ARK SPIRIT

Lam Phong and Tieu Van were the first of the group to step forward and submit their spoils.

After a steward checked their identity tokens, demonic beast cores, and medicinal herbs, two lines of silver light appeared one after another on the stone monument.

Lam Phong: 365 points.

Tieu Van: 365 points.

Their names immediately rose to second and third place, just below Li Long.

A wave of discussion spread through the plaza. With identical scores, many people quickly guessed that the two had formed a team and divided their gains evenly. Lam Phong walked back down wearing a grin he made no attempt to hide. Tieu Van was calmer, but the relief in his eyes was equally obvious.

With scores like these, unless every disciple who had yet to submit their spoils turned out to be a monster, both of them were almost guaranteed a place in the top hundred.

The moment Lam Phong returned, he slapped Hao Nhien on the shoulder.

“Captain, those extra two hundred points really saved my life.”

Hao Nhien glanced at him.

“You were pushing the pouch back at me when I gave it to you.”

“Refusing first is courtesy,” Lam Phong replied with a perfectly serious expression. “Accepting it afterward shows sincerity.”

Tieu Van turned his face away as though he had never met this person.

At that moment, a figure leapt onto the platform from below.

The newcomer was a dark-skinned young man with a sturdy build, dressed in the style of the Southern Frontier. Several ornaments made from beast bones and colored stones hung from his wrists and waist. The moment his feet touched the platform, he emptied all his spoils in front of Old Bai.

Demonic beast cores rolled across the stone table and quickly formed a sizable pile.

“Southern Frontier Hoang Sam requests his points!”

Old Bai swept his spiritual awareness across the pile, and his eyes immediately brightened.

“Good!”

He finished the count quickly and announced in a loud voice,

“Hoang Sam, eight hundred and seventy-five points. First place for now!”

Cheers immediately erupted from one corner of the plaza.

The Southern Frontier cultivators gathered there seemed to have been waiting for exactly this moment. Someone produced a small hide drum from somewhere and struck it several times, while another joined in with a bone flute. The solemn atmosphere of the plaza suddenly began to resemble a celebration after a successful hunt.

A steward snapped his head around.

“Keep order!”

The drum stopped halfway through the next beat.

The flute fell silent as well.

But the dozens of faces in the Southern Frontier group remained radiant. Hoang Sam strode back with obvious satisfaction as his clansmen surrounded him like a hunter returning with the greatest prey of the season.

Hao Nhien could not help laughing at the sight.

After Hoang Sam, group after group of disciples continued submitting their spoils. The lower rankings shifted constantly, but the top three remained unchanged for quite some time.

By the time evening arrived, the line had finally begun to thin.

Hao Nhien still had no intention of going up.

He wanted to wait until near the end before deciding what should be submitted and what was better kept for himself. Tieu Lan knew he was calculating, so she did not hurry him. Instead, she kept asking him to continue telling her what had happened inside the Spirit Beast Forest.

As always, one hand held onto his sleeve. When he reached the part about being pursued by the Gray Shadow Wolves, her fingers tightened. When Hao Nhien described his first failed attempt at using the Spirit Wings and how he had rolled down the mountainside like a gourd, Tieu Lan covered her mouth and laughed until her shoulders shook.

“Young Master still says he knows how to fly.”

“I do.”

“But you fell.”

“That was part of learning.”

“Do other people learning to fly roll down mountains too?”

Hao Nhien was silent for two beats.

“I used a special training method.”

Tieu Lan laughed even harder.

Quan Nha had been standing nearby and listening from beginning to end. When Hao Nhien happened to glance over, he caught amusement in her eyes as well. She was clearly remembering the state of his torn robes from that day.

He changed the subject at once.

Just as the atmosphere between the three of them had begun to relax, heavy footsteps sounded from behind.

Hao Nhien did not even need to turn around to guess who had arrived.

Duong Ho pushed through the crowd with the rest of the Duong Family group. Every one of them wore an ugly expression. Compared with the moment outside the teleportation gate, their bare waists were now especially noticeable.

Duong Ho stopped several steps away.

“Give back our storage pouches.”

Tieu Lan stopped laughing.

Quan Nha remained where she was, but her gaze turned cold.

