Chapter 2227: Chapter 2229: Jiutong’s Idea

When Feng Jun returned to the Void Fragment Belt, exactly ten days had passed.

Others might not mind, but Yi Jue noticed immediately that his Spiritual Energy wasn’t very abundant, "What are you in such a hurry to come back for... didn’t we agree to stay in the void for two years?"

"I was just worried you might encounter trouble," Feng Jun expressed candidly, "This Broken Stone Zone seems to offer many opportunities, but there are also many hidden dangers. It feels less safe than that Big Stone... though the gains might be less, it’s safer."

"Who said there were many opportunities here?" Fairy Qing Ji couldn’t help but shout, "Most of the stones are useless. To see if they are worth collecting, we have to break them open, yet Spiritual Energy is consumed quickly and replenishing it is troublesome..."

In these past ten days, they had tried different methods of collection and various cooperation models. The harvest was not great, at least not as good as imagined. Yi Jue even resorted to a "Spiritual Energy Binding" technique to try and burn away some Void Stones.

Sadly, the stones here are generally larger, not like the first fragment belt, which was filled with gravel-like small particles. Although the technique’s power was not small, the duration was too short, making it hard to refine impurities in one or two attempts.

So, for the last two days, they were indeed hoping Feng Jun would return sooner to help perceive some void materials.

"You’re overestimating me," Feng Jun shook his head, stating plainly, "Materials wrapped in Void Materials can’t even be sensed by a Divine Spirit, why assume I can?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Ji became a bit anxious and spoke after some thought, "Your sensing range is large, perceive first if there’s anything obviously good. If there is, we’ll fetch it, and you can just give a bit of travel expense."

"Long-distance sensing should be in the true void," Feng Jun helplessly spread his hands, "So many stones will greatly affect sensing effectiveness, and my sensing ability can’t penetrate these stones."

After a pause, he laughed again, "Plus, if I sense something good, I can fetch it myself. Why trouble the elders with this? We must agree on this; Void Treasure Hunt... whoever finds something first gets it, no snatching."

Fairy Qing Ji said nothing in response, but Elder Cang Jing acted mischievously. She spoke with a smile, "Is this how you and Yi Jue usually divide tasks in void treasure hunts?"

"Enough," Yi Jue couldn’t help but snort coldly, her gaze clear, but others felt her face seemed a bit red.

Since Feng Jun had made his stance clear, others could hardly force him to cooperate. In the following time, the four continued to search for treasures. Feng Jun ran relatively farther away, typically finding materials that weren’t large, but of good quality that could be seen at a glance.

The three elders were more diligent and faster than him, but the daily harvest among the four was roughly the same.

Everyone worked hard, and over the next twenty days, the three True Immortals were almost sleepless, barely taking time to restore Spiritual Energy as they were just circling around the periphery, which consumed little Spiritual Energy.

However, as they daily reported their gains with a show, Master Jiu Tong, disciple of Immortal Cang Jing, couldn’t stand it, "Master, with so many defensive formations here, adding just mine isn’t lacking. Can I also go treasure hunting during my rotation rest?"

Elder Cang Jing waved her hand, directly pushing the responsibility away, "I can’t make that decision; go ask Mountain Master Feng."

But how could Feng Jun miss this little ploy? This was clearly Elder Cang Jing not wanting to owe anyone, letting her disciple take on the task. But the issue is, can the favors of Nascent Soul and Golden Core be compared?

So he straightforwardly stated, "Have your master come talk to me about this; your face doesn’t count for much."

Master Jiu Tong was somewhat displeased, "My master already agreed, saying your attitude is key... and my cultivation level is higher than yours."

Feng Jun laughed, "You say she’s agreed; that’s not enough, your master must talk to me personally. This truly has nothing to do with cultivation levels."

Jiu Tong then found her master to complain, saying they were just shuffling her around, not wanting to agree.

Cang Jing did indeed care for this disciple, so she went to Feng Jun, stating Jiu Tong was also Golden Core and can withstand void erosion. When she’s not operating the defensive formation, she really has nothing to do.

There are so many stones here, let her pick up some leaks so she’s not too bored. Do I have to specifically mention such trivial matters?

Feng Jun smiled and shook his head, "Immortal Yi Jue and Elder Qing Ji also brought disciples along. Although they’re not Golden Core, wearing Precious Treasures, they can walk in the void for a short time. Your Golden Core disciple goes treasure hunting; how do you think they feel about this?"

"That’s just because they’re only Dust-Free," Cang Jing replied confidently, "Leaving my Golden Core disciple idle there is a waste of resources, isn’t it?"

"That’s not right," Feng Jun laughed and shook his head.

"They can also find Golden Core with spatial attributes, but they eventually chose the Dust-Free. Because they know it’s just auxiliary, they don’t want to waste. You bring Golden Core along, which means two people hunting treasures. They might feel uncomfortable, right?"

