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nIt allowed Zac to relax somewhat about Emily’s situation since he could tell it wasn’t bad news going by Kenzie’s expression. She was apparently out on a hunting trip at the moment, but she should be back pretty soon. It made Zac worry a bit that she still pushed herself to such a degree, but she was always accompanied by demon guards to keep her somewhat safe.

nApart from the attribute fruits, there were also three Dao Treasures, and Zac unhesitantly kept those for himself. He had five seeds to work on now, and he would need every bit of help he could get. Zac only needed to figure out a direction for his seeds before he ate the treasures to increase the likelihood of improving his seeds.

nA much larger section of his private stock was filled with high-quality gear that the Sky Gnomes felt had too much value to directly put in the merit exchange. They would cost too many points, making it so that no one would be able to exchange for them until the war with the invaders was over.

nThe most interesting item for Zac was a large glistening shield that radiated weight and ruthlessness. It was a bulwark in the true sense of the word. It was made in black E-Graded metals and was roughly 160 centimeters high and a meter wide. The width was almost the same across the whole thing, apart from the top where one end reached a bit higher than the other.

nIt was also clear it was meant for more than simple defense since five large spikes jutted out from the front, and the bottom also had jagged spikes sticking out like teeth. No matter if he bashed someone or slammed down the lower edge he would cause gruesome wounds.

nBetter yet, it came with a skill. And interestingly enough it wasn’t a defensive shield like the one his old robes possessed, but an offensive one. He could slam the shield down into the ground, which would unleash a barrage of steel spikes at his opponents in front of him. It was a pretty good area attack, and it only needed 5 minutes to recharge rather than a full day.

nIt was a great complement to Zac’s somewhat disappointing offensive force in his undead form. His thorn aura was an amazing skill, but it took some time to whittle down his enemies. Smarter enemies would also figure out some workarounds after a while, like using defensive tools while attacking to neutralize Deathwish.

nUnfortunately, the shield wasn’t a Spirit Tool, but its quality was top E-Grade, and far sturdier than the shield he took from Thea’s bodyguard. It would likely last him quite some time before he needed to swap it out.

nThe Sky Gnomes had also figured out the workings of the Spirit Vessel. Zac needed to use the elder token that he found at the same time as a key. When activated the large ball changed form into a large floating disk. It looked quite a bit like the array disks that he got from Ylvas, only a lot larger.

nIt was about four meters across, so it wouldn’t be able to transport a whole army, but it would be able to fly a small strike squad with himself and a handful of others without a problem. Its speed was nothing to scoff at either. According to Calrin, it wasn’t anything special, but it was far faster than Zac could run, and over twice as quick as Zac’s fastest Creator Vessel.

nIt even had a defensive shield that both blocked out any wind and weaker attacks. But it wasn’t a flying fortress, so using the shield to block out too strong attacks would ruin the disk. Kenzie had put the ball into her own pile, but it was one of the few things he took back for himself.

n“You should take this to David and Hannah when you visit them,” Kenzie suddenly said as she handed him another disk.

n“What’s this?” Zac asked as he curiously took the package of array disks.

nThey looked pretty similar to the array disks that he got from Ylvas, though the five disks that he held seemed to be meant to be used together.

n“They are farming disks,” Calrin explained. “We found a total of 16 such sets. The one you’re holding is of average quality, and covers a smaller area.”

n“Farming disks?” Zac asked with some confusion. “What do they do?”

n“Farming arrays help with farming, of course. These ones combine five different arrays. It provides energy gathering, energy infusion, irrigation, fertilization, and low-grade pest control,” Calrin said. “Better ones also can also speed up maturity times, though that’s usually done by the farmer’s skills.”

nZac looked down at the nifty arrays with surprise. Planting these on a field would truly make life a lot easier for a farmer, and it was a good gift to David if he truly had his mind set on farming in seclusion. But he wasn’t ready to meet up with Hannah at the moment, even if Janos had worked on her mind. Getting stabbed by your ex wasn’t something you got over in a day, not even in this new ruthless world.

nEven more surprisingly there were four Spirit tools in the collection. There was a large golden bow, a seemingly unremarkable sword that possessed a dense killing intent, a mage’s staff that seemed to continuously absorb the Cosmic Energy from the area, and finally a small paintbrush.

nZac was especially surprised to learn that the small brush was a Spirit Tool, but he soon understood its use after Calrin’s explanation. It could both be used for inscriptions and attacks for certain classes like Calligraphers.

nKenzie had already laid claim to the staff, but since he didn’t have any specific people in mind for the other three spirit tools he decided to put them in the Merit Exchange as top prizes instead of hoarding them. Hopefully, it would motivate some people to work harder if they saw they could even get Spirit Tools with merit points.

nThere were also dozens of pieces of gear that weren’t Spirit Tools but as high-quality as his new shield. Zac would gift have Kenzie gift them just like the attribute fruits, as long as there were proper recipients. They could be of great assistance in the upcoming battle, after all.

nZac took two Defensive rings and a Defensive amulet for himself and gave the same to Kenzie who put them on. She already had the protective array on her that he bought before the hunt, but that only worked on the island. Having a few back-ups wouldn’t hurt.

