Chapter 158 Distributing the Spoils

After the refinement was completed, everyone took inventory and discovered that the number of successfully concocted Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object) had astonishingly reached 1 100 and 5.

After taking stock of the Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object), Eldrin (Person Name) couldn't help but laugh. "A great victory indeed yields remarkable rewards. It seems Border Province will gain quite a few more Foundation Establishment cultivators over the next 100 years."

Lyra also revealed a faint smile, saying gently, "There are quite a few Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object) this time. It seems we can drive down their price—let's set it at 12,000 spirit stones per pill."

The group exited the alchemy chamber and discovered that the battle results at Celestial Ruins Mountain had already been fully tallied. Lyra then summoned the Zifu cultivators from the major families.

Before long, everyone had gathered together, each face bearing a hint of joy.

Eldrin reviewed his clan’s accumulated merits and discovered that the Chen family’s achievements this time ranked second only to the Xu and Yang families. Moreover, due to the pivotal role he and the Old Patriarch had played in turning the tide at a critical juncture, the gap between their merits and those of the Xu and Yang families was not particularly significant.

"This battle has been a resounding victory, and each of you has contributed greatly." Lyra glanced at the assembled crowd and spoke calmly. Then, shifting her tone, she added, "Although no Zifu cultivators from our Bian Province fell in this conflict, we have suffered significant losses among the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refinement disciples."

"The casualties among Qi Refining cultivators exceeded 4,000. Our Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) shall bear the compensation for the fallen."

20-6 Foundation Establishment cultivators have fallen in battle, with casualties already exceeding 20 percent. For each fallen Foundation Establishment cultivator, I will bestow 1 Foundation Establishment Pill (Spiritual Object) and compensate with additional resources equivalent to 3,000 spirit stones.

"After this compensation is distributed, you must all restrain your disciples and not set their sights upon them."

Hearing Lyra's warning, everyone nodded in understanding. They knew all too well that Lyra tolerated no nonsense, and it would be unwise to provoke her displeasure in this matter.

Seeing that everyone had agreed, Lyra glanced at Yang Yuanhe before adding, "During this great war, Yang Zhengyuan has rendered no small service. Now he is severely wounded and has even lost our clan’s guardian treasure, the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss."

"Therefore, I intend to offer the Violetgold Celestial Canopy as compensation. I trust you have no objections?"

Everyone fell into brief contemplation upon hearing this, and ultimately concurred with Lyra's perspective.

In this battle, Patriarch Yang fought across 3 different locations, and his merits ranked first aside from those of Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location). However, strictly speaking, his contributions were not significantly greater than those of the Chen and Xu families.

After all, in both major battles, Eldrin had the merit of being the first to slay enemies and break stalemates. The Chen family also eliminated several Purple Mansion demon beasts, shattering critical deadlocks. The 2 Xu clansmen likewise contributed significantly—Xu Daoyun fought relentlessly through successive engagements, while Xavier managed to pin down the Purple-Spotted Wolf King for an extended period.

The total military merit of the entire Yang family, when converted into spirit stones, amounted to approximately 320,000, while the value of the Violet Gold Celestial Canopy exceeded 200,000 spirit stones.

If no compensation were offered, the Yang Clan would have nearly depleted their remaining spirit stones after acquiring this treasure. By offering the Purplegold Heavenly Net Canopy as compensation, Lyra had effectively saved the Yang Clan a staggering 200,000 spirit stones.

Seeing that everyone had agreed, Lyra (Person Name) took out another set of third-tier treasures and laid them before the group.

"This battle saw no small contribution from you. Go ahead and choose from these treasures yourselves."

Seeing the third-tier magic treasure before them, everyone’s faces lit up with ecstasy. In this battle, the great clans of Bianzhou had joined forces, and with Lyra (Person Name) joining the fray, they had slain a total of 20 Zifu-level demonic beasts.

Among the spoils, the number of third-grade magic treasures reached as many as 23. 10 of these were obtained by Lyra (Person Name) after slaying 7 demonic beasts, while the remainder were the harvest of the other cultivators.

Most of these treasures were of the lower third-grade, with only 5 items reaching the middle third-grade.

Lyra kept 2 mid-grade third-tier and 5 low-grade third-tier magical treasures for her disciples, then brought out the remaining spoils. Altogether, she gathered 16 third-tier artifacts for the group to choose from.

