’Did he really think that reaching Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement after nearly ten years is the same as reaching it in three?’
But just as he was about to turn, the sound of footsteps came from outside. Immediately after, Cui Mingchong, Yan Guiyun, and their group strode into the Treasure Vault. Ten or twenty people rushed in, suddenly filling the space.
"You all started fighting over the spoils?" Yan Guiyun’s expression was grim.
Seeing Yun Heng’s broken arm and Xu Yang in a standoff with the three of them, he instantly guessed what had happened.
Yun Heng’s eyes lit up. Clutching his broken arm, he turned and said, "Xu Yang has injured a fellow disciple and ignored the sect’s rules! I ask Junior Brother Yan to apprehend him and uphold the rules of the sect."
His words instantly caused an uproar.
"Xu Yang injured Yun Heng, who’s at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement? What kind of joke is that?"
"He was probably injured by someone from the Blood Lotus Sect. He must have had a small scuffle with Xu Yang and is now trying to pin the blame on him."
"What a shameless scoundrel."
"If it’s true, then Yun Heng is a real piece of trash. A Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement practitioner losing to someone who just entered the Marrow Cleansing realm."
...
Like many others, they had been so focused on fighting their own battles that they hadn’t noticed Xu Yang revealing his Minor Achievement in Bone Marrow Cleansing Cultivation. They simply didn’t believe what Yun Heng said.
"Xu Yang has reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement. Didn’t you all know? During the fight just now, he killed a Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement expert from the Blood Lotus Sect right in front of me," someone cautiously reminded the crowd.
The noisy Treasure Vault fell silent for a moment. Then, as if a giant boulder had been thrown into a calm lake, a monstrous wave of commotion erupted.
"What kind of joke is this? Xu Yang is at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement?"
"This joke isn’t funny at all."
"He only broke through to the Marrow Cleansing realm a few months ago! How could he possibly be at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement? You tell me!"
"Even Han Feng hasn’t reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement. How could he?"
...
Those who hadn’t seen it with their own eyes simply refused to believe that Xu Yang had reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement.
"My Junior Brother Xu has indeed reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement."
"If he wasn’t at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, why do you think Yun Heng’s arm is broken? Did he trip and break it himself?"
"I saw it too. It’s shocking, I know, but Xu Yang really has reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement."
"If you don’t believe us, you can ask Yun Heng how his arm got broken."
...
Zhu Yuan, Hong Lei, and others stepped forward one by one to confirm that Xu Yang had reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement. By now, most people believed it and turned to look at Xu Yang in utter shock.
"He’s at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement?" Xie Zhan was dumbfounded.
’Wasn’t I supposed to be only a little behind Xu Yang? How did he reach Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement already?’
"It can’t be real!" Du Chuan’s face was a mask of disbelief.
He had only reached Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement a short while ago, so he knew exactly how difficult it was. Xu Yang wasn’t even on the Ten Heroes List.
"Xu Yang, is what Yun Heng said true? Did you injure him?" Although Yan Guiyun was also somewhat surprised, that was no excuse for Xu Yang to injure a fellow disciple.
Xu Yang nodded. "I did injure him. But he attacked me first, so I injured him. Is there a problem?"
Yun Heng hurriedly said, "I didn’t attack him! I was merely trying to stop him from taking things from here, and he struck a heavy blow, breaking my arm! Search him! He’s already hidden things on his person."
Everyone was stunned. Yun Heng, a cultivator at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement, really did have his arm broken by Xu Yang.
Yan Guiyun’s gaze swept over Xu Yang. "Do you have anything else to say?"
Xu Yang was beginning to understand. Yan Guiyun and Yun Heng were both disciples from Tianquan Peak; there must have been a connection between them he didn’t know about.
"Are you deaf? Xu Yang already said Yun Heng attacked first. If he was too weak and got killed, he would have deserved it."
Gao Lin strode in from outside with Lu Chuping, carrying a blood-stained Half-Spirit Weapon.
Yan Guiyun’s face instantly darkened!
Gao Lin ignored him and walked over to the two men standing with Yun Feng. "You two, tell me, who attacked first? And don’t you dare lie. You know the consequences if this gets to the Law Enforcement Hall."
Yun Heng’s expression changed slightly.
No matter how silver-tongued he was, the fact remained that he had attacked first.
"It... It was Yun Heng who attacked Xu Yang first. Xu Yang only counter-attacked," the two of them gritted their teeth and finally told the truth.
With Gao Lin’s intervention, this was no longer a matter between just Xu Yang and Yun Heng, but between Tianquan Peak and Li Fire Peak. If they got involved, they wouldn’t even count as cannon fodder.
If they dared to lie, the Law Enforcement Hall had its ways of finding out the truth.
