As expected, a horse didn't fatten without night grass, and a man didn't get rich without windfall wealth.
Right after, Yu Xian discovered a large amount of gold inside Scott's storage ring, estimating it to be at least a hundred jin.
Currently, the price of gold had been steadily rising, standing alongside silver as the most expensive metals. However, silver was deliberately inflated by Blood Clan capital, whereas gold was genuinely rare.
Gold was the most vital medium in alchemy; alchemical products like magic stones and philosopher's stones all required immense amounts of gold.
Yu Xian ran a quick calculation. If he sold all this gold, he would instantly become a nine-figure tycoon.
Although being worth a hundred million was only just barely reaching the proverbial "small goal."
Yu Xian was already pondering buying a new house.
The residential compound he currently lived in was, after all, a place for ordinary people. He had to hold back much of the time, fearful of disturbing others.
If he had the means, he still wanted to buy a larger home—preferably a standalone villa featuring a spacious garden and utmost privacy. That way, he could bask in the sun to his heart's content in the garden and even practice his abilities without worrying about affecting anyone else.
"One hundred million should be enough,"
Yu Xian calculated in his mind, recalling housing prices in Silver City.
Not long ago, Silver City had suffered an aberrant worm disaster, causing property prices to plummet drastically. Houses that previously cost four to five hundred million had dropped to one or two hundred million, and some in less favorable locations could even be bought for seventy or eighty million.
It was fair to say that if anyone needed to buy a house in Silver City, now was the prime opportunity.
Next, Yu Xian continued taking inventory of Scott's assets.
Scott probably had a habit of collecting and hoarding trophies; there was a large quantity of secondhand equipment in his storage space.
Because of the diverse weapon types and the fact that some pieces still bore their original owners' names engraved on them, Yu Xian knew clearly that these were technically stolen goods. The owners were either dead or had been robbed by Scott.
Yu Xian categorized the weapons and inspected each one thoroughly.
The quality of a weapon didn't necessarily correlate with a wielder's personal strength; a weakling could hold a divine artifact, and adventurers fresh out of the beginner village might still wield their "village-best blade."
In fact, there were genuinely high-grade items among this equipment.
For instance, a certain second-generation master who had just finished their apprenticeship used a Dragon-rank precious sword; after Scott killed them, he had kept it in his collection, never having used it to this day.
After tallying the equipment, Yu Xian estimated that selling it all would earn him at least five to six hundred million.
He felt a bit numb from the sheer scale. If killing a single Scott made him this rich, wouldn't killing a few more make him the wealthiest man in Silver City in no time?
*Murder and arson bring golden belts indeed.*
Yu Xian decided to hold onto the gold without selling it, and sell whatever equipment he didn't need to headquarters.
Qilin had always been reclaiming Transcendent equipment, mainly because various squads faced severe shortages of Transcendent-tier arms and gear.
According to procedure, for weapons and equipment seized from criminals, Qilin would first publicize them to Transcendents, contacting the owners or the victims' parents and relatives along the way to inform them that the perpetrator had been brought to justice and inquire whether they wished to redeem the equipment.
If the other party chose not to pay to redeem them, the weapons would be placed in the official store, where members of any squad could purchase them.
In the world of Transcendents, the law was confined within city walls; once outside, the law of the jungle prevailed—the weak fell prey to the strong.
This was also why Transcendents had to pay to redeem equipment.
By slaying the culprit, Qilin had already helped avenge them; the spoils naturally belonged to Qilin. This was a rule of the game accepted by all Transcendents.
When Yu Xian first learned about these rules, he had been somewhat curious why everything had to be publicized and the victims' families contacted.
Later, he discovered the necessity from one of the case files. Several centuries ago, before Qilin established this rule, a squad member had carried a weapon seized from a criminal, only to be mistaken for the killer by the victim's father and tragically murdered.
Following that case, Qilin Headquarters enacted this regulation, which remained in effect to this day.
In reality, many parents of missing persons continuously monitored the tactical police unit's website, hoping for news of their children while dreading the sight of their children's weapons appearing on the public notice board.
Yu Xian glanced at Scott's spoils, knowing that several hundred parents would likely have their hearts broken in the days to come.
A little past nine in the evening, the perfect creature finally died.
Presumably because it could no longer perform Photosynthesis at night, the energy within its body became insufficient to repair its wounds. Ultimately, its flesh and blood withered away, and when it died, its body resembled sun-dried straw.
After confirming the perfect creature was dead, Jin Dajun and Ou Huchen each departed. Both had carved out time from packed schedules to provide reinforcement, and now that the matter was settled, they naturally had to return to their own duties.
Carrying the corpse of the perfect creature, the Evil-Slaying Squad stepped through a bubble and returned to the office. The corpse would be handed over to headquarters for research. Yu Xian, Zhang Shou, Gong Qian, and Qingniao discussed matters briefly and decided to rest for the night, leaving everything else for tomorrow.
For now, the clues regarding the potion resided entirely within Yu Xian's mind, and "Pengzu" had definitely gone into hiding. Even the "Pengzu" Hu Weijie had seen in the past was likely just a disguise, so rushing wouldn't accomplish anything.
Yu Xian returned home.
He had first fought the perfect creature, then matched wits and strength against Scott and Nightwing.
Even if his body wasn't exhausted, he was mentally drained. After taking a shower, he simply collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou first went back to school; the day was unremarkable.
After classes ended in the afternoon, the two arrived at the office. With the assistance of the staff, Yu Xian recreated Pengzu's appearance to perfection. As long as Pengzu had ever appeared in public with this face before, he would definitely not evade investigation.
Next, Yu Xian brought out a large amount of equipment for the staff to inventory, subsequently selling it all to Qilin Headquarters.
Qilin Headquarters certainly wouldn't lose out, while Yu Xian gained convenience, instantly turning into a minor tycoon with several "small goals" in his pocket.
Having finished his business, Yu Xian leisurely returned to Jin Sheng's office. Zhang Shou was lying on the couch playing games, while Gong Qian and Qingniao were quietly discussing clothes and fashion.
Sitting down in an armchair, Yu Xian asked, "Who's free this weekend?"
"Not me. I spotted a decent mission and plan to head over to Rongcheng," Qingniao replied immediately.
Under normal circumstances, squad members rarely stayed grouped together; everyone searched for missions suited to themselves, working hard to earn merit and grow stronger.
It was only due to the consecutive string of events—the aberrant worms, Zhou Tai, Deimos, the perfect creature, and so on—that they had stayed gathered for so long. Now that all those matters were concluded and Pengzu couldn't be tracked down overnight, Qingniao would leave once Saturday's memorial service ended.
"I'm going with Sister Qingniao," Zhang Shou chimed in, raising his hand.
Surprised, Yu Xian asked, "You're going to Rongcheng?"
"Yeah. I need to work hard to get stronger too. I can't just be a spectator forever," Zhang Shou nodded with rare earnestness.
This mission had been a heavy blow to both Qingniao and Zhang Shou; neither had contributed anything meaningful. If not for Yu Xian, Qingniao would already be dead.
As for Zhang Shou, he had merely watched from the sidelines from beginning to end, as though none of it concerned him.
While Yu Xian had been off intercepting Scott and Nightwing, Qingniao and Zhang Shou had reached a mutual understanding: they had to catch up, or at the very least avoid becoming dead weight in the squad.
Seeing that both of them genuinely had plans, Yu Xian could only look toward Gong Qian, but Gong Qian also indicated she had personal matters to attend to.
Left with no other options, Yu Xian suddenly envisioned the image of a glittering, silly goose. Since everyone was busy, why not try asking Nora?
Chapter 69