Mountain Wolf Stronghold.
"Xiao Wu, find anything?"
"Are these bandits really this rich? Damn, there's a pile of medicinal herbs, grain, and salt in this room."
"..."
After they carried all the spoils into the hall of Mountain Wolf Stronghold, everyone marveled at the haul, while also realizing that it was all cargo from the merchant caravans that had been killed during this period.
"Sis Yan, what about all this...? Do we have to hand it in?" Qin Wu asked Ling Xueyan quietly.
"Hand it in? Things like these are meant to be distributed by the Patrol Envoy who undertook the mission. I'm not some rigid-minded person."
"Besides, have you forgotten that Junior Brother Chen is still here? We don't get to decide who all these things belong to." As she spoke, Ling Xueyan looked toward Chen Qinglin.
Chen Qinglin said nothing. Instead, he took out Shen Dingyuan's Storage Ring and emptied everything inside.
Along with the Blood-colored Long Sword, there were nine Human Tier Low Grade weapons, over thirteen hundred Spirit Stones, more than fifty bottles of pills, and several martial arts manuals, most of them Mortal Tier Cultivation Methods, such as Fierce Tiger Fist, Soul Severing Saber, and Stunning Spear.
There were three Human Tier martial arts: the Human Tier High Grade Bloodthirsty Art, and the Human Tier Low Grade Blood Shadow Sword Art and Blazing Sun Art.
There were also some rare medicinal herbs, ores, gold, silver, and other items.
Most of the pills were Body Tempering Pills, along with some healing pills and Essence Replenishing Pills that increased True Qi.
Most important of all, there was a bottle of Qi Gathering Pills. When they opened it, they found five pills inside.
Good heavens, this was probably most of the Shen Clan's wealth!
There were five people present: Chen Qinglin, and the four others—Ling Xueyan, Lin Yi, Qin Wu, and Ding Cheng.
"The Bloodthirsty Art must be destroyed. This kind of evil art does immeasurable harm; we can't let it remain. What do you think, Junior Brother Chen?" Ling Xueyan asked Chen Qinglin, holding the Bloodthirsty Art.
"Then let's destroy it."
"You deserve the greatest credit for killing Shen Dingyuan, Junior Brother. How about you take half these items, and the four of us split the other half?" After destroying the evil art in front of everyone, Ling Xueyan made her proposal.
"Without you, Senior Sister, I wouldn't have been able to complete the mission so easily."
As he spoke, Chen Qinglin took three Human Tier Low Grade weapons, including the Blood-colored Long Sword, five hundred Spirit Stones, ten bottles of Body Tempering Pills, three bottles of Blood Replenishing Pills for treating injuries, and two bottles of Essence Replenishing Pills, as well as two Qi Gathering Pills.
He also took a share of the medicinal herbs, ores, money, and other items, amounting to thirty percent, and placed them in Shen Dingyuan's ring.
"I'll shamelessly keep this Storage Ring too. Does anyone have a problem with this arrangement?" Chen Qinglin asked them.
"I have no problem with it. You're still the one getting the short end of the stick, so keeping the Storage Ring can make up for it a little." Ling Xueyan nodded. It seemed that Junior Brother Chen had still come off worse.
She looked at Lin Yi and the others. "What do you think? A-Yi, Xiao Wu, A-Cheng?"
"We have no objections either. We only managed to kill that vicious man thanks to Junior Brother Chen and Sis Yan." Lin Yi and the others had even less reason to object. They had merely mopped up a group of minor bandits; completing the mission had mainly depended on Ling Xueyan and this Junior Brother from Qingfeng Mountain.
Now that the mission was done, Ling Xueyan wasn't the sort of person who would shortchange them.
"Good. Since none of you have any objections, let's do that. Senior Sister can distribute the rest as she sees fit." With that, Chen Qinglin left the hall.
Ling Xueyan and the other three remained in the hall. Qin Wu and Ding Cheng stared covetously at the Qi Gathering Pills, their eyes fixed on Ling Xueyan...
"What are you looking at me for? You've been with me for more than two years. Do you think I'd shortchange you?"
"Xiao Wu, A-Cheng, you haven't broken through to the Inner Qi Realm yet. There are three Qi Gathering Pills left. Take one each. As for you, Lin Yi..."
After leaving the hall of Mountain Wolf Stronghold, Chen Qinglin didn't bother with how the four of them would split the spoils. He found a clean room and went to rest by himself.
