Lord of the Desert

Chapter 572 Greed
After "Iron Lord" died, the battle situation became unpredictable.

The giants had exhausted most of their power in the battle against Hong Fan and others, and suffered secondary damage when they were forcibly ejected after the circuit was broken. They were powerless to fight back when they were executed.

The heavy club fell for the last time, accompanied by the thunderous crash of shattered stones.

As Wang Xiaodan staggered out of the mountain, looking up at the dazzling red-purple light of the midday sun, a wave of dizziness surged through his mind.

Looking back on the past few days, everything has been too rushed and hurried.

The surprise attack plan was revealed at the last minute; the overwhelming odds of victory; the devastating continuous bombardment; the clone Iron Lord who could fight against ten thousand enemies; and the Sand Colossus and the Yellow Springs Giant who joined forces to fight the enemy...

If it weren't for the burning pain from the broken bones in his body, Wang Xiaodan would have thought he was still dreaming.

Two hundred giants died, which was only slightly less than the entire year's achievements of Zhenbeiwei, and a devastating blow compared to the total population of over 100,000.

All of this was accomplished with a mere eight thousand people in less than two hours.

As Wang Xiaodan walked out of Xuandan Fortress, he saw Song Qiwu standing in a shell crater, touching the loose soil.

The two looked at each other in silence, their hearts filled with emotion, yet they didn't know where to begin.

But Hong Fan's task didn't stop there.

He endured the intense heat and ventured alone deep into the mountain, manipulating the sand to fill a channel hundreds of meters long before solidifying it into a single entity, thus sealing the lava pool that the giant had been digging out over the years with rock.

The Xuan Dan Fortress Formation is excellent research material—the Giant Spirit's formation circuit and the Qi Crafting Bureau's spiritual energy technology are of the same origin—but considering that enemy reinforcements will arrive in a few days, and this place is not suitable for holding for the time being, it must be completely destroyed first.

After that, the most important thing was to distribute the spoils.

Giants are born without emotion, and their thinking operates entirely according to reason, so they have almost no concept of private property; from the perspective of people like Shattered Light and Shuo Shui, apart from some valuable research facilities, there is no wealth in the general sense within Suspended Gallbladder Fortress.

But for humans, the inorganic bodies of these alien races are a treasure in themselves.

The core of the giant spirit grows slowly over time, becoming more valuable than top-grade chalcedony of the same volume. It is the source of its powerful spiritual energy, and the internal circuits that they have developed by collecting special materials and optimizing them over the years are also very valuable.

In comparison, the beast king and dire wolf pelts that can fetch high prices south of Mount Nan Kuaiye are merely extras.

In Zhenbeiwei, it was a routine procedure after every battle for the spoils of war among the military commanders—this served to demonstrate their toughness on the one hand, and their care for their subordinates on the other.

But when the supplies were tallied this time, Duan Hong and Zong Jun, the two city officers, stared at each other, unable to utter a word to Hong Fan.

"Captain Hong, the spoils of this battle have been estimated by the subordinates to be over 45,000 strings of cash. How do you suggest we divide them?"

Finally, Wang Xiao, who had removed his heavy armor and was covered in bandages, spoke in a low, muffled voice.

"Let's do it according to the number of participants. The Red Sand Army takes half, and you can split the rest equally?"

Hong Fan responded casually.

Everyone was both surprised and delighted upon hearing this—while the Red Sand Army may have made up half the numbers, their contributions far exceeded that.

The northern frontier is a place where even heroes are stumped by a single penny; even the Three Guards General's Mansion couldn't easily produce 10,000 strings of cash.

"Captain Hong is a righteous man!"

The usually aloof Song Qiwu was finally moved and bowed deeply.

"If the Red Sand Army needs anything in the future, we will not refuse."

He recalled Hong Fan's near-limitless true energy when he fought against Tie Zun, guessing that he had used extremely precious pills, and felt even more grateful.

"Captain Hong, after this battle, we've become comrades-in-arms who've shared life and death..."

