Chapter 356: Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram, Skilled!

The second cave, the building in front of the White Bone Dao Palace, had vanished without a trace, completely leveled to the ground.

Yang Ling stared blankly at the scene before him, searching frantically and forlornly for intact Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers.

One, two, three...

The others followed him over and couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow at the sight.

"A single Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Dagger costs 2,000 taels."

Wu Xiaochen muttered to himself, "That's equivalent to 4 million in the real world."

Everyone's hearts clenched.

Ten daggers meant 40 million, a hundred meant 400 million.

From what they had just witnessed, Yang Ling had definitely thrown more than a hundred flying daggers.

"A thousand daggers is 4 billion. If it was several thousand... hiss-"

They swallowed hard, exchanged glances, and dared not continue down that train of thought.

This single battle might have consumed tens of billions!

"All of you, head out. You have a month to cultivate, so don't waste this time."

Yang Ling's voice drifted over.

Everyone exchanged looks and silently departed.

They felt Yang Ling needed some space and time to process this loss.

Each of them couldn't help but feel a trace of self-reproach.

"If we could have actually helped in this mission, Brother Yang's losses wouldn't have been this devastating..."

Jiang Tian'ai said subconsciously.

Everyone's hearts trembled, none of them daring to respond to that topic.

Their hearts were bleeding too.

"I hope the Boss can get through this."

Qin Mo glanced back and happened to catch sight of Yang Ling crouched on the ground, sifting through rubble for Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers, his eyes bloodshot.

"Crying?! Hmm... well, I'd cry too if I were him. That's normal... This needs to stay buried deep inside us. We can't let the Boss lose face."

Qin Mo dared not look again.

...

Yang Ling's eyes were red with fury as he muttered to himself:

"Damn White Bone Elder, even in death you had to hit me with a big one!"

"Corpse Explosion Scorching Heaven? I'll scorch your ancestors!"

"My Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers!"

His heart truly was bleeding.

The cost of these five thousand Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers was astronomical.

Just the Blazing Gold alone had used 250 catties!

And that wasn't even counting Zhou Zheng's labor costs!

For now, all he could do was gather up the intact daggers.

He also collected the broken dagger fragments. He could melt them down and reforge them later, reducing his losses this time.

An hour later, Yang Ling finally finished collecting all the intact daggers. There were just over a thousand in total!

"Thank goodness, at least a thousand Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers survived intact."

Yang Ling breathed a sigh of relief. It was a silver lining in an otherwise disastrous situation.

The remaining dagger fragments were now piled up in his Green Dragon Ring.

He'd have to trouble Master Zhou Zheng to melt and reforge them later.

"Master Zhou Zheng is just one man. If he has to reforge everything, it's going to take a long time..."

"These fragments are all good stuff. They're raw materials for Centenary Refined Blazing Gold. The Divine Armaments Pavilion should accept them, and Xu Zegang would probably take them too?"

"Centenary Refined Blazing Gold... wait! Centenary Refined Blazing Gold is worth even more. One tael sells for 5,000 taels, one catty for 50,000 taels!"

Yang Ling suddenly froze. He looked at the dagger fragments in his Green Dragon Ring.

There was at least 400 catties of material there!

"I didn't take a loss. I can actually make a big profit and use it to replenish my Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers..."

Yang Ling muttered to himself. "Oh right, back when we fought the Fire Vein Poison Crocodile, those dagger fragments..."

"Didn't Zhou Zheng take them?"

"..."

"Old Zhou, that sneaky bastard... whatever. Consider it payment for crafting the Fire Crocodile Set..."

Yang Ling cracked a grin. Once he realized this, he discovered he hadn't actually lost anything. Instead, he could make a tidy profit selling Centenary Refined Blazing Gold. His mood became incredibly cheerful.

He looked up at the White Bone Dao Palace. There might be even better things inside.

Was there still something worth exploring in this side quest?

"Let me find something to make up for my mental anguish."

Yang Ling prepared to head into the Dao Palace.

