Tonight was the longest night in the history of Dahe Market.
Thousands of rogue cultivators, whether willingly or dragged in against their will, had all been swept into the chaotic fray.
No one knew how many people had lost decades of bitter cultivation in a single night.
Nor did anyone know how many lucky souls had struck it rich, taking a solid step forward on their own long path of cultivation.
All Luo Chen knew was that when the smoke cleared and the sky showed the pale belly of a fish at dawn, the ground beneath his feet was carpeted with densely packed corpses.
Some of the bodies were still intact, their features faintly recognizable.
Others were mutilated beyond recognition, identifiable only by the iron tallies of the Mountain Breaker Gang hanging from their waists.
And those were already the fortunate ones.
The most wretched could not even be pieced back together, blasted into nonexistence beneath the barrage of spells and dharma artifacts, leaving behind neither corpse nor bone.
A pale Gu Caiyi, a hacking Granny Yuan, Murong Qinglian nestled in the embrace of Qin Liangchen—whose right sleeve hung empty—and over twenty Qi Refinement cultivators all fixed their gazes upon Luo Chen.
They watched him crouch down and lift a white cloth.
Familiar faces came into view.
The one at the front looked so familiar that his voice almost seemed to echo in Luo Chen's ears still.
Yet the terror and indignation etched into those features, even after a full night had passed, still evoked a twinge of sorrow.
"Elder Sikong, have a safe journey."
Luo Chen reached out and closed those wide, unyielding eyes.
He stood up, and Zhou Yuanli immediately stepped forward to deliver his report.
"In last night's battle, the Pill Hall lost thirty-one people, and the Medicine Hall lost forty-three."
"We lost one ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator: Elder Sikong Shoujia, slain by Fu Zhang."
"Five eighth-layer Qi Refinement cultivators fell. Only Liu Qiang and I survived."
"As for the seventh layer..."
"Setting aside the few who fled, only thirty-six people remain between the Medicine Hall and the Pill Hall combined."
This casualty count shocked everyone present.
So many vibrant lives had been reduced to cold, callous figures, an outcome genuinely hard to stomach.
Luo Chen's expression remained as calm as an ancient well as he asked about the Great River Gang's losses.
"A total of forty-seven corpses were recovered, mostly mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, along with a dozen or so late-stage ones—most of whom fell to you and Duan Feng."
"Three ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivators died: Gao Tingyuan, Lan Tianyun, and Shan Xiu."
A tumultuous clash had drawn to a close with the deaths of over a hundred cultivators and the fall of four ninth-layer Qi Refinement masters.
Luo Chen pressed his lips together, instinctively rubbing his brow.
"What about the other halls? How are things on their end?"
Zhou Yuanli gave a wry smile. "I have no way of knowing. That voice transmission jade token could only connect me with Gang Leader Mi, and as for him..."
He left the rest unsaid.
Yet everyone understood what Mi Shuhua's fate had been.
From the brief exchange between the three Foundation Establishment cultivators—Wang, Zhou, and Miao—one could already piece together the truth.
They had come to Crescent Moon Valley solely for Luo Chen.
Had Mi Shuhua not died, they certainly would not have shown up.
And their arrival meant that Mi Shuhua had almost certainly fallen.
Moreover, the fact that the restrictive seals on Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang had abruptly unraveled only corroborated this grim reality.
"Hall Master, what should we do now?" Zhou Yuanli could not help asking.
Luo Chen looked up, only to find that not just Zhou Yuanli, but everyone else was looking at him as well.
Every pair of eyes was filled with hope and trust.
Indeed!
Throughout last night's battle, whether before the clash or in the thick of it, Luo Chen had demonstrated qualities that commanded conviction—both in his decisions and his martial prowess.
Above all, Deacon Miao Wen of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect had conversed with him alone in the Pill Hall for a long time at the end.
Subconsciously, they had already come to view Luo Chen as their pillar of support.
This sentiment was not confined to the low-tier cultivators alone; even Gu Caiyi, Murong Qinglian, and the others felt the same way.
Recalling what Miao Wen had discussed with him the previous night, Luo Chen could not help but feel a surge of emotion.
