Taking Stock of the Spoils of War, a Great Harvest

Half a month passed, as Lin Heng was in the midst of cultivation.

To keep things quiet, no repairs were carried out within the mountain gate, and it remained a field of ruins.

However, this did not affect anything.

Many of the buildings aboveground at the Cloud Sword Palace Mountain Gate had been destroyed, but many underground warehouses remained intact. The treasures flowing in endlessly from all corners of the land toward Cloud Sword Palace would not be left with nowhere to store them.

"Heng'er has not eaten for half a month. He must be hungry."

"Let us eat while Master tells you about our gains these past few days."

Seeing Lin Heng withdraw his gaze from the distance, Xiao Rang spoke with a smile.

"Alright."

Lin Heng agreed.

With his current cultivation, he could go without food or sleep for a long time and sustain himself on Heaven and Earth Origin Energy.

But eating was an important source of energy. Eating on time could speed up cultivation, and it was also an enjoyment.

There was no helping it when he was in seclusion cultivating, but in daily life, eating was not something to be missed.

The master and disciple then set off for a relatively intact pavilion in the rear mountain of Cloud Sword Palace and took their seats.

Before long, maids brought over many dishes of freshly prepared Spirit Cuisine.

As Lin Heng picked up dishes and ate, Xiao Rang took out an account book and said, half showing off and half summarizing, "On the first day, we breached the mountain gates of the two Martial Arts Holy Lands, Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City, and obtained many Rare Treasures and Martial Arts Secret Manuals from them."

"On the second day, we began settling accounts with their Affiliated Forces and gained another batch of wealth. After that, we used Mental Secret Techniques to hypnotize the captives and interrogated much information from their minds, then purged the lairs of those Demonic Heretics."

As he ate and listened, Lin Heng came to understand the entire process of confiscating their estates.

After losing all their High-End Combat Power, Heavenly Star Valley, Ice Frost City, and their subordinate affiliated forces had become lambs awaiting slaughter.

Other than the tiny handful with keen noses who had fled ahead of time, neither the others nor their property escaped. The million Martial Artists under Cloud Sword Palace and their many allies had swarmed forward and seized them all.

Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City were, after all, part of the Righteous Path in the Jianghu, so Cloud Sword Palace gave them a little face, more or less.

After exterminating their mid- and high-level combat power and stripping them of their ability to resist, the remaining small fry would not be utterly wiped out so long as they were willing to surrender.

The other Demonic Heretics with poor reputations did not receive such treatment. Their entire Family Registers were wiped clean—even the eggs in their homes had to be shaken apart.

During the process of confiscating estates and exterminating clans, many disciples of Cloud Sword Palace and their allies had, more or less, sticky fingers.

After all, when pork passed through one's hands, even if one was not greedy, one would still get a hand slick with grease.

They took a small portion of the gains from the confiscations and exterminations, though they did not dare take any overly precious items. The overwhelming majority went to the upper ranks of Cloud Sword Palace, and everything had now been entered into the records and transported to the mountain gate.

After finishing his account of the confiscations.

Xiao Rang concluded, "This time, we obtained a total of 12.7 billion taels of Gold, Silver, and Jewels. Other farmland, houses, mines, and businesses are worth a total of 138.2 billion taels of silver. In addition, there are tens of thousands of Martial Arts Secret Manuals and quite a few Heaven and Earth Treasures."

That much?

Wasn't that a little exaggerated?

Lin Heng was stunned upon hearing it.

But he quickly came around.

The figure sounded exaggerated, but it was actually perfectly normal.

After all, Heavenly Star Valley and Ice Frost City were powers on par with Cloud Sword Palace, each commanding five or six Vassal States.

The territory and population of every Vassal State were no less than China during the Ming and Qing dynasties in Lin Heng's previous life. The total land area of Lan Continent was no smaller than Earth in his previous life, and perhaps even somewhat larger.

With such vast territories for the two Martial Arts Holy Lands to bleed dry, even though they were all Feudal Agrarian Societies with low productivity, and even though their daily martial arts expenses were enormous, they could still accumulate immense wealth over many years of inheritance.

This time, they had confiscated the estates of two Martial Arts Holy Lands and their Affiliated Forces, as well as quite a few Demonic Heretic forces, obtaining assets worth more than 150 billion taels of silver.

And this was after many people had already handled it. There were surely still many portions that had been overlooked and not confiscated.

In fact, once this round of confiscations was completely finished, the wealth produced by it would be worth over 200 billion taels.

"Going by the results of this confiscation, the total value of our Cloud Sword Palace's assets cannot be less than 100 billion taels, right? Yet when you elders refined a Dragon Tiger Golden Core worth 270,000 taels for me before, you all looked terribly pained."

Lin Heng smiled and teased him.

The sect had not been stingy with him. The Spirit Food and Spirit Cuisine he had eaten over the years, along with all manner of precious pills and Cultivation Resources, had added up to expenses of tens of millions, nearly a hundred million taels.

It was simply that Lin Heng felt the sect's upper ranks did not have the bearing of wealthy people at all.

"Heng'er, if you do not run a household, you do not know the price of rice, firewood, oil, and salt. The sect's properties are indeed highly valuable, but they belong to everyone and must feed the hundreds of thousands, even millions, of Sect Members and Disciples. Naturally, every coin must be carefully calculated."

"This time, we have become immensely wealthy."

"Disciple, you are the foremost contributor to this great victory. Seventy percent of this wealth, property, and Heaven and Earth Treasures can be divided to you."

"How do you intend to spend it?"

Xiao Rang asked with a beaming smile.

This was the true worth of the Number One Expert Under Heaven, a Supreme Great Grandmaster. Even if he did nothing at all, he could still take the lion's share of the income.

Seventy percent—that was wealth exceeding a hundred billion taels, a level beyond merely being rich enough to rival a nation.

Of course, Cloud Sword Palace was not losing out either.

From now on, Cloud Sword Palace could not only collect taxes from its original Five Vassal States, but from all Seventeen Great Nations of Lan Continent. The Cultivation Resources and wealth it could earn each year would be several times greater than before.

The upper ranks of the sect would also benefit, receiving much more Cultivation Resources every year.

And all of that income depended on the deterrence provided by Lin Heng. Naturally, they had to prioritize keeping him happy.

"Master, help me purchase Cultivation Resources. The rest will not cost much to spend."

"Let the sect manage these properties. So long as it provides me with Cultivation Resources on time, that will do."

Lin Heng answered casually.

After reaching the Great Grandmaster Realm, the effects of external resources greatly declined, but they were not entirely useless.

For instance, Spirit Food and Spirit Cuisine could help Martial Artists of the Great Grandmaster Realm replenish their daily expenditure of vital blood and energy, allowing all the Heaven and Earth Origin Energy they absorbed and drew in normally to be used for growing stronger, indirectly speeding up cultivation.

Heaven and Earth Treasures and certain special pills could also promote cultivation to some extent, but their cost-effectiveness was not high. One often had to spend vast amounts of money for only a tiny effect.

But Lin Heng was going to challenge the Heaven-Human Realm. He had not yet reached the point where his cultivation could no longer advance and he could only place his hopes on nurturing the younger generation, so even the smallest boost was useful.

Money was only money once it was spent. Held in one's hand, it was merely stones and waste paper.

"Alright."

Xiao Rang was not surprised by this answer.

He smiled and agreed.