Chapter 228: Sorting the Gains, A Huge Sum

Zhao Zuo continued to eat, his expression unchanged, not letting his gaze linger on Shen Yunjiao for even a moment.

“I heard you were awake, so I thought we could sort through our haul,” Shen Yunjiao said. She then took out four large Storage Bags. They had actually already sorted their items into these four bags on the road, burning any useless clothes and materials back in the mountains.

“The Pill Medicines and Spiritual Medicines you can absorb will be yours, and the Artifact Refining materials will be mine. We’ll each make a copy of the Cultivation Technique Scrolls. We can sell the remaining Magical Artifacts and other items at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion. As for the Spirit Stones, you take sixty percent, and I’ll take forty. How does that sound?”

Zhao Zuo thought for a moment. ‘Shen Yunjiao was the one helping me on this trip, after all, so it’s only right to give her a better cut.’ In truth, the main reason was that he considered her very important and didn’t want to settle accounts so clearly, haggling over every last detail.

“The first few terms are acceptable, but let’s just split the Spirit Stones fifty-fifty,” Shen Yunjiao said.

“Alright,” Zhao Zuo said. He injected a bit of Mana into his Sky-Breaking Saber. The previously wobbling Magical Artifact stabilized once more, resuming its flight about a meter from his body, albeit a little slowly. There was a problem with the Spirit Patterns again.

“Sigh,” Zhao Zuo lamented. ‘It seems repairing the Sky-Breaking Saber is still a long and arduous task.’

“Didn’t you detonate that Magical Artifact? How can it be repaired after being so badly damaged?” Shen Yunjiao asked, her eyes wide with astonishment. Though she had never formally studied Artifact Refining, she had learned a great deal about Magical Artifacts simply by growing up around them in her family.

When the Sky-Breaking Saber had been detonated, she had considered it a complete write-off.

“Its Spirit had a bit of a survival instinct. It didn’t die completely, so it can still be repaired,” Zhao Zuo said, his words muffled as he chewed on a piece of Demon Beast meat.

“A Spirit? Could it be a Magical Treasure?” Shen Yunjiao had witnessed the Sky-Breaking Saber’s power, but she had always assumed it was just a particularly strong Upper Grade Magical Artifact, never dreaming it might be a Magical Treasure.

“That’s right,” Zhao Zuo admitted with a nod.

“A Magical Treasure! Quick, let me see it,” Shen Yunjiao said, her voice filled with excitement.

“Well, you’re about to have a Magical Treasure of your own,” Zhao Zuo said. He searched through the Storage Bags, found the Blood Shadow Dagger that the Blood-clothed Man had used, and handed it to Shen Yunjiao.

“You only managed to kill that man by detonating your Magical Treasure. By rights, this dagger should be yours,” Shen Yunjiao said. She took the Blood Shadow Dagger, carefully stroking the blade. She looked like she already loved it and was reluctant to let go, but she still insisted, hoping Zhao Zuo would take it.

“Don’t worry, I can repair the Sky-Breaking Saber. Besides, this small type of Magical Treasure doesn’t suit me,” Zhao Zuo said with a wave of his hand, firmly pressing the Blood Shadow Dagger back into Shen Yunjiao’s grasp.

“Fine, then. But when we split the Spirit Stones at the end, you have to take seventy percent.”

This Magical Treasure accounted for a good twenty percent of their entire haul from the trip. Since Shen Yunjiao was keeping it, she naturally wanted to compensate Zhao Zuo in other ways.

“Sixty percent,” Zhao Zuo countered. He knew Shen Yunjiao’s Cultivation of the Taotie Secret Technique destined her for a short life, and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of compassion for his dear friend.

“Then it’s settled.” Shen Yunjiao blinked, her shimmering eyes gazing at Zhao Zuo’s face as an unstoppable flutter rose in her heart. She suddenly found the man before her unusually captivating.

Shen Yunjiao began the Refinement process on the Magical Treasure with her Mana. After about three minutes, she had deciphered the Triple Spirit Pattern inscribed within: Corrosion, Hemolysis, and Armor-Piercing.

When it struck, the Blood Shadow Dagger carried an energy that could corrode flesh; the victim would have to expend Mana to counteract it, or the wound would begin to fester. Hemolysis prevented blood from clotting, causing a continuous and unstoppable bleed. And finally, Armor-Piercing was aimed squarely at defenses.

It could easily penetrate any defense, whether one created by a Talisman or a defensive-type Magical Artifact.

