CHAPTER 616: CHAPTER 615: ENCRYPTION PROCESSING

Jin Lang’s right hand was stroking the Chaotic Heaven Bell, deeply engrossed in his research.

At first glance, this thing looks a bit rough and not very spiritual, but upon closer examination, you find even the most inconspicuous lines hide mysteries!

With his artifact refinement level, he couldn’t even comprehend the simplest runes on it; the clock before him was not just a clock but a giant tome that could occupy him for hundreds of years!

"Profound and wondrous, who on earth crafted this spiritual artifact? It’s a pity, such intricacy yet rough craftsmanship; it needs detailed refining to truly show its strength..." He was lost in fascination.

Then his vision suddenly cleared, the cold touch on his right hand vanished, and he was facing Mr. Jiang, who looked utterly confused.

Jin Lang scratched his head, chuckling awkwardly, "Forgive me, when an artifact refiner sees a good spiritual artifact, he can’t help but inspect it. Excuse my words; this bell... needs some high-grade materials like Cloud Pattern Stone for further refining..."

Having collected the Mandarin Duck Swords and Chaotic Heaven Bell, Jiang Yuan glanced up to see this guy carrying Granny Huang’s corpse, looking at him with lovestruck eyes, and couldn’t help but wonder if he had some issue.

Upon hearing, he realized he was studying the Chaotic Heaven Bell.

That’s a downgraded divine artifact, regardless of how poor its base is; no wonder it left him captivated?

To upgrade this thing, it indeed requires materials like Cloud Pattern Stone, so he casually asked, "Friend Jin is right, but high-grade materials are hard to find; do you have any channels for acquiring Cloud Pattern Stone or Sea Pearl Jade?"

He asked casually without much hope, especially since after the last Chaotic Heaven Bell upgrade, he hadn’t gathered any suitable materials.

The other party was just a lower-tier artifact refiner with a shop at the Golden Chicken River Market; even if he had channels, he’d prioritize using the materials to craft magical treasures for himself, not trade them.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Jin Lang actually frowned slightly and hesitated, "I’ll have to ask around; if I can really get them, they would be quite valuable, at least a starting point of ten thousand Spirit Stones based on goodwill."

"Then I’ll trouble friend Jin to ask; if you can get genuine precious materials, the price is negotiable." Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up upon hearing that, ten thousand as a starting point?

Occasionally missing a special material, he’s impatient to wait longer; he spends Spirit Stones straight to submit the quest, a rare material costing at least a million!

The system is truly wicked, even making a profit off intermediaries?

Jin Lang’s eyes also gleamed—wow! He forgot this is a wealthy master; spending tens of thousands on materials is heart-wrenching for oneself, yet he might find it cheap.

He nodded excitedly, discussing, "If I could find suitable rare materials, Mr. Jiang, could you... allow me to study the spiritual artifact clock for an hour?"

Feeling his request might be excessive, he quickly corrected, "Half an hour is fine."

Look at that, such a plain and humble artifact refiner, even his wishes are so modest.

"An hour is perfectly okay!" Jiang Yuan agreed in one go, then made a gesture of invitation, "All the evil cultivators at the estate have fled, so... since we came..."

Jin Lang was momentarily stunned before he realized: thieves leave empty-handed!

Ah bah! Bah bah bah! How could we be thieves? Clearly, we are righteous cultivators seeking justice for Granny Huang!

Now her corpse is almost cold, leaving only the soul that needs nurturing and a suitable body for revival in the future, requiring money everywhere; naturally, it’s necessary to raid the whole thief’s den to cover Granny Huang’s future needs.

There’s no need for a second round of mobilization; the other party promptly apologized and placed the corpse down temporarily, then briskly stormed into the nearest house, stuffing everything he saw into the storage bag.

Jiang Yuan, bound with the system, took a glance and knew the prices of the furnishings and crafts inside the house.

For Jin Lang, bringing them back to the market to sell would be quite valuable, so Jiang Yuan decided not to compete with him for the ten- to eighty-thousand Spirit Stone profits.

The Zhao estate clearly wasn’t an evil cultivator’s hideout; precious items would be carried personally. Jiang Yuan took Zhao Yongxiang’s storage bag, to be opened when time permitted, while other items left behind in haste, which were relatively expensive, were handed over for the artifact refiner to sell.

He then strolled to the gate, opening it, only to find the fighting noise earlier might have alarmed the town’s residents.

Several houses close to the Zhao estate had windows slightly open, with curious eyes peeping this way.

While Jin Lang cleaned up the aftermath, Jiang Yuan took the opportunity to remind the ordinary folk to steer clear of the Zhao estate so that, if he left and evil cultivators returned, any ordinary person breaking in might invite their wrath.

Of course, he casually marked the map.

As a place where evil cultivator blood packs could spring up anytime, paying a surprise visit might bring unexpected delight.

With the aftermath dealt with, the two teleported back to the Golden Chicken River Market, Jiang Yuan picked up his name card and settled the remaining amount; Jin Lang had to handle Huang Hanying’s corpse and temporarily seal the shop she left behind.

Both parties agreed to reconnect once Granny Huang’s divine soul regained awareness, and Jiang Yuan promptly rushed back to the small courtyard.

"Phew! What a busy night, but it was worth it with all the gains!" Back at his cozy courtyard, fully enveloped in a sense of security, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

After temporarily isolating the curse within Hu Zhile’s body, he gradually returned to his usual state, diligently cultivating in the cave as always;

Yun Shu, in order to save energy, turned off and went into standby mode in the corner of the living room;

The Cyan Bird was still grinding the Misty Ridge Dungeon;

Little White was at the edge of Carefree City, waiting for medicinal herbs while hunting.

