Longevity starts with choosing Hextech enhancement

Chapter 392 Storage Bag - Whole Crab Feast
Let's put aside this minor accident for now.

Xiao Chen was even more curious about the origin of this strange tentacle.

As we all know, even cultivators at the same level can sometimes have significant differences.

Similarly, there are also differences in strength among great demons.

It's not hard to guess that since it could lock Xiao Chen's right hand with just a wisp of true essence, this tentacle must be something extraordinary.

It is very likely that among the fifth-tier great demons, it is one of the stronger ones.

But this raises a new problem.

If the opponent is so powerful, how could they have been injured, causing this tentacle to break off?

How did it end up here, appearing in Haihong's storage bag?

Xiao Chen couldn't help but wonder if a battle between fifth-tier demons had broken out in the distant sea, and that the Sea of ​​Compassion was probably not far away.

This led Haihong, who happened to be passing by, to pick up the tentacle that had been severed during the battle.

If that's the case, the actual situation in the far seas is probably even more dangerous than he previously learned from ancient books.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, are you really alright?"

True Monarch Heming asked with concern, "The color of that blood bead just now was not right. It seemed to be poisonous. We must be extra careful."

Xiao Chen waved his arm casually: "It's alright, even if it contains poison, I have my own way of dealing with it."

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's take a look at the rest of the items in the storage bag first."

Everyone was immediately drawn to the strange tentacle, and didn't even have time to look at the other items.

However, there was no second Tier 5 rare item in the storage bag.

The rest consisted of fourth-tier spiritual materials, mainly spirit ore, 307 spare array bases, 25 array flags, several boxes of mid-grade spirit stones, and all sorts of third-tier spiritual items piled up like a small mountain.

Of course, in the end, these three-tiered spirit items, which are the most numerous, are actually the least important.

However, this is the normal situation, and it's what everyone initially expected.

"Huh, these array bases seem to be a complete set?"

Gangyuan Zhenjun immediately noticed that many of the array base spirit patterns were similar, had a unified style, and showed obvious correlation.

He carefully scanned it with a detection spell before actually looking through it.

In no time, 128 array bases were selected and distinguished from the rest.

They then took out previously seized core restrictions for comparison.

Gangyuan Zhenjun quickly confirmed: "That's right, this should be a complete fourth-order defensive formation, and it matches the eight array flags within it."

"Thank goodness we didn't give them a chance to breathe."

"Otherwise, with this reserve formation, Haihong should be able to rebuild a solid defensive line within a few hours and continue to resist."

"Judging from the quality and quantity of this array base."

"Once the great formation is completed, its power should be quite formidable."

In conclusion, True Monarch Gangyuan gently stroked a blue gem in one of the core array bases and exclaimed, "And the sea race is truly damn rich."

“These expensive materials are used without any consideration for saving money.”

"They just set such a large crystal directly without even mentioning cutting off some scraps for other uses."

If we follow the human race's usual practice, we would definitely have to calculate the array's requirements first, and then calculate how much spiritual material would be needed to power the array.

Finally, using this as a standard, the spiritual material is divided, and the extra fragments are made into necklaces or pendants.

This is called fully exploring the use value of rare spiritual materials and rationally coordinating available resources to maximize benefits.

"Yes, it's such a waste to use such good spiritual materials directly as array bases."

Xiao Chen somewhat shared this sentiment.

Although their specific reflections may differ, their feelings are similar.

If only there were a way to perfectly disassemble the finished product into raw materials.

Even though he had read extensively, he had never heard of any strange or unusual methods with such effects in the cultivation world.

Relying on this path is unlikely to work; hunting powerful demons to obtain spiritual materials is a more reliable method.

As he spoke, True Lord Gangyuan had already taken out all the boxes containing spirit stones and laid them out in a row.

The crowd scanned the box with their divine senses and immediately counted that there were 333,600 mid-grade spirit stones in it.

That translates to 33.6 million low-grade spirit stones.

