"Kill and rob your way to a golden belt!"
Deep in a desolate mountain dozens of miles from Wurong County!
Inside a dim cave, flickering torches licked the air with dusky red flames, casting mottled, distorted shadows across the surrounding rock walls.
Chen An looked at the three chests packed full of rare treasures, cultivation techniques, martial skills, precious pills, and divine weapons. The corners of his mouth lifted, and he let out a sigh of wonder.
Before he awakened his memories, his entire net worth had only amounted to a few dozen Yuan Crystals. Any single item from these three chests would have far surpassed what he'd owned before.
"Right!"
Chen An slapped his forehead, suddenly remembering the Yuan Crystals he'd just acquired. His thoughts stirred, and he opened the system:
Host: Chen An Age: 17 Aptitude: Middle-Grade Martial Bone Cultivation: Grandmaster Realm (Early Stage) Current Balance: 500000
"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands!"
"Holy crap!"
"Five hundred thousand!!!"
Staring at the balance displayed by the system, Chen An's eyes widened, disbelief flashing across his face. To make sure, he even counted each zero carefully, one by one.
Once he confirmed that the balance really was five hundred thousand, Chen An's breathing quickened. Unable to contain his delight any longer, he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, I'm rich! I'm really rich this time!!!"
He had attacked and wiped out the Bai Family this time to pull up the weeds and destroy the roots, preventing Bai Yifan from secretly retaliating and pestering him in the future. He'd never expected to gain much else from it.
Yet after taking stock, he'd ended up with an astonishing fortune.
Five hundred thousand Yuan Crystals—a truly astronomical sum he'd never even dared to imagine before.
Thinking back to how, just two days ago, he'd been brooding over his failure to trick that ten thousand Yuan Crystals out of Bai Yifan, he now felt he'd been a little petty.
"If a single Bai Family has this much wealth, then what if I dealt with the Zhou Family, the Qi Family..."
The thought flashed through his mind like lightning. A wilder ambition quietly took root, and a cold glint appeared in his eyes.
The several great lineages of Wurong County all had deep foundations. If he went through them one by one, just how immense would that fortune be?!
But in the next instant, Chen An abruptly came to his senses, his heart tightening.
"No, no, calm down, calm down!!!"
He shook his head again and again, forcibly cutting off the reckless and dangerous thought. Raising a hand, he smacked his cheeks hard, forcing his agitated emotions to quickly settle.
"Ah, it looks like my cultivation has advanced too quickly after all. My state of mind hasn't kept up. I wonder if this world has techniques for cultivating one's state of mind?!"
Once he'd calmed down, Chen An recalled the crazy thought that had just sprouted and shook his head with a faint sigh.
At that moment, he couldn't help remembering countless cases from his previous life: poor people who'd suddenly struck it rich, then become arrogant and conceited as soon as they found success, acting recklessly and courting disaster until they ended up ruined, stripped of their wealth and utterly destroyed.
Sudden wealth unsettled the heart; power and desire clouded the eyes. It had always been so throughout history!
After taking a deep breath and steadying his mind, Chen An finally turned his gaze back to the treasures in the three chests before him.
Treasures kept in the vault of a martial lineage like the Bai Family were naturally no ordinary goods. Among them were materials from third-tier ferocious beasts, comparable to Houtian Realm martial artists; Red-Veined Copper and Fire Profound Iron, which could be forged into third-tier weapons; centuries-old medicinal herbs; and second- and third-tier pills like Foundation Solidifying Pills and Realm Breaking Pills, among other things.
After adding it all up, this batch of natural treasures, rare forging materials, precious pills, and protective armor was worth at least several hundred thousand Yuan Crystals.
However, Chen An only glanced at these treasures before losing interest. Instead, his gaze settled on the cultivation techniques and martial skills.
After checking through them, however, Chen An found himself somewhat disappointed.
There were thirteen cultivation techniques and martial skills in total among what he'd taken from the Bai Family this time. Eight were Yellow Rank, while the remaining five were Profound Rank. There wasn't a single Earth Rank cultivation technique.
But after thinking it over, Chen An quickly accepted it.
Although the Bai Family counted as a martial lineage in Wurong County, the strongest person he'd sensed there last night was that man who was likely Bai Yifan's father, and his cultivation had only been around the late stage of the Houtian Realm.
Besides, Earth Rank martial arts were incredibly precious. Throughout all the surrounding counties, they counted as top-tier legacies, worth more than their weight in gold and impossible to buy.
If the Bai Family had truly been lucky enough to possess an Earth Rank cultivation technique, they certainly wouldn't have casually piled it into an outer vault alongside ordinary pills and forging materials.
They would surely have stored it elsewhere in secret, perhaps hidden it in a sealed chamber or kept it under the family head's sole control, guarding it against exposure and never showing it to outsiders lightly.
"Forget it. I'll put them away for now. I have plenty of Yuan Crystals anyway. I can just spend some later and learn a few. The more skills, the better!"
Though somewhat disappointed, Chen An still put away the martial skills, planning to practice them when he had the time.
After putting away the cultivation techniques, Chen An looked at the three chests of treasures in front of him again. His gaze flickered, then he found a relatively flat spot inside the cave and suddenly swept out with his palm.
With a rumble, the ground burst open, leaving a deep pit nearly a zhang deep inside the cave.
Chen An put the three chests into the pit, then swept his palm again to fill it in. After thinking it over, he went outside and found a huge boulder weighing over ten thousand jin, brought it back, and set it on top. Only then did he dust off his hands and nod with satisfaction.
Although these treasures were valuable, he already had a fortune of five hundred thousand in his system. Besides, this batch had come from the Bai Family, and the family had only just been wiped out. If he took the treasures out to sell or use now, it would inevitably arouse suspicion.
If he slipped up and drew the attention of the county authorities or other lineages, it would be troublesome.
For now, he'd bury them here. Once the dust had settled—or if he ever ran short of money—he could come back and retrieve them.
"Whew!!~~"
After letting out a long breath and surveying the surroundings to make sure he hadn't left anything behind, Chen An turned and walked out of the cave, then soared away.
A short while later, Chen An returned to Wurong County.
To keep a low profile, he even deliberately reined in the protective astral energy around his body, so he wouldn't draw attention flying through the sky like a light bulb.
Before going home, he made a point of flying over to take a look near the Bai Family. The ruins were brightly lit and teeming with people. It looked like the county authorities had arrived.
He could faintly hear bursts of crying.
They might have been members of the Bai Family's collateral branches, or the families of the Bai Family's dead guards and servants.
Chen An felt not the slightest ripple in his heart.
He'd lived in Wurong County for all these years and had heard far too much.
The guards and servants kept by the Bai Family had relied on its influence to swagger through the streets, bully commoners, extort merchants, and throw their weight around. They'd committed no shortage of misdeeds.
Since they'd attached themselves to the Bai Family, ridden its power to throw their weight around, and enjoyed its privileges and benefits, they had to bear the consequences of its downfall.
When one prospered, all prospered; when one suffered, all suffered. That was simply how cruel the world was.
They'd been vicious dogs, and dying with their master was only right. They weren't worth the slightest sympathy.
As for the Bai Family's surviving collateral branches, Chen An thought it over and let go of the idea of pulling up the weeds and destroying the roots.
He had wiped out the Bai Family because Bai Yifan had first sent people to cripple him. Now the Bai Family was gone, and both Bai Yifan and his father were dead. He'd settled that score; there was no need to take things too far.
After all, he wasn't born a homicidal maniac!
Chen An's gaze flickered. His figure wavered in midair, then scattered into the night like the wind...