Taking a deep breath, Luo Chen met their gazes and spoke resolutely:
"If none of you object, you may temporarily follow me."
"I will also see to it that last night's spoils of war are distributed fairly."
"As for what comes next, we must wait a few days to see how the situation in Dahe Market develops."
"I will make you no grand promises!"
"Just as that True Cultivator Miao said, life and death are governed by fate, but the Great Dao rests within oneself! Everything in the days ahead will depend on your own efforts."
"Take the next few days to consider how you wish to decide."
Having said this, he paused, waiting for their reactions.
No promises, not even a pledge to shelter their safety.
For a moment, the surviving cultivators were at a loss for how to respond.
Would life be any better following Luo Chen?
Though his alchemy was formidable, his cultivation was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement, far from providing the sense of security that Mi Shuhua once offered.
Yet what awaited them if they left Luo Chen and returned to struggling alone as rogue cultivators?
A heavy silence descended over the crowd.
Luo Chen did not press them. He turned back into the Pill Hall, intending to sort through the spoils collected earlier.
Duan Feng was squatting on the ground, excitedly picking through the pile of dharma artifacts.
"Luo Chen, there are twenty-five high-grade dharma artifacts in pristine condition!"
"There are dozens of low-grade and mid-grade ones too."
"Even the damaged ones aren't useless. Some can be repaired, and others can be smelted down to recover their key materials."
"We've struck it rich! Struck it rich!"
Rarely did Duan Feng ever display such fervent excitement.
Even while sweeping through the battlefield last night, he had not looked this thrilled.
Luo Chen sat down beside him, fatigue washing over his expression for the first time.
Last night's battle might have seemed effortless, with him securing immense achievements single-handedly.
In truth, his expenditure had been colossal.
After all, he had deployed the Fire-Tipped Spear, the Four Symbols Cauldron, the Soul Breaking Nail, and the Jasper Saber, not to mention detonating the waste Jade Marrow beads.
Every single one of those methods demanded a massive amount of spiritual energy.
It was only because of his solid foundation—boasting several times more spiritual energy than peers of his realm, with half of it already purified—coupled with the constant consumption of pills throughout the battle, that he had managed to hold out.
What had truly taxed his spirit, however, was forcibly casting Bright Spirit Fiend Shattering during the final struggle against Gao Tingyuan.
Such pain was manageable when prepared in advance, but in the heat of battle, it had been far too rushed. Even now, his soul throbbed with a faint ache.
"Luo Chen, are you alright?" Duan Feng noticed his exhaustion.
Luo Chen forced himself to rally, looking at the heap of dharma artifacts and the storage bags beside them.
This was an enormous fortune!
A fortune vast enough for any Qi Refinement cultivator to cultivate safely all the way to Foundation Establishment.
It was even enough to sustain someone's cultivation for a long time after reaching Foundation Establishment.
A daring individual might well seize the hoard, abscond, change their identity, and cultivate in hiding until breaking through.
Unfortunately, Luo Chen could not do that.
Not because he lacked the nerve,
but because if he left, where could he go?
Behind him lay the untamed wild mountains, crawling with innumerable demon beasts.
Ahead stretched the Jade Cauldron Domain, spanning tens of thousands of li, nominally under the absolute control of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
And Miao Wen was a member of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Furthermore, considering what Miao Wen had told him and promised him last night, Luo Chen had no intention of running off with the loot.
Staying here was far better than fleeing elsewhere to become a solitary rogue cultivator.
Here, he knew the rules, had many friends, and now possessed a genuine backing and ally behind the scenes.
As long as he handled what came next properly, he could thrive like a fish in water.
One only needed to look at Shan Xiu to see how miserable a life on the run truly was—walking on eggshells in everything one did, constantly looking over one's shoulder for pursuers and bounties.
"Luo Chen?"
Duan Feng's voice pulled him from his daze, and Luo Chen shook his head vigorously.
"First, put away all the high-grade dharma artifacts and storage bags."
"As for the rest, Murong Qinglian and Zhou Yuanli can distribute them later."
"Also, set aside a portion of the supplies. I have an important use for them."
With that, he rose slowly and staggered back to his stone chamber.
Activating the formation, he collapsed onto the bed and fell fast asleep.
