Chapter 13 - "A Fragment of a Mysterious Map!"

“I haven’t quite decided yet, but don’t worry! Once I’ve figured it out, I’ll let you know right away. You better not try to cheat me, or I won’t let you off!” Fu Qu giggled mischievously before darting away like a playful sprite.

“That little rascal…” Xiao Yu shook his head with a helpless smile, rubbing his nose.

Now that they had reported back to their master and their tasks were complete, Xiao Yu made his way across half the city to his residence—

Xiaoxiang Pavilion

.

Despite its elegant name,

Xiaoxiang Pavilion

was simple and unadorned. The courtyard included only a main house, a side room, and a training chamber— a standard accommodation for Tianyong City’s Senior Brother.

Compared to the other disciples, however, Xiao Yu’s conditions were enviable. Most of them crammed together in dormitories, competing for space to sleep, bathe, and even absorb spiritual energy.

“Home sweet home,” Xiao Yu murmured as he stood at the entrance.

He pulled out a yellow command flag from his storage pouch and waved it toward the void. A faint hum echoed as the protective array around the courtyard dissipated.

This array, a standard feature for the Senior Brother’s residence, served more as a safeguard for privacy and cleanliness than true security. Against someone like Hansu Zhenren, it was as good as nonexistent.

Pushing open the door, Xiao Yu stepped inside, crossing the small courtyard before entering his room. He kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto the bed, stretching his legs out in relief.

After a moment’s rest, he sat up and accessed the system panel. Retrieving two storage pouches—one from Mad Dog and the other from Wu Laoda—he laid them out on the bed.

“Let’s see what Mad Dog had first,” Xiao Yu muttered.

As a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, Xiao Yu’s spiritual sense was still weak, confined to his immediate surroundings. However, it was sufficient for exploring the contents of a storage pouch.

The moment his spiritual sense swept through Mad Dog’s pouch, Xiao Yu’s face darkened.

“What a pauper!”

The pouch contained only a handful of inferior-quality

lower-grade spirit stones

and a single unhatched insect egg. Aside from that, it was filled with mundane items—silver coins, clothes, shoes, an iron pot, and sacks of rice.

“If I’m not mistaken, this egg belongs to an

Undying Corpse Insect

. And this rice must be imbued with faint spiritual energy to feed the creature…”

Disappointed, Xiao Yu tossed the pouch aside. It was laughable—everything inside was worth less than the storage pouch itself.

“Now, let’s see what Wu Laoda, a Golden Core cultivator, had to offer. He boasted about his reputation in the demonic path, so his treasures must be better.”

Xiao Yu picked up Wu Laoda’s pouch and sent his spiritual sense inside. Moments later, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

“As expected of a Golden Core cultivator—he’s got some decent loot.”

The first item Xiao Yu found was a black command token. Such tokens were often used to bypass formations or activate arrays, like the teleportation array into Tianyong City.

However, upon closer inspection, this token was more symbolic than functional. It bore six carved characters:

“Blood Refinement Hall Master’s Order”

.

“I didn’t expect him to be the master of a sect,” Xiao Yu muttered, tossing the token aside before continuing his search.

Next, he discovered a set of magical tools—a dagger, poisoned needles, and three flying swords. Unfortunately, all of them were

lower-grade magical artifacts

, of poor quality and little value.

There was also a blood-red manual detailing the cultivation of the

Blood Demon Eye

, a sinister demonic technique. It described the method in detail, from Qi Refinement to Golden Core stage. Xiao Yu, however, had no interest in such dark arts and discarded it without a second thought.

Further digging revealed a small pile of Qi-Gathering Pills and—most notably—over a hundred

mid-grade spirit stones

.

[Spirit Stones (灵石, Líng Shí): Cultivation resources containing spiritual energy. They are divided into four grades: lower, middle, upper, and supreme. Mid-grade stones are valuable to Foundation Establishment cultivators like Xiao Yu.]

“Now this is what I’m talking about!” Xiao Yu exclaimed, his eyes gleaming with joy.

Mid-grade spirit stones were far superior to the lower-grade scraps Mad Dog had. For Xiao Yu, who received only ten mid-grade spirit stones per month as his sect allowance, this was an unexpected windfall.

“One hundred mid-grade spirit stones! I’m rich!” Xiao Yu laughed to himself as he transferred the stones to his own pouch. With this supply, he could cultivate freely for the next few months without worrying about running out of resources.

As Xiao Yu prepared to discard Wu Laoda’s now-empty pouch, something caught his attention. Hidden beneath where the spirit stones had been, he found a rolled-up piece of parchment.

“Hm? What’s this?”

Pulling it out, he was surprised to find the parchment was warm to the touch. Its unusual nature immediately piqued his interest.

Unrolling the parchment carefully, Xiao Yu examined it closely. Though incomplete and frayed at the edges, the markings and symbols on its surface left little doubt.

“This… looks like a fragment of a map.”