Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Debrief and Takeaways, Puppet Exchange

"This beast was a real handful." Liu Fengchun spat, his face still showing the exhaustion from the battle.

But more vexing than the difficulty of killing the Snake King was the problem that came next—divvying up the spoils.

The distribution plan they had originally agreed upon was no longer suitable after the battle, which had been full of unexpected turns.

Yin Jiu was the first to speak, his voice hoarse. "My Red Centipede suffered immense damage. The Snake Shedding and Cyan Vine aren’t enough. I must have a share of the Snake King Bone as well."

Liu Fengchun snorted coldly, raising his Snake Staff as his aura flared. "You hardly contributed. You’re already lucky to get the Snake Shedding and the Cyan Vine."

"Damn it! If my Red Centipede hadn’t poisoned the Cyan Vine, would killing the Snake King have been so easy? And that useless map of yours was no great help either."

Liu Fengchun’s face flushed. The map he had presented at the beginning, hoping to get a larger share of the spoils, had ended up being completely useless.

Still, he couldn’t afford to lose his momentum. "You all agreed to it back then. There’s no sense in going back on your word now."

One, a man who usually wore a gloomy expression, and the other, an old man fond of showing off his experience, were now arguing heatedly over the Snake King Bone.

Lu Zhao watched them with a calm expression, not saying a word.

The two argued for a full quarter of an hour before finally reaching an agreement: the poison sac would still go to Liu Fengchun, the Snake Shedding to Yin Jiu, and they would split the Cyan Vine and the Snake King Bone evenly.

As for the Spirit Stones they were supposed to demand from Lu Zhao as compensation, both of them tacitly avoided the subject.

And not only did Lu Zhao not have to compensate them with Spirit Stones, he even received a portion of the snake meat and thirty percent of the other materials from the cave.

Finally, they decided to leave ten percent of the materials for Chen Moyang—even though the Array Master had been seriously injured and had fled midway through the battle.

This was an unwritten rule among Wanderers: no contribution, no reward. The fact that the group didn’t kick him while he was down and even thought to give him a share was already quite generous.

Six hours later, the group hastily cleaned up the battlefield and returned to their own stone chambers on the cliff. After all, only the protection of an Array could provide a true sense of security.

Back in his stone chamber, Lu Zhao looked at the pile of items before him and a long-absent smile appeared on his face.

Four vine fragments, nearly a thousand pounds of snake meat, and other miscellaneous items worth almost twenty Spirit Stones.

This fortuitous encounter had brought Lu Zhao a massive harvest. If he were to convert it all into Spirit Stones, it would be worth nearly one hundred and fifty.

But what pleased Lu Zhao the most were the four vine fragments. In the Zhou Family Marketplace, these were treasures that couldn’t be bought even if one had the Spirit Stones.

In the Zhou Family Marketplace, the only Tier One High-Grade Spiritual Object that could be reliably purchased with Spirit Stones was Cold Iron. Everything else depended on luck.

After Lu Zhao finished taking inventory of his gains, he began to review the battle against the Snake King.

’The Ice Cone Technique alone is far from enough,’ he thought to himself.

Against Demon Beasts with even stronger defenses, the Ice Cone Technique would likely be unable to inflict a fatal blow.

He resolved to find a more powerful Water Element or Ice Element magic technique as soon as possible.

’I might not find one in the Library Pavilion.’ The thought gave him a headache. The Library Pavilion had plenty of magic techniques, but none of them were top-tier.

Lu Zhao planned to check the Library Pavilion first. If that didn’t work, he would try the Black Market, or ask Shopkeeper Zhou if he had any connections to acquire one.

As for other matters, Lu Zhao lightly tapped his Storage Bag, and his pair of Water-Splitting Needles appeared in his hand, still radiating a contained Spirit Light.

’This artifact is decent for dealing with weaker opponents, but...’

He sighed.

Lu Zhao recalled how completely useless the Water-Splitting Needles had been against the Snake King.

The Hundred Waters Magic Disc, on the other hand, had not disappointed him. It seemed he would need to pay more attention to collecting precious Spirit Water in the future.