Hao Nhien faced him.

“Why?”

Duong Ho ground his teeth.

“Those things belong to the Duong Family.”

“When you took my pouch, I don’t remember you asking me that question.”

Duong Ho’s expression darkened further.

“Don’t think entering the inner sect means this is over. The Duong Family is not something a new disciple like you can offend whenever you please.”

Hao Nhien studied him for a moment.

“Is there a sect rule requiring me to return spoils taken from someone inside the secret realm?”

Duong Ho fell silent.

The Spirit Beast Forest examination did not forbid disciples from fighting over resources. It only prohibited deliberate killing outside exceptional circumstances. The Duong Family had taken advantage of that rule for the entire three months.

Finally, Duong Ho said coldly,

“If the rules won’t settle it, then strength will.”

Several people behind him stepped forward together.

Before any of them could do anything, Foundation Establishment pressure rolled over from the side.

A young man in blue robes responsible for maintaining order nearby walked toward them. His cultivation was only at early Foundation Establishment, but the pressure of his aura alone was enough to make the Duong Family disciples stop.

“If you want to fight, wait until the examination is finished and leave the plaza.”

His gaze swept over them.

“If you cause trouble here, I will deal with it myself.”

Duong Ho quickly cupped his hands.

“Senior Brother, I am Duong Ho. My elder brother is Duong Chan Nam. This man robbed all of our storage pouches inside the secret realm.”

The blue-robed disciple looked at Hao Nhien, then back at the Duong Family group.

“Are you saying the Duong Family never robbed anyone?”

He did not speak loudly, but everyone nearby heard him clearly.

A disciple not far away immediately shouted,

“They did! They robbed me!”

Another voice followed at once.

“They took more than half my medicinal herbs!”

“I had just hunted four beast cores when I ran into them!”

“Four? You were lucky. They cleaned me out completely!”

Every accusation drew more eyes toward the Duong Family.

One disciple standing behind Duong Ho finally lost his patience and blurted out,

“The examination never banned robbery! Who told you people not to work together?”

The surrounding area fell quiet for a moment.

Duong Ho spun around.

If looks could kill, the man who had spoken would already have been dead.

Only then did Quan Nha speak.

“He’s right.”

Duong Ho looked at her.

She continued calmly,

“The examination does not forbid taking resources from others, so what you did did not violate the rules.”

For an instant, hope appeared on several Duong Family faces.

Then she finished,

“And Hao Nhien taking them back from you did not violate the rules either.”

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Several people in the crowd burst out laughing.

Hao Nhien cupped his hands toward Duong Ho with an expression of complete sincerity.

“If you get another chance, please continue.”

Duong Ho stared at him.

“I’ll be waiting.”

Hao Nhien’s answer made the laughter around them grow louder.

The inner sect disciple had to cough before the people nearby finally settled down.

Duong Ho knew there was nothing he could do today. He fixed Hao Nhien with a dark stare and forced out each word.

“Enjoy yourself while you can. The inner sect is not the outer sect.”

He turned and walked away.

The rest of the Duong Family followed him and settled in another corner of the plaza, though several cold gazes still swept toward Hao Nhien from time to time.

The smile on Hao Nhien’s face slowly faded.

He was not afraid of Duong Ho.

Duong Chan Nam was another matter.

The Duong Family already had people firmly established in the inner sect. Once Hao Nhien officially entered it, what had happened today was unlikely to end with a few threats.

He had originally intended to spend more time consolidating the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Condensation before preparing for Foundation Establishment. But his true qi had already been tempered to its current limit during the final days in the Spirit Beast Forest, and his meridians had adapted well to the Spirit Wings. If he had enough resources and a safe place to enter seclusion, delaying the breakthrough might no longer be necessary.

His gaze shifted toward the raised platform.

Old Bai had said earlier that the inner sect trial would open at noon the following day.

An idea began to form.

Quan Nha, standing beside him, seemed to notice that he was calculating something.

“Are you thinking about doing something dangerous again?”

Hao Nhien turned toward her.

“Why do you assume I’m planning something dangerous whenever I start thinking?”

“Because most of the time, you are.”

He could not argue with that.