Wang Xiaodan also said a lot of nice things, but after lingering for a moment, he asked a question hesitantly.

"Does your military sell its artillery to foreign companies?"

Everyone's ears pricked up.

"This cannon is the latest product of our Kaiming Company; since we are a business, we naturally want to do business."

Hong Fan replied with a smile, "Promoting Kaimingxing's products is a secondary objective of this battle."

"But these firearms are expensive and have to be transported from Liangzhou. Equipping them in batches will cost a lot of money."

The generals nodded upon hearing this, each pondering how to report it to the Left Guard General's Mansion later.

With everything settled, Wang Xiaodan turned back to continue cleaning up the battlefield—the Chisha Army didn't have many shells left, and another battle wouldn't be as simple as before. As the sun set, Hong Fan stood with Song Qiwu on the hilltop, overlooking their busy work, and noticed that the latter's nose was bleeding again.

This Northern Frontier Star Lord is forty-four years old, with very deep nasolabial folds and forehead wrinkles, making him look old.

While "Seeing the Yellow Springs" is a powerful battlefield ability, it also places a heavy burden on the Star Lord. Song Qiwu is unable to practice martial arts, and each time he overdraws his power, he has to pay an irreparable price.

Ma Jingsha was invincible in the second half of his life, and died peacefully at the age of sixty-nine.

"You don't need to look at me like that."

Song Qiwu caught a glimpse of Hong Fan's gaze and smiled nonchalantly.

"In this vast land of China, the Star Lord is one in a million. How could I possibly ask for more? Compared to ordinary people who have no opportunity to practice martial arts, I am already extremely fortunate."

He wiped the bloodstains from his philtrum with his thumb and suddenly asked a question.

"This battle should be beneficial to both of us. Are you confident?"

"What confidence?"

Hong Fan was taken aback, then realized that the other party was asking him if he was confident in breaking through the Yuan Magnetic Realm.

He looked inward for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"is it?"

Song Qiwu gazed intently at the young man's unparalleled appearance and demeanor, and then, recalling Kou Yong's praise of him as "the strongest in all ages," fell silent.

"Then congratulations in advance."

He stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the setting sun, and finally sighed with quiet admiration.

······
Seven days later.

June 2nd.

Hundreds of miles east of Fengsui City lies an unnamed wild mountain peak.

Orange-red magma slowly undulated, supporting Hong Beom, who was sitting cross-legged, naked.

Bubbles rose from the depths of the mountain, emitting a suppressed and gruff gurgling roar; the pungent smell of sulfur and ozone permeated every nook and cranny.

Consciousness began to awaken slightly.

Extremely active innate fire elemental energy swirled and circulated within the vast ocean of liquid energy.

Hong Fan felt the immense, unfathomable flow of earth veins beneath him and lowered his consciousness once more.

The five internal organs of a martial artist are as boundless as the world itself.

Within the kidney sea, the abundant vitality seized by the life star is continuously transformed into highly condensed fiery true essence, which penetrates and protrudes along the subtle meridians inside the organs.

It took an unknown amount of time until it was completely connected.

The power extends, surges, and permeates.

At this moment, the tide of innate spiritual energy was no longer something to be viewed from afar, but something that could be reached out and touched.

The heat of fire, the damp cold of water, the sharpness of metal, the weight of earth...

Following the natural joy and harmony that arose in his heart, Hong Fan used his intention to generate power and resist the primordial magnetic force that caused him to float up.

On the skin's surface, the solidified black, glassy rock shell shattered and peeled away, making a tinkling sound.

He put his clothes back on, then drifted leisurely out of the volcanic crater and was once again bathed in the sunlight.

The wind is cool.

The snow-capped peaks, which never melt, shimmered in the sunlight.

Forests, grassy slopes, and tundra—a patchwork of green in varying shades, stretching out to an endless vista.

Hong Fan dangled his feet and hovered on the mountain peak, his arms outstretched in a straight line, as if he were lying on the soft belly of heaven and earth—an indescribable sense of freedom arose spontaneously, announcing that he had transformed into a different life.

(End of this chapter)