151: Chapter 151 A Great Harvest!

...

At the end of the passage was a large bronze gate engraved with intricate skull patterns.

A toxic Restriction was attached to the gate.

Perfected Qing Shan stepped forward and waved his horsetail whisk. Yimu Pure Qi transformed into fine needles, peeling away the toxins from the gate bit by bit...

It took a full stick of incense's time before the bronze gate slowly opened with a dull rumble...

The Yinfeng Valley treasury was revealed before the eyes of two men and a bear.

It wasn't as magnificent as one might imagine.

The treasury of a Demonic Path Sect exuded a gloomy and eerie aura.

The space was vast and divided into three areas.

On the left, boxes of Low-Grade Spirit Stones were piled up. A rough estimate put them at no less than two hundred thousand. There were also two or three thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. For a Golden Core force, this was considered quite a substantial fortune.

In the middle area, rows of wooden shelves were arranged. The shelves were filled with various Yin-attribute Spiritual Materials: Century-old Corpse Evil Wood, Nether Cold Iron, Bone Flower, and Blood Lingzhi. These Materials weren't very useful for Righteous Path Cultivators, but they could fetch astronomical prices on the black market.

On the right were Cultivation Technique Jade Slips and Magic Treasures. Most were sinister Demonic Path items, such as the Ten Thousand Soul Banner and Blood-Melting Blade.

"This Yinfeng Valley has certainly extorted a lot from the common people."

Perfected Qing Shan looked at the Spirit Stones with a burning gaze.

Shi Jian walked directly to the middle area and, with a wave of his large paw, swept all the Century-old Corpse Evil Wood and Blood Lingzhi into his possession.

The Way of Thunder was supremely masculine. He usually needed to consume a large amount of vitality for his cultivation, and the Blood Lingzhi was perfect for replenishing the consumption of his Physical Body.

As for the Corpse Evil Wood, it could be traded with those Yao Race members who practiced unorthodox Cultivation Techniques for resources.

"I'll take forty percent of the Spirit Stones, and the rest will be split equally between your two sides," Shi Jian set the tone. "I don't want the Cultivation Techniques or Magic Treasures; they all belong to you."

"But I need a handwritten copy of the Cultivation Techniques."

Daoist Yun Du and Perfected Qing Shan had no objections to this distribution plan.

Shi Jian had contributed the most, so taking forty percent of the Spirit Stones was only natural.

Although Demonic Path Cultivation Techniques couldn't be practiced openly, they could be taken back to the Sect to learn from, taking the essence and discarding the dregs.

As for the various Magic Treasures, dismantling them to refine Spiritual Materials was also a significant amount of wealth.

The distribution of the spoils was complete.

However, Elder Rat was frantically scratching the wall nearby.

"Old Ancestor, something isn't right."

Elder Rat pointed to a stone wall at the deepest part of the treasury: "It's empty behind this. Spiritual Qi is seeping out from behind the wall."

Shi Jian stepped forward and knocked on the stone wall. The sound was dull; there was indeed a hidden compartment.

He held his fingers like a blade, with thunderous light attached to the tips of his claws, and sliced through the stone wall as if cutting tofu.

The stone wall collapsed.

A wave of Spiritual Qi, so dense it almost turned into mist, rushed toward them.

Within this Spiritual Qi was extremely pure Yin-cold energy, yet it was devoid of any Evil Qi pollution, so clean it brought peace to the mind.

The three of them peered inside.

Behind the stone wall was an underground cavern no more than a hundred feet across.

In the center of the cavern was a cold pond about thirty feet wide.

The pond water was ink-black, calm and without ripples. Around the cold pond grew a patch of crystal-clear white grass, with frost hanging from the blades.

"Low Grade Blessed Land, Profound Yin Cold Pond!"

Daoist Yun Du Immortal Master gasped, his voice trembling.

Blessed Lands were the most core strategic resources in the cultivation world.

Even a Low Grade Blessed Land was enough to sustain the Legacy of a Golden Core force indefinitely.

This Profound Yin Cold Pond could not only nurture the extremely precious 'Ice Soul Grass', but its water was also an excellent spiritual substance for tempering Magic Treasures and cleansing the Divine Soul.

It could even nurture Yin-attribute heaven and earth qi: Profound Yin Vitality Qi!

"No wonder this group of demonic Cultivators from Yinfeng Valley could stand tall in Heisha County for hundreds of years." Perfected Qing Shan's gaze shifted.

