Chương 57: A Windfall of Ill-Gotten Gains

Su Zhe wasted no time. He began looting the corpses. The eight warehouse clerks' ordinary weapons were all taken and absorbed into the Creation Immortal Cauldron. After that, he carefully examined their wounds. Same old procedure. If the injuries showed hammer marks or scythe wounds—destroy the corpse entirely. Only wounds caused by a steel trident were to be left intact. Su Zhe was already an old hand at this line of work. He knew the rules inside out.

"Pah! A bunch of poor ghosts!" He kicked one of the bodies and cursed under his breath. These clerks had likely fled in haste. They barely had any silver on them at all. Su Zhe was meticulous to the extreme—even checking the most hidden "vaults" of silver with his inner force. Nothing. Then his gaze shifted to a man-sized Earth God statue nearby. It had already been split in half. Su Zhe clapped his hands, stepped forward, centered his stance, and sank into a horse stance. He wrapped his arms around the statue.

Then—he exploded with force.

"RUMBLE—!" A deafening roar shook the area. The statue, weighing tens of thousands of jin, was effortlessly lifted and set aside. According to the memory stored within the Dark Scythe, this was where the warehouse steward hid their wealth. It required the steward and all eight clerks working together just to move it. Beneath the statue, the ground had been hollowed out. Inside sat a large iron-bound chest. With a flick of his arm, Su Zhe yanked it out of the soil. He opened it.

A dazzling flood of gold and silver light burst forth, blinding him for a moment. A massive haul. Years of embezzled wealth—all now belonged to Su Zhe.

"This isn't a place to linger," he muttered.

"Leave first. Sort everything out somewhere safe." Forcing down his excitement, he stored the one-and-a-half-meter-long chest into the Creation Immortal Cauldron. The cauldron's internal space had grown noticeably larger after each upgrade of its immortal apertures. Now it was more than enough to store valuables. Su Zhe carefully retraced his steps, ensuring no trace remained. Then, under the cover of night, he vanished from the Earth God Temple. Inkcraft Manor — Inner Court"I'm rich! I'm rich!"

"That warehouse steward was clever—he knew once the scandal broke, paper money and banknotes would become worthless."

"So he converted everything into real gold and silver… and it all benefited me instead!" Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Su Zhe grinned like a country landlord who had just come into fortune. After tallying everything: Pure gold: 50 taels Gold: 100 taels Pure silver: 200 taels Silver: 10, 000 taels"…!" Ten thousand taels! Even though it was only silver, Su Zhe still felt his heartbeat quicken.

According to internal exchange rates of the Ironforge Gang, 10, 000 taels of silver equaled 100 taels of pure gold. Outside the sect, it might only fetch around 50 taels of gold. In total, this single act of killing and plundering had netted him nearly 20, 000 taels of silver equivalent. His breathing grew slightly uneven. A rare moment—wealth had shaken his calm mind.

"Still, the county treasury mainly collects taxes in silver, so silver is the dominant storage form."

"That steward had worked for decades, skimming bribes and embezzling slowly over time. This kind of accumulation isn't surprising." Su Zhe steadied himself. Then he spat coldly.

"A corrupt official."

"A nobody of a county clerk is already this greedy—if he were a prefect, who knows how many people he'd ruin?" Sixth Immortal Aperture Requirements Sixth Immortal Aperture: Enter Fourth Rank Realm 20 taels of refined gold essence 2, 000 jin of meteor iron 200 taels of spirit silver 3, 000 jin of spirit copper 4, 000 jin of spirit tin One Fourth-Rank demonic beast corpse"Even with this windfall, opening the sixth aperture is still a fantasy."

"It's not just about money anymore…"

"Most of these requirements can't be solved with wealth alone." Su Zhe frowned deeply. The threshold had risen sharply. First, he needed to reach Fourth Rank cultivation. Second, he needed the corpse of a Fourth-Rank demonic beast. After the warehouse battle and continuous cultivation assisted by Li Shanyun's White Deer Sword Qi, his internal energy had refined further—he had now reached the mid Third Rank. But hunting a Fourth-Rank beast? He was not confident at all.

