Beast Taming Immortal Clan

Chapter 256 The War Ends, Taking Stock of the Loot [Third Update, Please Subscribe]

Golden Dragon Branch Altar.

Half a day after Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi returned from their pursuit, the Golden Core cultivators began to return to the area one after another.

Some Golden Core cultivators returned with joy on their faces, clearly having successfully slain powerful enemies.

Some, however, have a gloomy or indifferent expression, which usually indicates a mistake.

So, about a day after they returned, Liu Yiping also returned with his men.

At that time, Liu Yiping led a late-stage Golden Core cultivator and three mid-stage Golden Core cultivators to chase after Di Long, the leader of the Black Dragon Hall, and that fourth-grade high-quality black dragon.

However, when they returned, there were only Liu Yiping, the late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, and all three of them were injured.

Later, the Zhou family learned that although Liu Yiping and the others had successfully caught up with Di Long and Hei Jiao, after a fierce battle, Hei Jiao had self-destructed his inner core when he had nowhere to escape!

Because the black dragon's inner core exploded, a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator was killed on the spot, and another was seriously injured.

Then the seriously injured man was killed by Dillon, the leader of the Black Dragon Hall.

What's even more regrettable is that Ti Lung ultimately escaped from Liu Yiping and his gang, failing to save their lives.

It's hard to say whether exchanging the lives of two mid-stage Golden Core cultivators for the life of a fourth-grade high-level dragon was a gain or a loss!

Not long after, the Daoist nun Qingsu returned with her entourage.

She went to pursue the Blood Flame Flood Dragon of the Blood Dragon Hall, but failed, gaining nothing and losing no manpower.

As time passed, most of the Golden Core cultivators who had gone out in pursuit returned one after another, leaving only Jin Chixuan's group still missing.

This left the Zhou family members, who had been closely monitoring Jin Chixuan's group, feeling extremely uneasy and conflicted.

After waiting for a long time, almost two days after the Golden Dragon Branch Altar Formation was broken, Jin Chixuan finally returned with his men.

He succeeded!

After a fierce battle that lasted for more than a day, he successfully killed the heavily wounded fourth-tier mid-grade Crimson Fire Dragon, and also killed the Crimson Dragon Hall Master.

However, while the gains were significant, the losses were also considerable.

Of the three mid-stage Golden Core cultivators he brought with him, one perished, and the early-stage Golden Core cultivator was also severely injured. He and the other two mid-stage Golden Core cultivators were also greatly weakened.

It is worth mentioning that the severely injured early-stage Golden Core cultivator was none other than Yu Jinghua, who had betrayed the Zhou family!

Therefore, when the Zhou family learned of Jin Chixuan's group's gains and losses, they were overjoyed.

If they weren't afraid of offending Jin Chixuan, the two of them would probably have gone to Yu Jinghua to ridicule him.

In the end, all the spoils from each person were collected and put into Liu Yiping's hands, and the result of this final battle was thus revealed.

In this battle, the Jingguo Allied Forces killed five Golden Core cultivators, two fourth-tier dragons, two fourth-tier demonic beasts, twenty-one Purple Mansion cultivators, and four third-tier demonic beasts from the Hualong Sect.

On the Jingguo Allied Forces side, three Golden Core stage cultivators perished, one was severely injured, and many others were wounded. Additionally, two Purple Mansion stage cultivators perished, and seven were injured.

Judging from this battle report, the Jingguo Alliance has undoubtedly achieved a great victory.

Including the spoils from the battle at the Fulong stronghold, the spoils from the previous southern expedition, and the spoils of the Corpse Demon Sect at the Azure Dragon Hall, the Dragon Transformation Sect has lost more than twenty Golden Core cultivators, five fourth-order dragons, and more than ten fourth-order demonic beasts in these successive battles.

It should be noted that the Dragon Transformation Sect itself only had about thirty Golden Core stage cultivators, and now it has lost two-thirds of them.

And most of the dragons that the Dragon Transformation Sect had painstakingly cultivated also died instantly!

But that's not the worst of it. The worst of it is that more than a hundred Purple Mansion stage protectors of the Dragon Transformation Sect have been wiped out, with less than twenty surviving!

The Foundation Establishment stage cultivators in the other six branch altars suffered losses of 80% to 90%!

Without these lost personnel, even if the Hualong Sect can retain its headquarters after this, it will take more than three to five hundred years to make a comeback, and it may not even have that opportunity again.

After all, times have changed. Knowing that the Dragon Transformation Sect and the Flood Dragon Clan are deeply colluding, even if the Flood Dragon Clan's protection cannot completely destroy them, the three major sects of Jingguo will never give them another chance to rise again.

