Upon seeing their savior, the mining slaves knelt down in unison to express their gratitude. Jiang Yuan looked at each of them one by one, ensuring there were no evildoers among them, and then distributed Spirit Stones from the treasures looted from Ling Di to them. Finally, he activated the Mi Family’s Otherworld Teleportation Array, allowing them to return to their homes.
Busy until midnight, the arrays that needed dismantling were dismantled; the corpses that needed collecting were collected; the small courtyard’s slaughterhouse welcomed a rich inventory, ensuring they would be busy for the next couple of months.
"Only the Spider Demons remain within the crevices of the cliffs, they need some time to emerge. Miss Little Eight, do not worry, the Valley Protection Array of Snow Cloud Valley is intact and can keep them safe. We can relocate after Spiders Valley is handled properly," he thought of going back to take stock of the gains, stuffing the thousand or so Evil Cultivators still alive into the Seven-Layered Exquisite Pagoda, allowing seven of his avatars to go inside to loot and absorb lifespans while he and the raid team teleported back to the small courtyard.
The most meticulous butler, Hu Zhile, entered the Time Pavilion, and Jiang Yuan summed it up and called Hou Ze over to send him to the small storage space to take inventory.
Du Li had waited for what felt like centuries, and seeing everyone return triumphantly, felt a mix of emotions.
[Side Quest: Daughter of Fortune]
[Task 4: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Extremely Broken Demon Mirror to the Broken Demon Mirror - completed. Reward: Special Material Gift Package +1 delivered]
[Task 5: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Broken Demon Mirror to the Ordinary Demon Mirror - completed. Reward: Building Upgrade Card +1 delivered]
[Task 6: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Ordinary Demon Mirror to the Low-Level Demon Mirror - completed. Reward: Skill Upgrade Card +1 delivered]
[Task 7: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Low-Level Demon Mirror to the Intermediate Demon Mirror - completed. Reward: Life Origin +200 delivered]
[Task 8: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Intermediate Demon Mirror to the Advanced Demon Mirror - completed. Reward: Life Origin +1000 delivered]
[Task 9: In the Treasure Forging Workshop, upgrade the Advanced Demon Mirror to the Celestial Realm Heart Mirror - completed. Reward: Life Origin +5000 delivered]
[Task 10: Give Yuan Man 200 points of Life Origin to help her replenish her deficit. Reward: Fortune +500]
[Achievement: First time repairing a Celestial Divine Artifact. Reward: Divine Artifact Atlas +1]
[Divine Artifact Atlas: A map annotated with Celestial Divine Artifacts. Collect divine artifacts scattered among mortals to illuminate the map and gain rewards]
With a flurry of operations as fierce as a tiger, the Broken Demon Mirror in Jiang Yuan’s Storage Bag once again shone with the former glory of a Celestial Divine Artifact.
He did not immediately take it out to give to Du Li, but instead, with a thought, clicked open the newly obtained reward - the Divine Artifact Atlas!
Just like the routine in farming games or other online and mobile games of collecting souvenirs, the interface of the Divine Artifact Atlas had frames waiting to be unlocked, pitch black. Probably due to having repaired it "personally," the Heart Mirror was included among them and had already been illuminated.
Click to receive the reward, and a new prompt popped up in his vision - Divine Artifact Point +1.
[Divine Artifact Point: Can be used to enhance Mortal Magical Treasures into Celestial Divine Artifacts based on their qualifications]
"The harvest is quite abundant!" Jiang Yuan was overjoyed.
Flipping through, the Heavenly Water Mirror, Eternal Mirror, Purple Gold Gourd, Seven-Layered Exquisite Pagoda, and Mirror of Evil were considered illuminated but not fully repaired, so their levels were insufficient to claim Divine Artifact Points.
In the future, when more divine artifacts are collected and repaired, the Chaotic Heaven Bell can be enhanced with points, just thinking about it was even more exciting!
Everyone gathered to congratulate and celebrate the great victory, Jiang Yuan took the opportunity to take out the Heart Mirror, "Alliance Leader Du, this Demon Mirror has already been repaired, how to activate and use it should be personally taught by City Lord Yuan."
The Heart Mirror, like a full moon, was brought out, its Celestial Divine Artifact aura immediately attracting everyone’s attention.
Du Li was so excited her heart was trembling, she quickly stepped forward to express her thanks.
Yuan Man had never seen her own Demon Mirror so radiant, if not for the bond formed with its refining, she wouldn’t have dared to recognize it rashly.
"The master’s Artifact Refining Technique is exquisite, able to even repair a divine artifact!" Fu Qingzhou almost knelt down, feeling the divine artifact’s aura, fueling his desire to refine Celestial Divine Artifacts.
Seclusion!
