31: Chapter 31: The Battle Ends, Overnight Riches

That night on Blue Moon Island, even the sea breeze carried the scent of blood and Spirit Stones.

After the allied forces of the four islands were annihilated, the entire Inner Sea became a salvage ground. Sunken ships might not be retrievable, but the items on them wouldn't sink to the seabed on their own. Mortal sailors, Dao soldiers, and Workshop laborers took turns diving into the water, hauling iron spirit-sealing boxes, bundles of Magical Artifact crossbow bolts, and crates upon crates of Medicinal Pills and ledgers onto the shore. The flags of the four factions hanging from broken masts were all torn down and replaced with the black-and-mystic-patterned flags of Blue Moon Island. Overnight, it was as if the sky over the surrounding waters had changed masters.

By daybreak, three tall mountains of supplies had already been piled up on the Pier.

Lu Changyuan stood at the very front. His robes were still stained with blood spots from the previous night that hadn't been washed off, but his gaze was colder than the sea breeze. He didn't look at the Magical Artifacts or Medicinal Pills that the Loose Cultivators were most envious of; instead, he looked at the people first.

"Casualties."

Su Qingli held a newly organized roster in her hand. Although there were red streaks in her eyes from staying up all night, her tone was steady: "During the main battle in the Inner Sea last night, seven Dao soldiers were killed in action and eleven were seriously injured. Twenty-three Mortal gunners were killed in action, and thirty-six were seriously injured. The Zixiao Sword Guards suffered no losses, and Young Master Lu Qingshan's side only lost two standard Flying Swords."

Lu Changyuan nodded slightly.

This number was even lighter than he had anticipated.

Being able to fight a naval battle of this scale against the four allied forces and achieve such a result relied not only on the mystic ice spirit-breaking crossbows and the sharp blades of the main branch's sword guards, but even more on the positions, Workshops, discipline, and morale that Blue Moon Island had accumulated bit by bit over the past few months. If it weren't for Shi Jian and this group of Mortal gunners gritting their teeth and pushing the twenty killing machines to their limits, last night's great victory wouldn't have been achieved so cleanly.

He turned his head to look to the side.

Shi Jian was crouching next to a newly retrieved allied spirit cannon with a group of soot-covered Mortal laborers. His movements were as gentle as if he were touching some precious treasure. Seeing Lu Changyuan look over, he hurriedly stood up and saluted.

"Continue dismantling," Lu Changyuan said. "What can be used goes into the warehouse; what can't be used is broken down for parts. Even if it's broken to the point where only half a breath remains, squeeze out the last bit of spirit copper and cold iron for me."

"Yes!"

Shi Jian responded loudly and quickly. Hearing this, the eyes of the laborers nearby brightened as well.

They were no longer the serfs who only knew how to bury their heads in moving stones when they first arrived on the island. Last night, those twenty mystic ice spirit-breaking crossbows were things they had personally strung, personally calibrated, and personally used to shatter the fleet formations of the four island lords. Once they had seen the scene of sea Cultivators being blown to pieces with their own eyes, their hearts could never return to how they were before.

Lu Changyuan didn't say much more and continued walking deeper into the Pier.

The further in he went, the heavier the spoils.

Of the ten large warships, three had sunk too deep, and only the core components could be salvaged in time; two had their hulls cracked open and could only be towed back to be dismantled into planks and keels; the remaining five were still relatively intact and could be incorporated into Blue Moon Island's coastal defense after some repairs. In addition, there were the sea charts, navigation logs, island warehouse ledgers, ship protection Formation Plates, spirit cannon mounts, and crates of healing Medicinal Pills brought by the four allied forces.

Upon entering the hall temporarily converted into a counting room in the Lords Mansion, Su Qingli finally handed over the total ledger.

"From last night until now, the first round of rough counting is complete."

"There are over 287,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones that can be directly stored, plus 1,300 Medium-Grade Spirit Stones."

"There are five complete large warships, three warships that can be dismantled and repaired, seven spirit cannons, nine sets of ship protection Formation Plates, over 160 Magical Artifacts of the second rank or higher, and over 400 bottles of usable healing and Qi-replenishing Medicinal Pills. The provisions and sea salt brought by the four allied forces are also enough to feed the entire island for several months."

"Adding the private hoards found in the Storage Pouches of the four island lords and several Foundation Establishment Cultivators, this battle has truly poured their century of foundation into Blue Moon Island."

When saying the last sentence, even Su Qingli couldn't suppress a trace of fluctuation in her voice.

She had seen many powers collapse overnight.

But she had rarely seen anyone who could fiercely rake the foundations of four established surrounding powers into their own bowl in just a few short months.

Lu Hu's eyes twitched as he listened: "Young Lord, this is just the first round of rough counting. Once those ships are truly dismantled and the bottom holds of the sunken ships are thoroughly searched, I'm afraid 300,000 Spirit Stones won't even cover it. Our Blue Moon Island has truly gotten rich this time."

"Rich?" Lu Changyuan raised his eyes to look at him.

Lu Hu shuddered and immediately fell silent.

Lu Changyuan placed the total ledger on the desk and tapped his finger lightly on the line that read "over 287,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones."

"This is called a foundation, not being rich."

"The island's population exceeds ten thousand, the number of warships needs to expand to double digits, the island defense formation needs repairs, the Workshop needs to expand, the walls need to be raised higher, and caltrops and spirit arrows need to continue being produced. If the Scarlet Beast Tide really presses in three months, throwing this amount of Spirit Stones in will only help us hold on for a few more rounds."

The hall fell silent instantly.

The atmosphere, which had just been heated up by the sudden wealth, was like having a basin of cold water poured over it.

Only Su Qingli reacted first.

