Chapter 83: Annihilation

Lu Xingzhou sat quietly atop the secret treasury peak, watching the flames on the peak ahead burn the sky.

The main buildings of the Incense-Burning Pavilion were almost entirely destroyed; everywhere echoed the explosive might of flying swords and magical treasures, mixed with screams.

Faintly, one could still hear such a fierce shout: "Zhang Shaoyou! Qin Buwang! You traitors who waver between two sides, do you truly think the Tianxing Sword Sect will trust you? Do not wait until after this battle for the rabbit to be dead and the dog to be cooked!"

What the response was over there could no longer be heard clearly.

It sounded so distant, as if it had nothing to do with him.

"Master, we've finished looting everything!" A'nuo ran out joyfully; the secret treasury was as clean as if a dog had licked it.

"Were there any good items?"

"The magical treasures weren't great, and many were merely at the artifact tier... I don't know what face they had to hide them in the secret treasury; it was all in vain. However, the high-grade pills and talismans were quite good." A'nuo said cheerfully: "At least they can feed me for a year; it looks like my fourth grade is coming soon~"

Lu Xingzhou let out a helpless smile.

Since leaving the Yanluo Hall, that year of racking his brains to earn money for A'nuo to buy pills to eat, even stealing pills while refining them, seemed to have passed like floating clouds... He had thought such days would continue for a long time, but unknowingly, he had returned to the state of the previous few years where pills could be eaten freely, talismans taken freely, and artifacts used freely.

No, it was even better than back then.

"Don't compare the Incense-Burning Pavilion's collection with the Yanluo Hall's; can they be on the same tier..."

"After all, third grade and first grade are both called third grade."

"But your Sister Yu is not an ordinary first grade, while the Incense-Burning Pavilion is a very weak third grade; the gap between them is greater than the difference in our heights."

A'nuo stood on tiptoe, finding that even when she stretched to her highest, she could only reach about the same height as Lu Xingzhou sitting in his wheelchair; she hung her head in dejection.

As they spoke, human voices gradually approached. Amidst the bustling crowd, people from the Tianxing Sword Sect and the Dongjiang Gang slowly gathered here.

Looking at them, each radiated killing intent, covered in blood, obviously stuffed with rings and magical treasures stolen from killing, as well as pills and spirit stones looted from other storehouses.

Unknowingly, the battle had ended...

So fast; it was completely a one-sided slaughter.

Lu Xingzhou felt almost nothing about this; following Yuan Muyu those few years, he had committed too many family-extermination cases...

He calmly summoned the Ten Thousand Souls Banner; black mist from Manshan gathered, collecting and converging the ten thousand resentful souls of the newly dead and the dying, which were the nourishment for the banner's growth. Although he had committed many family-extermination cases, unfortunately, most were done from behind the scenes, rarely giving him the chance to collect resentful souls; currently, he had only accumulated over a thousand souls. When the ten thousand souls truly gathered, that would be the path for this banner to advance to the upper third grade.

Black flames in the soul banner let out a comfortable moan: "So good~ bring more... I want more~"

Lu Xingzhou: "?"

Wait, is something wrong with this master soul?

When Shi Tielong and others arrived, the black mist had already dissipated; they only saw Lu Xingzhou and his master-disciple pair standing outside the secret treasury as if waiting for them.

Glancing past the master and disciple into the secret treasury, it was so clean not even a dog would crawl in. Shi Tielong's expression was not good: "Mr. Lu, is this appropriate? We agreed to attack together and split the spoils fifty-fifty; you took the most valuable secret treasury while we were fighting?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Your side also split forces to loot other storehouses during the battle; it's just that you didn't know where the secret treasury was located. If you had known, could you have missed it? Everyone is the same; first come, first served, that's all."

The logic was sound, but after fighting for so long without getting a single share of the highest-grade secret treasury, it was inevitably frustrating.

