After the Battle: The Du Household's Recruitment
Unfortunately, after he obtained this fourth portion of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire, there were no longer any First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits on the battlefield that Kong Wenxuan could continue to attack and slaughter.
With no unoccupied First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits left, it would not be proper for him to continue stealing other people's prey.
After all, snatching one First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirit from the Feng Household cultivator could still be called an eye for an eye, but if he kept stealing, he would provoke everyone's anger, and even the Du Household cultivators would probably step in to stop him.
But to refine the scarlet peacock feather into the first-tier superior-grade Law Artifact, the Crimson Fire Divine Sword, and thereby advance his cultivation another step to the Qi Refinement Eighth Layer, he needed at least six portions of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire.
He was still two portions short.
Kong Wenxuan turned to look at his fellow clansmen on the battlefield. The third elder had brought two patrol teams and was also slaughtering Fire Spirits. Although their combat strength and destructive power were inferior to his Five Elements Divine Swords, by joining forces, they were still capable of killing a few First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits on this battlefield and obtaining some first-tier superior-grade spirit fire.
Even now, Kong Yushan and Kong Yuling, who were on his team, were joining forces to surround and kill a First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirit, and already had the upper hand.
Kong Wenxuan was hesitating over whether to go help when his aunt Kong Yuling called out to him first. "Wenxuan, come help, quickly!"
"Coming!" Kong Wenxuan hesitated no longer. Leaving the Feng Household cultivator he had been suppressing, he raced toward his aunt Kong Yuling and his elder paternal cousin Kong Yushan.
The Feng Household disciple whose Fire Spirit he had snatched finally escaped the suppression of the Azure Wood Divine Sword's Sword Light Differentiation. Feeling utterly exhausted in body and mind, he gasped for breath. His expression shifted several times as he watched Kong Wenxuan leave, but in the end, he did not dare pursue him.
Kong Wenxuan sneered at the sight. He had already stolen the man's prey, so it would not have been proper to severely injure him as well. But if the man had refused to let the matter go and pursued him, he would have had ample reason to do so. Unfortunately, the man was too timid to give chase.
"Aunt! Cousin! I'm here!"
By then, he had charged into the fight where Kong Yuling and Kong Yushan were surrounding the first-tier superior-grade Fire Spirit. Calling out to them, he unleashed the Black Water Divine Sword. Its sword light surged like a tide, plunging straight into their assault and striking the already heavily injured first-tier superior-grade Fire Spirit, piercing through it and killing it on the spot.
A bloom of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire then coalesced from the shattered Fire Spirit and fell.
"Wenxuan, you should take this spirit fire."
His aunt Kong Yuling spoke up.
"Wouldn't that be improper...?" Kong Wenxuan hesitated. "Aunt, Cousin, this Fire Spirit was your prey. I only lent a hand."
Kong Yushan, standing nearby, also spoke. "Wenxuan, if we're giving it to you, take it. We all know you need this spirit fire for cultivation."
Seeing this, Kong Wenxuan stopped refusing and immediately put away the fifth bloom of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire. Smiling, he thanked them. "Thank you, Aunt, Cousin. If you ever need anything, I'll do my utmost."
The two smiled. "We're all family. There's no need to be so polite."
By now, there were virtually no First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits left alive on the field, only some at the First-Tier Early Stage and middle stages. There were many of them, and that was also why the cultivators of the various households had chosen to slaughter the First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits first.
With no First-Tier Late Stage Fire Spirits remaining, the Qi Refinement cultivators of the various households turned to slaughtering the remaining First-Tier Early Stage and middle-stage Fire Spirits. They soon cleared the entire battlefield and began gathering the spoils.
This had been the Flamingo Lie Household's ancestral grounds, after all. Although the subterranean fire and magma from the volcano's repeated eruptions had destroyed them, a careful search could still yield some gains.
The Flamingo Lie Household in particular had an artifact-refining inheritance and excelled at the craft. The Law Artifacts it refined were not only popular among the dozen or more servant-cultivator Lineages in Cuckoo County; even the Ninth-Grade True Spirit Lineage, the Du Household, often collected Law Artifacts from the Lie Household as taxes.
Searching through the subterranean fire and magma flowing amid the ruins of the Lie Household's ancestral grounds, they often came across damaged Law Artifacts.
