Star Martial Era: The Way of Star Light Cultivation-Chapter 47 - 43 Upgrade Supplies

But quickly, Qian Xiaohu came to find Xu Jin quietly, his expression both tense and excited.

In a small side room connected to the main hall, Qian Xiaohu and Song Ye found two large boxes.

Even Song Ye, who came from a well-off family, was quite shocked by these two large boxes.

Inside the two boxes, there were all sorts of gold and silver treasures.

There were jade ornaments and pearls, as well as a small amount of gold, a large amount of silver, and more than a dozen silver notes.

A rough count suggested no less than five thousand taels upwards, not including those treasures.

When the Star Patrol Guard was on a mission, there was talk of seizures, but Xu Jin did not know how they were to be divided.

And the amount was quite substantial.

If it were just several hundred taels, Xu Jin might have decided to average it out and share it.

But this was several thousand taels.

No matter how it was divided, it couldn’t bypass Niu Gui.

After thinking about it, Xu Jin sought out Niu Gui.

“Brother Niu, the brothers have found these, what do you think we should do with them?

Is there a precedent?” Xu Jin asked.

Staring at the two large boxes of gold and silver treasures, Niu Gui was also slightly surprised, then carefully stated, “There’s a rule for the Star Patrol Guard when on a mission; seized property is to be shared, and two tenths of the bandit loot may be taken as hardship fees for the brothers.

If any brother dies, then an extra one or two tenths may be taken as condolence.” Niu Gui said.

“Brother Niu, how should we distinguish between the seizure and the bandit loot?” Xu Jin asked again.

“These treasures count as bandit loot,” Niu Gui said, pointing at the two large boxes,

“Those recovered from the bandit corpses count as seizures.” Niu Gui shook the bundle he was holding in his hand, which had been collected from searching the bodies earlier and included a small number of silver notes and a few Pill vials.

After speaking, Niu Gui thought for a moment and added, “Of course, the distinction between bandit loot and seizures is not always very clear, but we must not overdo it; after all, the bandit loot should be returned to the victims if there are any.”

Xu Jin roughly understood.

The seizures could be shared freely, and two tenths of bandit loot could be divided; of course, taking a bit more was also possible, as the superiors would most likely turn a blind eye, as after all, they’re out here risking their necks, but one couldn’t overstep.

“Let’s continue with the mission, and after completing the entire task, then we’ll discuss these matters,” Xu Jin said.

“Okay.”

This arrangement made Niu Gui regard Xu Jin even more highly.

Wealth was an alluring sight.

With such a huge fortune right before his eyes, Xu Jin was thinking of completing the mission first.

This kid is bound to have a great future.

“Brother Niu, you have the highest cultivation level; if anything unexpected happens, you can keep an eye on Hong Li.

The next mission targets, with the highest cultivation level being only the Fourth Layer of Dining Dawn, I, together with Ruonan and Song Ye, can definitely handle it with ease,” Xu Jin arranged.

“That’s fine, but you absolutely mustn’t be careless.

These people from the Martial World have many despicable tricks; we must not underestimate them,” Niu Gui had no objections to Xu Jin’s arrangements.

In the recent battle of capturing Hong Li alive, Xu Jin had made significant contributions, and his actions were sharp.

His prestige in this small team had already skyrocketed, nearly surpassing that of Niu Gui.

“I understand.”

Xu Jin himself had two bags of lime that he hadn’t used yet.

A few minutes later, a group of twelve people, led by the guide arranged by the Spring Rain Department, headed to their second mission target, Zhao Zhen’s place, yet another household, but clearly one that had been occupied.

There were only six people, only two of whom had cultivation levels, and the highest among them was Zhao Zhen, who was likely a Loose Cultivator of the Third Layer of Dining Dawn, not a match for Xu Jin.

Although the Taoist Institutes recruit disciples during the Star-pointing Season with an age range of fifteen to thirty years old, in reality, no one over twenty years old is taken.

Many who aspire to Star Pointing save up money and then seek experts to engrave star patterns for them privately, costing several hundred taels each time.

If one attempt doesn’t work, they try a second time; if the second attempt fails, they try a third, or even use other means to assist, there is still a chance to succeed in Star Pointing, including some who failed at the Taoist Institutes.

But such reluctantly successful Star Pointing practitioners also have an extremely slow cultivation speed.

Many advance just one tier of the Dining Dawn Realm in one or two years.

The First Layer to Fifth Layer of the Dining Dawn Realm involve the tempering of chest, abdomen, and limbs, the Sixth Layer is for refining the Six Yang Leader, the most difficult and slowest, and the Seventh Layer is where Starlight flows through the whole body, turning it into one unified circulation, reaching the Dining Dawn Peak, at which point one may attempt Star Casting.

This Zhao Zhen was clearly a Loose Cultivator.

However, among the common folk, a Third Layer of Dining Dawn cultivation level was also quite impressive, enough to dominate a small place and rule as a king.

