Chapter 39: Spoils of War
The marketplace was in chaos, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators from Xuanyin Pavilion and Lihuo Palace had also flown into a rage and taken action.
At this time, outside the marketplace, two Foundation Establishment cultivators escaped in a sorry state, their faces full of fury.
“Damn that Zhou Qing, he only said the Zhou Family’s Guardian Spirit Beast was in a weakened state, but didn’t mention that Zhou Tieshan had secretly broken through to Foundation Establishment in the family!”
“Where the hell is that bastard Zhou Qing!?”
The two demonic cultivators were filled with rage.
“My lords, Zhou Qing didn’t arrive at the agreed time. I’m afraid he fell during the chaos!”
The cultivator who was on standby outside quickly spoke up, and upon hearing this, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators cursed under their breath.
“That traitor got lucky.”
“Let’s go quickly. The Zhou Family has a new Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the chaos in the marketplace is nearly subdued. The cultivators from Xuanyin Pavilion and Lihuo Palace are closing in fast.”
A group of demonic cultivators quickly fled into the mountains.
The marketplace appeared chaotic, but under the suppression of Xuanyin Pavilion and Lihuo Palace’s cultivators, it hadn’t devolved into a full riot.
Most of the drifting cultivators claimed to be bystanders, but in truth, there just hadn’t been enough bait.
...
Meanwhile, under the flickering flames of the marketplace chaos, Lin Chang’an nervously cleaned up traces.
“Zhou Qing’s earlier words clearly indicated he intended to betray his clan, and he must have concealed his presence before coming.”
With this thought, Lin Chang’an no longer cared about the state of the marketplace and went home to eliminate all traces, rewarding both Zhou Qing and his spirit beast with a Fireball spell.
“And then there are these spoils of war.”
As Lin Chang’an opened the two storage pouches and the spirit beast pouch Zhou Qing had carried, his eyes immediately lit up.
“As expected of a cultivator planning to flee—absolutely dripping with wealth.”
Since he was going to run, of course he’d bring all his possessions, and Zhou Qing wasn’t just an alchemist—he also held an important position within the clan.
“Good grief, this Zhou Qing really was ruthless—stealing from his own clan without restraint.”
Inside Zhou Qing’s storage pouch were over three hundred spirit stones, but that wasn’t the most valuable part.
What was truly precious were the spirit herbs and pills; not only were there many herbs, but most still had soil clinging to their roots, clearly just pulled out.
“This old bastard… did he strip the Zhou Family’s entire medicinal field clean?”
Lin Chang’an couldn’t help but grin—no wonder people said that murder and arson lead to riches.
This was a hefty haul.
But it was easy to get addicted. After all, overnight wealth came so quickly that many cultivator robbers started out simply defending themselves or planning one job—but under the sway of greed, they got hooked.
There was a mid-grade alchemy furnace, alchemy classics, a medicinal compendium, two mid-grade magical artifacts—one offensive and one defensive—as well as all sorts of pill bottles, spirit liquids, and a beast-taming jade manual.
“Truly the fortune of a late-stage Qi Refining alchemist.”
Although Zhou Qing did exploit his clan during this time of crisis.
At the same time, when Lin Chang’an saw this defensive magical artifact, he silently warned himself—owning a magical artifact but failing to use it in time was dangerous.
Even if caught off guard by a sneak attack, having the artifact on one’s person was far better than storing it in a pouch.
“But it’s a pity about the alchemy furnace and the alchemical inheritance…”
Touching the ancient bronze furnace, Lin Chang’an shook his head. He didn’t have the luxury of time right now, and couldn’t afford to delay his cultivation progress for alchemy.
After all, he still hoped to plan for Foundation Establishment before sixty.
“I’ll hold onto this furnace for now. It’s useless at the moment, but once I form my foundation and have two hundred years of lifespan, there’ll be plenty of time to hone my skills.”
While counting his spoils, Lin Chang’an also made sure to clean up all traces and scents to avoid discovery.
“These items, just to be safe, should either be used by me or destroyed. They must not enter the marketplace for now.”
Listening to the gradually calming chaos outside the marketplace, Lin Chang’an calculated silently.
