Chapter Seventy-Six: There Truly Exists a Divine Artifact

Xiao Ding approached Yu Xianzi and Yue Yurou, noticing that Yu Xianzi was already extremely weak. He hurriedly grasped her hand, transferring his spiritual energy into her body.

Suddenly, Xiao Ding felt a powerful internal force within Yu Xianzi, which surged directly against the spiritual energy he was channeling. Startled, he quickly withdrew his hand, but even so, Yu Xianzi’s internal force forced him back several steps before he could steady himself.

“Master, this is Brother Xiao Ding, the one who rescued me from the Twin Demons of the Northern Desert. His name is Tian Xiaoding,” Yue Yurou hastily introduced, seeing how feeble her master had become, yet still had strength enough to counter Xiao Ding.

Yu Xianzi coughed and said, “I... I just... wanted to test his martial arts...”

“Elder, let me help you tend to your injuries...” Xiao Ding stepped forward again.

“No... there’s no need... I am... already beyond help...” Yu Xianzi murmured, her voice faint and broken.

“Elder...” Xiao Ding began, but Yu Xianzi raised a trembling hand to stop him. “Young Hero Tian, I... I haven’t much strength left... Listen to me...”

Xiao Ding nodded silently, saying nothing more.

“Young Hero Tian, I... our... sect’s matters... I have already... already spoken to Yurou just now. Now... now I... only wish... to beg... one thing of you...” Yu Xianzi’s voice was barely more than a whisper, blood still staining the corner of her lips.

Hearing this, Xiao Ding thought to himself, here we go again. Just as in those novels and dramas, people always like to entrust something before they die. Last time, the old man from Sword Manor handed two troublesome children to him before dying. Now this old Taoist nun—was she about to leave Yue Yurou in his care?

“Young... Hero... in this great battle... our Jade Purity Sect’s disciples... all perished, only... only... Yurou remains... I... I have already... made her... the new sect leader. Now... I only wish... to ask you... to take care of Yurou, take her down the mountain... and revive... revive the Jade Purity Sect...” As she spoke, Yu Xianzi’s gaze was already beginning to fade, her life clearly hanging by a thread, sustained only by sheer willpower, as though awaiting Xiao Ding’s answer.

Seeing her like this, Xiao Ding knew he had to agree no matter what; at the very least, it would let her pass away in peace. So he replied, “Elder, rest assured, I will do my utmost to help Miss Yue...”

Before he could finish, Yu Xianzi weakly murmured “Good... good...” twice, then her head tilted, and she breathed her last...

Yue Yurou burst into tears...

Xiao Ding was speechless...

By now, dusk had fallen. Seeing that Yue Yurou was lost in mourning and showed no sign of stopping, Xiao Ding left her alone. He stood and surveyed the surroundings—corpses lay everywhere.

He thought to himself, though there were few wild beasts atop this mountain, there might still be some. If a large predator came, there would be danger. Moreover, he reckoned that more martial artists would soon arrive, seeking the treasures. Though he had no intention of contesting for them, not everyone would listen to reason. In the martial world, strength often spoke loudest.

Among the piles of corpses, Xiao Ding discovered five or six large bundles. He opened them one by one, and could not help but sigh inwardly at their contents.

Most bundles contained gold, silver, jewels, and various precious adornments. Others held rare medicinal herbs such as ginseng and fo-ti, and some contained objects that looked to be of great value—jade vials, jade boxes, pieces of raw jade, meteoric iron, strange weapons, hidden weapons, martial arts manuals, and so on.

Xiao Ding reflected, “Truly, as the saying goes, ‘Men die for wealth, birds perish for food.’ These people risked their lives, resorting to any means for these worldly possessions, and all lost their lives for them. Is this human nature? Is there nothing in the world more valuable than gold and silver?”

Money was certainly a fine thing; with it, one could live as one pleased. Therefore, to become rich, some would stop at nothing. The shrewd ones would rely on power, connections, backroom deals, bending the rules; the foolish would resort to violence, theft, and deceit to amass their fortunes.

Thus, from ancient times to the present, most of society’s wealth remained in the hands of a cunning few. Honest, upright people seldom became rich; at best, they lived out their days in peace.

Consider history—the honest officials were often as poor as beggars, while corrupt ones grew fat on stolen gains. In the end, it was often the upright who suffered slander and ruin at the hands of the corrupt. Only after the upright were dead would a new emperor redress their names, but what use was that by then?

Gazing at the heaps of loot before him, Xiao Ding was lost in thought. “You all struggled and schemed, but in the end, your efforts only paved the way for others—these spoils fall to me for nothing.”

Since these things now belonged to no one, he saw no need to hesitate and decided to take them all.

By this time, Yue Yurou had cried herself out. She came to Xiao Ding’s side, sobbing, “Brother Xiao Ding, what should we do?”

“Should your master be buried here, or brought back to Jade Purity Mountain?” Xiao Ding asked.

“She should be brought back. Our sect has a burial ground and ancestral hall...” Yue Yurou replied.

“Then let’s cremate your master and your fellow disciples here,” Xiao Ding suggested.

Yue Yurou nodded, gathered Yu Xianzi’s belongings, and with Xiao Ding collected dry branches, piling them up to cremate the remains of Yu Xianzi and the Jade Purity Sect disciples.

They tore strips of clothing from other corpses, wrapped the ashes separately, used the blood of the dead to write each person’s name on the wrappings, and then packed all the small bundles together into a larger bundle.

While separating the bodies of the Jade Purity Sect disciples, Xiao Ding specifically searched for Mei Ruoshuang among the corpses but did not find her.

He then sifted through the piles of gold, silver, and other treasures once more, keeping all the jewelry and valuable herbs. He knew he would need money if he was to seek a way back to his original world, so the more the better. As for copper coins—worth little, bulky, and heavy—he took only a small portion.

There were twenty or thirty jade vials and boxes in total, some filled with pills, others with herbs, none of which Xiao Ding recognized; he dumped all the pills out. There were also several pieces of raw jade and meteoric iron. Though he couldn’t tell what kind of jade they were, they seemed vaguely similar to the jade pendant he wore around his neck, so he kept them.

As for the various strange weapons, hidden weapons, and martial arts manuals, Xiao Ding only selected a fine dagger for himself, tucking it into his belt, and left the rest. The new dagger was much sharper than the one he had brought with him.

Yue Yurou also picked out a short sword and some jade pieces and boxes from the pile; her chosen sword was likewise a finely forged blade.

Combining the five or six original bundles into two large ones, Xiao Ding cut a long wooden pole to carry them on his shoulder, finding the arrangement quite satisfactory.

From the bundles among the corpses, he also collected several water flasks and rations. Most of the food was bloodstained and inedible, so he only kept five or six large water flasks, hanging them around his neck.

Yue Yurou carried the bundle of ashes and Yu Xianzi’s belongings on her back, following beside Xiao Ding. She asked, “Brother Xiao Ding, where are we going?”

“To find a place to rest for the night. At the very least, we need to leave here,” Xiao Ding replied.

“Before she died, my master told me she found a divine artifact in a cave behind that grove,” Yue Yurou said, pointing to the woods beyond the clearing.

What? There really is a divine artifact?