Even for everyone present, this is a huge sum of money!
The reason why Haihong has so many mid-grade spirit stones is because the sea race's original defense period was a full six months.

Moreover, it should be noted that after the human race's victory at Tingtao Sea, their manpower was greatly freed up.

A simple deduction reveals that there is a high probability that nearly ten human True Monarchs will join the battle in the Shallow Sky Sea.

This is different from the previous small-scale battles; we must prepare a sufficient number of spirit stones to cope with the long and arduous process.

Therefore, not only did Haihong take a batch of spirit stones with her when she set off.

When the six-finned sailfish arrived later with the golden talisman, it also brought a large number of spirit stones and the Venerable's order not to be stingy with spirit stones.

It's likely that the sea creatures didn't expect that the vast majority of these spirit stones would eventually fall into the hands of the human race.

However, Xiao Chen didn't value this huge sum of money much.

He was more concerned about whether there were any fourth-tier spiritual materials suitable for him to use in weapon crafting.

In fact, many raw materials have multiple uses.

In particular, there is a great deal of overlap between their use in refining array bases and in refining defensive magical artifacts.

Because these two have similar needs in many aspects.

For example, it must be sturdy enough to resist direct attacks from spells or hostile magical artifacts.

For example, it should be stable enough to respond promptly to the owner's commands even under the worst possible conditions.

For example, it has a strong enough bearing capacity to withstand the massive flow of spiritual energy to supply the pre-inscribed array patterns or artifact patterns.

Of course, there are fundamental differences between the two.

The goal of array base is to resonate with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth as much as possible, and it is necessary to consider the ability to draw spiritual energy from spiritual veins and the response to the surrounding environment.

Defensive magical artifacts prioritize ensuring compatibility with the cultivator's own true essence, and secondly, they provide spiritual power through spirit stones.

For this reason, the two have different processing methods and refining requirements.

Therefore, some of the spiritual materials that have already undergone preliminary processing are no longer suitable for refining artifacts.

Fortunately, there are quite a few fourth-tier spiritual creatures in this batch.

According to Xiao Chen's visual estimation, nearly half of them, namely forty-two types of fourth-order spirit ores and five types of fourth-order spirit wood, are the types he needs.

how to say.

He definitely wants to take them all.

However, the problem is that the Compassionate Sea rarely engages in such joint operations in the past.

At the same time, the old distribution method was also quite rudimentary.

As is customary, Xiao Chen would need to arrange himself and the others in order of their contributions to the battle.

Then, starting from the top and working down, each person takes turns choosing a prize they like.

If there are any left, then play another round until all the items are used up.

However, in that case, although Xiao Chen would undoubtedly deserve the greatest credit in this battle, he would definitely not be able to take away half of the fourth-tier spiritual materials.

Moreover, objectively speaking, the other True Lords also made considerable contributions.

As the old saying goes, even if they didn't achieve great things, they still deserve some of the spoils of war.

However, Xiao Chen naturally had a solution.

He proposed a new way of distributing the spoils: "Well, everyone contributed a lot to our victory this time."

"Now that we have captured the spoils of war, we should naturally think of a way to distribute them fairly."

"I just think that things like backup formations are most useful when they are part of a complete set, not separated."

"In that case, if we select them according to the size of their contribution, it wouldn't be good for anyone to take such an expensive item directly, including me."

"Then I have an idea, you might as well listen to it."

"The idea is to calculate the price of all these things at a discount, and then refund the excess or collect the difference."

"Of course, everyone's efforts in the battle are evident to all, such as Fellow Daoist Qian Shu's lost fourth-order puppet, and the spirit ships damaged in the collision."

"How about converting all of these things into spirit stones and then calculating the total cost?"

This plan sounds quite fair, as it labels each person's contribution with a corresponding price.

In this way, those who contribute more can receive the spiritual objects they deserve.

Those who contribute less will not suffer much loss; they will not receive less in subsequent rounds.

Even those who suffered losses could receive the compensation they deserved, which is a win-win-win situation.

