sbdcsierra Chapter 142 Clan-Suppressing Magical Artifacts Bring New Insights, 3 Million in Loot Divided On the
Chapter 142 Clan-Suppressing Magical Artifacts Bring New Insights, 3 Million in Loot Divided On the
I've heard that most of the dangers in the secret realm have been eliminated.
After pondering for a moment and feeling that his safety was assured, Zhou Qingfeng decided to enter the secret realm to take a look.
After all, we have come.
How could one not personally experience the mysterious beauty of this secluded paradise?
So, Zhou Qingfeng and the old cripple stepped into the secret realm.
Upon entering the Xi Yi Secret Realm, Zhou Qingfeng was immediately struck by the chill and dampness; with a little more perception, he immediately noticed that the concentration of turbid air in the area was unusually high.
If one could cultivate here for a long period of time, it would undoubtedly be a rare and precious place.
Looking up, I saw that the sky was covered by gray clouds and a light drizzle was falling.
Looking down, I realized that I was standing on a historically significant teleportation altar.
Looking around, at each of the four corners of the altar stood a pair of bronze-cast ghost hands, each holding a gleaming jewel. Beside each jewel, two demon-eating cultivators were continuously pouring their magical power into it.
Zhou Qingfeng was drawn to the pearl and approached it for a closer look. A familiar feeling welled up in his heart, and after a moment, he recalled the record in the "Five Turbid Treasures Appraisal Record".
These four precious beads are called "Transmission Realm Magic Beads". Although they are of different grades, they are all used to set up and maintain the operation of the teleportation array. They have the special functions of storing huge magical power, precise positioning and teleportation.
The four boundary-transfer beads before me are surrounded by a blue light, and I initially speculate that they are of the evil-grade quality.
Zhou Qingfeng already had a guess in his mind, but he still asked a cultivator who consumed evil spirits beside him what kind of operation was being performed.
The Devouring Demon cultivator respectfully reported: "Your Excellency, due to the extremely high frequency of teleportation recently, the mana reserves in the Teleportation Realm Bead are about to be exhausted."
"Although this bead can automatically absorb evil energy and convert it into magical power, the conversion efficiency is not enough to meet the needs under the current large-scale entry and exit of people. Therefore, we must take turns injecting magical power into the Transmission of the Magic Bead."
Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly after hearing this, expressing his understanding and appreciation: "Thank you all for your hard work. Keep up the good work."
Leaving the altar, his gaze fell upon a yellow dirt road ahead, thick with an aura of death. The red spider lilies blooming on both sides of the road were bright and eye-catching, interspersed with faint whispers and sobs of vengeful ghosts.
Numerous cultivators from the Food Disaster Realm and the Food Turbidity Realm are busy in the sea of flowers, collecting the Other Shore Flowers.
The old cripple bent down, grabbed a handful of yellow soil, picked a spider lily, and calmly introduced it while examining it: "This is the soil of the underworld and the spider lily, a unique product of Xiyi City."
"This underworld is not only suitable for growing yin herbs, but also has the strange effect of nourishing corpses and vengeful ghosts; the red spider lily can be used as medicine, and also has the magical power to repair the soul and awaken the dead to regenerate."
"Most of the spider lilies and the underworld that are popular in the world today originated from the ancient city of Xiyi, which has disappeared into the long river of time. The underworld and spider lilies that remain here are undoubtedly the most abundant in the world."
"If they were all sold, the retail value alone would reach eight billion francs."
"If it's wholesale, it can easily reach 3 billion francs."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
As a high-ranking member of the Sword Tower, he was extremely familiar with the Sword Tower's financial situation.
Jianta's annual tax revenue fluctuates between 80 billion and 120 billion euros.
However, there are few years of bumper harvests and many years of poor harvests, resulting in enormous financial pressure.
Not only did it have to support the army and officials, but it also had to support a large clan of children. Furthermore, it had to pay 40% of its tax revenue to the imperial family every year. For all these reasons, Sword Tower's finances fell into a deficit for five consecutive years.
