Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 83 Destruction
Lu Xingzhou sat quietly on the top of the Secret Vault Mountain, watching the flames engulf the mountain in front of him.

The main buildings of the Incense Burning Pavilion were almost completely destroyed, and the sounds of flying swords and magical treasures exploding with power and screams could be heard everywhere.

You could still faintly hear those fierce shouts: "Zhang Shaoyou! Qin Buwang! You two-faced traitors, do you really think the Heavenly Sword Sect will trust you? Don't wait until after this battle to be like a rabbit killed and a dog cooked!"

I couldn't hear the response from the other end anymore.

It felt so distant, as if it had nothing to do with me.

"Master, we've looted everything!" Ah Nuo ran out excitedly; the secret vault was as clean as if a dog had licked it clean.

"Anything good?"

"The magic treasures aren't very good, and many are just magic artifacts... I don't know who has the nerve to hide them in the secret vault. What a disappointment. But the high-grade pills and talismans are pretty good." A'nuo said happily, "At least they can feed me for a year. Looks like my fourth-grade pills are almost here!"

Lu Xingzhou chuckled to himself.

Since leaving the Yama Palace, the year that had passed by, during which I racked my brains to earn money for Anuo to buy pills and even had to steal from her while she was making pills, seemed to have just flown by... I thought this kind of life would continue for a long time, but before I knew it, I had returned to the state of the past few years where I could eat pills and use magic tools at will.

No, it's even better than before.

"Don't compare the collections of the Incense Burning Pavilion to those of the Underworld Palace; they're not even in the same league..."

"At least both the third-rank and the first-rank are called the third-rank."

“But your sister Yu is not an ordinary first-rank, while Fenxianglou is a very low-rank third-rank. The difference between them is greater than the height of you and me.”

Ah Nuo stood on tiptoe and found that even at her highest point, she could only reach about the same height as Lu Xingzhou sitting in his wheelchair. She hung her head dejectedly.

As they spoke, the voices drew closer. Amidst the commotion, people from the Heavenly Sword Sect and the East River Gang gradually gathered around.

Looking at the men, each one exuding murderous intent and covered in blood, their clothes were filled with rings and magical artifacts stolen from murder, as well as pills and spirit stones looted from other warehouses.

Before we knew it, the battle was over...

It happened so fast; it was a completely one-sided massacre.

Lu Xingzhou was almost oblivious to this; during the years he followed Yuan Muyu, they had committed far too many family annihilation cases…

He calmly summoned the Myriad Souls Banner, and black mist gathered from the mountains, collecting the countless vengeful spirits of the recently deceased and those on the verge of death—the nourishment for the banner's growth. Although he had committed numerous massacres, he had mostly operated behind the scenes, rarely having the opportunity to collect vengeful spirits; currently, he had only accumulated a little over a thousand. Once he truly gathered ten thousand souls, that would be the path for the banner to advance to the upper three ranks.

Black Flame groaned comfortably within the Soul Banner: "So good~ More... I want more~"

Lu Xingzhou: “?”

Wait, isn't something wrong with this main soul?

When Shi Tielong and the others arrived, the black mist had already dissipated, and they could only see Lu Xingzhou and his apprentice standing outside the secret vault as if they were waiting for them.

His gaze swept past the master and apprentice to the secret vault, which was so clean even a dog wouldn't dare to crawl on it. Shi Tielong's expression darkened: "Mr. Lu, isn't this a bit much? We agreed to attack together and split the spoils fifty-fifty. You're taking advantage of our battle to grab the most valuable part, the secret vault, first?"

Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "You also sent troops to plunder other warehouses during the battle, simply because you didn't know where the secret vault was. If you had known, would you have missed it? We're all in the same boat, first come, first served, that's all."

That's the logic, but after playing for so long and getting nothing from the highest-level secret vault, it's a bit frustrating.

