Chapter 155: Accidentally Swallowed It All

Qinchuan was bold, yet not lacking in strategy; he intended to exploit the identity of Shang Xuanyue to fish in troubled waters.
Clearly, up to this point, he had already succeeded halfway.
Little Hei directly brought Qinchuan down near the treasury, though the landing spot was quite secluded.
"Big Boss, this is the inner sect treasury of Black Wind Cliff. It is guarded by two elders and can only be entered with a token."
"Elite inner sect disciples can use their tokens to enter the treasury of the corresponding tier, and they are allowed to select one item from inside each year."
"Since it is almost a year since the last collection time, no one should be entering the tower at this hour."
"Shang Xuanyue holds the status of Young Cliff Master, so his higher clearance allows him to go up one extra level."
Little Hei had completely sworn allegiance to Qinchuan, betraying the entirety of Black Wind Cliff in such a short span of time.
"You guys wait here for me; I'll go in by myself."
"Yes, yes, Boss, be careful."
This treasury was a nine-story black pagoda. According to Little Hei, he should be able to ascend up to the fourth floor.
Given the current situation, the Sleepy Bug certainly could not enter, so Qinchuan had to go in alone.
Thus, Qinchuan swaggered over to the base of the black tower.
There was only a single elder guarding the tower gate. He glanced at Qinchuan and said expressionlessly, "Show your token to enter the tower."
Although Qinchuan was an unfamiliar face, Black Wind Cliff had numerous elite inner sect disciples; how many could the elder possibly remember?
"Ding! Inner sect elder of Black Wind Cliff detected, Level 55."
Qinchuan directly flashed Shang Xuanyue's token. The elder swept a glance over it and said, "Go on in. You must register after taking your item and coming back out."
"Alright."
Qinchuan acknowledged, while secretly thinking to himself: "Register? As if. But coming back out later might be a bit troublesome. Weren't there two elders? Why is there only one now? Still, this certainly makes things convenient for me."
The other elder was Level 70 and still arguing endlessly in the main hall. If he had been here, Qinchuan would likely have had a headache.
Qinchuan came before the tower gate and, seeing a slot on it, inserted the token. The tower gate then creaked open.
Retrieving his token, Qinchuan stepped inside without hesitation, and the tower gate closed shut once more.
At the moment, the interior of the tower was completely empty. The first floor of the treasury displayed numerous items, such as medicinal pills, refined ores, and spiritual skills, but the Earth Crystals Qinchuan wanted to find were absent.
Qinchuan casually browsed through the spiritual skills and accidentally discovered the Soul-Erecting Art, the Spirit-Binding Art, and the Peerless Shadow Phantom.
These three items piqued Qinchuan's interest. With the system's automatic recognition, Qinchuan easily comprehended their contents.
"Ding! Replication successful."
Qinchuan replicated these three items onto his interface, though they all only had the first-tier cultivation methods.
Right now, he lacked meridians, flesh, and blood, so neither the Soul-Erecting Art nor the Spirit-Binding Art could be practiced, but the footwork within the Peerless Shadow Phantom held significant reference value.
Everything on the first floor of the tower consisted of premium goods, but to Qinchuan, they were of little use. Adhering to the principle that waste is a shameful act, he unceremoniously devoured the lot clean.
"Hn, mediocre. It only raised my experience points by 5%, and my attributes only increased by a tiny bit."

