"These are my spoils of war, plain and simple. I didn’t know they were your subordinates. They were Tribulation Cultivators, so by the rules, everything they owned beca mine when I killed them."
Seeing that Heiye had no intention of returning the loot, thick black flas erupted around Shangguan Ke. She looked ready to take it by force. Fang Qingyuan was stunned. ’Things were fine a mont ago. How did we end up on the verge of a fight in the blink of an eye?’
Feeling the astonishing pressure radiating from Shangguan Ke, Fang Qingyuan knew she would attack if they refused. She had already lost her subordinates; to lose their assets on top of that was a humiliation Shangguan Ke could not afford.
Heiye, anwhile, was clearly overco by greed. The combined wealth of four Foundation Establishnt Cultivators amounted to two or three hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones—far more than the eighty Fang Qingyuan had promised.
Such wealthy Foundation Establishnt Tribulation Cultivators were a rare find; they had all but vanished from the Southern Border. If Heiye let this opportunity slip by, who knew when the next one would appear.
Seeing the standoff grow more intense, Fang Qingyuan spoke up in a low voice,
"Why don’t we split this? We can go one of two ways. You take the assets, and we take the bodies to claim the bounty. Or, you take the bodies, and we keep the assets."
The mont Fang Qingyuan spoke, Heiye began nodding enthusiastically. Shangguan Ke hesitated for a mont, but ultimately she conceded and chose the bodies.
Allowing Fang Qingyuan to take the bodies and claim a bounty would have been a fatal blow to the organization, the Twelve Yuan Beasts. Shangguan Ke still had plans for them. As long as the organization remained, she was confident she could earn back this paltry sum of wealth within a decade.
As Fang Qingyuan handed the storage bags containing the ten bodies over to the Dragon-faced cultivator, he could clearly see the grief in the man’s eyes. It seed that no matter how hard-hearted the Dragon-faced cultivator was, he couldn’t remain unaffected after watching comrades he saw day in and day out die before him.
The Rat-faced cultivator, in contrast, was perfectly calm. He remained silent, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
Once the bodies were exchanged, Shangguan Ke couldn’t be bothered to speak with Heiye again. She simply turned and left with the Rat-faced and Dragon-faced cultivators, presumably heading to another of their lairs.
Only after the trio had departed did a joyous Heiye lead Fang Qingyuan and Situ Jingyu, flying swiftly back toward Black Sand City.
In less than two hours, the two-hundred-fifty-mile journey passed in a flash. Upon his return, Fang Qingyuan had to take a mont to catch his breath and shake off the disorienting feeling of the turbulent flight.
Next, it was ti to take stock of their spoils. Using its Golden Core Divine Thought to break the seals on the four Foundation Establishnt Cultivators’ storage bags, Heiye eagerly began to inspect the items inside.
In contrast to Heiye’s eagerness, Situ Jingyu remained perfectly calm. At this point, none of this had anything to do with her.
’I didn’t lift a finger this whole battle. Heiye handled nearly everything by itself. And in the end, Shangguan Ke only backed down because Heiye was here. Otherwise, Fang Qingyuan wouldn’t have gotten away so easily. She wouldn’t have killed us to silence us—the Beast Taming Sect and Black Phoenix Valley are allies, after all—but I wouldn’t put it past her to force our respective Sect Leaders to co here and fetch us personally.’
Fang Qingyuan sorted through the pile of belongings until he found the four black short blades. His heart thrumming with excitent, he tucked them safely into his own storage bag before patiently beginning to tally the rest of their haul.
The five Qi Cultivation Cultivators were quite wealthy themselves. Between their Magical Artifacts, robes, Talismans, and spiritual materials, their possessions averaged out to about a hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones each—the equivalent of ten Top-grade Spirit Stones per person. For an ordinary Qi Cultivation Cultivator, this would be a fortune, but for a Tribulation Cultivator, it was to be expected.
The only exception was the Dog-faced cultivator, who was rather pathetic. Even including his Magical Artifact, his possessions totaled a re ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, not even enough to make up one Top-grade Spirit Stone. He had, after all, only recently joined and hadn’t yet had a chance to earn anything.
The real prize was the wealth of the Foundation Establishnt Tribulation Cultivators. Because the Pig-faced cultivator had previously lost his primary and secondary Magical Artifacts, his net worth had shrunk to less than thirty Top-grade Spirit Stones.
As a Body Refining cultivator, the Ox-faced cultivator was naturally dirt-poor—even more broke than the Dog-faced cultivator. The Tiger-faced cultivator, on the other hand, was filthy rich, his personal wealth amounting to nearly one hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones. It was a mystery how he had managed to accumulate so much.
The Rabbit-faced cultivator didn’t have many Spirit Stones, but her storage bag was filled with all sorts of dical books, Talismans, and a complete cultivation legacy. All told, these were worth a solid fifty Top-grade Spirit Stones.
It was a sha Shangguan Ke had arrived so early; otherwise, they could have certainly squeezed much more wealth out of the Dragon-faced and Rat-faced cultivators as well.
After liquidating all their assets, the combined wealth of the ten cultivators would fetch two hundred and thirty Top-grade Spirit Stones. It was a staggering fortune, but considering the Twelve Yuan Beasts had preyed upon the trade routes between Black Sand City and Cliff City, robbing who knows how many sect caravans, it was actually an understandable amount.
And this was what was left after the Shangguan Clan, represented by Shangguan Ke, had taken the lion’s share for years. Otherwise, Fang Qingyuan’s group would have made out with even more.
Once the accounting was done, Fang Qingyuan asked Heiye if it wanted the Spirit Stones or the items themselves. Heiye, of course, wanted the stones. So, they agreed that Fang Qingyuan would handle selling everything. Of the proceeds, he would give two hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones to Heiye. The remaining thirty stones would be Fang Qingyuan’s own "hush money."
Heiye clearly didn’t want Zhao Liangde to find out about this side inco. However, given how sharp Zhao Liangde was, it would be extrely difficult for Heiye to keep it a secret.
With all twelve black short blades now in his possession, the Foundation Establishnt Opportunity that had been nagging at his mind finally fell silent. There was no longer any reason to remain in Black Sand City. Fang Qingyuan found Wu Mi, left her in charge of local matters, and then, together with Heiye and Situ Jingyu, sped off toward the Southern Border Territory.
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