Chapter 558 - 458: The Deal
Liu Ruyan manipulated the flying sword continuously, with scarlet flames scattering like blooming fireworks.
As the attack progressed, the radiance of the Dharma Prohibition gradually dimmed.
About a quarter hour passed, and with another strike from the flying sword, the light curtain dissipated, revealing a hole in the door behind, from which a surge of blazing Fire Evil Qi gushed forth.
Everyone’s face showed excitement; it was indeed a Spiritual Fiend inside.
Spiritual Fiend is a good thing, useful for nurturing Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures. All cultivators need it; it’s undoubtedly solid currency.
The door was broken open, and the crowd saw the scene inside, where scarlet brilliance hovered like clouds, resembling a fiery cave.
Zhang Le’s eyes sparkled, "It’s the Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend, there must be a Fire Vein leading directly to the Earth Lungs and a Water Vein inside!"
A node in the Earth Vein that can continuously produce Spiritual Fiend is like a Money Tree; regardless of the yield, it’s a stable source of income.
A subtle atmosphere emerged within the team; Pei Xiu and his partner distanced themselves slightly from Zhang Le and his group.
Perhaps because the Sealing Array was destroyed, the condensed, substantial Spiritual Fiend slowly dissipated.
Yuan Hong probed with Divine Sense and found no hidden dangers, then shouted:
"Everyone, what are you waiting for? Hurry to collect the Spiritual Fiend!"
They had anticipated this situation well beforehand; he took out a prepared red jade bottle, standing at the door, forming a spell to collect the Spiritual Fiend.
Before coming here, they had customized three large-capacity jade bottles specifically for storing Spiritual Fiend of Metal Element, Fire Element, and Earth Element.
His face beamed with joy; he had previously encountered opportunities to collect Spiritual Fiend, but back then, it was only a few strands at a time. Now, it was in bundles, each bundle about thirty to forty strands.
Zhang Le subtly glanced at Pei Xiu, saying:
"Everyone collect the Spiritual Fiend, and finally distribute it as agreed. This time’s harvest will be held by me first."
Yuan Hong instantly agreed, "That’s what we had discussed long ago, no problem for me."
Pei Xiu’s eyes slightly squinted, hesitated for a moment, then said:
"We have no problem either."
He transmitted to his partner, "Be cautious and guarded; from now on, the two of us must not separate."
Liu Ruyan gave an imperceptible nod and smiled, "As per the agreement, the second share is to be kept by us, no problem with that either, right?"
Zhang Le confirmed, "Of course, everyone must abide by the agreement."
The group gathered at the hall entrance, activating spells to collect the Spiritual Fiend into the jade bottles.
The dissipation of the Spiritual Fiend accelerated, and finding it was impossible to collect it all in time, Yuan Hong shouted:
"Everyone, why don’t we release the Spiritual Artifacts for devouring, it’d be a great waste else."
"Agreed."
Everyone responded, and the scarlet glow swirled above their heads.
Zhang Le sighed, "Luckily, we all have Fire Element Spiritual Artifacts; if someone didn’t, they’d be at a loss."
"Haha, now no one suffers a loss.
However, what Spiritual Artifacts can absorb in one day is limited, inevitably wasting a lot."
After about half an hour, Zhang Le counted the jade bottles, smiled, "Eight full bottles and four half-full ones, this is a big haul."
A single jade bottle holds about fifty thousand strands; this time, there’s nearly four hundred and fifty thousand strands. If sold, it could easily fetch one hundred thirty to forty top-grade Spirit Stones.
Yuan Hong shook his head and sighed, "About twenty percent of the Spiritual Fiend dissipated, yet such a harvest. If our Spirit Extraction Technique were more potent... ah, what a pity."
Compared to others’ joy, Pei Xiu’s expression turned somewhat grave, "Something’s not right; didn’t Fellow Daoist Yuan say the Array is driven by Spiritual Fiend?
There’s so much Spiritual Fiend here, theoretically, the Three Talents Mysterious Killing Array shouldn’t have been breached."
Yuan Hong waved his hand with a smile, "My friend, the Array requires the simultaneous extraction of three types of Spiritual Fiend to maintain operation. The Fire Element Spiritual Fiend is ample; are the other Spiritual Fiends also sufficient?"
As long as one type of Spiritual Fiend runs out, the whole Array can’t be sustained.
Pei Xiu scratched his head in embarrassment, "Haha, my knowledge of Arrays is lacking, please don’t laugh."
His uneasy heart settled down, but his face still showed a mix of anxiety and greed.
This means there must be scarce results in one of the other two halls.
Zhang Le stored the jade bottles into the Grotto Void Stone, "Let’s go in and check; there must be other treasures inside the hall."
A Fire Vein capable of producing Spiritual Fiend is bound to generate Tier Two Fire-elemental Spiritual Objects.
He cautiously led the way into the hall, scanning around before bursting into laughter.
The walls of the hall were covered in scarlet rune characters, like rising flames, with a deep well about a zhang across in the center, undoubtedly a passage connecting to the Earth Lungs.
And in the four corners of the hall were piles of Spiritual Objects about a foot high, resembling heaps of burning Spiritual Charcoal, including Fire Cloud Crystals, Li Fire Crystals, and other Fire-elemental Spiritual Objects.
Yuan Hong grinned, "Even if the other two halls are empty, everything is worth it."
These are Spiritual Objects spewing from the Earth Vein, accumulated over an unknown number of years, to their benefit.
A hint of regret flickered in his gaze; having to share twenty-five percent of the harvest pained him deeply.
At this moment, Pei Xiu’s mind was extraordinarily keen, "Since the Array can run normally, even if the other halls lack Spiritual Fiend, Spiritual Objects would remain."
He looked to his partner, and both saw each other’s surprise and caution.
The four gathered the Spiritual Objects, counting them once more, and handed them to Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan felt her heart race suddenly; she had never been so prosperous, transmitting, "I roughly estimated, this batch of Spiritual Objects could be exchanged for about one hundred top-grade Spirit Stones. One hall alone yields such a bounty, unimaginable."