“Oftentimes, strength is not the only element that determines a battle. Shrewdness, experience and luck almost always dictate the outcome.”

In his current closed-door cultivation, Qai attained a lot of things.

However, he seemed to be saving the best for last—which were precisely the refinement and branding of Old Bu’s flying sword and storage pouch.

Obviously, Qai was somewhat expectant of the storage pouch’s content—however, the refining process itself might take a bit of time since according to Elder Li’s words, the stronger the restrictions placed on the treasure, the more difficult it was to erase.

So for him, it was wise to meditate first upon his Soulflame.

Qai remembered fully well that when he first saw the Cornelia Flame flower, he already felt a sort of resonance with it.

And in the current process of comprehension, his Spiritual Sense once again did its work as it extended inwards when he attempted to carefully examine his dantian where the Soulflame resided.

Apparently, the Cornelia Flame flower looked like a cluster of hundred petals neatly arranged like tongues of bronze-colored flame.

Qai eventually spent around 3 days of deep meditation before he gained the proper way to enhance the defensive skill provided in his cultivation technique.

When he activated his sphere shield, a dome-like Cornelia-flower-shaped shield encircled his entire being. It was like he was intricately wrapped inside a flower.

Initially, Qai thought that the Soulflame would simply serve as a source of enlightenment—just like how he used the giant Ant’s shadow movements to enhance his now-‘Shadow Steps.’

But he was wrong.

When he was gaining enlightenment, the Soulflame actually infused itself into the sphere so that the shield now was instead powered up by the Cornelia Flame flower.

As a result, any attack that would penetrate through the sphere shield had a slight chance of dissolving due to the presence flame.

Before, Qai was wondering how to use his Soulflame in his attacks. He didn't expect to get a defensive ability instead.

After testing his enhanced skill for several times, he conveniently named it ‘Cornelia Sphere Shield.’

Thereafter, he finally proceeded to refine the flying sword.

Surprisingly, it took him almost a month to finish.

Qai was exhausted.

So before he could even test the flying sword, he went to cultivate in order to replenish his spiritual Qi energy.

Then he tried to manipulate the flying sword. And it swirled inside and around the room.

It was a good thing that he had studied first the principles in Sky Piercing Dagger manual through which he gained an idea of how to control flying treasures.

But with only level 7 Qi Condensation stage cultivation base, Qai was hesitant to ride on it.

He wasn't scared of falling since he had a Master rank physique. He just wasn't confident that his Spiritual Sense was enough to be able to control it.

Nevertheless, he gave it a go.

‘This is a flying sword! It's supposed to be used to fly.’

So he made it float first in front of him—around a foot above the ground—then hopped on it.

Qai began to circulate his spiritual Qi energy and poured it to aid his Spiritual Sense which he used to control the sword.

He moved up about 5 meters above ground then floated around his valley.

There was no whirring sound.

It was expected.

Apparently, speed was like strolling with hoverboards. He was just like jogging in circles within the valley.

It was so slow that his Master rank body could even produce multiple times better speed.

But Qai was not disappointed.

He was expecting it since his cultivation base could only power up his Spiritual Sense to such degree.

The silver lining was, of course, he could already fly while only in the Qi Condensation stage.

Maybe he wouldn't be able to use flight to escape—obviously, it wouldn't be effective at the moment—but it was already beyond imagination that he could use flying swords.

Qai flew down and went back inside his room.

He cultivated again for a day before he began to excitedly refine Old Bu’s storage pouch.

A couple of weeks later, Qai’s heart thumped excitedly.

He poured in his Spiritual Sense and swept his glance inside the storage pouch—lo and behold, Old Bu’s collection of treasures bared his naked eyes.

The inside of the pouch was about the size of a crate—around 2 Square meters. And the surface of its sides was like misty stone marbles but Qai knew there was some Spatial element at work in it.

He didn't think too much about the principles behind the storage pouch and began to take account of the treasures.

There were only little Spirit Stones. He thought that perhaps Old Bu ran out of it as he stayed in Kamaria Island for quite some time.

Qai also found a bottle containing a batch of medicinal pills.

When he opened it, a pungent smell wafted straight to his nose. Then he flicked one pill and examined it carefully.

Qai hadn't attained yet any proficiency in pill alchemy, but he could easily determine that the pills were those that Old Bu must have concocted from his beast cores.

‘Ah, at least I get a taste of my own hard work.’

The pouch also contained 2 Jade slips.

One was his ‘Transcending Autumn Arts’ and the other was actually the pill formula using beast cores as the main ingredient.

Surprisingly though, he never found the cultivation method intended to use his refined body as ingredient.

Then there was a moderate-grade Escape talisman and a set of four formation flags.

‘Old Bu must have been out of his mind back then when my giant Ants surrounded him. He had this talisman but he didn't use it. Perhaps he thought he could escape on his own and didn't want to waste this talisman.’

Qai stopped for a moment and reflected how many other factors, other than cultivation base, determine the result of a fight involving cultivators.

Had Old Bu did escape back then, he might be the one to die in the end.

At any rate, the four formation flags made Qai happy.

They form a much better defensive restriction than his illusion array. Aapparently, the formation flags can create a visible dome barrier over an area that would restrict one from getting through.

In Qai’s own judgment, it appeared that no cultivator below the Core Formation stage could probably force it open.

Finally, the last item found in the storage pouch was a refined treasure. It was actually a one-foot spike Dart made of some kind of metal. It had a short handle on one end and had a pitch-black color that made its image a bit murderous.

Qai examined it carefully.

There didn't seem any brand or restriction.

He tested his ‘Sky Piercing Dagger’ technique with it and found out that it was workable. More importantly, the Dart didn't explode.

It was indeed a treasure refined by an immortal.

Qai hurriedly branded it with his own spiritual mark according to Elder Li’s method. Then he tested it few more times before he put all the treasures back in the storage pouch, including those displayed in his rack.

He then tucked the storage pouch inside his robe and rubbed it twice.

It was now his.

Qai smiled in satisfaction before he emerged from the stone room.

It was already more than a quarter of a year since he came to the sect. And all he did was seclude himself. In fact, he already let one resource distribution schedule pass by.

Qai could only sigh.

It was already a good thing that no one came to bother.

He put the matter at the back of his mind and went on to check his garden plot.

He didn't know the exact procedures in delivering dues to the sect so he decided to visit the Contributions Hall to inquire.

But before he left, he first arranged the new set of formation flags around his valley.

Of course, there was already the original restriction placed by the sect. So when Qai arranged the Array formation, his valley was now covered with two restrictions.

Qai left behind his Ant Workers to take charge of the garden plots and strictly instructed them never to allow anyone to steal from his garden.