[Hidden side quest complete. Other areas of the White Bone Dao Palace are not yet open.]

A game notification appeared before Yang Ling's eyes.

At the same time, an invisible wall slowly materialized, preventing him from advancing even half a step!

Yang Ling slunk back, disappointed.

Everyone's gazes fell on him in unison.

"It's fine. I recovered most of the Quenched-Gold Armor-Piercing Flying Daggers. The loss isn't that bad."

Yang Ling waved his hand dismissively.

Jiang Tian'ai said anxiously, "Qin Mo said you were crying. Don't pretend to be fine, Brother Yang. If you want to cry, just cry it out loud. You'll feel better!"

Yang Ling looked at Qin Mo in disbelief.

Qin Mo said sheepishly, "Well, uh..."

"I wasn't crying. I was furious."

Yang Ling said, half laughing and half crying. "I'm seriously fine. You all should get to cultivating. Don't waste time."

Everyone felt a deep sense of reverence. They hadn't expected Yang Ling to be not only incredibly capable but also this mentally resilient.

If they had suffered such a loss, their hearts would have been wrecked!

Yang Ling walked toward a corner and sat down cross-legged.

It was time for him to strengthen himself.

He took out a White Bone Vital Qi Pill and swallowed it directly.

After consuming twenty White Bone Vital Qi Pills, his Vital Qi skyrocketed.

From 11,800 points, it surged all the way to 13,800 points!

"It doesn't seem like I've hit the cap yet?"

Yang Ling pondered.

This was good news.

The deeper his Vital Qi reserves in the Upper Sixth-Rank, the greater the benefits he'd reap when breaking through to the Lower Fifth-Rank!

If possible, he wanted his Vital Qi cap to reach 20,000 points!

"20,000 should be about right, right? That's twice the standard for Upper Sixth-Rank Vital Qi."

Not far away, Lin Caiyi and the others kept stealing glances in Yang Ling's direction.

They had no idea what pill Yang Ling was taking, but they were envious regardless.

That pill was definitely something special. It wasn't a Foundation Consolidation Pill or a Spirit Nurturing Pill. It had to be something far more valuable than those!

"Next up, the White Bone Demon Spirit Pill!"

A glint of determination flashed through Yang Ling's eyes. He slowly took one out and tossed it into his mouth.

A surging warm current flowed through his body, eventually converging at the center of his brow.

The Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram's experience immediately skyrocketed from 15,770 to 20,770!

A massive increase of 5,000 points!

"The Vajra Bright King Technique is still at Flawless Proficiency, yet this internal technique is about to advance to Skilled first. Who would've thought?"

Yang Ling was filled with emotion, but he didn't stop. He kept tossing White Bone Demon Spirit Pills into his mouth.

Before and after, he consumed a total of 17 White Bone Demon Spirit Pills.

The Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram's experience finally broke through the 100,000-point mark!

[Congratulations, the Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram has advanced to Skilled]

[Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram]

[Skilled: Gain 80 Spirit. Exclusive Skill: Object Control]

An incredibly frigid aura surged into the center of Yang Ling's brow in an instant.

On his Status Panel, Spirit began skyrocketing from 200 points all the way to 280 points!

Yang Ling felt everything around him becoming increasingly clear.

Every person's heartbeat, the sound of blood flowing, even the squelching of internal organs.

All of it became exceptionally distinct, as if echoing right beside his ears.

"Qin Mo must have eaten something bad. He's got an upset stomach."

"Hmm, Lin Caiyi is on her period."

"Has Teacher Zhang been dealing with athlete's foot lately..."

Yang Ling's expression shifted slightly. He immediately cut off his supernatural perception, keeping it confined to roughly a zhang around his body!

His gaze fell upon the Object Control skill, his eyes filled with anticipation!

[Score's at 8.4 now, jumped 0.2 points. Never expected that. Every 0.1 point means three bonus chapters, so today I'll be adding 6 extra chapters on top of the usual three. Brothers, you're too amazing. I'm moved to tears, wuwuwu...]