Qinchuan used the token to ascend to the second floor. It was not much different from the first floor—slightly smaller in area, but the quality of the items was a tier higher.
"Ding! Devour successful..."
Hence, Qinchuan continued devouring his way upward impulsively, all the way to the fourth floor. By then, the Soul-Erecting Art, the Spirit-Binding Art, and the Peerless Shadow Phantom had been replicated up to the fourth tier.
Qinchuan said with considerable dissatisfaction, "There isn't even a single item to upgrade quality. Truly disappointing. Though my experience points did rise by 30%, and my attributes increased by 5%."
"Shang Xuanyue, you are the Young Cliff Master after all, yet you can only reach the fourth floor. I truly despise you."
At this moment, Qinchuan genuinely felt as though he had arrived with high hopes only to return disappointed.
In truth, the items Qinchuan devoured were not poor at all, but as a red-grade spiritual weapon, its requirements for quality were exceptionally high, so zero improvement was a normal phenomenon.
"Oh right, I remember Wentianya having a similar token. As a Great Elder, his clearance shouldn't be low."
Qinchuan suddenly recalled Wentianya's medallion. He took it out to compare and found that it was indeed much more exquisitely crafted, with nine tiny stars positioned beneath the moon wheel on the back of the token.
"What the hell, could this thing go up to all nine floors? Shang Xuanyue's only has four stars."
For a moment, Qinchuan grew excited and hurriedly ran to the entrance of the fifth floor, inserting the medallion into the slot.
"Creak."
The fifth-floor tower gate instantly swung open, filling Qinchuan with a surge of excitement: "Good, good, my luck is decent. This time I shall leave not a single blade of grass behind once more."
"Ding! Refined Jade Crystal Stone detected."
"Ding! Top-grade Marrow-Cleansing Pill detected."
"Ding! Sixth-tier top-grade Red Crystal Fruit detected."
......
Just by listening to the system notifications, Qinchuan felt a surge of excitement. The items on the fifth floor were indeed several tiers superior.
"Devour for me!"
Qinchuan once again felt the pure origin energy, bringing a wave of comfort to his mind.
"Wonderful, truly wonderful. This time my experience points increased by 20%, my origin energy rose by 20%, and my attributes by 5%."
Thus, Qinchuan rapidly swept through the floors, devouring all the way to the seventh floor.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for advancing to Level 39. You have obtained new skill points."
"Good, I should strive to reach Level 40 in the next two floors; by then, my attributes will surge significantly once more."
After Qinchuan ascended to the eighth floor, the quantity of good items decreased dramatically, but each one was the absolute pinnacle of excellence.
"Ding! Ninth-tier Gold Jade Pith detected."
"Ding! Top-grade Marrow-Cleansing Pill detected."
"Ding! Top-grade Cold Jade Pearl detected."
......
There were not many items on the eighth floor, but every single one was a rare treasure dreamed of by cultivators. Listening to these system notification sounds made Qinchuan's blood boil with passion.

"Ding! Successfully devoured the top-grade Cold Jade Pearl. Grants an additional 20% slowdown effect and a 10% freeze chance."
"Ding! Successfully devoured the Gold Jade Pith."
......
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for advancing to Level 40."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining the One-Star Commander title."
"Ding! Congratulations to the host..."
Qinchuan leveled up immediately after devouring just a single piece of Gold Jade Pith.
"Tsk tsk tsk, truly fantastic. Leveling up like this is just like riding a rocket."
At this moment, Qinchuan felt that this trip was truly not made in vain. The sensation of looting the Black Wind Cliff treasury was simply wonderful.
Bracing himself with delightful anticipation, Qinchuan stepped into the ninth floor.
"Ding! Earth Crystals detected."
"Ding! Ninth-tier Gold Jade Pith detected."
......
Looking at a chest full of Earth Crystals, Qinchuan could not help but remark, "Good grief, the Cliff Master of Black Wind Cliff is truly a miser, hiding his money all the way up on the ninth floor."
Earth Crystals were hard currency across all realms and worked everywhere. It was completely normal for Shang Guihong to place them on the ninth floor, as their value vastly exceeded that of ordinary heavenly treasures.
There were five to six hundred Earth Crystals here, giving Qinchuan the instantaneous sensation of sudden immense wealth.
Qinchuan surveyed the items on the ninth floor: three pieces of ninth-tier Gold Jade Pith, the Earth Crystals, six secret manuals, and a fractured black crescent moon blade.
"Ding! Fractured ghost weapon, Ghost Moon Scimitar detected."
"Oh, a ghost weapon? There are even things like this? Truly rare."
Qinchuan was extremely curious, having no idea what kind of item this might be.
Ghost weapons were armaments used by powerhouses of the Ghost Realm, but lacking spiritual cores, they belonged to weapons of the ancient era.
Ever since they invaded the Spiritual Realm, the Ghost Realm had abandoned ghost weapons in favor of spiritual weapons.
Because the advantages of spiritual weapons were obviously much greater; their flexible and versatile skills were far more formidable than lifeless ghost weapons.
This Ghost Moon Scimitar was left behind by an ancestor of Shang Guihong. Although its materials were extraordinary, it had lost its practical value.
The material of the Ghost Moon Scimitar was comparable to Earth Crystals, but since Shang Guihong had no way to refine it, he could only place it in the ninth-floor treasury, treating it merely as a commemorative souvenir.
Shang Guihong had no means to refine it, but Qinchuan could, so once again, this became Qinchuan's gain.