Chapter 286: Fire Spirit Lord, your doom is at hand!

Does Mount Xuchen have a fated connection with Luo Chen?

"What a joke!"

Inside the Wei Family Manor, Wei Bufan nearly blurted it out.

But after the anger passed, he quickly calmed down.

The meaning behind the other party's words was very clear.

If he did not agree to his conditions, it might not be as simple as just showing up at their door.

If the mountain gates in other places were destroyed by Luo Chen, so be it, but the land always remained.

If Luo Chen was truly interested in Mount Xuchen, it might not be as simple as just destroying the sect.

There was another method, even more cruel than that.

That would be to conquer Mount Xuchen and enslave the Wei family cultivators to work for him.

This kind of thing had been done before; as long as the justification was passable, one didn't have to fear being branded a demonic cultivator.

Now, Wei Tuo's actions had given Luo Chen this "justification."

He had a legitimate reason!

After calming down, Wei Bufan seriously considered Luo Chen's three conditions.

Not seeking revenge was the expected implication.

He didn't mind; after all, his relationship with Wei Tuo was not very harmonious.

Otherwise, when the other party seized the Li family's assets, he wouldn't have left him out.

As for promising to act once for Luo Chen, that required careful consideration.

What if the other party asked him to deal with a Foundation Establishment mid-stage or late-stage figure?

Wouldn't that be sending him to his death!

As for the third condition, it was actually the easiest to understand.

"Second Elder, where did we previously purchase the cultivation elixirs for our younger clansmen?"

Wei Ping'an said without hesitation: "We have always purchased Qi-Nourishing Pills from the Spirit Medicine Pavilion; the price is quite expensive."

After hearing this, Wei Bufan carefully asked about the recent prices of first-tier cultivation elixirs.

After a slight comparison, he made his choice.

"Except for the second condition, I can agree to the other two."

"As for acting on his behalf, you should make another trip and clarify the restrictions. I won't do anything that sends me to my death."

Wei Ping'an looked slightly helpless.

But the family head had given an order, and it concerned the life and death of the Wei family, so he could not refuse.

Just thinking about facing the majesty of that lord made him shudder to his core.

The next day.

Wei Ping'an ran to Danxia Peak once more.

In the end, he brought back conditions that Wei Bufan could accept.

"He only wants me to deal with those of the same cultivation realm?"

Wei Bufan felt a slight sense of relief; if that was the case, the three conditions were not so hard to accept.

"It seems this Fire Spirit Lord is not such an unreasonable person after all!"

It concerned the survival of the family.

A little bit of face was no longer a concern.

Without any delay, on the third day, the Wei family sent a compensation gift to the Luo Tian Society.

One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, plus five high-grade magic tools.

The Luo Tian Society, to show their sincerity, also immediately sent people to deliver the first batch of high-grade Marrow-Cleansing Pills.

In the Luo Tian Main Hall.

Luo Chen looked at the spirit stones packed in ten large crates, and a smile appeared on his face.

Sometimes, one doesn't need to keep fighting and killing to get what one wants.

In fact, keeping the Wei family was even more beneficial to him.

For one, it could demonstrate the Luo Tian Society's style of letting bygones be bygones and not wiping everyone out.

Secondly, it could find stable customers for their elixir production.

The three conditions he added seemed to be making things difficult for the other party.

But in reality, they were not difficult at all.

They were merely to give both sides an acceptable outcome.

The Luo Tian Society gained face.

The Wei family also felt that since the other party had already taken so much, this matter should truly be put to rest.

As for the dead Wei Tuo?

Who cared?

Perhaps Wei Bufan was even hoping he would die sooner!

The resources a family can provide are limited.

Wei Tuo, with his Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivation, would inevitably require more resources, invisibly encroaching on the interests of Wei Bufan, the family head.

With him dead, everyone was actually happy to see it happen.

"With this, only the Divine Work Gate remains!"

