Chapter 144 – 170 Million Energy, Murder and Arson Win the Golden Belt! (5k)

Su Xing’s heart stirred when he saw this.

“Blessed land… grotto-heaven?!”

Su Xing recalled the memory fragments in his mind.

During the Luotian Assembly instance, Su Xing had learned about the distinction between grotto-heavens and blessed lands through immersive simulation.

The Luotian Sect was the number one sect in the Luotian Realm!

Within the sect, there were seventy-two blessed lands and thirty-six grotto-heavens.

Together they totaled one hundred and eight — the number of the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends.

Blessed lands were reserved for those at the rank of inner sect Elder and above. Within a blessed land, spiritual energy was dense, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

Grotto-heavens, on the other hand, had spiritual energy concentrations nearly double that of blessed lands! This meant cultivation speed could potentially more than double!

For example, Su Xing’s master, Luotian Sect Grand Elder Niu Rulie, as well as the Shennong Martial Uncle in the rear mountains — their cave dwellings were all at the grotto-heaven level.

Su Xing recalled the various wonders of grotto-heavens and murmured:

“Tsk tsk, if this Blessed Spirit Field could be upgraded to grotto-heaven level, not only would my cultivation speed double!”

“Even the maturation speed of spirit medicines and the growth speed of spirit beasts in the spirit field would see massive improvements!”

Thinking of this, a trace of longing appeared in Su Xing’s eyes.

But he quickly shook his head with a hint of helplessness:

“What a shame. To reach grotto-heaven level requires three thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers, and it would probably also need a large-scale spirit-gathering formation running in tandem to barely achieve it…”

“Never mind that I can’t even set up a large-scale spirit-gathering formation yet — even just three thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers would cost three hundred million simulation energy! With my current energy, that’s nowhere near enough!”

“I shouldn’t aim too high. Let me get a thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers first!”

Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【Year Eighteen: The number of Spirit-Gathering Flowers in the Blessed Spirit Field has exceeded one thousand. Such a large quantity of Spirit-Gathering Flowers is already more than enough for your cultivation needs.】

【Moreover, with too many Spirit-Gathering Flowers, you won’t have time to tend them all, nor enough simulation energy to extract them. So you seal the Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds away and stop planting more.】

【Year Nineteen: The abundance of spiritual energy makes your cultivation faster, but at the Spirit Transformation stage, each sub-level is a heaven unto itself. Your cultivation progress remains slow.】

【Year Twenty: Your body tempering cultivation advances another layer, reaching Divine Power Realm, Sixth Layer!】

【Year Twenty-One: The Capital City Spirit rice experimental fields continuously ship Spirit rice outward, adding many formidable Class Users to Great Xia.】

【According to expert statistics, over the past ten years, the number of Silver-stage Class Users in Great Xia has grown by nearly thirty million, and the number of Gold-stage Class Users has increased by five million.】

【The explosive growth in lower-ranked Class Users also makes the emergence of Master-stage and Grandmaster-stage Class Users more probable.】

【Year Twenty-Two: This year, unsurprisingly, you are assassinated again.】

【Over the years, you have faced no fewer than a thousand assassination attempts. But with your current strength, even if a Legendary-stage powerhouse strikes, you have enough time to flee into the Blessed Spirit Field, so there is no real danger.】

【Year Twenty-Four: The situation at Demon-Sealing Pass grows increasingly dire. Humanity’s position deteriorates sharply, but they manage to hold on.】

【Year Twenty-Five: Hundreds of Legendary-stage demon beasts invade Demon-Sealing Pass, and the pass finally shatters.】

【That same year, the giant beast descends upon the real world, swallowing the entirety of Great Xia in a single gulp.】

【Even with the powerful physical body of a Divine Power Realm cultivator, you are still swallowed into the beast’s stomach, and your body collapses.】

【But your primordial spirit remains intact, wandering within the belly of the giant beast.】

“Huh? What the hell?”

Su Xing was momentarily stunned. Just when he thought this simulation was about to end, there was more to come.

“A Spirit Transformation cultivator’s primordial spirit is indestructible — as long as the spirit endures, life continues?”

“In that case, when the giant beast descends, wouldn’t I be able to survive inside its belly?”

Su Xing’s eyes brightened slightly. This was an unprecedented situation, and he couldn’t help wanting to explore further.

He turned his gaze to the simulation panel.