nApart from the gear, there were also a ton of convenient items that would be a great addition to any Cultivator’s survival kit. There was a small mountain of healing pills, all of them better than the standard-grade items that the General Stores sold.

nThere were also quite a few one-time items in the vein of the Thunder Punishment Array that he used during the beast hordes. Most of the ones he had found were useless for himself, but they might save the lives of the soldiers.

nZac decided to make two such items a part of the standard kit for the Valkyries and demons, which would hopefully improve the survival rate in the upcoming battles. They were things such as fireball-talismans or shield beads that soaked up some damage for the user for a short duration.

nThere were a few stronger items as well, and Zac ended up saving two of them for himself. One was a pitch-black glass ball that the old Sky Gnome called a Void Ball with some fear in his eyes. It was a truly dangerous item that actually caused a temporary tear in space.

nIt was only an E-Grade ball, but it would destabilize over a hundred meters around it. If Zac himself wasn’t far enough he would kill himself since he couldn’t withstand spatial rifts even with his recent upgrades to his Endurance. In fact, almost nothing in the F-grade could withstand the spatial storms from the Void Ball, meaning that it could be used for anything from widespread carnage to destroying arrays.

nThe second item he kept for himself was a defensive item. It looked like a golden walnut, and it was simply called Bramble Wall. If he infused it with cosmic energy it would turn into an enormous dome of thick brambles that could protect against almost any attacks.

nBetter yet, Zac had a feeling he would be able to strengthen the item even further with the help of his Dao of Trees. It wasn’t very useful for him personally, but it would make great last-ditch protection if his whole army was in danger for some wide-spread attack. The Bramble Wall could spread a lot further compared to even his Souped-Up Nature’s Barrier, which wasn’t designed for large area protection.

nUnexpectedly the simple-looking prayer-mat he found in the first temple also ended up in his own treasure-pile. It was a very valuable item made from D-Grade materials. It was mainly used by cultivators, but it could even help a mortal to absorb Cosmic Energy faster. Sitting on the mat after a battle would allow Zac to get back to a fighting condition almost twice as fast.

nZac felt that his force would gain a huge all-around boost by the large pile he had just gone through. Some items were even upgrades for himself who already possessed some of the best gear on Earth. They would be enormous upgrades for the Valkyries and the Demon Warriors. And all this was just the smallest of the three categories of loot.

nThe second smallest pile of treasures was the one that Calrin would sell through the Thayer Consortia since most would be placed into the Merit Exchange. Port Atwood was simply lacking just about everything at the moment, so most items would be kept. Still, Calrin estimated the sell-off would bring Zac another 250 to 300 million nexus coins.

nA large portion of the items in the sell-off pile was things like gear from the thousands of fallen that had accumulated in his pouch. Each item was only worth a couple of thousand Nexus Coins, but Calrin believed he could sell the items in bulk to some low-grade planets. It was the same with the various pills of average efficacy.

nThere were also a few dozen low-grade Cultivation manuals that Calrin didn’t recommend keeping in the Merit Store. It would almost be a disservice to allow his own citizens to cultivate using such **ty manuals since it could cause trouble for them down the line.

nInstead, the Sky Gnome would pawn them off to hapless rogue cultivators in the multi-verse for a few million a pop. Zac felt a bit bad about it, but he needed money and the cultivators could only blame themselves if they bought such an important item without understanding it properly.

nThe final pile would be used to stimulate every sector of Port Atwood, and it ranged from everything from Nexus Crystals to weapons and armor to knowledge. The information crystals that Zac got from Anzonil was the best collection he got, but not the only one. There were multiple other crystals that Zac got, mainly form killing the Emperor.

nThose crystals covered everything from Blacksmithing to Alchemy, though Zac knew that those were just minor paths in the Eastern Trigram Sect. Still, they would bring a great boost to the productivity and skill of the artisans of the island, especially when combined with The Celestial Artisan heritage.

nThe sky gnomes estimated the final pile to be valued at roughly 700 million Nexus Coins, excluding the Information Crystals. That meant that the two piles of average treasures were worth around a billion Nexus Coins, and that was only a small part of the total wealth he brought back. It was an enormous number and much more than what he possessed before.

nZac couldn’t even imagine the total wealth he’d bring back if the System hadn’t adjusted the trial ground and removed the real valuable items. What if the odd Mystic Realm in his possession possessed equivalent wealth as the original Eastern Trigram Sect? Ogras seemed to believe that the realm had roughly the same power levels as the sect after all.

nIt all depended on what the rest of the odd structure Ogras described contained, but even if they turned into salvagers and stripped the metals from the walls they would likely make billions. That meant that there might be some really valuable things further in.

nZac had thought that hunting beasts was the most efficient way for him to get richer since he was able to gain tens of millions of Nexus Coins in a Day if he pushed himself. But exploring ruins in Mystic Realms or looting enemy forces was clearly more lucrative, and Zac understood why there was so much conflict in the multiverse. War was an extremely profitable business, as long as you won.

nZac couldn’t help but feel a bit morose as he thought about life in the multi-verse. He would likely never be able to just sit back and relax since there would always be other people improving while eyeing his wealth. But Zac was soon brought out of his slightly morbid musings by some movement outside his courtyard. He looked up and slightly smiled when he saw who it was.

nEmily had changed quite a bit in the past month.

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