Luo Chen stroked the crate, his gaze deep and distant.

Regarding these recent events, Luo Chen had been trying to grasp the right degree of force.

Those who act against the Luo Tian Society should be suppressed.

After suppression, retaliation is indispensable.

One must let people know that the Luo Tian Society is not to be trifled with.

Since they provoked him, they must be prepared to pay a sufficient price.

Destroying a family and a sect is nothing more than this.

But such things cannot be done too often, nor can they be taken too far.

Otherwise, it is easy to invite criticism.

One must know that the powers surrounding Tianlan Xiancheng are not all small forces like the Jade Truth Temple or the Geng family, which only have one or two Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivators.

Stronger ones, like the Wei family of Mount Xuchen or the Li family of Qinhua River, have Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivators sitting in their ranks.

Even stronger ones include the Lianyun Merchant Alliance, the Iron Sword Hall, and the Du family of Taibai, which are top-tier forces with Foundation Establishment late-stage great cultivators!

The current Luo Tian Society.

Its strength has already developed to the level of a mid-tier power in Tianlan, especially because of Luo Chen's powerful strength, which ranks among the Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivators.

But if he truly provokes those top-tier Foundation Establishment forces, he will still be in for a world of trouble.

Even if he could invite Chu Kui to assist, the expenses would be unbearable.

Therefore, after dealing with the Geng family, the Ying family, the Danyu Sect, and the Jade Truth Temple, he deliberately restrained himself.

For the remaining Wei family and Divine Work Gate, who had grudges against him, he chose to watch coldly from the sidelines.

It was not letting bygones be bygones.

It was to see what choices they would make under the powerful momentum of the Luo Tian Society destroying four families in one go.

If they chose to resist stubbornly, then he, Luo Chen, would not mind reorganizing his forces and having another go!

If they chose to make peace, he would also be very happy to accept.

In this battle, the Luo Tian Society had already earned enough.

Any more, and they wouldn't be able to digest it in the short term.

As far as the current situation goes, the Wei family of Mount Xuchen chose to make peace, and he also provided a step down for them to take.

Then, only the Divine Work Gate remains.

"What choice will they make?"

Luo Chen, while waiting for the Divine Work Gate's next move, was busy digesting the spoils of his recent four-pronged attack.

The gains from things like the Ink Mulberry, Jade Pupa Silkworms, and Predatory Feather Hawks could not be seen for the time being.

Not only could they not be seen, but they also required a large investment of manpower and resources to keep them alive.

But there were some gains that could be seen directly.

For instance—spirit stones!

Just like how Luo Chen would always keep a large amount of liquid capital in the Luo Tian Society for emergencies.

Most other forces did the same.

In the process of seizing the spoils of war this time, the Gold Merit Hall transported back a large batch of spirit stones.

"The Danyu Sect has fifty thousand spirit stones, ninety percent of which are low-grade; mid-grade spirit stones are few and far between."

"The Jade Truth Temple is relatively wealthy, with a full seventy thousand! It is said that a portion of this was a huge sum paid by the Ying family to win them over to deal with the Xing family of Heavenly Blade Peak."

"The Ying family is relatively poor, with only thirty or forty thousand spirit stones."

These small families and small sects were even poorer than Luo Chen had imagined.

Back then, in order to purchase a magic treasure, Mi Shuhua could scrape together eighty thousand spirit stones in one go, and even have some to spare.

Yet they only had a few tens of thousands.

It was truly an eyesore.

However, cultivation in the Xiancheng is like this; although various resources seem abundant, everything must be bought with spirit stones.

Without some ability, it is very difficult to save up a large amount of capital.

"The wealthiest one is the Geng family; in their treasury, we transported back a full one hundred and forty thousand! It seems that over these years, the Geng family has earned quite a bit by taking advantage of the ownerless Danxia Peak!"

Listening to Murong Qinglian's report, Luo Chen shook his head.

These things added up to only about three hundred thousand.

Too little!

