Chapter 37: Pland and Spoils

Chapter 37: Pland and Spoils

37

Plans and SpoilsFollow current novels at novelhall.com)

I

Hao Zhens gaze lingered on the dead inner disciple for a while longer, immersed in his thoughts, before he snapped out of it. He then made his way over to Tian Jin, who glanced at him as he approached.

Well, I believe thats over, Tian Jin said. There was something off about the way the other boy was looking at him. Hao Zhen reckoned that it had to do with the last few questions he had asked at the end. Well, no matter. Hed be addressing them shortly.

Right, Hao Zhen said. First things first, get rid of the tracking matrix on your spatial ring.

Tian Jin promptly nodded his head. He then once again removed the spatial ring from his finger and started scrutinizing. Probably because he had already analyzed it earlier, Tian Jin only spent a few moments looking at it before there was a burst of spiritual power from his hand.

Hao Zhen kept his eye trained on the ring, but from where he stood, he couldnt see the tracking matrix, so he didnt see any change. He wondered how a matrix could be inscribed on something that small. The inscriptions on the walls of the cave were each about the size of the ring, and a matrix was supposedly made up of multiple inscriptions. Were there miniature inscriptions for such cases, or was there some kind of way to compress a matrix? Probably the latter. If he ever decided to get into inscriptery in the future, thatd be something to look into.

Tian Jin then held the ring to his eye, giving it another look-over, before nodding to himself. Its gone.

Good. Hao Zhens narrowed his eyes at the ring. Youre sure about it, though, right? Theres no chance theres another matrix in it?

None, Tian Jin said, placing the ring back on his finger. I inspected it thoroughly.

All right, Hao Zhen said. Now

Now I believe youve got some explanations to make, Lan Yue said. Startled, Hao Zhen turned back and saw her standing just behind him, her arms crossed as she regarded him intensely.

Right, Hao Zhen said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that now that Lan Yue had brought up this matter, Tian Jin wasnt bothering to hide his suspicion any longer, the other boys gaze just as intense as Lan Yues. Dont worry. Ill explain whats going on. But not now. Seeing Lan Yue frown, he quickly added. Later today. Its just that right now, we should wrap things up over here.

That got a quick nod from Tian Jin and a slower, more hesitant one from Lan Yue.

With that out of the way, Hao Zhen returned his attention to the inner disciples corpse. I think we should store that away for now, just like with the elders corpse, he said, after a moment of deliberation. What well do with the corpses will depend on what our plan of action will be after returning to the sect.

What do you mean? Tian Jin asked.

A cultivators powers and magical abilities came from their soul, so when they died and their soul entered the cycle of reincarnation, their body should have been no different from that of a graysouls. He could see no signs of rotting or decomposition, however. Considering neither Tian Jin nor Lan Yue seemed to find the state of the corpse strange, he reckoned there had to be a reason for it. It had been less than three months since he entered the magical world, so there were still a lot of things he didnt know. Whether a cultivators corpse underwent decomposition wasnt exactly a common conversation topic.

He wondered how long it had been since the man died. Lan Yue had said that man should be a protector from the previous generation. He didnt really know what that meant, but considering redsouls could live for two hundred years, he wouldnt be surprised if the man had died over a hundred years ago.

We should take him back with us to the sect, Hao Zhen said. I mean, his family He trailed off, turning to Lan Yue. Are there any other descendants of the founder in the sect?

Yes. Grandfather is one of them. Lan Yues gaze was also on the corpse, her expression somber. Protector Na Ren is, in fact, his uncle.

Well, that settles it, then. Hao Zhen nodded. Now He froze. Wait. Your grandfather is related to him? Blood-related? Or was Protector Na Rens wife that your grandfather was related to?

Theyre blood-related. My grandfather is a Na. As Lan Yue spoke, she turned to him. Youre wondering why I cant use the Radiant Light Sword. Hao Zhen nodded, and she sighed. I am the one who doesnt share blood with Grandfather. Its complicated.

That did sound rather complicated. Was she adopted? Or was it something else? Either way, it seemed like there was more to Lan Yues background than he originally assumed. He decided to save his questions for later, however, considering he had some pending questions of his own to answer, and he didnt think Lan Yue would take kindly to being questioned right now.

All right, Hao Zhen said. In any case, well take it with us, and return it to his family. Itll also help us confirm the legitimacy of our claims, so its the best option, no matter how you look at it.

Ill take it, Lan Yue said. Without waiting for their responses, she made her way over to the corpse before storing it inside her spatial ring, together with the cushion it had been sitting on.

They then retrieved the spiritual stones they had been using to power the restraining schema. They had used plenty of them, but they still hadnt needed the full twenty minutes, so not only had they not used everything up, they actually still had more spiritual stones than they had prior to their conflict with Du Qing and his minions.

With that, there wasnt anything left to do in the cave, but there was still something Hao Zhen wanted to confirm before they left.

It probably isnt the case, but He reached into his spatial ring, before taking out the enchanted pouch of Du Jians minion he had killed, as well as the spatial ring of the inner disciple. We should probably go over the belongings of everyone that worked for Du Qing and look for more tracking matrixes, just in case. Lets also take an inventory of our spoils while were at it.

He had never seen an antagonist use more than one tracking matrix in a cultivation novel, but he wasnt about to take any risks. Doing this now would also give him some more time to think of what exactly hed tell Tian Jin and Lan Yue about his transmigration.

Thats right, Tian Jin said, giving him a firm nod. The next moment, two spatial rings appeared in his hand.

Lan Yue followed suit, taking out the enchanted pouch of the lackey she had killed.

They then emptied all the storage artifacts on the cave floor in front of them, and within moments, a pile with all sorts of pill flasks, magical artifacts, spiritual stones, jade slips, and talismans appeared before Hao Zhens eyes. Most of it had come from the two jade slips in Tian Jins handDu Jians and the inner elderbut the inner disciples spatial ring also had quite a lot of things inside it. The enchanted pouches, in comparison, didnt have nearly as much. The only things they left behind in the storage artifacts were the body parts and magical plants. The elders spatial ring hadnt had any of that, nor did the enchanted pouches, but Du Jians and the inner disciples spatial rings were filled with it.

As he stared at the person-sized pile of spoils in front of him, Hao Zhen couldnt help but take a moment to wrap his head around just how much they had gained in the span of a day. Tian Jin and Lan Yue, on the other hand, didnt appear at all affected by it. Instead, they were promptly removing items from the pile and inspecting them.

Hao Zhen shook his head. Considering who exactly was on his team, he was pretty certain that this would become a fairly common sight in the future. Tian Jin then gave him some instructions on what to look for, and he joined their search for tracking matrixes.