Tieu Lan heard her and nodded with complete seriousness.

“Sister Quan Nha is right.”

Hao Nhien looked at the two of them and suddenly felt that his position within this group was declining at an alarming rate.

The submission of examination spoils continued throughout the night. By the time the eastern sky began to brighten, an unfamiliar name had quietly risen to the top of the ranking.

Hac Thach: 985 points.

Few people even knew when Hac Thach had submitted his spoils. He had appeared sometime during the commotion involving the Duong Family, and by the time anyone noticed, nearly a thousand points were already sitting at the top of the monument.

Hoang Sam had been pushed to second place.

Li Long had fallen to third.

Even the disciple in one hundredth place now had eighty-five points.

Hao Nhien studied the monument for a while before standing.

“My turn.”

Tieu Lan released his sleeve.

“Be careful, Young Master.”

He laughed.

“I’m only submitting points. I’m not going back into the Spirit Beast Forest.”

“With Young Master, I’m not so sure.”

Lam Phong, who was standing nearby, nearly laughed aloud.

Hao Nhien decided to pretend he had heard nothing.

Quan Nha rose as well and went with him.

The moment the two began walking toward the platform, they attracted a considerable amount of attention. By now, quite a few Foundation Establishment inner sect disciples had also arrived in preparation for the following day’s trial.

Hao Nhien had just caused trouble with the Duong Family.

Quan Nha was already well known throughout the outer sect.

With the two walking side by side, it was difficult not to notice them.

Hao Nhien stopped before the inspection table and cupped his hands.

“Greetings, Old Bai. Disciple Hao Nhien wishes to submit his examination spoils.”

Old Bai looked at him and laughed.

“Finally willing to come up?”

He stroked his beard.

“This old man thought you were going to wait until the last possible moment.”

“I was only checking what I should submit and what I should keep.”

“Then it sounds like you gained quite a bit.”

“It was all right.”

Old Bai studied his calm expression and suddenly found the words “all right” rather untrustworthy.

Hao Nhien turned toward Quan Nha.

“From the spoils we took from the Duong Family, I want enough to bring my total to ten thousand points. If there is anything left beyond that, count it toward yours.”

Quan Nha looked surprised.

“I have my own spoils.”

“I know.”

Hao Nhien spoke as though it were obvious.

“But you helped when we robbed them.”

Quan Nha remembered the single glance that had made nearly ten Duong Family disciples lose half a beat and eventually stopped refusing.

“As you wish.”

Hao Nhien turned back.

“Old Bai, can the points converted from examination spoils be used immediately to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill?”

This time Old Bai studied him more carefully.

“Yes. Your examination score is recorded separately on the ranking monument, while the contribution points converted from your spoils can be spent once the inspection is complete.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“A Foundation Establishment Pill costs ten thousand contribution points. Why are you asking?”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“Disciple wishes to exchange for one.”

Several people standing nearby immediately turned their heads.

Even Old Bai paused.

“Ten thousand?”

“Yes.”

The elder folded his arms.

“Then show this old man what you have.”

Hao Nhien offered no further explanation.

He selected eight of the storage pouches taken from the Duong Family and placed them on the table.

Old Bai looked at the eight pouches, then at him.

“Only these?”

“Count these first.”

Hao Nhien opened them one after another.

Demonic beast cores, medicinal herbs, and all manner of other items poured across the stone table. These were not a few dozen scattered spoils, but resources accumulated through repeated robberies over the course of the examination. Before long, a substantial pile had formed in front of Old Bai.

The surrounding conversations gradually quieted.

Some disciples recognized familiar medicinal herbs among the pile, and their expressions became strange.

Old Bai swept his spiritual awareness across the items. The smile remained on his face at first, but the farther his awareness traveled, the more serious his gaze became.

After some time, he finally looked up.

“Eight thousand five hundred points.”

The crowd fell quiet for a beat before discussion erupted.

In one corner of the plaza, the Duong Family disciples all turned ugly.

One of them blurted out,

“He took that pouch from me.”

Old Bai seemed not to care.

“The examination rules do not forbid competition over resources. Whoever possesses an item when leaving the secret realm has the right to submit it.”

Duong Ho heard every word from where he stood in the distance, and his face darkened even further.