【After separating from your physical body, your primordial spirit still retains basic consciousness. But you know that if you don’t body-seize a new vessel soon, your primordial spirit will quickly perish.】

【You decide to seize this opportunity to thoroughly explore the belly of the giant beast.】

【Ever since the giant beast swallowed the entirety of Great Xia in one gulp, the sky has gone completely dark.】

【The earth begins to collapse, skyscrapers start to crumble, and everything in sight is devoured.】

【Countless spatial turbulence streams, like black holes, consume all surrounding life. Whether human or animal, all are ground to dust by the spatial turbulence.】

【Your primordial spirit drifts through this pitch-black space. You can sense that this must be the stomach of the giant beast.】

【The entirety of Great Xia — an entire continent — has been swallowed and is being rapidly digested.】

【At first, you spot a few “lucky survivors” who didn’t die immediately, but they are quickly shredded by the spatial turbulence.】

【Your primordial spirit drifts through the beast’s stomach for seven days and seven nights. The stomach space is so vast that it’s nearly the size of the entire Earth.】

【You attempt to search this space for possible survivors, but unfortunately, under these conditions, no Class User could possibly survive.】

【Your primordial spirit grows weaker and weaker. You can sense that before long, you will cease to exist.】

【Just as despair sets in, you suddenly detect a familiar aura — it is Old Dog Zong’s primordial spirit!】

【When you discover him, Old Dog Zong also discovers you.】

【Neither of you acts rashly. After a brief standoff, Old Dog Zong speaks first.】

【He tells you that he is searching for a spatial turbulence stream that leads to Demon-Sealing Pass. Puzzled, you ask him why.】

【Old Dog Zong tells you that the entire greater realm containing Earth has already been conquered by the alien races. Now, only by reaching Demon-Sealing Pass can one travel to the Demon Realm — and the Demon Realm is the only route to other greater realms!】

【Old Dog Zong invites you to flee to another greater realm together. If successful, you might still be able to body-seize and be reborn.】

【You know in your heart that Old Dog Zong harbors ill intentions, but at this moment you have no other choice.】

【You search through the spatial turbulence for a long time, but ultimately fail to locate the coordinates of Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Your primordial spirit grows ever weaker, nearly losing consciousness entirely.】

【At this moment, Old Dog Zong finally bares his fangs. He devours your primordial spirit in a single gulp.】

【Before your consciousness fades, Old Dog Zong sneers that with the nourishment from your divine soul, he should have enough to last until he finds the turbulence stream leading to Demon-Sealing Pass.】

【Your consciousness gradually fades away…】

【Ding! This simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Su Xing let out a long breath, his brows furrowed deeply in thought.

After a long while, Su Xing finally murmured:

“This time, I never expected to uncover such incredible information!”

In previous simulations, Su Xing had died the moment the giant beast swallowed him — at most, only an eyeball remained.

But now, having become a Spirit Transformation cultivator, his primordial spirit could operate independently outside his body.

This also meant that even after losing his physical body, Su Xing could still survive for a period of time relying on his divine consciousness.

And everything Su Xing had witnessed was the scenery inside the giant beast’s stomach.

“Hard to imagine… just how massive is this giant beast? Its stomach alone can contain the entirety of Great Xia?”

Su Xing drew a deep breath.

But what shocked him even more was the intelligence he’d obtained from Old Dog Zong.

“Although Old Dog Zong devoured my primordial spirit, that old dog probably wasn’t lying. His claim about searching for Demon-Sealing Pass should be true!”

“Demon-Sealing Pass is the passage to the Demon Realm — I’ve known that for a long time… but the Demon Realm is the only route to other greater realms?”

Su Xing frowned slightly. The information he’d obtained was fragmented at best.

But from what Old Dog Zong had said, it wasn’t hard to imagine that Earth had likely been blockaded by the demon race, reduced to something like a slaughterhouse.

And all of humanity was the prey within this slaughterhouse.

To escape this slaughterhouse, one had to fight their way out through Demon-Sealing Pass — only then was there a sliver of hope!

“So that’s how it is… no wonder humanity has defended Demon-Sealing Pass for thousands of years. It’s the only lifeline!”

“And once Demon-Sealing Pass falls completely to the demon race, humanity can never escape this slaughterhouse. All that awaits is death!”

Su Xing rubbed his temples. The information obtained through his primordial spirit was far too fragmented.

He couldn’t deduce much more, but Demon-Sealing Pass was certainly the key.

“It seems the secrets of this world are even greater than I imagined!”

Su Xing pursed his lips, but these were matters to consider later. For now, his priority was developing his own strength.

With that thought, Su Xing turned his gaze to the simulation rewards.

【Descendant of Shennong】: Purple talent. Price: 1,000,000 energy.

