Chapter 284: The Season of Harvest

Danxia Palace.

The Grand Master was discussing with Meng Yanhui, who had just returned from his mission to the Zhen'e Star Palace, and Peng Lao, who had just completed his errand.

"Yanhui, the Lougong War is nearing its end, with just over three hours remaining. According to Xu Jin's prior arrangements, all materials from each star domain will be transported out through the temporary star gates in the final two to three hours."

"Dai Guanwen is suspicious. Find a way to keep him occupied during these final hours."

"If he sees this, he'll spread the word, and then every Star Palace will quickly realize we've captured multiple star domains—even unprecedentedly, a fourth-rank star domain."

"If this gets out, it will make our Chen Guo's position even more difficult," said Cheng Yuexiao.

Hearing this, Meng Yanhui pondered for a few breaths. "Grand Master, I'll try. Dai Guanwen is greedy—he can be distracted."

But Peng Lao spoke gravely: "Palace Master, Dai Guanwen openly leaked our Chen Guo's combat star domain intelligence—should we just let him go?"

Cheng Yuexiao immediately understood Peng Lao's meaning. "Peng Lao, with my rank, if I directly accuse Dai Guanwen of leaking information—"

"Even if he didn't do it, he'd have no way to defend himself once I accuse him."

"I could destroy him instantly."

"But not now."

"Xu Jin has just secured several star domains for Chen Guo, and we ranked first in this Lougong War."

"For the next three years, Chen Guo's strength will grow rapidly."

"These three years, we must quietly amass wealth—avoid making enemies."

"Accusing Dai Guanwen now is easy, but it would anger the Xumí Palace—unnecessary."

"There will be plenty of others who will deal with Dai Guanwen later."

Peng Lao nodded. Meng Yanhui rose to leave, but Cheng Yuexiao called him back.

"After you go, summon Yu Da."

Meng Yanhui frowned in confusion.

"After you condensed your soul into a Nascent Soul, your Jade Tablet still holds one and a half tenths of soul power—equivalent to about eighteen Longgui Dampower Pills. Yu Da has been stuck at fifth-rank ninth-layer peak for years, mainly because his soul hasn't broken through."

"If his soul cultivation advances to fourth-rank, his chance to break into sixth-rank will greatly increase."

"Let him try," said Cheng Yuexiao.

Meng Yanhui nodded, but Peng Lao asked doubtfully: "Palace Master, isn't this a bit rushed?"

"Why not wait until after the Lougong War to summon Yu Da? Why the hurry now?"

"Peng Lao, you've been away for a while—you likely don't know Chen Guo's current situation."

"Now that Xu Jin has definitively secured six Golden Stars for Chen Guo, we've become a target. We took first place in the Lougong War, and we deliberately held back our points—if we hadn't, our score might have exceeded their combined total by over twice as much, meaning Chen Guo wouldn't have to pay any tribute for the next three years."

"At that point, not just the Tianyang and Cangming Star Palaces, but even the Zhen'e Star Palace would likely interfere."

"The Grand Master previously sent me to the Zhen'e Star Palace."

"Now, we're making backup preparations," said Meng Yanhui.

Cheng Yuexiao nodded. "Yes—we're preparing for the worst. So if we can boost our strength, we must."

Peng Lao finally understood.

On the second floor of Chen Guo's Star-Picking Tower, Chen Guo's Left Sacrificial Officer, Meng Yanhui, suddenly arrived.

Dai Si, seated there, nodded to Meng Yanhui's return—then his expression turned stunned.

Seventh-rank!

In just two or three days, Chen Guo's Left Sacrificial Officer, Meng Yanhui, had broken through to seventh-rank.

This is truly—

Dai Guanwen scrutinized Meng Yanhui, eyes filled with astonishment.

In this age, whether a cultivator can break into seventh-rank is heavily tied to age.

It's not that older cultivators can't break through.

Rather, the established pattern is: the older the cultivator, the lower their chance of reaching seventh-rank.

This is an empirical rule.

But Meng Yanhui is said to be over a hundred years old—breaking into seventh-rank at this age is truly enviable.

"Dai Si Young Master, you've worked hard during this Lougong War," Meng Yanhui suddenly smiled.

"Not at all, not at all, it's my duty," Dai Guanwen smiled back.

"After the war, when will you return?" Meng Yanhui asked.

"My master gave strict orders: after the Lougong War ends, unless there's a special matter, I must return immediately to the Palace to submit my report—no lingering outside," Dai Guanwen smiled.

"So soon?" Meng Yanhui frowned.

"A master's command cannot be disobeyed."

"Ah, I've already arranged a banquet to honor your efforts—what should I do now?" Meng Yanhui exclaimed.

Dai Guanwen's heart stirred, but he still shook his head helplessly. "If there's a chance later, I'll trouble the Left Sacrificial Officer again."

"No, I've also prepared rare treasures and tokens of gratitude for your hard work—all Chen Guo's rare items. I started preparing them seven days ago, and only finished today—"

Meng Yanhui noticed Dai Guanwen's expression brighten at the mention of rare treasures and tokens—he was indeed greedy.

"How about this? There are still over three hours until the Lougong War ends. Why not go to the banquet early? The timing will be perfect," said Meng Yanhui.