Before Shi Tielong could say anything, Lu Xingzhou added, "Chief Shi, you can see that the enemy's morale has long since collapsed. Without you, we would have had a tougher fight and suffered some casualties, but we wouldn't have been unable to fight; we could have easily taken all the spoils. So this battle was practically free for you. You eliminated the third-rank sects that were standing alongside Dongjiang and gained countless resources for nothing. I'm only doing this to make friends with the Dongjiang Gang; otherwise, I would have gone to the Cangshan Sword Sect..."

Shi Tielong knew that the truth was not so. The so-called collapse of the opponent's morale was precisely because the participation of a large number of strong members of his Dongjiang Gang had created an overwhelming advantage. If the Tianxing Sword Sect were to fight alone, the opponent's morale might not collapse; it would be a battle with heavy casualties on both sides. It was not that simple.

But if Lu Xingzhou insisted on saying that, it couldn't be said he was wrong. At least he could have found other sects like the Cangshan Sword Sect to do this job; it didn't have to be his Dongjiang Gang. The reason he chose the Dongjiang Gang was truly to establish a good relationship. The resources he had for this battle were indeed free; he didn't have the confidence to compete with the Tianxing Sword Sect for the lion's share.

Thinking back on the upheaval at the Prefectural Governor's Office, Shi Tielong found Lu Xingzhou increasingly unfathomable and really didn't want any conflict with him.

Thinking this, he simply cupped his hands in greeting and smiled, "Since Mr. Lu puts it that way, we are not the kind of people to hold grudges. It has been a pleasure working together this time, and we hope to become even closer in the future. Hmm... We captured quite a few alchemists from the Incense Burning Pavilion this time. I hope your sect won't try to take that from us?"

"Of course not, whoever captures them keeps them. We have prisoners too..." Lu Xingzhou also put on a friendly smile: "In addition, we will also station more people on Fenxiang Mountain to plant medicinal gardens. At that time, there will be many opportunities to cooperate with your gang. We hope that Chief Shi will take good care of us." Shi Tielong was stunned for a moment, and his expression changed.

Forgot about that... This is an entire mountain, the most coveted medicinal mountain by alchemy sects! Where is the mountain contract?

Looking down, the corpse of Master Yiyang, his eyes wide open in death, still lay on the ground, the ring on his hand gone... The mountain contract was most likely here, already taken by Lu Xingzhou!

The Incense Burning Pavilion coveted the fiery soil of Danxia Mountain for medicinal herb cultivation, which sparked the conflict. In the end, the Incense Burning Pavilion gave away its own powerful members, resources, and even the entire mountain…

It's said that the Dongjiang Gang got this battle for free, but no matter how you look at it, it seems that the Dongjiang Gang was ultimately just a group of thugs hired by Lu Xingzhou with some resources. Even the Iron Chain Across the River, a treasure used to break the formation, belonged to Shi Tielong...

"I've gotten to know Elder Lu this time... I hope we can get to know each other better in the future." Thinking of Wan Cheng and Tu Yugui, whose allegiance was unclear, Shi Tielong, despite his frustration, dared not do anything and waved his hand with a pale face: "That's it."

Watching the Dongjiang Gang members descend the mountain one by one, Anuo pouted, "They clearly made a fortune, yet they act like they've been taken advantage of..."

"Human hearts are never satisfied." Lu Xingzhou smiled slightly: "Who told us to earn so much more? We even took the mountain."

Everyone laughed, and Lu Xingzhou's gaze fell on Zhang Shaoyou and the others: "How was the battle, everyone?"

Zhang Shaoyou was a little nervous: "I, along with the sect leader and Miss Dugu, repelled True Man Yiyang. The sect leader didn't let me pursue them... Afterwards, we also killed a Supreme Elder of the Incense Pavilion, a third-grade upper-level alchemist..."

One escaped, and the other was killed jointly. According to the previous agreement on merit for "killing an opponent of the same rank," he wasn't sure if it would be enough to qualify for the new pill reward. He then said somewhat awkwardly, "This merit is probably not quite enough. I can remember to accumulate it..."

