Chương 96: The Spoils of Silence

"Once you've cleaned everything up, move out. And I'll say it again, what happened today? Bury it deep in your hearts." Zhang Huaijin reiterated his warning. Zhang Liwei and the other two nodded repeatedly, their eyes filled with admiration as they gazed at him. The four of them left the place directly. Half an hour later, some spirit beasts began to appear on the scene. They cursed furiously in their own beastly minds, not even a single corpse left behind. How incredibly stingy.

In the end, they had no choice but to lick the blood and shredded flesh off the ground, resigning themselves to their fate. Zhang Huaijin felt no worry whatsoever about having wiped out the Jin and Jiang clan cultivators. With Jiang Wenshi dead, the Jiang clan now had only one Late Stage cultivator left. For the sake of the clan's stability, that man wouldn't make a move lightly. Besides, he suspected that the Jiang clan's remaining late stage elder probably didn't even know what Jiang Wenshi had been up to.

After all, it wouldn't look good if word got out that a Late Stage cultivator was acting as a plundering cultivator to steal Foundation Establishment Pills, especially when he had his own clan to think about. As for the Jin clan, they were even easier to handle. They were a top-tier Foundation Establishment Realm clan in Qingtai City. Even if they learned the whole story, they wouldn't make a big fuss about it, they were in the wrong to begin with.

Besides, it must have been certain individuals acting on their own, not the entire Jin clan. They couldn't afford to lose that much face. After all, they had a Perfection Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator overseeing them and already had stable channels to purchase Foundation Establishment Pills. So Zhang Huaijin had no worries in his heart. —— Two days later, Zhang Huaijin and his three companions returned to Green Bamboo Mountain, travel worn and weary.

Zhang Chongwen, who had been on edge the whole time, suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.

"No trouble on the way?" he asked. Huaijin had already dismissed Zhang Wujian and the others.

"None. We kept a low profile the whole way." Zhang Chongwen nodded.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill... our Zhang clan has another Foundation Establishment Pill." His voice trembled slightly. Ever since Zhang Huaijin had come down from the mountain, the Zhang clan's fortunes had blazed like oil thrown onto a fire, growing stronger and stronger with each passing day. And now, this Foundation Establishment Pill meant a very real chance for the Zhang clan to produce a third Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road.

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"In the future, our Zhang clan will get more and more Foundation Establishment Pills. The clan's strength will only grow," Zhang Huaijin said with a trace of confidence. And it was true. With Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators at the helm, time would only make the clan stronger. Because Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had reached an entirely different level. The resources they could access and obtain weren't in the same league as the Qi Refining Realm.

Take the trading meet at Blood Lion Mountain, for example. Qi Refining Realm cultivators weren't even qualified to enter. Only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators had truly set foot on the path of cultivation.

"Yes! That's right!" Zhang Chongwen's eyes burned with fervor. He was over a hundred years old now. He could feel his body gradually aging, his vitality waning. Seeing the clan flourish like this, even if he died now, he could smile with peace beneath the nine springs. Zhang Huaijin could sense his grandfather's physical condition too.

Ever since Green Bamboo Mountain's spirit vein had been upgraded, combined with the effect of the Seven Colored Spirit Peach Tree, the spiritual energy on the mountain was now comparable to a Tier 2, mid grade spirit vein. And with the nourishment of that spiritual energy and the healing effects of various pills, Zhang Chongwen's old hidden injuries had all vanished. As long as Zhang Chongwen didn't engage in battle, he could live out his natural lifespan.

Not to mention, in just a few more years, the spirit peaches from the Seven Colored Spirit Peach Tree would ripen. A single green spirit peach could extend one's life by ten years. And a cultivator could take longevity resources three times in their lifetime. In other words, if things went smoothly, Zhang Chongwen could live a full hundred and fifty years.

"Grandfather, I'll go into seclusion, then," Zhang Huaijin said.

"I'll leave the family affairs to the elders. Liwei's merits should be ready. I'll place this Foundation Establishment Pill into the clan treasury. When he reaches the Perfection stage, he can attempt Foundation Establishment. I hope he succeeds. He'd better seize the opportunity." Zhang Huaijin's voice was low and deliberate.

"Go on," Zhang Chongwen nodded. If Zhang Liwei did break through to Foundation Establishment Realm, the clan wouldn't be so strapped for hands. Zhang Huaijin met briefly with Su Xueqi, then went straight into seclusion. —— Sitting cross-legged on the ground, Huaijin began searching Jiang Wenshi's body. Before long, he broke the restriction on the storage pouch.

"My, my. Impressive. So rich!" Zhang Huaijin was very pleased. Jiang Wenshi must have been overconfident, the resources inside his storage pouch were extraordinarily abundant. Over seven thousand spirit stones, more than a dozen Tier 2 resources... including the diamond ore he had acquired at the Blood Lion Mountain trading meet. On top of that, there were also several Tier 2, mid grade spirit artifacts and one Tier 2, upper grade spirit artifact.

That upper grade spirit artifact was a black handkerchief covered in fine golden patterns, like a heavenly net.

"The Heavenly Net Handkerchief!" Zhang Huaijin channeled his spiritual sense into it, grinding away the existing restrictions and imprinting his own mark. This was Jiang Wenshi's Tier 2, upper grade spirit artifact, which had appeared during the earlier battle but had been useless against Zhang Huaijin's soul based techniques. The Heavenly Net Handkerchief was a control type spirit artifact, when activated, it could release thousands of golden threads to trap an opponent. He was very satisfied.

Next, he searched the bodies of the remaining three cultivators and reaped another substantial haul. Over twenty Tier 2 herbs and ores, plus ten bottles of Tier 2 pills, aside from healing medicines, most were cultivation aids. He was thoroughly pleased. A horse won't fatten without a nighttime feed, and a man won't prosper without an unexpected windfall. The old saying was absolutely right.

"Alright. Time to enter seclusion. In my spare time, I can also refine my forging skills," Zhang Huaijin mused to himself.

"This diamond ore is nice. Once my artifact forging skills improve, I'll melt it into the Green Ape Seal and see if I can push it to mid grade." He set aside several pieces of Tier 2 ore. Then he tossed out the corpse of the fifth level Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Watch over this place. When you reach the Perfection stage, you can devour it." Zhang Huaijin's voice carried no warmth. The Purple Spirit Tiger, Haihu let out a roar and took up guard at the entrance to Zhang Huaijin's cave. Its purple eyes blazed with light. For spirit beasts, a human cultivator's corpse was an unmatched treasure. And this was the body of a fifth level Foundation Establishment cultivator, the flesh and blood thick with dense, potent energy.

After devouring it would surely advance to the second tier.