Chapter 532: Loot Goblin At Work

Aksai had seen many weapons before.

After all, this wasn’t the first time he had acted like a loot goblin.

But this one felt different. He held it in both hands and studied it.

"An offensive artifact," he muttered.

"But not just any kind... This thing’s got a blood-trigger core. You feed it a drop of your blood, and it locks onto your enemies until one of you dies."

As Aksai scanned the artifact with his Spirit Sense, his Neural Link Fabric kept generating possible uses of the artifact on his spectral screen, allowing him to decipher the weapon’s peculiarities like an open book.

"This 2nd Order artifact must’ve been pretty rare even in the Iron Mountain Sect. It’s like a precision-guided flying weapon that keeps attacking the enemy it locks onto, as long as the user’s vitality supports its function."

He let out a slow breath.

"Must’ve been his trump card. No wonder it wasn’t used during the battle. Takes time to activate. And it couldn’t be used against demon beasts or puppets, since their Spirit signatures are completely different from human Spirit cultivators.

He probably hoped to use it later... if he survived. Or maybe he expected me to fight him head-on, giving him a chance to use it against me."

He glanced at the spearhead again as the Neural Link Fabric displayed more details on the screen before him, then grinned.

"This’ll be fun."

He wrapped it back up and stored it separately from the other loot. It wasn’t something to mess around with casually.

He then took a deep breath, then focused his attention on the first sect elder’s storage ring resting in his hand.

"Let’s find a new home to all that stuff inside the ring," he muttered.

He pressed the ring to his own, and a soft shimmer of Spirit light passed between them. One by one, all the contents inside the first ring transferred into his personal storage space.

Spirit stones, talismans, scrolls, herbs, books, artifacts, and a few sealed items were all safely stored. Once the transfer was complete, Aksai gave the empty ring a last look before crushing it between two fingers.

The ring cracked with a faint snap, turning into useless fragments that scattered in the wind.

"Onto the next one," Aksai said and reached out to the second elder’s hand. The vines responded immediately, placing the second ring in his palm.

This time, the reaction on Aksai’s face was noticeably different.

"Forty-five thousand Spirit Stones?" he raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised.

"Looks like you were doing pretty well for yourself. Are all the sect elders of a well established sect this rich? No wonder the drifting cultivators get so easily influenced by them no matter how much they try to hold onto their love for freedom."

He shifted through the ring’s contents with his Spirit Sense. Piles of golden, silver, and copper coins from all five major kingdoms of the Dadangar Subcontinent glittered inside like treasure in a vault.

There were also well-preserved pill bottles, each stamped with the seal of the Iron Mountain Sect, along with dozens of neatly organized scrolls.

Aksai’s eyes narrowed slightly. He touched one of the scrolls with a strand of his Spirit sense.

"Second Order alchemy pills," he muttered.

"And proprietary recipes too... Hmm, this guy was an alchemist for the Iron Mountain Sect."

He skimmed further and found a few handwritten scrolls tucked in the back, clearly the elder’s personal notes. Some of them were annotated copies of official recipes, with little changes and tweaks that seemed to improve or alter their effects.

Then he saw the small, brown leather-bound journal tucked between two scroll cases.

He pulled it out and flipped through it quickly.

"Personal diary," he whispered, scanning a few pages. "He really loved alchemy. Tried his best to perfect every batch. Tch... too bad you were selected for this mission."

He looked up and glanced toward the second elder’s stiff, bloodied corpse still held up by the vines. Aksai gave a small shake of his head and sighed in an overly dramatic tone.

"He wasn’t a spectacular fighter. But at least he was a good alchemist. Life is so fickle these days. You can’t take it for granted even for a minute."

With that, Aksai carefully stored all the alchemy materials, scrolls, and coins from the second storage ring into his own.

Once everything was sorted and safely tucked away, he crushed the second ring the same way as the first—into fine pieces, gone with the breeze.

Then he turned his eyes to the third elder’s body, lips curling into a faint grin.

"Let’s see what kind of treasure you were hiding."

Aksai took a breath and turned toward the third ring. It was worn and dull, without much shine. It didn’t give the feeling of wealth like the other two had. He channeled his Spirit sense into the ring and began browsing through the contents.

There were barely five thousand Spirit Stones inside—not much compared to the others. Aksai didn’t even react to the amount.

"Broke elder for a change, huh? Was he too honest or did he not have a chance to enjoy the corruption within the sect?" he muttered with a shrug.

But as he went deeper, his eyes started to glint. There were artifacts—lots of them. Swords, spears, talismans, even a few wristbands and small defensive cloaks.

Some looked old but still usable, others looked recently refined. A few still carried a faint charge of Spirit energy within them.

"Hah... You weren’t rich with hard money, but you were clearly rich in other ways."

He pulled a few of the items out and quickly scanned them one by one, letting his Neural Link Fabric run quick diagnostics.

"Most of these are second-tier. Defensive enchantments. Some explosive types... poison darts... hmm."

Then he paused.

Three strange stone badges were tucked into a side compartment. They were small, no bigger than a man’s thumb. All of them were made from a dark, almost black stone with a silver engraving of a mountain peak. They pulsed faintly with some sort of dormant energy.

"Hmm? What are you?" Aksai whispered.

He turned one of the badges in his hand, checking for hidden marks or formations, but there were none he could sense. No Spirit locks either. Just... still and silent.

"Too quiet," he muttered. "Must be important. But I’ve never seen something like this before."

He thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Eh. I’ll figure it out later."

Without wasting any more time, he transferred all the artifacts and the three stone badges into his own storage ring. Everything was neatly sorted in seconds. Then, like before, he crushed the third elder’s now-empty storage ring between his fingers.

The pieces crumbled, fell, and disappeared in the grass.

"Alright, that’s three down," Aksai said to himself. He turned his eyes to the final elder’s body and gave a short nod. "Let’s finish this."

It didn’t take long before his brows arched in surprise.

"Huh?"

He blinked once. Then again.

Inside the ring were the usual things one might expect—Spirit stones, some talismans, and a few sealed scrolls. But what caught his attention wasn’t any of that.

It was the pile of rather personal items stuffed neatly into one corner of the ring. Small pouches of scented powder, hairpins, bits of makeup, and—more noticeably—a collection of neatly folded innerwear.

Aksai slowly turned his head and looked at the fourth elder’s corpse, his expression stuck somewhere between confused and amused. He scratched the side of his head and let out a soft chuckle.

"Well... I’m sorry for intruding on your privacy," he said, his voice awkward, the corners of his mouth twitching.

But after a moment of hesitation, the awkwardness left his face, and curiosity took over.

With zero shame left, Aksai sorted through the feminine products.

"I must say... this assassin lady was quite wild," he commented while lifting a piece of black and crimson innerwear that looked far too delicate for a battlefield.

"Definitely not something you wear under your battle robes unless you’ve got... other plans."

He folded it back up casually and placed it aside.

"Such effort," he muttered with a chuckle. "Guess even killers like to dress up for the right moment."

Once done pushing past the random stuff, his attention shifted. Aksai’s eyes narrowed as he found what he’d truly been searching for.

There it was.

A thick old tome tucked away in the far back corner of the storage space, wrapped in black silk. The cloth peeled away like it had been protecting something cursed.

The cover of the book was deep maroon, almost the color of dried blood, with a faded skull etched into the front.

Aksai’s lips curled into a grin.

"The Bloodfiend Manual," he whispered, touching the cover gently.

He could feel it. The weight of the secrets buried inside. A presence, dark and old, slumbering within the ink and parchment.

"Another edition," he murmured. "I thought I had them all."