Transfer of wealth is Grandpa Fang’s favorite hobby!

  Bubai picked up the worn, underwear-attached pouch sponsored by his first kill, Lian Ke.

  “Earlier today, there wasn’t much time to sort out everything, but now…”

  Obviously, Bubai was not going to bring all his wealth on stage tomorrow!

  Others owning a single storage pouch might keep everything in it like a treasure box, but for those owning more than one…

  "Heheh. It’s all about hiding what needs to stay hidden. Of course, there’s still an unspoken rule..."

  Just like in the PVP duels of certain games, cultivators never battle carrying empty bags!

  Only wealth begets wealth. Big fish eats small fish. Either bring the toll fee... or your life!

  For most, what goes on stage was what they were willing to stake.

  Thanks to the intrinsic value of his status, today, Bubai could act the beggar to accumulate wealth. But for tomorrow...

  “I’ll have to strike the appropriate balance between stakes and safety. Another headache.”

  But thinking about making more money always excites Bubai to no end! It’s just that…

  “The scraps left in this inferior-grade pouch are seriously worth less than what gets pumped out of my sack—Ahem. Well, mosquito meat is still meat.”

  The goodies got shelved while the rest went to the junk corner.

  Holding the now-empty pouch, Bubai was tempted to absorb it, but he put it down in the end.

  “No. Better wait till I get a few spares first. These still have their uses.”

  Bubai then grabbed the pouch attached to a torn sleeve. “That smiley face’s sponsorship. There’s lots to move in here...”

  Opening it, he quickly sorted through all the poisonous substances.

  The unidentified and unusable went straight to cold storage while some were set aside to be applied to tools overnight.

  “This tedious task...” Bubai has the perfect candidate in mind to do it, but…

  He looked down then looked away. Yep. She’s busy right now. Very busy.

  Ahem. Back to sorting.

  Bubai quickly cleared out the rest of the goodies, freeing up a low-grade bag.

  After setting aside the broken-sleeve-pouch, Bubai picked up the real bad boy – the mid-grade pouch sponsored by the water boy.

  Here was where the real headache lies.

  After taking those odds and ends out of the picture, he was still left with a big problem: how to split the pile of spirit stones.

  Bubai tapped his chin thoughtfully.

  "Totaling up all the loot, I hit a goldmine of more than 30 stones today. That’s not bad, but I’ll need to use at least 15 to recover the deficit in the pool."

  "After taking that out, how much should I stake? Do I need to make up the numbers? Add more? Or go for less?"

  This wasn’t a dilemma that can be solved in a minute or two, even for his agile mind.

  So, Bubai mechanically went through the motions to sort out the rest of the loot.

  Junk like those women’s relics went where they belong.

  Valuable whatnot alongside unidentified thingamabobbers got split between the high-grade pouch and his safe-storage warehouse.

  Most were generic xianxia loot so uninteresting that they were probably not even worth mentioning a second time in a story.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  If there’s anything of interest, it was a collection of scrolls penning down insights on the Seed of Pleasure Art.

  There was no actual cultivation method, but these were far more comprehensive than the basic description he’d seen in the Book Pavilion’s scroll.

  It even included a skill tree of complimentary skills that branched out into a few routes!

  “Interesting. Now, I got some solid names to work with. But the most valuable info on these scrolls is actually…”

  Bubai mentally noted down the few listed locations in the outer districts, the strange symbols to look out for, and the newest scrawled message.

  “This should be the secret code to gain access to the secret trade fair hosted by those holy crusaders. Well, well. Looks like those plundered seeds won’t have to collect dust in my storage.”

  Putting that scroll away and the now-empty mid-grade pouch aside, Bubai slipped on a pair of gloves. “I already rinsed it on the way out, but…”

  With a face of disgust, he gingerly picked up the last icky, unsanitary pouch wrapped in tattered rags.

  What’s left inside, like those body tempering medicine packets, has long been dumped out to avoid contamination, but some things can only be done when there aren’t other eyes around.

  “Those other storage pouches should be enough. No point in keeping this disgusting filth around...”

  Bubai opened the bridge to his spatial storage and watched the unseen suction force break down the little inferior-grade space...

  An almost imperceptible quake hit his warehouse, but that ended as quickly as it started.

