Xiuxian: But It's Not a Game

Chapter 279 Defeat, City Fall, Lin Hai Branch
It's not that Qi Refining and Flying Sword techniques aren't powerful, but rather that once Body Refining is mastered, its combat strength is indeed incredibly impressive.

Of course, it's not to say that the Body Refinement School is stronger than these two schools. There's no question of which is stronger or weaker. All three are mainstream power systems, and each level has monstrous experts.

The reason Su Yu's performance was so exaggerated was because he had double the talent. He climbed up step by step, which made it seem so exaggerated. Even a serious body-focused player who had reached the Earth Immortal level might not be able to beat him in terms of stats.

Two demonic beings, one large and one small, each with four heads and eight arms, relentlessly attacked the protective array of the Heavenly God City. In addition, they occasionally activated the Sea-Suppressing Pearl for a burst of power. The two of them alone managed to suppress the recovery of the protective array and slowly reduce its defensive strength.

At this moment, Su Yu was waiting for the innate water mine to cool down. When he and Canghai unleashed their power again, they would surely be able to break through the city's defenses.

At this point, more than half an hour had passed since Canghai activated the innate water mines, and they only needed to wait another twenty minutes.

Less than five minutes later, he heard Tang Xingye's voice. Upon closer inspection, he saw that Tang Xingye was right under the protective light barrier, less than a hundred meters away from him.

"You win!"

"Spare me, and I will give you the Heavenly God City, its protective array, and all its territory intact. In addition, I will give you 60% of the warehouse resources and funds, which will amount to no less than ten million taels of gold. I can also offer you a tenth-tier magic weapon."

Su Yu paused for a moment, then continued her attack.

Tang Xingye's eyelids twitched, and he shouted in unwillingness:
"Why must you be so ruthless? You have already established your authority today. After this battle, you will surely be a force to be reckoned with in the Blue Mountains. You will have all the benefits, territory, and prestige. Why must you be so ruthless?"

The celestial being grinned, his face cold as he said:
"Because you have to pull the weeds out at the root!"

“I can see the hatred hidden deep in your heart. Your forbearance and magnanimity make me feel threatened. You will definitely not let this go in the future and will definitely make a comeback when you have the chance.”

"I cannot keep a threatening enemy alive, so I must eliminate them all!"

Tang Xingye fell silent.

Because what Su Yu said was true, and it resonated with him deeply.

Becoming a true disciple of a sect only proves his talent, but developing a guild into a regional hegemon requires more than just talent; it also demands extraordinary ability and courage. He is flexible and adaptable, and he will not give up on himself because of this failure. Instead, he will try his best to strengthen himself and then take back what he lost.

He remained silent for nearly a minute, then his figure slowly disappeared.

Five minutes later, he put most of the Heavenly God Society's treasures into his storage space, and then took out a Great Teleportation Talisman to activate it.

"This feud is inevitable. I will return when I have transcended my tribulation and become an Earth Immortal!"

Ten seconds later, a powerful spatial force enveloped him as he plummeted into the void and disappeared.

But at that moment, one of the heads in the Canghai Sea paused as if it had discovered something. Suddenly, it stretched out an arm, grabbed the Zhenhai Pearl, and smashed it down into a certain place in the void. The terrifying power caused the space to become chaotic, and a white light shot out, revealing Tang Xingye with a horrified expression.

"How can this be?"

Another giant arm reached out and grabbed Tang Xingye, and no matter how much he struggled, he could not break free.

Su Yu also saw this scene and burst into laughter:

"Tang Xingye has been captured alive. Surrender now to save your life!"

The millions of members of the Celestial Gods Guild in the city looked bewildered, searching for high-ranking members of nearby guilds.

Most of the high-ranking members of the various guilds in the city were also bewildered. Apart from a few vice-presidents, none of the others knew that their guild leader had run away.

"I will only punish the ringleaders; the rest will be spared as long as they surrender!"

Since Tang Xingye had not appeared in the city for a long time, the members of the Heavenly God Society knew that the one captured alive outside was real. As Su Yu continued to persuade them, members left the city one after another to surrender.

It's not that they lack determination, it's just that they can't see any hope.

Even if the chairman hadn't been arrested, it was clear that the city was beyond saving.

Su Yu kept his promise and did not kill any of those who surrendered outside the city, but they were taken aside and kept under guard.

At the same time, several Sky Strike Ships in the air also ceased fighting. Three Sky Strike Ships belonging to the Celestial God Society deactivated their defenses, and the members inside came out one after another. The warships were taken over by the Thousand Star Palace one by one.

Five minutes later, the protective array of the Heavenly God City was deactivated, and dozens of figures immediately rushed in all directions.

But the prepared Canghai Eight Arms unleashed a powerful attack from mid-air, and dozens of figures were blown apart one by one in less than ten kilometers.

Then, a large number of members of the Thousand Stars Palace entered the city and took over the city, thus ending the reign of the Gods Guild, the dominant guild that had ruled the Endless Forest for a hundred years.

Next, it was time to take stock of the city's spoils and interrogate the high-ranking members of the Heavenly God Society. Su Yu didn't need to worry about these things; her subordinates could handle them.

The outcome of the battle between the Thousand Star Palace and the Heavenly Gods Association spread throughout the Blue Mountain Islands at an astonishing speed. During the battle, Su Yu displayed terrifying combat power comparable to that of an Earth Immortal, shaking the entire Blue Mountain Islands.

From the Buddhist Sword Sect in the north to the two major demonic sects in the south, and as far as the four seas in the east, west, south, and north, all the powerful forces with names and surnames stopped their disputes and turned their attention to the endless forest.

