As night fell, Ye Changkong searched for a cave and sat on a small stone stool inside it. Only then did he start to examine his storage ring.
Every storage ring with an owner had their soul imprint engraved on the ring. To open such a ring, one would have to either kill the owner or have immense spiritual power to erase the soul imprint.
Since Zhang Tie had been killed by Ye Changkong, the soul imprint on the storage ring had naturally vanished.
"The contents of this storage ring are truly abundant."
The ring had about fifty cubic units of space, filled mostly with primary parts of ferocious beasts, first and second-grade spiritual herbs and medicines.
These things were undoubtedly acquired by Zhang Tie and his companions in the Qingfeng Beast Ridge.
In addition, there were about a hundred spirit stones and three bottles of Jade Spirit Liquid.
Without going through them too carefully, Ye Changkong took out the three bottles of Jade Spirit Liquid and poured them into his mouth, feeling the clear stream of liquid flow through his body like a river.
He used the Undying Divine King Technique to fully refine it, converting it into a pure spiritual energy that accumulated in his dantian.
But it only took the time for an incense stick to burn to finish refining the three bottles of liquid.
Still, the spiritual energy that went into the dantian only occupied a small part at the bottom of his qi sea.
"Cultivating one's strength, expanding one's qi sea, requires an exponential increase in spiritual energy."
Ye Changkong sighed silently, opened his eyes and injected his spiritual power into the storage ring, searching among the items closely. He did not touch the pile of spirit stones.
Spirit stones were a universal currency between martial artists and could be used for cultivation as they contained spiritual energy. The purity of spiritual energy within these stones depended on their grade, but the hundred or so spirit stones were only low-grade.
Instead, he found several drug bottles with labels that made his eyes widen when he saw them.
All of them contained aphrodisiacs!
He couldn't believe that Zhang Tie would need such things, which only went to show that appearances could be deceiving.
After a little searching, he came across a yellowed book page that caught his attention.
But as he read the words on the page, the anticipation in his eyes quickly faded.
"I thought it was some kind of martial art, but it's only a low-grade mysterious rank manual called Return to Origin Technique." Ye Changkong was mildly disappointed.
It had no use for him personally, but at least it was of the mysterious realm. If he were to donate it to Qingyun Sect, he could still receive a decent reward.
After skimming through a few pages, he lost interest and tossed it into the storage ring.
He did not bother looking through the rest of the storage ring since there was nothing particularly interesting aside from the items he had already claimed.
From his pockets, he took out the Gathering Spirit Crystal and sat cross-legged, beginning his cultivation process.
The Spirit Gathering Crystal was a truly excellent thing, helping him solidify his spiritual energy at a faster rate than before.
In one night after the sun fully rose from the horizon, Ye Changkong ceased his cultivation.
In these daily moments of the past over twenty days, not only his cultivation had experienced significant growth, his combat ability had also ascended greatly.
Initially, when fighting against a mid-level ferocious beast, he always ended up injured, yet now he could kill one without even getting scratched.
Over these past twenty or so days, his storage ring was filled up by various mid-level parts of the ferocious beasts they hunted and first and second-grade spiritual herbs and medicines.
As the sun rose on another day, Ye Changkong awakened from his meditative state.
"It's time to return to the sect."
Looking at the morning sky, he got up and began his journey back.
That day, Ye Changkong returned to the outer doors and went to the task hall.
Inside the hall, disciples were coming and going. Some were checking for new tasks while others were there to collect rewards for completing them.
In the past twenty or so days, Ye Changkong had been training hard in the Qingfeng Beast Ridge. His clothes were now in tatters, soaked in dry blood.
His shabby appearance didn't attract much attention; many people looked just like him after returning from their wilderness experiences and were eager to claim their rewards.
"Snake bile and snake skin of the Iron Bone Snake: worth six low-grade spirit stones. Leopard tendons and leopard skin of the Howling Wind Leopard: worth seven low-grade spirit stones..."
A task manager was meticulously counting and tallying everything.
After doing this every day, he had grown numb, unable to summon any interest in these things.