"You rascal..." Elder Cang Jing glared, about to lose his temper—am I such a despicable person?

But thinking back, when this person was selling information about the Spirit Stone Mine, he was quite creative, ultimately shaking his head in disbelief, "Why are you, a good cultivator, always thinking about such things? Let me tell you... I don’t have as many convoluted thoughts as you do!"

"How you think isn’t important," Feng Jun replied seriously, "The key is how others perceive it. In the cultivation world, isn’t it common for a small misunderstanding to lead to disaster? You can have two people treasure hunt together, but I can’t make this decision! You need to let them understand it’s your idea."

"Only because you overthink," Elder Cang Jing shook his head, left angrily, and then whispered to Yi Jue.

Yi Jue was searching for treasures, analyzing stones while casually listening,

But once she finished listening, she turned to give Cang Jing a strange look, "Of course you need to find him yourself, do you know how precious a spot for Void Treasure Hunt is? Getting Jiu Tong to find him... honestly, I can’t bear it."

Elder Cang Jing was genuinely puzzled, is this request unreasonable? So she went to see Elder Qing Ji.

"Of course it’s unreasonable," Elder Qing Ji was more straightforward, "Even for a Golden Core with spatial attributes, I can find one. Knowing Mountain Master Feng cares about this, I didn’t invite you; inviting you wouldn’t matter anyway, but not showing up to participate in the treasure hunt is excessive."

Cang Jing originally wanted to stand firm, but clearly the two of them didn’t support her idea. Although she cared about her reputation, it didn’t really matter in front of Yi Jue and Qing Ji.

So she found Feng Jun again, formally proposing her disciple also wanted to join the treasure hunt.

She was so formal, Feng Jun naturally found Yi Jue and Qing Ji, saying he wanted to add one more person into the group, asking if they opposed it.

He asked "opposed" instead of "agree", which showed respect for his companions while making his own decision, demonstrating flawless conduct.

They were certainly a bit unhappy, but both knew Cang Jing got the latest news, and there was no choice last minute, just happened to have such a disciple. Though it’s a Golden Core, they had to make do.

Besides, having a Golden Core idly sitting there seems an enormous waste, so... they accepted.

The following period was uneventful, occasionally seven or eight Space-Cracking Devouring Bees would appear and be eliminated, two of which weren’t killed by the defensive formation, but the Space-Cracking Devouring Bees didn’t react intensely.

However, Master Jiu Tong’s treasure hunting ability was indeed a bit lacking; the comparison was shocking. Feng Jun’s treasure hunting yield was more than triple hers, and considering she also had duties for the defensive formation, Feng Jun’s efficiency was more than quadruple hers.

Even so, Master Jiu Tong discussed with Liu Yiyi, having Liu Yiyi take over most of the time.

Jiu Tong would use Spirit Stones as payment, but whenever she and Liu Yiyi were on duty simultaneously, she dared not bother the people brought by Yi Jue and Qing Ji—this wasn’t about Liu Yiyi’s low cultivation level; the key was the two elders were displeased with her late involvement.

Unconsciously, everyone had spent five months in the void. Those who participated in the lottery knew this feeling; constantly opening prizes felt somewhat numbing, but the internal sense of anticipation made time fly by.

Everyone’s harvests were actually quite decent. The three elders’ daily harvest stabilized around ten high-grade Spirit Stones, totaling over a thousand or two thousand high-grade Spirit Stones after five months.

Even for Nascent Soul Peak cultivators, this income was considerable, mainly because Void Materials could be valued, but couldn’t be bought with so many Spirit Stones—it’s the classic case of having value but no market.

Master Jiu Tong’s earnings were relatively low, only around two hundred high-grade Spirit Stones—converted to intermediate grade, it’s at least thirty to forty thousand.

However, she still felt a bit dissatisfied, so she whispered to Liu Yiyi, "What a pity, so many Broken Stones are mostly useless. Do you have any good suggestions, little sister? If I gain, we’ll split it equally."

Equally splitting... such a generous condition, one at mid-stage Golden Core and the other at Preliminary Outset Stage, the one taking action is Golden Core, for an Outset Stage participant to get half—this condition is truly generous.

Especially noteworthy is that Master Jiu Tong has the agreed treasure hunting rights, accepted by everyone, while Liu Yiyi, though brought by Feng Jun, has no treasure hunting rights, and with her cultivation, she can’t explore far and must retreat to recuperate.

In this context, Jiu Tong still offers such a condition, indeed showing full sincerity.

Liu Yiyi truly dared not say much, but she also knew Master Jiu Tong was an authentic Xuanshui Sect disciple, even an external disciple of Elder Cang Jing, she really wanted to maintain this relationship.

So she summoned her courage and consulted with Feng Jun, "...She hopes I can help with a suggestion, what can I do?"