153: Chapter 153 The Victors! Plunder!

...

Two people and a bear fell into silence for a moment.

Afterward, the "harvests" of the various major powers in the Jin State were listed in detail.

Those high-and-mighty righteous Sects, who usually stood above the masses, had now transformed into the greediest of locusts; they dismantled the protective Formations of the demonic Sects, dug up the underground Spiritual Veins, and didn't even spare the immature seedlings in the medicine gardens.

Everything that could be moved was packed and transported back to the Wei State.

This was a naked carnival of greed.

At this time, Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du took out a communication jade talisman and said, "By the way, there is one more matter to inform you two about."

"Elder Chen of the Upper Sect sent a message, ordering us to scavenge freely in Heisha County. As long as we don't cross the bottom line, how much we take depends on our own abilities."

Hearing this, Shi Jian perked up.

"Since the Upper Sect has spoken, let's not stay idle."

"We've emptied Yinfeng Valley's treasury, but the biggest piece of fat hasn't been touched yet. It's time to act!"

Daoist Yun Du and Mountain Clearing looked at each other, understanding perfectly.

Underneath Yinfeng Valley lay a Rank 3 Medium Grade Spiritual Vein. This was the main event, and its value was not at all inferior to that of a Blessed Land.

A Blessed Land condenses heaven and earth qi, which is the ticket from Foundation Establishment to the Golden Core.

It is an extremely important link in the journey of immortal cultivation.

While a Spiritual Vein is the Foundation of everything—the starting point of cultivation and the cornerstone of all things!

A Spiritual Vein is the root of a Sect's existence, and extracting one is also an extremely time-consuming and dangerous technical task.

Although one could move a Spiritual Vein using methods like 'moving mountains and filling seas'...

In essence, that's just moving an entire mountain. While it might work for Rank 1 or Rank 2 spiritual veins, moving a Rank 3 Spiritual Vein is very difficult.

Firstly, a Rank 3 Spiritual Vein has already transformed; it's not just a single hilltop but an entire mountain range...

A Golden Core Cultivator can move a mountain, but it's hard to move a range consisting of dozens of peaks.

Secondly, even if it could be moved, transporting dozens of peaks at once is truly time-consuming and laborious, and the gain wouldn't be worth the effort.

Therefore, the Vein Extraction Method was developed.

However, if not handled properly and the Spiritual Vein bursts, the surrounding hundred miles would turn into a wasteland.

"The matter of extracting the Spiritual Vein must be led by Fellow Daoist Yun."

"Fellow Daoist Yun specializes in the Cloud Dao; his Spiritual Qi is peaceful and less likely to harm the Spiritual Vein or cause instability."

Hearing this, Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du did not refuse. He took out a thick stack of Formation diagrams from his Storage Pouch and began to deduce on the ground.

"A Rank 3 Spiritual Vein has a massive volume."

"With our current capabilities, it's not hard to extract it completely."

"But according to the rules, we can only intercept the most core section, about seventy percent of the entire vein. The remaining thirty percent must stay underground to maintain the balance of the local Earth Qi."

This was an unwritten rule in the cultivation world.

Leave a way out in everything; do not do things that cut off all future prospects.

If a Spiritual Vein is drained completely, leading to the death of all life in the area, that would be truly heartless and an offense against heaven.

The Shangqing Sect would not allow its subordinate forces to go too far either.

"Seventy percent is enough."

Shi Jian made the final decision. "Adding the two Blessed Lands and Spiritual Veins from the Fenghe Sect, White Cloud Temple will be filthy rich in the future."

"But let's agree beforehand: the Rank 3 Spiritual Vein belongs to my White Cloud Temple."

"At that time, I will use other things to compensate Fellow Daoist Mountain Clearing. This involves our temple's grand plan; I hope Fellow Daoist Mountain Clearing can understand."

Seeing this, Immortal Master Mountain Clearing waved his hand and didn't refuse.

First, he had no reason to refuse; second, he didn't dare refuse and risk damaging their relationship; third, he was different from Daoist Yun Du...

Immortal Master Mountain Clearing didn't have such deep feelings for his Sect.

