Chapter 43: Counting the Spoils, A Massive Harvest

Half a month had passed. Because Lin Heng was currently in deep cultivation, to maintain quietness, the mountain gate had not yet undergone repairs and still remained a complete ruin.

However, this did not pose any problem.

Although many surface structures within the Cloud Sword Palace's mountain gate had been destroyed, numerous underground storehouses remained completely intact, ensuring there was plenty of space to store the endless streams of treasures pouring into the Cloud Sword Palace from all across the realm.

"Heng'er has not eaten for half a month; you must be hungry."

"While we eat, let your master brief you on our recent gains."

Seeing Lin Heng withdraw his gaze from the distance, Xiao Rang spoke with a smile.

"Very well."

Lin Heng agreed.

Though with his current level of cultivation, he could go without sleep or food for prolonged periods, sustaining himself entirely on the vital Qi of heaven and earth.

Yet eating remained a vital source of energy acquisition; dining on schedule could accelerate one's cultivation speed, and it was also a form of enjoyment.

During closed-door cultivation, there was no alternative, but in daily life, the pleasure of a good meal was not to be missed.

Following that, master and disciple set off, arriving at a pavilion in the back mountain of the Cloud Sword Palace that was still reasonably intact, and took their seats.

Soon, maidservants brought over a variety of freshly prepared spiritual dishes.

As Lin Heng picked up his chopsticks and ate, Xiao Rang produced an account book and began with a mix of pride and summary, "On the very first day, we breached the mountain gates of the two martial arts holy lands, the Celestial Star Valley and the Frost City, acquiring numerous rare treasures and secret martial arts manuals from them."

"On the second day, we began liquidating their affiliated forces, obtaining another batch of wealth. Afterwards, using spiritual hypnosis techniques, we interrogated the minds of the captives to extract a vast amount of intelligence, and thoroughly cleared out the lairs of those demonic and heterodox factions..."

Listening while he ate, Lin Heng finally grasped the entire process of confiscating the assets of these rival factions.

Once they had lost all their top-tier combat power, Celestial Star Valley, Frost City, and their dependent vassals were like lambs ready for slaughter.

Aside from a tiny fraction of individuals with sharp instincts who fled in advance, most of the others and their properties failed to escape, completely overrun and seized by the million-plus warriors of the Cloud Sword Palace and its various allies.

Celestial Star Valley and Frost City were, after all, orthodox martial sects of the pugilistic world, so the Cloud Sword Palace had spared them a shred of dignity.

Once their middle-to-high-tier combatants were exterminated and their capacity for resistance neutralized, the remaining minor characters were spared from total annihilation as long as they were willing to surrender.

The other demonic and heterodox factions with poor reputations, however, received no such treatment; their entire family lineages were utterly erased, down to shaking the very eggs in their households until the yolks were scrambled.

During the process of raiding homes and exterminating clans, the numerous disciples of the Cloud Sword Palace and their allies were not entirely squeaky clean.

After all, when handling pork, even without stealing, one's hands are bound to get greasy.

They took a small fraction of the spoils from the confiscated assets—though not daring to touch anything excessively precious—while the vast majority was taken by the senior leadership of the Cloud Sword Palace, all of which was now officially recorded and being transported back to the mountain gate.

Concluding his account of the raids, Xiao Rang summarized: "The gold and silver jewels obtained this time total twelve billion seven hundred million taels. The value of other properties, including farmland, houses, and mines, amounts to one hundred and thirty-eight billion two hundred million taels of silver. In addition, there are tens of thousands of secret martial arts manuals and numerous rare heavenly treasures."

So much?

Wasn't this a bit exaggerated?

Hearing this, Lin Heng was momentarily stunned.

Yet, a moment later, the realization dawned on him.

While the number sounded exorbitant, it was actually quite reasonable.

After all, Celestial Star Valley and Frost City were factions of equal standing with the Cloud Sword Palace, each commanding five or six vassal states under their banners.