Gao Lin turned to Yan Guiyun. "You heard them. Yun Heng attacked first. You’re a disciple of the Law Enforcement Hall. According to the rules of the Purple Sun Sect, what is the punishment for attacking a fellow disciple?"
Yun Heng’s face fell.
Yan Guiyun said with a grim face, "Since there were no severe consequences, three months of confinement."
Gao Lin nodded in satisfaction.
"But he took something!" Yan Guiyun added.
Gao Lin turned to Xu Yang. "Junior Brother Xu, did you take anything?"
Xu Yang nodded. "I took a few Secret Manuals."
Gao Lin turned back to Yan Guiyun. "You heard him, Xu Yang did take something. What do you have to say about it? Do the items belong to you, or to everyone? Was there ever a rule made about this beforehand?"
Yan Guiyun was speechless for a long moment.
It was true that no one had discussed how to handle the spoils of war after conquering Qiushui Manor. Xu Yang had been quick-handed. So what if he took something?
If he were still the same person who couldn’t even get on the Ten Heroes List, he would have had to hand over whatever he took. But now, with his talent rivaling that of Du Chuan and the others, Li Fire Peak would naturally back him.
"This matter was led by Beast King Peak. Senior Brother Cui, you tell us how it should be handled," Yan Guiyun said, looking at Cui Mingchong.
Cui Mingchong was also finding the situation difficult and didn’t want to take sides. After a moment’s thought, he said, "It was my oversight not to consider the issue of spoils earlier. I will now make a new declaration: whatever you have already gathered is your own. As for the rest, no one is to touch it. It will be confiscated by the Sect."
Yan Guiyun was third on the Ten Heroes List; he could afford to offend a genius like Xu Yang. But Cui Mingchong, who was over thirty and had not yet reached the Celestial Essence realm, could not. So, he chose not to offend either side, declaring that the remaining items would be taken by the Sect, leaving no room for argument.
The main reason was that he had also obtained a Half-Spirit Weapon. If he ordered everyone to hand over their findings, he would have to give his up as well.
Of course, if he had dared to declare that the remaining items were finders-keepers, the twenty-odd people present would have likely started a massive brawl.
Lu Chuping and Gao Lin both nodded in satisfaction. Only Yan Guiyun’s face remained cold.
Cui Mingchong had helped neither side, but from Yan Guiyun’s perspective, he had effectively sided with Li Fire Peak.
"Carry these things out and bring them back to the Sect!" Cui Mingchong ordered, not paying much mind to Yan Guiyun’s expression.
Among the Four Peaks of the Purple Sun Sect, the other three had never been particularly fond of the people from Tianquan Peak.
In the eyes of the other three Peaks, the people of Tianquan Peak were parasites sucking their blood. They couldn’t perform Alchemy, they couldn’t forge weapons, and they certainly couldn’t raise Exotic Beasts. All they did was leech off the others and exploit them.
Usually, when facing Tianquan Peak, the other three Peaks were very united.
Iron chests were carried out and opened one by one. They were mostly filled with gold, silver, or medicinal herbs. The truly precious items that had been stolen from the Purple Sun Sect, like the Spirit Iron, were not here.
Of course, there were some good things, but not many. The most precious was a single stalk of Spirit Medicine, hidden in a secret compartment that Cui Mingchong personally discovered.
"How do we count the kills?"
Once the items in the Treasure Vault were collected, someone looked to Cui Mingchong. Towards the end of the battle, some of the Blood Lotus Sect disciples had been killed by groups of three to five people working together.
"Solo kills belong to the individual. For joint kills, the reward is split evenly among the participants," Cui Mingchong stated, simple and blunt.
He immediately found some paper and a brush and began recording everyone’s contributions on the spot.
Xu Yang did a quick calculation. He had only one solo kill—Zhang Sai, who was at Marrow Cleansing Minor Achievement—which would earn him two hundred contribution points. The rest were all joint kills.
However, by his estimate, even after splitting the rewards with others, he would still get another six hundred and fifty contribution points. Adding the base reward of one hundred, he could get a grand total of seven hundred and fifty contribution points!
Combined with the few Secret Manuals he hadn’t had time to read yet, his haul from this trip was enormous. Once he returned to the Purple Sun Sect, he should be able to exchange his points for the Bone Marrow Cleansing Pill Formula.
"Xu Yang is first!"
When the registration was finished, Cui Mingchong discovered that Xu Yang had earned the most contribution points. Even the few of them at Marrow Cleansing Great Success hadn’t earned as many points as Xu Yang.
"Back to the Sect!" Cui Yongming roared. The group commandeered carriages found at Qiushui Manor and headed back to the Purple Sun Sect, hauling their gold, silver, and severed heads.