Hao Nhien remained perfectly calm.

“Old Bai, I also have my own spoils.”

He took out his personal storage pouch.

This time, he was far more selective. The valuable medicinal herbs he intended to keep had already been separated. What he placed on the table consisted mainly of demonic beast cores and several spiritual herbs that were no longer especially important to him.

Old Bai began counting.

“Seventy first rank demonic beast cores.”

He looked farther.

“Fifteen second rank cores.”

Many expressions below the platform changed immediately.

Fifteen second rank demonic beasts were not something an ordinary Qi Condensation disciple could casually hunt.

Old Bai inspected the remaining medicinal materials and added everything together.

“One thousand three hundred points.”

He raised his head.

“Combined with the eight pouches, that makes nine thousand eight hundred.”

Only two hundred points remained before reaching ten thousand.

Hao Nhien looked at the items on the table and quickly calculated his options.

Two hundred points was not much.

If he searched through the valuable medicinal herbs he had kept aside, he could certainly make up the difference. But most of those materials would have real use in his later cultivation. Trading them away merely to fill such a small gap would be wasteful.

He still had several other things in his possession.

Hao Nhien considered the matter for a few more breaths before making his decision.

“Old Bai.”

“Mm?”

“Disciple has one more item, but this one is somewhat unusual.”

Old Bai looked at him.

“How unusual?”

Hao Nhien did not answer immediately. He reached toward his storage ring, but before taking anything out, he said,

“Disciple obtained it through a rather fortunate encounter inside the secret realm.”

Old Bai’s curiosity deepened.

“Then bring it out.”

Only then did Hao Nhien pull a piece of serpent hide from his storage ring.

At first, only a dark section appeared on the table. But as his arm continued moving, the hide kept unfolding, far broader and longer than anything belonging to an ordinary demonic beast.

The dark scales still carried their characteristic cold sheen. Although the hide had been removed from the body for quite some time, traces of a Beast King’s aura still lingered within it, making the spiritual qi around the table feel heavier.

Several nearby disciples instinctively stepped back.

The smile on Old Bai’s face gradually disappeared.

He bent down to examine the patterns on the hide and swept his spiritual awareness across it several times before suddenly looking up.

“This is the Python King’s hide?”

His voice was not particularly loud, but it was enough to silence the area around the inspection table.

Even several inner sect disciples who had merely been watching for entertainment changed expression.

“The Python King from the Spirit Beast Forest?”

“That can’t be possible...”

“Even ordinary Foundation Establishment disciples wouldn’t approach something like that casually.”

Old Bai ignored the surrounding discussion. His eyes remained fixed on Hao Nhien.

“Where did this hide come from?”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“Disciple risked his life inside the Spirit Beast Forest for three months. If something ownerless happened to be lying in front of me and I still walked away, I think that would be the real insult to my luck.”

A few laughs sounded nearby.

Even Old Bai could not help shaking his head.

“You call this luck?”

Hao Nhien nodded with complete seriousness.

“At least this time it truly was luck.”

Old Bai studied him, clearly not entirely convinced that the story was so simple.

But Hao Nhien had no obligation to reveal every detail of his personal opportunities during the examination.

In the end, the elder merely snorted and lowered his gaze to inspect the hide again.

“Fine. This old man will not ask how you came across it here.”

Hao Nhien quietly relaxed.

“But the hide of the Python King has never appeared in an outer sect examination before. Its value cannot be calculated like an ordinary demonic beast material.”

Hao Nhien asked at once,

“Can it still be exchanged for points?”

Old Bai looked up at him.

“After all that, the only thing you care about is the two hundred points you’re missing?”

Hao Nhien smiled.

“At the moment, yes.”

The corner of Old Bai’s mouth twitched before he exhaled.

“Materials from Beast Kings have never appeared in an outer sect examination, so there is no fixed exchange value.”

Hao Nhien’s smile stiffened slightly.

Only after several breaths of consideration did Old Bai continue,

“I’ll temporarily value this hide at one thousand points. Its true value may be higher, but anything beyond the examination standard will be noted for the sect to assess separately. You won’t lose out.”

Hao Nhien immediately cupped his hands.