The territory and population of each vassal state were no less than that of China during the Ming and Qing dynasties in Lin Heng's previous life, and the total landmass of Lanzhou was certainly no smaller than Earth in his past life, perhaps even larger.

With two martial arts holy lands possessing such vast territories to bleed dry, even under a feudal agrarian society with low productivity, and even considering their massive daily expenditures on martial arts cultivation, accumulating such a vast fortune over generations of inheritance was entirely feasible.

This time, by raiding two martial arts holy lands, their affiliated forces, and numerous demonic and heterodox factions, they had acquired wealth valued at over one hundred and fifty billion taels of silver.

And that was merely the result after many hands had already dipped into the pot; there were undoubtedly still quite a few hidden assets left uncounted.

In reality, once the asset confiscations were thoroughly concluded, the total value of the wealth generated would likely exceed two hundred billion taels.

"Judging by these raid results, the total asset value of our Cloud Sword Palace shouldn't be less than a hundred billion taels either. Master, you and the others used to look like it pained you to the core when you refined a Dragon-Tiger Golden Dan worth two hundred and seventy thousand taels for me."

Lin Heng chuckled and complained half-jokingly.

The sect had never been stingy with him; all the spiritual sustenance he had consumed over the years, coupled with various precious elixirs and cultivation resources, added up to an expenditure ranging from tens of millions to nearly a hundred million taels.

It was just that Lin Heng felt the senior leadership of the sect completely lacked the airs of wealthy people.

"Heng'er, you don't manage the household, so you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. The sect's assets are indeed immensely valuable, but they belong to everyone. They must sustain the food and upkeep of tens or hundreds of thousands of disciples across the entire sect, so naturally every penny must be meticulously budgeted."

"Still, this wave has made us obscenely wealthy."

"Disciple, you are the primary hero of this great victory, and seven-tenths of these riches, properties, and rare heavenly treasures can be allocated to you."

"How do you plan to spend them?"

Xiao Rang asked with a beaming smile.

This was the sheer weight of being the number one expert in the world, a supreme Grandmaster—even without doing anything, one could claim the lion's share of the income.

Seven-tenths—this was a fortune exceeding the level of one hundred billion taels, stepping onto a tier even higher than wealth that could rival a nation.

Naturally, the Cloud Sword Palace also did not lose out.

From now on, the Cloud Sword Palace could not only collect taxes from its original five vassal states, but across all seventeen major nations of Lanzhou. The annual income of cultivation resources and wealth would be several times greater than before.

The senior figures of the sect would also bask in this glory, enjoying a surplus of cultivation resources every year.

And all these revenues relied entirely on the deterrence provided by Lin Heng, so keeping him in a good mood was naturally the absolute top priority.

"Master, please help me procure cultivation resources; I wouldn't know how to spend the rest anyway."

"Let the sect manage all these properties, as long as they provide me with a steady stream of cultivation resources on schedule."

Lin Heng replied casually.

Having reached the Grandmaster realm, the utility of external objects diminished greatly, though they were not entirely useless.

For instance, spiritual foods and culinary dishes could help martial artists in the Grandmaster realm replenish the daily depletion of their vital blood and Qi, allowing the heaven and earth vital Qi they absorbed to be used entirely for strengthening themselves, thereby indirectly accelerating their cultivation speed.

Rare treasures and specialized elixirs also offered some promotional effects for cultivation, though their cost-effectiveness was rather low, often requiring massive amounts of wealth for minimal gains.

However, since Lin Heng aimed to break through to the Heavenly-Human realm—he had not yet reached a plateau where his cultivation could no longer progress and he had to pin his hopes solely on nurturing juniors—even the smallest boost remained useful.

Money only truly becomes money when it is spent; held in hand, it is nothing more than ordinary stones and waste paper.

"Very well."

Xiao Rang was not surprised by this answer.

He readily agreed with a smile.