"My duty requires me to remain— the Lougong War hasn't ended yet. I dare not leave," Dai Guanwen declined.

"Ah, our Grand Master greatly admires your skill in opening temporary star gates. We'll need your expertise many times in the future, so we prepared this banquet as thanks."

"Young Master, there are only two or three hours left—what could Chen Guo possibly cheat at?"

"Send a batch of disciples in, only to trap them in the star domain and never let them return?"

"Please accept our banquet! Besides the tokens and rare treasures, we also wish to discuss long-term cooperation with you!" Meng Yanhui said earnestly.

Dai Guanwen was already deeply tempted.

Especially upon hearing "long-term cooperation."

This was a steady stream of income.

If he could establish long-term cooperation with Chen Guo's State Dao Academy, his future earnings were assured—after a few years, he might even gather enough resources to break into seventh-rank.

Once he broke into seventh-rank, it would be an entirely new world.

"True—the Lougong War is nearly over, with three or four hours left. And who doesn't know Chen Guo's State Dao Academy's reputation?" Dai Guanwen finally agreed.

Meng Yanhui smiled and gestured. "After you."

Under Meng Yanhui's guidance, Dai Guanwen left the second floor of Chen Guo's Star-Picking Tower main building.

A few breaths later, Peng Lao arrived. General Instructor Yu Da hurried toward Danxia Palace, unaware of why the Grand Master had summoned him.

Now, only Peng Lao remained on the entire second floor of the Star-Picking Tower.

Half an hour later, the temporary star gate of the fourth-rank Firecloud Star Domain suddenly flashed with starlight.

As the starlight flickered continuously, crate after crate of materials were thrown out of the gate, baskets upon baskets of star jade tablets emerged, along with massive chunks of starfall iron, iron essence, and copper essence.

Even though Peng Lao had sent his starlight message quickly, by the time the Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, along with Senior Administrator Kou Jing and Pan Hong, arrived, the materials had already piled into a small mountain.

The four of them immediately became laborers.

They continuously moved the vast quantities of materials into their Xumí Space, then teleported swiftly to the State Dao Academy's treasury, unloaded, and flew back to haul more.

This was done solely for secrecy.

The capture of star domains must remain absolutely secret.

Besides these few people, all disciples who participated in the star domain battles would later be sealed with the Jiusheng Bell.

Half a quarter-hour later, the temporary star gate of the fourth-rank Giant Elephant Star Domain also began spewing out materials.

Soon after, massive amounts of materials poured out from the temporary star gates of the third-rank Shāhé Star Domain, third-rank Firebamboo Star Domain, third-rank Stone Forest Star Domain, and third-rank Flowing Canyon Star Domain.

But the materials from the third-rank star domains were clearly fewer in quantity and lower in quality.

Even so, Senior Administrator Pan Hong was stunned.

Yet at this moment, no matter how many questions Pan Hong had, he could only keep working silently.

They hauled for a full hour and a half. Kou Jing, the Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, and Peng Lao—all had broken into fifth-rank soul cultivation—were fine. But Pan Hong's soul cultivation had not yet reached fifth-rank, not even close to the peak of fourth-rank ninth-layer.

He became dizzy and nauseous from hauling.

Transporting via Xumí Space primarily drained soul power. A few small transfers were fine, but prolonged use drained heavily.

Pan Hong even took a single San Yin Qing Shen Pill to restore his soul power.

Immediately after finishing, he collapsed and left to recover his soul energy.

Yet whether Pan Hong, Kou Jing, Peng Lao, or the Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, their inner joy was indescribable.

Just the materials moved: over one hundred thousand third-rank star jade tablets!

What use were third-rank star jade tablets?

They could serve as energy sources for Star Gathering Arrays.

With one hundred thousand third-rank star jade tablets, Chen Guo's disciples could use second- and third-rank Star Gathering Arrays without limit for the next few years.

At that point, the speed at which Chen Guo's State Dao Academy disciples advanced in cultivation would increase dramatically.

Additionally, they could cultivate three to six more fourth-rank Pattern Masters.

To train one fourth-rank Pattern Master required at least two thousand third-rank star jade tablets.

Additionally, they obtained over five thousand fourth-rank star jade tablets and two hundred fifth-rank star jade tablets.

The total quantity of iron essence, copper essence, and raw starfall iron ore transported from the star domains, after refining, exceeded two hundred tons.

Plus other assorted materials.

It made Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao's face go numb from smiling.

Harvest.

This is the season of harvest.

Half a quarter-hour later, the squads from the third-rank star domain began returning, each earning praise from Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, yet Cheng Yuexiao's gaze never wavered from the temporary star gate of the fifth-rank Spirit Martial Star Domain.

Only when the disciples who fought in the fifth-rank Spirit Martial Star Domain returned safely—especially Xu Jin—could he truly rest easy.

Add to that this much harvest, and it would truly be worth it!

If Xu Jin suffered any mishap, he would rather forego this vast harvest!

In the next instant, the temporary star gate of the fifth-rank Spirit Martial Star Domain flickered; when the first figure stepped out, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao, Peng Lao, and College Dean Kou Jing all broke into genuine smiles.

The three of them stepped forward almost simultaneously, yet halted at the same moment, still smiling.

Xu Jin has returned victorious!

This also means the final outcome of the Lou Gong Battle is about to be revealed.

(End of Chapter)