A’Diao tore off a metal button from her clothes, then ripped off a thin piece of fabric. She also cut off a lock of her hair with a knife and wrapped the fabric and hair together.
The metal button scraped vigorously against the wall, quickly creating sparks. She then held the hair to the sparks… Hiss… A small flame ignited, setting the cloth alight, and A’Diao threw it down.
Plop… The flame landed on the liquid surrounding the egg cluster, and in an instant, it ignited over a large area.
Indeed, the protrusions on the tunnel walls were fragments of wine jars. The soil of the walls had a strong smell of alcohol, indicating that this foundation had been soaked in alcohol for many years. Therefore, the accumulated liquid in this deep pit, which nurtured the weak centipede eggs, was very likely also alcohol. That was why the smell of alcohol here was so strong, even faintly overpowering the stench.
This single act burned all the centipede eggs below to death.
Actually, the fire wasn’t large, just a layer burning on the ground. But for these weak larvae, it was a devastating blow. Seeing that it was about done, A’Diao jumped down.
After landing, A’Diao stepped on the already weakening and extinguishing embers, about to walk towards the Spirit Gate, when she saw that in the area where the egg cluster had been densest, there was one egg underneath that hadn’t been burned or cracked.
It somewhat resembled an amber pebble, and its size was much smaller than the other centipedes, about the size of a palm, flat and oval-shaped.
What is this thing?
Toilet: “Based on your current understanding, this is quite a good item—a mutated egg of a Unicom Centipede mother. From birth, it has the foundation of a Level 2 Demonic Spirit, and its potential is higher than the mother’s. Upon adulthood, it will be a Level 3 Demonic Spirit. No wonder the mother could find this Spirit Gate; it probably used this mutated egg’s senses.”
A Level 2 Demonic Spirit was something she couldn’t handle at all right now. Since this egg was so powerful, could she use it?
Toilet: “You’d need a special method. The academy should have one. But even if you don’t know the method, it will be worth a lot if you sell it later. It can’t hatch right now, so it won’t harm you. You can just put it in your pocket.”
Hearing it could be sold for money, A’Diao was overjoyed and immediately hid it in her inner pocket, almost stuffing it into her bra.
Then she jumped onto Zhang Cheng’s corpse. Without enough fuel, this small flame couldn’t burn the body. A’Diao stepped on Zhang Cheng’s body and reached out to touch the Spirit Gate.
If it weren’t for the Toilet, she wouldn’t have entertained this idea. After all, claiming ownership of a Spirit Gate was much more difficult than a Spiritual Vessel, and it required a lot of time.
There were some advanced methods, but they were only controlled by the imperial court and some powerful factions. Even if ordinary people encountered a Spirit Gate, they could only use clumsy and laborious methods, and success was not guaranteed. By the time they might succeed, the authorities and members of powerful factions would have already found it.
Unless a Spirit Gate appeared in remote and hidden places like deep mountains and old forests, it was very difficult for ordinary people without backing to obtain one.
This was the fundamental reason why Spirit Gates were mostly controlled by the authorities and powerful factions.
A’Diao naturally didn’t have any advanced methods for claiming ownership, but the Toilet could directly absorb Spiritual Vessels. Perhaps it could do the same for Spirit Gates?
Ding dong, the Toilet indeed sent a notification.
“Detected a Level 1 Spirit Gate. Energy level comparable to 100 points. Absorb?”
Heavens, its energy level was 12.5 times that of this earring?
Then it could allow the Toilet to level up many times, at least two levels!
And the most terrifying thing was that others claimed ownership of Spirit Gates, which were immovable and at most converted by the authorities into cultivation sites for internal personnel. But the Toilet could absorb it!
Even if it was consumed as energy to upgrade the Toilet, it gave her great flexibility.
My Toilet is so awesome.
A’Diao was excited and directly confirmed absorption. Soon, she felt a stream of light form between her palm and the Spirit Gate, and then… the Spirit Gate was not drawn into her body.
???
A’Diao did, however, sense the progress of the absorption.
It’s over. It seems the difficulty of absorption increases with energy intensity, and the time required is prolonged. That’s actually no different from claiming ownership of a Spirit Gate using ordinary methods.
Toilet: “Using those methods, it would take 24 hours to possibly succeed in claiming ownership. Moreover, Spirit Gates are generally fixed in their original location and cannot be moved. How can that compare to me? However, this Small Spirit Gate actually has the potential of a Level 2 Small Spirit Gate. Because the summoning was incomplete and it was damaged, it was downgraded to a Level 1 Small Spirit Gate. Otherwise, it should have an energy level of 400.”