Duan Feng stood outside, watching him with concern.
Shortly after, Murong Qinglian and the others came in as well.
Gazing at the glowing blue light of the formation, each was lost in their own thoughts.
***
Luo Chen slept for a very long time.
He had no nightmares or sweet dreams, simply sinking into deep slumber.
He had no need to worry about being ambushed, for a group of friends stood guard outside, and the formation was ready to sound the alarm.
Thus, a full day and half a night slipped by in a flash.
When Luo Chen awoke, he felt refreshed and brimming with vitality, so invigorated he nearly wanted to roar at the heavens.
Sensing the vibrant life force within him, Luo Chen instinctively turned his perception inward.
Before even examining his physical condition, he noticed that his thoughts turned much faster.
*Has my soul foundation deepened? Or has my willpower grown stronger?*
Both soul and willpower were ethereal and elusive, at least during the Qi Refinement stage.
For the moment, Luo Chen could not discern the exact details.
Inspecting his body carefully, he found that his spiritual energy was not only fully restored, but had also grown noticeably purer.
Nodding in satisfaction, Luo Chen opened his eyes.
He took out two storage bags: Gao Tingyuan's and Shan Xiu's.
The latter had been delivered personally by Zhou Yuanli afterward; it belonged to Luo Chen alone.
As for the seven late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators he had blasted to death, they had left behind no inheritance whatsoever.
In such a violent explosion, basic storage bags simply could not maintain their stability.
Once the formations on them ruptured, the contents inside were swept into the void, with only a rare few items ever surviving.
He opened Shan Xiu's storage bag first.
There was not much inside: some bottles and jars, changes of clothes, five mid-grade spirit stones, and a pair of pitch-black giant shears.
"He really was dirt poor!"
"I suppose during his time on the run, he burned through almost everything he had!"
Luo Chen identified the bottles. Most contained healing medicines, such as Laurel Pills.
There were also two bottles of cultivation pills called Snow Soul Pills, which offered immense benefits to cultivators with water or ice spiritual roots.
Their market price was roughly comparable to Dust-Cleansing Pills.
They were not produced by the Medicine King Sect, but concocted by a local clan in Snow Lotus Market.
Having harbored little expectation for Shan Xiu's remnants in the first place, Luo Chen directly opened Gao Tingyuan's storage bag.
"I nearly got done in for this thing. Don't let me down."
The moment his spiritual energy probed inside, Luo Chen let out an exclamation of praise.
A capacity of two cubic paces!
Gao Tingyuan was indeed worthy of being the Great River Gang's former top fighter beneath Wang Haichao; he was genuinely wealthy!
Luo Chen carefully poured out a massive pile of belongings.
The first thing to catch his eye was a heap of standard-sized spirit stones.
"Twenty-five mid-grade spirit stones, and three thousand low-grade spirit stones!"
A net worth of over five thousand spirit stones was certainly fitting for a ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator.
Still, it seemed a bit modest considering Gao Tingyuan's status.
Luo Chen muttered as he took stock of the remaining items.
Three bottles of Dust-Cleansing Pills, ten bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills, and even Jade Marrow Pills!
"Wait, isn't this Mending and Nourishing Meridian Liquid? Where did Gao Tingyuan buy this? This stuff doesn't come cheap."
Spiritual medicines commonly used by Foundation Establishment cultivators easily started at several hundred spirit stones per bottle.
Yet Gao Tingyuan had two full bottles in his storage bag.
Not only that, there were three or four other kinds of pills targeting meridians, the dantian, and acupoints.
Looking at these medicines, Luo Chen fell into thought.
Back then on the Dao Discourse Platform, Gao Tingyuan's dantian had been damaged in full view of the public.
A shattered dantian meant that all hope of Foundation Establishment was lost.
Gao Tingyuan had clearly refused to accept his fate, covertly purchasing numerous healing elixirs in an attempt to mend his dantian.
"This comes in handy now. Brother Qin and Caiyi overexerted their spiritual energy yesterday and suffered considerable meridian damage. Distributing some to them will solve an urgent need."
As for the other cultivation pills, Luo Chen sorted them into those he needed and those he did not.