Faced with the enormous wealth readily available, Zhou Qingfeng exclaimed with emotion: "Even a small amount of what we gain here accounts for a considerable proportion of the Sword Tower's annual tax revenue. This Xiyi Secret Realm is truly incredibly rich."
"Let's go, Mr. Liao." Zhou Qingfeng walked slowly with his hands behind his back, continuing along the road paved with yellow earth. The old cripple casually put down the Netherworld Soil and the Spider Lily, and followed closely behind with his cane in hand.
Along the way, Zhou Qingfeng encountered cultivators who were digging for treasure. He smiled and responded to their greetings, acknowledging their hard work. He then continued on his way and finally arrived at a rushing, blood-red river.
The river of blood is filled with the hatred and resentment of countless living beings. Blood mist hangs over the surface of the river, making it impossible to see the bottom. One can only occasionally glimpse the shadows of struggling souls within.
Across the River of Blood is a bridge forged from the blood and essence of countless living beings, called the "Blood Soul Crossing." Its surface gleams with a moist and deep red luster, as if it still retains the warmth and pulse of life.
Every step taken on the bridge surface evokes a deep and resonant echo, a sound that blends the sorrow and heroism of countless lives, as if the blood flowing within the bridge never ceases.
The bridge's structure resembles the spine of a giant beast, winding and twisting, with each bend seemingly sealing away a fragment of a life-or-death struggle.
Lanterns made of the souls of the unjustly deceased hung on both sides of the bridge, their cold blue light illuminating the rugged road ahead. Zhou Qingfeng stepped onto the Blood Soul Crossing and paused to gaze at them.
A large number of monks had gathered by the river, where they were collecting blood.
Seeing this, the old cripple sighed, "This bridge is called 'Blood Soul Crossing,' and that river is called 'Weeping Soul River.' Both are clan-protecting artifacts crafted by the Xiyi tribe at the cost of countless lives. It's just a pity..."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng pressed further, "What's the pity?"
The old cripple shook his head regretfully: "Without the care of their master, the quality of these two magical artifacts has now dropped to the calamity level. Even if they were to be re-acquainted with a master, they would be unable to unleash even a fraction of their original power."
"To restore its former glory, it will not only require a huge price to pay, but also take a long time."
"More importantly, these two items were crafted by the Xiyi people using a secret method. Without knowing the specific refining techniques, any attempt will be in vain."
Zhou Qingfeng gently stroked his chin, having already made up his mind. He decided to acquire these two clan-protecting artifacts as the treasures of the Zhou family.
Such clan-protecting artifacts are rare on the market, and even if someone were to sell them, their exorbitant prices would be far beyond the reach of emerging families.
Moreover, although the grade of these two clan-protecting magical artifacts has declined, there is still a possibility that they can be restored to their peak condition.
Once this opportunity is missed, it may be difficult to find such a treasure again in the future.
The two paused to watch for a moment, then continued walking.
Upon arriving at a medicinal field in the underworld, they discovered that the Gu family head, along with his clansmen, private soldiers, and servants, were carefully harvesting medicinal herbs, digging them up along with the soil, for fear of damaging the herbs.
"Special Envoy Zhou, I was unaware of your presence and have failed to greet you properly. Please forgive me." Upon seeing Zhou Qingfeng's arrival, the Gu family head immediately transformed into a streak of light and rushed forward, clasping his hands in a deep bow.
Zhou Qingfeng smiled and helped the Gu family head up: "No need for formalities, how is the Gu family head's recovery?"
The head of the Gu family smiled and said, "Thanks to the special envoy, Master Chen's miraculous healing skills have enabled me to recover completely."
Zhou Qingfeng nodded slightly, turned around, bent over, and looked down at the medicinal herbs in the Netherworld Medicine Field. However, he couldn't figure it out. After all, he wasn't a master alchemist and knew very little about medicinal herbs.
Zhou Qingfeng and the old cripple lingered for a moment by the medicinal field of the Netherworld Land, carefully observed it, and then set off again.
