A month had passed as things settled in the former Eternal Sovereign Domain, recently renamed Infinite Dao Domain.
Although it had been a busy month for all disciples and elders of the sect, it had also been a rewarding one, with countless goods arriving at the sect and many Contribution Points filling the disciples' pockets.
Aotian, in Bao Hui's body, was analyzing the wealth inside a massive vault room, which used to be the treasury of the Eternal Sovereign Sect.
Shelves upon shelves, with reduction formations similar to those in storage bags, were arranged throughout the enormous chamber, protected by the sect's best formations.
It looked like a gigantic warehouse, illuminated by formations.
First, he looked at the huge grids crammed with spirit stones — and this was after he had transformed most of them into High-Grade stones using Bao Wuji's synthesizing ability to save space; otherwise, such wealth wouldn't have even fit there.
To put it in perspective, just the veins from the 27 main cities of the domain produced, per year, around 90,000 high-grade spirit stones in value. The third-level vein of the Eternal Sovereign Sect alone accounted for 80,000 of these.
Of course, the actual number of high-grade stones a third-level vein generated was small, but in pure energy value, adding all stone grades together, the number reached this absurd 80,000.
For perspective, ninety thousand high-grade stones equal 900 million low-grade stones. Nine hundred million per year.
The Eternal Sovereign Sect also imposed a 60% tax on the annual income of all 26 cities under its domain. These cities, in turn, controlled small cultivation towns with first-level veins and most likely exploited them with equally absurd taxes.
Thus, the number of stones flowing into these cities — and, mainly, to the final beneficiary, the Eternal Sovereign Sect — was unimaginable.
In a provisional assessment, Aotian calculated that he had received, adding the treasures and inheritances accumulated by the 27 cities, around 50 million high-grade spirit stones in value, or 500 billion low-grade stones.
And that was without counting other types of treasures besides spirit stones, as well as what he had looted from elders, disciples, and even beasts from those places.
Just with the stones, if he converted all this wealth into Perfect-Grade stones, he would have 5 billion Perfect-Grade stones — a terrifying number. And with his synthesis abilities, this value could be much higher, since, when synthesizing lower-grade stones, only 10 stones were required instead of the 100 used in the market.
Looking at the mountain of stones, Bao Hui — or rather, Aotian — rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
'I have so many stones, besides the ones I already have from the Bamboo Sword region conquest. So, even if synthesizing a stone above Perfect Grade with Bao Wuji required, not ten thousand, but even a billion Perfect-Grade stones, it would still be worth it. It wouldn't be a problem for my current financial situation. This way, I could see what lies beyond without affecting myself or the sect's operations…'
Bao Hui's eyes gleamed with ambition at Aotian's calculation — but the light soon faded.
'No... it's too risky. Rihai said that Perfect-Grade stones don't even exist in this world, and it was already a huge risk when I synthesized them without knowing. Fortunately, their creation didn't draw any attention, and they're not much different from regular spirit stones — aside from their purity.'
'But something above a Perfect-Grade spirit stone might not be as discreet. If this world follows the pattern of most xianxias I've read, the currency above spirit stones would be something like immortal stones, releasing Immortal Qi that is extremely powerful. Of course, I might be wrong, but if I'm right and synthesize something like that, it would be like a beacon to the powers of this world. It would only attract trouble I'm not ready for yet.'
His eyes grew serious.
'There's no point in taking that risk. Maybe something like an immortal stone would greatly accelerate my cultivation, but the risk is enormous. When I have an avatar at this world's peak, then I can take that risk. Right now, it would be a foolish move.'
Taking a deep breath, Aotian pushed that thought aside and began pondering other matters.
Bao Hui then pulled out the talisman he had stolen from Wu Juntian during the fight with Jian Huiyin from his storage bag. The ring had been given to the sect leader, Tian Zhu, after all — it would be degrading for him not to have one.
The talisman contained a powerful Golden Core Perfection attack and could have wounded Jian Huiyin — which was why Aotian had intervened. Through torturing the grand elder, he discovered that the talisman had been traded from one of the emissary sects in exchange for a talented cultivator with a perfect-quality spiritual root of a single element.
As for Wu Juntian, it hadn't been that difficult to steal the talisman from him. First, Wu Juntian was focused on Jian Huiyin, his mind filled with hatred for having lost an arm in public.
Second, Bao Hui was at the same cultivation level as him and, using the sect's techniques, hid his presence and traveled silently underground. Thus, he managed to emerge behind the distracted Wu Juntian and steal the talisman.
Even so, Wu Juntian might have sensed traces of a presence moving underground, but that's where the new disguise technique Aotian had obtained from Bai Yan — and later synthesized a new one using it as a base — came into play.
The new technique allowed him to disguise and alter his aura to blend with the environment. It wasn't necessarily better than the concealment technique Aotian had synthesized before; they simply had different purposes. One was about completely nullifying presence, the other about disguising it.
Of course, if Wu Juntian had been at a higher cultivation level, such a stealth attack might not have been so simple. And against a Nascent Soul or higher, it would have been a total failure.
He knew that. After all, he had Bao Wuji and Tian Zhu, who were above the Golden Core level and could sense the soul presence of anyone, making techniques that merely hid life aura useless.
