Chapter 9: Two Old Men (Part 1)

The handsome old man said, “No. Within a kilometer around this altar, there are no traces of sacrificial treasures, nor any fragments of them. Quickly switch to another altar; I’ll take another look.”
Guo Shier replied and soared into the air, scanning the surroundings. Not far away, he spotted the silhouette of another altar about a kilometer away, so he immediately flew over.
This altar was also damaged. Few altars here were intact, and this one was severely damaged, almost completely collapsed, with only a flat area of about five square meters left at its top. Guo Shier landed and placed his hand on it. Even less souls were drawn this time. Shaking his head, he said, “This altar is completely ruined; there’s nothing useful here.”
The handsome old man knew it was impossible to gain benefits from every altar, so he wasn’t worried and continued to explore the area. Guo Shier was very eager for that pearl. After a while, the handsome old man said, “There’s… something. Hmm, it should be a fragment of a sacrificial treasure. Fly to the left…” Guo Shier flew to the left without hesitation, at a slow pace.
The handsome old man pointed, “Over there, by the mound. Right, land on the mound first.”
Guo Shier landed as instructed and asked, “How do we proceed?”
The handsome old man said, “Go down. Do you see that rock? Smash it with your Moon Blade.”
Guo Shier used his Moon Blade to break the rock. The handsome old man said, “Clear away the debris; the fragment of the sacrificial treasure should be underneath.”
The Moon Blade turned into a small whirlwind, clearing the ground. At that moment, Guo Shier also sensed something unusual. Any sacrificial treasure, even just a fragment, had a faint connection to souls. Though not very strong, the closer one got, the more noticeable it became. No wonder Xianru Dai could find the fragments.
Soon, Guo Shier found the fragment in the mud. It was a broken piece of a stick, clearly the handle of some kind of sacrificial treasure—a deep red, damaged handle that gave a warm feeling when held. He fiddled with it and asked, “Handsome Old Man, what is this?” Then he threw it at the Ancient Ink Lotus above his head.
The handsome old man took the fragment in his hand, examined it briefly, and said, “I don’t know. It seems to be some kind of fire-related sacrificial treasure. It’s a pity it’s only the handle, not the front part. Well, we can extract some materials from it. It’s not bad. I’ll analyze it when I have time.”
Guo Shier laughed, “It’s really hard to find. If not for your ability to detect it, finding such a fragment would be impossible—unless one was within a few meters of it, just to sense something at all.”

The handsome old man said, “Who made you so poor… Back in our day, who would pick up such trash? Alright, keep looking for altars.”
Guo Shier replied affirmatively. His principle was to look for damaged altars first, then those that were intact. There were far more damaged altars than intact ones, including many that were completely ruined. He tried once but got nothing—the souls inside had already vanished completely.
After extracting the souls from seven damaged altars in a row, he found three fragments of sacrificial treasures. The largest was only about the size of an adult’s two palms, while the smallest was as big as a matchbox; he had no idea what they were. The handsome old man told him that these were all separable fragments that could yield some materials, and the quality of the materials obtained from decomposition was extremely high, as most of the materials used to craft sacrificial treasures were top-grade.
Along the territory occupied by the ancient Xi Bi, there were damaged altars all around. Guo Shier didn’t miss a single one. Even those that were completely destroyed were inspected—he wouldn’t give up easily, even if he couldn’t obtain a single soul.
With the help of the handsome old man’s bead, Guo Shier managed to retrieve every fragment of sacrificial treasure left on the ground. The handsome old man would mock him from time to time, but Guo Shier just smiled indifferently. He didn’t care if the old man called him a trash picker—he wasn’t picking up trash; he was collecting fragments of sacrificial treasures, many of which were otherwise impossible to find.
The handsome old man said, “That altar seems intact… Oh, no, it’s missing a corner. Damn it, these guys didn’t die cleanly. Even in death, they should have protected their altars…”
Guo Shier was speechless. Why care so much after death? The old man’s sarcastic remarks were truly infuriating.
Guo Shier landed on the altar. It was relatively well-preserved, with only one corner slightly damaged, but there were many tiny cracks all over it that were hard to notice unless you looked closely. He shook his head and thought, “I wonder how this predecessor met his end?” He placed his hand on the surface of the altar.
The Ancient Ink Lotus began spinning rapidly, and the handsome old man recited incantations. Having already understood the skill characteristics of the Ancient Ink Lotus, he could enhance its abilities by using virtual talismans, speeding up its soul-extraction process.
Purified souls were drawn out one after another.
The handsome old man was overjoyed and devoured the extracted souls eagerly. This time, there were a large number of souls. He infused a small portion into the Ancient Ink Lotus and gave another small portion to Guo Shier.