The master specially gifted a courtyard that could enhance artifact refining, this time he must thoroughly research the Immortal Shuttle blueprint, or he would never come out of seclusion!
The first Artifact Refiner hurriedly returned to the exclusive small courtyard of the Aerial Pavilion for seclusion;
Leng Yutang, as an Artifact Refiner of a different approach, also felt the divine artifact’s aura, yet his thoughts and mindset were completely different.
He thought, if a divine artifact that could protect mortals and ensure favorable weather could be refined, wouldn’t it ensure elderly care, make full use of the strong, allow the young to grow, bring prosperity and peace, and everyone live in Paradise?
This thought occurred, as if in harmony with the right time and place, Leng Yutang couldn’t help but stand there, staring at the sky in a daze.
Du Li thanked again, and also agreed to exchange for an advanced array similar to the one on Trapped Snake Island. Afterward, she was eager to consult Yuan Man on how to use it, ready to make her move and rectify the Demon Realm Alliance!
When this little episode ended, Sect Leader Cang Rui of the Cloud Concealment Sect stepped forward and bowed, "Sir, in this journey, we rescued a total of one hundred and thirty-six souls of disciples of the Ancient Ten Great Sects, and they are temporarily being nurtured in the Purple Qi Eastward Diagram.
But the souls of cultivators are different from mortals, the longer they exist, the weaker they become, and nurturing is only a temporary maintenance. What inscrutable means do you have to allow the disciples to continue surviving, please instruct us!"
Jiang Yuan gestured with a hand wave, summoning the ten Sect Leaders onto the Menghua Treasure Ship.
"There are no outsiders here, so I won’t hide anything." He got straight to the point, looking at Cang Rui with a smile: "Now, the entire Cloud Concealment Sect has become my guests, and I believe Sect Leader Cang also felt the contractual binding force at the time.
I once said, this contractual binding is mutual.
As long as the guests fulfill their duties and do not betray me, I provide protection. Besides the fact that they can reside in seclusion in the rebuilt cities under Divine Mountain, there is an unspoken layer of protection - if any of my guests meet with mishap, their souls can temporarily slumber, waiting for the right time when there exists the possibility of resurrection."
As he said this, the Sect Leaders’ pupils widened in shock!
Cang Rui was a bit in disbelief and murmured, "Even if we are under your protection, what about those disciples who tragically died in Snow Cloud Valley, who are not your guests..."
"You’re right, they have no contractual relationship with me, so they are not included," Jiang Yuan nodded and replied: "Therefore, I offer two options for your consideration.
First, combine their souls with puppets, henceforth surviving in the form of a puppet; second, find a suitable body and wait patiently, if luck permits, I can assist in the process of their soul occupying a new body.
The former has been successfully case-tested in my small courtyard, shortly, I will let you meet with Puppet Master Yun Ying for a detailed discussion on the preparations needed for survival as a puppet; the latter depends on luck.
After all, without any connection to me, many methods cannot be used, and occupying a new body requires the synergy of time, place, and people."
While explaining, Jiang Yuan glanced at the reward from just repairing the Heart Mirror, his Life Origin balance jumped directly from 1500 points to 7700 points.
But there is still a significant gap, unless the system can be more humane and award more Life Origin rewards.
Puppet form, occupying a new body!
These two methods are unheard of, the Sect Leaders looked at each other, shocked beyond numbness.
Being able to allow the residual souls of cultivators to continue existing with not just two options, Mr. Jiang surely is a Celestial Immortal descended to the mortal world!
Of course, besides the issue of resurrection, there is a more pressing major matter concerning the existing disciples within the sect - how to become Mr. Jiang’s guests?
Ever since the Cloud Concealment Sect collectively moved to reside within Divine Mountain, Cang Rui had vaguely hinted at this.
But it is well known that those who play with divination fear revealing secrets and enjoy being enigmatic, and he wouldn’t explain the matter clearly. The other sects could rack their brains but couldn’t figure out such a great advantage!
The Ancient Ten Great Sects still had their pride, who would willingly be subjugated?
But there was no choice, Mr. Jiang offered too much!
He offered the chance to rebuild their city gates as sect halls, allowed many cultivators to share in the rich Spiritual Energy within the small courtyard; provided ample freedom, even saying they were guests in name but did not mobilize a single soldier in the raid on Snow Cloud Valley;
Most importantly, he offered all guests the possibility of resurrection!
Walking in the Wilderness, they expected to have a tough battle with the Demon Cultivators, and had long placed life and death aside. Yet now Mr. Jiang said, as long as they became his guests, even if they died, there would still be a chance to live again. Not joining would be foolish!
Of course, the premise is he should display a little to let everyone witness firsthand.
Chapter 1378: 1015: What Goes Around Comes Around_2
9 min read