After a brief moment of thought, everyone nodded in agreement.

Crane Cry True Lord also praised the idea as fair and just, far superior to the old law.

Of course, this way, Xiao Chen could also avoid the restrictions of the old rules and directly choose the spiritual materials he needed.

It should be noted that he not only made the greatest contribution in combat, but also suffered extremely high combat losses.

Not only that crucial enhanced array-breaking cone, but also the Yang Fire Fiend used to dispel the fog, and the special array seen in the 'ruins'.

These are losses that everyone witnessed, and they should be factored in and compensated for.

Xiao Chen brought up the loss of True Monarch Qian Shu because he wanted to calculate a compensation for himself here.

Although these items of his are all once-in-a-millennium finds, they are really hard to value.

But a price tag of 30 million spirit stones for all three together isn't unreasonable at all.

After all, in terms of rarity, it takes tens of thousands of years for a single instance of malevolent energy to be born.

At the same time, the special formation that can control evil energy can definitely be called a top-level secret technique.

"Hey, Fellow Daoist Xiao, isn't there something you forgot to calculate?"

Iron Fan True Lord, holding the account book, asked, "That family heirloom talisman of yours, its value must be quite high, right?"

"This use was also to prevent Haihong from activating the Sea God Rune, so the corresponding losses should also be taken into account."

He specifically mentioned his family heirloom, which is a mechanical grappling hook.

Firstly, it was indeed to help Xiao Chen calculate the losses and make up for the deficit.

However, it was also to get a sense of its approximate usage frequency and total value from another angle, thereby increasing our understanding.

To be honest, everyone is actually quite wary of this thing. "Um, the value of this talisman... well, it's a bit inconvenient to talk about the specifics."

Xiao Chen thought for a moment and then simply declined, saying, "Let's just skip this and not include it in the calculation."

He knew very well that the mechanical grappling hook was actually not worn out and would not break no matter how many times it was used.

As long as he doesn't reveal it, no one else will know this.

You can also take advantage of the situation and gain more benefits.

However, after thinking about it, Xiao Chen still felt that it was unnecessary. It wasn't for any other reason, but mainly because he estimated that he already had enough points.

Now that he has already taken what he needs, there is no need to use such deceptive tactics to gain more profit for himself.

Even if he took other things, whether it was spirit ore or array base, he wouldn't actually need them.

In the end, they actually sold them to exchange for spirit stones.

The problem is that Xiao Chen now has the ability to travel to new cultivation worlds, so the least worrying thing is not having enough spirit stones. It's not worth lying about that at all.

That's why he chose to decline the offer by saying it was inconvenient to disclose the price.

Of course, the other cultivators were unaware of his specific thoughts.

After listening, everyone had different thoughts.

Some people were filled with awe and admiration for Xiao Chen's noble act of not seeking personal gain.

It should be noted that no one knew anything about the 'talisman treasure', so Xiao Chen was essentially left to make his own offer.

Theoretically, even if he claimed that it would cost several million spirit stones to use it once, no one could refute it.

Even a Nascent Soul True Monarch rarely remains unmoved in the face of millions of spirit stones.

Not to mention voluntarily giving up such a large sum of money.

These cultivators were all impressed, saying that Fellow Daoist Xiao was not only highly skilled in cultivation, but also of impeccable character, with no flaws whatsoever.

Of course, some people felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this.

They couldn't help but wonder what kind of divine weapon that 'family heirloom talisman' was, that it was worth giving up so many spirit stones in order to conceal its secrets.

Under normal circumstances, this can be inferred from the logic of choosing the lesser of two evils.

People will always choose the option that results in less loss.

In other words, in Xiao Chen's view, the secret contained in that 'family heirloom talisman' should be more important than millions of spirit stones.

This is a huge amount of information!
So much so that some people couldn't help but wonder if it was really just a talisman.

Hmm~, could it be some kind of magical artifact that can be used even in the Nascent Soul stage under special conditions?
This makes more sense than using talismans!

