Bumper Harvest

"Lord!"

Zhao Feng had returned.

Zhao Feng walked briskly into the courtyard and bowed respectfully.

The bloodstains on his body had been cleaned, and he had changed into a clean cyan cloth gown.

"Is everything at the foot of the mountain taken care of?" Lin Yan asked without looking up, leaning back in his rocking chair and leisurely peeling a green tangerine.

"Answering the Lord, everything is handled! The bodies have all been buried. As for the remnants of the Heavenly Sword Sect and Earth Blade Sect, this old servant has ordered them never to step within a hundred miles of Azure Cloud Mountain again."

Zhao Feng replied respectfully. With a wave of his hand, eleven bulging storage bags appeared out of thin air on the ground.

"These are the storage bags searched from those eleven individuals. They are all here, please look them over, Lord."

Lin Yan's eyes lit up, and he almost bounced out of his rocking chair.

Storage bags!

The legendary must-have artifacts of the cultivation world!

Since crossing over to this world, it was his first time seeing real storage bags.

He maintained a calm composure, merely nodding faintly. He casually picked up a storage bag and probed it with his divine sense.

It was indeed filled with items: two hundred taels of gold, three thousand taels of silver, fifteen bottles of Essence Nurturing Pills, eight bottles of Qi Recovery Pills, a stack of talismans, and several fingernail-sized stones faintly circulating with spiritual energy.

"These are spirit stones?"

Lin Yan frowned.

"Why are there so few?"

He picked up the other storage bags to check. The contents of each were roughly the same: some gold and silver, some pills, some talismans, and a varying small number of spirit stones.

Ten Golden Core cultivators, and they had less than a hundred spirit stones combined?

Were the Heavenly Sword Sect and Earth Blade Sect really this poor?

He suddenly realized he might have overlooked a problem.

"Zhao Feng."

Lin Yan put down the storage bag in his hand and asked, "Are spirit stones very rare?"

Zhao Feng paused for a moment, then nodded hastily.

"Answering the Lord, spirit stones are exceedingly rare!"

"Mostly, only True Monarchs at the Nascent Soul realm and above use spirit stones for cultivation. Below the Golden Core realm, people usually just trade with gold and silver."

He paused, as if recalling something, and then continued.

"Although the Heavenly Sword Sect has a small, low-grade spirit vein, its annual output is limited. Most of it has to be handed over as tribute to the Biluo Sect. The remainder is distributed throughout the sect, and even a Golden Core elder wouldn't get more than a few stones a year."

Lin Yan nodded, understanding dawning upon him.

He had Zhao Feng empty the contents of all the storage bags and tally them up.

Gold, silver, pills, and talismans piled up into a large mound.

The spirit stones were placed separately. After counting, there were exactly ninety-seven of them.

Zhao Feng pulled another storage bag from the pile, set it aside, and explained, "Lord, this storage bag belongs to Han Lie."

"A cultivator's storage bag is branded with their divine sense. As long as the owner isn't dead and their divine sense hasn't dissipated, others cannot open it."

"If one tries to forcefully break it open, the items inside will likely be swept into the void turbulence and vanish completely."

Lin Yan glanced at the storage bag and smiled.

He reached out a hand, shifting his thoughts.

Out of thin air, a pile of items appeared in the courtyard: spirit stones, pills, weapons, gold and silver, and several baby-fist-sized, entirely emerald-green stones radiating spiritual energy so dense it was almost tangible.

Zhao Feng's eyes widened like brass bells.

"Lord... this... this is..."

"Han Lie's storage bag."

Lin Yan withdrew his hand, his tone flat.

"When this seat retrieves items, there is no need to open it."

Zhao Feng gasped!

Extracting items directly through the storage bag!

And it was the storage bag of a Nascent Soul True Monarch!

What kind of divine method was this?!

Just how unfathomably deep was the Lord's cultivation?

Lin Yan clapped his hands in satisfaction. Looking at the small mountain of loot before him, his heart bloomed with joy.

Worthy of a Nascent Soul True Monarch, he was indeed much richer than those penniless Golden Cores!

There were hundreds of spirit stones alone, among which were a few larger, higher-quality stones with even denser spiritual energy.

Presumably, these were higher-grade spirit stones.

Lin Yan took an inventory.

Gold and silver: over two thousand taels of gold and countless silver, piled on the ground like a small hill.

Over twenty cultivation manuals and secret techniques.

Pills: Essence Nurturing Pills, Qi Recovery Pills, Foundation Establishment Pills, and even three shimmering golden pills.

Zhao Feng took one look and exclaimed, "Golden Core! These are Core Formation Pills! With this, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator's chances of breaking through to the Golden Core realm increase by thirty percent!"

Lin Yan nodded, there was a lot of good stuff.

Zhao Feng then picked up an emerald-green jade bracelet from the pile and offered it to Lin Yan with both hands.

"Lord, this should be Han Lie's weapon. This old servant has heard of it; it seems to be a mid-grade spirit artifact, capable of both offense and defense, with immense power."

