Chapter 240 3 Rules, Post-War Gains

Throughout the ages, countless demon-refining treasures have crumbled in the cataclysm of the Demonic Abyss—not excluding even the Supreme Treasure of Pure Yang (Magic Treasure) that stood at the very pinnacle of this realm.

If it were to fall into slumber now and fail to restore its power after a 1000 years, it would have no choice but to forsake its freedom and seek refuge under the protection of a Nascent Soul True Lord.

However, magical treasures are ultimately mere external objects to Nascent Soul cultivators. Once they fall into the hands of such masters, these treasures lose all autonomy. In critical moments, they must sacrifice themselves to shield their owners from calamity, inevitably facing destruction.

In the end, the Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) made its decision within its core. Its ethereal light swept across heaven and earth before finally settling on Lyra (Person Name) as it spoke.

"I can refrain from intervening in this battle, but you must agree to 3 conditions of mine."

"Please speak, honored guest."

Lyra nodded. The prestige of a Demon Refining Supreme Treasure was nearly equivalent to half a Nascent Soul True Lord, warranting a measure of her respect.

The Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) paused briefly, its gentle radiance spilling across heaven and earth like flowing water.

"First: The Qingyang Sect has worshipped me for over a 1000 years, and a thread of spiritual connection has formed. You must not bring utter destruction upon them."

"Second: In replacing the Qingyang Sect, you must safeguard the peace of all living beings in Chu Kingdom, making the eradication of demons and evil your sacred duty."

"Third: You shall offer tribute to me, allowing me to draw upon the energy of the subterranean fire veins beneath the Verdant Sun Mountain, accumulating sufficient power."

The Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) paused briefly before continuing, "In exchange, I may safeguard your faction when the time calls for it."

"Ancestor, Ancestor..."

Seeing that the Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) was about to change its stance, Patriarch Xu immediately panicked.

He cried out in alarm and rushed forward to plead for mercy, but a faint tremor of light from the Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) swept him away.

The Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) was once the life-bound treasure of a Nascent Soul True Monarch. Its original owner, an orthodox-path True Monarch who could not tolerate the slightest impurity in his sight, had imbued the mirror with traces of his own unyielding righteousness.

Having schemed against his senior brother to seize power, Patriarch Xu had never truly earned the esteem of this revered Demonic-Subduing Supreme Treasure. Now, it finally resolved to sever its karmic ties with the Qingyang Sect.

At that moment, Lyra (Person Name) nodded and said calmly, "Even if you hadn't mentioned them, I would have fulfilled these 3 points."

"Having presided over Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) for over 2 100 years, I have heard whispers of your name."

"I'll take your word for it, for now."

The Mirror of the Vast Heaven (Magic Treasure) saw that Lyra (Person Name) had agreed to the 3 pacts and ultimately decided not to intervene in the matter, sinking deep into the fiery veins beneath the Green Sun Mountain.

Witnessing this, the distant Violet Abyss Furnace fell into a brief silence before vanishing between heaven and earth in a surge of overwhelming violet radiance.

"Trying to flee—"

Yet at this very moment, Patriarch Xu sought to seize the opportunity to flee for his life once more.

But how could Lyra (Person Name) ever let the enemy retreat to regroup? In a flash, she summoned the Heaven's Ruin Immortal-Slaying Sword and gave chase.

Eldrin did not give chase. The heavily wounded Patriarch Xu stood no chance of survival against Lyra’s pursuit.

He led the group in pursuit of the cultivators from the Qingyang Sect. While they had no intention of eradicating every last member of the sect, they would certainly not let those who had committed countless evils escape.

Over the years, the Azure Sun Sect had long decayed to its very core. While the cultivators from the era of Elder Mo and Elder Liu—the 2 former sect leaders—still upheld some integrity, the younger generation had grown increasingly brazen in their wicked deeds.

Long before the war began, every major clan had already compiled their kill lists based on grudges accumulated over the years.

Eldrin had cut down quite a few Qingyang Sect cultivators along the way, seizing control of the sect's core formation array and key resources such as the treasure vault, spirit herb garden, scripture repository, and underground fire vein. He then directed the remaining cultivators to begin clearing the battlefield.

Before long, Lyra (Person Name) returned flying on her sword.

She glanced at Eldrin, a faint smile gracing her lips as she said, "We've finally slain this vile creature, eliminating a great scourge for the Chu Kingdom."

Eldrin also nodded, taking advantage of the moment to draw her into an embrace as he said with a smile, "After this great battle, we'll finally have a foothold in Chu Kingdom from now on."

"Hmm."

A flicker of delight flashed in Lyra's eyes. With a fourth-order spirit vein now in her possession, coupled with the fourth-order subterranean fire vein, her cultivation would progress much more smoothly from this point onward.

Without further lingering in tenderness, Eldrin began to process the gains from the Celestial Ruins Mountain.

Lyra had few capable individuals at her disposal. Beyond the several 100 disciples and descendants from Celestial Ruins Mountain, the only usable force was the 1000-some cultivators from the Chen Family participating in the war.

The members of the Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) and the Chen family were dispersed among various squadrons. Not only were they required to participate in battle, but they also had to utilize their magical instruments to record their achievements.

This record of battle achievements served both to document merits and prevent anyone from lining their own pockets.

After all, with over 10 1000 cultivators participating in this battle, without magical instruments to record the detailed combat situations, not only would military merits be difficult to tally, but there was also a high likelihood of participating cultivators covertly concealing their achievements.