Next, he turned his attention to another pile of items.
A wine gourd, the Wave-Swallowing Sea-Ingesting Pot, several formation flags, a handful of talismans, and several books.
The dizzying assortment almost made Luo Chen's eyes blur.
He picked up one of the books and looked down at the cover.
*A Short Biography of Gu Yue.*
"An autobiography? Who is Gu Yue?"
Piqued by curiosity, Luo Chen opened the book and skimmed through it rapidly.
*I, Gu Yue, was born in the 3,179th year of the Mountain and Sea Calendar. From childhood, I lived in abundance, blessed with a strict father, a kind mother, and seven elder brothers and sisters who doted on me dearly.*
*Yet the world is treacherous. Bandits coveted my Gu family's wealth, hiring horse thieves to slaughter my entire household. I alone survived.*
...
The autobiography was lengthy and rather rambling.
Some passages even felt erratic and disjointed.
Luo Chen found it somewhat dull, only growing interested once the author, Gu Yue, stepped into the cultivation world.
What had the cultivation world been like over two hundred years ago?
Had it been more prosperous and peaceful back then, or even harsher and more arduous?
*In the battle of Tianlan Immortal City, it was clearly them bullying the few with the many, yet in the end they branded me a practitioner of demonic ways, and the three great clans put a bounty on my head.*
*I refused to submit. I fled and slaughtered my way through, cutting down countless pursuers, until I finally reached Liuguang Market.*
*Compared to an immortal city, the market was poorer, but it lacked so many mighty experts. At long last, I could cultivate in peace.*
*Yet how callous is this world, and how arduous is the pursuit of immortality.*
*In my youth, seeking swift vengeance, I practiced martial arts that advanced rapidly, utterly depleting my physical foundation. The immortal arts I practiced had their crucial passages excised by the great sects. In this life, I am ultimately unable to glimpse Foundation Establishment, unable to step upon the threshold of the Great Dao.*
...
...
Reading up to this point, Luo Chen could not help but sigh with deep emotion.
The hardships of a rogue cultivator were far more than mere words.
Cultivation demanded wealth, companions, methods, and land.
Without wealth, one could not sustain the Dao.
Without companions, one learned in isolation and remained narrow-minded.
Without methods, one could not fathom the heavenly secrets or embark on the Great Dao.
Without land, one was like duckweed with nothing to rely upon; daily cultivation and breaking through bottlenecks alike felt like walking through castles in the air, devoid of solid footing.
The author's struggles detailed in *A Short Biography of Gu Yue* surpassed those of ninety-nine percent of rogue cultivators.
After entering the cultivation world, he naturally lacked wealth, companions, methods, and land, possessing nothing but a chest full of fiery passion.
Yet in this world, passion counted for nothing.
In the end, he had trodden the path most easily fallen into by rogue cultivators.
After fleeing Tianlan Immortal City to Liuguang Market, Gu Yue had at last "gloriously" become a pillaging cultivator!
With that, wealth was secured—ill-gotten gains were still gains!
During his years of wandering and running for his life, he had discovered several suitable spots for cultivation.
Yet his depleted physical body and incomplete techniques continued to bar him from Foundation Establishment.
Later, upon learning of the Three Hurdles of Foundation Establishment, Gu Yue sank deeper into despair.
He failed to meet the requirements for both the physical body and spiritual energy.
Yet the heavens never truly sealed off all paths. He managed to snatch a damaged manual from an evil cultivator, and through unorthodox methods, he pushed another of his strengths to an unprecedented peak.
"Soul refining?"
Lost in thought, Luo Chen flipped to the final page.
*It is done! This Loose Cultivator has finally succeeded!*
*Refining nine hundred and ninety-nine souls into one, I have at last broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm! Hahaha...*
The short biography concluded amidst strokes brimming with unrestrained ecstasy.
Luo Chen did not know whether this rogue cultivator Gu Yue, who had forged the name of Loose Cultivator Soul Refiner, was dead or alive today.
He only knew that Gu Yue had truly carved out a path unlike ordinary men.
He possessed no natural physical advantage, no ultra-pure spiritual energy, nor even a single Foundation Establishment Pill.