A’Diao didn’t understand the classification system for Small Spirit Gates, but she was shocked that its original energy level was 400. Converting that based on Zhang Cheng’s earring… This was too terrifying. No wonder those great, wealthy families could cultivate so many powerful experts after obtaining a Spirit Gate.
Even a pig, if it absorbed the spiritual energy released by a high-quality Spirit Gate year-round, could probably make a comeback.
But the thought of it dropping from 400 to 100 made A’Diao feel a pang of regret.
Never mind, never mind. At least it saved herself and those children.
A’Diao: “Then how long will it take for me to successfully absorb it?”
Toilet: “Three minutes.”
Three minutes? That doesn’t seem very long.
One minute had already passed.
A’Diao was just starting to feel relieved when, suddenly.
She heard the shriek of the large centipede.
And the sound was very close, as if it was… above?
???
Suddenly, a crashing sound came from above her head. A’Diao looked up and was horrified to see the large centipede’s enormous head poking out from the opening above, staring at her viciously, its body lunging downwards.
The large centipede sensed that its children had been slaughtered, so it rushed over frantically?!
So fast!
A’Diao was scared to death. After the large centipede jumped down, she had no choice but to interrupt the absorption of the Spirit Gate.
At this moment, she only had 30% ownership of the Spirit Gate.
There was a connecting line of light between the Spirit Gate and her.
And in the large centipede’s eyes, this human had not only slaughtered its children but was also trying to steal its Spirit Gate.
Eat her!
Bang!
After the large centipede landed, its tail swept towards A’Diao.
A’Diao rolled wretchedly on the ground and fired a shot at the large centipede, but it failed to penetrate its armor. She immediately grabbed onto the protrusions on the wall, trying to climb up, but the large centipede quickly pursued her from behind.
It’s over.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot down from above, heavily striking the center of the large centipede’s head. The head cracked open, creating a fissure. Immediately after, A’Diao saw a shadow. Looking up, she saw Feng Ting leaping down with a thrust.
From a biological structural perspective, it could be understood that its fontanelle had been shattered, and a blade had been thrust into the fissure of the wound.
Using the momentum of the jump, the blade plunged straight into its brain.
Bang!
The large centipede crashed to the ground.
Having escaped death, A’Diao went limp, sweating profusely and panting, “Big Brother Feng, from now on, you’re my dad!”
Feng Ting: “???”
Originally, the large centipede was being surrounded and attacked by Feng Ting and his men. In fact, the imperial court still had the ability to deal with the current Demonic Spirit turmoil, because thermal weapons and some Forbidden Items still had absolute killing power against Level 1 and Level 2 Demonic Spirits.
So, even though the large centipede was an extremely terrifying creature for ordinary people, Feng Ting’s team of 13 still had it suppressed. But for some reason, it had suddenly gone berserk just now, willing to endure attacks to forcibly rush out.
Surprised, Feng Ting and the others naturally pursued it frantically. Feng Ting tapped the spatial perception device on his goggles. The optical computer system on the lens quickly analyzed the sensor data and displayed a spatial model of the tunnels, allowing Feng Ting to instantly see all the branching paths.
“You guys chase from behind, I’ll take a shortcut!”
Feng Ting, carrying his saber, turned into a side path and finally reached the mucus area ahead of the others. He heard movements from the deep pit below… and ultimately killed the large centipede.
The long saber dug around inside the large centipede’s head several times, finally extracting a Spirit Core the size of a quail’s egg.
The energy contained in a Level 2 Spirit Core was incomparable to a Level 1, and the aura of spiritual energy it emitted was much stronger. However, neither A’Diao nor Feng Ting’s attention was on this Spirit Core.
Spirit Gate?!
Feng Ting was stunned and subconsciously glanced at A’Diao.
A’Diao’s scalp tightened, and she silently pressed herself against the wall of the deep pit.
In the unspeakable silence, exclamations from other members of the garrison came from above.
“Chief, you killed this Unicom Centipede!”
“Amazing!”
“Holy crap, a Spirit Gate!”
These men arrived, and upon seeing the Spirit Gate, they all forgot about the large centipede.
The merit of discovering a Spirit Gate far exceeded that of exterminating a group of Demonic Spirits.
But they also noticed the line of light connecting A’Diao and the Spirit Gate. Clearly, she had a claim to this Spirit Gate.
Why were there so many assassinations in Qishan County before?
Some were to kill and seize Spiritual Vessels, while others were because a Spirit Gate had appeared. By directly killing the person connected by the line, the Spirit Gate would lose its owner and could be claimed anew.
So now… the changes in people’s hearts in that instant, perhaps not even gods or demons could fully fathom.
