pouch.

Only then did Su Ling pick up the Jade Slip to examine it.

Techniques of the Qi Refinement Stage were recorded in books.

But after the Foundation Establishment Stage, they were almost all recorded using Jade Slips.

After checking it over, Su Ling couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

The Foundation Establishment methods contained in the Vast Sea Art were truly far inferior compared to the Nine Nether Secret Record.

Furthermore, it was a Water-attribute Cultivation Technique, which didn't match his attribute.

This technique was useless to him; he couldn't even take it to the Sect or the market to exchange for Spirit Stones.

Once it appeared, it would very likely put him in danger.

Amidst his disappointment, a doubt he had long harbored grew even stronger.

The books appraised by the eye pattern on his palm almost all had rank displays, either Basic or Low Grade.

Only the fragments of the Nine Nether Secret Record and the Nether Soul Arrow Secret Art had never shown a rank from beginning to end.

"Could it be that the rank of the Nine Nether Secret Record and the Nether Soul Arrow Secret Art exceeds the appraisal range of the eye pattern?"

"If that's the case, doesn't it mean there's still room for the eye pattern to improve?"

With this question in mind, spiritual power surged in Su Ling's hand, crushing the Jade Slip along with the basic techniques into powder.

Only the two books related to Artifact Refining were still somewhat useful.

At the very least, the extra copy of Detailed Explanation of Basic Artifact Refining could be exchanged for some Spirit Stones at the market.

Overall, the harvest from slaying Li Huan was quite bountiful.

Calculated in Spirit Stones, it was worth at least four to five thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

It was just a pity about the fiend soul flying dagger; its attributes were quite compatible with the spiritual power condensed from the Nine Nether Secret Record.

After obtaining it, Su Ling hadn't used it many times before it 'met its end'."