Just as Shi Tielong was about to say something, Lu Xingzhou added: "Shi Gang Leader, you can also see that in this battle, the enemy's morale had long scattered. Without you, we would have just fought a bit harder, with some casualties, but it was not unwinnable; we could have eaten this meal alone. So this battle was practically free for you; you eliminated a third-grade sect standing alongside the Dongjiang River and gained countless resources for nothing. Mr. Lu did this entirely to make friends with the Dongjiang Gang; otherwise, finding the Cangshan Sword Sect would have worked too..."

Shi Tielong knew the truth was not so; the so-called scattering of the enemy's morale was precisely because of the participation of many strong experts from his Dongjiang Gang, forming an overwhelming advantage. If the Tianxing Sword Sect had truly fought alone, the enemy's morale might not have scattered, and both sides would have suffered heavy casualties; it wouldn't have been this simple.

But since Lu Xingzhou insisted on saying it this way, there was no way to call him wrong; at least he truly could find other sects like the Cangshan Sword Sect to do this job; he didn't have to rely on his Dongjiang Gang. The reason he sought the Dongjiang Gang was indeed to cultivate a good relationship, and the resources from this battle were indeed gained for nothing; he had no confidence to insist on fighting the Tianxing Sword Sect for the main share.

Thinking again of the incident at the Governor's Mansion, Shi Tielong felt Lu Xingzhou was even more unfathomable the more he looked at him, and truly did not want any conflict with him.

Thinking of this, he simply clasped his hands and smiled: "Since Mr. Lu says so, we are not the type to haggle over every detail. This time our cooperation was pleasant; I hope our relationship will be even closer in the future. Hmm... we captured many pill masters from the Incense-Burning Pavilion; your sect surely won't compete with us for these?"

"Of course not; whoever captures them belongs to them; we have captives too..." Lu Xingzhou also plastered on a kind smile: "Furthermore, in the future, we will station personnel to plant medicinal gardens on Incense-Burning Mountain; there will be many opportunities to cooperate with your gang then; I hope Gang Leader Shi will take good care of us."

Shi Tielong was stunned, his expression changing.

He had forgotten this point... this was an entire mountain, and a medicinal mountain that pill-master sects coveted most! Where was the Mountain Contract?

Looking down, the body of True Person Yiyang, who died with his eyes open, still lay on the ground; the ring on his hand was gone... The Mountain Contract was most likely here, already taken by Lu Xingzhou!

The Incense-Burning Pavilion wanted to monopolize the earth-fire of Danxia Mountain to plant medicinal herbs; this was the cause of the conflict between the two sides. After all this, the Incense-Burning Pavilion had given away its own experts, resources, and even the mountain itself...

It was said that the Dongjiang Gang gained this battle for free, but no matter how one calculated, it seemed the Dongjiang Gang was ultimately just hired muscle employed by Lu Xingzhou for some resources; even the treasure "Iron Chain Blocking the River" used to break the formation belonged to him, Shi Tielong...

"This time we have come to know Elder Lu... let us be close in the future." Thinking of the uncertain Wan Cheng and Tu Yugui, Shi Tielong, despite his frustration, dared not make a move; his face turning green, he waved his hand: "Wrap it up."

Watching the people of the Dongjiang Gang descend the mountain one by one, A'nuo pouted: "We clearly let them earn a fortune, yet they look as if they suffered a loss..."

"Human hearts are bitter and never know contentment." Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Who asked us to earn even more? We even took the mountain."

Everyone laughed; Lu Xingzhou's gaze fell on Zhang Shaoyou and others: "How did everyone fare in this battle?"

Zhang Shaoyou was a little nervous: "Zhang and the Sect Master and Miss Dugu together repelled True Person Yiyang; the Sect Master did not let me pursue... Afterwards, we also killed a Grand Elder of the Incense-Burning Pavilion, a third-grade upper-stage pill master..."