Initially, Xu Jin and the others had captured three alive from Zhao Zhen’s group, but after seeing the tragic state of several children in another side room, Xu Jin’s expression darkened and he decided to execute them all with his sword.

Skinned alive!

A few children, with their limbs broken and fixed in gruesome angles; some had their noses sliced off, eyes gouged out…

Xu Jin had read about skinnings in the news in his past life, and had been horrified at the thought of someone being so vicious.

But having witnessed it in person today, Xu Jin only regretted not being able to kill the perpetrators faster, sparing them the swift conclusion they deserved.

They’re complete monsters.

After tallying up the loot, the group continued on under the guidance of the Spring Rain Department, heading straight for their third target, Liu San.

Liu San had devoured the livelihood of Xu Jin’s uncle, who was a blacksmith with his own shop.

Now, Liu San’s gang had holed up there, and he also happened to be the highest in terms of cultivation level amongst the remaining targets, at the Fourth Layer of the Dining Dawn Realm!

The intel had it that Liu San, having come into money recently, consumed a vast quantity of Pills and had just made a breakthrough to the Fourth Layer of the Dining Dawn Realm.

“Xiaohu, Youtian, you two keep watch outside.

If anyone tries to flee, cut them down!” After dealing with the second target Zhao Zhen, Xu Jin’s killing intent was fully unleashed.

These were scum, killing them was no crime.

Killing them was saving others!

This self-persuasion slowly diluted Xu Jin’s law-abiding concepts from his past life.

There were no surprises.

Xu Jin himself had the accomplishments of single-handedly slaying someone at the Fourth Layer of the Dining Dawn Realm.

After two consecutive battles, not only was Xu Jin’s practical fighting skill rapidly improving, but the combat abilities of the others were also quickly enhancing, transitioning them from greenhorns to seasoned veterans.

They each had a basic tally of at least two kills.

This battle resulted in Liu San being captured alive, with the rest slain.

However, while collecting the spoils, there was a small surprise.

It was hard to distinguish between personal property and booty; they found over a thousand taels and several bottles of Pills, all were Star Refilling Pills; Liu San certainly knew how to advance his lot.

What surprised Xu Jin was the several hundred catties of Refined Iron and a small pile of Purple Copper ingots in the blacksmith shop, probably for making copper utensils.

These supplies were precisely what Xu Jin needed for upgrading his Candou Platform.

Xu Jin had previously inquired that a hundred catties of Refined Iron would roughly cost around twenty taels of Silver, and ten catties of Purple Copper theoretically equaled ten taels of Silver, but in reality, it would cost about fifteen taels to purchase.

Due to insufficient Starlight, compounded by the fact that he had previously killed Deng Hu, Xu Jin hadn’t purchased these materials in the county city.

But now that they were in front of him, an idea formed.

The iron ingots and copper ingots were too heavy to transport and wouldn’t be considered part of the loot.

Also, Liu San’s uncle, who was the previous owner, had been wiped out by Liu San leaving no successors.

These items would most likely be confiscated.

So Xu Jin decided to claim some for himself.

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t be able to carry a hundred-plus catties of Refined Iron and Purple Copper.

How could he carry out his task with a hundred and some catties on his back?

But when Xu Jin explored the potential upgrade of his Candou Platform before, he made a discovery.

Items required for upgrading the platform could be directly accommodated by it.

But not in excess; otherwise, it could also be used as a temporary storage device.

This was discovered quite simply: among the upgrade items for the Candou Platform was one catty of Silver, equal to ten Silver taels.

Xu Jin had it on hand.

A few days ago, when he had nothing else to do in the dorm, he gave it a try.

He found that as long as he triggered the Candou Platform and it drew upon Star Power, it would absorb the upgrade materials prepared.

What’s more amazing was that it could also spit them out.

But only up to the upgrade limit.

For instance, the Silver.

The current need for upgrading was one catty of Silver or ten taels of Silver.

It could at most absorb ten taels of Silver, no more.

In this case, Xu Jin had a way to deal with the pile of iron and copper ingots before him.

While his teammates were searching elsewhere, Xu Jin lightly touched the iron ingots, his mind sinking into the Candou Platform.

Triggering it, his thoughts barely moved, and in an instant, several dozen Refined Iron ingots disappeared.

Applying the same principle, two blocks of Purple Copper also vanished.

The Candou Platform now displayed a different change.

Around the platform, there was now a pile of iron ingots, a small stack of Purple Copper, and a little pile of Silver.

At the same time, the upgrade information on the Jade of the platform had also changed slightly.

[Upgrade available: Still in need of ten strands of Starlight, nine pieces of Jade, and one tael of Gold.]

The materials that had been absorbed for upgrading were no longer displayed.

Still short of three things: Starlight, Jade, and Gold.

Xu Jin’s mind flickered to the two chests full of wealth captured after seizing Hong Li; they contained Gold and Jade, but he wasn’t sure how many pieces.

Would he be able to gather all the necessary resources for the Candou Platform’s upgrade during this mission?