Yet he had still achieved the Foundation Establishment realm!
"Soul Dao Foundation Establishment?"
Luo Chen licked his dry lips, an irrepressible urge surging in his heart.
Although the biography did not detail the exact manual, it offered a general outline: Gu Yue had adopted an evil cultivator technique called Soul Dao Foundation Establishment, slaying nine hundred and ninety-nine late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators and fusing their souls into his own.
In the end, he had taken an unorthodox path to step into Foundation Establishment.
*Such a method actually exists in this world?*
Suddenly, Luo Chen recalled Gao Tingyuan's desperate, dying strike—
Those eerie, glowing green eyes.
*Gao Tingyuan's dantian was shattered. Following ordinary paths, even with a Foundation Establishment Pill, he could never break through.*
*The fact that he bought so many spiritual medicines to nourish his meridians and mend his dantian, yet still left most of them untouched, is proof enough.*
*Could it be that in his despair, he also embarked on this path?*
*In other words, he possesses this Soul Dao Foundation Establishment manual!*
A jolt ran through Luo Chen, and he hurriedly searched through the pile of books.
Yes! Gao Tingyuan had mentioned exploring a secret realm alongside others.
Li Zixiong and Chen Xiao had been part of it too.
Even the Soul Breaking Nail had been obtained from there.
According to *A Short Biography of Gu Yue*, the Loose Cultivator Soul Refiner had discovered several excellent cultivation grounds during his career as a pillaging cultivator.
If he had ultimately perished or passed away in meditation, it would surely have been in one of those places.
It was only natural that Gao Tingyuan had tracked down the site and claimed the corresponding legacy.
*Sea-Overturning Flood Dragon Fiend Art*—no, not this one.
*Records of the Seven Jade Cauldron Sects*—merely a travelogue akin to the *Record of Customs Across the Six Domains*.
*Elementary Explanations of Spiritual Sense*—wait, this looked somewhat promising.
Luo Chen flipped through a few pages, only to find the contents obscure and impenetrable, offering him no clue how to interpret them.
This was not a text meant for the Qi Refinement stage; it was likely something that could only be studied and utilized once spiritual sense could be projected outward after Foundation Establishment.
Luo Chen kept searching.
It had to be said that Gao Tingyuan, the Great River Gang's former second-in-command, possessed substantial wealth.
It was reflected not in his spirit stone reserves, but in his extensive collection of books.
From among them, Luo Chen found several first-tier spells suitable for Qi Refinement cultivators, most of which were related to the water element.
After flipping through everything, Luo Chen's brows furrowed tightly.
"Is it not here?"
"Could it have been destroyed in the battle, or did he simply not carry it on him?"
In last night's clash at Crescent Moon Valley, both sides had exhausted virtually all their trump cards.
Though Luo Chen had not deployed a peak-grade dharma artifact or his Great Perfection Fireball Art, the ten thousand waste Jade Marrow beads he had detonated were no less potent than either, and in some respects even surpassed them.
That was a trump card he had specially devised recently in preparation for fleeing.
The power of an individual waste Jade Marrow bead was indeed negligible.
Yet the sheer quantity made up for it.
As long as the quantity was sufficient, any matter could undergo a qualitative shift.
Thus, whenever Luo Chen had spare time recently, he had been processing waste Jade Marrow beads.
He had prepared ten thousand in total, and the resulting harvest had been extraordinary.
In one fell swoop, he had obliterated seven late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators and severely wounded Gao Tingyuan.
Surviving an explosion of such magnitude meant Gao Tingyuan had surely exhausted every means at his disposal.
The fact that so few dharma artifacts remained in Gao Tingyuan's storage bag was testament to that.
*Was it those two short halberds?*
*Or the robe on his body?*
*Or perhaps that defensive bead that shattered at the very end?*
After racking his brains, Luo Chen could not help but feel a deep sense of regret.
He had just missed an unorthodox method of Foundation Establishment!
Shaking his head, Luo Chen prepared to stow these items into his own three-pace storage bag.
Just as his fingers brushed against a pitch-black wooden plaque, his heart stirred, and his eyes, shimmering with spiritual light, locked onto it.
***
"Luo Chen, these are all the captured spoils... Please take a look."
