Zong Shou pondered the name, finding it rather pleasing. It sounded exceedingly precious, yet he couldn't fathom its exact use. Could it possibly aid him in breaking through the Heavenly Barrier, the obstacle within the Heaven-Man divide? Why had he never heard of it in his previous life?

While contemplating, he brought forth another array of items. The first was, naturally, the sword delivered by Elder Long Ying, having traversed hundreds of worlds.

Its appearance was indeed peculiar—neither wholly a sword nor a saber, resembling a flying dagger. It was double-edged, with an exceptionally thick spine. The tip, however, possessed a slight curve reminiscent of a blade.

Its grade was also extraordinary. Most surprisingly, it not only contained dense Water and Fire spiritual energies but was also occasionally laced with flickering arcs of electricity. Its material was not metal, but bone. Nevertheless, it was equally sharp and resilient. Zong Shou's eyes gleamed slightly. Given the nature of his True Qi, unless something was custom-made, finding a suitable Spirit Weapon for him was difficult.

"This sword is an Eighth-Grade Spirit Tool. It is a blade I refined not long ago from the spinal bone of an outer-realm creature called a Fire Yin Beast. I could have forged it into a Second-Grade Magic Treasure, but having given you an external core, my power was insufficient. I could only forcibly suppress its grade to the Eighth-Grade Spirit Tool to send it to you."

There was a distinct hint of pride in his tone. Such craftsmanship was rarely achieved by an ordinary Martial Saint. Zong Shou was subtly moved. He took the sword and casually swiped it towards a massive boulder. Without utilizing any True Qi, he silently sliced the boulder in two. An Eighth-Grade Spirit Tool possessing the sharpness and resilience of a Second-Grade Magic Tool? Truly a fine item.

He casually tossed the Thunder Wing Sword back into his Qiankun Pouch. This weapon had seen extensive battle and, despite having slain dozens of high-grade Spirit Tools that day, had also suffered significant damage itself. It was now beyond major use. Without a high-grade artifact refiner to repair it, it might shatter upon the slightest contact.

Its attributes only suited his previous requirements. With this more suitable Fire Yin Sword in hand, Zong Shou ruthlessly discarded the old one.

After all, his Void Spirit Sword Forging Art did not aim for spiritual communion with the weapon. With the Primordial One Sword present, any spirit sword could be used immediately.

Following the Fire Yin Sword were three small Qiankun Pouches. These were retrieved from the shed skins of Long Ruo and his two companions. When True Person Wuhua departed, either because he didn't consider it, or for some other reason, he failed to collect them, and they naturally fell into Zong Shou's possession. Before opening them, however, Zong Shou hesitated slightly: "These three small Qiankun Pouches—do I really not need to return them? If I take the contents, will the three sects of Lingyun, Shangxiao not cause me trouble later?"

"Idiot! These were already compensation given by Wuhua as an apology, albeit subtly hidden. How could you not take them? Is my Long Ying's reputation truly only worth those seven drops of Spirit Radiance Jade Marrow?"

Elder Long Ying scoffed, his voice laced with mockery. "You even dared to execute Long Ruo on the spot? Why weren't you afraid of trouble then? Just open them."

Zong Shou shook his head slightly. His original plan was to sever ties with Mount Qiantian immediately after the killings. With the Dao of the Common People as his backing, whatever he did, he could escape unscathed. His status as a Second Generation Direct Disciple was enough to walk roughshod over the Cloud Realm; a mere Sect of Lingyun was not worth a second glance.

But now, things had resolved themselves in a different manner. He remained the Demon King of Mount Qiantian. How could the situation be the same?

It was best to avoid any misspoken words falling into the hands of these three major sects, giving them an excuse to act. Caution was paramount.

However, since Long Ying had said so, there likely wouldn't be any repercussions.

—He opened the brocade pouch containing the Chestnut Yuan Pills, and sure enough, it was filled with countless pills.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of pill bottles were arranged within. But in terms of the abundance of spiritual medicines, it was not far behind Xuanyuan Yiren.

As for the Cold Reversal Water, that bag was completely empty.

—This was merely Zong Shou's initial impression; inside were actually piles of spiritual talismans and quite a few pill bottles. However, the silver-armored little figures he most desired were completely absent.

Evidently, he had severed them all with his sword during the previous battle, which Zong Shou regretted slightly.

The final Qiankun Pouch belonged to Long Ruo personally. Within the space, roughly four hundred zhang in area, it was crammed full.

But besides the spiritual talismans and pill bottles, the contents consisted only of chunks of ore shimmering with metallic luster.

Zong Shou raised an eyebrow in surprise and took one piece out for close inspection. He was secretly astonished; it was indeed this very material.

"This isn't the raw billet of Blood Essence Divine Iron?"

"Hmph? Indeed, it is Blood Essence Divine Iron ore! It seems the Sect of Lingyun must have discovered a Blood Essence Divine Iron vein."

"But this material, while useful for refining high-grade Spirit Tools, isn't considered that remarkable for people like you and me. Why such astonishment, disciple?"

"It certainly isn't a supreme treasure, but the quantity is vast. Disciples happen to possess exactly four thousand five hundred complete sets of Blood Cloud Armor..."

Zong Shou's expression became incredibly strange. It was truly a case of what he wished for appearing immediately. He recalled telling Qiao Han in Boundary Floating City that the Blood Cloud Cavalry Armor had a massive flaw: with fewer than three hundred riders, a few Spiritual Masters of the Night Roaming Realm could easily break them.

