Chapter 83: Destruction

Lu Xingzhou quietly sat atop the secret repository mountain, watching the flames on the front mountain peak burning the sky.

The main buildings of Incense Burning Tower were almost all destroyed, and the sounds of flying swords, magic treasures unleashing their power, and screams echoed everywhere.

Vaguely, fierce shouts could still be heard: "Zhang Shaoyou! Qin Buwang! You hesitant traitors, do you really think Tianxing Sword Sect will trust you? Don't wait until after this battle when the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked!"

The response from the other side was already too faint to hear clearly.

The distance felt as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Master, everything has been looted clean!" Anuo happily ran out, the inside of the secret repository completely bare, as if licked clean by a dog.

"Any good stuff?"

"The magic treasures weren't that great, and many were only at the magic tool level... I don't know what face they had to hide those in the secret repository, it was a false alarm. But the high-grade pills and talismans are quite good." Anuo said happily, "At least enough to support my meals for a year, looks like my fourth grade is coming soon."

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but laugh.

Ever since leaving Yanluo Hall, he had been racking his brain to earn money for Anuo to buy pills to eat, even having to refine pills himself while guarding against theft. This past year felt like a fleeting cloud... He originally thought this kind of life would continue for a long time, but without realizing it, he had returned to the state of previous years, where pills were eaten casually, talismans were taken freely, and magic tools were used as he pleased.

No, it was better than before.

"You can't compare the collections of Incense Burning Tower and Yanluo Hall, they're not on the same level..."

"At least third grade and first grade are both called third grade."

"But your Fish Sister isn't an ordinary first grade, Incense Burning Tower is a very poor third grade, the gap between them is bigger than the difference in height between you and me."

Anuo stood on tiptoes, and found that even on her tiptoes she could only reach about as tall as Lu Xingzhou sitting in his wheelchair, so she drooped her head dejectedly.

While they were talking, human voices gradually approached. Amidst a bustle, the people from Tianxing Sword Sect and Dongjiang Gang gradually gathered towards this side.

Each one looked full of killing intent, their bodies covered in blood, and they seemed to be stuffed with killed-and-robbed rings and magic treasures, as well as pills and spirit stones plundered from other storehouses.

Unconsciously, the battle had ended...

It was so fast, completely a one-sided massacre.

Lu Xingzhou felt almost nothing about this. In the years following Yuan Muyu, he had participated in far too many extermination cases...

He calmly sacrificed the Ten Thousand Souls Banner. Black mist gathered from all over the mountain. Those who had just died, were dying, and the ten thousand resentful souls were collected and gathered, serving as nourishment for the Ten Thousand Souls Banner's growth. Although he had participated in many extermination cases, he was mostly in the background, rarely having the opportunity to collect resentful souls. Currently, he had only accumulated over a thousand souls. Once he truly gathered ten thousand souls, this banner would advance to the upper third grade path.

A comfortable groan emanated from the black flame within the soul banner: "So good, more... I want more."

Lu Xingzhou: "?"

Wait, is there something wrong with this main soul?

When Shi Tielong and others arrived, the black mist had already dissipated. They only saw Lu Xingzhou and his disciple standing at the secret repository door, as if waiting for them.

Their eyes passed over the master and disciple and glanced towards the secret repository, which was so clean that dogs wouldn't even crawl in. Shi Tielong's expression wasn't too good: "Mister Lu, isn't this inappropriate? We agreed to attack together, a five-five split. While we were fighting, you came first to take the most valuable secret repository?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Your Excellency also dispatched troops to plunder other storehouses during the battle. It's just that you didn't know the location of the secret repository. If you had known, would you have missed it? Everyone is the same, first come, first served, that's all."

The reasoning was sound, but not getting a share of the highest-level secret repository after fighting for half a day was inevitably a bit frustrating.

