Wu Qi escaped through the air. The opposing forces had suffered heavy losses, and with their flying Spirit Masters gone, they could only pursue him from the ground.
They tried to identify his martial soul through the wings on his back and thereby determine his identity.
However, Spirit Bone wings were fundamentally different from martial soul wings. There was no way they could recognize them so easily.
Moreover, Dugu Bo was not about to leave any loose ends behind.
After Wu Qi had escaped far enough, Dugu Bo stepped in and dealt with the remaining stragglers.
Litton Town
When Wu Qi and the others returned, the innkeeper immediately greeted them with a flattering smile.
"Guests, your rooms expire in three days. Would you like to renew them for another six months?"
Sun Buyu waved his hand.
"We'll be leaving in a few days. This trip was meant for training and experience. There's no reason to stay here any longer."
As he spoke, he took out several medicinal herbs from his storage soul tool.
"Innkeeper, these are herbs we've gathered recently. See if anyone wants them and sell them all."
From the innkeeper's perspective, the group had spent the past months either helping people hunt Spirit Beasts or collecting medicinal herbs in the forest.
That naturally served as the perfect cover.
After all, once the two major factions realized no news was coming from the ruins, they would certainly send people to investigate.
Since the Spirit Beast town was only a few hours away from the ruins, it would inevitably become a primary target for investigation.
Because of the habits the group had maintained for nearly half a year, even if the innkeeper wanted to expose them, he had no reasonable basis to do so.
As for why they hadn't immediately fled after obtaining the Spirit Bones?
The answer was simple.
If the matter had nothing to do with them, why would they suddenly run away at the first opportunity?
That would only make them look suspicious.
Following Wu Qi's plan, the group deliberately avoided discussing the Spirit Bones over the next two days. Instead, they continued their routine of entering the forest to gather medicinal herbs.
One day later, the Spirit Beast town suddenly became much busier.
Scouts and informants from various factions arrived one after another.
Naturally, their first suspects were the people living in the town, especially the Azure Luan Squad and the Hualong Squad, both of which had been stationed there for an extended period.
After conducting their investigations, they discovered that both squads had already left the forest when the ruins opened.
Furthermore, based on the established habits of both teams, they could find no reason to suspect them.
Most importantly, Wu Qi and his companions made no attempt to hide. They even actively promoted their squad's services to the investigators.
As a result, the visitors completely lowered their guard.
Three days later, the Seven Treasure Team's carriage departed from Spirit Beast Town and officially began the journey home.
As the carriage finally left the borders of the Kingdom of Hargen-Dazs, everyone's tense nerves relaxed.
"That trick of hiding in plain sight was brilliant, Brother Wu," Changkong praised sincerely.
Looking back, if they had fled immediately after obtaining the Spirit Bones, both major factions would have become suspicious and would never have let them leave so easily.
Throughout the journey, Dugu Bo had remained hidden.
Only after they had completely left the kingdom did he finally rejoin the group.
"You were quite fortunate," Dugu Bo said.
"After you left, the people from the Xinshan Sect and the royal family entered the ruins together. I don't know what they did, but part of the mountain collapsed and buried quite a few of them."
Hearing this, Feng Xiaotian and the others looked at Wu Qi with gratitude.
Had Wu Qi not stopped them, they might have been the ones buried beneath the rubble.
After hearing the full story, Dugu Bo laughed loudly.
"To resist greed at your age... kid, you're truly something else."
Wu Qi did not take credit for it.
The decision was largely influenced by the tomb-raiding stories and films he had seen in his previous life.
In environments like ancient tombs, human greed was often the easiest thing to exploit.
His suggestion had simply been the safest option.
After all, given their talents, they all had a chance of reaching the Title Douluo level through normal cultivation. There was no need to gamble recklessly with their lives.
"Now that everyone's here, let's divide the spoils."
This expedition had yielded six Spirit Bones in total.
When the Spirit Bones were taken out of the storage soul tool, Dugu Bo immediately showed a look of regret.
"Too much time has passed. A large amount of spirit power has already leaked from these Spirit Bones. If a few more years had gone by, they would have become completely useless."
"Can they still be restored?" Wu Qi asked.
Dugu Bo nodded.
"Of course. To a Spirit Bone, the spirit power within your bodies is like rain after a long drought. After absorbing the bones, if you nourish them with your own spirit power for a period of time, there's a chance they can recover to their peak condition."
"However, there's always a price."
"While nourishing the Spirit Bone, much of the spirit power you cultivate will be absorbed by it. Your strength won't improve much during that period."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as restoration was possible, a temporary slowdown in cultivation was not a significant concern.
Wu Qi then presented the distribution plan he had already prepared.
"We'll divide them according to contribution."
"This time, the old monster contributed the most. He should receive the best Spirit Bone."
Dugu Bo immediately shook his head.
The only reason he had helped was to repay the favor he owed Wu Qi.
The life-changing help Wu Qi had given him was not something that could ever truly be repaid.
Helping Wu Qi simply eased his conscience.
Wu Qi's expression hardened.
"Old monster, I won't use favors to pressure you."
"This is the reward you've earned."
"Even if you don't think about yourself, shouldn't you at least think about Dugu Yan?"
As he spoke, he pushed the head Spirit Bone toward Dugu Bo.
Dugu Bo sighed.
"Kid, if we're talking about merit, the greatest contribution was yours."
"Without your suggestion, we never would have known these ruins existed, and we certainly wouldn't have obtained these Spirit Bones."
"You should keep this head Spirit Bone."
The moment Dugu Bo's fingers touched the Spirit Bone, he immediately sensed the immense spirit power that had once resided within it.
His expression changed drastically.
"This is a 100,000-year Spirit Bone!"
Instantly, the carriage fell silent.
Everyone's eyes locked onto the Spirit Bone.
Dugu Bo placed it into Wu Qi's hands.
"Kid, you made the greatest contribution. This Spirit Bone rightfully belongs to you. Hurry and accept it."
Feng Xiaotian and the others quickly added,
"That's right, Captain. Without your leadership, we might have already died inside the ruin."
Sun Buyu smiled.
"Wu Qi, you're the core of this team. A 100,000-year head Spirit Bone will benefit you more than anyone else. Don't refuse."
"..."
The value of a 100,000-year Spirit Bone was simply too great.
It was on an entirely different level from ordinary 10,000-year Spirit Bones. Even several 90,000-year Spirit Bones combined could not compare to its worth.
After all, a 100,000-year Spirit Bone could grant a Spirit Master two Spirit Bone abilities.
Seeing his hesitation, everyone continued persuading him.
Taking a deep breath, Wu Qi finally nodded seriously.
"Alright, then I'll accept it."
"However, I'll compensate each of you with an additional thirty thousand gold soul coins to make up for the extra value of this Spirit Bone."
Afraid that Wu Qi might refuse the Spirit Bone, everyone readily accepted his proposed compensation.
After a pause, Wu Qi took out the Spirit Bone he had obtained when acquiring his fourth Spirit Ring.
With that included, there were now seven Spirit Bones remaining to be distributed among eight people.
Sun Buyu was the first to choose one.
"The Spirit Ring for Wu Qi's fourth Spirit Ring came from a wind-attributed Spirit Beast, and this Spirit Bone suits my martial soul well. I'll take this one."
Dugu Bo was about to decline his share when he suddenly remembered something.
"I recently received some news. The championship prize for the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Tournament includes three Spirit Bones."
"If anyone here doesn't receive a Spirit Bone today, they can be given priority when we obtain those rewards after the tournament."
As he spoke, and under the enthusiastic insistence of the others, he finally accepted the 50,000-year torso Spirit Bone.
----
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