“Master, the majority of treasures in that vault are middle-grade Spirit Stones. As for lower-grade Spirit Stones, there isn’t a single piece. It seems the Gongshu clan disdained to keep them. But I did find this.”

Yan presented a treasure box to Lu Qing.

“What’s inside?”

Lu Qing took the box and opened it. The moment he looked inside, his breath caught.

He stared at the contents for quite some time before finally exhaling. “Superior Spirit Stones…!” 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Indeed, the box was filled not with anything else, but an entire case of Superior Spirit Stones.

“Yes, Master. There are exactly one thousand Superior Spirit Stones in this box.”

One thousand Superior Spirit Stones!

Hearing the number, Lu Qing’s heart trembled slightly.

He was no longer that country bumpkin who had just stepped out from his home world. Now, he had a deeper understanding of cultivation and many of its hidden truths.

He knew Spirit Stones carried many secrets of their own.

Not only were they an excellent resource for cultivation, but high-grade Spirit Stones in particular seemed to hold extraordinary significance for top-tier experts.

Yet the higher the grade, the more precious they became.

Lower and middle-grade Spirit Stones could still be found with some effort.

But once Spirit Stones reached the superior grade, they virtually vanished from circulation.

Major sects and powerful rogue cultivators alike treated them as strategic resources, never easily parted with or casually used.

Back during the Tianxu City auction, even that mysterious Nascent Soul powerhouse had to offer up an Immortal Golden Bell, a superior-grade artifact, just to exchange for large quantities of Superior Spirit Stones.

That Immortal Golden Bell eventually sold for fifteen thousand Superior Spirit Stones.

And now, from the Gongshu clan’s vault, Lu Qing had obtained a full thousand Superior Spirit Stones.

This alone was an enormous fortune.

“No wonder they are counted among the Thirty-Six High Clans. After countless millennia of accumulation, their foundations are terrifying indeed.”

Lu Qing couldn’t help but sigh once more.

This was only the treasure vault of one branch of the direct lineage, and it had already secured his cultivation resources for a long time to come.

He dared not even imagine the true wealth of the entire Gongshu clan.

Next, Lu Qing carefully tallied the Spirit Stones in his Qiankun Pouch.

In the end, his spoils from the Gongshu clan’s second branch came to about five hundred thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones and one thousand Superior Spirit Stones.

As for the spirit herbs, pills, artifacts, and materials for refining, he didn’t bother to count them too precisely. He simply set them aside.

After all, he already had plenty from the battle at Sacred Tianxu Mountain. For years, he had barely used any. Another batch like this was simply more stockpiled wealth.

“With such a harvest, losing my status as a peripheral member of the Netherworld Palace doesn’t seem such a pity anymore.”

Although he had killed Gongshu Lian and captured Qiao Rong, he had no intention of reporting back to the Netherworld Palace stronghold to claim credit.

When he escaped from Zhou Tian City, he had used a Transmission Talisman.

Though he had mostly relied on sword techniques and had not revealed his body’s raw strength, the fact that a Golden Core Realm cultivator could also use Spatial Transference was enough for any half-bright person to suspect that “Chen Qing” and Lu Qing were one and the same. The Netherworld Palace, with its vast intelligence network, would certainly have pieced it together by now.

So, for safety’s sake, Lu Qing had no plans to contact the Netherworld Palace for the time being.

Though it was a pity to forfeit the bounty for assassinating Gongshu Lian and Qiao Rong, a mere twenty or thirty thousand Spirit Stones no longer mattered to him. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Thinking of Qiao Rong, Lu Qing’s expression shifted slightly.

With a wave of his hand, a spatial prison appeared, revealing Qiao Rong’s figure within.

When she saw Lu Qing, fear spread across her face.

Not long ago, he had trapped her in an endless illusion, forcing her to spill every secret she knew.

Now, in front of this mysterious man, she had nothing left hidden.

Yet after her fear passed, she forced herself to calm down.

She managed a strained smile. “Senior, what will it take for you to release me? If you trust me, I can help you leave Zhou Tian City.”

“No need. I’ve already left Zhou Tian City,” Lu Qing said flatly.

“Left Zhou Tian City? Impossible!”

Qiao Rong’s body jolted, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Her first thought was that he was lying.

Before her capture, she had known that the entire Zhou Tian Star Array had been activated. By rights, it should have been impossible for Lu Qing to escape.

But Lu Qing gave no explanation. He only regarded her in silence.

That calm gaze froze her in place.

A chill of dread crept through her heart.

With difficulty, she forced out the words: “So… I have no more use to you. You mean to kill me, don’t you?”

“That’s right.” Lu Qing nodded without hesitation.

Her body trembled. Her face turned pale.

She knew this mysterious figure wouldn’t show mercy. Her death was inevitable.

Fear gave way to bitter unwillingness.

She glared at him. “I don’t understand. With your cultivation, why trouble yourself with me, a woman who rarely leaves her home? With my meager skills, I should have no ties to you. Why must I die?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I am an assassin of the Netherworld Palace. Assassins don’t need reasons to kill.”

“Then I’ll give you ten times the bounty—no, a hundred times! Whatever price the Netherworld Palace has set, I’ll pay a hundredfold to buy my life! I control the vault of the Gongshu clan’s second branch, with treasures and Spirit Stones beyond count. I’ll give them all to you!”

Qiao Rong’s voice rose to a near-hysterical pitch.

“You mean these Spirit Stones?”

Lu Qing dismissed the prison, gesturing to the mountain of Spirit Stones nearby.

When Qiao Rong saw them, her eyes widened.

She recognized them instantly as the contents of her family’s vault.

Which meant this man hadn’t only escaped Zhou Tian City, but had also plundered their vault entirely?

Just as disbelief shook her, Lu Qing’s voice rang again.

“And besides, we do have history. Back when I first came to the Great World of Tianyuan, weren’t you the one in the Netherworld Palace who issued a bounty for my head?”

“I… issued a bounty on you?”

Qiao Rong repeated the words in confusion, then slowly remembered. Her eyes locked onto him, as if trying to pierce his mask.

“You… you’re the one who killed my son Zheng… the demon who murdered Gongshu Zheng?”

“That’s right. It was me. Gongshu Zheng died by my hand.”

Lu Qing removed his mask, revealing the face he had once used in Canglan City of the Xiao Cang Realm.

“It really is you! Demon! You killed my Zheng’er! I’ll avenge him!”

The moment Qiao Rong saw his face, which perfectly matched the intelligence she had gathered back then, her eyes blazed with hatred. She glared as if she wanted to devour him alive.

Her body flared with desperate resolve, as if she meant to attack.

But before she could move, a wisp of sword qi pierced her forehead, boring straight through her brow acupoint and her skull.