It took a full two hours to extract all the souls. The handsome old man said, “This guy is quite strong. Hehe, it’s a shame he can’t preserve his soul consciousness, so he’s not as lucky as me.”
Guo Shier said, “Handsome old man, stop talking nonsense and quickly check if there are any fragments of sacrificial treasures.”
The handsome old man complained, “I’m being generous once in a while—why are you in such a hurry? If you’re so eager… go find them yourself!”
Guo Shier couldn’t help but smile bitterly. How could this old man have such a childish temper? He said, “Alright, have your fun then…” and got ready to fly away.
The handsome old man said, “Wait, you little brat! You can’t stand any hardship.” He raised the bead and said, “Ahead…” Guo Shier, who already had a good understanding with him, immediately flew forward at his words. The handsome old man said, “Good, stop. It’s right below.”
Guo Shier descended without hesitation. He had already sensed the fluctuations of souls and felt delighted—these fluctuations were stronger than those when he obtained fragments before. He knew this sacrificial treasure fragment must be quite large. The more complete a sacrificial treasure, the stronger its fluctuations and the more pronounced its effect on souls.
Following the fluctuations, Guo Shier soon found what he was looking for.
It was a knife-shaped sacrificial treasure, but its tip was broken. With its blue blade, it was a relatively complete sacrificial treasure. Guo Shier exclaimed happily, “Handsome old man, this sacrificial treasure is almost complete! Can we reforge it?”
The handsome old man said, “Give it to me.”
Guo Shier threw the knife-shaped sacrificial treasure to him and asked eagerly, “Is it possible?”
The handsome old man said, “You little money-grubber! How could it be reforged? Don’t get your hopes up…”
Guo Shier immediately felt disappointed and said, “Then forget it. It’s still good to break it down into materials. Sigh, one shouldn’t be too greedy.”
The handsome old man said indifferently, “Although it can’t be reforged, it can strengthen your Moon Blade. This sacrificial treasure contains several rare materials. Once I break it down, they can be used directly on your Moon Blade.”
Guo Shier said cheerfully, “That’s good too. Haha, as long as it’s useful. I was afraid it would be useless.”
The handsome old man said, “There are no useless sacrificial treasures. Each one isn’t easy to form. Even if it’s broken, its fragments are still useful.”
Guo Shier muttered under his breath, “So you still call me a trash collector?”
The handsome old man snapped, “To me, these are trash!” He became unreasonable.

Xian Ruidai flew over from afar. She flew very slowly, almost touching the ground; “drifting” might be a better description. Guo Shier understood that this was her way of searching for the fragments of the sacrificial treasures. Without the methods of that old shrewd man, Xian Ruidai had no choice but to use this approach.

Guo Shier said with a smile, “Xian Ruidai, how many fragments of the sacrificial treasures have you found?”

Xian Ruidai stopped. She stood up and said excitedly, “Brother Shier, I’ve found six fragments, and one of them is quite intact!”

Guo Shier was stunned. He and that old shrewd man had spent half a day only to find so few fragments, yet this little girl had found more. He praised her, “That’s amazing!”

Xian Ruidai giggled and said, “Brother Shier, go ahead. I’ll keep searching.” Before Guo Shier could respond, she drifted away again, close to the ground.

Guo Shier was sweating profusely. This little girl’s greed was definitely no less than his own. He said, “Old Shrewd Man, we need to hurry up. Otherwise, we’ll even be outperformed by that little girl!”

The old shrewd man was also spurred on. In fact, he was even more greedy than Guo Shier. He said, “Let’s go to the territory occupied by Gu Xi Bi. We should have gone there from the start. After all, this is just the periphery. Any good things should be in the central area! Damn it, what a mistake!”

Guo Shier was speechless. He didn’t dare delay either and flew inward.

After a while, they arrived at an altar. It was a complete altar, with a person sitting on top. Only after landing did Guo Shier realize it was Zhang Yaojin. He sat dejectedly on top of the altar, staring into the distance.

Guo Shier asked, “Brother Zhang, what’s wrong?”

Zhang Yaojin slowly turned his head. Guo Shier was shocked. His face was pale, and his lips were trembling. After a long while, he said, “It’s useless… really useless. The inheritance of the Gu Dai family… is damn strong. No altar can erase such an inheritance. Damn it… bastards!”

Suddenly, he let out a roar.

The old shrewd man said, “What’s the big deal? Since you’ve obtained the inheritance, just accept it. It doesn’t affect your strength. Who cares if it’s male or female? In this world, those with strength… regardless of gender… deserve respect.”

Zhang Yaojin was stunned. Gradually, his face turned red. He murmured to himself, “Yes, so what if I get the inheritance of the Gu Dai family? Besides, their inheritance isn’t bad either. After all, it’s from the ancient talisman family. Who cares if it’s male or female…” He stood up and clenched his fist. “Alright! I’ll accept this inheritance!”

The old shrewd man laughed. “That’s right, hehe.”

Guo Shier felt that the handsome old man’s smile seemed a bit sinister. He shook his head vigorously, thinking, “It’s an illusion, just an illusion.” He said, “Brother Zhang, they’re all looking for the fragments of the sacrificial treasure. You should go look too; that thing is a real treasure.”
Zhang Yaojin made up his mind and stopped worrying about the inheritance issue. He said, “Okay, I’ll go.” He flew down from the altar and began searching for the fragments of the sacrificial treasure.