But he also knew a secret he had only discovered later by poring over ancient texts.

The main material of the Blood Cloud Cavalry Armor was precisely Blood Essence Divine Iron. However, at that time, the supply of Blood Essence Divine Iron was extremely limited, forcing the artifact refiners of the Martial Might Kingdom to minimize the weight, which became the armor's greatest vulnerability.

The artifact refiners of the Martial Might Kingdom were aware of this; thus, they had already made provisions for a method of reinforcement during the forging process. The method was simple: only requiring an artifact refiner of around the Fourth Grade to melt and infuse the Blood Essence Iron. —And he also possessed the cultivation technique for the Blood Cloud Cavalry.

"Blood Cloud Armor? The Blood Cloud Cavalry that once dominated the Cloud Realm under the Martial Might Kingdom?"

Elder Long Ying’s voice was filled with surprise. Evidently, he was also aware of this secret history from the ancient era.

"Yes, these are all fine items! I recall that when the Dao of Jie Sheng destroyed the Blood Cloud Cavalry, they seized quite a few sets of the armor. However, due to the inability to find sufficient Blood Essence Divine Iron, they were simply shelved. That brat Wei Xu actually gave all these Blood Cloud Armors to you? He treats you quite well then. Heh, I almost forgot about this armor. With this Blood Essence Divine Iron ore, they can be fully supplemented, with plenty to spare. With three thousand complete Blood Cloud Iron Cavalry, even facing two or three Spirit Realm experts would be no challenge. Four thousand five hundred sets—if you can find enough Martial Ancestor experts, your Mount Qiantian could become invincible..."

Zong Shou's brow twitched, and his gaze returned to calm. Why hadn't he considered that since the Dao of the Common People personally destroyed the Martial Might Kingdom's Blood Cloud Cavalry, how could they have failed to seize some spoils?

Mount Qiantian possessed over ten Fourth-Grade artifact refiners. As for experts in the Martial Ancestor realm, he could certainly find them.

In Long Ruo's pouch, besides this Blood Essence Divine Iron, there were only a few Dragon Scales that greatly interested him. Upon careful examination, he realized they were also derived from an Ancient True Dragon.

After a brief thought, Zong Shou understood. That black mosquito Long Ruo kept was likely able to advance to the Seventh Grade so quickly for this very reason.

Following that were several Spirit Tools. An Eighth-Grade Profound Pivot Shield had already been chipped by him. The twelve spirit orbs were a complete set of Seventh-Grade Spirit Tools named the Zi-Wu Day-Night Orbs. Twelve pieces, perfectly corresponding to the Zi-Wu cycle, the twelve hours of the day.

Zong Shou faintly refined this set of Spirit Tools using a spiritual technique. Then, attempting to launch one towards a distant mountain peak, rocks immediately shattered, and smoke and dust filled the sky.

Zong Shou’s expression shifted slightly. The combined might of the Zi-Wu Day-Night Orbs was no less than that of a Ninth-Grade Spirit Tool. In pure destructive power, it far surpassed the Broken Blade Sword. It was only because Long Ruo had shifted to practicing the Way of the Sword that he was so heavily injured, unable to utilize even three-tenths of its full power when wielding these artifacts.

His spiritual sense swept through the Qiankun Pouch again, and in a short while, Zong Shou let out another exclamation of surprise.

"This is... a Dharma Altar?"

He flipped his right hand, and a disc-shaped object appeared in his palm. It looked like a miniature model of a stone altar.

Shaped like a pyramid, the arrangement on the altar top was complete: several ever-burning lamps, a ritual sword platform, all neatly laid out.

It appeared only palm-sized, but Zong Shou knew that once deployed, this item could expand to over ten zhang. It connected with the various spirit meridians between Heaven and Earth, allowing the Spirit Master to draw upon them for use, easily casting spells across grades.

It could conceal one's whereabouts, allow for aerial flight, soaring high above, and it possessed protective formations to ward off external evils.

For high-grade Spirit Masters, it was an indispensable asset! The foundation upon which they could equal, or even surpass, Martial Cultivators!

Surprised and delighted, Zong Shou knew it was inconvenient to test this altar right then. Just as he put it away, he heard Elder Long Ying laugh: "These gains are quite good—all-encompassing. By this account, he doesn't need to give you anything else."

Zong Shou thought about the Dragon Pills, Dragon Souls, and the contents of the bottle in his own Qiankun Pouch. His trip to Dragon Gathering Mountain had indeed been hugely profitable; he lacked nothing. He couldn't help but smile slightly, then his expression grew solemn: "Master, do you have any further instructions?"

Approximately two thousand li west of this Dragon Gathering Mountain. A golden silhouette, flying through the air, was traversing rapidly.

Suddenly, his ears twitched. The silhouette abruptly changed course, plunging into a thick cloud mass dense with lightning. In a moment, it descended directly.

When it landed, it was on a small reef island floating above a sea of clouds, not large, only a thousand zhang wide and long.

Aside from rocks, the island held nothing else—not even a single weed.

However, several figures of extraordinary bearing were currently seated there.

The golden silhouette, when speeding by earlier, moved so fast its form was indiscernible. After landing, it was clear it was a plump man in golden armor. Seeing the few people before him, his eyebrows rose slightly in surprise.

"Senior Martial Brothers, you are here specifically waiting for me, Jin Buhui? Truly rare..."

The people present were headed by Xuan Taiji. Shen Zhun and Su Chen were also there.