These treasures were converted into military merits based on the price range of 30,000 to 50,000 spirit stones for low-grade third-tier artifacts, and 80,000 to 100,000 spirit stones for mid-grade third-tier artifacts.

Not to mention the low-grade tier-3 artifacts, the 3 mid-grade tier-3 magic treasures were respectively the Thunderclap Calamity Pearl, the flying sword of the Purple-Spotted Wolf King (Demon Beast), and a water-attribute precious vase.

Seeing these treasures, Xavier was overjoyed. Without delay, he spent 230,000 spirit stones to acquire the Purple-Spotted Wolf King's mid-grade tier-3 flying sword and 3 lower-grade tier-3 magical artifacts.

The remaining merit points converted to 32,000 spirit stones, which he decisively exchanged for 5 Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object) at the rate of 12,000 spirit stones per pill.

Yang Yuanhe held 320,000 spirit stones in his grasp. Without hesitation, he spent 180,000 to acquire the Thunderclap Calamity Pearl and a water-attribute treasure vase. With 160,000 spirit stones remaining, he bypassed the option of Third Sister's low-grade magic treasure entirely, instead exchanging them in 1 go for 13 Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object).

Eldrin took stock and found that the Chen family's military merits could be converted into 260,000 points. Thus, he spent 35,000 spirit stones to first acquire the Li Fire Needle of the Piercing Heart for the old clan leader.

He then swapped out the 2 defensive treasures—the Luofu Vajra Seal and the Xuluo Vajra Banner. Among these, the Xuluo Vajra Banner was exceptionally precious, and together they had cost him a staggering 90,000 spirit stones.

Seeing that he still had over 130,000 spirit stones on hand, Eldrin pondered for a moment before exchanging for another low-grade third-tier treasure bell.

This treasure is named the Kunwu Earth-Sundering Bell, forged a century ago by a Zifu cultivator of the Qingyang Sect as their life-bound magical artifact—an extraordinary defensive treasure of formidable power.

It is said that defensive earth-attributed magic treasures were quite rare in the Yan Kingdom. Eldrin planned to make a trip there after the beast tide subsided, intending to acquire the Profound Water Crystal. With such a treasure for exchange, it might prove more valuable than 100,000 spirit stones.

After exchanging for 4 third-tier lower-grade treasures, only 5 of the 16 defensive magical artifacts remained. Eldrin did not make further exchanges, instead using the remaining 100,000 spirit stones to acquire 8 Foundation Establishment Pills.

Seeing that everyone had exchanged their treasures, Lyra stored away the Foundation Establishment Pill and said, "After slaying the demonic beasts this time, we've obtained quite a number of materials. I shall fire up the alchemy furnace to refine several batches of third-grade pills, as well as craft some third-grade magical treasures."

"When the time comes, should you require it, I can procure them for you from the Tianxu Pavilion."

Upon hearing this, the Purple Mansions of the Xu and Yang families showed clear interest. As established immortal clans, their family fortunes far surpassed what the Chen family could ever hope to match—they could easily afford to purchase several more Grade-3 treasures.

Eldrin harbored no ulterior motives. The Chen Family’s cultivators numbered less than 1-tenth of the other 2 clans combined. Giving them a few extra third-tier magic tools would be nothing but a wasted effort.

Although he had now acquired 4 third-tier magical instruments, 2 of them had to be shelved for the time being. His core essence and cultivation base were simply insufficient, leaving him with no spare capacity to wield them.

It would be far wiser to take advantage of the current low price of Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object) to purchase several more, thereby adding 1 or 2 more esteemed Foundation Establishment cultivators to the family.

He did exactly that. Over the past few years, the Chen Family had stockpiled over 40,000 spirit stones. He withdrew 36,000 of them and purchased 3 Foundation Establishment Pills (Spiritual Object) from the Heavenly Ruins Pavilion.

After exchanging for these treasures, the chaos caused by the demon beasts was finally and completely resolved.

Eldrin delivered the Foundation Establishment Pill to his clan, entrusting the Elder Patriarch with selecting its recipient. He then returned to Celestial Ruins Mountain to assist Lyra in refining third-tier elixirs and magical treasures.

By the time they finished processing these third-order demon beast materials, the 2 realized they had been laboring for nearly half a year.