’I also lack a heavy Magical Artifact that can be a decisive finishing blow. Liu Fengchun’s Snake Staff left a strong impression on me.’

’I should visit the Nine Abyss Pavilion again. A trip to the Hundred Refinement Pavilion would also be good.’

The thought flashed through Lu Zhao’s mind.

Nearly two months had passed since he had informed the shopkeeper of the news, yet his life hadn’t changed at all. This in itself was telling.

Lu Zhao already had his suspicions. Shopkeeper Zhou’s faction in the Zhou Family was likely gaining the upper hand. He could afford to strengthen his ties with them now. Sometimes, owing a favor was a way to deepen a connection.

He hadn’t realized it until he started this review, but Lu Zhao now saw that he was lacking in quite a few areas.

However, he also had a better assessment of his own strength. He was no weaker than an ordinary Late-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner. After all, the Snake King was far more difficult to deal with than one.

If he could shore up his weaknesses, his strength could still improve significantly. By then, he should be considered quite capable even among those in Late-stage Qi Cultivation.

「Three days later.」 Lu Zhao finished his daily, unshakable cultivation routine and stepped out of his stone chamber. He found a person waiting quietly for him twenty zhang away. It was none other than Chen Moyang.

"Mr. Lu, I’ve been waiting for quite some time. Aren’t you going to invite me into your stone chamber for a sit-down?" Chen Moyang spoke up. His voice wasn’t loud, but it was robust, though his face was still somewhat pale.

’He doesn’t look like someone who was seriously injured by the Snake King just a few days ago,’ Lu Zhao muttered to himself.

"Mr. Chen, please."

Lu Zhao led Chen Moyang into the stone chamber on the right.

Half a quarter hour later, after Lu Zhao had served tea, Chen Moyang picked up his cup, took a small sip, and said, "Good tea. I didn’t expect you to have such refined and leisurely tastes, Mr. Lu."

Lu Zhao was baffled by Chen Moyang’s words.

’This man didn’t come here to ask me for Spirit Stones, did he? He shouldn’t be that foolish.’

Lu Zhao was completely mystified by his words and could only guess at his intentions.

But before Lu Zhao could continue guessing, Chen Moyang spoke first. "Thank you, my friend, for holding off the Snake King and allowing me to escape."

As soon as he said this, Lu Zhao knew this wasn’t the reason for his visit. No longer in a hurry, Lu Zhao picked up his own cup and took a sip.

Chen Moyang continued, "I didn’t contribute in the slightest to killing the Snake King, yet you three still gave me a share of the spoils. I am truly ashamed."

Hearing this, Lu Zhao began to understand Chen Moyang’s intentions. He had come to put his mind at ease.

Although the three of them had done nothing wrong and had followed the rules of Wanderers, people’s hearts are unknowable. Some things, if left unsaid, can create lingering resentment.

Chen Moyang was no fledgling who had just entered the world; naturally, he wouldn’t be so foolish.

"Besides expressing my gratitude, I also have a favor to ask of you."

Lu Zhao’s curiosity was piqued. "And what might that be?"

"During the fight with the Snake King, a moment of carelessness led to my injury. I’ve come to deeply feel the inadequacy of my own methods."

"Your Ironwood Guard Puppet, my friend, shone brilliantly during the battle. I’ve taken quite a liking to it."

"I wanted to ask if you would be willing to sell this Puppet, and for how many Spirit Stones."

So that’s what this was about? Lu Zhao fell silent for a moment upon hearing this.

The Puppet could certainly be sold, but setting a price was a problem.

If he set it at cost, he would likely scare off the buyer; but if he set it too low, he would be taking too much of a loss.

After a moment of hesitation, Lu Zhao spoke. "I am not one to make an exorbitant demand. I refined this Puppet myself, and my technique is still impure. If I were to sell it at cost, you would likely find the price too high."

"I won’t play games. Seventy Spirit Stones, firm price. I’m not making a single coin of profit; in fact, I’m taking a considerable loss on it."

He believed what he said. It was normal for a beginner to lose money; they usually just hoped to lose a little less.

After a moment of silence, Chen Moyang said softly, "I don’t have enough Spirit Stones on hand. I was wondering if it would be possible to exchange it for other items?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.