“Thank you, Old Bai.”

“Your submitted items now total ten thousand eight hundred points.”

Discussion across the plaza immediately grew louder, but Hao Nhien spoke before anyone had time to react for long.

“Before the result is recorded, please separate eight hundred points’ worth of materials for Quan Nha.”

Quan Nha turned toward him.

Hao Nhien explained simply,

“She contributed to obtaining them.”

She watched him for several breaths, then did not refuse.

Old Bai did not ask further questions either. The spoils had not yet been officially recorded, so how the owners chose to divide them was their own concern.

“Very well.”

Using his spiritual awareness, he separated demonic beast cores and medicinal herbs worth eight hundred points and placed them on Quan Nha’s side.

“That leaves Hao Nhien with exactly ten thousand. Quan Nha receives eight hundred points from the shared spoils.”

She then took out her own examination items.

Compared with the pile from before, the quantity was not especially large, but it was still enough to make many outer sect disciples look twice.

Old Bai checked them quickly.

“Three hundred and twenty points.”

Including the portion just assigned to her, Quan Nha’s total reached one thousand one hundred and twenty.

Her name immediately appeared on the monument.

Quan Nha: 1,120 points.

First place, for the moment.

Discussion spread across the plaza, but Quan Nha merely looked at her name for a while before turning toward Hao Nhien.

Their eyes met.

She did not appear especially shocked. There was only something in her expression that he could not quite name, and it made him smile without realizing it.

Old Bai finally turned toward the remaining spoils.

“Ten thousand points for Hao Nhien.”

He raised one hand.

The light across the stone monument shifted, and a new name appeared.

Quan Hao Nhien: 10,000 points.

Every name beneath it dropped one position.

Hac Thach with nine hundred and eighty-five.

Hoang Sam with eight hundred and seventy-five.

Li Long with eight hundred and fifty.

Even Quan Nha’s one thousand one hundred and twenty points, which had shocked everyone only moments ago, suddenly looked small beside that five-digit number.

The plaza remained silent longer than before.

Then the discussion truly erupted.

“Ten thousand?”

“He has almost nine times the score of second place!”

Dozens of eyes immediately turned toward Duong Ho.

He stood rigid, one hand clenched so tightly that the veins stood out. But with Old Bai present, all he could do was stare at Hao Nhien’s name blazing at the top of the monument.

Hao Nhien himself did not pay much attention to the commotion.

He looked at Old Bai.

“Elder, I can exchange my ten thousand contribution points for a Foundation Establishment Pill now, correct?”

The noisy crowd gradually quieted again.

Old Bai looked at him.

“You truly intend to spend all of it?”

“Yes.”

The elder reminded him,

“Your examination score will remain on the ranking monument for the final results. But the ten thousand contribution points converted from these spoils will be completely spent.”

“Disciple understands.”

Old Bai said nothing more.

With a wave of his hand, a dark red jade box flew out of his storage ring.

The lid opened.

Inside rested a round pill marked by faint pill patterns. Dense spiritual qi immediately gathered around the box, while a rich medicinal fragrance spread outward, drawing the eyes of countless Qi Condensation disciples.

A Foundation Establishment Pill.

Something many outer sect disciples could accumulate resources for years and still fail to obtain.

Old Bai held up the jade box.

“Ten thousand contribution points.”

“Once exchanged, there are no refunds.”

Hao Nhien accepted it with both hands.

“Disciple will not regret it.”

The jade box settled into his hands.

Many gazes below the platform burned with envy.

Ten thousand points for a single pill sounded extravagant enough to make one’s heart ache.

But for a cultivator already standing before the threshold of Foundation Establishment, the truly valuable thing had never been a number recorded on an identity token.

It was the chance to cross the next great boundary.

Hao Nhien stored the jade box but did not leave.

Old Bai noticed.

“What else?”

Hao Nhien cupped his hands.

“Disciple would like to borrow a cultivation room protected by formations.”

Old Bai frowned.

“For what?”

Hao Nhien glanced toward the jade box he had just stored away.

“Foundation Establishment.”

The elder was silent for a beat.

“When?”

Hao Nhien looked toward the area being prepared for the inner sect trial the following day.

“Right now.”