The Return

Wang Ping did not dare to confirm whether the little girl, Lin Xiao'e, really had the thunder-elemental spiritual core constitution.

However, he knew that, at the very least, she had a metal-wood dual-elemental spiritual core constitution.

As such, he would have no reason to leave her in Golden Shell Village or to let her be adopted by a mortal family.

However, Wang Ping only had one water-elemental cultivation technique, the Cloud Water Technique, which was not suitable for Lin Xiao'e's constitution.

Furthermore, Lin Xiao'e likely possessed a thunder-elemental spiritual core constitution. Hence, at the very least, she had the gift of a dual-type spiritual core constitution. Wang Ping felt that he was unable to teach her cultivation.

If such a precious talent cultivated with him, he would only hold her potential back.

Furthermore, even if he could find a suitable cultivation technique for Lin Xiao'e, given her talent, she would surpass him in cultivation in less than seven to eight years.

By then, Wang Ping would feel very awkward.

Thus, after careful consideration, Wang Ping decided to find a true cultivation expert for Lin Xiao'e. This way, her talent would not be wasted.

As for the expert he would choose, Wang Ping already had some ideas.

It was just that he did not know if that senior would be willing to accept Lin Xiao'e as his disciple.

To prevent the girl from overthinking, Wang Ping was not in a hurry to tell her his thoughts. Instead, he helped her set up a cenotaph with what her parents had left behind. He then meditated to recover his magic power before bringing her out of Golden Shell Village.

Wang Ping made a rattan basket and tied it to Xiao Feng's back. He had Lin Xiao'e sit inside the basket and let Xiao Feng lead the way. They traveled for a day before returning to the small courtyard on White Gull Mountains.

After returning to his own territory, Wang Ping first allowed Lin Xiao'e, who was already quite tired after a day of rough travel, to take a hot bath before going to sleep. Then, he entered the "Heaven and Earth Shell" to deal with the corpses of the two Alligator-Tailed Toads.

As they were low-grade tier 1 demon beasts, the Alligator-Tailed Toad's long tongues could be used to refine Dharma weapons. They could barely be considered low-grade Tier 1 materials.

As for their thick outer skin, although its defensive power was decent, it wasn't enough to be used as materials for Dharma weapons refining. At most, it could be made into leather armor to help provide some form of protection.

Because the cultivation resources on the Golden Pearl Island were scarce, Wang Ping and the other wandering cultivators had to rely on hunting demon beasts to survive.

However, the Spirit Qi in the body of a tier 1 demon beast was scattered and unstable. Without proper preservation, most of the Spirit Qi in the flesh, blood, and bones of the demon beast would slowly disperse after being killed by a cultivator. Only a small amount of Spirit Qi in the organs would remain inside and could be used by refiner cultivators to refine Dharma weapons.

Take the Alligator-Tailed Toads that Wang Ping had killed for example. After they died, if they were placed outside, instead of inside the "Heaven and Earth Shell," the Spirit Qi within the flesh, blood, and bones —besides the tongues— would have completely dispersed in less than two days.

Meanwhile, the Spirit Qi in the tongues would settle down and remain for a long time.

These kinds of materials from the demon beasts, which could either gather Spirit Qi to refine weapons or possess other uses, were what cultivators were truly looking for.

For the itinerant cultivators on Golden Pearl Island, after obtaining these materials, they could typically deal with them in two ways. The first was to send them straight to the island's largest cultivation organization, the Li family, also known as the "Golden Pearl Li Clan," in exchange for a meager number of spirit stones, spirit pearls, spirit talismans, and other items.

The second way was to wait for the night of the full moon every month and bring the items to Black Stone Mountain on the northeast of Golden Pearl Island, where one could trade them with other wandering cultivators.

Black Stone Mountain was also a place where a cultivator in the Foundation Establishment stage resided just outside the "Golden Pearl Li Clan." Apart from the Li family's residence, it was also another place where Spirit Qi would gather.

Right now, the cultivator who occupied Black Stone Mountain was known as the "Black Shark Drifter." He was a powerful Middle-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator and had also raised a tier 2 Demon Shark that was comparable in skills to an Early-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

It was precisely due to his own prowess and the assistance of the Demon Shark spirit pet that the "Black Shark Drifter" was able to occupy the Black Stone Mountain, a spiritual mountain that stood beside the 'Golden Pearl Li Clan' which had three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Moreover, he was even able to set up a temporary market to snatch meat from the Li family.

It was also because of the "Black Shark Drifter" that the "Golden Pearl Li Clan" did not dare to oppress the wandering cultivators on Golden Jewel Island as cruelly as they did a few decades ago.

According to news that Wang Ping had heard from some senior cultivators, over thirty years ago, before the "Black Shark Drifter" arrived at Golden Pearl Island to occupy the Black Stone Mountain, the itinerant cultivators had to deliver a complete set of low-grade tier 1 demon beast material to the Li family in order to obtain three measly low-grade spirit stones.

If the materials were slightly defective, or if the Li family cultivator purchasing the materials was in a bad mood, the three low-grade Spirit Stones could be reduced to only two. It was simply outrageous!

Now, a complete set of low-grade tier 1 demon beast material could be traded for five low-grade spirit stones from the Li family.

But this was all thanks to the fact that the Li family was really that despicable back then, and they had left the other cultivators with no choice.

First, they had enormous influence, and they had more than one Foundation Establishment cultivator leading them. Even if the itinerant cultivators banded together, they wouldn't be able to kill the Li family.

Second, the routes to the other islands where a large number of cultivators would gather were firmly controlled by the Li family. Only the Li family's fleet could safely travel thousands of miles to other large islands under the escort of Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

If itinerant cultivators wanted to sail out to sea with their own ships, they would most likely die in a storm or from the attacks of demon beasts in the sea.

Of course, itinerant cultivators could also leave Golden Pearl Island by riding on the Li Family's ship. However, the price of a ride was high enough to make ordinary itinerant cultivators despair. Moreover, the Li Family was only in charge of bringing people away and would not bring people back.

Up until now, Wang Ping had never heard of the return of any itinerant cultivator that left Golden Pearl Island, by boarding the Li family's ship.

As a result, itinerant cultivators secretly claimed that after the Li family tricked the people out of the island, they would kill them mid-journey and throw them out into the sea. As such, no one dared to really board the Li family's ship anymore.

Wang Ping never thought about leaving Golden Pearl Island, for the time being. Now that he had dealt with the tongues of the two Alligator-Tailed Toads, he only thought about bringing them to Black Stone Mountain in half a month to see if he could trade them for anything good.

As for the toad's remaining flesh and bones, Wang Ping despised the fact that these two animals had just eaten humans. He did not intend to eat them himself. Instead, he chopped them up and fed them to the Golden-Striped Prawns and Xiao Feng.

He also decided to tan the two skins to see if he could make two pieces of leather armor for himself.

If he could succeed, he would have an additional layer of protection when he went out to hunt demon beasts in the future. For all he knew, it might be able to save his life at the most critical moment.