The night was deep and the wind was strong, rustling the leaves. The group had all gotten something, and their expressions varied, but Qin Wu and Ding Cheng were the most excited.
They dashed around the stronghold, but when they got too loud, Ling Xueyan punished them by making them clean up the bodies and burn them.
By morning, the sky had just begun to pale like a fish's belly.
A raging fire consumed the once-occupied Mountain Wolf Stronghold. A few figures stood some distance away, watching.
"Brother Chen, are you heading back to Qingfeng Mountain?" Qin Wu asked.
"Mm. The mission is done, so it's time to return to the mountain."
"Then let's part ways here. We'll leave the cleanup here to you."
"Senior Sister Ling, Brother Lin, Brother Qin, Brother Ding, until we meet again!" He bade the four farewell, sprang onto a treetop, and swiftly vanished from their sight.
"I wonder if we'll ever see Junior Brother Chen again. He's so young, yet his cultivation and swordsmanship are already this formidable."
"Given time, he'll probably make a name for himself across the three provinces. In a few years, we may well be hearing all about him."
"Yeah. How come we'd never heard of him before...?"
"Enough. Let's tidy up. We have to report back too." Ling Xueyan brought their conversation to an end, her gaze withdrawing from where Chen Qinglin had disappeared.
She agreed with what they had said, but for some reason, she had even more faith in Chen Qinglin. She believed that one day, he would have a place of his own in Great Xuan.
At the foot of the mountain.
A strange whistle escaped Chen Qinglin's lips. Before long, he spotted the Azure Scale Horse he had left in the woods yesterday.
The Azure Scale Horse came over. Chen Qinglin patted it, swung onto its back, and quickly disappeared into the forest.
He had divided the spoils that way because he wanted to build good relations with the government. In the future, when he came to Yunzhou on a mission, he might be able to enlist the local authorities' help.
When he had first taken the mission, a hundred Spirit Stones had been almost his entire fortune, and the sword he used had been no more than an ordinary mortal blade.
If he had crossed blades with Shen Dingyuan head-on, that sword would probably have snapped after just a few exchanges. Back then, he had even bought several extra Long Swords as spares.
When dividing the spoils earlier, he had taken three weapons, all Human Tier Low Grade swords. For now, they would be more than enough.
Qingfeng Mountain.
After returning the Azure Scale Horse and reporting the mission at the Mission Hall, he didn't run into Su Yuexing this time.
He returned to Qingyun Peak and rested for two days before accepting another mission and leaving Qingfeng Mountain again.
At Qingfeng Mountain, Merit Points were equivalent to Spirit Stones: one Merit Point could be exchanged for one Spirit Stone, but Spirit Stones couldn't be exchanged for Merit Points.
Merit Points could be used not only to exchange for martial arts in the Hidden Martial Pavilion, but also to attend the Elders' monthly lectures.
The Elders of each peak held a lecture once a month to share their martial arts experience. It was also an opportunity for the many Inner Disciples who had no master.
Merit Points could also be exchanged for pills, weapons, spirit plants, Spirit Beasts, and more at the sect.
Merit Points could be called Qingfeng Mountain's official currency, used across every trade and profession.
For the next month, Chen Qinglin spent his days on missions. Aside from Shen Dingyuan, his first target, the rest were Martial Artists in the Inner Qi Realm Early Stage.
The missions were completed one after another without a hitch.
His Disciple Jade Token now held 570 Merit Points. Aside from the mission involving Shen Dingyuan, he hadn't gained much beyond the Merit Points from the other missions.
This was what things were normally like. How could he expect such good fortune to come his way every time? He was getting greedy.
As the fiery orb in the sky slowly sank, the setting sun's afterglow shone over Qingfeng Mountain, soft and warm.
After reporting another completed mission, Chen Qinglin walked out of the Mission Hall.
He planned to take a break and focus on cultivation for a while. Over the past month, his combat experience had improved greatly, but he had neglected his swordsmanship training.
The 23rd Year of Great Xuan had passed, but the weather still wasn't very warm. Just yesterday, the sky had been gloomy.
He was fifteen now. He had been born in spring; this time last year, he had still been in Linhe Village.
A wave of emotion suddenly stirred in him. It felt as though he had lived through more in that time than in the fourteen years before it.
He raised his eyes to the sunset, then slowly made his way back to Qingyun Peak.
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