"Spirit artifact?"

Lin Yan took the jade bracelet, examining it curiously.

"Weapons are also divided into grades?"

"Yes, Lord."

Zhao Feng was already used to his Lord occasionally asking basic questions and patiently explained.

"Weapons are divided from lowest to highest into four grades: Mortal artifacts, Dharma artifacts, Spirit artifacts, and Saint artifacts."

"The Qi Condensation realm uses Mortal artifacts, while Foundation Establishment and Golden Core cultivators use Dharma artifacts. The weapon this old servant used previously was a mid-grade Dharma artifact longsword."

"Once reaching the Nascent Soul realm, most True Monarchs use Spirit artifacts."

"As for Saint artifacts, those are merely legendary items. It is said that high-level Saint artifacts possess their own artifact spirits, can speak, and have endless miraculous uses."

Lin Yan nodded, unlocking yet another new setting.

He went through all the items one more time.

The gold and silver combined, converted to silver, amounted to roughly over a hundred thousand taels.

Over five hundred ordinary spirit stones, with a few of higher quality.

Three Core Formation Pills, over a hundred bottles of various pills, a large stack of talismans, several cultivation manuals, and a few small trinkets of unknown use.

A massive harvest!

Indeed, a man does not get rich without windfalls, just as a horse does not grow fat without night grass!

With this wave, the sect's foundation instantly became much thicker.

The system valued loyalty above all else, but loyalty couldn't be maintained through bluffing alone.

In the future, when the disciples performed well, there had to be some practical rewards.

These spirit stones and pills could be distributed as bonuses.

Thinking of this, he casually picked up an empty storage bag, stuffed twenty spirit stones and a large pile of gold and silver into it, and tossed it to Zhao Feng.

"Take these. Keep the spirit stones for your own cultivation, and use the gold and silver to purchase sect supplies."

Zhao Feng caught the storage bag, his hands trembling with excitement.

Twenty spirit stones!

Some of those Golden Core ancestors in the Heavenly Sword Sect had saved for decades, even centuries, and still had less than ten spirit stones on them!

The Lord had casually rewarded him with twenty!

"Lord... this... this is too much..."

"If I tell you to take it, just take it."

Zhao Feng did not dare to decline further. He carefully tucked the storage bag into his robes, his eyes turning red.

"This old servant... this old servant thanks the Lord!"

"This old servant will definitely not fail the Lord's trust and will manage the sect's affairs flawlessly!"

After his joy subsided, a trace of guilt appeared on Zhao Feng's face. He bowed again to beg for punishment: "Lord, this old servant is guilty, please punish me!"

"Oh? What is your crime?" Lin Yan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This old servant was blind in judging character. Out of the fifteen in-name disciples screened and recruited previously, apart from Mo Wentian, the other fourteen all betrayed the sect."

Zhao Feng lowered his head, his face burning with shame.

"This old servant has failed the Lord's trust, please hand down a punishment!"

He paused, then added, "However, this old servant has already captured all fourteen traitors. They are kneeling at the foot of the mountain, awaiting the Lord's judgment."

"When Han Lie knelt down just now, they were scared silly. They didn't even dare to run."

"Now they are filled with endless regret, crying their eyes out one by one!"

Lin Yan waved his hand and said dismissively, "Such a trivial matter, you can handle it as you see fit."

However, this incident also served as a wake-up call for Lin Yan. In the future, when accepting disciples, he couldn't just look at their sincerity; he had to set a strict probation period.

Anyone whose character failed to meet the standard would be rejected outright.

"Yes! This old servant understands!" Zhao Feng hastily replied.

After finishing the formal business, Zhao Feng remained standing in place, lingering instead of leaving.

Lin Yan glanced at him. "Is there something else?"

Zhao Feng rubbed his hands together and said, looking a bit embarrassed, "Answering the Master, my daughter, Xiangru, is waiting just outside the door."

Lin Yan raised an eyebrow, then nodded. "Oh, let her in. From now on, she can stay in the courtyard and take care of the daily chores."

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

Overjoyed, Zhao Feng kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

"This old servant will go call her right away!"

He quickly walked out of the courtyard, pulled Zhao Xiangru, who was waiting at the gate, and whispered his instructions. "Xiangru, remember what your father told you. Once you go inside, you must follow the rules, speak less, and work more."

"Keep the preferences of the Master and the two little masters in your heart at all times. As long as you serve the Master well, your future achievements will absolutely not be inferior to your father's!"

"Your daughter understands!"

Zhao Xiangru nodded and took a deep breath, suppressing the nervousness and anticipation in her heart.

Zhao Feng gave her a few more reminders before finally turning around and heading down the mountain.

As for what might happen next, it seemed inappropriate for him, as a father, to be present.

Zhao Xiangru smoothed out the hem of her clothes, raised her head to look at the quaint little courtyard before her, and slowly reached out to push open the ajar gate.