"And the refined metals like essence gold and meteor iron… those require Fourth-Rank master craftsmen."

"Probably even the entire Ironforge Gang doesn't have anyone capable of producing them." He shook his head. No solution in sight. Perhaps joining the Sword Casting Manor would be the only way forward. Even though he had gained great wealth, the key to the sixth aperture was not money. That realization left him somewhat frustrated.

"No… something's wrong…"

"I've been thinking about this the wrong way from the beginning…"

"Opening immortal apertures does strengthen me quickly—but the true mystery of the Creation Immortal Cauldron is not limited to that."

"For example… body refinement through artifact forging." His eyes suddenly lit up. Experiment — Refining Weapons into the Body Su Zhe took out a second-rank spirit weapon: the Spirit Serpent Sword.

Name: Spirit Serpent Sword Quality: Rank 2 mortal-grade weapon Effects: Spirit Serpent Strike (improves sword techniques and movement) Spirit Serpent Affinity (accelerates mastery of Spirit Serpent Sword technique) Additional bonuses: enhanced bone structure, sword talent, comprehension boost"Fifty taels of gold is already considered rich…"

"But what if I don't have enough gold—can other metals replace it?" He tossed the sword into the Creation Immortal Cauldron. The cauldron shimmered with five-colored brilliance, as if urging him to continue feeding it metals. So Su Zhe began pouring in silver instead. One tael… two taels… Until six hundred taels of silver had been consumed. The Spirit Serpent Sword melted within the cauldron. It transformed into streams of rune-like immortal energy, merging into Su Zhe's body.

[Blood Essence Transformation: Spirit Serpent Affinity permanently fused.] [Artifact Refinement: remaining effects converted into host enhancement at one-tenth power of original equipment.] Su Zhe's bones trembled. A faint sword chant echoed within his skeleton. He could clearly feel his comprehension of swordsmanship deepen.

"So it works…"

"Six taels of pure gold can refine a second-rank weapon into body enhancement…"

"But silver can also replace gold—if the quantity is sufficient." The exchange ratio resembled the Ironforge Gang's internal valuation. Su Zhe's excitement surged. New Path Discovered He continued experimenting. Four Spirit Serpent Swords were fused into a single Fourth-Rank Spirit Serpent Sword using the "Weapon Fusion Ascension" ability. Then he used another Third-Rank Spirit Serpent Sword and consumed 1, 200 taels of silver to refine it into his body.

Wielding the Fourth-Rank sword, he practiced the Spirit Serpent Breaking Wind Sword Technique. His internal energy began to ripple. Scales-like patterns faintly emerged across his body. After finishing the sword routine, Su Zhe discovered something astonishing— A thin trace of Spirit Serpent Qi had formed within his dantian. Not fully condensed—but undeniably present.

"I'm only one step away from mastering it…" He wiped sweat from his forehead, eyes burning with excitement. He had mastered this sword technique in just half a month. If news of this spread, it would shock countless cultivators. A Dangerous but Promising Idea"This method of refining weapons into the body using silver… it's incredible."

"Four first-rank weapons fused together can become a second-rank weapon."

"But if I first enhance first-rank weapons using blood essence, then refine them into the body…"

"The cumulative effect might surpass second-rank equipment entirely!"

"As long as I have enough low-grade weapons…" Su Zhe's gaze sharpened. He had discovered a completely new path of power. Next Day — Inkforge Hall"What did you say?"

"You want to buy back all the Ironforge Gang's scrap weapons?"

"And pay… ten percent above market price?" Master Sun Tiexin widened his bull-like eyes, staring at Su Zhe in shock.

"What exactly are you planning to do, disciple?"