Snatching Chestnuts from the Fire

With the dust settled, all of Blood Tiger Mountain had sunk into deathly silence and desolation.

Zhou Feng did not hurry to leave. He raised a hand to summon Liu Jie forward, and the two of them carried out one final, meticulous sweep of the entire mountain, clearing away every trace.

Liu Jie had now truly pledged his heart to them, and he handled matters with utmost diligence and care.

Moving through Blood Tiger Mountain's hidden chambers, secret rooms, and strongholds with practiced familiarity, he gathered and sorted every remaining spirit stone, Gu material, cultivation manual, weapon, and artifact, not daring to conceal even the slightest bit for himself.

All supplies damaged by the Sky Swallowing Gu storm were discarded. Only the intact rare stockpiles in the treasure vault beneath the mountain were retained. These treasures were of exceptional quality and immense value, far exceeding ordinary tax revenues—enough to support a flawless merit record.

Once the looting was complete, it was time for a secure cleanup and disguise.

Following the story they had agreed upon beforehand, Liu Jie deliberately destroyed the terrain around the altar, muddled the traces of battle, and created signs of a fierce slaughter and desperate struggle. He intentionally left behind clues suggesting that Bloodmark had fought with his back against the wall and violently resisted taxation.

Meanwhile, Zhou Feng erased the tyrannical phenomenon of the Sky Swallowing Gu devouring heaven and earth, concealing the traces of the ley lines being drained dry. He disguised the destruction of Blood Tiger Mountain as the result of Bloodmark, its overseer, secretly raising forbidden Gu, overdrawing the ley lines, and ultimately suffering a backlash from his Gu arts that destroyed the sect from within.

After layer upon layer of arrangements, it might not have been flawless enough to deceive the