Although these Law Artifacts had been damaged by the subterranean fire and magma, Kong Wenxuan and the others did not disdain them. They put them away; even if they later melted the damaged Law Artifacts down, it would still be worthwhile to recover some artifact-refining materials.
The lucky ones occasionally even managed to pick up one or two intact Law Artifacts from the subterranean fire and magma.
At that very moment, Kong Wenxuan found a Law Artifact seal in a pit filled with magma. The seal had been refined from volcanic stone spirit material, which was highly resistant to the burning of subterranean fire and magma. Its substantial, hard construction had also allowed it to survive the destruction wrought by the volcano's repeated eruptions.
A treasure seal at the first-tier superior-grade Law Artifact level. I have the Five Elements Divine Swords, so I have no use for this Law Artifact seal. If I turn it over to the Lineage for contribution points, they should be more than enough to exchange for the last portion of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire!
Thoughts turned in Kong Wenxuan's mind, and he was completely reassured. Gathering enough resources to refine the Crimson Fire Divine Sword should not be a problem.
Given how much the Lineage valued him, even if he did not have enough contribution points, it would provide him with the final missing portion of first-tier superior-grade spirit fire. Still, it would naturally be better if he could gather enough contribution points to exchange for it himself.
After all, for a Lineage to develop and grow strong, family affection and support for talented people were important, but fairness, procedures, and rules were just as important.
The Lineage had already given him considerable support when he refined the Azure Wood Divine Sword, the Black Water Divine Sword, and the Yellow Earth Divine Sword. It had discounted the Contribution Points cost when he exchanged for spirit materials such as Azure Cloud Spirit Bamboo, Cold Spring Spirit Water, and Thick Mountain Stone.
Even though the cultivators in the Lineage all knew that this was the regard and support he deserved because he cultivated quickly and was strong,
knowing was one thing, but over time, as it happened more often, it would inevitably stir some grumbling and dissatisfaction among his clansmen.
After all, people had never worried about having too little, but about an uneven share.
Now that he had advanced to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, his cultivation and strength ranked among the upper levels of the Lineage. At this point, more of his fellow cultivators hoped he would give back to the Lineage rather than continue taking advantage of it.
Screech!
A shrill cry came from the sky. Kong Wenxuan looked up and saw that the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast the Lie Household patriarch had become had also been successfully subdued and captured under the combined assault of Patriarch Kong Changgeng, Yan Household patriarch Yan Zhiyu, and Du Zikai.
Rather than kill the second-tier flamingo Demon Beast, they had Du Zikai capture it and put it into the beast-taming pouch at his waist.
Seeing this, Kong Wenxuan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked again at the second-tier tamed mountain tit and gray crane around Du Zikai. A thought suddenly occurred to him. Could those two tamed beasts also be Demon Beasts formed when bloodline cultivators fell?
But he quickly put those thoughts aside and looked away. Whether or not the Du Household's tamed beasts had been formed from bloodline cultivators, it was not something he or the Kong Household could interfere in.
Soon, the battlefield had been cleared, and the cultivators of each household gathered behind their respective patriarchs. Du Zikai looked at them with satisfaction and said, "Everyone did very well in this purge."
They all replied modestly, "It was thanks to your excellent leadership, my lord."
Du Zikai nodded in satisfaction. Then he turned his gaze to Kong Wenxuan and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Kong, is this lad a disciple of your Kong Household? His methods seem a little different from those of your household."
Hearing this, Patriarch Kong Changgeng immediately replied with a touch of respect, "He is indeed a disciple of our Kong Household. It's just that the inheritance he received when he awakened his bloodline was somewhat different. It should be the inheritance of one of our Kong Household's ancestors from a distant age."
The patriarch then called to Kong Wenxuan. "Wenxuan, come pay your respects to his lordship."
Kong Wenxuan immediately stepped forward, bowed to Du Zikai, and said, "Kong Wenxuan of the Kong Household pays his respects to you, my lord."
"Very good! Excellent!" Du Zikai praised Kong Wenxuan twice. "I watched your performance on the battlefield. Those three sword artifacts refined from peacock feathers possess astonishing combat strength."
"Keeping such combat strength in the rear is a bit of a waste of talent. A good sword should be honed on the battlefield; the more it is honed, the sharper it becomes."
"The Demon-Suppressing Pass to the south has always been short of men. Why don't you go to the Demon-Suppressing Pass?"