One escaped, and the other was also killed jointly; according to the previous agreement on merit for "killing enemies of the same grade," he didn't know if it was enough to claim the new pill reward. Then he said somewhat awkwardly: "This merit is probably not quite enough; it can be recorded and accumulated..."

"Why wait?" Lu Xingzhou was about to toss over a bottle, but suddenly remembered what Sheng Yuanyao had said earlier, so he quietly poked Shen Tang with his hand.

Shen Tang looked at him with a half-smile and understood, saying: "Killing an equal alone, no one dares to boast they can do it; if merit required such a thing, it would be called harsh; being able to kill jointly is enough... Moreover, in the battle at the Governor's Mansion, Head Zhang also made great contributions; even with accumulated merit, it is already sufficient."

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

Zhang Shaoyou accepted it with wild joy: "Thank you, Sect Master; oh, and thank you, Elder Lu!"

Qin Buwang and Zhao Guishan said with some expectation: "We jointly killed two fourth-grade cultivators... hmm, although they were both pill masters, it was a bit of an unfair victory."

"I am also a pill master." Lu Xingzhou handed over two bottles, one portion each: "These are third-grade breakthrough pills; one for each of you."

The two were overjoyed, then heard Lu Xingzhou continue: "As a pill master, I need to remind both of you that breakthrough pills are only for assisting in breaking through the realm, not that taking them guarantees a breakthrough. Furthermore, if one fails, taking the same pill again next time will be even less reliable; both of you must be prepared. My personal advice is not to use them immediately; wait until your cultivation reaches a point where you feel signs of the bottleneck loosening, then use them in combination. Remember, remember."

The two looked at each other and responded with solemn faces: "Thank you, Elder Lu, for your concern; we understand."

This was the kind of concern only spoken to one's own people. The Incense-Burning Pavilion, let alone giving you pills, would not even bother to nag about these things, because they had no responsibility for your future; why say more and annoy people?

The shift in feeling from being mercenaries to being one's own people was very obvious.

Lu Xingzhou took out dozens of pills and stuffed them into Shen Tang's hands; Shen Tang handed them all to Zhang Shaoyou: "The contributions of the other brothers, Head Zhang should see clearly; let Head Zhang distribute them. As the Head of the Sword Blade Hall, this is your duty."

Zhang Shaoyou took a deep breath, accepted the pills, and solemnly replied: "I will certainly distribute them fairly, not failing the Sect Master's trust."

Looking at the faces of the newly joined experts, beaming with joy, Shen Tang knew that originally, some had participated in this battle only because they did not want the Incense-Burning Pavilion to exist, to avoid future retaliation for their "betrayal," so they fought very hard, each having "great merit."

However, in fact, they still had doubts about whether they would truly join the Tianxing Sword Sect afterwards, but at this moment, their anxiety or intention to leave was basically cancelled; cohesion had been preliminarily established.

Being generous with rewards and letting them see respect completely different from what they had in the Incense-Burning Pavilion was one thing. Actually, what was truly more important was letting them see how easy it was to destroy the Incense-Burning Pavilion... Anyone in their hearts knew that following such a boss would be more promising than before.

Only by attacking on two fronts can their hearts be won back.

Not only them... I fear no one in the entire Great Qian would have thought that the Tianxing Sword Sect could truly, in such a short time, leverage various connections to utterly annihilate the Incense-Burning Pavilion with zero casualties.

After this battle, the Tianxing Sword Sect is no longer a rising sect that must deal with various provocations at the grand ceremony, but a first-rate sect that ranks among the best in the entire province, a true third-grade powerful sect!

Shen Tang glanced at the distant flames and said in a low voice, "Everyone is tired. Take the prisoners away and return to the commandery to rest first; we will handle the follow-up matters slowly later. Hmm... Elder Lu, come with me for a moment; I have something to discuss."

Du Gu Qingli glanced at her, expressionless.

(End of this chapter)