At Qingmu Waterfall, 132 cultivators were resting. Thanks to Yang Hong’s swift actions, not a single one had died.
These 132 individuals provided Yang Hong with a total of 301 cultivation techniques and 2,833 magical arts.
Considering potential overlaps, he could expect at least one-third of these to be effective cultivation techniques.
This was more than enough; thousands of cultivation techniques and magical arts made the price well worth it.
There were also 1,072 magical artifacts, all below the third tier, but sufficient for his needs for a while.
Potions were the most abundant, exceeding ten thousand bottles.
This time, he wasn't foolish. He demanded that the cultivators engrave the name and effects of each potion onto its bottle.
This ensured he could consume the potions with confidence and also learn to identify them himself in the future.
Although the group of cultivators was curious about Yang Hong’s intentions, the sight of his casually swaying long sword…
...prompted them to diligently engrave the characters onto the potion bottles.
Even Xi Miaohua, who had been among the first to hand over her items, was brought back to re-label her potions.
As for spirit stones…
Just as Yang Hong had anticipated, apart from the wealthy Xi Miaohua, the other cultivators combined possessed less than 5,000 spirit stones.
“Thank you for your cooperation. If we meet again, please be just as cooperative,” Yang Hong said, waving goodbye with a benevolent smile after all the cultivators had paid their ‘ransom’.
“…”
His words made the cultivators stagger, nearly falling to the ground.
Was that even human language?
Was he implying he would rob them again?
The group exchanged glances and quickly fled on their flying swords,
silently vowing never to cross paths with this demon again.
Just then, a flash of silver-white sword light streaked through the air.
A cultivator at the ninth level of Foundation Establishment, along with his flying sword, was cleaved in two.
The cultivators in the sky dared not move, fearing they would be next.
“Alas, some people are simply too greedy.
The five Golden Core cultivators from the Lieyan Sect were killed by me. Their belongings are my spoils of war.”
“You idiot, you still dare to pilfer?”
Yang Hong’s voice was calm, as if chatting with an old friend.
But the cultivators in the sky felt a chill run down their spines.
Followed by a wave of relief.
Earlier, while Yang Hong was busy robbing them, he hadn’t searched the corpses of the five Golden Core cultivators from the Lieyan Sect.
Many had assumed Yang Hong had forgotten and were planning to return later to pick through the remains.
They never expected that this was Yang Hong’s bait.
“This short, stout fellow is too terrifying!”
This was the unspoken thought of everyone present.
“Hey, why aren’t you leaving yet? Should I invite you for a meal?”
Yang Hong deliberately avoided using his magic, opting instead for martial arts footwork to reach the fallen Foundation Establishment cultivator before speaking in a casual tone.
“Heh heh, I’m leaving. We’re all leaving…”
“Heh heh, Senior Brother, please excuse us, we won’t bother you further.”
“We’re going, we’re going…”
Within moments, the entire group of cultivators had vanished.
Only then did Yang Hong begin to tidy up the six corpses.
“Heh heh, I’ve discovered that storage rings are quite rare. Of the five Golden Core cultivators, only one possessed a storage ring, and its space wasn't large.”
The storage bags provided by the cultivators during the ‘ransom’ were all one zhang wide.
The Foundation Establishment cultivator he had killed carried seven storage bags: four one zhang, two two zhang, and one five zhang.
The five Golden Core cultivators, being relatively wealthier, provided Yang Hong with nine super-large storage bags, each ten zhang wide.
These were bags with dimensions of 10x10x10, boasting a cubic volume of 1,000 zhang.
These storage bags were filled to the brim with all sorts of demonic beast materials, piles of spirit herbs and fruits,
and several gleaming demonic beast cores.
“So these are demonic cores? Not bad, not bad. The energy contained within is truly potent, possessing about a quarter of the energy of my entire true qi and true essence.”
Upon seeing the demonic cores, Yang Hong, filled with curiosity, took one out and played with it for a long time in his hand.
Finally, he returned it to his own storage ring.
As for the last storage ring, Yang Hong did not take it. He simply emptied its contents and left the ring behind.
Although it was a top-grade ring twenty zhang wide, while his current ring was only ten zhang wide,
Yang Hong readily discarded the larger ring.
This was because storage rings could not be placed inside other storage equipment.
Furthermore, this particular ring had a highly recognizable design: the patterns on it depicted blazing flames.
If he dared to take it out of the secret realm, cultivators outside would surely recognize it.
They would know that he had killed a Lieyan Sect cultivator and looted his possessions.
“Done. Now, to the next safe zone.”
After collecting his spoils, Yang Hong did not use his flying sword. Instead, he consulted his map and headed towards the next area where cultivators might gather.
…
Shortly after Yang Hong’s departure, three white figures appeared near Qingmu Waterfall.
“Senior Sister, why are we following that scoundrel?
Aren’t you afraid he’ll rob us again?” asked Gui Ruolin, tilting her head curiously.
“Because he’s a good person. Senior Sister, I will be teleported out in three days. When that happens, you two will have to follow him,” explained Xi Miaohua patiently, looking at the discarded storage ring on the ground.
“Hmph, I won’t follow that short, stout fellow. He’s old and ugly,” Gui Ruolin pouted in disgust, her face full of reluctance.
“Heh heh, this person has used a secret technique to alter his appearance and form. While I cannot see through his true self, I imagine he is not as old or as ugly as he appears,” Xi Miaohua said, a faint smile playing on her lips as she thought of Yang Hong’s current guise.
Yang Hong’s proud disguise and bone-shrinking techniques were easily seen through by most cultivators.
It was merely that Yang Hong’s cultivation was high enough that they couldn't discern his true appearance.
“But this guy is a bandit! How can he be a good person?” Gui Ruolin grumbled, pouting stubbornly.
“Heh heh, Junior Sister, you are still too naive and see things too superficially.
Calculate how many people this bandit has killed.
If not for him, how many would have died?
Would we have survived?”
“…”
Faced with Xi Miaohua’s question, Gui Ruolin fell silent.
Without Yang Hong, they might have been reduced to mere dust by now.
“However, the secret of how Golden Core cultivators can enter the Hongdong Secret Realm is about to be exposed,” asked the heroic-looking girl She Wanting, posing a more pressing question.
“Junior Sister, there’s no need to worry. This secret was actually exposed long ago. It’s just that the rogue cultivators, for their own benefit, would not reveal it,” Xi Miaohua said calmly. Many things were not as simple as they appeared on the surface.
The three from the Qianyuan Sword Sect had been following Yang Hong from a distance as they spoke.
They watched Yang Hong rob people everywhere.
“Robbery! Men stand on the left, women on the right, and those who are neither stand in the middle.”
The familiar catchphrase, echoing from the outer trial circles and moving inwards, slowly spread towards the inner regions.
However, Yang Hong encountered fewer and fewer people.
From over a hundred people initially, he eventually found himself robbing only one or two at a time.
This was primarily because Yang Hong robbed indiscriminately, taking from anyone he saw.
Moreover, he rarely killed, which quickly earned him a fearsome reputation throughout the entire Hongdong Secret Realm.
Even Song Yuzhi and others had heard about him.
“Is this His Highness in action?” Jia Yuanchun’s eyes gleamed with admiration and envy.
“It should be His Highness. He was collecting cultivation techniques before. This person’s habit of robbing is too strange.
Only His Highness would do something like this.”
“I heard His Highness has robbed over ten thousand cultivators. Truly impressive.”
“Hmph, only ten thousand cultivators? According to our investigation, there are at least a million cultivators who entered. He can still rob for a long time.”
“That’s right. His Highness hasn’t had enough yet.”