With a thought from Xiao Chen, the Flowing Color Golden Light Pearl in the air instantly descended, scattering the fleeing blood-red light.

A closer look revealed that the Demon Cultivator had been killed on the spot.

’Dammit, I was too heavy-handed!’

Xiao Chen frowned as he walked over and picked up the man’s Storage Bag.

He had actually intended to hold back, but first, he hadn’t expected the man to flee so decisively, leaving him no time to cast any other magic.

And second, he really hadn’t expected the man to have only a single Middle Grade Defense Magic Robe.

He couldn’t even withstand a single strike from the Golden Light Pearl before he died.

’Hopefully, I can find some new clues.’

Xiao Chen first searched the courtyard, but unfortunately, there was nothing useful.

He then refined the Storage Bag with practiced ease.

However, the Storage Bag contained a mere two hundred eighty-five Spirit Stones and a pile of useless junk.

The most valuable magical artifact he possessed turned out to be that Upper Grade, Dharma Artifact Level Flying Shuttle.

The only clue related to a Demon Cultivator was a manual titled Blood Refining Divine Technique.

Xiao Chen had obtained a copy of this Demon Technique before, but that one had been seized from an assassin from the Azure Flame Sect.

For now, based on the Demon Technique’s contents, he could only surmise that it likely belonged to the Divine Fire Sect.

In short, the trail had gone cold.

Xiao Chen had a feeling that since he hadn’t caught the accomplice this time, that person would definitely stir up more trouble soon.

But there was nothing he could do about it now. If the accomplice appeared before him at this very moment, he could instantly use a Top Grade Magical Artifact to smash the guy’s head in.

But the person had to go and run off early, leaving him no chance to strike.

’This is so annoying. That damned Divine Fire Sect, can they ever stop making trouble for me?’

Acting on the principle of "well, since I’m already here," Xiao Chen did a full sweep of Huangque Valley.

And his search actually led him to an extremely well-hidden underground storeroom.

The storeroom was so well hidden that standard detection magic would never have found it.

However, Xiao Chen’s Stargazing and Qi Observation Skill was ten times more effective, making it especially good at detecting places with significant Spiritual Qi.

And that was how he noticed an anomaly in the flow of Spiritual Qi in this exact spot.

Upon entering the storeroom, he discovered a tunnel at the back that connected to the nearby Spirit Vein.

Dozens of sets of mining tools were placed along the path.

Clearly, someone had been using this tunnel to illicitly mine the Spirit Vein.

This kind of activity could not have escaped Su Dechang’s notice; in fact, he must have given his tacit approval.

Inside the storeroom, Xiao Chen found a hidden, man-made chamber.

The hidden chamber contained five large chests.

He opened the chests and found the four thousand six hundred Spirit Stones that Su Dechang had amassed over the years.

’Hmm, I bet this stash of Spirit Stones isn’t on any ledger, is it?’

And besides, everyone who knew about it should be dead now.

After a moment’s thought, Xiao Chen took all the Spirit Stones, then did Su Dechang the "favor" of destroying the tunnel and storeroom.

.

He activated the Light Stone at the predetermined frequency.

Before long, a large group of Qi Refining disciples arrived at Huangque Valley.

Among them were three cultivators at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining stage, who would act as temporary leaders and continue to garrison the outpost.

Their main task was to guard this resource point and await further orders from the sect.

It couldn’t be helped; the Li Huo Sect was extremely shorthanded at the moment and couldn’t spare any more Foundation Establishment Cultivators for a rotation.

Of course, this isn’t to say that not a single person could be spared, but rather that there were no suitable candidates.

Traditionally, Huangque Valley should have been taken over by a member of the Su Family.

But this generation of the Su Family was already short on members and truly couldn’t send a suitable person for the time being.

After confirming the news of Su Dechang’s murder, the entire Su Family was immersed in grief.

Even Su Wanqing had returned to her family to mourn, asking Shen Siyue to help take care of the Spirit Flowers in her absence.

"Eldest Sist— uh."

Xiao Chen returned to Cuiwei Valley and subconsciously started to call her "Eldest Sister," then realized it wasn’t quite appropriate anymore.

Instead, it was Shen Siyue who saw him, rose, and bowed in greeting. "Greetings, Junior Martial Master Xiao."

"Junior Sister Wanqing is busy with family matters. If you don’t mind, Junior Martial Master, I’ll be the one helping to look after the Spirit Flowers for a while."

Xiao Chen waved his hand. "I don’t mind at all. It’s great that you’re here to help."

Over the next few days, he spent most of his time on Alchemy.

This time the Lingyuan Sect needed even more Blood Piercing Pills, placing an order for one hundred bottles.

But the reward was also greater: a full two thousand Spirit Stones.

Naturally, Xiao Chen wasn’t going to pass up such a good opportunity, and he fulfilled all the orders by himself.

At the same time, his own stash of Blood Piercing Pills in his Storage Bag grew to one hundred and fifty bottles.

’I need to find a chance to trade these Blood Piercing Pills for Spirit Stones.’

After all, selling the elixirs directly would undoubtedly earn far more Spirit Stones than the fee he received for concocting them.

It was just that there were no auctions recently, nor had he heard any news about a Black Market.

This left Xiao Chen feeling a little disappointed. ’Auctions are so important, why aren’t they held more often?’

’They should hold them eight or ten times a year. If each auction had a few more materials like the Five-Colored Golden Lotus, wouldn’t I be rolling in it?’

Just as Xiao Chen was lost in his fantasies about auctions, a disciple from the Artifact Refining Hall suddenly arrived. "Junior Martial Master Xiao, Elder Chen requests your presence."

Xiao Chen followed him to the back hall of the Artifact Refining Hall and saw Chen Tianfeng holding an indigo Flying Sword in his hand, examining it carefully.

Perhaps because the back hall was so hot, a faint white vapor rose from around the Flying Sword.

But this was no water vapor; after rising, it traced a large circle in the air before flowing back to the sword.