To him, a Sect was just a tool for collecting resources. For an individual, a Spiritual Vein's uses were limited; Qingguang Sect also had Spiritual Veins for his cultivation, so he didn't lack them.

The ultimate beneficiaries of things like Spiritual Veins are always large forces like a Sect or Family, rather than individuals.

Having settled the distribution of the Spiritual Vein...

For the next half month, Yinfeng Valley was exceptionally busy.

Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du and Immortal Master Mountain Clearing joined forces, leading the Formation Masters of both Sects to set up a massive 'Spirit-Locking Vein-Extraction Formation' at the bottom of the rift valley.

Thousands of Formation bases were driven into the rock layers, and complex spiritual power circuits intertwined into a giant net, tightly binding the Rank 3 Spiritual Vein underground.

Shi Jian took Shi Mo and Kuang Dou to stay above the rift valley, acting as Protectors.

The process of vein extraction was tedious and long.

As the Formation tightened, the ground began to tremble violently.

The rock walls on both sides of the rift valley kept peeling off, and massive boulders crashed into the valley floor with deafening roars...

From deep underground came bursts of mournful cries like Dragon roars. That was the Spiritual Vein resisting as it was forcibly stripped from the earth's meridians.

"Steady the Formation!"

Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du was covered in sweat, his hands quickly forming seals as he struck streaks of magic power into the Formation's hub. "Fellow Daoist Mountain Clearing, lock the Spirit Eye!"

Immortal Master Mountain Clearing waved his fly-whisk, and nine green wood vines burrowed into the ground, tightly coiling around the nodes of the Spiritual Vein to bind it.

After a period of tugging...

Accompanied by a dull, massive boom, a flood dragon-like entity a hundred zhang long, emitting dense Spiritual Qi, was forcibly pulled from the ground.

The temperature in Yinfeng Valley plummeted, and a thick layer of frost formed on the surrounding rocks.

"Collect!"

Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du sacrificed a specially made Spirit-Sealing Jade Casket. The jade casket grew in the wind, turning into a giant coffin that swallowed the entire section of the Rank 3 Spiritual Vein.

The moment the lid closed, Yinfeng Valley lost its Soul. The originally dense Yin Qi quickly dissipated, and it turned into an ordinary, dried-up canyon.

"It's done!"

Immortal Master Daoist Yun Du let out a long breath. His face had turned pale, but his eyes were full of fervor.

"With this Rank 3 Spiritual Vein, White Cloud Temple's Foundation can double. We can open up more spiritual fields and medicine gardens, or build new Blessed Lands, giving them a Foundation."

Shi Jian leaped down from above, his massive body landing next to the jade casket as he nodded with satisfaction.

"This is just the appetizer."

Shi Jian looked into the distance and said, "There are still nine counties under the jurisdiction of Heisha County. We can't let those Rank 2 spiritual veins go either. Even a mosquito's leg is meat."

The harvest was just beginning!

...

In the following month.

Shi Jian and his group acted as scavengers, ruthlessly harvesting resources until not a blade of grass remained and the land was barren.

They split into two groups.

Daoist Yun Du led the Cultivators of White Cloud Temple, and Mountain Clearing led the forces of Qingguang Sect, conducting a carpet-style sweep of the nine counties under Heisha County.

Those Demonic Path families that occupied the regions had already fled cleanly when the army approached, leaving behind only empty manors and underground Spiritual Veins.

The difficulty of extracting Rank 2 spiritual veins was much lower.

According to the previous rules, seventy percent of each vein was taken, leaving thirty percent to maintain the Earth Qi.

In just one month, twelve Rank 2 spiritual veins were sealed into jade caskets. Besides that, a large number of spiritual fields were dug up along with the soil, and various low-grade Spiritual Mines were completely depleted.

Heisha County, which was considered prosperous among the Demonic Path in the Jin State, was completely stripped bare.

Most of the Spiritual Veins were extracted, and the spiritual fields and lands had their topsoil scraped off.

Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicines were harvested clean, and the raised Spirit Beasts and pets were either taken under Shi Jian's command or slaughtered for meat.

...