Therefore, when the battle report came out, even Liu Yiping, whose face had been gloomy and ugly, smiled again.

He put down the battle report in his hand, smiled at Jin Chixuan and Qingsu Daogu, and said, "Although our sects have suffered considerable losses this time, we have achieved such great gains. I think our ancestors should be satisfied with the results of our expedition."

"Next, we will withdraw our troops and return home, awaiting further instructions from our esteemed ancestors!"

However, upon hearing his words, Qingsu Daoist nun raised a different opinion.

She slowly said, "I believe it's a bit too early to withdraw and return home. We can't take down the Dragon Transformation Sect's main headquarters, but the Blood Dragon branch still exists. I suggest we go to the Blood Dragon branch again, destroy it, and then withdraw!"

Should we attack the Blood Dragon branch again?

Liu Yiping was slightly taken aback, glanced at the nun Qingsu, and then looked at Jin Chixuan beside him, asking, "What does Fellow Daoist Jin say?"

Upon hearing this, Jin Chixuan pondered for a moment before replying, "I think Fellow Daoist Qingsu's suggestion is not without merit. Now that the remnants of the Dragon Transformation Sect have fled to the main altar, the Blood Dragon branch altar is just an empty shell. I imagine it won't take much effort to destroy it."

"Well, since you two fellow Daoists both think so, then let's head to the Blood Dragon Branch Altar again!"

Liu Yiping nodded, readily agreeing with Qingsu Daoist's suggestion.

So he immediately sent the heavily injured Yu Jinghua and several Golden Core cultivators with serious injuries back to Jingguo with some wounded and prisoners. Then he gathered the remaining able-bodied men and headed for the Blood Dragon Branch Altar once again.

At this time, the Blood Dragon branch altar was indeed only guarded by some Foundation Establishment stage cultivators and two Dragon Transformation Sect protectors.

When dozens of Golden Core cultivators arrived with over a hundred Purple Mansion cultivators, the Dragon Transformation Sect cultivators in the Blood Dragon branch were nearly scared to death.

The two protectors of the Dragon Transformation Sect didn't even care about the fact that they had been implanted with the "Dragon Soul Seed" at this moment. They were so frightened that they immediately led their men to open the formation and surrender.

Seeing that they were so sensible, Liu Yiping and the others were very satisfied and immediately decided to rest at the Blood Dragon branch for a day before returning home, since they were all quite tired from the continuous battles and travel.

However, Liu Yiping had only rested for less than half a day when he suddenly received a message from Master Yinyue.

After a remote communication with Yin Yue Zhenren, Liu Yiping hurriedly led his men to destroy the protective array of the Blood Dragon branch altar, and then returned to Jingguo with the loot from the Blood Dragon branch altar and the prisoners.

It turns out that after a long battle lasting several days, the battle between the two fifth-tier beings had come to a conclusion.

The result was a victory for the Jingguo Allied Forces. They successfully killed a vice leader of the Hualong Sect, severely injured the sect leader and two vice leaders, and also severely injured two of the five dragons that came to help.

The defeated leader of the Hualong Sect could only lead the remaining three vice leaders back to the Hualong Sect headquarters, where they activated the mountain-protecting formation to defend against the attack of Yinyue Zhenren and others.

According to Master Yinyue and others, the original plan was to take this opportunity to directly destroy the headquarters of the Hualong Sect and completely annihilate it.

But at this moment, a fifth-tier dragon from the Dragon Abyss brought with it a decree from the Golden Horned Dragon King, the king of the dragon clan, ordering them to leave the wilderness immediately.

This clearly means they want to protect the Hualong Sect.

Although Yin Yue Zhenren and the others were unwilling, they dared not disobey the decree of the demon king of Longyuanze.

Ultimately, they had no choice but to retreat first and then find an opportunity to appeal to a powerful human being capable of confronting the Golden Horned Dragon King.

Since even Master Yinyue and the others had been expelled from the wilderness by the Golden Horned Dragon King's decree, Liu Yiping, upon learning of this, naturally dared not linger in the wilderness any longer.

Fortunately, the leader of the Hualong Sect and his men were too busy to bother them at the moment. After a long and arduous escape, the group managed to return to Jing Kingdom safely.

Upon returning to Yunzhou, Liu Yiping immediately ordered that all the cultivators who had been conscripted could now freely return to their own cave dwellings. As for their merits, once the three major sects had tallied them, they would naturally be converted into relevant rewards and distributed to them.

Of course, this process may take a long time, as it involves a series of related matters such as compensation for fallen cultivators.

But in any case, the war is now considered over.