Shi Tielong was just about to say something when Lu Xingzhou added: "Gang Leader Shi, you can also see that the opponent's morale was already scattered in this battle. Without all of you, we would have at most fought a bit harder, suffered some casualties, but we wouldn't have been unable to fight, we could have completely taken this on alone. So this battle was almost a freebie for all of you, you eliminated the standing side-by-side third-grade sect in Dongjiang, and you plainly gained countless resources. Lu is completely doing this to make friends with Dongjiang Gang, otherwise finding Cangshan Sword Sect would also be fine..."

Shi Tielong knew the fact wasn't exactly like that. The so-called scattered opponent morale was precisely because of the participation of a large number of strong individuals from his Dongjiang Gang, which created an overwhelming advantage that led to it. If Tianxing Sword Sect had truly fought alone, the opponent's morale might not have scattered, and both sides would have suffered heavy casualties, it wouldn't have been so simple.

But Lu Xingzhou insisted on saying so, and he couldn't say he was wrong. At least he could really find Cangshan Sword Sect and other sects to do this job, it wasn't necessarily his Dongjiang Gang's. The reason for finding his Dongjiang Gang was really to form a good karma. The resources from this battle were indeed a freebie for him, and he had no confidence to contend with Tianxing Sword Sect for the big share.

Thinking about the changes in the county governor's mansion again, the more Shi Tielong looked at Lu Xingzhou at this moment, the more he felt him to be profound and immeasurable, and he really didn't want to have any conflict with him.

Thinking to this point, he simply cupped his hands and showed a smile: "Since Mister Lu says so, we are not petty people either. This time everyone cooperated happily, and we hope to be even more intimate in the future. Um... we captured many Incense Burning Tower alchemists as captives this time. Our sect shouldn't compete with us for these, right?"

"Of course not, whoever captured them counts as whose, we also have captives..." Lu Xingzhou also wore a kind and benevolent smile: "Furthermore, later we will station people and plant medicine gardens on Incense Burning Mountain. At that time, there will still be many opportunities for cooperation with your gang. I still hope Gang Leader Shi will take more care."

Shi Tielong was stunned for a moment, his expression changing.

He had forgotten this point... this was an entire mountain! And it was a medicine mountain most coveted by alchemist sects! Where was the mountain deed?

Looking down, Zhenren Yiyang's corpse was still lying on the ground, his eyes wide open, the ring on his hand already gone... the mountain deed was probably here, already taken by Lu Xingzhou!

Incense Burning Tower wanted to covet Danxia Mountain's earth fire to plant medicine, which was the cause of the conflict between the two sides. After all the trouble, Incense Burning Tower's own strong individuals, resources, and even the mountain were all sent over...

He said it was letting Dongjiang Gang pick up this battle for free, but no matter how he calculated, it seemed that Dongjiang Gang ultimately was just hired by Lu Xingzhou with some resources as fighters. Even the treasure Iron Chain Across the River used to break the array was his, Shi Tielong's...

"This time I can be considered to have recognized Elder Lu... we will be more intimate later." Thinking about the unknown allegiance of Wancheng and Tu Yugui, Shi Tielong, no matter how frustrated he was, ultimately didn't dare to make any moves. With a green face, he waved his hand: "Pack up and go."

Watching the Dongjiang Gang people successively descend the mountain, Anuo curled her lips: "They clearly earned a full basin and pot, and they still look like they suffered a loss..."

"The human heart is bitter and unsatisfied." Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Who told us to earn more? Even the mountain was taken."

Everyone laughed. Lu Xingzhou's gaze fell on Zhang Shaoyou and others: "Gentlemen, how was this battle?"

Zhang Shaoyou was a little nervous: "Zhang, Sect Master, and Girl Dugu together repelled Zhenren Yiyang. The Sect Master didn't let me chase... Afterward, I again killed a Supreme Elder of Incense Burning Tower, a third-grade upper-level alchemist..."

One escaped, and the other was also jointly killed. According to the previous merit agreement of "killing an enemy of the same level," he didn't know if it was enough to get a new pill reward. Then he also somewhat awkwardly said: "This merit is probably not enough, can it be recorded and accumulated later..."