Usually it wasn’t a problem to sell stolen goods, but this time the Zhou Family had suffered a major incident. If any of Zhou Qing’s items surfaced in the marketplace, the Zhou Family would likely hunt them down frantically.
As hateful as cultivator robbers were, traitors were even more despised!
The Zhou Family might even spread rumors that Zhou Qing had stolen some treasure from them to provoke everyone to hunt him down.
“Better safe than sorry.”
This was already a hefty haul, and since Lin Chang’an wasn’t short on spirit stones, he didn’t intend to sell Zhou Qing’s spoils after cleaning up the traces.
He didn’t even plan to spend the spirit stones in the storage pouch outside; instead, he would use them all for the Spirit-gathering Formation and daily cultivation.
...
The next day, shocking news spread from the marketplace.
The Zhou Family had produced a new Foundation Establishment cultivator!
This meant the Zhou Family now had three Foundation Establishment cultivators, and with their Guardian Spirit Beast included, their Foundation Establishment combat power totaled four.
“Brother Lin, you don’t know—it was really dangerous yesterday.”
Li Erniu was brimming with excitement as he talked about how the Zhou Family had turned the situation around completely.
“So it turns out that the whole story about the clan going to Xuanyin Pavilion to refine Foundation Establishment Pills was just a decoy. In reality, the pills had already been acquired, and Zhou Tieshan had been cultivating in seclusion within the clan. Only the clan head and the patriarch knew.”
“Everything done before was just a cover-up.”
As Li Erniu spoke with excitement, Lin Chang’an suddenly understood. The Zhou Family’s patriarch and family head, father and son, had acted out a grand performance that had fooled everyone.
“I don’t know which traitor leaked the clan’s intelligence, but thankfully Brother Zhou Tieshan broke through at the crucial moment and, along with the patriarch, killed the robbers who came to plunder.”
Li Erniu spoke with such vivid animation that all his previous discontent seemed to vanish.
The Zhou Family patriarch’s secret plan wasn’t just hidden from an outsider like him—even all the Zhou-surnamed members in the clan had been kept in the dark.
“Erniu, you could say this disaster turned into a blessing for you.”
Lin Chang’an looked at Erniu with a smile, and Erniu scratched his head and showed an excited grin, nodding heavily.
“Now the clan is thoroughly investigating the traitor. And since I was out managing the family business during that time and didn’t get involved in any internal arrangements, I’ve perfectly cleared my name.”
One had to admit, personal fortune really did differ—just look at Erniu. He not only picked up a cushy job for nothing, but also effortlessly secured a position of trust.
“It’s just that the clan lost quite a few people this time, even Brother Zhou Qing is gone.”
At this point, Li Erniu suddenly became a bit gloomy, looking at Lin Chang’an with a melancholic expression.
However, when Lin Chang’an heard that name, his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He glanced subtly at Erniu, pretending to show a surprised expression.
“Brother Zhou Qing? The one in charge of the medicinal fields, who often traded talismans with me?”
“Yeah, it was too chaotic this time. That group of robbers went straight for the back hill with a clear purpose. All the medicinal fields along the way were burned and looted. Even Brother Zhou Qing died in battle—nothing left of his body. But the clan will take care of his descendants.”
Good heavens!
When Lin Chang’an heard this, his eyes widened. He had been worried about getting implicated earlier, but now Zhou Qing was mistakenly believed to have died in battle.
What he hadn’t expected was that Zhou Qing was so ruthless. For the sake of Foundation Establishment, he not only betrayed the clan but also abandoned his family.
“Though Brother Zhou was a bit greedy at times, when it came to the righteousness of the clan, he was truly a model for our generation!”
When Li Erniu spoke of Zhou Qing, he wore a solemn expression, looking utterly admiring of what he saw as Zhou Qing’s noble character.
“Yes, such conduct is indeed admirable.”
Lin Chang’an also nodded solemnly, though who knew what he was really thinking.
Still, he couldn’t afford to be careless. What if this was a message deliberately spread by the Zhou Family?
Therefore, not a single piece of the earlier spoils could see the light of day now.