"Oh...this is a Purple Cloud Grass." Finally, he showed a trace of emotion.
Purple Cloud Grass was a third-grade medicinal herb that normally grew in extremely hidden, moist and dark places, making it difficult to find.
"A third-grade Purple Cloud Grass is worth three hundred low-grade spirit stones." The manager paused for a moment before giving a price.
"Three hundred low-grade spirit stones?" Ye Changkong was surprised. This one herb was worth more than all the fierce beast parts he had killed.
"I'm curious what good stuff you've found during your experience. Could you take them all out at once?" The manager impatiently said.
"Yeah, it's too slow to count them individually," Ye Changkong nodded and took out all the fierce beast parts and spiritual herbs from his storage ring, and placed them all on the table in front of him.
Instantly, the table was piled high with all kinds of fierce beast parts and spiritual herbs.
"Wow, there's so much!"
Seeing the small mountain of things in front of him, the manager's expression changed abruptly, exclaiming.
"Who is this person? They've returned from their adventure with so many things!"
"There are at least a hundred mid-level fierce beast parts. This is too amazing! Maybe he joined a team to get them."
Many people around looked over, showing signs of shock.
Among them were some who were envious and talked behind their backs.
After hearing what they said, the manager realised it must be true or the impossible, face full of surprise vanished.
"This amount is beyond my authority. I'll have to report this to the Elder-in-Charge."
Setting aside the Purple Cloud Grass still in hand, the manager went straight to the back of the task hall.
In a short while, the Elder-in-Charge of the task hall arrived at the front.
Together with the manager, he went directly to Ye Changkong.
"Did you acquire all these by yourself?" The Elder-in-Charge looked at Ye Changkong.
"Yes." Ye Changkong nodded truthfully.
The Elder-in-Charge gave Ye Changkong a deep look, not saying anything more, and began to tally up the items on the table.
"Ninety-eight parts of mid-level fierce beasts, twenty-nine first-grade spiritual herbs, eleven second-grade spiritual herbs, four third-grade spiritual herbs. All in all, I will count three thousand low-grade spirit stones for you."
After the Elder-in-Charge revealed the price, all the outer disciples nearby took a deep breath with envy.
Three thousand low-grade spirit stones would convert to approximately one hundred and fifty bottles of Qingyun Sect's premium fluid that outer disciples could claim one per month.
If they had this many spirit stones, they wouldn't have to worry about cultivation resources for a long time.
The Elder-in-Charge then continued, "Also, as you have shown outstanding performance in the outer doors, I will allow you to select a secret book from the second floor of the library using a special authorisation token."
"Additionally, you'll receive one extra chance to enter the second floor of the library!"
"Completing the task hall's missions rewards all these benefits?!" The crowd suddenly became noisy. Everyone looked at Ye Changkong with envy, jealousy and hatred.
Qingyun Sect had a mature system to motivate their disciples to practice and grow stronger. Ye Changkong's contributed items equated to over one hundred task missions; Elder-in-Charge was just fulfilling his part by upholding justice.
"Thank you, Elder-in-Charge," Ye Changkong smiled joyfully as he accepted thirty middle-grade spirit stones and an authorisation token.
The special authorisation token was for the second floor of the library, equivalent to three thousand low-grade spirit stones.
"I didn't expect such a good thing."
After leaving the library, Ye Changkong went straight to the residence of Fang Qiming on the Sanxiu Peak.
He was feeling really good now and wanted to share his extra rewards for outstanding performance with Fang Qiming.
But when he returned to the small courtyard, he found that the gate had been broken and the yard was in a mess.
"Don't come near me, don't come near me..."
Upon hearing the noise outside, Fang Qiming's voice sounded frightened from inside the house.
"Senior Brother Qiming, it's me, Ye Changkong."
The joy on Ye Changkong's face immediately dissipated as he walked in.
Hearing the familiar voice, Fang Qiming, who was wrapped in white gauze, struggled to sit up on the bed and cried out, "Junior Brother, you have to leave quickly. When they come later, you won't be able to escape. Hurry up and leave..."(To be continued).