Chapter 266: Chapter 231: Spoils of War

He grabbed the flying sword, letting spiritual energy flow into it, and quickly inspected its restrictions.

“Thirty-five restrictions, it turns out to be a top-grade flying sword!”

Zheng Yi exclaimed in surprise.

With thirty-five restrictions, it just broke through the limit of thirty restrictions, stepping into the realm of top-grade flying swords.

Although among all top-grade magical artifacts, it could only be considered ordinary, it was still quite remarkable.

“Top-grade magical artifact…”

Zheng Yi clicked his tongue in amazement, “The Tuoba Clan is so generous, a Qi Cultivation middle-stage cultivator can actually use a top-grade magical artifact?”

Under normal circumstances, a Qi Cultivation middle-stage cultivator is only fit to use mid-grade or even lower-grade magical artifacts.

And top-grade magical artifacts are generally only used by late-stage Qi Cultivation or even Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Upon further thought, he quickly understood.

“The Spiritless Land has few cultivators, perhaps the entire Tuoba Clan only has a few cultivators.”

“Over the centuries, they would have found quite a few good things. Each clan cultivator having a top-grade magical artifact doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

“Tuoba Qingtong is dead, the raw materials for this should be made from metals containing water attribute spiritual power, which is just right since my water attribute spirit root is the most abundant, I’ll use it as a regular magical artifact.”

The Zheng Family Treasure Vault indeed had quite a few good things.

But most were either fine items or those kept at the bottom of a chest.

Some top-grade and supreme-grade magical artifacts were divided among Noble Consort Cui and Elder Chen.

I also have supreme-grade artifacts in my possession, and even a Golden Core Stage puppet, along with a terrifying spirit-devouring insect.

But… none are suitable for regular use.

This flying sword just fills that gap.

“Water attribute flying sword, and since it’s taken from the Tuoba Clan, I’ll call you… Water Cloud Sword.”

With a flip of his hand, he put the Water Cloud Sword into the storage bag.

“Bring out his storage bag.”

“Yes!”

An Imperial Guard approached Tuoba Qingtong’s corpse and unsurprisingly detached the storage bag.

It seems the storage bag had no other restrictions.

With a turn of magical power, the storage bag was immediately opened.

With a flick of the wrist, a large assortment of items appeared before Zheng Yi.

Besides a pile of items that were obviously personal belongings, Zheng Yi found seven items emitting faint spiritual Qi fluctuations among them.

At first glance, there was a small pile of stones remarkably similar to marbles, with only seven in total.

Spirit Sand.

And they were all light blue water attribute Spirit Sand, able to assist cultivators in their cultivation.

In the Spiritless Land, Spirit Sand is the treasure all cultivators dream of.

These seven Spirit Sand stones were amassed by Tuoba Qingtong over a long period.

Unfortunately now, they’ve all become cheap for Zheng Yi.

The second item was a palm-sized jade bottle.

On the jade bottle was a red paper label with the words ’Yellow Dragon Pill’ written in large characters.

“Yellow Dragon Pill… an elixir that enhances cultivator cultivation, a good thing indeed.”

Upon opening, the jade bottle was packed with ten pills, completely full.

The third item was also a jade bottle.

On the red paper label were the words ’Spirit Reviving Pill’, an elixir for restoring cultivator magical power.

There were fewer pills in this jade bottle, only four, indicating quite a few had been used already.

The fourth item, still a jade bottle.

On the red paper label were the words ’Antitoxic Pill’, effective for expelling toxins from the body.

Besides detoxifying, it can also be used to defend against poisonous gases, miasma, and similar hazards.

“Why so many elixirs?”

Zheng Yi’s tone was a little strange; could it be that there was an Alchemist in the Tuoba Clan?

The fifth item was a piece of tortoiseshell.

“Is this… a defensive magical artifact?”

With a turn of magical power, twenty-eight restrictions revealed it to be a mid-grade magical artifact.

“A mid-grade defensive magical artifact, in terms of value, this surpasses the Water Cloud Sword.”

“After all, a cultivator’s personal safety is of utmost importance, a powerful defensive magical artifact is enough to exchange for several magical artifacts of the same grade oriented towards attack.”

Zheng Yi clicked his tongue in amazement, “According to the Shadow Guard report, Tuoba Qingtong was killed instantly by the Blood Moon Gu, the flying sword fell into the Yunmeng Marsh, and the Spirit Turtle Shield was not used in time before he perished.”

“Which means, this is a complete defensive magical artifact.”

He carefully put it away, holding the Spirit Turtle Shield in even higher regard than the Water Cloud Sword.

After all, he was about to embark on a journey to another world; personal safety was still paramount.

The sixth item was also a magical artifact.

Round in shape, seemingly cast from cold iron, it was extremely cold to the touch.

With a turn of magical power, Zheng Yi’s tone became even more peculiar.

“Thirty restrictions, it’s another mid-grade magical artifact, and it almost reached the realm of a top-grade magical artifact.”

“This… is the Tuoba Clan so affluent?”

Zheng Yi carefully sensed it again, discovering that the round magical artifact was filled with a large number of runes mostly themed around ’ice’, ’trapping the enemy’, and ’restriction’.

It seemed this should be an enemy-trapping magical artifact.

“An enemy-trapping type of magical artifact, I shall call you Ice Suppression Ring.”

The seventh item…

Zheng Yi looked towards the seventh object imbued with spiritual energy, which was a rolled-up scroll, bearing a slight resemblance to a Thousand Illusions Glazed Painting.

Upon contact, Zheng Yi’s expression turned peculiar.

This scroll actually had a restriction!

However, it was only the most basic kind, used to guard against ash and preserve the paper over time.

With a turn of magical power, the restriction was broken.

