Chapter 328: The Art of Plundering

“The Way of Plundering!”
Grandmaster Guangwu pronounced these four words firmly and asked Su Che, “How exactly does one plunder?”
“In the initial stage, one can forcibly take away others’ magical treasures,” Su Che replied truthfully based on his own understanding. “But I haven’t tried it yet.”
“Good!”
Guangwu casually took out his top-grade spiritual treasure, the Fire Dragon Flame Spirit Flag, and held it in his palm. “Try taking this.”
Su Che nodded and used the art of plundering he had just learned on the small flag. Immediately, an invisible force acted upon it…
Yet, the Flame Spirit Flag only swayed slightly before remaining firmly in place, untouched by Su Che.
Frowning, Su Che tried several more times. As Grandmaster Guangwu became prepared, the flag remained completely motionless, showing no reaction at all.
“I guess my cultivation level is too low to make it work,” Su Che said helplessly, shaking his head.
After all, Grandmaster Guangwu was at the mid-stage Yuan Ying level, while Su Che had just reached the late-stage Jin Dan level—the gap in cultivation was indeed enormous.
“The Flame Spirit Flag has been with me for years; it’s connected to me spiritually, so it must be very difficult,” Guangwu nodded. “Let’s try another one then.”
He then put away the Fire Dragon Flame Spirit Flag and casually replaced it with an elite-grade precious sword, still holding it in his palm, maintaining normal control.
“Take it!”
Su Che used the art of plundering again. This time, finally…
Whoosh!
The precious sword disappeared from Guangwu’s hand as if by teleportation, without any visible flight process, and appeared directly in Su Che’s hands.
“Such power!”
Even the Grand Elder Qingxuan and the Supreme Patriarch were astonished. With their keen eyes and spiritual senses, they couldn’t figure out how Su Che had taken the sword.
In fact, Su Che himself was also confused, unable to understand the principle behind it. Anyway, after using the art, there was just one more item in his hands. That was all.
“Give me the sword,” the Supreme Patriarch waved his hand.
Su Che obediently sent the sword flying toward him and understood what the Patriarch meant.
Thus, the elite-grade precious sword hung in the Supreme Patriarch’s hand, and Su Che used the art of plundering once more.
The sword trembled slightly but did not disappear from the Patriarch’s hand.
The reason was simple—everyone could guess that the Supreme Patriarch’s cultivation level was one step higher than Guangwu’s; he was at the late-stage Yuan Ying level. So…

The Supreme Patriarch switched to another top-tier precious weapon—a flying sword—which he also controlled with his palm. This time, Su Che’s ability to plunder was successful.
Swish!
For some unknown reason, without any warning, the top-tier precious weapon—flying sword—disappeared from the Supreme Patriarch’s hand and appeared directly in Su Che’s palm.
After that, several elders took turns leading the attempts, and together with Su Che, they made hundreds of trials until they finally identified some patterns.
It was quite complicated—many factors could play a decisive role, such as the opponent’s cultivation level, the grade of their magical weapons, Su Che’s own cultivation level, and his mastery of the art of plundering…
In general, this ability was extremely powerful, utterly formidable, and hard to defend against!
From now on, if cultivators below the Yuan Ying stage dared to target Su Che, their magical weapons would be the first to suffer. It was estimated that even the spiritual treasures controlled by those at the later stages of the Golden Dan phase could be seized by Su Che in an instant.
The elders all silently hoped, “When Tian Yu reaches the Yuan Ying stage in the future, those various magical weapons in the hands of the elders from other sects will be in trouble…”
But what Su Che truly desired was to reach an intermediate level in the art of plundering, allowing him to forcibly extract others’ divine techniques and spells and turn them into his own skills—this was the most powerful and devastating effect.
No need to learn, no need to comprehend; simply seize others’ knowledge and skills and make them one’s own. What could be more satisfying and exhilarating than that?
As for higher stages of plundering, such as seizing fate and lifespan, those sounded too distant—perhaps only possible in the immortal realm. For now, Su Che didn’t even dare to think about it.
After discussing this ability, Su Che asked Master Mu Ye, “Master, how is the investigation into Venerable Xuan Yuan progressing?”
“To become a Venerable of the main peak, one must be completely clean in every aspect; otherwise, the sect wouldn’t entrust her with such important responsibilities,” Mu Ye said slowly, shaking his head. “It’s impossible to uncover anything in a short time. If you doubt her, try to avoid contact with her for now. That’s all we can do for now.”
The Supreme Patriarch added, “As is well known, among the insiders planted by various sects, the Heavenly-level insider of the Illusion Demon Sect is the most mysterious. The Illusion Demon Sect has a heritage of over 20,000 years, and there has never been a case where a Heavenly-level insider was exposed.”

