23: Chapter 23 Murder and Arson Bring Gold Belts!

"Murder and arson bring a golden belt!"

Deep within a desolate mountain dozens of miles away from Wurong County!

In the dim cave, a flickering torch spat out dark red flames, casting mottled and distorted shadows on the surrounding rock walls.

Chen An looked at the three chests in front of him, filled to the brim with precious treasures, Cultivation Technique manuals, Martial Skill manuals, rare Medicinal Pill, and Sharp Weapon, and could not help but curl his lips upward, sighing with emotion.

Thinking back to before his Awakening of memories, his entire net worth was only a few dozen yuan crystal. Yet, any single item from these three wooden chests could completely crush his previous net worth.

"Right!"

Chen An slapped his forehead, suddenly recalling the yuan crystal he had just harvested. With a thought, he opened the System:

Host: Chen An

Age: 17

Aptitude: Mid-grade Martial Bone

Cultivation: Grandmaster Realm (Early Stage)

Current Balance: 500,000

"One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, one hundred thousand!"

"Holy crap!"

"Five hundred thousand!!!"

Looking at the balance displayed on the System, Chen An's eyes widened, and a look of disbelief flashed across his face. To be certain, he even carefully counted and verified every single zero.

Upon confirming that the number in his balance was indeed five hundred thousand, Chen An's breathing became rapid. Unable to suppress the joy in his heart any longer, he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, I'm rich, I'm really rich this time!!!"

His original intention in destroying the White Family was simply to cut weeds and eliminate the roots, ensuring no future trouble and avoiding potential secret retaliation or entanglement from Bai Yifan. He had never expected to gain any extra benefits.

He hadn't expected that after the final tally, he would harvest such a terrifying fortune.

Five hundred thousand yuan crystal—this was an astronomical figure he wouldn't have dared to even imagine before.

Thinking back to two days ago, when he was still brooding and feeling depressed because he couldn't swindle that ten thousand yuan crystal from Bai Yifan, he now felt a bit petty in comparison.

"If just one White Family has this much wealth, what if I were to take on the Zhou Family, the Qi Family..."

The thought flashed through his mind like lightning, and a growing, crazed ambition quietly sprouted, with a cold glint appearing in his eyes.

The major Family in Wurong County all had deep foundations. If he were to settle scores with them one by one, what kind of terrifying wealth would that be?!

But the next moment, Chen An suddenly snapped back to his senses, a chill running through his heart.

"No, no, calm down, calm down!!!"

He shook his head repeatedly, forcibly cutting off this impulsive and dangerous thought. He raised his hand and slapped his cheeks hard, forcing his restless mind to calm down quickly.

"Sigh, it seems my progress has been too fast; my state of mind is struggling to keep up. I wonder if there are any Cultivation Technique in this world for training one's state of mind?!"

After calming down, thinking about the crazy thoughts that had just sprouted, Chen An couldn't help but shake his head and sigh slightly.

At this moment, Chen An couldn't help but think of what he had seen in his past life: countless cases of poor people suddenly becoming rich, becoming arrogant and blind to others the moment they achieved success, acting recklessly and courting death, only to end up with their reputations ruined and their wealth and lives scattered.

Sudden wealth confuses the heart, and desire for power blinds the eyes; this has been the way since ancient times!

Taking a deep breath and steadying his mind, Chen An turned his gaze back to the treasures in the three large wooden chests before him.

Treasures that could be kept in the vault of a martial arts Family like the White Family were naturally not ordinary. Among them were Materials from Tier 3 Vicious Beast comparable to Acquired Realm Martial Artist, Red-Veined Copper and Fire Profound Iron that could forge Tier 3 weapons, centuries-old herbs, and Tier 2 and Tier 3 Medicinal Pill like the Essence-Solidifying Pill and Breakthrough Pill, and so on.

All in all, the total value of this batch of Heaven And Earth Treasure, Artifact Refining Materials, rare Medicinal Pill, and defensive armor was also no less than several hundred thousand yuan crystal.

