52: Chapter 52: A Roundup of Sudden Wealth, The Sword Immortal Settles Down

When the city walls of Blue Moon Island appeared at the edge of the horizon, the entire island was in an uproar.

The scouts who had returned earlier had already sent the news back.

Demon General Fuhai has been slain.

The Lord is unharmed.

And he has brought back a Golden Core Sword Immortal.

Any one of these three pieces of news would have been enough to stun the entire island into silence, let alone having them all dropped at once.

By the time the small boat carrying Lu Changyuan and his party docked, the harbor, the embankment, and the slope outside Qingyuan Terrace were already packed with people.

As soon as Lu Hu stepped ashore, he bellowed, "Move aside, everyone! We need to get her back to the mansion for treatment first!"

No one dared to push or shove.

Yet, pairs of eyes still drifted uncontrollably toward Luo Qingcheng.

White robes, a cold face, and severe wounds yet to heal.

Yet, just by being faintly swept by her gaze, many people subconsciously lowered their heads, not daring to even breathe loudly.

This was the Golden Core stage.

Even if she was weakened to the extreme, the sword pressure on her body still felt like an invisible snow-capped mountain, quietly weighing down on everyone's hearts.

Lu Changyuan escorted her all the way to the quiet room in the deepest part of the Lords Mansion, personally confirming that the Formation, medicinal bath, and Spiritual Qi gathering nodes were all activated, before finally withdrawing.

As soon as he stepped out, Lu Hu, Leng Feng, Su Qingli, and Shi Jian were already waiting outside.

Su Qingli spoke first, "The island has been initially pacified. We only said that this Senior is a Guest Elder invited back by the Lord, without spreading more about her background. The outer city guards and the harbor have also been issued gag orders."

Lu Changyuan nodded.

Her way of doing things remained flawless.

"What about the battle casualties?"

Lu Hu immediately replied, "Of the group that went out to sea with the Lord, six died, eleven were seriously injured, and over twenty sustained light injuries. The garrison left on the island also lost some men due to the aftermath of the beast tide and preparing for battle throughout the night, but it is not a major issue."

Lu Changyuan was silent for a moment, then said, "Double the compensation for the deceased, and prioritize land allocation for their families. Use the best medicine for the seriously injured. Everyone who accompanied me in this battle is to be credited with a great contribution."

"Understood."

After giving these instructions, he finally returned to his own secret chamber.

Once the door was closed.

The noise, discussions, ecstasy, and shock from outside were all shut out beyond the stone door.

Inside the secret chamber, there remained only a floor full of unorganized Storage Pouches, boxes of Demonic cores, Demonic skeletons, and a few wooden chests stained with the briny scent of the sea.

Lu Changyuan slowly let out a breath.

It was finally time to settle the accounts.

He had gambled too heavily in this battle.

In the end, he had even fed away the last lotus seed of the nine-leaf world-purifying lotus.

If the items brought back from this trip could not support that level of investment, it would truly be cutting into his own flesh.

But soon, he realized he had overthought it.

The first batch he opened was the sea demon Materials.

Although most of Demon General Fuhai's remnants had been frozen to pieces by Luo Qingcheng's sword and could not be preserved intact, the sea beast leather armor, Demonic bones, Demonic tendons, and Demonic cores of the second rank and above that could be inventoried—from the initial encirclement, pursuit, and the bloody battle at the reef—were already piled up like a small mountain.

Especially the bone armor and fangs left behind by that group of deep-sea elites; their toughness and sharpness were far superior to ordinary sea beasts.

Lu Changyuan did a rough calculation; this portion of Materials alone was enough to forge a new batch of Cold Iron auxiliary armor and dozens of sets of runic weapons for naval warfare.

And the real surprise was yet to come.

He placed the dharma conch left by Demon General Fuhai on the desk and probed into it bit by bit with his Divine Sense.

The outermost Restriction was not complex, but it carried a strong Demonic Qi and water marks, clearly an item that the other party had long nurtured with their life-bound Demonic essence.

In normal times, erasing such a mark would take quite a bit of effort.

But Demon General Fuhai was already dead.

Under the suppression of Lu Changyuan's current Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Divine Sense, that lingering mark was ground away bit by bit in less than half an hour.

The next instant, the internal space of the dharma conch completely unfolded in his Sea of Consciousness.

Lu Changyuan's eyes suddenly narrowed.

Big.

It was too big.

This was a deep-sea treasure vault that had been scoured for a hundred years and forcibly packed full.

Piles of Mid-Grade Spirit Stone were stacked like a reef mountain on the seabed.