Even if we continue to crack down on the Dragon Transformation Sect, we will no longer forcibly conscript cultivators from various cultivation families; at most, we will use bounties.

Therefore, upon learning that they could return home, all the cultivators from various cultivation families who remained on the front lines in Yunzhou were overjoyed and filled with boundless happiness.

Even many cultivators from the three major sects breathed a sigh of relief and were overjoyed.

Upon learning of this, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi immediately led Zhou Zhengyong and the others who remained at the Fulong stronghold back to their family.

Compared to the Zhou family cultivators who perished at the front-line stronghold of Biyanze, Zhou Zhengyong and the others were undoubtedly lucky.

When they were stationed at the Fulong stronghold, because the stronghold's protective array never broke, all thirty of them were unharmed and were able to return to their families safely.

After flying for less than two days, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi finally returned to the Zhou family home.

They also brought news of the war's end back to the Zhou family.

"Great, this war is finally over!"

Inside the Zhou Family Mountain gate, Zhou Chun clapped his hands in delight upon learning the news of the war's end, feeling much more relaxed.

Like many others, he had been eagerly anticipating this day.

Now that the war has finally ended, and with a great victory for the Yasukuni Alliance, how could he not be overjoyed?

As Zhou Mingde and his companion recounted the battles at Fulong Stronghold and Jinlong Branch Altar, Zhou Chun's mood brightened even further.

He couldn't help but exclaim with joy, "A triple celebration! This is truly a triple blessing for our Zhou family!"

It truly is a triple celebration.

Whether it's the end of the war, Lin Hongyu's escape from constraints with the Zhou family's help, or the traitor Yu Jinghua's severe injury, it's all good news for the Zhou family.

"Yes, it's truly a triple celebration! Our Zhou family is about to have some exciting things to do!"

Zhou Mingde also nodded with a smile, agreeing with Zhou Chun's description.

To celebrate this triple joy, Zhou Chun and the two Zhou family Purple Mansion cultivators discussed briefly and decided to hold a grand celebration for seven days.

For seven days, no spirit coins will be charged to any cultivator who comes to the Zhou family for cultivation. In addition, they can enjoy a meal of monster meat processed by the Zhou family every day, as well as spirit wine and spirit tea.

All Zhou family cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level, received a special reward of one hundred spirit coins as a token of appreciation for their contributions to the family during the war.

During these seven days, even cultivators like Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi, who were at the Purple Mansion stage, completely relaxed. They either feasted with their fellow cultivators or slept soundly, wanting to indulge themselves for once.

After seven days, when everyone had recovered from the celebratory atmosphere, they began to deal with the aftermath of the war.

There are indeed many post-war issues to deal with.

For example, there are issues such as the compensation for the Zhou family members who died in battle, the handling of the spoils of war, communication and liaison with other families, and even the establishment of pioneering settlements, among other things that need to be dealt with.

The issue of compensation is relatively easy to resolve, as the Zhou family is not short of money.

After discussions among the higher-ups, it was decided to distribute 2,000 family merit points or 2,000 spirit coins to the relatives of the Zhou family cultivators who died in battle.

If someone has no fellow cultivators or relatives, then there will be no compensation.

This compensation amount is already quite high, considering that most of the Zhou family cultivators who died in battle were only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Therefore, although the relatives of those cultivators were inevitably saddened, they had no objections to it.

After settling the issue of compensation for the fallen clansmen, Zhou Chun ordered most of the returning Qi Refining cultivators, including Zhou Zhengyong, to busy themselves with processing and producing spirit beast rations, and to quickly turn all the demon beast corpses stored in the clan into spirit beast rations.

For this reason, Zhou Chun even allowed them to recruit some rogue cultivators to help them.

Meanwhile, Zhou Chun, Zhou Mingde, and other high-ranking cultivators of the Zhou family were also busy, as they needed to tally up the Zhou family's gains in this war.

The Zhou family reaped enormous benefits from this war.

Zhou Mingde and Zhou Chun killed many cultivators and plundered many storage bags, many of which they have not yet thoroughly inventoried.

At this point, they need to inventory and categorize everything, summarize the findings, and then discuss how to handle the harvest.

Taking stock of the harvest is a tiring yet joyful task.

After the three of them spent most of the day taking inventory, they finally finished counting all the dozens of storage bags and summarized everything they had directly gained from the war.

"Phew, the inventory is finally done. If outsiders saw this list, even Golden Core cultivators would probably be tempted to rob us!"

Inside Zhou Mingde's cave, Zhou Chun looked at the list of various items in his hand and couldn't help but joke with his two elders with a big smile.

Phew, the third update is finally finished! Now I can watch the game in peace!

(End of this chapter)