"Why wait?" Lu Xingzhou was about to toss a bottle when he suddenly remembered what Sheng Yuanyao had said earlier, so he reached out and quietly poked Shen Tang.

Shen Tang gave him a knowing look and said, “No one would dare to boast that they can kill someone of the same level on their own. If you ask for merit with that kind of requirement, that’s just being demanding. It’s enough to kill someone with the help of others… Besides, Chief Zhang also made a great contribution in the battle at the Prefect’s Mansion. Even if he has accumulated merit, it’s already enough.”

Lu Xingzhou promptly took out the bottle: "Here are three pills to assist in the cultivation of the third rank. Headmaster Zhang, first strive to reach the threshold of the second rank, and then we will try to help you break through to the second rank."

Zhang Shaoyou accepted it with great joy: "Thank you, Sect Master! Oh, and thank you Elder Lu too!"

Qin Buwang and Zhao Guishan said with a hint of anticipation, "We worked together to kill two fourth-rank alchemists... well, although they were both alchemists, it was a bit of an unfair victory."

“I am also an alchemist.” Lu Xingzhou handed over two bottles, one for each person: “These are Grade 3 Breakthrough Pills, one for each of you.”

The two were overjoyed, but then Lu Xingzhou continued, "As an alchemist, I must remind you both that the Breakthrough Pill is only for assisting in breaking through a barrier, not for guaranteeing a breakthrough. Furthermore, if you fail once, the effect of taking the same pill again will be even less reliable. You two must be prepared. My personal suggestion is not to use it immediately, but to wait until you feel that the barrier is loosening before using it. Remember this well."

The two exchanged a glance and replied solemnly, "Thank you for your concern, Elder Lu. We are aware of the situation."

This is something only someone who truly cares about their own people would say. As for the Incense Burning Pavilion, even if they did give you pills, they wouldn't bother with such details, because they have no responsibility for your future, so why bother saying anything and causing annoyance?

The shift in feeling from mercenaries to one of their own was very obvious.

Lu Xingzhou then took out dozens of pills and gave them to Shen Tang, who in turn handed them all to Zhang Shaoyou: "Chief Zhang should have seen the contributions of the other brothers, so it is up to Chief Zhang to distribute them. As the Chief of Jianfeng Hall, this is your duty."

Zhang Shaoyou took a deep breath, accepted the pills, and solemnly replied, "I will certainly distribute them fairly and live up to the sect leader's expectations."

Looking around at the jubilant faces of the newly joined powerhouses, Shen Tang knew that some of them had originally participated in this battle simply because they didn't want the Incense Burning Pavilion to exist, so as to avoid future retaliation for their "betrayal." They fought with great effort, and each of them had made "great contributions."

However, in reality, they still had doubts about whether they would actually join the Heavenly Sword Sect afterward. But at this moment, their anxiety or desire to leave had basically disappeared, and their cohesion had begun to take shape.

Being generous with rewards and showing them a level of respect completely different from what they received at the Incense Burning Pavilion is one thing. But what's truly more important is showing them how easily the Incense Burning Pavilion can be destroyed... Everyone knows that following a boss like this would lead to a brighter future than before.

Only by taking a two-pronged approach can we win them back.

Not only them... but probably no one in the entire Great Qian Dynasty would have imagined that the Heavenly Sword Sect could actually destroy the Incense Pavilion in such a short time with zero casualties, thanks to various connections.

After this battle, the Heavenly Sword Sect is no longer a newly emerging sect that needs to deal with various provocations at the grand ceremony, but a first-class sect that can be counted among the top sects in the entire continent, a true third-grade strong sect!
Shen Tang glanced at the distant firelight and said in a low voice, "Everyone is tired. Take the prisoners and go back to the county to rest first. We can deal with the follow-up matters later. Hmm... Elder Lu, come with me for a moment. I have something to discuss."

Dugu Qingli glanced at her, her face expressionless.

(End of this chapter)