Whether considering its abnormally strong power or the fact that it has been used more than five times without being damaged.

Or perhaps it's due to Xiao Chen's cautious nature in not even revealing the price.

It is highly likely that it is actually a magical artifact.

Every True Lord who thought of this place felt a pang of envy.

There was no other way; that was a magic weapon!

These are rare treasures that are hard to come by even once in tens of thousands of years. Normally, even if they are Nascent Soul True Monarchs, they may never see such rare items in their entire lives.

Even in the ancient times mentioned in ancient books, those who possessed magical treasures were mostly Nascent Soul cultivators.

After all, without the ability to gather the rare and precious materials of a region for one's own use, it would be difficult to gather the raw materials to refine a magic weapon.

What's remarkable is that not a single person present harbored any thoughts of killing and robbing.

However, this is probably largely due to the fact that none of them could beat Xiao Chen in a one-on-one fight.

Moreover, without specific means, even if they obtained a magical artifact, they might not be able to use it, so there was no need for them to harbor evil intentions.

"Fellow Daoist Xiao, you are willing to do everything in your power to fight against the sea race, without regard for personal gain. I admire you!"

Crane Cry True Lord suddenly spoke up and praised him.

What he actually wanted to say was that he was willing to risk losing the magic weapon and bring it into battle, but after thinking about it, he felt that it would be inappropriate to say it directly, so he changed his mind at the last minute.

Coincidentally, the other True Lords around them also chimed in.

It's unclear whether they were thinking the same thing or simply praising Xiao Chen for not caring about points.

In short, everyone showered him with praise and compliments.

Xiao Chen blushed slightly upon hearing this.

Despite blushing, his hands moved swiftly.

After the distribution began, the first person took the pen, circled all the fourth-tier spirit items he liked, and then handed them to the next person.

In the end, they successfully obtained a total of seventy-three fourth-tier spiritual materials and six thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

The reason there were twenty-six more items is because the spiritual materials collected from those ten great demons were also included.

In fact, only thirty-five items were collected in total, and Xiao Chen took almost half of them all by himself.

Of course, no one had any objections to this, since Xiao Chen had the most points, and they were all contributions that were recognized by everyone, so he deserved to receive the most spoils.

As for the extra six thousand mid-grade spirit stones...

This is because he had remaining points after exchanging for the spirit item, and therefore received an extra compensation.

With this harvest, plus the spiritual materials obtained earlier.

Xiao Chen has already gathered more than half of the spiritual materials needed to customize the spiritual artifact.

At this rate, all he needs to do is go to Pudu Temple and win the final battle against the sea tribe, and he should be able to return with a full harvest.

It can only be said that hunting sea monsters is indeed the fastest way to obtain fourth-tier spiritual materials.

And currently, there seems to be no other option.

After all, no matter how you look at it, it's impossible to collect hundreds of fourth-tier spiritual materials in such a short time using any other means or methods.

It should be noted that Xiao Chen's return this time actually took only about half a year.

This was because he had spent a lot of time cultivating in the Listening Waves Sea, deciphering a large number of fourth-order formations and dealing with the Thirty-Six Turns of Cold Smoke Golden Talisman.

Theoretically speaking, let alone a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator were to do it himself, it would be difficult to replicate such exaggerated efficiency.

Well, of course, this refers to normal circumstances, and does not include the Venerable One directly robbing the warehouses and storage rings of various forces.

"Reporting to the True Lord, the time has come!"

Suddenly, a Golden Core cultivator walked in and approached Iron Fan True Monarch with small steps to report the situation: "The Earth Vein Flame Crystals in the furnace are about to burn out."

"Shall we serve the food now, or should we order more?"

Previously, in order to calculate the points and distribute them, everyone had also called back Iron Fan Zhenjun.

Upon hearing the report from his disciples, he immediately got up and rushed back to refine his secret formula.

Not long after.

Suddenly, a fragrant aroma of wine wafted in from outside the main hall.