Facing a Blessed Land, the breathing of the three became heavy.

Spirit Stones could be divided, Spiritual Materials could be divided, but how could a Blessed Land be divided?

This thing couldn't be taken away; it could only be guarded by people.

But guarding a Blessed Land in the heart of the Jin State was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Once the Wei State army retreated and the main demonic forces returned, whoever stayed here to guard it would be doomed.

Even if they used Divine Abilities to move mountains and fill seas, it would cause a huge commotion; otherwise, they would be blocked by the Demonic Path, and this Blessed Land would be wasted.

"We can't take it away."

"This place is deep within the Jin State; we can't swallow it."

"Then what? Destroy it?" Perfected Qing Shan's face was full of pain. Destroying a Blessed Land was simply a waste of heaven's gifts and would surely invite divine retribution.

"It's a pity to destroy it."

Daoist Yun Du Immortal Master stroked his sword hilt, his mind racing: "The Wei State army is in Xuan Province and can plunder for at least another half a month."

"This half-month is enough for us to squeeze dry the value of this cold pond."

"How do we squeeze it?"

"Harvest all the Ice Soul Grass, pulling them out by the roots," Daoist Yun Du said through gritted teeth. "As for the water of this Profound Yin Cold Pond... use storage artifacts to take as much as possible. Drain it dry!"

This was a classic case of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Pulling out the Ice Soul Grass by the roots and draining the pond water would mean that even if this Low Grade Blessed Land wasn't ruined, it would take hundreds of years of nourishment to recover its Origin Qi.

But in enemy territory, this was already the approach that maximized their interests.

"Do it," Shi Jian didn't want to waste words.

He directly pulled out over a dozen large-capacity Storage Pouches and threw them into the cold pond to start frantically drawing water.

Daoist Yun Du and Perfected Qing Shan carefully harvested the Ice Soul Grass.

The rat demon army wasn't idle either; Elder Rat directed swarms of giant rats to mine the Profound Ice Ores on the cavern walls that had been saturated by the cold energy for years.

They were busy for a full day and night.

The Profound Yin Cold Pond was completely drained, revealing the dried silt at the bottom. Not a single Ice Soul Grass remained, and even a layer of the cavern walls had been scraped off.

With this, the two men and the bear were finally satisfied. Just as they were preparing to leave, the transmission Jade Slip at Shi Jian's waist lit up.

It was sent by Sun Mao.

With his Divine Sense probing in, a satisfied light flashed in Shi Jian's thunderous eyes.

"Old Ancestor, the Fenghe Sect has been taken."

Sun Mao's voice sounded in the Jade Slip, carrying unconcealable wild joy: "The Fenghe Sect's protective array was dismantled by us from the inside."

"Yan Qiu took away all the elites; only a few Foundation Establishment Cultivator were left behind, and they have been slain."

"The Sect treasury is intact. Two Low Grade Blessed Lands, 'Fire Cloud Cave' and 'Chijiang Pool', have all fallen into our hands."

"The families of the nine counties under its jurisdiction are taking full control of the Fenghe Sect's Spiritual Vein industries."

"Old Ancestor, we've struck it rich!"

...

The victory report from the Fenghe Sect put Shi Jian in a great mood.

This move was correct. Taking advantage of the chaos at Kaiyang Pass, while the Righteous and Demonic Paths were focused on the border and counterattacks, White Cloud Temple quietly swallowed the entire foundation of a thousand-year-old major Sect.

Two Low Grade Blessed Lands, plus the original foundation of White Cloud Temple.

Now, in terms of resources and foundation, White Cloud Temple had already slightly exceeded the scope of an ordinary Golden Core force...

As long as he was given enough time to digest it, training more Foundation Establishment Cultivator and even producing another one or two in the Golden Core Stage was not impossible.

"Fellow Daoist Shi, is there good news?"

Daoist Yun Du Immortal Master asked casually upon seeing Shi Jian's steady aura.

"Of course it's good news; the Fenghe Sect has been safely taken."

Hearing this, joy appeared on Daoist Yun Du's face, but he quickly suppressed it. He naturally understood the principle of making a fortune in silence.

Aside from other gains in this campaign.

Just eliminating the Fenghe Sect, a major thorn in their side, was a good thing, not to mention annexing the thousand-year foundation of the Fenghe Sect. That was more than enough to fill them up, even if this trip yielded nothing.

For White Cloud Temple, this was already a major victory!

...