After traveling for a short while, they arrived at a special field of flesh and blood, where a large number of people were carefully harvesting flesh and blood ginseng, a superior food with extremely high nutritional value.
Zhou Qingfeng surveyed the crowd, urging them to speed up the process while paying attention to every detail.
After walking several hundred steps, they happened to come across a group escorting five monsters that looked like children back home.
The leader of the group was none other than Wei Heyi, the young master of the Wei family, whom they knew well.
Upon seeing Zhou Qingfeng arrive, Wei Heyi immediately bowed respectfully: "Special Envoy Zhou, greetings."
Zhou Qingfeng approached to examine the five child-like demons and couldn't help but whisper, "Are these the Money Child Demons? They do look exactly like human children."
Wei Heyi replied, "Special Envoy Zhou, please keep your distance. Although these Money Boy Demons are weak in attack and seem like ordinary people, they have sharp teeth that can crush almost anything they come into contact with."
Just as Zhou Qingfeng was wondering about this, one of the money-giving demons suddenly turned ferocious, opened its blood-red mouth, let out a beast-like roar, and pounced straight at Zhou Qingfeng.
Wei Heyi reacted quickly, grabbing its neck and stopping its attack.
"These monsters live alone in the secret realm, do not understand human speech, act entirely on instinct, and are extremely aggressive."
Wei Heyi explained, "What's even more troublesome is that their vitality is extremely fragile, just like that of ordinary people. When we capture them, we don't even dare to use magic or supernatural powers, for fear of using too much force and causing them to die unexpectedly."
After hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng nodded in agreement: "In that case, you should send them out of the secret realm as soon as possible to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstandings and harm here."
Wei Heyi agreed and then led his men to continue escorting the five Golden Child Demons out of the secret realm.
Zhou Qingfeng and the old cripple continued their journey, encountering various strange sights and rare resources along the way.
Another month has passed in the blink of an eye, and the excavation of the treasure is nearing its end. Basically, everything that can be moved has been moved, and the soil and water have been completely plundered, leaving only an empty secret realm.
In the end, even the Ghost Gate was dismantled and put into a storage bag. After all, after moving it back to refine the Ghost Gate, one could obtain a secret realm. Even if this secret realm had nothing left, it was still a small world.
On this day, Jin Wei was reporting in the military tent: "Young Master, according to the current statistics, all the resources in the secret realm have been converted into magic coins, totaling 300 billion magic coins."
Zhou Qingfeng was drinking tea when, with a "pfft," he sprayed tea all over the floor. He glared and asked, "How much?"
Jin Wei swallowed hard and said, "Three hundred billion yuan."
Zhou Qingfeng took a deep breath. He had thought that there would be a lot of money in the Xiyi Treasure, even 3 billion or 30 billion, but he never imagined that it could reach a terrifying 300 billion in magic money.
This is what it means to become rich overnight, and what it means for choices to determine destiny.
Jin Wei was a little nervous as this was the first time he had dealt with such a hot potato: "Young Master, let's stick to the old rules and round it down to 70, split it 30/70, with you taking 70% and the remaining 30% going to the other families. Do you think that's a good deal?"
Zhou Qingfeng quickly waved his hand and said firmly, "We can't round it down this time. The difference is too obvious, and it will cause trouble."
Jin Wei said, "Then we won't round it down, and we'll deduct 50%?"
Zhou Qingfeng stroked his chin, not in a hurry to make a decision.
Everyone else isn't stupid; they must have their own little ledgers too.
If you swallow too much, you'll give yourself away.
But if you swallow too little, you'll feel dissatisfied.
There's a matter of finding the right balance.
After a moment's thought, Zhou Qingfeng said, "Forty percent, that's exactly 1200 billion. It's auspicious, symbolizing monthly prosperity. Remember to keep the accounts neat and tidy, so that they don't get caught in the end. Otherwise, you'll know how serious things are."
Jin Wei wiped his sweat: "Understood, young master, I will make sure the accounts are flawless."