Truly too little!

Seeing Luo Chen's dissatisfaction, Murong Qinglian realized his thoughts.

She immediately said: "Some spirit stones were either taken away by people running for their lives, or distributed among the storage bags of those family disciples. The latter were mostly kept privately by the cultivators who participated in the battle."

"President, should we collect them all like before and redistribute them?"

There was a precedent for this.

When the Luo Tian Society was just starting out, that was how they did it.

But this time, Luo Chen rejected this suggestion.

"Forget it, if we eat meat, we should let the people below drink some soup."

"Appropriate gains can keep them passionate enough."

The reason Luo Chen considered this was also because the previous merit reform had, to some extent, dampened the enthusiasm of some cultivators.

This time, it would be good to compensate them a little.

Murong Qinglian naturally had no objections.

She casually brought up the issue of merit rewards and punishments.

Regarding the Qi Refining cultivators, Luo Chen did not intervene; the other party was more familiar with the process than he was.

But regarding the Foundation Establishment True Persons, Luo Chen waved his hand.

"All kinds of material resources go into the treasury; Wang Yuan and the other two can choose two items each."

"As for Min Longyu, send him the giant hammer magic treasure left behind by Geng Lie."

In this battle, Min Longyu played a crucial role.

Not only did he solve the Geng siblings alone, but he also helped Duan Feng kill Fairy Miaoyu.

It was also because he presided over the grand formation that he dispelled the restless thoughts of many outside Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Previously, a mere storage bag of Geng Shuzhen was still a bit too little.

"In addition, take out one hundred thousand spirit stones as a reserve; wait until everything is over before rewarding them."

Reward one hundred thousand spirit stones in one go?

Murong Qinglian was shocked; this was not a small amount!

"I will not take a single cent of the remaining two hundred thousand; keep it in the society's public account."

Luo Chen paused and continued: "The development of those new industries will definitely require a large investment; these two hundred thousand can be considered startup capital."

Originally, there was still over a hundred thousand in the Luo Tian Society's account.

With this, the liquid capital of the entire force suddenly became abundant to an unimaginable degree.

Rarely would a Foundation Establishment force be able to possess over three hundred thousand in liquid capital in one go.

"Of course, how to spend this money specifically will have to wait until Hui Niang comes out of seclusion; let her make the decision."

"During this time, Sister-in-law, you should keep an eye on things for her."

Murong Qinglian swallowed; having to manage such a huge amount of spirit stones made her feel a bit uneasy.

But she did not refuse.

This was Luo Chen's trust in her, and also a test for her.

After experiencing a Foundation Establishment failure, she was almost in despair regarding the Great Dao.

And what she had to do now was to earn a family fortune for her son, Xiaohu.

It is conceivable that there will be more and more Foundation Establishment True Persons in the Luo Tian Society in the future; perhaps in the future, every hall master will be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

As a Qi Refining stage cultivator, if she wants to maintain her current status, she must exert more value than before!

After Murong Qinglian left.

Luo Chen took stock of his losses and gains.

The losses were not great, just a slight consumption of magic power and the one hundred thousand for Chu Kui.

As for the gains, they were quite considerable.

Setting aside the unpredictable long-term gains of the Luo Tian Society.

He now had one hundred thousand spirit stones in cash from the Wei family of Mount Xuchen on hand.

It could be considered as recovering the loss to Chu Kui.

Combined with his previous savings, he had recovered to two hundred and fifty thousand spirit stones on hand.

In addition, there were the storage bags of Danyu Zi, Geng Lie, and others, which he hadn't had time to open yet.

As a sect master and family head, the savings of these people should not be too little.

However, Luo Chen didn't care about these.

What he truly cared about were the many books related to alchemy collected during this chaotic war!

The Hu family, they were alchemists!

Yuan Dongsheng brought back a pile of alchemy insights for him, as well as two first-tier elixir formulas and one second-tier elixir formula.