Luo Chen heard the distinct sound of someone swallowing hard.
He looked at Murong Qinglian and saw that her eyes were bloodshot; her hands even trembled as she handed over the ledger.
Puzzled, Luo Chen took the ledger.
Yet the very first number that met his eyes made him instinctively swallow his saliva as well.
"Twenty-seven thousand low-grade spirit stones, and ninety-eight mid-grade spirit stones!"
Lifting his head, Luo Chen could not help asking, "Could there be an error in the tally?"
Murong Qinglian shook her head slowly. "There is definitely no mistake. We counted it three full times."
Amidst Luo Chen's shock, she continued, "Having such a massive sum of spirit stones is actually quite normal. After all, between our two sides, over a hundred and thirty people died last night."
"Among them, thirty were late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators alone."
"Furthermore, three thousand spirit stones in this tally came from Lan Tianyun's storage bag, which Duan Feng handed over voluntarily."
"As for how to distribute it, that depends entirely on you."
Luo Chen felt in a trance. Never in his life had he laid eyes on such an immense sum of spirit stones.
In truth, he had only experienced transactions involving over ten thousand spirit stones three times.
Once was at the auction organized by the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion, while the other two times were related to the Jade Marrow Pills he had refined.
Back then, the Jade Marrow Pills had merely been pills; he had never seen the actual proceeds upfront.
What ultimately reached his hands had only been a share of one or two thousand.
And now, he had become the one dividing the spoils?
"Aside from spirit stones, there are plenty of dharma artifacts, talismans, pills, medicinal ingredients, cultivation manuals, and various strange trinkets."
"Luo Chen, look through it carefully. However you decide to divide it, we will all follow your word."
When Murong Qinglian finished speaking, the surroundings fell dead silent.
In truth, this was quite peculiar.
Generally speaking, spoils claimed in battle belonged to the cultivator who took them.
Consequently, one rarely saw such a magnificent sight where a vast hoard of spoils was pooled together.
Yet in the battle the night before, a large number of late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had fallen.
Hardly one in ten early-stage cultivators survived, and only a handful of seasoned mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had pulled through by leveraging the terrain.
Thus, the core fighting force at the end had been Luo Chen's circle.
Among them, Sikong Shoujia had died, and Granny Yuan had seen little combat aside from facing Min Longyu.
The remainder of the battlefield had been dominated entirely by Luo Chen and Duan Feng.
Once the battle concluded, far too many spoils technically belonged to the two of them.
How to distribute them had therefore become a problem.
It also coincided with Luo Chen and Miao Wen entering the Pill Hall for a private discussion.
In the end, after Duan Feng, Murong Qinglian, and Zhou Yuanli consulted one another, they gathered the spoils together to leave the final decision to Luo Chen.
After all, nominally speaking, the leaders here were the two hall masters, Luo Chen and Murong Qinglian.
Luo Chen skimmed through the pages. Even with the prior shock of thirty-five thousand spirit stones, the remaining resources still left his mouth dry.
What an astronomical haul.
If converted entirely to spirit stones, adding what came before, it would easily approach a hundred thousand.
Killing people to seize their treasures was truly the fastest way to make a fortune in the cultivation world!
How could any alchemist or artifact refiner create such staggering wealth in a single night?
Yet on closer thought, it seemed only natural.
The fallen from the Pill Hall and Medicine Hall were one thing; most were not particularly wealthy, aside from the dozen or so deceased late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators and Sikong Shoujia.
The lion's share came from the Great River Gang's forces.
Composed primarily of mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, supported by late-stage members, and spearheaded by five ninth-layer experts,
this had undoubtedly been an elite contingent of the Great River Gang!
Half of them had been wiped out in Crescent Moon Valley. Even though many items had been damaged during the fighting,
what remained was the culmination of a lifetime of painstaking accumulation by this half of their elite.
Of course, true value could not be calculated this way.
The most valuable items were naturally the dharma artifacts, but second-hand artifacts never fetched high prices and would suffer steep discounts.
While it appeared to approach a hundred thousand, knocking off tens of thousands of inflated value was entirely reasonable.
