Chapter 432 : A Gathering Storm of Vengeance

Many Violet Sanctum Patriarch wore expressions brimming with killing intent. These territories had been won through their collective bloodshed in years past. By all rights, the resources within should have been shared among all who fought for them.

Yet now, a mere handful of Immortal Clan had monopolized them, secretly mining for decades, even a century. How could this injustice sit well with the others?

"What," Eldrin Chen asked, his voice cold, "should be done about this?"

His gaze grew even sharper, a palpable aura of slaughter radiating from him.

Percival Pan rose to his feet, fury etched on his face, and bowed towards Eldrin Chen. "These clans have stolen the resources we fought so hard to secure. It is an outrage that cries out to heaven! I implore you, Patriarch, to punish them severely. They must not be shown any leniency!"

"The fruits of our conquest, pilfered by a few." The speaker was Star Grace Meng, the clan leader of the Meng Immortal Clan. Her voice rang out, clear and forceful. "If they are not punished harshly, others will surely follow their example and hide discovered veins. And those of us who bleed for the Heavenly Ruins Alliance will see no just reward. Who then would be willing to fight and die for the Alliance?"

As one Violet Sanctum Patriarch after another voiced their grievances, the representatives of the six or seven offending Violet Sanctum Immortal Clan and several dozen Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan watched in mounting terror.

Patriarch Fang, casting aside the dignity of his Violet Sanctum Patriarch status, actually fell to his knees, pleading for mercy. "Patriarch, I have seen the error of my ways! I beg you, consider the years my Fang Clan has shed blood for the Heavenly Ruins Alliance... spare our lives, I implore you!"

"Hmph—"

A cold, dismissive snort was the only reply. Dive deeper into the Dao at audio~novel.com.

Eldrin Chen's expression was icy, a glint of stern resolve flashing in his eyes.

His gaze sent shivers down the spines of those present. After a long silence, he finally spoke. "In consideration of your service to the Heavenly Ruins Alliance over these years, your lives may be spared."

"However, for the crime committed against the Immortal Clan, you shall forfeit all resources obtained from illicit mining. Furthermore, all your assets within the Heavenly Ruins Prefecture and the Earth Lion Prefecture—including Spirit Mountain [mountains rich in spiritual energy] estates and Earth Vein [geological formations that concentrate spiritual energy] holdings—are hereby confiscated."

Among the assembled cultivators, Patriarch Fang and the others let out a heavy sigh of relief upon hearing this.

Although losing their assets in the two prefectures and the illicitly mined resources would shrink their clans' wealth by more than half, this outcome was already within their expectations.

To have their lives spared was an unexpected mercy, and they nodded fervently, their hearts swelling with gratitude.

Patriarch Fang immediately kowtowed in thanks, his voice trembling with emotion. "We thank the Patriarch for his mercy. This junior will remember this lesson well and shall never repeat such an offense."

"Do not thank me yet,"

Eldrin Chen snorted coldly. With a flick of his wrist, he sent several spiritual talismans [enchanted paper slips imbued with magical power] flying into the bodies of the seven Violet Sanctum [the third major realm of cultivation] Clan Patriarch. Dozens of sword intents [the conceptual essence and will of a swordsman] then shot from his fingertips, piercing directly into the brows of several dozen Foundation Establishment [the second major realm of cultivation] Clan Patriarch.

Before the terrified crowd could utter a word, he spoke with chilling finality. "These Sword Talismans were personally crafted by me. In the space of a single Eldrin [a very brief moment, the time it takes for a single thought to form], they can end your lives."

"If you wish to avoid death, you must atone for your crimes through meritorious deeds. Each of you must slay a Demonic Beast of equivalent cultivation realm and bring back its Demonic Beast Inner Pill [the condensed spiritual core of a demonic beast]. Only then will I remove the sword talismans from you."

"This..."

They sensed the sword intent and the talisman sealed within their bodies, their faces turning pale with dread.

For the Foundation Establishment Cultivator [cultivators at the second major realm], it was slightly more manageable. However, the seven Violet Sanctum [cultivators at the third major realm] clan representatives present felt their scalps prickle with terror. Within the territories of Heaven's Ruin and Earth Lion continents, Violet Sanctum Realm [pertaining to the Violet Sanctum cultivation stage] demonic beasts were now almost impossible to find.

To atone, they would have to venture deep into the Demon Race Territory [lands controlled by demonic tribes] to hunt down major demons—a perilous undertaking of immense risk.

Though fear gripped their hearts, they understood there was no room for dissent here.

They could only prostrate themselves, voices trembling as they pledged, "Rest assured, True Person, we will return with the heads of demonic beasts."

"You may leave now."

Eldrin Chen waved his hand, dismissing the group.

After the offending Immortal Clan [a clan of cultivators] representatives had departed, he turned his gaze to the remaining clans. "The assets of those families within the two continents will be confiscated and sold at a discounted price."

