Chapter 943: Preparing to Leave P3

Connate techniques weren’t merely cultivation techniques.

They were the foundations upon which entire imperial factions were built. Naturally, nobody was allowed to carry scrolls containing such precious inheritances outside the territories directly controlled by their respective factions.

There were, of course, exceptions.

Kalina was one of them.

Her imperial faction had developed an ingenious method of thoroughly encrypting jade scrolls within a short period. This allowed authorized members to borrow valuable Connate techniques for a limited time without putting the inheritance itself at permanent risk.

It also seemed that Kalina had some special connection within her imperial faction. Although it wasn’t enough to give her access to resources on the same level as other genius Lords, it was still sufficient for her to borrow encrypted jade scrolls from the faction.

Thinking about the encryption, Aksai couldn’t help but smile.

The imperial factions had clearly gone to great lengths to protect their Connate inheritances.

Neither Kalina nor the faction behind her could have possibly anticipated that someone would possess a means of breaking their encryption—especially not someone who was merely a mid-stage Lord.

The game-changer had been none other than the "extraterrestrial" entity known as Nuri.

Had they known about Nuri, Kalina probably wouldn’t have been allowed to carry those jade scrolls around in the first place.

Then there was Varesh.

He was an even greater exception.

His situation had very little to do with ordinary faction rules.

His connection to the Eternal Sea had granted him a status that even his own imperial faction couldn’t completely control.

As a Nascent Soul seed with extraordinary talent in the Sword Path, and someone whose inheritance originated from an organization in the Eternal Sea, Varesh naturally enjoyed privileges that ordinary imperial cultivators could only dream of.

Even the head of his own imperial faction couldn’t completely dictate his actions.

Aksai couldn’t help but feel fortunate.

Before coming to Emerald Cove Island, he had used Kalina’s Fortune Flames to boost his own luck. Looking at the windfall before him now, he could vaguely feel that those stolen Fortune Flames had indeed played a part.

Of course, this was the first time Aksai had ever stolen Fortune Flames from someone on the verge of death. His understanding and utilization of them had been far from optimal.

Still, the experience had taught him a great deal.

***

With those thoughts aside, Aksai continued sorting through the three storage rings belonging to Droven, Saelyr, and Neshara.

Nothing else comparable to the Nine Heavens Sword Sutra appeared.

After some time, he finally finished cataloguing their belongings.

Then came the Spirit Stones.

Aksai gathered the Spirit Stones from Droven, Saelyr, Neshara, and the other Lords and placed them together.

The pile steadily grew.

Then it grew some more.

Before long, a small mountain of Spirit Stones occupied one section of the Void Mustard Seed Ring.

Aksai stared at it for a moment.

After mentally converting the mid-grade Spirit Stones into low-grade ones using the standard exchange rate, the total came to roughly three million low-grade Spirit Stones.

Three million!

And that wasn’t even counting the high-grade Spirit Stones recorded on the jade token from the Black Yin Flower Trading Company that he had obtained from Varesh.

Aksai’s mouth twitched.

"No wonder rogue cultivators get so excited about killing and robbing people."

Even as the island master of Emerald Cove Island, Aksai had never seen such a massive amount of wealth accumulate in such a short period.

He figured that even if trade between the island and the mainland became ten times more profitable than before, its annual pure profits probably wouldn’t even reach one million Spirit Stones.

Aksai liked spending Spirit Stones on things he valued. He wasn’t particularly frugal when it came to investments that could benefit him in the long run.

At the same time, he wasn’t exactly a big spender either.

So, for someone who had spent years carefully managing his resources, suddenly acquiring wealth equivalent to several years of income was difficult to process.

And this was only the Spirit Stones.

The pills, artifacts, Spirit materials, inheritances, and other resources hadn’t even been included in the calculation.

"Perhaps the Purple River Lord was right. Targeting imperial cultivators during this chaotic period isn’t such a bad idea."

He paused.

"Of course, the problem is surviving afterward."

His smile faded.

That part was considerably more important.

After all, these three million Spirit Stones had been obtained at the cost of offending forces far wealthier and more powerful than himself.

Aksai quietly collected the Spirit Stones.

The windfall was enormous.

But so were the troubles that came with it.

***

After finishing his preparations, Aksai finally left his underground cave and stepped into the Shamrock Sanctuary Palace.

For once, he wasn’t in a hurry.

He simply walked through the familiar corridors, spacious halls, courtyards, and gardens that made up the palace.

Several mortal palace servants and maids were busy with their daily duties. Some were cleaning the halls, while others tended to the gardens, prepared meals, or carried out various tasks assigned to them.

None of them noticed Aksai.

He had deliberately concealed his presence. He didn’t want anyone disturbing him. He simply wanted to walk through his palace in silence.

As he moved from one place to another, Aksai gradually slowed down.

He looked around.

For some reason, everything seemed different.

Aksai sighed softly.

"Has it always been this beautiful?"

The Shamrock Sanctuary Palace was far more magnificent than he remembered.

Its architecture was grand without feeling excessive. Intricate structures blended naturally with gardens and courtyards, while green vines crawled along pillars and walls as though they had grown there naturally.

Spirit trees stood throughout the palace grounds, some bearing Spirit fruits while others released faint traces of spiritual energy into the surrounding environment.

Even the various Spirit resources had been incorporated into the palace itself, becoming part of its architecture rather than simply being placed there as decorations.

Nature and human ingenuity had been blended together so seamlessly that it was difficult to tell where one ended and the other began.