Jin Wei was also very nervous. In the past, he had only been playing around, dealing with small amounts of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars. Now, he was dealing with hundreds of billions. If he were exposed, he would be dead without a doubt, and even the young master couldn't save him.
In order to make the false accounts flawless, Jin Wei and his men spent their days picking and choosing among the many riches and treasures, deducting a little from this and a little from that, and then finding ways to report losses.
While the numbers may seem small, when taken together, they amount to an extremely alarming sum.
Seven days later, Zhou Qingfeng summoned all the family representatives and placed the accounts on the table for them to review: "Gentlemen, this is the total account after the statistics have been compiled, which is equivalent to 180 billion in legal tender. Now it is being made public to everyone."
Everyone present gasped in unison: "Hiss~~~"
Then came a chorus of shocked frogs: "Wah wah wah~~~"
"180 billion, my God!!!"
"I feel a little dizzy, there's just too much!"
"Hahaha~~~ 180 billion! My Wei family is going to be rich!"
"Wow, I, Gu, have never seen so much money in my entire life."
At this point, almost all the leaders had lost their minds due to excitement. With 180 billion in front of them, who could remain calm? Greed and desire instantly filled everyone's minds.
"Share the money! Share the money!!!" someone shouted, demanding a share of the money: "Share it now!"
In recent days, in order to clear the dangers of the secret realm, almost every family has suffered huge casualties, and those who died were all carefully cultivated elite cultivators of the Devouring Fiend Realm, which was originally a bit heartbreaking.
But now that the returns are so great, they don't feel so bad about it anymore.
Seeing the heated atmosphere in the arena, Zhou Qingfeng knew that this was the most dangerous moment. Unequal distribution of spoils could easily lead to a bloody fight, and if things went wrong, they could end up losing everything. There are countless examples of this.
Zhou Qingfeng then gestured for silence and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet. Let's sit down and discuss how to divide this. I'll make it clear from the beginning: we can talk, but there absolutely cannot be any bloodshed."
"Anyone who dares to use force, I'll have my dragon riders wipe them out first."
At this point, Zhou Qingfeng looked at the Wei family head and the Gu family head, and then at the First Jinse, the First Duanmu, the First Yujing, Ma Ruyi, Mao Yuling, Zhu Jianxin, and Song Ye.
“These words are not only for the Wei family head and the Gu family head, but also a warning to you.”
As everyone calmed down, they sat up straight, nodded, and said, "Understood."
Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "I'll take 20% of the treasure, and I also want the Blood Soul Crossing and the Weeping Soul River magic artifacts. This isn't a discussion, it's what I deserve. If any of you are dissatisfied, you can sue me after we return to the city."
"Furthermore, of my 20%, I will give 10% to the Gu family head and the Wei family head. This is an alliance that I previously agreed upon with the Gu and Wei families. Does anyone have any objections?"
The heads of the Wei and Gu families were the first to raise their hands: "We agree!"
Protecting Zhou Qingfeng's share means protecting theirs; they all understand this principle.
Upon seeing this, the three collateral branches of the first family of Jianta and the four major families of Ma, Mao, Zhu, and Song all nodded in agreement.
The two clan-protecting magical artifacts are indeed valuable, but their grade has dropped to the disaster level, so there's no need to fight over them.
Moreover, their families all possess clan-protecting magical artifacts.
The Zhou family is newly established and is in dire need of a clan-protecting artifact, so they are determined to obtain it.
The matter was thus settled.
The Gu family and the Wei family each received nine billion coins, which is enough to ensure that a family will not decline for at least a hundred years. If they manage their businesses well and build cities, they can become city lords.
Zhou Qingfeng received another 18 billion in magic money, plus two clan-protecting magical artifacts as a bonus.
After some debate, the final share allocation among the various families was settled.
The first family takes 40%, while the Ma, Mao, Zhu, and Song families each take 10%.
The matter of dividing the spoils peacefully came to an end.
Zhou Qingfeng stood up and said with a smile, "Everyone, now that this matter is settled, we will set off for Sword Tower tomorrow!"