  Seeing the almost negligible change in the warehouse’s size, Bubai ruefully shook his head.

  “Well, guess it’s better than nothing. A river embankment is built bit by bit. Little accumulations will eventually bring about monumental changes.”

  After getting rid of the dirty stuff, Bubai tossed aside his gloves, ready to get hands-on with the high-grade beauty—ahem!

  No, not that type of beauty! He meant his beautiful high-grade pouch.

  Don’t forget. That’s where most of the spoils he plundered today was stored, including from those two scions he didn’t dare kill!

  Aside from the goddess hidden in his warehouse and the crystal spirit sword called “Frost Mourn”, that stingy turtle boy didn’t give him much, but…

  That bushy-bearded Jia Liang cousin of that body-building lion sent him plenty of Christmas presents!

  Most of this pile consisted of generic loot, but there was a single item of interest...

  Bubai fished out a small treasure box from the pouch, undid the latch, and snapped it open.

  Sitting inside was a fiery-red, glass-like marble trapping swirling flames like a fortune teller’s crystal ball. This was...

  The beast core he pocketed during the “Surrender Stephen” fiasco!

  And it wasn’t just any beast core—it was a magic beast core!

  A single word makes a whole lot of difference!

  In this cultivation world, beasts were naturally defined by ranks.

  At the bottom were the beasts belonging to the wild grade.

  This was the lowest rank and essentially included all those mortal creatures.

  But don’t mistake their lowly classification for harmlessness.

  Not any domestic dog or little bunny foo foo can enter a cultivator’s radar.

  Any beast worthy to be classified in this wild-grade actually posed danger to mortals!

  At the peak, wild-grade beasts were at least as ferocious as tigers!

  But just as they were dangerous, they were a treasure, especially their flesh that could nourish blood and help body cultivators in tempering their bodies.

  It goes without saying that value climbs alongside rank.

  Above the wild-grade was the ferocious-grade!

  Here were beasts that have already touched upon the realm of Qi cultivation, either through their bloodline instincts or through consumption of earthly wonders.

  Any beast in this grade were full of treasures.

  Their hides can be fashioned into defensive armor. Bones and tendons can be crafted into low-grade weapons. Flesh can boil blood and temper physiques...

  But beyond all these, the true heart of a ferocious beast’s value lay in the beast pill that had a rare chance of condensing!

  These cores were small like seeds, yet they were brimming full of Qi that could be absorbed by cultivators!

  Of course, the Qi in such a core typically carried the flavor of a particular attribute and was not as pure as spirit stones.

  But for cultivators of matching attributes, they were equivalent to, or even better, than a pure spirit stone!

  And this was just the start.

  Once a beast core reaches a higher-grade… their value in all cultivator’s heart skyrockets.

  One step up didn’t just mean more Qi...

  Bubai picked up the fiery-hot marble with his fingers. “The magic-grade. Now... that’s the real game-changer.”

  All beasts in this realm have condensed a solid core, gaining supernatural powers that makes it hard for even the typical foundation builder to rival them!

  But the rewards from slaying one was never any less!

  The magic in its name isn’t just for show. There really was magical powers condensed into their cores!

  This was just a part of the dao mysteries found in nature, and the most intriguing part is…

  “Anyone consuming a magic beast core has a chance to get a glimpse into those mysteries. A chance at enlightenment.”

  “There are even legends of commoners transforming from nobody to genius after getting blessed with heaven-defying innate skills from swallowing a beast core...”

  Know that learning a new skill through the legit way wasn’t easy.

  Many techniques not only required harsh training or the support of some sort of practice medium, but also affinity and comprehension talent!

  Even reaching the threshold of initiation is difficult for the untalented.

  Hence, this treasure that can let others skip all that effort and take one step closer to the heavens was immensely valuable!

  There’s no shortage of the tycoons who’d pay through the nose for this chance at enlightenment! But…

  “It’s not as easy as those hype make it sound. The real chance of comprehending anything is rather slim, especially since not every magic beast core actually has a supernatural power condensed within.”

  Bubai weighed the fiery-red marble in his hand.

  “This thing is kinda like a gamble. The value can be sky-high, but it might all end up as a dud.”

  Now, the main thing his heart can’t decide on was…

  “Should I sell this magic beast core or... eat it?”