Shaking his head and leaving those thoughts behind, Bao Hui returned to organizing the goods in the vault.
Soon, the disciples who were exploring the thousands of tombs in spiritual mines in both regions would return, and the vault would become even more crammed. Space needed to be made.
Practically all the tombs of cultivators from the last millennia, both in the current Infinite Dao Domain and in the Bamboo Sword Domain, would be excavated by Aotian's disciples.
Disrespectful? Perhaps. But in the cultivation world, exploring tombs and inheritances was common.
'If someone didn't want to be robbed after death, they should have donated their fortune and been buried in a common cemetery, not in a spiritual mine full of treasures. It's sad, but it's the truth… especially in this world.'
…
Deep within the massive mountain of the Eternal Sovereign Sect, Bao Wuji expanded his spiritual energy while analyzing the great spiritual vein.
This was the first time Aotian had analyzed a third-level vein. In fact, it was the first time he had ever come into contact with a vein of this level. The vein of the Bamboo Sword Sect only had a third-level environment thanks to formations and the support of a perfect second-level vein. It wasn't a real third-level vein.
Just like this one from the Eternal Sovereign Sect, which, despite the environment, was only a low-grade third-level vein, not a mid-level one.
Following the vein from one end to the other and analyzing each of its branches, the complete layout slowly formed in his mind.
[Illustrative image]
'Ugh... the vein is extremely connected to the mountain. If I wanted to extract it, I'd have to move the entire mountain. The idea of implanting a vein into a ship and having the sect live in the sky doesn't seem possible for now.'
He sighed with regret at the thought.
'Making the entire mountain float is even more impossible. The enormous weight would consume more energy than the vein produces to keep it aloft. So far, the only viable solution would be to create the environment using elemental stones, but then another problem arises. A sect of ten thousand people could still be maintained, but if the sect grows too much, this plan will become unfeasible to sustain such an environment for long.'
Ideas passed through his mind, being discarded one by one.
'No matter. The sect won't need to leave here anytime soon.'
With those thoughts, Bao Wuji left the underground and returned to guarding his main body, which was calmly cultivating.
When he reached the sky, however, he glanced to the side and saw someone flying toward the sect on a sword.
Her golden hair whipped in the wind, and the hem of her white dress, along with the long sleeves, fluttered, giving her an immortal, beautiful, and untouchable appearance.
Her beautiful, deep blue eyes only enhanced her ethereal beauty.
'Hai'er is back.' Aotian's main body smiled softly.
He already knew that, of course, since he had a Golden Core avatar discreetly following her without her knowing. He wasn't crazy enough to leave his woman unprotected.
'I've read too many stories of protagonists letting their women get stolen or kidnapped, only to find them and save them after a lot of trouble. So, no, thank you. I'm not going to be one of them.'
He thought with amusement, interrupting his cultivation to calmly wait for her arrival.
'It's kind of weird for me to think of myself as the protagonist, but everything points to it. System, reincarnation, a beautiful and talented female protagonist with a mysterious past and problems to solve… I'm basically a spit-out protagonist.'
Aotian amused himself with his own thoughts, still trying to comprehend how his life, which had been normal just months ago, had become so crazy.
Placing his hands behind his head and lying down on the rock where he meditated, a few doubts arose.
'Hey, system, now that I think about it, I handled this whole change with suspicious ease. Before, I simply never had time to reflect, always cultivating or planning the next step. But, thinking now, it's strange. Sure, I said I was an adaptable person in job interviews, but come on… One day I'm a normal guy, and the next I'm fighting and killing as if it were just another Monday. And all this in a cultivation world… which is pretty weird, considering I'm not even Chinese… Is this your fault?'
He questioned mentally, curious as he noticed some inconsistencies in his personality. Maybe the system was helping with that.
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'…'
'Ugh! What did I expect? No answer, as always.'
He sighed but didn't complain much.
In the end, Aotian was just throwing out possibilities. He didn't know if he had really adapted faster than he should have. After all, his evolution had been gradual, and his avatars had helped a lot in this process.
Even if the system was helping him adapt, it wouldn't be a big problem, since he didn't notice any other discrepancies in his personality.
The only change was that he was more mature and experienced after dealing with so many situations and seeing everything from different perspectives. So maybe he was just imagining things.
Turning his gaze to Rihai through his avatars' perspectives, he saw her go first to the Missions Pavilion, where she delivered the completed mission.
Rihai, in front of a disciple who was checking the details, smiled slightly as she received her disciple token back after everything was confirmed.
[Infinite Dao Sect]
[Position: Core Disciple]
[Name: Liu Rihai]
[Contribution Points: 5000]
'Hehe... now I can tease Tian'er for having zero points while I have some.'
Leaving happily, she jumped onto her sword and accelerated, eager to reach their cave sooner.
When she arrived, however, she was surprised to see who was leaning at the entrance, with his shoulder resting and a playful smile on his face.
Seeing him after a month, her heart burned with longing. So, without hesitation or much thought, she ran to him and hugged him tightly.
Caught by surprise by the sudden crushing hug, Aotian took a second to react, but soon wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her with the same intensity and burying his face in her neck.
He felt at peace as he breathed in the soft fragrance of her hair again.