The scroll shortly assumed a normal appearance.

“Is this an ordinary painting?”

Zheng Yi’s tone was a bit strange, as he slowly unfurled it.

Given that it was an ordinary painting, why did Tuoba Qingtong go out of his way to keep it so carefully?

Could it be… there was some secret contained within?

The scroll quickly unfurled, revealing a portrait of an unparalleled beauty before his eyes.

The girl appeared to be around sixteen or seventeen, with brows and eyes like a painting, hair like a waterfall, and eyes like stars.

A perfectly oval face, skin as tender as cream, hair fluttering in the breeze.

She wore a pale blue palace dress, revealing her tender white arms and legs.

On her feet were a pair of emerald-colored embroidered shoes, making her look even more petite and exquisite.

The woman seemed to be looking down at something, a slight smile on her face.

“This is…”

Zheng Yi quickly realized that the beauty in the painting, though stunning, was not much different from those in his harem like Xu Qingluan, Lu Lin’er, Yang Liuqing, or Yang Huan, unable to distract him.

However, why did Tuoba Qingtong place a painting of a woman inside the storage pouch?

And even used a restriction to protect it?

Who is this woman?

What is her relationship with him?

Are they lovers… or?

His gaze shifted downward, and he quickly noticed something in the lower right corner of the painting.

A signature.

Or rather, a poem.

“Guan Guan cries the osprey, /On the isle in the river. /A gentle and graceful lady, /A perfect match for a gentleman.”

“Respectfully collected by cousin Qingying.”

“This thing turns out to be a love letter?”

Zheng Yi was both amused and puzzled; he originally thought it was something valuable, but it turned out to be…

Moreover…

Cousin Qingying?

Tuoba Qingying?

Are Tuoba Qingtong and her cousins?

This… unrequited love, can cousins also marry?

Zheng Yi quickly realized that here in Great Yu, cousins can indeed marry, in fact, they’re marrying within the family.

Moreover, the Tuoba Clan is a cultivation clan, and to ensure the bloodline has the highest chance of producing offspring with spirit roots, let alone cousins, even siblings might be considered!

“Tsk tsk tsk…”

“Seems like it got rejected, or maybe it’s just a crush that hasn’t been sent out yet?”

“Anyway… lucky me.”

Zheng Yi casually tossed the painting to Liu Cheng’en, instructing, “This painting is not bad, find a place to hang it.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Then he stored away all the elixirs and magical artifacts, saying, “Deal with the rest of the items.”

“Understood!”

The Imperial Guard quickly carried the stone coffin away and cleaned the hall.

A little eunuch hurried over, “Your Majesty, a secret report from the navy.”

“Oh? Bring it here.”

The Shadow Guard spies monitor all officials, and naturally, there are Shadow Guard spies within the navy as well.

Especially within the navy, where there’s a senior Shadow Guard who has been secretly monitoring Meng Guang!

Tan Yunlong!

Upon opening the secret report, Zheng Yi’s brows furrowed slightly, but then he shook his head with a smile, crumbling the report into sparks.

The content was simple, just briefly explaining the causes and consequences of the recent battle in Yunmeng Marsh.

It didn’t differ much from the report Meng Guang submitted.

But there was one piece of news that piqued Zheng Yi’s interest.

That Meng Guang, unexpectedly found a woman in Yunmeng Marsh who resembled Empress Lu Lin’er by four or five points, treating her as his exclusive possession.

“Interesting, Meng Guang is actually infatuated with Lu Lin’er, what an… unusual taste~”

Recalling the past, Meng Guang seemingly only met Lu Lin’er once, yet he was so captivated.

Lu Lin’er’s allure, truly is something.

Or was it, Cao the Traitor?

Kindred spirit indeed!

Unfortunately, daring to covet my woman is… treasonous indeed!

“Meng Guang currently holds command over the navy, and without any grave errors, there’s no pretext to deal with him.”

“Unless…”

He quickly formulated a plan and summoned the Shadow Guard, saying a few words before signaling for them to withdraw.

After dealing with the trivial matters, Zheng Yi bathed and burned incense, calming his spirit to its most peaceful state, then headed to the quiet room for seclusion, connecting with the Yin Yang Treasure Mirror.

[Life Master: Zheng Yi]

[Talent 1: Yin and Yang]

[Talent 2: Illusion Truth]

[Lifespan: 32/4465]

[Spirit Root: Water (Mid-grade 956/1000), Earth (Mid-grade 448/1000), Wood (Mid-grade 215/1000), Metal (Mid-grade 18/100), Fire (Low-grade 87/100), Wind (Mid-grade 158/1000)]

[Magical Power: 453/40000]

[Constitution: Hundred Flowers Body]

[Overall Strength: Fourth-layer Qi Cultivation]

[Innate Spiritual Energy Progress (Tier Two): 0/20 (sealed)]

[Progress of the Three Thousand Worlds (Tier Two): 10/10 (sealed)]

“The real Three Thousand Worlds is about to open…”

Zheng Yi muttered, then saw a flash of light across the mirror surface of the Yin Yang Treasure Mirror, all the characters swiftly dispersing like flowing water.

In their place, the sky full of stars!

Among the dense stars, his vision was suddenly drawn in rapidly, a planet emitting a faint blue light, appeared before Zheng Yi’s eyes, expanding rapidly in his view.

A blinding white light instantly enveloped Zheng Yi, causing him to instinctively close his eyes.

Time seemed to pass indefinitely, and suddenly strange sounds appeared beside Zheng Yi’s ears.

Sounding like flowing water, yet like the sound of wind.

He strongly opened his eyes, and as expected, what appeared before him was a water surface, with the sky reflected upon it.

“Am I… submerged in a lake?”

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