Chapter 186: Soul-Refining Hermit, Foundation Establishment in the Path of the Soul, An Unforeseen Path (II)

Luo Chen, this is all the loot we seized. Please... take a look," Murong Qinglian said.

Luo Chen distinctly heard the sound of someone swallowing hard. He glanced at Murong Qinglian and noticed her bloodshot eyes. Her hands trembled as she handed over the ledger.

Luo Chen was puzzled and took the ledger from her without thinking. Yet, the moment his gaze fell upon the first figure recorded, he instinctively swallowed as well.

"Twenty-seven thousand low-grade spirit stones and ninety-eight mid-grade spirit stones!" Luo Chen read aloud in shock.

Luo Chen raised his head and could not help but ask, "Is there a mistake in the calculations?"

Murong Qinglian slowly shook her head. "There is absolutely no mistake. We counted it three times."

As Luo Chen remained in shock, she continued, "Having such a large sum of spirit stones is actually quite normal. After all, more than one hundred and thirty people from both sides died last night. Among them, thirty were in the late-stage Qi-Refining Realm.

"In addition, three thousand of these spirit stones came from Lan Tianyun's storage pouch. Duan Feng handed them over voluntarily. How we distribute them will be up to you."

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Luo Chen's expression turned dazed. He had never seen such an enormous amount of spirit stones in his life. In fact, he had only been involved in transactions involving over ten thousand spirit stones three times. Once was at an auction organized by the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion, and the other two were related to the Jade Essence pills he had refined. Yet, even then, what he had actually received in profit was only a fraction, a mere one or two thousand spirit stones.

And now, he had become the one to divide the spoils?

Murong Qinglian's voice interrupted. “Aside from spirit stones, there are also enchanted artifacts, talismans, pills, herbs, techniques, and a variety of other odd items. Luo Chen, take a look. We will all follow your decision on the distribution.”

After she finished, a silence fell over the group.

It was an unusual scene. Typically, spoils gained in battle would belong to the individual cultivators who claimed them. It was rare to see such a large accumulation of loot gathered in one place. However, the previous night's battle had been anything but ordinary,

A large number of late stage Qi-Refining cultivators had died. The early-stage cultivators were almost entirely wiped out, with fewer than one in ten surviving. Only a handful of experienced mid-stage cultivators had managed to escape death by relying on their familiarity with the terrain.

As a result, the core of the final battle was fought by Luo Chen and his close companions. Among them, Sikong Shoujia had died and Granny Yuan had not engaged in much combat aside from assisting Min Longyu. For the most part, the entire battlefield had been commanded and held together by Luo Chen and Duan Feng.

When the fighting ended, the sheer volume of spoils primarily belonged to the two of them.

Thus, the question of how to distribute it became a pressing matter. Adding to the complexity, Luo Chen had entered the Alchemy Hall afterward to hold a private discussion with Miao Wen.

In his absence, Duan Feng, Murong Qinglian, and Zhou Yuanli had decided to gather everything and await Luo Chen's decision.

After all, Luo Chen and Murong Qinglian were the nominal leaders of the Alchemy Hall and Medicine Hall.

Luo Chen scanned through the pages swiftly. Even after the shock of the previous thirty-five thousand spirit stones, the rest of the resources still left his mouth dry.

It was such an enormous pile of spoils.

If everything was converted into spirit stones, combined with the previous amount, it would nearly exceed one hundred thousand.

Murdering and stealing treasures truly was the fastest way to wealth in the cultivation world!

What alchemist or artifact forger could amass such immense wealth in a single night?

However, upon closer thought, it seemed only natural.

The casualties from the Alchemy and Medicine Halls were one thing, most of them had not been wealthy. Only the dozen or so late-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, along with Elder Sikong Shoujia, had left behind notable wealth.

The bulk of the fortune still came from the Dajiang Gang cultivators. They were mainly mid-stage Qi-Refining cultivators, supported by late-stage ones, led by the five peak-stage Qi-Refining experts. This was undoubtedly an elite force of the Dajiang Gang!

Half of them had fallen in Crescent Moon Valley. Although many items had been damaged during the battle, what remained were the life savings of these cultivators that they accumulated over decades.

Of course, the true value could not be calculated so simply.

The most valuable items were the enchanted artifacts. However, second-hand artifacts had always been devalued significantly. The tally might seem close to one hundred thousand, but after accounting for depreciation and the time needed to sell everything, cutting a few tens of thousands off was only natural. Even if they were sold, the cost of time to find buyers would also need to be considered.

Nevertheless, it was still a tremendous fortune!

Luo Chen exhaled slowly, lifting his head from the ledger.

Murong Qinglian stood before him, exhaustion written all over her face. Seeing her like that made him snap back to reality.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and asked, "Sister-in-law, are you alright?"

Hearing his concern, despite the overwhelming wealth in front of them, Murong Qinglian felt a warmth spread through her chest. "I am fine. I did not suffer any injuries throughout yesterday's battle. Although Lan Tianyun was strong, you sent Caiyi and Zhou Yuanli to assist me, so I was unharmed," Murong Qinglian said.

Luo Chen nodded, his mind shifting. “Where's Caiyi?”

“She's with Granny Yuan, receiving treatment. You may not know, but Granny Yuan isn't just a senior spirit botanist, her medical skills are also excellent,” Murong Qinglian replied.

Luo Chen frowned slightly. “But she fought Min Longyu yesterday. How is she holding up?”

“Min Longyu wasn't as unbeatable as we thought. Array masters are only at their deadliest when they have time to prepare. Crescent Moon Valley is the Medicine Hall's home. Granny Yuan held the advantage from the start.”

Recalling Granny Yuan's calm descent into the valley to confront Min Longyu,

Luo Chen suddenly understood. Thinking back, Devouring Heart Tiger Han Dang had been easily defeated by Min Longyu. Combined with his forceful breach of the Earth Guard Array yesterday, it had created an image of Min Longyu being invincible.

However, in reality, array masters were not considered the strongest among cultivators. Array masters relied heavily on terrain and preparation. In this regard, Granny Yuan, a veteran at the peak of Qi-Refining from the Medicine Hall, had held a clear advantage.

If their positions had been reversed, Granny Yuan would not have been Min Longyu's match.

The formation disc in Min Longyu's possession faintly embodied the mutual generation and restriction of the five elements. Its tier was likely extremely high!

In contrast, Elder Sikong Shoujia had fled in panic, had abandoned his familiarity with Crescent Moon Valley's terrain. He had run outside and was brutally hammered to death by Fuzhang. Yesterday, all they had seen was his fearful and unwilling face. But beneath the white cloth, everything below Sikong Shoujia's chest had been smashed into pulp.

What a brutal end

Clutching the ledger, Luo Chen asked about another person with concern.

"Big Brother Qin? He rushed over this morning covered in blood. It was quite frightening," Luo Chen asked.

Upon mentioning Qin Liangchen, Murong Qinglian's expression darkened.

Luo Chen was perceptive. Seeing this, his heart sank.