Scouring the city for hidden treasures took far longer than eradicating its inhabitants.
By the time I was finished, mountains of spatial tools, gold, silver, spirit bones, weapons, and armor surrounded me. The sheer quantity was absurd.
But not all of it was useful.
Many of the spatial rings were packed with garbage—clothes, trinkets, sentimental junk. A complete waste of space.
And it wasn't just the physical clutter.
My Soul Realm was bloated with martial spirits, spirit rings, cultivation techniques, and countless lifetimes of memories. A chaotic, overwhelming mess.
Too much.
I worked through it methodically, ruthlessly, stripping away the useless scraps and refining only the valuable knowledge and abilities.
Meanwhile, within my soul, a brutal hierarchy was forming.
The weaker spirits were devoured by the stronger ones, merging, evolving into higher-tier existences. A process of natural selection, except I was the god pulling the strings.
One spirit, in particular, stood out—a Black Tortoise Spirit.
With this, I had finally completed my Four Divine Beasts set.
I smirked.
Not bad. Not bad at all.
---
Most of the slaughtered cultivators had been between rank 10 and 30, but there were several in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and even a few in the 70s.
The strongest among them? A rank 80 Spirit Douluo.
Unfortunately, no Titled Douluo. If any had existed here, they would've long been recruited by the Slaughter King.
Still…
Thousands of cultivators, even weak ones, added up quickly. My cultivation skyrocketed, surging straight into the 90s, making me a Titled Douluo.
But rank 90 wasn't just about spirit power anymore.
Past this threshold, cultivation became less about raw strength and more about law comprehension and domain mastery.
If one wielded a sword spirit, they would study sword laws, refining their techniques in a manner akin to Sword Douluo, mastering sword intent, sword energy, and deeper sword principles.
As for me?
Well… I was completely fucked at the moment.
I had too many options, too many pathways, and no clear direction.
Not ideal. But not a problem, either.
With a wave of my hand, I sealed all my collected loot into the Gate of Babylon. Sorting through it could wait.
Right now?
I had better things to do.
With a soft pop, I vanished via Apparition, leaving the graveyard of Slaughter City behind.
---
Inside my Inner World, I sat upon the Jade Soul Platform, letting its energy purify my mind and stabilize my foundation.
One thing at a time.
The influx of memories was the worst part. Thousands of lifetimes' worth of knowledge, experiences, and thoughts churned within my consciousness, demanding attention.
Next came the sheer amount of evil radiating from my Dark Devilgod Tiger Spirit—a malevolent force strengthened by the slaughter of Slaughter City's inhabitants. This place hadn't exactly been a bastion of purity.
Then, there was the issue of spirit energy.
Raw spirit power surged within me, wild and unrefined. It needed to be cleansed, purified, and converted into my own energy. If left unchecked, it would taint my foundation, destabilizing my cultivation.
Even worse, my spirit energy control had been thrown completely out of balance after jumping so many ranks in one go.
I exhaled.
"Let's get this over with."
With a flick of my wrist, my Pagoda Spirit appeared in my hand, shimmering with an ancient radiance.
---
I scrolled through the available abilities, selecting the most valuable upgrades.
Treasure Seeking Pagoda. Grants entry into the Pagoda's internal space. Allows free storage of items. Enhances treasure sensing, detection, and analysis. Detection range increases with spirit ring count and age
I accepted the ability.
A flash of black energy surged through me. My seventh spirit ring manifested, and a new floor materialized within the pagoda.
My soul trembled, but I ignored it for now.
I continued.
Scholar's Pagoda. Grants entry into the pagoda. Enhances learning capabilities within its space. Allows storage of books, recipes, and memories. Boosts reading speed, comprehension, memory retention, and focus. Higher floors and older spirit rings increase learning efficiency
As I accepted the ability, my eighth spirit ring formed, unlocking yet another floor within the pagoda.
Shelves appeared. Empty bookshelves, tables, and reading areas materialized, waiting to be filled.
Another tremor ran through my soul.
Something was waiting. Anticipating.
There was one more ability I could select.
A particular option pushed itself forward, as if the pagoda itself desired it.
Pagoda Spirit. Grants sentience to the Pagoda. Allows it to learn, evolve, and assist the master in tasks.
I confirmed the selection—
And everything changed.
A blood-red spirit ring erupted around me. My cultivation surged to Rank 93 Titled Douluo.
At the same time, four powerful artifacts in my soul reacted violently—
The Ancient Stone Talisman
The Realm of the Violet Jade Immortal
The Fountain of Youth
The Key to the Gate of Babylon
They shattered into light, merging into the Nine-Tiled Glazed Treasure Pagoda in my hand.
In an instant, it transformed, ascending into a Ten-Tiled Glazed Treasure Pagoda.
A sense of absolute power and unity flooded me.
Panic surged for a moment.
I frantically checked my artifacts, only to realize—
They hadn't been lost.
They had fused, evolving into a single supreme artifact, now bonded deeply with me.
I let out a breath, feeling the overwhelming power of my newly ascended pagoda.
This…This was a good development.
"Master!" There was a flash of light as a small fairy like creature appeared in front of me floating in the air. It looked feminine but didn't have any kind of really distinguishing features aside from that. It's eyes seemed to flash different colors as it tilted its head and looked at me curiously..
"Uh hello."
"Hello!" It waved a little hand and flew over plopping on my shoulder.
"You are the Pagoda Spirit?" I ask just to make sure.
It puffed up it's little chest proudly. "Yes! Do you have any tasks for me master?"
I instinctively knew what it was able to do for me. "Sure can you sort all the spatial tools i picked up from slaughter city and pole up the junk to get rid of?"
"Yes!" With a flash she was fine to do her task.
I could see her sorting through my pile of loot tossing personal belongings into a pile to be scrapped, sorting gold, and so on. Well now I had someone to help me keep everything clean and organized.