Su Yu's sudden emergence was like a Tyrannosaurus Rex suddenly appearing in a small jungle where at most a few wild beasts were fighting, overwhelming the other beasts with its absolute power. The battle against the Heavenly Gods Association not only demonstrated invincible and terrifying combat strength, but also demonstrated superb siege capabilities. The Heavenly Gods Association's century-old defensive formation could not withstand their offensive, which meant that other dominant guilds would also be unable to stop them.

If the Thousand Star Palace wanted to take action against them, they could just as easily take over their headquarters.

Among them, the alliance of the two guilds in the Flying Star Islands of the East China Sea was the most tense, and even with the backing of two major sects, they did not feel at ease.

After all, wars between guilds are considered the actions of disciples, and sects are generally not allowed to participate.

If the Flying Star Sect and the Divine Boat Sect participate, the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect will also have a reason to join the war. These two sects don't even have a single Celestial Immortal, so how could they be a match for the Immortal Sect?

In other words, the Xuanzhen Immortal Sect had not set its sights on the East China Sea before; otherwise, how could these two sects have occupied the Flying Star Islands, the core of the East China Sea?

However, the sect's lack of interest does not mean that the disciples are not interested. As the Thousand Star Palace continues to expand, it will inevitably clash with the two sects on Flying Star Island, eventually leading to war.

Of course, these are all things for the future; at least Su Yu hasn't thought about that yet.

He was only targeting the Heavenly God Society because he had a grudge against them, and also because he needed to establish his authority as the newly appointed Dao Child, so he used the Heavenly God Society as a target.

After conquering the Heavenly God Society, he still needs to go to the main island of Shenzhou, and then he will be busy with cultivation. In addition, the guild's strength is not enough. Even if he defeats the two major gangs, he will not have enough manpower to rule the entire East China Sea.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, the guild will not expand aggressively in the next ten years; it will simply develop quietly.

Only after I've finished everything and improved my strength will I consider unifying the East China Sea.

Su Yu stayed at the Heavenly God Society for a day, and Gu Zhi Qiu quickly completed the inventory of the Heavenly God Society's assets and submitted the report to him.

He spent almost an hour reviewing the reports one by one and gained a basic understanding of the Heavenly God Society's existing assets.

First, the Celestials only had one city in the Endless Forest, which was Celestial City. Of course, after the Celestials were destroyed, it was no longer called Celestial City, but was renamed Forest City.

Lin Haicheng previously paid 54 gold coins in taxes every month.

The combined monthly revenue from sales of owned properties and shop rents within the city is 92 gold.

That adds up to 146 million gold, or 1752 million gold a year.

In addition, the Celestial Society possesses a vast number of resource points of various sizes throughout the Endless Forest, numbering in the hundreds. Among them, the most valuable is a secret realm within the forest. This secret realm is approximately twice the size of the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, and is rich in spiritual energy. Most importantly, the flow of time within this secret realm differs from that outside, making it an extremely rare time-limited secret realm.

The time flow rate in most areas is three to one, while the time flow rate in the core area is ten to one. It has now been transformed into a giant medicinal garden. According to the manager of the medicinal garden, the garden was discovered more than forty years ago and has now been developed. It can produce medicinal herbs continuously every month, with an income of about 70 gold.

The combined monthly income of all the resource points of the Celestial Gods Society, excluding the herb garden, is only 48 gold.

The total monthly income is 118 million gold, and the annual income is 1416 million gold.

The combined annual income from both is 3168 million gold, but after deducting maintenance fees, guild rewards, and salaries for officials and other professions, the final net income is 2091 million gold.

Of course, this was the income during the time of the Celestial Gods Society. The Celestial Gods Society was domineering, not only with high taxes, but also by basically taking over all the resources within their territory. Those outside the Celestial Gods Society couldn't even get a taste of the soup within their territory.

The headquarters of the Thousand Star Palace is not here; this is just a branch, so it is destined that not much power will be placed here.

To avoid trouble, he decided to release some of his profits.

Taxes were reduced, shop rents were lowered, and some remote or small resource points were abandoned. As a result, the total revenue decreased by about 20% to 30%, amounting to 2592 million taels of gold, a loss of nearly 5 million taels of gold.

However, by giving up these, the number of people needed to be reduced, and various maintenance costs also decreased, ultimately resulting in a net annual income of approximately 1900 million taels of gold.

Total revenue decreased by nearly five million, but net profit only decreased by two million.

Compared to the loss of garrison personnel and the resulting increase in reputation, a mere two million gold is nothing.

In addition, during this attack on the Heavenly God Society, a total of over 3100 million worth of supplies were looted, including various spirit ores and medicinal herbs, as well as the flying swords, magical treasures, pills, and props stored by the Heavenly God Society, and also the portion that Tang Xingye took away.

And a total of 2400 million yuan in cash, including Tang Xingye's personal wealth and the money used to buy the lives of many senior executives.

These executives of the Heavenly God Society hold high positions and are quite wealthy.

All materials and supplies from this batch of revenue belong to the guild. Su Yu took 1500 million in cash, and the remainder was put into the guild warehouse as a reserve fund.

It was half a month later that the inventory was completed, the territory of the Celestial God Society was retaken, and troops were stationed there.

Su Yu issued a statement announcing the policies of the Thousand Star Palace here.

Then, leaving 20 guild members behind at the Linhai branch, including one battalion from each of the three main regiments and a Sky Strike Ship, they returned to headquarters with their main force and a wealth of spoils.

(End of this chapter)