Selling them off would also incur time costs, not to mention whether there were enough buyers to absorb the stock.
Even so, it remained a monumental fortune!
Snapping back from his daze, Luo Chen looked up.
Seeing Murong Qinglian's exhausted appearance, Luo Chen came to his senses.
He shook his head firmly. "Sister-in-law, are you alright?"
Seeing that he still cared about her well-being in the face of such immense wealth, a warm current flowed through Murong Qinglian's heart.
"I am fine. I didn't suffer any real injuries throughout yesterday's battle. Although Lan Tianyun was formidable, you sent Caiyi and Zhou Yuanli to aid me, so I came out unscathed."
"What about Caiyi?"
"She is over at Granny Yuan's place tending to her injuries. Granny Yuan is not only a veteran spiritual farmer, but she also possesses remarkable medical skill."
"What about her battle with Min Longyu yesterday?"
"Min Longyu wasn't as terrifying as people imagined. A formation master must be prepared to unleash their greatest threat. Crescent Moon Valley has been cultivated by the Medicine Hall for years, so Granny Yuan held the geographical advantage and didn't fear him from the start."
Recalling Granny Yuan calmly descending into the valley yesterday to face Min Longyu,
Luo Chen came to a sudden realization.
Come to think of it, Han Dang the Heart-Devouring Tiger had been easily defeated by Min Longyu back then, and Min Longyu had forcibly breached the Wutu Great Formation yesterday, creating the impression that he was invincible.
In truth, formation masters were not considered among the strongest types of cultivators in direct combat.
They relied heavily on terrain and prior preparation.
In that regard, Granny Yuan, a veteran ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator of the Medicine Hall, held an immediate advantage.
Had the roles been reversed, Granny Yuan would have been no match for Min Longyu.
That formation plate in Min Longyu's hands vaguely embodied the principles of five-element generation and overcoming; its grade was likely extraordinarily high!
On the other hand, Sikong Shoujia, bent on fleeing, had voluntarily abandoned his familiarity with Crescent Moon Valley's terrain.
Running outside, he had been battered to death by Fu Zhang.
Yesterday, Luo Chen had only seen that terrified, indignant face, but beneath the white cloth, everything below Sikong Shoujia's chest had been pounded into mincemeat.
It was a truly gruesome sight!
Gripping the ledger, Luo Chen inquired about another person with concern:
"What about Brother Qin? He only rushed over this morning, covered in blood. It looked terrifying."
At the mention of Qin Liangchen, Murong Qinglian's expression darkened.
Luo Chen's sharp intuition caught the shift, and his heart sank.
***
Through Murong Qinglian's recounting, Luo Chen finally learned what had transpired the previous night.
Upon receiving a plea for help from Mi Zifan, a third-generation member of the Mi family, Qin Liangchen had set off for Crescent Moon Valley immediately.
Before departing, however, he had the presence of mind to leave word for Feng Xia.
That was why Duan Feng had been able to rush to their aid.
Qin Liangchen had set out first, but on the swiftest route—in the Green Hemp Forest where Luo Chen had once been ambushed—he ran into enemies.
Nangong Qin!
This most renowned and powerful youth of the Nangong family had led men to intercept Qin Liangchen.
He had some pride to him.
Rather than swarming Qin Liangchen with his men right away, he had stepped forward and proposed a one-on-one duel.
The primary reason came down to a single word: fame.
Before the Dao Discourse Platform closed, Nangong Qin had held the top rank on the Dahe Prodigy Roll.
It was a standing he had carved out through battle after battle.
Yet among the old-timers of Dahe Market, he still struggled to earn genuine recognition.
From time to time, people would bring up the eighteen bloody duels between the two gangs when the Dao Discourse Platform first opened.
Min Longyu, who had toyed with Han Dang; Qin Liangchen, who had traded his life to slay Bai Qi; and Wang Yuan, who had crushed a blood dao cultivator—these three had become the benchmarks for comparison.
Even as Nangong Qin continually demonstrated higher realms and better battle records, he still could not convince the crowd.
Their reasoning was simple:
"Yours are sparring matches for dao discourse, but they were fighting for their lives back then. If it truly came down to a life-and-death struggle, are you certain you could defeat them?"
