Duncan was unaware that the person whom he had left alive earlier had riled up a group of strong cultivators to come after him with vengeance in their minds.
Maybe if he had known he wouldn't be as free as he was now and would be making haste in his travel through the wilderness. Right now, he was sitting and counting the spoils he had obtained from the slaughter he had caused.
Duncan had a bright smile on his face as he looked at the small mound of spirit stones he had obtained from all the young talents and spectators he had killed. His spoils were not just that, there were other items like spirit herbs, pills, weapons, techniques, and other miscellaneous items that were piled up as well.
One of the biggest concerns he had when he decided not to go back to the sect any time soon was how to obtain resources. Resources were an integral part of a cultivator's progress in his cultivation journey.
Even though his cultivation technique was tilted towards slaughter, it didn't mean that the other resources weren't helpful to him at all. Duncan felt incredibly happy at this moment looking at the pile of loot he had obtained.
Especially, the mound of spirit stones he had in his possession was bringing him great joy. Duncan didn't think that killing could bring him this much wealth. The slaughter he had just committed had not only helped him advance in his cultivation, it also gave him immense wealth. Duncan couldn't stop smiling as he looked at it.
"This is more than ten times the amount of spirit stones I had in possession before entering the Dark Star City. These prodigals were surely living well," Duncan tutted shaking his head.
In his head, he felt that these idiots having these resources were a waste. If he had this many resources with him, he wouldn't wantonly go out and create trouble for himself. For a moment Duncan felt like finding a remote location and calmly cultivating for some time, then he shook his head remembering the essence of his cultivation technique.
"It's a pity that I couldn't use most of these resources. If I had an orthodox cultivation technique that could be practiced by consuming these resources, I wouldn't even need to head out to search for opportunities," Duncan shook his head.
"Items that increase perception, cultivation speed, body strength, and whatnot. There are even items that could help one breakthrough. These prodigals surely had everything with them. Why did they have to come and hunt me down? Isn't this seeking death!?" Duncan lamented aloud and looked at the pile of loot he had obtained.
"The spirit stones can be used by me, so I am definitely keeping that. Of these herbs, only those that can aid the body can be used by me. Then, there is that single stalk of soul grass that I obtained. With it, I can cultivate the soul technique I got in the Grotto Heaven," Duncan mumbled looking at the items spread out before him.
"I think the biggest harvest is the two stalks of sword grass that I obtained from that idiot who hurt me. With it, I can try to comprehend more of my sword cultivation. Not to mention those two higher-grade weapons that I obtained from those two. They still have one more usage in them. They will surely come in handy," Duncan said eyeing the small saber and small sword he had obtained after killing those two cultivators who had almost defeated him towards the end.
"This saber crystal is useless to me. There is also a bunch of other mediocre weapons. They are just clutter at this point. I have no intention of using any other weapon than my sword," Duncan shook his head looking at the pile of weapons he had separated out.
"I think I need to make a visit to the Black Market and sell these to them along with the herbs that aren't that useful to me. Still, I really feel reluctant to sell spirit herbs constantly. The ones I got from Grotto Heaven were exchanged for spirit stones as well in the sect. These herbs are hard to find, but they have limited use for me," Duncan mumbled looking a little bit hesitant.
"I should find another use for them soon. It doesn't make sense to always sell the spirit herbs I obtain," Duncan shook his head and looked at the pile of manuals that he had obtained.
"Right now, the biggest use I have is for these manuals. During my fight with those idiots, I realized that I had several deficiencies when it came to martial arts techniques. I didn't have a good defense technique. I didn't have any variety. I need to shore up that bit soon," Duncan mumbled looking at the pile of manuals in front of him.
"I should take some time and see if there is anything that could be used by me in these manuals. Who knows, I might come across some pretty rare technique like the <Primal Bull Fist> that was entirely suitable for me."
Duncan looked at the manuals with desire in his eyes for some time before shifting his eyes away. His gaze fell on the various materials that were present amidst the loot.
"Hmmm, I have never come into touch with materials," Duncan frowned slightly. "Even though I know the usage of some of them, most of them are relatively unknown to me. I will need to get them appraised in a treasure house sometime later. Luckily, I know of the materials that a sword might require to upgrade itself. But, that only works if the sword has a spirit."
Duncan frowned realizing that while he might be attached to this mysterious sword, it didn't mean he knew much about it. He didn't know what grade it was, the resources required to upgrade it, and how it should be upgraded either. That meant that he couldn't easily upgrade his sword or sell off any of these before knowing the basic requirements.
Duncan took out his sword and looked at it in a scrutinizing manner. He had read a little extensively on swords and their characteristics during his recent return to the sect. So, his knowledge of swords wasn't really lacking.
However, it didn't mean that he knew the requirements for his sword to be upgraded. He wasn't a swordsmith or a weapons refiner. Without them taking a look at his sword, he wouldn't know where to begin or if it is even possible for his sword to be upgraded.
Right now, he didn't even know if his sword had undergone some mutation from an ordinary sword or whether it was a graded sword from the beginning itself. The only person who knew about the history of the sword was Granny Jiao and she wasn't alive any longer for him to enquire.
"Let's shelve this for now," Duncan mumbled a little dejectedly. "I will get someone to take a look at it first. Only then, can I figure out what is happening with it."
Duncan's hands moved to sheathe his sword but stopped as he felt it trembling very slightly. He could feel a sort of hunger being transmitted by the sword. It was very very weak at this moment, but the sensation was one he was intimately familiar with.
During his early days in the spirit mine, he had worked while being hungry for a long time before he grew into his own strength. So, it was a familiar emotion to him. Suddenly, feeling the same sort of emotions inside him evoked old memories in Duncan a bit.
Startled by the sudden sense of hunger he was feeling, Duncan looked at his sword a bit more closely. The sword seemed to be hungry and was craving for something. Duncan was intrigued by this new development.
He had read a few texts in the scripture hall regarding situations like these where a sword birthed artifact spirit due to special circumstances. But, those were incredibly rare and required very esoteric requirements to be met. He had never thought that it would happen to him.
Still, he was a little bit happy. He didn't even know if his suspicion about an artifact spirit being birthed was indeed right. But, Duncan was willing to give it a go. So, he decided to do something stupid.
On a whim, Duncan took his sword and started placing it on each of the materials he had obtained. The first few tries didn't elicit any reaction to his efforts. However, when the sword was placed on a bloodred stone, he could feel the trembling intensify for a moment and the hunger fades.
Duncan looked at the bloodred stone curiously and wanted to see if he could figure out what it was. It was an unknown material to him. So, he took it in his hands and probed it with his consciousness.
There wasn't anything different about the stone apart from its color at first look. But, when his consciousness scoured the stone, he could feel a sense of something that was related to slaughter in it. Duncan had become incredibly sensitive towards anything related to Slaughter Dao after his breakthrough.
He didn't know if it was because of his breakthrough or it was because of the legendary foundation he established, or it was because of his bloodline, or it was because of the combination of all of them. However, one thing he was sure about was that his sensitivity to slaughter dao had increased tremendously recently.
And right now, it was clear to him that this stone had some association with slaughter and his sword was interested in it!