【Twenty-Six Years of Alchemy Experience】: Alchemy insights, includes partial Nascent Soul Tempering Pill (Mastery-level). Price: 1,000,000 energy.

【Spirit Transformation Stage, Third Layer】: Break through five barriers, step into Spirit Transformation. Price: 20,000,000 energy.

【Divine Power Realm, Sixth Layer】: Body tempering cultivation. Price: 20,000,000 energy.

【Spirit-Gathering Flowers x1,000 (Mature), Spirit-Gathering Flower Seeds x500】: Price: 105,000,000 energy.

Su Xing already had a plan for this simulation’s rewards.

“There’s no rush to advance my cultivation. The Descendant of Shennong talent is practically a god-tier farming talent — it’s an absolute must-pick!”

“And these thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers… this simulation’s time was almost entirely spent growing Spirit-Gathering Flowers, so naturally I have to pick them too.”

“But the price…”

Seeing the outrageous energy requirement listed after the Spirit-Gathering Flowers, Su Xing felt a headache coming on. The cost was over a hundred million energy, yet he currently had only tens of millions on hand.

If he waited passively, it might take a full month.

But Su Xing had no intention of waiting that long.

“Looks like I’ll have to pay the Black Dragon Guild a visit!”

Su Xing narrowed his eyes.

According to the intelligence he’d gathered during the simulation, that Martial Emperor powerhouse wouldn’t be at the guild these next couple of days.

And as long as Su Xing could sneak into the underground vault, he’d be able to get his hands on over a hundred million energy’s worth of goods.

The only risk was that he could never let Protector Dragon see his face afterward.

For Su Xing, who almost never left the Capital City, this posed no problem whatsoever.

“Essentially zero cost — over a hundred million energy for free. Who wouldn’t be tempted?”

Su Xing muttered to himself, then pulled out a medicine case and retrieved several smooth, round pills.

One was a supreme-grade Breath-Concealing Pill, and the other a supreme-grade Disguise Pill!

Su Xing was confident that even a Martial Emperor-stage Class User might not be able to see through them.

Exiting the Blessed Spirit Field, Su Xing glanced at the sky.

It was still afternoon, broad daylight — there was no way he could go to the Black Dragon Guild now.

First, he sent Jin Congxue a text message, telling her he’d be busy next week and couldn’t make the trade, pushing their meeting back by one week.

Then Su Xing began his daily alchemy routine.

When the sky had gone completely dark, Su Xing let out a long breath, left the Blessed Spirit Field, swallowed two pills, and headed toward the Black Dragon Guild’s location.

The Black Dragon Guild was dozens of kilometers from Capital Vocational Academy. Su Xing chose not to fly through the air, instead relying on his physical strength alone to rush toward the guild at astonishing speed.

By the time he arrived at the Black Dragon Guild, it was deep into the night.

Su Xing wore a black infiltration suit, blending seamlessly into the darkness.

With his exceptional skills, he effortlessly bypassed the guild’s officers and slipped into the innermost courtyard.

His divine sense spread out like a tide, detecting the patrolling guild officers within range. Su Xing didn’t act rashly — he waited patiently.

It wasn’t until the first hints of dawn appeared, when the patrolling officers were about to switch shifts, that Su Xing made his move!

Like an agile black cat, he reached the hidden chamber’s trigger mechanism in the blink of an eye.

He activated the mechanism, and his figure slipped into a cellar in a flash.

Following the stairway, Su Xing raced down to the underground vault, a hundred and fifty zhang deep.

“Roughly a hundred auras… none of them strong. They should be the puppets from the simulation!”

Su Xing didn’t hesitate, reaching the secret chamber in an instant.

It was an extremely spacious vault, perhaps a hundred zhang wide.

In the corners stood numerous humanoid puppets with their eyes closed.

Spreading out his divine sense, Su Xing sighed and said:

“What a pity. These people’s souls have already been destroyed. Though they look alive, they’re thoroughly dead…”

With that, Su Xing hesitated no longer.

The next second, Separation Fire Technique erupted!

Boom!

Extremely high-temperature flames danced in Su Xing’s hands like playful fire sprites.

With every breath, over ten puppets were incinerated to nothing.

The entire process took no more than three minutes. Over a hundred Gold-stage and Master-stage puppets perished under Su Xing’s Separation Fire Technique.

“Whew~”

After continuous use of the Separation Fire Technique, Su Xing took a moment to steady his breathing.

First, he carefully incinerated every last corpse, making sure not to leave a single trace behind.

