92: A bountiful harvest! Time to relocate to a new cave!

Chapter Ninety-Two: A Bountiful Harvest! Relocating the Immortal Cave!

After patiently waiting for another two days, Lu Qiu confirmed through observation and occasional Divine Sense probes that the area near the Panlong River had indeed returned to its former "calm."

This place remained a wild and dangerous land, with occasional Cultivators passing by.

But the large-scale conflicts had subsided.

He no longer hesitated and decided to take action.

Adjusting his state to its peak, he circulated the Myriad Transformations Hidden Origin Art to restrain his aura to the Early Foundation Establishment Stage level; it wouldn't seem too weak to invite prying eyes, nor too conspicuous.

Donning the invisibility gauze and activating the cloud treading boots.

Like a perfect shadow, Lu Qiu silently left the temporary Immortal Cave, erasing all traces of his residence.

Following the Opportunity intelligence locations recorded in the Jade Slip accumulated over the past month, he began to sweep them one by one, from near to far.

Most white information pointed to low-rank Spiritual Plants, Ores, or ordinary items left behind by low-rank Cultivators. Their value was limited, but adhering to the principle of not wasting anything, Lu Qiu collected them in passing.

silver information was more valuable.

Beneath the silt of a remote river bay, he dug up a piece of "Cold Iron Essence," a prime material for refining ice-attribute Magical Artifacts.

In a cave on a lonely island in the middle of the river, he found several clusters of "Ghost Face Mushrooms" growing in a damp, shaded spot. They were nearly four hundred years old and were raw Materials for certain special Medicinal Pills.

He even found the remains of a long-deceased Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator inside a water curtain cave behind a waterfall. From the decayed Storage Pouch, he obtained two Top-Grade Magical Artifacts of decent quality and over a thousand Spirit Stones.

While these gains weren't astonishing, they steadily replenished his stores.

Next, Lu Qiu arrived at a section of the lower reaches of the Panlong River, near Huilong Bay.

This was exactly where the Bloodline Flood Dragon had let out its dragon roar and where the Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator Zhang Qiu had fallen.

Even after nearly a month, the water color here seemed deeper than elsewhere, and a faint, persistent scent of blood mixed with pressure lingered in the air.

The rocks along the riverbank bore many traces of cracking, burning, or freezing, clearly having undergone a great battle.

Lu Qiu became even more careful, his Divine Sense like the gentlest of tentacles, slowly scanning every inch of the riverbank, focusing on the general area where Zhang Qiu's corpse had sunk, as mentioned in the intelligence.

This was a river bay near the main channel where the current was relatively slow and thick silt had accumulated at the bottom.

"I hope that Storage Pouch is still there... and hasn't been washed away by the river or picked up by some other latecomer," Lu Qiu thought to himself, his actions becoming increasingly cautious.

He did not enter the water directly.

The situation in the river was unclear; although the Bloodline Flood Dragon was nowhere to be seen, there was no guarantee there weren't other powerful water beasts.

He searched carefully along the riverbank, while his Divine Sense combed through the Spiritual Qi residues above the water and the subtle fluctuations in the silt below, over and over again.

Hard work pays off.

On the third scan of a seemingly ordinary patch of silt, Lu Qiu keenly captured a trace of extremely faint Spiritual Power fluctuation residue masked by the thick silt and river water!

That fluctuation was very obscure and was dissipating over time. If not for his powerful Divine Sense and having a clear target, it would have been nearly impossible to find.

"There!"

Lu Qiu's gaze locked onto a spot about seven or eight zhang deep beneath the water's surface.

He didn't act rashly but first took out two ape-type Puppets, commanding them to submerge and slowly approach the target location.

Puppets had no life aura and were unlikely to disturb anything that might exist underwater.

Under Lu Qiu's Divine Sense remote control, the two Puppets successfully reached the target and began to dig carefully in the silt with their broad palms.

Turbid mud and water churned.

A moment later, a corpse that had long been swollen and deformed by the river water, with some white bones exposed, was dragged out of the silt by the Puppets.

Hanging from the waist of the corpse was an ordinary-looking but clearly high-quality grey Storage Pouch. The opening was tightly closed, and though covered in silt, it still faintly held a restrained spiritual light.

It was indeed Zhang Qiu's Storage Pouch!

"It really is still here!"

Lu Qiu was delighted and immediately ordered the Puppets to take the Storage Pouch and bring it back to shore.

Throughout the process, the river remained calm, and no accidents occurred.

Having retrieved the Storage Pouch, Lu Qiu quickly inspected it.

The Restriction at the opening had long since loosened because the owner was dead and it had been submerged for so long. He easily wiped away the remaining imprint and sent his Divine Sense into the bag.

The wealth of a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator was indeed substantial!

The first thing his perception hit was the Spirit Stones: Low-Grade Spirit Stones were piled like a small mountain, roughly estimated to exceed five thousand!

There were also nearly twenty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones!

This sum of Spirit Stones alone was equivalent to the accumulation of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator over many years.