In the strange atmosphere, A’Diao suddenly spoke up, “I am Chen Ran’s daughter.”
The expressions in everyone’s eyes immediately changed again.
The death of someone within the official ranks would be thoroughly investigated by the imperial court. If they were to kill her for treasure, the consequences would be very troublesome.
The cost might not be less than the immense benefits brought by the Spirit Gate.
Feng Ting raised an eyebrow and made a gesture upwards. Several subordinates understood; some remained on standby, while others immediately went to seal off the area to prevent anyone from barging in.
Holy crap, are they going to kill me to silence me?
A’Diao immediately continued, “I have 30% ownership of it. But clearly, since you all have come, you have the ability to take the remaining 70% ownership. Besides, Big Brother Feng, you all fought a bloody battle and saved my life. I, a mere ordinary, weak woman, am willing to make a deal with you.”
Feng Ting and his men were already here and had seen the Spirit Gate. She could no longer secretly absorb the Spirit Gate. If others found out she could absorb Spirit Gates, she wouldn’t live for a day.
When a decision must be made, it must be made decisively.
“I’ll give you the 30%. You can obtain complete ownership, but I want 1 million star coins and 30 Spirit Cores.”
This condition was not low, but it wasn’t high either. It was less than half the value of 30% ownership of a Spirit Gate.
Her appetite wasn’t large.
The men from the garrison were overjoyed, but also felt a bit awkward due to her proactive concession.
Speaking of which, discovering the Spirit Gate and seizing ownership was the young lady’s own ability. Her being so proactive was probably because she feared they would kill her for the treasure.
It made them seem like they were bullying her by relying on their power.
Awkwardly, the few men above also moved aside a bit. In any case, they would let their chief negotiate with her; either way, they would benefit.
“No need. I will report this truthfully. What’s yours is yours. According to the imperial court’s regulations, you should receive a normal reward, usually 3 million star coins. And once this Spirit Gate is converted into a cultivation site, you will have a certain amount of usage points for it. Although Spirit Cores are also a form of energy, absorbing their energy is much more difficult than absorbing spiritual energy. For you, the latter is more suitable.”
In fact, besides these, the rewards these people received from the imperial court also included official merit points, which could help with promotions. Therefore, many government officials would unscrupulously requisition Spirit Gates, offering money and benefits, but they wouldn’t report it in a way that allowed ordinary people to share the profits. In reality, it wasn’t much different from some ruthless, powerful factions.
Letting Feng Ting and his men watch A’Diao take control of the entire Spirit Gate was impossible; the imperial court wouldn’t allow it.
Working within this system, Feng Ting couldn’t deny that this was how the general environment was, especially since the higher echelons of officialdom operated in even more terrifying ways.
So he could see that A’Diao’s concession was to sacrifice resources to “save her life.”
Feng Ting’s upright attitude greatly surprised A’Diao.
Although she knew Feng Ting’s moral integrity was much higher than most people’s, A’Diao never fully trusted anyone. This could be seen from how she had hidden the spiderweb Forbidden Item from the Old Daoist Priest the first time she obtained it. So, even though Feng Ting’s stance was unexpected, she still gave up on her initial idea.
“Big Brother Feng, you know, my household registration is in the provincial capital. Soon, I’ll have to take the entrance exams and study. I don’t have time to absorb the spiritual energy from this Small Spirit Gate in Lingcheng. Even if I have these points, they’re useless. It’s better to exchange them for benefits. Besides…”
Pausing for a moment, A’Diao deliberately said, “And I’m just a concubine’s daughter of the Chen family. Perhaps my death could be exploited. But if I live, and the benefits I receive become known, then… what belongs to me might not necessarily remain mine.”
Since she didn’t completely trust Feng Ting, she trusted Chen Ran even less.
The former was because people’s hearts could change, depending on whether the temptation of benefits was sufficient. The latter was because people’s hearts were hard to change; the interests of a concubine’s daughter would never outweigh the interests of a family.
For example, if she died, and Chen Ran found out she was his concubine’s daughter who had supposedly died young, and knew why she died, he would definitely pretend to be very sad. Then he would use this as leverage to increase his control over Feng Ting and his men. Even if the latter obtained benefits, it would be like giving Chen Ran a handle on them.
Killing for treasure would then carry risks.
Human nature is very complex. A’Diao basically assumed the worst.
That’s why she revealed her identity from the start. But even if Feng Ting didn’t resort to foul play and handled the matter honorably, she might not necessarily get the benefits. At least, if it were a reward from the imperial court, Chen Ran would definitely know.
If she wanted benefits, they had to be her own, and unknown to the Chen family.
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