The courtyard under the night sky was very quiet. The protective shield emitted a soft glow, streetlights illuminated the Spirit Pool, Tree House, cave, and Mushroom House, unceasingly exuding rich Spiritual Energy, giving the courtyard an almost Immortal Realm-like atmosphere.

First, he casually hung the Ink Jade Space on the Carefree Lotus Leaf, letting it absorb the rich Spiritual Power to nourish Granny Huang’s Divine Soul, then Jiang Yuan clicked on the settings interface, displaying the entire courtyard in a thumbnail view before him.

"The World Granary takes up six spaces, truly deserving of being a Divine Artifact! It saves space and can store a lot, so I’ll place it next to the system-provided warehouse for easier organization. The Treasure Forging Workshop and Textile Workshop need to swap places for a smoother operation line..." Just like playing a holographic farming game, he clicked on buildings, dragging and swapping them at will.

After saving and exiting the setup and decoration mode, right next to the archaically styled upgradeable warehouse was the newly rewarded tool—the World Granary.

Though it didn’t take up much physical space, it had an impressive aura. The ancient-style building with upward-curving eaves was covered in golden tiles, with five ridges and six beasts high above, carved beams, entwining golden dragons, and adorned with sun, moon, and star patterns. It was currently the most magnificent building in the small courtyard at first glance.

Jiang Yuan couldn’t wait to push open the door and enter, but whoa, there was nothing inside!

Following the main quest to gradually build the warehouse, there were rows of shelves inside. Although the usage was still game-like, where clicking turned it into an inventory for dragging items back and forth, at least it looked like a warehouse should, with everything neatly arranged for a clear view.

Inside the World Granary, golden bricks covered the ground, and six grand spiral golden pillars supported an incredibly luxurious, intricately carved roof with beautiful Divine Beast patterns. Yet the enormous space was so empty that it didn’t even have a decent antique shelf.

The grains can’t just be piled up directly inside, can they?

Jiang Yuan stared blankly, then, unconvinced, stepped outside and clicked once more. The interface instantly switched to reveal rows of inventory bars, which he scrolled through for a long time, indeed seeing no end in sight.

Moreover, new "folders" could be created to categorize the incoming grains.

He first set up two major categories—ordinary crops and Spirit Field crops, then created four sub-categories within them, sorting by the spring, summer, autumn, and winter seasons.

First, test if it works. If not, then categorize by crop types and uses.

Once everything was ready, he stood between the two warehouses, clicked to open the adjacent warehouse on the left, moved the stored crops into the Storage Bag until it was full, and then clicked open different categories on the right, placing the items within.

The first batch of categorized storage was completed; after clicking save, Jiang Yuan eagerly rushed forward to push open the World Granary’s door—it was still empty inside!

"Interesting, so the granary’s encrypted, huh!" He didn’t see the imagined scene of piled-up grains and, after a moment’s thought, couldn’t help but smile, "Without the system’s support, even if you dismantle the granary, you won’t find a single grain. That’s impressive! Really impressive!"

Suddenly, an online meme popped into his mind—Neighbor stockpiles grain, I stockpile guns; my neighbor is my granary.

Heh, I don’t even have a neighbor, and if I did, they’d be a grain and gun stockpiling neighbor. Who is whose granary is still uncertain!

Previously, storage space was limited. The warehouse, Storage Boxes, and even the secondary home warehouse in the Netherworld stored many crops. Taking this opportunity, Jiang Yuan reorganized all storage spaces.

Crops went into the encrypted World Granary;

The warehouse specifically held livestock products;

Previously, various storage boxes were scattered in different rooms, some holding temporarily unused spoils of war, others personal items of the courtyard members. Even the kitchen had two Storage Boxes for storing batch-prepared meals for emergencies.

Jiang Yuan busily moved things around like an ant until dawn before finally settling down.

"Finally organized everything. Let’s see what’s written in Zhao Yongxiang’s Soul-Searching Notes!" He dragged a rocking chair to sit under the big tree by the river, placed a Gilded White Jade Pot on the small table beside him, took a sip of Spirit Tea, filling his mouth with a lingering fragrance, as his Physical Strength Bar rapidly filled.

Taking the book out from the Storage Bag, he opened the first page and saw a line of small script—The information obtained from a target’s sea of consciousness using the Soul Searching Technique cannot be guaranteed to be authentic, please discern carefully.

"So it’s basically about doing everything possible to translate and print the information from the other’s brain into words. Unimportant details might be overlooked, and false information may be mixed in, only for reference." Jiang Yuan quickly figured out the general principle and then turned past the front page to read formally.

[Selected the Zhao Family Town in the Human World to establish the Zhao Family Manor. The purpose is to use the statue of the Cloud Swallowing Beast to naturally conceal its aura, making it easier to hide. After all, I know that Cloud Swallowing Beast—a foolish creature with such a great gift for concealment, yet clueless about how to use it, works to my advantage.]

[Eighty-three years have passed since leaving the Linyue Sect and falling into the path of evil, from being alone to marrying a wife who is also an Evil Cultivator for Dual Cultivation, taking concubines, growing the family, and now the entire Zhao Family has sixty-nine members, spanning four generations. I’ve accomplished quite a feat!]

[There is indeed a secret passageway inside the depths of the Golden Chicken Seal! Rumor has it there’s an important treasure left by an Immortal inside, which should be true! Unfortunately, it’s blocked by an impenetrable Barrier. Clearly, my power is still insufficient. Keeping the secret, even from my wife and children. When I devour more cultivators’ souls, maybe then I’ll be able to enter...]