I'm in Yellow Maple Valley, and I have one equipment slot!

Xue Ye and Ling Yuling both looked at Zhou Yuan, waiting for his decision.

If the soul of a Nascent Soul stage monster were taken in as a ghost slave, it would be a great help!

However, Zhou Yuan remained calm and showed no emotion.

Why would he raise a tiger that will become a threat?

Xuan Gu is a cunning and treacherous person; keeping him around is like having a ticking time bomb.

Moreover, he had already planned to study the secret techniques in the Xuan Yin Scripture, so how could he keep the founder alive?

"Swallowed it."

Zhou Yuan said calmly.

"No--!"

Xuan Gu Shangren's ghostly face let out a desperate scream!

The Soul-Crying Beast suddenly inhaled through its large nostrils—

That green light, along with Xuan Gu's soul, was sucked in in one gulp!

Master Xuan Gu has completely disappeared from this world!

"Clang—"

The small golden thunder bamboo arrow, having lost control of its owner, fell to the ground from the sky.

Zhou Yuan didn't pick it up immediately, but looked at Ti Hun instead.

"Was there any lingering spirit within that arrow?"

The weeping soul was in tune with his heart.

After a careful examination, he shook his head.

Zhou Yuan was finally relieved.

In the original story, Xuan Gu had a backup plan: he hid a fragment of his soul in a small golden thunder bamboo arrow, attempting to possess another person.

If Han Li hadn't possessed the wondrous item "Tearful Soul," he probably would have been able to fake Xuan Gu's death and escape!

"That monster is finally gone."

She put away her magical artifacts on a snowy night, flew down to Zhou Yuan's side, her beautiful eyes filled with tenderness.

Ling Yuling followed, her gaze towards Zhou Yuan now filled with a more serious expression.

Next comes the most crucial part of running the dungeon—

Divide the treasure among themselves.

There are only three kinds of treasures here: the rib bone, which the two women do not know what it is, the fragment of the Void Heaven Map, and the small golden thunder bamboo arrow.

Although Zhou Yuan knew what was hidden in his ribs, the other two also had the right to know.

Zhou Yuan had no intention of using any tricks when distributing the treasures.

"The two of you."

Zhou Yuan took out the rib and placed it in his palm. "This rib cannot be probed by divine sense. It is estimated that only the power of Yin spirit can reveal what is hidden."

He took a black round bowl out of his storage bag.

The bowl, about the size of a palm and pitch black, emitted an extremely strong, chilling aura the moment it was taken out! The intensity of that aura caused the surrounding temperature to drop several degrees!

Upon seeing this item, Ling Yuling subconsciously frowned.

"A soul-gathering bowl? How do you have such an evil artifact?"

As the young master of the Star Palace, she naturally recognized this item.

This is a magical artifact specifically used by heretical cultivators to contain the soul and primordial spirit of cultivators.

Once someone enters this magical artifact, all their souls and spirits will gradually lose their spirituality and become ordinary wandering ghosts, exclusively for evil cultivators to drive and refine.

Those who use such magical artifacts are evil cultivators who are deeply hated by many cultivators!

"The cultivation method practiced by Master Zhou is clearly not an evil cultivation method."

Seeing this, Xueye immediately spoke up to explain for Zhou Yuan, her tone full of protection, "This thing was naturally captured."

Zhou Yuan had no intention of explaining. He merely glanced at the astonished Ling Yuling before activating the Soul Gathering Bowl on his own.

A chilling aura was drawn into his body from the Soul Gathering Bowl through his palm, and then slowly transferred to his other hand that was holding the bone.

A cold, black cloud of energy gradually appeared and quickly enveloped the rib.

The ribs finally reacted.

The originally white and smooth surface began to turn black, as if it were absorbing the yin energy.

Before long, the entire mass of yin energy was absorbed into the bones, and the ribs turned half white and half black.

The ribs encased within it relentlessly devoured this yin energy.

For the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, it continuously absorbed yin energy, causing the object to gradually turn equally black.

Sudden--

A deep humming sound emanated from the object!

Then, wisps of dark light burst forth, filled with an eerie and sinister aura!

Zhou Yuan probed into it with his divine sense.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

Inside was indeed the Xuan Yin Scripture, the complete version! It included all the secret techniques that made Xuan Gu famous!

He pondered for a moment, then used his magic to condense the contents of his divine sense into a light and shadow, so that the two women could roughly see it.

"Inside are the cultivation techniques and some secret arts that the ghost practiced back then."

He stated bluntly, "I'll take this one. You two can choose the other two."