There were over a dozen jade pill bottles, mostly for improving cultivation, healing, or recovering mana suitable for the Foundation Establishment Stage, all of high quality. Among them, a bottle of "Purple Spirit Pills" would be of some help for breaking through the small Bottleneck from Middle Stage Foundation Establishment to Late Stage, which was exactly what Lu Qiu needed.

There were over thirty Talismans, mainly for offense and defense, including many Intermediate Talismans and even two rare "Earth Escape Talismans."

Regarding Magical Artifacts, besides the Top-Grade water-attribute Flying Sword "green wave sword" Zhang Qiu had used in life and a Top-Grade defensive shield covered in cracks, there was also an intact, entirely emerald-green bamboo-leaf-shaped Top-Grade flying Magical Artifact called the "emerald leaf shuttle," which was quite fast, as well as a spiritual-aura-filled talisman treasure "Mystic Ice Spike" sealed in a jade box.

In addition, there were several Jade Slips recording Cultivation Techniques and secret arts, as well as some Materials for Artifact Refining and setting up Formations.

"As expected of a Late Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator who dared to investigate the Bloodline Flood Dragon; his wealth is indeed substantial!"

After finishing the inventory, Lu Qiu satisfiedly sorted and stored all the items.

Zhang Qiu's legacy, combined with the various Materials he had found himself over the past month, instantly filled his stores considerably. Many plans for future Cultivation, Artifact Refining, and Formations now had more than enough resource support.

Afterward, Lu Qiu continued to collect several rare spiritual Materials based on the Opportunity intelligence gathered during this time, such as "gui water sinking silver," "Fire Cloud Mica," and a piece of "Wind Echo Stone."

"The Panlong River is indeed a land of treasures." Lu Qiu looked out at the vast river, sighing in his heart that risks and opportunities coexist, a saying that truly held weight.

He sank Zhang Qiu's remains back into the river, considering it a way to let him rest in peace.

Having done all this, he stayed no longer, his figure merging into the shadows of the mountain forest as he crept toward the next marked Opportunity location.

Back at the temporary Immortal Cave, Lu Qiu carefully inventoried and categorized his gains from this outing, feeling quite satisfied.

Zhang Qiu's substantial legacy, plus the results from the dozen or so Opportunity intelligence reports accumulated over the past two months, left him with a dazzling array of Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, Talismans, Materials, and Magical Artifacts, nearly filling a specialized storage area within the gray spatial bead.

"A bountiful harvest; it wasn't in vain for me to lie low here for nearly two months." Lu Qiu calculated privately, "These resources alone are enough to support my Cultivation to the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment and even make some preliminary preparations for attempting Core Formation."

He once again took out the Jade Slip with the map copied from the "golden fiend sword," his Divine Sense sinking into it to carefully examine the fragmented riverside topographic map.

"The characteristics of the river section depicted on the map are clear, but I haven't seen any gold intelligence related to a Golden Core Immortal Cave re-organized near the first Immortal Cave I chose in the last two months... It seems the entrance to that Immortal Cave is indeed not here."

Comparing the various terrains of the Panlong River he had recorded during this time, his finger slowly moved over the phantom of the map.

"The 'Dragon Gate Gorge' area upstream has rapid currents and many reefs, making it quite likely. Near 'Huilong Bay' downstream, although the Bloodline Flood Dragon appears there, the swirling water creates many hidden bays and underground rivers, so it can't be ruled out either..."

After a brief contemplation, Lu Qiu made a decision: "Since this place no longer has value, I'll change locations. I'll first go to the 'Dragon Gate Gorge' area upstream to investigate."

No sooner said than done.

He quickly cleaned up the temporary Immortal Cave where he had lived for nearly two months, erasing all traces of activity and Formation residues. After confirming everything was correct, he boarded the green flying shuttle, which turned into an inconspicuous light and flew upstream along the north bank of the Panlong River.

A few hours later, he arrived near the "Dragon Gate Gorge" area as estimated on the map.

The river surface here suddenly narrowed, and the cliffs on both sides were like they had been carved by knives and split by axes, towering into the clouds.

The river water was confined within the narrow channel, its flow speed increasing dramatically, sounding like rolling thunder as it crashed against the reefs, splashing white foam everywhere.

Water vapor filled the air, forming a thin mist.

Lu Qiu did not go deep into the core of the most treacherous gorge but found a spot about a dozen li away from the gorge entrance in a quiet mountain hollow, with a rock wall at its back and trees for cover in front.

"The visibility here is decent; I can observe the movement on the river, and it's hidden enough that it won't be easily noticed by passing Cultivators or Yao Beasts in the river."

He took out the qingming sword, and with Sword Qi sweeping across, he quickly carved out a simple stone room a few zhang in diameter.

He then set up a trial version of the "Inverting Five Elements Array" along with several self-made concealment and protection Formations. After layers of light flowed through them, the new temporary Immortal Cave was initially established.

He didn't decorate it much, only moving the spirit eye spring into place to let pure Spiritual Qi fill the room, then sat down cross-legged.

"Next, I just need to wait patiently for the Opportunity intelligence to be re-organized and see if the traces of that Golden Core Immortal Cave appear near this Dragon Gate Gorge."