However, its flavor was not strong at first, but then it transformed into an increasingly rich and exotic fragrance.

Then, the voice of True Monarch Iron Fan came from outside: "Fellow Daoists, you have been waiting for a long time. Please move outside the hall and enjoy the delicious food!"

Oh?
Curious, the group went outside and immediately saw a massive alchemy furnace that was ten zhang tall.

He stood in the very center of the high platform that had been erected outside the hall during the earlier discussions.

Meanwhile, the area around it was filled with delicacies, and twelve seats were set up according to the twelve two-hour periods of the day.

Judging from this, it seems that True Lord Iron Fan cooked this ancestral steamed crab in a large alchemy furnace.

To be honest, this utensil is rarely used for cooking.

Xiao Chen sat down with the others and first looked around the table.

Sure enough, a huge table was set out for a crab feast.

Each dish is accompanied by an ivory stick with the name of the dish, its preparation process, main characteristics, and other descriptive information.

First, there are four cold dishes: pickled crab shell with pepper, peony crab roe, snow-white crab roll, and amber crab claw.

Then there are eight hot dishes: Crab Roe Dragon Soup, Gilded Crab Roe, Thousand-Layer Crab Roe Pastry, Eight-Treasure Crab Shell Cup, Pearl Crab Meat Balls, Jade Crab Cake, Coral Crab Claw Soup, and Snow Frog Crab Roe Soup.

Several dishes of various sauces were also served.

It includes regular ginger, garlic, vinegar, and sauces, as well as special spices such as plum sauce, six-color spirit powder, and eight-spice fusion liquid.

All of them are served in small tricolor cups and placed next to each person, so they can mix and match according to their own taste.

Of course, the most important dish is the steamed crab with perilla leaves.

Its production process is extremely complicated.

First, you need to use green bamboo leaves dipped in spiritual spring water to scrub the crab shell to remove any remaining demonic energy.

The steamer is made of century-old cedar wood. The bottom of the steamer is first lined with a layer of calming evening primrose, and then with a layer of century-old perilla leaves.

Then, the earth vein fire crystals, with their long-lasting and even heat, are used instead of ordinary spiritual fire for heating.

Three different kinds of spirit wine are added in sequence during the process to remove the fishy smell and enhance the aroma.

The wine turns into mist when heated, and only after the crab meat absorbs it can it become even sweeter.

"Fellow Daoists, watch carefully."

Iron Fan True Lord raised his hand and lifted the furnace lid.

Steam rose up, and a wisp of blue smoke appeared faintly above the steamer, transforming into the phantom of a small crab before disappearing in an instant.

After steaming, the crab shells in the cage show a mixture of blue and gold colors, like the patina of ancient jade, with a faint frost pattern showing through.
Lifting the crab shell reveals a rich, golden crab roe that gleams like amber in the light.

The crab meat is snow-white and delicate, with distinct textures, like it was carved from the finest mutton fat jade.

The first aroma is a faint fragrance of perilla, followed by the sweetness of the crab meat itself, mixed with the mellow aroma of the spirit wine, unfolding layer by layer.

As the heat dissipates, a faint, delicate fragrance of evening primrose emerges, subtle and lingering.

Xiao Chen tried tasting it.

First, pick up a piece of crab roe. It melts in your mouth, sweet and rich like honey, without any fishy or greasy taste. Instead, it carries a hint of the sweetness of Linggu wine.

Even after swallowing, a lingering fragrance remains in the throat.

The crab meat is tender and bouncy, bursting with sweet juice with a gentle bite, and has a subtle salty taste. When dipped in ginger vinegar, the tangy aroma brings out the deep umami flavor.

The most amazing part is the crab claw meat. The fibers are like silk, and you can feel that it is particularly firm when you tear it apart, but it is not dry at all. Instead, it exudes the warmth left by the earth vein fire crystal while you chew, making you feel comfortable all over.

The flavor of this crab is fresh without being overpowering, rich without being cloying, and delicate without being bland.

(End of this chapter)