After collecting all the spiritual herbs and refining materials, Lu Tiandu finally took out the hemp-clothed old man's storage bag, emptied out all the items, and carefully examined them.
After sorting the various items into different categories, Lu Tiandu felt a bit amused.
He had thought he'd make a fortune after expending so much effort to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but he turned out to be a poor fellow.
This left him speechless.
This fellow, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had a net worth that was not as rich as the burly man who originally owned the Spirit Light Shuttle. Lu Tiandu shook his head.
Looking at the over 700 spirit stones before him, three fine artifacts—a small golden spear, a damaged white crystal disk, and a cyan flying sword—along with three or four higher-level artifacts, several less common, low-aged spiritual herbs, and some remaining less valuable talismans and materials, Lu Tiandu, though speechless, could only put them all away.
The spoils were only part of the story. What he really wanted to know was how the old man had discovered he was the cloaked figure. The old man hadn't answered him at the time.
He searched the old man's jade slips for cultivation techniques, but found nothing remarkable.
Finally, Lu Tiandu's gaze settled on the spirit beast bag containing the little monkey.
The spirit beast looked like an ordinary little golden monkey; Lu Tiandu couldn't discern anything remarkable.
After a moment's contemplation, Lu Tiandu assembled various materials and began to construct a mind-controlling array, preparing to perform a mastering ceremony for the little golden monkey.
Normally, Lu Tiandu would have disdained to keep such an ordinary little monkey as a spirit pet, but without a clue that his secret had been revealed, he remained apprehensive.
Soon, the array was complete. Lu Tiandu pulled the unconscious little monkey from the spirit beast bag and, with a flick of his fingers, cast several restraining arrays around it before beginning the mastering ceremony.
He flipped his hands, invoking several incantations. A divine control array emanated rays of light, enveloping the palm-sized little golden monkey. Lu Tiandu then forced a few drops of blood from his fingers and traced a pattern on the monkey's forehead.
After a moment, Lu Tiandu breathed a sigh of relief, the master-recognition ceremony complete.
"This popular spirit beast master-recognition ceremony in the world of immortal cultivation is too basic. I guess I'll need to find someone from Spirit Beast Mountain or the Spirit Control Sect to learn some advanced master-recognition and beast-controlling techniques..."
Lu Tiandu thought of the Blood Forbidden Land Trial he'd been preparing for, where numerous low-level spirit beasts awaited capture.
After a moment, Lu Tiandu awoke the drowsy little golden monkey. Looking at the slightly languid creature, he felt a palpable warmth emanating from his sea of consciousness.
He casually fed the monkey a Fasting Pill, and only then did Lu Tiandu connect with his first, undeveloped spirit beast.
A moment later, a look of surprise washed over him.
"Sure enough, there's something strange about this little monkey!"
Through telepathic communication, Lu Tiandu realized that the little monkey possessed the unique ability to detect a person's scent, and could accurately locate that person from a distance of three to five miles.
"Sure enough, the world of immortal cultivation is not to be underestimated. All sorts of special abilities are constantly emerging, and they're impossible to guard against!" Lu Tiandu sighed.
He had already reached Perfect Qi Refining. While not yet an impenetrable body, he normally tried to restrain his aura as much as possible. The fact that he could still be captured was truly astonishing.
"Could it be some kind of bloodline or a mutation?" Lu Tiandu took out another Fasting Pill and fed it to the little golden monkey.
The little creature licked Lu Tiandu's palm affectionately, its large golden eyes looking so adorable that Lu Tiandu couldn't help but pet the little monkey.
After a few strokes, Lu Tiandu let the little monkey play on its own. This little creature's abilities were limited at the moment; he wondered what it would become once it was nurtured and developed.
This puzzled Lu Tian. Why would the old man in sackcloth clothes have a pet like this, a little monkey with only this much ability?
It wasn't like he was a detective, searching for people and things. Honestly, this ability was pretty useless.
He didn't know, of course, that this little monkey was found by the old man in sackcloth clothes in the mountains when he was still in the Qi Refining stage. Its short snout wasn't just capable of picking up scents, but also of finding various elixir-like medicinal herbs on its own.
Otherwise, how could this old man, a casual cultivator, have reached the Foundation Establishment stage?
Very few casual cultivators in Yue Kingdom could reach this stage. Thanks to this little monkey's talent, the old man, though he didn't dare venture into deep mountains and swamps or areas guarded by Level 2 demonic beasts or above, still managed to find numerous elixirs.
These elixirs were the reason for his current level of cultivation.
However, his encounter with Lu Tiandu and his subsequent attempt to seize the Void Spirit Hat, ultimately costing him his life, was a result of his shortsightedness.
Lu Tiandu wore the Void Spirit Hat and encountered numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, but why did so few people openly try to seize it?
Firstly, while this item was certainly decent, it wasn't a defensive or offensive weapon, so seizing it wouldn't be very useful. Given the same circumstances, a protective device would definitely be prioritized.
Secondly, a treasure capable of blocking the spiritual consciousness of a Foundation Establishment cultivator was clearly beyond the reach of ordinary casual cultivators. They would either be from a prominent immortal family or a disciple of one of the seven major sects, with a powerful backer behind them. Otherwise, how could such a rare, expensive, and useless item end up in the hands of someone who had reached the Perfect Qi Refining stage?
With this in mind, even a cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage wouldn't dare act rashly. After all, even if they managed to seize it, using it for personal use would risk being discovered, and selling it to someone of their level wouldn't likely attract them. After all, no one would spend thousands of spirit stones on a useless artifact that blocked the spiritual consciousness of a similarly skilled cultivator.
As for ordinary Qi Refining disciples, it was even more unaffordable.
This was one of the reasons Lu Tian had remained safe throughout his journey.
Therefore, only a casual cultivator like the old man in hemp clothes, uninformed and driven by greed upon seeing such a rare treasure, would attempt to seize it.
Lu Tiandu now had some free time to reflect on his gains from the past six months and his future plans.
He had traveled extensively over the past six months, broadening his horizons considerably. Not to mention, the main purpose of his trip—selling the Dingyan Pills to earn spirit stones—had been largely fulfilled.
He had already sold the last Dingyan Pill, and it was time to refine the next batch of pills.
However, the prices for the remaining fifteen pills were not as high as those he had previously sold to Madam Lan and the beautiful woman surnamed Cen at the Stardust Pavilion. On average, each pill cost only 1,200 spirit stones.
This was primarily due to his fear of publicly advertising these pills, so they were sold only to a select few in secret shops and the market, ultimately fetching low prices.
Even so, the eighteen Dingyan Pills brought him a substantial income of 22,500 spirit stones.
After deducting the 3,000 spirit stones required to generate the green liquid, the net profit was 19,500 spirit stones.
At this point, after deducting the more than four thousand spirit stones he had purchased for medicinal materials and refining tools on the way, plus the more than seven hundred spirit stones he had just received from the old man in hemp clothes and the more than four thousand spirit stones he had previously acquired, his spirit stone reserves had reached a staggering twenty-three thousand.
The increase in spirit stone income was one thing, but on the other hand, he began to look forward to the next event.
In two months, the Yanyue Sect's five-yearly small auction for the Yue Kingdom would be held.
This was very attractive to Lu Tiandu, who had not yet participated in such grand events in the world of immortal cultivation, such as auctions. As for the secret shop auctions he had participated in before, they were not up to par.
Therefore, he planned to rest for another day before setting off for the Yanyue Sect, hoping to acquire the magical tools he needed through this auction.
Of course, it would be even better if he could sell some Dingyan Pills.
(End of this chapter)