"Why wait?" Lu Xingzhou was about to throw a bottle over when he suddenly remembered Sheng Yuanyao's words from before, and then reached out and quietly poked Shen Tang.

Shen Tang looked at him with a smile that wasn't a smile, and said understandingly: "Killing someone of the same level alone, who dares boast they can do it? If merit required this, that would be demanding. Jointly killing is enough... Moreover, in the battle at the county governor's mansion, Head Zhang already has considerable merit, even if accumulated merit, it is already sufficient."

Lu Xingzhou promptly took out the bottle: "These are auxiliary third-grade cultivation pills, there are three. Head Zhang should first strive to cultivate to the threshold of second grade, and then we will strive to help you break through to second grade."

Zhang Shaoyou took it with great joy: "Many thanks, Sect Master, oh, also many thanks, Elder Lu!"

Qin Buwang and Zhao Guishan both said with a bit of expectation: "We jointly killed two fourth-grades... um, although they were both alchemists, it's a bit of an unfair victory."

"I am also an alchemist." Lu Xingzhou handed over two bottles, one for each: "These are third-grade breakthrough pills, one for each."

The two were greatly pleased, just hearing Lu Xingzhou continue: "As an alchemist, I need to remind the two of you that breakthrough pills are only auxiliary for pushing through. They don't guarantee a breakthrough upon consumption. And if you fail once, taking the same pill again will have an even more unreliable effect. Both of you must be prepared. My personal suggestion is not to use them immediately, but to wait until your cultivation reaches the point where you feel the barrier loosening before using them in conjunction. Remember, remember."

The two looked at each other, both solemnly responding: "Many thanks for Elder Lu's concern, we will take note."

This was something only someone truly concerned about their own people would say. Incense Burning Tower wouldn't even mention giving you pills or not, and even if they did, they would be too lazy to nag about these things, because they had no responsibility for your future, so why say more to bother people.

That kind of change in feeling from mercenary to one of their own was very obvious.

Lu Xingzhou again took out dozens of pills and stuffed them into Shen Tang's hands. Shen Tang then handed all of them to Zhang Shaoyou: "The efforts of the other brothers, Head Zhang should see in your eyes. These should be distributed by Head Zhang. As the head of Sword Edge Hall, this is your duty."

Zhang Shaoyou took a deep breath and solemnly responded while taking the pills: "I will surely distribute them fairly and not fail the Sect Master's trust."

Surveying the joyful faces of the newly joined strong individuals, Shen Tang knew that some people had originally participated in this battle simply because they didn't want Incense Burning Tower to exist, to avoid future retaliation for their 'betrayal'. They fought very hard, and each one had 'great merit'.

However, in fact, they were still hesitant about whether to truly join Tianxing Sword Sect after this. But at this moment, their uneasiness or intent to leave had basically disappeared, and cohesion had preliminarily formed.

Being generous with rewards and letting them see the completely different respect from Incense Burning Tower was one thing. Actually, more importantly, it was letting them see the ease with which Incense Burning Tower was destroyed... Everyone in their hearts knew that following such a boss would be more promising than before.

Using both methods together could win hearts.

Not only them... probably no one in the entire Daqian would have thought that Tianxing Sword Sect could actually, in such a short time, leverage various relationships and completely overthrow Incense Burning Tower at the cost of zero casualties.

After this battle, Tianxing Sword Sect was no longer the emerging sect that needed to cope with various provocations at the grand ceremony, but a truly first-class sect that could be counted in the entire state, a true third-grade strong sect!

Shen Tang swept her gaze across the distant flames and said in a low voice: "Everyone is tired. Take the captives and return to the county to rest first. Subsequent matters will be handled slowly. Um... Elder Lu, follow me for a bit, there's something to discuss."

Dugu Qingli glanced at her with an expressionless face.

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