Eldrin was also quite busy. The family's Foundation Establishment elders were now tallying the battle gains, while others were taking inventory of the resources in the spirit herb garden and scripture repository.

All of these matters had to be compiled and submitted to him, requiring his personal review and approval.

Fortunately, cultivators possessed keen eyesight and memory far surpassing that of mortals, allowing them to process these matters with remarkable speed.

After a full half-month of tallying, the final results of the battle were completely processed.

Half a month later.

That day, after the Chen Clan cultivators and the cultivators of Celestial Ruins Mountain (Location) had once again completed the verification of supplies and military merits.

After multiple verifications confirmed its accuracy, the account ledger was presented to Eldrin and Lyra for review.

Although the 2 had long had a rough idea of the resources they had obtained, they still felt a surge of excitement the moment they received the ledger.

After reviewing the contents, Lyra (Person Name) summoned all the Golden Core cultivators from the major families and began to speak.

This battle claimed the lives of 40-7 Foundation Establishment cultivators, over 5,600 Qi Refining cultivators, and 1 Purple Mansion cultivator.

"Given the considerable success of this battle, in addition to the standard compensation, distribute an extra 50 percent in spirit stones."

My gratitude, Fairy Jiang.

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces lit up with joy.

Given the vast disparity in the number of cultivators between the 2 sides, the casualties in this battle were not particularly severe.

However, there were still a good 5 to 6 1000 cultivators. Providing each of these many cultivators with an additional half-portion of spirit stones as compensation would amount to a total of several 100 1000 spirit stones.

Lyra's eyes flickered slightly as she quieted the crowd, then spoke:

"This battle has seen significant contributions from all of you. First, review the ledger—it details the spoils from this campaign and the merits earned by each of your great clans."

"If there are no objections after reviewing this, then let us discuss the distribution of the spoils."

Everyone took the ledger, and 1 by 1, they couldn't help but reveal expressions of delight.

This battle ended in a resounding victory. With the fall of a major power, the spoils of war could truly be described as immense.

The assets of the Qingyang Sect were primarily divided into 3 categories: the first consisted of fixed assets such as spirit mountains, earth veins, and spirit fields; the second comprised the scriptures housed in the Scripture Repository; and the final category included liquid wealth like spirit stones, magical treasures, and flying swords.

Among them, the spiritual mountains and earth veins held the greatest value. Although the Green Sun Sect had lost 2 or 3 of their spiritual mountains and earth veins after Scorched Sun Mountain was taken.

Yet to this day, it still possesses 13 spirit veins and 6 earth veins—its greatest assets.

Chapter 1 The Azure Cloud Sect's outer gate examination had just concluded. Lin Yan stood silently at the foot of the mountain, his robes tattered, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. "Did you see? That's the so-called genius who failed the examination 3 times!" "Hah, and he still dares to call himself the number 1 prodigy of Maplewood City?" "Without even a low-grade spiritual root, how could he ever join our Azure Cloud Sect?" The whispers and mocking glances felt like sharp blades. Lin Yan clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. 1 100 years had passed. He had crossed over into this world of cultivation, yet possessed the most inferior spiritual roots. In this realm where strength reigned supreme, the weak were destined to be trampled upon. "System binding complete." A mechanical voice suddenly echoed in his mind. [Host: Lin Yan] [Cultivation: Qi Refining Level 2] [Spiritual Root: Low-grade Mixed Spiritual Root] [Cultivation Technique: Basic Qi Refining Method (Level 1)] Lin Yan was momentarily stunned, then ecstatic. As a time traveler, he finally possessed his golden finger! "Ding! First check-in reward: 32,000 spirit stones, 1 Foundation Establishment Pill (Pill), 1 Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss (Magic Treasure)." A spatial ring appeared silently on his finger. Lin Yan probed it with his spiritual sense and nearly gasped aloud. Inside the ring, spirit stones shimmered like a mountain, radiating pure spiritual energy. The Foundation Establishment Pill glowed with a soft light, while the Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss pulsed with a faint crimson aura. "With these resources, I can break through to the Foundation Establishment stage within 3 years!" Lin Yan's eyes blazed with determination. Suddenly, a sharp voice interrupted his thoughts. "Lin Yan, hand over the spirit stones your family sent you, and I might spare you a beating!" A burly young man approached with several followers, his face full of arrogance. This was Wang Hu (Person Name), a Qi Refining Level 3 disciple who had bullied Lin Yan for years. Lin Yan's gaze turned cold. "Get lost." Wang Hu was taken aback, then sneered. "Have you lost your mind? Do you want to die?" As he spoke, he threw a punch, spiritual energy swirling around his fist—the Mountain-Shattering Fist (Martial Technique). In the past, Lin Yan would have been sent flying by this strike. But this time, he remained motionless, a faint smile playing on his lips. The Li Fire Sword of the Returning Abyss silently appeared in his hand. With a casual swing, a crimson sword aura shot forth. "Ah—!" Wang Hu screamed as his right arm was severed, blood spraying everywhere. His followers stared in horror, too terrified to move. "Next time, I'll take your life." Lin Yan sheathed his sword and turned to leave. At that moment, a majestic voice echoed from the mountaintop. "Who dares to cause trouble in my Azure Cloud Sect?!" A streak of light descended, revealing an elder in azure robes riding a flying sword. His aura was overwhelming—a true Foundation Establishment expert! Lin Yan's heart tightened. He knew the real trial had just begun.