Lu Tian was truly astonished at the copper essence in his hand. This burly man had brought him so many surprises.
Top-grade magical instruments, rare, top-tier defensive magical instruments, copper essence…
the average Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn't possess such possessions, which truly astonished him.
Copper essence, like iron essence, silver essence, and gold essence, is a material used to refine magical weapons. Only cultivators at the Core Formation stage and above can extract it from large quantities of copper using True Fire.
If a small amount of copper is added during the refining of a magical instrument, the resulting product will at least be a top-tier one.
In the original storyline, Li Huayuan, a newly promoted Core Formation cultivator in recent decades, spent over a decade purifying a single piece of iron essence, repeatedly losing bets and making things easier for others.
What a waste of a spiritual body like the Three Yang Body!
All he did was forge iron all day long. No wonder his cultivation ultimately failed to keep up, ultimately leading to his demise in battle with the Mulan people.
Of course, Lu Tiandu had no idea that this piece of copper essence was a family heirloom passed down for generations, recovered from the young master of a certain immortal cultivation family after a long period of preparation.
He had originally planned to sell it at a secret shop within the next two days, but instead, he became jealous of Lu Tiandu's wealth and ended up giving him a bargain.
Lu Tiandu continued to look through the burly man's remaining belongings. There were no fine-quality magical instruments left, but there were a dozen or so mid-to-high-level ones, indicating that many had fallen at his hands.
Lu Tiandu was pleasantly surprised to find that the man had over four hundred low-level spirit stones.
Furthermore, he was surprised to find a large collection of ingredients for refining a certain magical instrument in his storage bag, neatly arranged.
Lu Tiandu casually tossed together a few bottles of broken medicinal pills and a few mid-to-high-level talismans, without paying any attention. He then picked up a few jade slips and began to examine them.
The jade slips appeared to be commonly used, with no restrictions. Lu Tiandu pressed them to his forehead and scanned them with his spiritual sense, examining their contents.
After examining the slips, Lu Tiandu remained silent for a moment. He then took out the storage bags of the remaining two people and poured them out before him to examine.
The contents of these two bags were far less impressive than those of the burly man.
The tall, thin man's possessions were relatively good. The green bead, called the Jade Spirit Pearl, was also a rare, top-tier magical weapon. Unfortunately, Lu Tiandu crippled it before it could even be used.
The black flying knife he used before his death, while also a fine artifact, was inferior to the Wind-Following Sword. All
that remained were over two hundred spirit stones, a few bottles of common healing pills, a few mid-level talismans, cultivation techniques, a change of clothes, and other belongings.
As for the shorter man at the end, he looked like he had recently reached the eleventh level, and his wealth was considerably reduced. He
possessed no top-tier magical instruments, only two or three upper-level ones, and only a few dozen spirit stones.
Moreover, the only talisman he had was a high-level golden armor talisman, one he hadn't been able to use before his death.
This meant his wealth was only slightly better than that of an ordinary casual cultivator.
After searching through all the items, Lu Tiandu finally understood where these individuals
had gotten their top-grade shuttle. These three individuals all came from small immortal cultivator families, their ancestors had been wealthy, and they had connections to the Divine Weapon Sect. Seeking cultivation resources, these three individuals deliberately approached casual cultivators, then unexpectedly killed them and seized their storage bags.
Unexpectedly, they learned from several casual cultivators about the cave where a certain Foundation Establishment Stage elder had passed away.
Coming from immortal cultivator families, these three individuals were somewhat knowledgeable, and they quickly discovered from some clues that the cave's owner was actually a missing elder of the Divine Weapon Sect.
Ultimately, after a series of escapades, these three individuals, armed with several high-level magical instruments passed down from their families, eliminated the casual cultivators who had joined them on the treasure hunt and claimed the elder's legacy.
This senior left behind few elixirs, spirit stones, or anything else, only a pile of refining materials, a top-grade shuttle, and several jade slips.
Secretly selling off these precious refining materials, the three of them became wealthy overnight.
Later, armed with the sharp Spirit Light Shuttle and other magical instruments, they teamed up to kill and steal treasures, gradually enriching their wealth. The constant increase in cultivation resources also enabled their cultivation to rapidly improve.
Through frequent sales of stolen goods at secret shops, the three of them acquired a collection of artifacts of legitimate origin in just a few years, and their cultivation appeared to have greatly improved.
Furthermore, as their cultivation improved, they frequently attacked isolated disciples of wealthy families and sects, often escaping with the Spirit Light Shuttle's speed.
Recently, ever since the burly man reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining, he had harbored the idea of joining the Divine Weapon Sect to cultivate and restore his family's glory.
This involved learning from a jade slip left by a Foundation Establishment elder of the Divine Weapon Sect that the elder had passed away in seclusion.
This involved the cave dwelling of a Jindan cultivator.
It turned out that this Foundation Establishment Elder of the Divine Weapon Sect, after years of exploration, had discovered the secret cave where a Jindan-level master from the sect had been in seclusion.
This master had not been seen for decades, and based on his estimated lifespan, he should have passed away.
The passing of a Jindan-level cultivator naturally leaves behind a considerable legacy, a truly significant opportunity for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Therefore, to secure this opportunity, which could potentially help him break through, this Foundation Establishment Elder kept this information to the Divine Weapon Sect, secretly searching for a way to break through the cave's formation.
Unfortunately, while making some progress, he could never reach the core of the cave.
During one of his outings, he clashed with someone over materials for a magic weapon to break the formation, resulting in a grudge between the two. He returned to his secret cave and passed away shortly thereafter.
The burly man kept the information about the Jindan-level cultivator's cave to himself, never sharing it with the other two.
He believed that with this secret, once he reached the thirteenth level of Qi Refining, he could seek out a Jindan cultivator from the Divine Weapon Sect, someone with some connection to his family, become their disciple, and receive the Foundation Establishment Pill, his meteoric rise to prominence. Sadly, all his plans had vanished into thin air.
Lu Tiandu carefully stored away the four top-tier magical instruments. These alone were worth over four thousand spirit stones. These three men were truly his treasure-giving servants.
He glanced briefly at the other dozen or so upper- and mid-tier magical instruments before tossing them into a storage bag. They were likely stolen goods the three men had been keeping for later or hadn't gotten rid of yet. Lu Tiandu planned to trade them for spirit stones
when the opportunity arose. He added seven hundred spirit stones to his existing stockpile, bringing his total to a staggering twenty-three hundred.
After sorting out the remaining elixirs, talismans, and refining materials, he selected a few more items from the pile of miscellaneous items. The rest were items Lu Tian simply disdained.
A few small fireballs destroyed everything related to the identities of the three people, and the remaining items were casually placed in the short man's ten-fold storage bag.
This storage bag was also ordinary stuff, without any markings.
Lu Tiandu planned to bury the storage bag on the way back, perhaps giving someone who found it a little surprise. After all, the basic cultivation supplies inside were ordinary stuff for Lu Tiandu, but they were also rare and valuable items for some casual cultivators. It would be a pity to destroy them, but it would be troublesome to keep them.
After dealing with the miscellaneous items on hand, Lu Tiandu picked up a few jade slips and examined them carefully.
(End of this chapter)