Chapter Thirty-One: Oblivion

In the spiritual fields, although some of the spirit farmers shouted loudly, not many truly dared to stay and keep watch through the night. Zhou Changwang pulled Zhou Qiankun, who was genuinely willing to stay, away, paying no attention to whether the remaining people would choose to stay or not.

There is a saying: with grain in hand, one need not worry. He still had over a hundred low-grade spirit stones, so he would not risk his life over the spirit rice in the fields, which at most was worth one hundred and fifty low-grade spirit stones.

Nevertheless, following his father's advice, he set up several straw men in the fields. They might not scare people off, but they could at least keep some birds and beasts at bay.

...

Night fell.

Zhou Changwang returned to his room, and could hardly wait to take out a black cloth pouch—the very storage pouch his father had given him. Since he had been busy with the spirit fields during the day, even though he had been thinking about it constantly, he had not dared to take it out and erase the spiritual imprint within.

Now, alone in his room, he had no such concerns. With a thought, he guided his own spiritual power, letting it slowly flow into the storage pouch.

A sizzle echoed.

At the same time, a foreign spiritual force was quickly stirred within the pouch, forming a ball of spiritual light that fiercely guarded the pouch, resisting the incursion of Zhou Changwang’s power. The two forces collided instantly, each consuming the other, grinding away like two millstones.

One breath, two, three...

“As expected of a fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator’s spiritual imprint—so tough and refined. Even though it’s just a small wisp, it still costs me a great deal of spiritual power to erase.” Zhou Changwang marveled inwardly.

No wonder mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators have such a great advantage over early-stage ones. Regardless of anything else, the refinement of their spiritual power alone proved everything. The same spell, cast with such refined power, would have incomparable effect.

Take Fireball, for example. At the introductory level, the fireball he could conjure would be the size of a soup bowl, requiring continued infusion of spiritual power to grow any larger. When hurled to the ground, it would leave only a small pit, slightly scorching the earth.

But if a fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivator cast it, the fireball could be as large as a millstone, and when it struck the ground, it would be like a firestone plunging into magma—leaving a massive crater and sending flames bursting outward, inflicting additional burning damage to the surroundings.

Not to mention spells of even greater power.

---

Even so, Zhou Changwang’s spiritual power was quickly depleted. In just the time it took for an incense stick to burn, he was spent, while the spiritual imprint in the pouch appeared only slightly dimmer.

He was not discouraged. That spiritual imprint, though refined, was rootless, and without replenishment, it would eventually wear away.

So Zhou Changwang sat cross-legged and began to circulate the Five Elements Technique to restore his power.

Almost immediately, he sensed the difference now that the Five Elements Technique had reached the minor accomplishment level.

“If at the proficient level, the Five Elements Technique gave me the training efficiency of an upper-rank single spiritual root cultivator, now at minor accomplishment, my cultivation speed is comparable to that of a lower, perhaps even mid-grade four-attribute spiritual root.”

He sighed at the improvement. Even if this comparison was not entirely precise—after all, he was not truly a four-attribute cultivator and could not directly feel their efficiency—he knew for certain his speed had more than doubled.

So, after just two cycles of cultivation, his spiritual power was fully restored.

He immediately continued to use his power to wear down the imprint in the storage pouch.

One minute, two, three...

Each time he ran out of power, he sat once more to meditate and recover.

And so it went, again and again.

On the fifth attempt, as his spiritual power surged into the pouch—

Boom!

He suddenly felt a release in his mind. The spiritual imprint was completely erased.

His own power then swept through the pouch, leaving his unique imprint in a certain rune array within.

“At last, it’s open.”

He could not hide his joy. Without delay, he sent his consciousness into the storage pouch to examine the treasures inside.

“Spirit stones, so many spirit stones. Three hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones—and these few, their energy is far stronger. Are these mid-grade spirit stones?”

He immediately took out all the spirit stones, noting at once that three of them were much darker in color and far more potent.

---

Of course, the most significant difference was weight.

If a single low-grade spirit stone weighed one hundred grams—or two taels—then a mid-grade spirit stone weighed a thousand grams, about twenty taels, ten times heavier.

However, this did not mean a mid-grade stone contained only ten times the energy. Thanks to its compressed density, the spiritual energy within could be dozens or even hundreds of times greater.

“Three mid-grade spirit stones, with one equivalent to a hundred low-grade stones, means three hundred. That makes for six hundred and twenty stones in this pouch alone? With my own one hundred and sixty, that’s seven hundred and eighty low-grade spirit stones?”

Gathering all the spirit stones he owned, Zhou Changwang stared at the glowing heap, scarcely able to believe it.

Was he now so wealthy?

And these were only the spirit stones. Besides them, there were talismans, spirit pills, several types of rare materials, some unused talisman paper, and one or two blocks of unknown ore...

“Wait, what’s this?”

Suddenly, Zhou Changwang trembled. With a thought, he withdrew an item from the pouch.

A sword.

A short sword—a small sword!

Pale blue throughout, as thin as a feather, with no hilt, only a blade. The blade was covered in dense runes, sharpened on both sides, with a tip that gleamed coldly, catching the eye with a chilling flash.

“A magic weapon? Is this a magic weapon? A flying sword!”

His breath quickened.

He had wondered before if there might be a magic weapon hidden in the pouch, but according to his father, Zhang Fenghua’s personal weapon had been destroyed by the twin-headed ice-fire wolf, so he had given up hope.

He never expected there would truly be one here—a magic weapon, and an offensive one at that: a flying sword.

At this moment, his joy was utterly beyond words.