"Finally, I can open this storage bag with peace of mind!"
Qi Ping was quite excited about this bag. He was in dire need of spirit stones to rent the neighboring plot, number twenty-eight, but the risk of selling spirit herbs was too high. He could only hope that this eighth-level talisman cultivator had enough spirit stones within.
Twenty days had passed, and the bees reported that no cultivators had come looking for the bag or the body. Thus, he felt safe.
'It seems the power behind that black-robed cultivator wasn't that great, or perhaps he wasn't that important. At the very least, there was nothing in the bag that exposed his location.'
After confirming this, Qi Ping had the bees bring the storage bag to a location far from Peak 29. He transformed into a bee and flew there with the swarm. Once the bag was in his hand, he first washed its surface with Wood-Flame spiritual energy several times before finally imprinting it with his divine sense.
The contents of the bag immediately appeared in his perception.
"The space is quite large—bigger than the one from the insect-taming marauder. Let's see what's inside."
The first thing that caught his eye was a pile of spirit stones.
"Three mid-grade spirit stones and eight hundred and thirty-five low-grade spirit stones. That's a total of one thousand one hundred and thirty-five low-grade spirit stones!"
"Not bad, not bad at all!"
The first harvest of spirit stones was a pleasant surprise. As expected of a talisman cultivator—one of the four major cultivation arts—his wealth was indeed impressive. This not only covered the rent for plot twenty-eight but left him with five or six hundred stones to spare. Recalling how he had fewer than twenty stones left, Qi Ping felt a sense of relief.
'The saying "killing and arson brings a golden belt" truly has merit, especially when targeting those with specialized skills. It's just a shame the risk is so high. Walk by the river long enough and you're bound to get your shoes wet.'
For Qi Ping, even if his earning speed was slower, he didn't want to engage in such high-risk activities. Even if one wins a thousand times, losing once means the end. Most importantly, it wasn't the path of cultivation he wanted to follow.
After counting the spirit stones, he looked at the second pile of items. It was a collection of talismans and knowledge regarding talisman crafting. Qi Ping inspected them; most were mid-grade first-rank talismans—Cleanliness Talismans, Sword-Qi Talismans, Fireball Talismans, and so on. There were very few late-stage first-rank talismans; the high-grade fire, lightning, and Diamond Talismans the cultivator had used in battle were nowhere to be seen, likely exhausted during the fight with the swarm.
There were many methods for drawing talismans from low-grade to high-grade first-rank, but Qi Ping had no interest in them. Setting aside whether he had the talent, simply cultivating spirit herbs and researching pill and honey recipes occupied nearly all his time. He had no spare energy for anything else. Besides, even if he mastered talismans, they wouldn't bring him as much benefit as his animal companions. Focus on farming and animal companions was the path most suited for him.
'Though I won't use these talismans and manuals, they should be worth several hundred to over a thousand spirit stones. If I find the right rogue cultivator, I might even get more.'
'Once the current storm passes, I'll find a chance to sell them!' This was a very solid harvest.
After clearing the talismans, Qi Ping quickly found a third item that made his heart skip a beat.
"Crimson Lotus Fruits?"
There were two red fruits resembling flaming lotuses, radiating a strong sense of burning heat. The Crimson Lotus Tree was a high-grade first-rank spirit fruit tree of considerable value; a single fruit could easily cost over a hundred spirit stones.
'They look like ten-year Crimson Lotuses. I can use the Fire Spirit Honey recipe to test a Crimson Lotus Honey for the Crow. It should help speed up its breakthrough to the second rank.'
'I wonder if there are seeds inside that can be grown into a Crimson Lotus Tree. If so, that would be a massive win.' If he could cultivate a Crimson Lotus Tree, his primary cultivation resources for the late stage of Qi Refinement would be fully secured.
However, Qi Ping didn't hold much hope. The more precious a spirit herb, the harder it was to produce seeds and the more expensive those seeds were. Sellers usually removed the seeds or neutralized their vitality to ensure they held a monopoly on the herb. For example, many rare herbs were monopolized by the Qingyuan Sect. Setting aside the difficulty of cultivation, ordinary people never even got the chance to try.
"Regardless, it's a good harvest!"
Qi Ping was quite satisfied with the loot. After the spirit stones, talismans, and Crimson Lotus Fruits, there were no more high-value items. The rest were common cultivation pills and sundries; he didn't even find a single cultivation manual. They could be sold, but not for much. Perhaps because he was a talisman cultivator, his weapons consisted only of a mid-grade dharma artifact, with not a single high-grade one in sight.
However, one item among the sundries caught Qi Ping's eye.
"A Sky-Fire Pavilion disciple token?!"
"What is a disciple of the Sky-Fire Pavilion doing here?"
Seeing the token, Qi Ping was thoroughly shocked. The Sky-Fire Pavilion was the sworn enemy of the Qingyuan Sect! The conflict between the two sects had lasted for over a thousand years, with hundreds of battles fought and a blood feud deeper than the ocean. Yet now, a disciple of the Sky-Fire Pavilion had entered the Qingyuan Sect's territory in broad daylight! Qi Ping didn't believe the Qingyuan Sect's intelligence network was so incompetent that it couldn't identify this disciple.
"What is the Qingyuan Sect doing?"
If it had been the mysterious Evil Devotee Alliance, it would be one thing, as they were famous everywhere. but letting in people from a rival sect with whom they had a blood debt was preposterous. And for a Sky-Fire Pavilion disciple to carry their sect token into Qingyuan territory... where did they get the nerve?
'Could that mysterious alchemist also be from the Sky-Fire Pavilion?'
It was absurd! Qi Ping felt he understood the current situation less and less. However, he didn't care too much, as long as it didn't affect his farming. With the swarm in hand and the Cloud-Mist Mountain Range at his back, if he transformed into a bee and scattered with ten thousand others, who could possibly catch him? He wasn't particularly afraid.
After finishing the inventory, he moved the valuable items into his own storage bag. As for the black-robed cultivator's bag, he had the bees dump it far away; he didn't want the slightest connection to that Sky-Fire Pavilion token.
Once everything was done, he returned to Peak 29 with his bees. Back at his home, he didn't dwell on the mysteries. Instead, he peacefully began refining the Sun-Ginseng Honey and Fire Spirit Tempering Honey produced by the Brewer Pot-bellied Bees.
After this period of cultivation, with an ample supply of honey, his cultivation had reached the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refinement. Breaking through to the late stage was only a matter of days.