The supreme leader glanced at Su Che and whispered, “Within the sect, among the core elders below the Yuan Ying stage or the venerable ones at the main peaks, there might be that top-tier insider from the Illusion Demon Sect lurking. Tian Yu, you must be extra careful and stay vigilant around these people. Sometimes, the ones who seem most reliable are actually the most dangerous.”
“I understand,” Su Che replied with a nod.
Lao He spoke in a strange tone from within the Immortal Prison, “If all these Yuan Ying-level elders here seem reliable, does that mean they’re all dangerous?”
“That’s just an argument for its own sake,” Su Che thought. “But in reality, in this world, aside from you, I won’t fully trust anyone else, not even my future partner.”
Receiving such affirmation from his master, Lao He scratched his head and laughed heartily, overjoyed and not knowing what to say.
…
There was still half a year left until the Heavenly Sound Appointment. Spending just half a year in cultivation wouldn’t lead to much progress. Moreover, reaching the next stage—complete mastery of the Golden Dan phase—wasn’t as simple as just cultivating true energy; many aspects required patience.
In the days that followed, Su Che stayed at Xuan Yu Peak, taking on a large amount of work related to pill-making and material purification within the sect.
The large-scale pill-making finally showcased the powerful capabilities of the third layer of the Immortal Prison, bringing Su Che one surprise after another.
Normally, even a Spirit Treasure-grade pill furnace had a limited amount of pills it could produce per batch—hundreds per batch was already the absolute limit. But in the third layer’s pill realm, it seemed there was no such thing as a limit.
After a month of experimentation, Su Che grew bolder and decided to attempt to produce 20,000 sixth-grade Yuan Yang Dan at once.
Yuan Yang Dan had a strong medicinal effect with few side effects, making it suitable for cultivators of all spiritual root types. It was also the most sought-after pill among cultivators in the Foundation Establishment stage at Tian Xuan Sect.
Dozens of rare herbs collected from the herb gardens of the ten main peaks were piled into dozens of small mounds in the square of the Giant Wealth Palace.
Looking at these herbs, Su Che thought again, “If it weren’t for the power of the sect, relying solely on my own strength, gathering so many herbs would be a real headache.”
Swish swish swish swish…
With a wave of his hand, all the herbs were sent into the Immortal Prison. Su Che no longer needed to worry about the rest—he could simply watch if he wished.
As the spirit vessel of the Immortal Prison Pagoda, Lao He naturally knew how to meet the requirements of the third layer—what to put in first and what to put in later.

Various spiritual herbs are sent to the third layer of the Immortal Prison, where the most suitable spiritual fire comes to act upon them. At the most appropriate temperature, it gradually transforms them into various medicinal liquids, which are then combined through a rather complex process to finally form round and smooth pills.

Su Che didn’t understand pill-making, but he could still see the biggest difference: if using a pill furnace to make pills, no matter what grade of furnace or spiritual fire is used, only one type of spiritual fire can exist inside. If creating a dualattribute pill, changing the spiritual fire also requires a sequence—neither can exist simultaneously. When two types of spiritual fires coexist in one furnace, extremely complex reactions such as repulsion, absorption, attraction, and fusion occur, and even the most skilled pill masters cannot control the temperature manually.

Yet within the third layer of the Immortal Prison, thousands or even more types of spiritual fires can exist at the same time. Depending on the characteristics of each spiritual herb, there is always one spiritual fire that is most suitable for refining it—this is the most precise and advanced form of fire control in the world.

The essence of pill-making lies primarily in controlling fire. Therefore, the success rate of pill production in the third layer of the Immortal Prison must be extremely high—producing even sixth-grade spiritual pills with almost 100% success rate.

Of course, for Su Che, the strength of his pill-making skills wasn’t the key point. What he was most concerned about was what benefits the Immortal Prison Pagoda could gain from mass pill-making.

Two hours later, 20,000 Yuan Yang Pills scattered across the sky and appeared in the space of the first layer of the Immortal Prison. Lao He, who had been waiting there, simply thought of it and placed all 20,000 pills into the 2,000 porcelain bottles he had prepared in advance. Ten pills per bottle, the bottles sealed—perfect!

“Master, I understand!” Lao He piled the bottles aside and shouted, “It seems I’ve just realized what benefits pill-making can bring to the Immortal Prison Pagoda.”

“Oh?” Su Che, who had been idle, immediately became attentive and asked eagerly, “What benefits?”

“Just now, when I saw so many spiritual herbs sent to the third layer’s pill realm, I thought about how much essence would be lost if the refining failed!” Lao He said mysteriously, “The moment I thought of the word ‘essence,’ I understood.”

“That’s enough!” Su Che nodded inwardly. “Now that I hear you say the word ‘essence,’ I’ve also understood.”

Su Che realized that during the process of alchemy, it was impossible for all the essence of the spiritual herbs to be incorporated into the pills; some would inevitably be lost. When alchemy was conducted outside, the lost essence would return to the universe, but inside the Immortal Prison, it would go into the Immortal Prison Pagoda.

Going deeper, Su Che was the master of the Immortal Prison, so any benefits it gained would ultimately fall to him. That essence of the spiritual herbs might not necessarily transform into a specific form, but it would ultimately benefit Su Che. The same applied not only to alchemy but also to the refinement of other materials…

“Alchemize!”

Having understood this principle, Su Che certainly wouldn’t slack off. With a wave of his hand, he declared, “I’ll take care of all such matters within the sect!”

From then on, dedicated people were sent daily to Xuan Yu Peak to transport large quantities of spiritual herbs and various materials for crafting. Of course, they would also take away the successfully crafted pills and the highly refined materials. However, all these matters were classified as the highest secrets of Tian Xuan Sect. The more people who knew about Su Che’s special abilities, the better.