Black-green, dark blue, and silver-white Spirit Medicine were categorized and sealed in cold jade boxes.

Many of them had strange auras, clearly deep-sea treasures that a near-shore Cultivator would rarely ever see.

Further inside were crates of deep-sea Cold Iron essence, ghost-tide coral marrow, whale-patterned Demonic bones, water-avoidance beads, tide-repelling beads, and even several third-rank Demonic cores specifically for water-attribute demon Cultivators to consume and refine.

Lu Changyuan stood there, silent for a long while.

Then, he suddenly laughed.

The more he laughed, the calmer he became.

And the clearer his mind became.

Demon General Fuhai had dominated this sea area for many years, and it was one of the nodes where various sea demon factions in the outer seas were frantically scouring for resources before the movement of the Dragon King Palace.

What it carried on its body was an entire treasury of assets prepared for itself and the forces behind it.

"One hundred thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone..."

Lu Changyuan whispered to himself.

It wasn't a conversion.

It wasn't an exaggeration.

It was truly one hundred thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, plus a pile of rare Spirit Medicine and deep-sea exotic Materials whose full value could not yet be estimated.

He did not rush to take everything out, only moving the few heaviest jade boxes and Spirit Stone chests with the most Spiritual Qi to one side.

Just as he was sealing the dharma conch again, a light knocking sound came from outside the door.

"My Lord."

It was Su Qingli.

"Enter."

Su Qingli pushed the door open and entered.

She first glanced at the few jade boxes and the dharma conch that had not been completely put away on the desk.

A trace of faint surprise flashed in her eyes, but she did not ask any more questions.

"That Senior has awakened."

"She wants to see me?"

"Yes."

Lu Changyuan stood up and went with her to the back mountain.

The place with the densest Spiritual Qi on Blue Moon Island now was not the Lords Mansion, but the hill on the east side of the highlands where Su Qingli had re-aligned the earth veins some time ago.

When the morning mist descended, rosy light often spread across the sea between the mountains, so it was privately called Qixia Peak by the people on the island.

Luo Qingcheng was standing on the peak.

She had changed into clean white robes, and her complexion was still pale, but it looked much better than it had in the reef cluster earlier.

The sea breeze blew up the hem of her clothes, and she looked like a patch of snow pressing down on the mountaintop.

"This place is not bad."

She looked at the distant sea and said indifferently.

"If you like it, Senior, this place is yours."

Luo Qingcheng turned her head.

Lu Changyuan continued, "Qixia Peak, along with the surrounding thirty miles of sea, is designated as a Guest Elder's dojo starting from today.

Without permission, no one on the island will enter without authorization.

If you need to set up a sword Formation, cultivate a sword pool, cold springs, or a herb garden while recovering, you can set them all up here."

Su Qingli stood to the side, her eyelashes flickering slightly.

This gesture was not small.

Luo Qingcheng also saw this, but she did not expose it, only asking, "Thirty miles of sea?"

"Consider it a buffer zone for your quiet cultivation, Senior."

"You certainly know how to calculate."

Lu Changyuan said frankly, "It is just mutual benefit."

The corners of Luo Qingcheng's lips moved faintly, as if smiling, or perhaps not.

She did not refuse.

This meant she had agreed.

Thus, that evening, everyone on Blue Moon Island received a new order.

Qixia Peak is closed.

A Guest Elder's dojo has been established.

No one is allowed to trespass.

The people on the island only knew that the Lord had invited a white-clad Sword Immortal who could guard the sea, but they did not know how strong she actually was.

However, just when that order to close the mountain was issued, a line of frosty white sword light swept across the clouds on Qixia Peak, which was enough to instantly extinguish all whispers.

At night, Lu Changyuan stood at the foot of the peak, looking at that little white shadow on the mountaintop, and finally felt a bit more at ease.

He had Spirit Stone.

He had medicine.

The deterrent of a Golden Core level expert had also landed on the island.

Blue Moon Island, this dilapidated ship that had originally relied entirely on him to force its way forward against the wind and waves, finally had a decent piece of ballast stone.

Just as he was about to turn and go down the mountain, a cold, clear voice suddenly drifted down from the peak with the wind.

"I looked at your Sea Cavalry Battalion today."

Lu Changyuan's footsteps paused, and he looked up.

Luo Qingcheng stood in the night, her white robes like snow.

"The foundation is not bad."

"It is just too rough."

"Since I have accepted your Karma, this Daoist force is too weak."

"I will just fix it for you while I am at it."