"If you are interested, you can discuss it with the Chen Clan Elder."

After saying this, Eldrin Chen stood up and left the great hall.

As for the minor tasks of negotiating the sale of the Spirit Mountain and confiscating the spirit stones from those families, there was no need for Eldrin Chen to handle them personally.

Eldrin Chen returned to Spirit Ore Mountain and continued his work on nurturing the Spiritual Vein [a subterranean channel that concentrates and flows with spiritual energy], while Lior Chen and Kael Chen began leading others in handling the finer details.

After being busy for over half a year, they had confiscated over three million Spirit Stone [a mineral that stores and radiates spiritual energy] from the various families, and by selling these Spirit Mountain and mineral veins, they obtained another three million-plus spirit stones.

In total, they acquired close to seven million spirit stones, directly covering the major expenses for nurturing the Fourth-Rank Spiritual Vein. Find this and other novels at audio-novel dot com.

With the spirit stones secured, the process of nurturing the Fourth-Rank Spiritual Vein accelerated significantly. After nearly two years of diligent work by the Chen Clan, the promotion of the Fourth-Rank Spiritual Vein was finally completed.

Following the vein's advancement, Exquisite Jiang personally laid down a Fourth-Rank Mountain Protection Formation [a powerful defensive array designed to shield a mountain and its resources]. She said with great satisfaction, "With the Spirit Mountain and this Formation [a structured arrangement of energy nodes and patterns used for defense, attack, or other mystical purposes] standing guard, the safety of this spirit stone mine should be assured."

Eldrin Chen nodded in agreement, but added, "The clan still possesses two pieces of Void Gem [a rare spatial-aligned mineral used in teleportation arrays]. We should use them to set up a Teleportation Formation Disk [a portable or fixed teleportation array device] as well. That would provide an additional layer of security."

"That would be wise," she agreed.

Exquisite Jiang spoke, then mobilized personnel to refine Teleportation Formation Disk [a portable device used to activate a teleportation array]. After three months of busy work, the formation disk was successfully completed.

After deploying the Teleportation Formation [a magical array that allows for instantaneous travel between two points], they left Kael Chen to guard the location, then returned to Spirit Isle Lake to resume their secluded cultivation.

"..."

Time flowed by like water, and in the blink of an eye, over a dozen more years had passed.

On this day, Eldrin Chen opened his eyes within the Seclusion Chamber [a specially prepared room for undisturbed meditation and cultivation]. He took a slow, deep breath, sensing the surge of spiritual power within him—it had increased by a full twenty percent. A flicker of joy passed through his eyes.

Not long before, he had finally perfected his cultivation, touching the threshold of the Sixth Layer of the Golden Core Realm [the sixth stage of the Golden Core cultivation stage]. This period of seclusion had indeed allowed him to smoothly break through to the Golden Core 6th Tier [the sixth level of the Golden Core stage].

This was the year nineteen thousand five hundred twenty-two of the Path Calendar [a calendar system used by cultivators to mark significant eras]. Calculating carefully, Eldrin Chen was just over three hundred and twenty years old. To have cultivated to the Sixth Layer of the Golden Core Realm at this age meant he could likely reach Golden Core Perfection [the pinnacle of the Golden Core stage] just after four hundred years of age.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, Eldrin Chen stepped out from the Seclusion Chamber.

Exquisite Jiang, who had been guarding outside the door, saw him and asked with delight, "You broke through?"

"It went smoothly enough."

Eldrin Chen gave a slight nod, his gaze shifting to the nearby Spiritual Peach Tree.

This year's crop of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Peach [a miraculous fruit that condenses heaven and earth spiritual energy] was markedly different from previous years; their number had increased significantly, with a full twenty-seven fruits now hanging from the boughs.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Peach possessed wondrous properties. They bloomed once every ten years, bore fruit over the next ten, and ripened over the final ten. Once matured, a cultivator could refine and consume one Spiritual Peach every decade, gaining thirty years' worth of cultivation [a measure of accumulated spiritual power and enlightenment] in an instant.

Over the years, Eldrin Chen and Exquisite Jiang had relied entirely on these Heaven and Earth Spiritual Peach to rapidly increase their spiritual power, allowing them to advance one minor realm in cultivation every thirty years.

He recalled that when the Spiritual Peach Tree was at the Fourth Rank Low-Grade [a classification for spiritual objects], it bore only nine Spiritual Peach each cycle. After he and his wife consumed theirs, there were scarcely any left over.

Later, as it grew to Fourth Rank Mid-Grade, it produced eighteen peaches per cycle. This finally allowed a surplus of over a dozen fruits, which they used to nurture Lila and Kael among others.

Now, with nine additional Heaven and Earth Spiritual Peach, they could cultivate three more Golden Core Cultivator [a cultivator who has condensed their spiritual power into a solid Golden Core, a major milestone]. Read the full novel exclusively on audio-novel .c om.