She looked down at the ancient Jade Slip at Lu Changyuan's waist, didn't ask further, and just continued: "After last night, Blue Moon Island no longer has any overt, powerful enemies in the surrounding waters. But a Beast Tide is different from human disaster; it doesn't talk about profit or loss with you, nor will it give you any room for negotiation."

"Right now, it looks like we aren't lacking anything, but what we are truly lacking are mobile units that can tear back and forth on the sea and intercept the vanguard of the Beast Tide. And a trump card that can smash a high-rank Yao Beast to death with one blow."

Lu Hu couldn't help but frown: "Do the mystic ice spirit-breaking crossbows not count?"

"They count for defense, not for assault," Su Qingli said. "They are killing machines when defending the city, but if the Beast Tide splits up to bypass the island, charge the shore, or raid the shipping lanes, twenty heavy crossbows cannot run everywhere. Not to mention that many high-rank sea beasts won't obediently crash into a fixed firing range."

Lu Changyuan nodded.

This was precisely the reason why he hadn't relaxed after the great battle last night.

The great victory in the Inner Sea last night proved that Blue Moon Island's shell was already hard enough. But the Beast Tide wasn't the allied forces of the four islands; they wouldn't arrange their fleet formation into the crossbow range to be bombed. The Yao Beasts in the Endless Star Sea would circle, dive, tear, and use countless low-rank beast lives to cushion a truly lethal fierce creature.

And what Blue Moon Island lacked most at the moment was precisely something that could quickly assault and redeploy on the sea surface.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Reward those who participated in the battle first."

"For Mortal gunners and laborers, anyone who manned a crossbow position, carried arrows, or calibrated positions last night will be credited with first-class battle merit. For the families of those killed in action, distribute an additional three mu of spirit fields and exempt them from labor taxes for three years. Those who are seriously injured but not incapacitated will be given priority to enter the city's Workshops. Dao soldiers will be calculated at double military merit. The crossbow position that was the first to press the second round of volley fire into the firing range will be heavily rewarded as a whole group."

Shi Jian's eyes lit up, as if a burning piece of charcoal was stuck in his throat. After a long while, he cupped his fists heavily: "This subordinate thanks the Young Lord on behalf of the brothers!"

Lu Changyuan looked at Lu Hu again: "Within three days of the great battle, the entire island will open its granaries. Wine and meat will be distributed as usual, but armaments must not leave your hands, and the watchtowers and sea patrol ships will double their shifts. If anyone truly treats this winning battle as a time of peace, I will behead them first."

"Yes!"

Orders were pressed down one by one, and the entire Lords Mansion, like a tightened machine, began to operate at high speed again.

By the afternoon, everyone on Blue Moon Island had recovered from the ecstasy.

The sounds of dismantling ships, transporting boxes, and repairing formations could be heard everywhere in the city. Children and women stood outside the Pier, looking at the captured warships from afar, their eyes filled with an unprecedented sense of security and awe. Many people still couldn't believe that the allied forces of the four islands, which had made them unable to breathe just yesterday, had become the wealth piled up on the Pier today.

At dusk, Lu Qingshan was going to take the Zixiao Sword Guards back to the main branch's front line.

Before leaving, he stood at the edge of Qingyuan Terrace, looked at the bustling Blue Moon Island below, and said indifferently: "You didn't fight this battle like a concubine-born son forced to reclaim wasteland."

Lu Changyuan cupped his hands: "Many thanks to you, Cousin, for holding the line."

"Don't thank me too early." Lu Qingshan turned his head, his gaze falling on Lu Changyuan's face, "The main branch has also begun to contract the outer sea defense line. Since you have taken this stretch of sea, don't fail to hold it."

The words were not heavy, but they were more solid than any praise.

Lu Changyuan nodded: "I know."

Lu Qingshan said nothing more and took the Sword Guards away through the air.

After those twenty-plus sword lights disappeared at the end of the sunset glow, Blue Moon Island truly became a Blue Moon Island that only relied on itself to shoulder matters.

Late at night, the cheers finally faded away bit by bit.

In the secret chamber of the Lords Mansion, Lu Changyuan spread out the sea chart alone, laying out the ships, crossbows, formations, population, and Spirit Stones that Blue Moon Island could mobilize one by one. A windfall of 300,000 Spirit Stones might be enough for others to get drunk for three days and three nights; but in his eyes, this was more like a ledger that could only temporarily prolong his life.

The mystic ice spirit-breaking crossbows could guard one line.

The main branch would not be stationed here permanently.

The core team on the island was hard enough, but the middle layer and the mobile end were still short boards.

If he wanted to raise it another notch within three months, he couldn't just rely on burying his head in building walls.

Just as his gaze fell on that uninhabited shallow sea three hundred miles in the outer sea, the heavenly secret jade slip deep in his Sea of Consciousness suddenly vibrated gently.

That familiar chill spread along his Divine Sense, much calmer than the blood-red warning after the great battle, but it still made people tense up.

Lu Changyuan probed with his Divine Sense.

A line of new handwriting soon appeared on the surface of the Jade Slip.

[Three hundred miles away in the outer sea, a migration of second-rank Purple Lightning Seahorses has been discovered.]

[Purple Lightning Seahorse: Can ride lightning and travel through water, extremely high mobility, is a top-tier mount for naval warfare.]

[Current guard: Being chased by the elite of a Merfolk tribe.]

Lu Changyuan's pupils contracted, and the next moment he pressed the entire sea chart onto the desk.

Just as he was lacking something, the Jade Slip had delivered it to his eyes.

He stared at the coordinates in the outer sea. After a few moments of silence, the corners of his mouth finally slowly curled into a very faint arc.

"Sea cavalry..."

"It has come just in time."