However, Chen An only glanced at these treasures and didn't have much interest. Instead, he set his eyes on those Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill.

But after counting them, Chen An was actually a bit disappointed.

There were a total of thirteen Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill manuals obtained from the White Family, but eight of them were Yellow Rank Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill, and there were five Profound Rank Cultivation Technique and Martial Skill. As for Earth Rank Cultivation Technique, there were none.

However, after thinking about it for a moment, Chen An quickly came to terms with it.

Although the White Family was considered a martial arts Family in Wurong County, the strongest person he had sensed in the White Family last night—the one suspected to be Bai Yifan's father—was only at the Late Stage of the Acquired Realm.

Moreover, Earth Rank martial arts were incredibly precious. Looking across all the surrounding counties, they were considered top-tier Legacy, worth more than ten thousand gold and hard to trade for.

If the White Family had truly been lucky enough to possess an Earth Rank Cultivation Technique, they certainly wouldn't have casually stacked it in this outer vault, mixed in with ordinary Medicinal Pill and Artifact Refining Materials.

It would definitely be sealed away secretly, hidden in a secret chamber, or managed solely by the head of the Family, strictly guarded against leakage, and would never be shown to anyone easily.

"Forget it, I'll store them away first. Anyway, I have plenty of yuan crystal now. When the time comes, I can just spend some to learn a few; having more skills never hurts!"

Although a bit disappointed, Chen An still put away these Martial Skill, planning to Cultivate them when he had time.

After putting away the Cultivation Technique, Chen An looked at the three boxes of treasures again. His eyes flickered, and he found a relatively flat spot in the cave, then swung his palm violently.

With a boom, the ground exploded, and a deep pit nearly a zhang long appeared in the cave.

Chen An then placed the three boxes of treasures into the deep pit and used his palm to fill it back up. Thinking for a moment, he went outside to find a boulder weighing over ten thousand jin and placed it on top. Only then did he clap his hands and nod in satisfaction.

Although these treasures were valuable, he currently had a huge sum of 500,000 in the System. Secondly, this batch of treasures was taken from the White Family, and now that the White Family had just been destroyed, if he took them out to sell or use, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.

If he revealed any flaws and attracted investigations from the county government or other Family, it would ultimately be troublesome.

For now, he would bury them here. When the wind died down later, or when he was short on money, it wouldn't be too late to come back and retrieve them.

"Hoo!!"

Breathing out a long, stale breath and scanning his surroundings, Chen An found nothing left behind. He then turned around, walked out of the cave, and stepped into the Void Realm to leave.

A moment later, Chen An returned to Wurong County.

To keep a low profile, he specifically retracted his Protective Aura, so as not to fly in mid-air like a lightbulb and attract attention.

Before going home, he specifically flew near the White Family to take a look and found the ruins of the White Family brightly lit, with people moving about; it looked like the government.

Vaguely, there seemed to be sounds of weeping.

Perhaps they were members of the White Family's branch clans, or perhaps the families of the dead guards and servants of the White Family.

Regarding this, there was not the slightest ripple in Chen An's heart.

In the years he had lived in Wurong County, he had heard too much already.

The guards and servants raised by the White Family usually rampaged through the streets relying on the White Family's power, bullying the common people, extorting merchants, and acting tyrannically, having committed many evil deeds.

Since these people relied on the White Family, acted like tyrants on the strength of the White Family's power, and enjoyed privileges and benefits, they had to bear the price of its destruction.

When one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer. The world has always been this cruel.

Since they were evil dogs, dying with their master was only fitting and deserved no sympathy.

As for the remaining branch members of the White Family, Chen An thought for a moment and then let go of the idea of cutting weeds and eliminating the roots.

He had destroyed the White Family because Bai Yifan had sent people to cripple him first. Now that the White Family was destroyed and both Bai Yifan and his father were dead, he had vented his anger and there was no need to take things to the extreme.

After all, he wasn't a born murderer!

His eyes flashed slightly, and Chen An's figure in the Void Realm swayed, then immediately dissipated into the night sky like the wind...