Seeing Lu Qian staring blankly at the Spirit Vein, Master Xuan Ji spoke up, "Good disciple, stop looking. This Spirit Vein is dry and stagnant, almost broken, the Spiritual Light is fading bit by bit, indeed a withered Spirit Vein."
"Earlier I was wondering why the Spiritual Pressure of this Grand Array was so low and the attack frequency so slow. Now the truth is revealed, it turns out its power source is this withered Spirit Vein."
"This Spirit Vein has sustained the array for decades and even allowed Li Zhenru's Spiritual Pet to cultivate into a demon, it's already at the end of its tether, it wouldn't be surprising if it dissipated at any moment. No need to worry, let's tidy up here and leave. I tell you, there's nothing wrong with being a Loose Cultivator..."
Master Xuan Ji's nagging voice brought Lu Qian back to his senses. He took a deep breath, pressing down the disappointment that surged in his heart.
Before a river flows to the sea, it doesn't know how many twists and turns, and how many cliffs and deep valleys it must cross. A few setbacks, what's the big deal?
Lu Qian gathered his spirits, no longer glanced at the Spirit Vein, and pondered over the information, consolidating it into pieces of intelligence.
He bent down, removed the Storage Pouch from Li Zhenru's waist, and then, with a word of apology, gathered the bones into a pile, wrapped them in cloth, and placed them into his own Storage Pouch.
Because in Li Zhenru's last words in the Jade Scroll, it was hoped that whoever discovered his remains could send the bones back to the Xianyou Sect in Ningzhou and inform the sect of his murder, so they could avenge him.
And the contents of his Storage Pouch were to be considered as a reward for the messenger.
Not sure how far the Xianyou Sect is from the Danxia Sect where he's heading? But ultimately, it's in the same state, returning the remains would earn the Xianyou Sect's gratitude, quite a profitable deal.
Seeing Lu Qian's actions, Master Xuan Ji was surprised, "Good disciple, are you really going to Ningzhou? That's tens of thousands of miles away."
When Lu Qian nodded, Master Xuan Ji approached in shock, "My goodness, rare are such good people like you in this world. I don't know how to praise you, as the saying goes, 'Good people don't live long, troublemakers live for a thousand years...'
Lu Qian never considered himself a good person, he just knew what to do at the right time.
He interrupted Master Xuan Ji, lifting the Storage Pouch, "Senior, my senior sister and I were planning to go to Ningzhou anyway; we have an old friend there. Let's not talk about these first, aren't you curious about what's inside the Storage Pouch?"
Only then did Master Xuan Ji remember that this young fellow hadn't promised to become his disciple, so his expression deflated but he forced himself to come closer with some spirit.
This pouch had no restrictions, Lu Qian opened the Storage Pouch, and with a tilt, dozens of items poured out.
"How come there's not a single Spirit Stone?" Master Xuan Ji's eyes were wide; he had hoped to recover some, but now felt greatly disappointed.
Lu Qian shook his head, pointing to the pile of stones the skeleton had relied on. "They're all there."
Only then did Master Xuan Ji realize that what Li Zhenru's skeleton was relying on was a pile of Spirit Stones that had been drained of Spiritual Qi.
Lu Qian, identifying the items on the ground, guessed, "This Feathered Scholar Li, being severely injured, must have tried every means to heal. The Spirit Vein was too poor to support him, so he used up all the Spirit Stones, but it was still a drop in the bucket. Look, none of these items contain Elixirs, they must have been used up too."
At this, both fell silent, able to imagine Li Zhenru's unwillingness and fear before death. It was precisely for the desire to live that he laid out the Grand Array for defense; otherwise, he would have just lain there awaiting death.
"Qian Ji, the Sect Leader of Shengyi Sect, I always knew that brat was despicable and shameless." Master Xuan Ji cursed angrily, "Now I understand why my old friend Zhao Cang was always so melancholic. His apprentices were full of scheming, not because of him but because of that Sect Leader."
Lu Qian had already sorted the items in the Storage Pouch. There was a blue Jade Scroll, several Tokens, stacks of Talismans, packets of clothing, a pile of miscellaneous items like cups and plates.
Also, there was a Flying Sword, a jade ring, a bell, and a bronze Mirror.
Master Xuan Ji rubbed his hands in anticipation. But Lu Qian smiled, "Senior, Feathered Scholar Li did say these items are rewards for delivering his remains to Xianyou Sect. If you want a share, will you come with me?"
Master Xuan Ji paused upon hearing this, annoyed, "Kid, don't you know any better? Traditionally, a disciple follows the master, not the other way around."
As he spoke, he repeated the master-disciple, disciple-master relationship several times. Lu Qian held back his laughter, ignoring him, and fiddled with the items on the ground at his own pace.
Eventually, Master Xuan Ji couldn't resist and shamelessly approached.
First removing the trash and miscellaneous items, those Talismans, without Spiritual Qi nurturing over the years, had all become useless and had to be discarded.
Master Xuan Ji glanced at the Tokens, "These are the Pass Tokens for this Five Elements Grand Array, paired with the Array Map Array Base. Wearing a Token allows free passage within the Grand Array. Each array has about four or five eligible Tokens, and that Snake Demon must have one."
His gaze focused on the weapons; both the Flying Sword and jade ring were Magical Artifacts. Like the Talismans, without Spiritual Qi nurturing over decades, they had lost their spirituality and become useless mundane objects.
However, the bell and Mirror emitted a Spiritual Light and Spiritual Pressure entirely different from the Magical Artifacts.
Though dim, they retained a trace of spirituality, and with a period of nurturing, could shine brightly again.
These must be Spiritual Artifacts of a Foundation Establishment Feather Scholar!
Master Xuan Ji's eyes shone, "This bell—"
Lu Qian interrupted, "Mine."
"Then this Mirror—"
"Also mine."
Master Xuan Ji scratched his head, helpless. After all, Li Zhenru's last words indicated the items were for the messenger.
Lu Qian quickly picked up the Jade Scroll, explored it with his Divine Sense, and was pleasantly surprised.
The opening phrase was four big characters—Array Insights!
But upon further inspection, it differed slightly from what he had expected.
At the beginning of the Jade Scroll, Li Zhenru made it very clear that the Cultivation Techniques, Magic Techniques he practiced, and the array combination transformations he learned were all taught by Xianyou Sect and could not be disclosed. Only the insights and experiences accumulated from practicing arrays over two hundred years, the application techniques explored personally, were entirely his own knowledge.
He couldn't bear his lifetime's efforts to vanish into the world, so he wrote down this Jade Scroll. He also hoped that whoever obtained it could make a copy and send it back to Xianyou Sect, expressing endless gratitude and so on.
Lu Qian felt both joy and sentiment.
The joy was, although the Jade Scroll did not record the mantras for Array Transformation, the insights of a Foundation Establishment Feather Scholar spanning two hundred years were far more valuable than the mantras themselves.
The sentiment was, a Foundation Establishment Feather Scholar falls from grace and can't even ensure his posthumous affairs, having to hope that any Cultivator passing by is kind enough not to take the materials and discard his remains in the wilderness.
After calming himself, Lu Qian had plans in mind and handed the Jade Scroll to Master Xuan Ji with a smile.
Master Xuan Ji took it with suspicion, and upon placing it against his forehead, he exclaimed with delight, "Goodness gracious!"
Just as he finished speaking, Lu Qian swiftly snatched back the Jade Scroll. Master Xuan Ji flushed with anger, glaring at Lu Qian, who calmly said, "Sorry, Senior, this is still mine."