“It’s a shame this Magical Treasure is too short. I can only use it as an off-hand weapon. I’ll still have to use my Middle Grade long blade as my primary,” Shen Yunjiao said. She was very satisfied with the treasure’s abilities but somewhat displeased with its shape.

After all, her fighting style was based on powerful, direct confrontation and had nothing to do with sneak attacks.

“You could always use Spirit Stones to buy a more powerful Magical Artifact,” Zhao Zuo suggested.

“Forget it,” Shen Yunjiao sighed. “After I break through to the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation, the daily absorption demand of the Taotie Secret Technique will definitely increase again. Even if I have a surplus of Spirit Stones, I have to save them for emergencies.”

“Alright.” Although Zhao Zuo wanted to help Shen Yunjiao upgrade her Magical Artifact, he barely had enough time for his own Cultivation. He certainly wasn’t going to set aside some of that precious time to help her grind experience for her weapon.

“Okay, let’s take a look at the rest of the haul,” Shen Yunjiao said, smiling at the several Storage Bags.

None of the other items caught Zhao Zuo’s attention—they were all fairly standard. Only a cyan jade disk piqued his curiosity. It was large, about the size of a water basin, and its surface was engraved with three distinctly different Spirit Patterns.

Zhao Zuo lightly tapped the cyan jade disk, and a transparent panel immediately floated into view.

[Level: Upper Grade Magical Artifact · Spirit Jade Barrier]

[Experience: 0/20000]

[Status: Not Upgradeable]

“I’m a bit curious about this Magical Artifact. I’m going to try binding it to myself,” Zhao Zuo explained. He began the Refinement process with his Mana, and after a few seconds, he shattered the original Mana Seal and inscribed his own.

He immediately understood the jade disk’s function.

The Spirit Jade Barrier was a type of perimeter-alert Magical Artifact. After being infused with a certain amount of Mana, it would form a fragile barrier encompassing a hundred-meter radius. It offered no defensive capabilities but served as an early warning system, alerting its owner the moment the barrier was breached.

Though it seemed quite useful, Zhao Zuo easily identified two flaws. First, one hundred meters was not a large enough radius. In the Cultivation Realm, an opponent could cross that distance in an instant to attack, leaving very little time to react.

Second, it couldn’t distinguish between threats. A small animal could trigger it just as easily as an enemy. Yet, it wouldn’t even register tiny creatures like insects. If an enemy used a special Spiritual Insect of Heaven and Earth that could hide its presence to attack, this barrier would be completely useless as a warning system.

Still, its good points ultimately outweighed the bad. ‘I could upgrade and enhance it,’ he thought. ‘It could become my sharpest pair of eyes for keeping watch when I’m out in the wild.’

“This is a perimeter-alert Magical Artifact. I’ll take it,” Zhao Zuo announced.

“Alright,” Shen Yunjiao replied with a nod, not giving it a second thought.

Next, the two began to sort the last few items. Books introducing the environment of the Great Wu Country and giving a brief on the Demon Path sects were taken by Zhao Zuo. The Blood Escape Technique, an escape art that required a blood sacrifice to use, was copied by both of them.

The rest consisted of a few less-than-useful Magic Skills. Zhao Zuo copied them and grudgingly put them into his Storage Bag for posterity, though he had no intention of actually practicing them.

Finally, there was the last category of loot from their trip: Magical Artifacts.

From the various Demon Cultivators, they had collected a total of fifteen Storage Bags.

Five Middle Grade Defiled Blood Sabers and three Upper Grade Defiled Blood Sabers.

Five Middle Grade Ghost Slayer Shield Defensive Magical Artifacts, and one Upper Grade Ghost Slayer Shield.

There were also some other assorted Magical Artifacts, some from their findings in the cave along the way, and the rest from the Storage Bags of the Demon Path Cultivators.

In one of the Storage Bags, they discovered a Defiled Blood Saber that was nearly at the level of a Magical Treasure. Shen Yunjiao took it, planning to use it as her main combat Magical Artifact. Zhao Zuo guessed this particular weapon had belonged to that Inner Sect Disciple from the Blood River Sect.

The two of them did a quick calculation. The total value of their haul was over one hundred thousand Spirit Stones, though they would only know the exact amount once they sold everything at the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

The trip had been dangerous, but the rewards were equivalent to more than half a year’s income for Zhao Zuo.

Once the accounting was finished, Zhao Zuo and Shen Yunjiao could see the delight reflected in each other’s eyes.