The Danyu Sect, they were also alchemists!

Although he hadn't opened the storage bag of Sect Master Danyu Zi yet, just the books moved back from Mount Yuanhe amounted to five.

Among them, there were also several elixir formulas.

In addition, the Jade Truth Temple also had one or two alchemy insights.

"If I can digest the gains from this time, my alchemy strength will surely advance by leaps and bounds!"

"Moreover, among these collected elixir formulas, there might be one that solves my problem of lacking cultivation elixirs after the Foundation Establishment mid-stage!"

Luo Chen had not been in the Foundation Establishment mid-stage for long.

But he had already sensed the "slowness" of his cultivation speed.

Even at the current stage, with all kinds of auxiliary resources and main resources fully maxed out.

He cultivated tirelessly, without a single day of interruption.

It would still take a full five or six years to break through from the fourth level of Foundation Establishment to the fifth level.

This time seemed short.

But if pushed further, from the fifth to sixth level would take over ten years, and from the sixth to seventh level, several decades......

Once entering the Foundation Establishment late-stage, it would have to be counted in centuries.

This was something Luo Chen absolutely could not accept!

Moreover, he also had to consider one problem.

That is the problem of drug resistance to elixirs.

The Rising Dragon Pill was already the mainstream cultivation elixir with the strongest medicinal power he could find now.

If drug resistance developed, he couldn't even imagine how he would survive the terrifying chasm of the Foundation Establishment late-stage!

Luo Chen could not pin his hopes on the high-grade elixirs that flowed out of every auction.

Therefore, he could only rely on himself.

Improve his alchemy skills, collect various elixir formulas, and seek to be self-sufficient one day!

Just as Luo Chen was pondering how to arrange his time next.

Murong Qinglian returned.

"President, someone from the Ice Fortress has come!"

"Hmm?" Luo Chen raised an eyebrow, a sharp light flickering in his eyes. "I sought them in vain before, but now that the major events are settled, they have emerged instead; what is the meaning of this?"

Doubt flashed through his mind, and he asked casually: "Who has come?"

"Ice Wave Palace Deacon, Shi Boying!"

"Invite her in!"

Luo Chen's heart stirred slightly; they had sent a Foundation Establishment True Person directly.

It seems this is no small matter!

Before long, the old acquaintance Shi Boying appeared in the Luo Tian Main Hall.

As soon as she entered, she revealed a brilliant smile.

"Fire Spirit Lord, this time, you have truly shown your might and become famous in one fell swoop!"

"Fire Spirit Lord?"

This was the first time Luo Chen had heard this honorific title given to him by outside cultivators to his face.

A new Daoist title?

Under Shi Boying's explanation, he finally understood the meaning behind this title.

Fire techniques are exquisite, spiritual power is vast, obtaining the spirit of fire.

Keeping promises and being trustworthy, never leaving or abandoning, hence called 'Lord'.

In the end, he was crowned with the title "Fire Spirit Lord."

After hearing this, Luo Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

But in his heart, there was also a sense of pride.

The previous title of Alchemist Danchenzi, although quite fitting, was ultimately something Mi Shuhua had exaggerated to promote the Marrow-Cleansing Pill.

But this time, he had fought for it with his own hands.

This is just like those gangsters on Earth; the nicknames they give themselves when they first start out are just bragging, but the truly tough ones are all carved out with a watermelon knife.

Comparing himself to gangsters was a bit beneath Luo Chen.

But the principle was the same.

Under Shi Boying's flattery, Luo Chen truly couldn't hold back anymore.

Although he hadn't stopped the bribes of Jade Dew Pills, there was no need to be so enthusiastic!

"Fellow Daoist Shi, why not speak plainly!"

Shi Boying's expression turned serious. "Do you know that you are now facing a catastrophe!"

Luo Chen frowned.

"Fellow Daoist, are you trying to scare me?"

"If you don't believe me, why not come with me for a trip?"

(End of chapter)

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