Then Su Xing began ransacking the secret chamber.

He opened several massive chests, each two meters tall, packed to the brim with equipment of every color imaginable.

Blue, purple, gold!

Gazing at the luster that signified high-grade equipment, Su Xing’s breathing grew heavy. Without bothering to count the pieces, he swept all the large chests into the Blessed Spirit Field in one go.

Next, Su Xing made his way to a corner and picked up a half-man-tall piece of pitch-black metal.

Fourth-tier exotic metal!

“As expected — this single piece of fourth-tier exotic metal alone is worth no less than fifty million energy!”

Su Xing stowed the exotic metal into the Blessed Spirit Field as well.

In the cabinet beside the exotic metal were several ledgers and a sealed letter.

Su Xing deliberated for a moment, then chose not to touch the ledgers or the letter.

After all, if they simply lost some treasure, the Black Dragon Guild would probably just assume a thief had broken in.

But if this critical information were disturbed, they’d likely launch a far more intense investigation, wouldn’t they?

Besides, Su Xing already knew the contents of the letter and ledgers. There was no need to stir up further trouble.

With nimble hands, he swept up every valuable piece of equipment and item, then bolted toward the surface without looking back.

Sprinting the whole way, Su Xing pushed the physical capabilities of a Divine Power Realm cultivator to the absolute limit, his figure concealed within the darkness.

By the time the sky showed the faintest light of dawn, Su Xing had already reached the Capital City’s Class User marketplace.

It was already bustling with people — countless Class Users conducting their trades.

Su Xing ducked into a deserted alley, spread out his divine sense, and once he confirmed no one had noticed him, turned and entered the Blessed Spirit Field.

“Whew… finally, it’s done!”

Once inside the Blessed Spirit Field, Su Xing let out a long breath of relief.

He couldn’t contain his excitement.

This was his first real operation in over half a year! And his opponents were none other than colossal forces like the Black Dragon Guild and the Advent Cult.

Though he’d tangled with them countless times in the simulator, this was the first time in the real world.

It was hard for Su Xing not to feel thrilled.

After carefully reviewing every detail of his operation and confirming there were no oversights, Su Xing began inspecting the enormous haul from this raid.

First, he pulled out the several large chests of equipment. Without hesitation, he prepared to convert them all into energy.

The simulator’s pleasant chime sounded in Su Xing’s ears.

【Ding! Detected equipment containing massive energy. Total value: 83.24 million simulation energy points. Convert?】

“Yes!”

Su Xing said without a moment’s hesitation, then brought out the exotic metal as well.

【Ding! Detected mineral containing massive energy. Total value: 57.68 million simulation energy points. Convert!】

“Yes!”

Su Xing’s heart pounded wildly as he exclaimed: “Holy crap, a hundred and forty million energy in one haul! That’s the biggest fortune I’ve ever come into!”

“As the saying goes — those who rob and plunder wear belts of gold… windfall wealth is the only way to get rich! The ancients certainly didn’t lie!”

Su Xing could barely contain his excitement.

Adding this massive sum to what he already had, Su Xing’s energy reserves skyrocketed to a hundred and seventy million points!

“Could the Black Dragon Guild be my lucky spot?”

Just moments ago, Su Xing had been fretting over how to bring out those thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers!

Now he could not only bring them all out, but still have tens of millions of energy left over.

This was absolutely incredible!

After calming his emotions, Su Xing silently intoned: “Redeem the Spirit-Gathering Flowers and the Descendant of Shennong talent!”

【Ding! You have successfully brought out the purple talent Descendant of Shennong. Cost: 1 million energy. Remaining energy: 170.05 million points.】

【Detected that you possess the blue talent Plant Affinity. Same talent type — auto-replacing…】

【You have successfully brought out 1,000 Spirit-Gathering Flowers (mature) and 500 Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds. Cost: 105 million energy. Remaining energy: 65.05 million points.】

Simulation energy drained away like water, over a hundred million spent in the blink of an eye.

But Su Xing didn’t feel any heartache. After all, this simulation energy was windfall wealth — he’d earned it all in a single night.

Thinking about it, Su Xing sighed: “Raiding and plundering really is the fastest way to make money! If I had to save up on my own, who knows how long that would take?”

Purple talent energy surged into Su Xing’s body. He looked toward the Spirit field nearby.

At some point, those lovely little white flowers had spread across a large swath of the Spirit field.

A full thousand Spirit-Gathering Flowers!

Rich spiritual energy washed over him, and the concentration of spiritual energy throughout the entire Blessed Spirit Field was rising rapidly!