Xueye and Ling Yuling exchanged a glance.

They probed with their divine senses and confirmed that it contained only cultivation techniques and secret arts, and no other treasures.

"Give me this fragment of the Void Heaven Map," Xueye said.

She came here seeking an opportunity to form an infant.

Since the opportunity hasn't come yet, going to the Void Heaven Palace to try one out is not a bad choice.

"I didn't contribute much to this expedition at all." Ling Yuling shook her head and looked at Zhou Yuan. "Whether it was breaking the formation or fighting the enemy, the credit basically went to Alchemist Zhou. This little arrow magic weapon should also belong to Alchemist Zhou."

She spoke sincerely.

Firstly, the small arrow was also a cold and yin substance, which was incompatible with the cultivation method she practiced.

Secondly, as the young master of the Star Palace, she certainly doesn't lack magical treasures.

Thirdly, she really didn't contribute anything; on the contrary, she was always protected by Zhou Yuan and Xue Ye, so it was like she was just going through the motions at this ancient cultivation site.

"In that case, Master Zhou, please don't stand on ceremony with Sister Ling." Xue Ye smiled as she picked up the small arrow and handed it to Zhou Yuan.

"In that case, Master Zhou, please don't stand on ceremony with Sister Ling." Xue Ye smiled as she picked up the small arrow and handed it to Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan glanced at Ling Yuling and, seeing her composed expression, nodded.

"it is good."

He took the small arrow and put it into his storage bag.

"Master Zhou, please forgive my intrusion."

Ling Yuling suddenly spoke, her phoenix eyes looking at him earnestly:

"I sincerely advise you to avoid touching the techniques and secret arts of evil cultivators. Otherwise..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but her meaning was clear.

"hehe."

Zhou Yuan smiled slightly, "I naturally have no intention of practicing the techniques of heretical cultivators. However, some of their secret arts do have unique aspects. What's wrong with taking the essence and discarding the dross?"

"Those are all minor matters, utterly incomparable to the heritage of my Star Palace..."

Ling Yuling's voice carried a hint of arrogance.

She is the young master of the Star Palace, having grown up there and witnessed all sorts of top-tier techniques and supernatural abilities.

In her eyes, those evil cultivation techniques were nothing more than heretical and unorthodox methods.

"The Star Palace is a large and prosperous family business."

"However, I am just a rogue cultivator, and I can only improve myself little by little through continuous accumulation. I cannot compare to Fellow Daoist Ling, who comes from a noble family."

Zhou Yuan was neither humble nor arrogant.

In his heart, however, he knew perfectly well that the reason why the Star Palace had so many inheritances was that they were all self-created.

It was all accumulated over the years as the overlord of the Star Sea, controlling most of the resources, and then engaging in some cunning and plundering.

Essentially, it's the same as Zhou Yuan accumulating his wealth bit by bit.

Ling Yuling was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Looking at Zhou Yuan's calm face, a thought suddenly came to her mind.

"Actually, with your abilities in all aspects, Master Zhou, I can recommend you to join the Star Palace."

She said earnestly, "By then, won't we have everything, from the inheritance of cultivation techniques to secret arts and supernatural powers?"

She genuinely wanted to recruit him.

Zhou Yuan has enormous potential.

He was highly skilled in both alchemy and formations.

Their strength is unfathomable.

He is cautious yet open-minded.

Although she possessed the ominous Weeping Soul and the chilling Soul Gathering Bowl, she believed they were all spoils of war.

Ling Yuling's idea was very simple.

She wanted to build her own team.

When her identity is revealed in the future and she officially takes over the Star Palace, she will need to have a trusted and powerful confidant.

Xueye is one of the people she's currently recruiting, and if Zhou Yuan could join...

"Excuse me."

Zhou Yuan shook his head. "Rogue cultivators are used to a carefree life and can't stand being restrained."

A hint of disappointment flashed in Ling Yuling's eyes, but she did not press the matter further.

"I believe that one day, Master Zhou will choose to join the Star Palace."

She spoke softly, her tone carrying a hint of certainty, because she felt that with Xueye's connection to her, there was a high probability that she would be able to subdue Zhou Yuan in the future.

After a pause, she added, "Master Zhou, the Star Palace's collection of profound supernatural powers and spells is absolutely beyond your imagination."

"For example?" Zhou Yuan asked, intrigued.

Ling Yuling smiled slightly, took out a jade slip from her storage bag, and handed it to him.

"This jade slip contains some of the inheritance of my Star Palace. I am giving it to you as a way to establish a good relationship."