A hundred thousand taels of silver, eight chests of yellow jade, two boxes of land deeds, and twenty-four three-foot coral specimens. Beyond those, there was even a white-jade-like coral specimen seven feet four inches tall, its branches lush and full, rising gracefully like a canopy.
They lay in a concealed underground vault behind the hall.
Chen Heng did not bother with a key. A single punch smashed the sealed door to pieces, revealing the wealth the Mount Yang Daoist had amassed over many years.
The Blazing Mountain disciples trailing far behind him all sucked in cold breaths, unable to keep themselves from whispering among one another.
The silver alone amounted to a hundred thousand taels, packed into dozens of large chests stacked in tiers, taller than people standing atop one another.
In these times, even the finest acre of paddy land cost no more than thirty taels at the very most-and that was in a year of plenty. In a year of famine, ten taels, eight taels, or even less could easily buy an acre.
Those who came to Blazing Mountain to study the Dao were disciples in name, but in truth they were no different from hired hands or slaves serving tea and pouring water. Their parents or relatives had sold them here because they could not afford to feed them, and they had signed irrevocable contracts of servitude.
At the sudden sight of riches they would never have dared dream of, the disciples scarcely dared let their hearts beat. They thought they must be trapped in a nightmare.
"Master, now that you've taken Blazing Mountain, what will happen to us?"
Suddenly, one bold disciple called out:
"Master, keep a few of us by your side to serve you! I'm skilled in all eighteen trades-cooking, tending horses, keeping the night watch, sweeping and cleaning, there's nothing I can't do. Please let me stay and serve you!"
His shout opened the floodgates. The other Blazing Mountain disciples grew clamorous too, all beginning to declare their loyalty.
"The young master is a member of the Chen Clan, a noble Aristocratic Clan! Even if he wanted servants, there are plenty born into service with clean backgrounds at his disposal. What do you worthless curs amount to? How dare you keep up this racket?"
One of the Chen Clan servants who had carried the sedan chair up the mountain snapped in displeasure, "Get out of here! Are you going to stand there like dead fools and offend our eyes?"
The man he berated ducked his head, but the more he tried to swallow his anger, the angrier he grew. In the end, he answered back with a barbed remark.
The two groups began trading insults, one after another, and the scene immediately descended into chaos.
"Enough!"
Chen Heng's low shout quelled the uproar. "Stop arguing. I don't need anyone to serve me."
"Young Master Heng, that simply won't do."
A Chen Clan steward grew anxious at his words. "Blazing Mountain covers a fair stretch of land. Tigers, leopards, and wolves are bound to roam through it and disturb your cultivation. Why not let me stay with a few alert household guards? Even if you don't need protection, we could at least see to your daily meals."
"What innate Embryonic Breathing cultivator would fear wolves, tigers, or leopards? As for meals, dried meat and preserved fruit can fill my stomach just as well."
"How could you eat such lowly fare, young master? I-"
The Chen Clan steward still wanted to argue.
Chen Heng merely swept his gaze over him. The steward instantly felt as though he had plunged into ice and snow. A chill spread through his entire body, and he could not stop himself from shivering.
"Lowly fare? Then what was I eating on Little Sweet Mountain?"
Chen Heng could not be bothered to say more. "I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I always reward merit. You'll have a share of the wealth the Mount Yang Daoist left behind."
"Is there anything you like, senior brother? Take whatever you please. Without you, I wouldn't have succeeded today."
He turned to Xu Zhi. "This worldly gold and silver isn't enough to repay you. Just take it as a little prize to amuse yourself."
Xu Zhi shook his head with a smile. "What use would I have for worldly gold and silver? Such things are useless on Little Sweet Mountain. Still, those Blazing Mountain disciples don't seem like utterly wicked men to me. They all come from poor families. Could you give them some silver too, junior brother?"
"Is that so?"
Chen Heng looked toward Xiao Yu beside him. "What are their dispositions like?"
"Mm, they do come from poor families. They haven't been on the mountain long... Duan Bao took all those who used to commit evil to your home. Not one came back. You killed them, didn't you, Young Master Heng?"
Only after a long while did Xiao Yu seem to wake from a dream.
Utter madness surfaced on her pale, gaunt face as she spoke softly and gently. "But in this den of ghosts called Blazing Mountain, good people turn into ghosts if they stay too long. You should kill them all!"
She suddenly burst into laughter, every note weeping blood. "Set this whole mountain on fire! One great blaze! Tie the people and beasts together and burn them all clean away!!!"
Her laughter was as shrill as an owl in a lonely forest on a bitter winter night.
It made everyone present tremble deep in their hearts, a chill rising from the soles of their feet. Even Xu Zhi quietly tightened his grip on his broken sword to bolster his courage.
"Understood. They haven't committed any evil."
Unmoved, Chen Heng instructed the Chen Clan steward:
"There are also quite a few women on this mountain whom the Mount Yang Daoist abducted for his lustful pleasures. Give them a share of the gold and silver too. No false reports or pocketing any of it. Do you understand?"
The Chen Clan steward hurriedly murmured his assent. At some point, his back had become drenched in cold sweat.
His interest fading, Chen Heng withdrew his gaze from the vault and looked no more.
Just as Xu Zhi had said, worldly gold, silver, and riches were of little use to cultivators.
If they wanted to indulge in the utmost extravagance in the mortal world, a simple Five Ghosts Transportation Art could procure untold gold and silver-more than they could enjoy in an entire lifetime.
I gained three Talisman Artifacts and the holdings of Blazing Mountain. This trip was well worthwhile.
He weighed the Heaven and Earth Bag he had taken from the Mount Yang Daoist's corpse in his hand, his expression shifting slightly.
This Heaven and Earth Bag was the true prize of the journey.
The bag truly possessed the power of Sumeru Containing Mustard Seeds. It held a space of its own within, where objects could be stored and retrieved. Strictly speaking, the Heaven and Earth Bag could also count as a Talisman Artifact.
The Heaven and Earth Bag ought to contain quite a few resources useful to cultivators, but with so many people and prying eyes around, Chen Heng could not examine it directly.
After Chen Heng turned away.
The expression on Xiao Yu's face slowly shifted from crazed resentment to numb bewilderment.
Why... couldn't you have come sooner...
She murmured the words in her heart.
Deep in her eyes, a trace of crazed killing intent flashed and vanished.
Five days later.
Inside the mountain, in the secluded chamber of the cave abode where the Mount Yang Daoist had once cultivated in seclusion.
Chen Heng sat cross-legged, wisps of white qi streaming from his mouth and nose, ceaselessly washing over a red-and-white bead hovering before his chest and abdomen.
Another half an incense stick later, Chen Heng suddenly opened his eyes and drew the white qi back into his torso.
"Draw!"
He formed a spell seal, bit the tip of his tongue, and sprayed essence blood onto the red-and-white bead before him.
As that mouthful of essence blood sprayed out, his face abruptly paled and his body swayed.
Stimulated by the essence blood, the red-and-white bead instantly blazed with light, bathing the entire cave abode in a beautiful interplay of red and white. The radiance lasted for dozens of breaths before gradually fading.
"At last, I've refined this Thunderfire Thunderclap Bead. The Mount Yang Daoist truly lived up to the sixth level of Qi Refining. The essence-blood imprint he left behind was difficult to deal with indeed."
Chen Heng beckoned lightly.
The bead, about the size of a pigeon's egg, immediately flew into his palm like a weary bird returning to the woods. At the direction of his thoughts, it darted left and right, up and down, remarkably nimble.
"At last, I have an artifact to protect myself."
A smile spread across Chen Heng's face.
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