Nangong Qin had never accepted that.
In truth, he was not the only one; the likes of Li Ao, Yan Mingxia, and Duan Feng were equally unconvinced.
Unfortunately, the fighters from back then had all been scrambling for cultivation resources, and not one of them ever stepped onto the stage again.
Even someone like Zeng Wen, who had experienced the blood duels firsthand, only attended as a spectator.
Last night, however, such an opportunity had presented itself.
Nangong Qin testing his sword against Qin Liangchen!
Regrettably, while Nangong Qin fought for fame and glory, Qin Liangchen was fighting for the life of his Dao companion.
The moment they clashed, Qin Liangchen unleashed the same desperate, life-risking style he had used on the Dao Discourse Platform.
This caught Nangong Qin entirely off guard, causing him to make frequent missteps.
Fortunately, with his deep foundation, he gradually adapted to Qin Liangchen's fighting style and began to gain the upper hand.
The current number one Qi Refinement cultivator of Dahe Market had indeed earned his reputation through skill.
Qin Liangchen naturally refused to sit and await death. Seeing a cluster of Nangong family cultivators eyeing him like tigers from the sidelines, he directly unleashed his trump card.
"That arm?"
Luo Chen recalled the empty right sleeve hanging on Qin Liangchen when he arrived.
"Yes!" Murong Qinglian said downcastly. "When the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion traded with Liangchen back then, they were quite fair. Backstage, they opened Bai Qi's storage bag right in front of him, and the contents were of immense value."
"Because of that, when they reattached his severed arm, they compensated him with an additional life-saving measure."
"At the crucial moment, Liangchen deployed that technique, carving out a path of blood with a single strike."
"The price was that the arm was lost entirely."
Listening to her words, Luo Chen parted his lips,
at a total loss for what to say.
The Nangong family was a rising Foundation Establishment clan that had migrated from Snow Lotus Market last year.
The clan ancestor, Nangong Jin, was under a hundred and fifty years old—quite young for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The younger generation was far from mediocre, brimming with talents.
It was only because the environment in Snow Lotus Market was exceedingly harsh, falling far short of Dahe Market's abundant resources, that they had resolved to relocate for long-term prospects.
One could well imagine that the Nangong clan cultivators intercepting Qin Liangchen last night were certainly no weaklings.
Carving out a bloody escape without paying a price was impossible.
Yet no one had expected the price to be so steep.
"Can the severed arm be reattached again?" Luo Chen asked with concern.
Murong Qinglian shook her head sorrowfully.
It could not be.
The first reattachment had already relied on the wondrous methods of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect.
Even so, Qin Liangchen had spent a long time gradually growing accustomed to it,
with Luo Chen even helping him test his techniques along the way.
Now that it had been severed once more, the foundational vitality was damaged. Even if a prosthetic limb were attached, it could never be commanded like an extension of his body.
Besides, why would the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect reattach his arm a second time?
Seek out other physicians?
One only needed to look at Shan Xiu: having lost only a hand, he had been reduced to attaching a mid-grade dharma artifact claw for makeshift use.
That disability had drastically diminished his combat power, allowing Luo Chen to easily ambush and decapitate him.
The woman's anguish and despair were so palpable that Luo Chen found himself speechless.
His gaze fell upon the pile of spoils, and he finally gritted his teeth.
"Summon everyone here!"
***
The wounded and the unhurt,
the weary and the invigorated—
thirty cultivators stood in the clearing of Crescent Moon Valley, looking up with expectant eyes at the man perched atop a massive boulder.
Facing those gazes, hesitation lingered in Luo Chen's heart.
Yet in the next breath, his eyes turned resolute.
Looking down at the crowd, his clear voice rang out:
"Gang Leader Mi Shuhua is dead."
Silence!
The previously bustling atmosphere instantly turned deathly quiet.
A crowd of low-tier cultivators received the news in stunned disbelief.
They had expected Hall Master Luo to distribute last night's spoils, even if some of the resources came from their former comrades.
Never did they imagine that Hall Master Luo's very first words would deliver a bolt from the blue.
The protective umbrella sheltering the Mountain Breaker Gang had fallen!
Ten breaths later, Luo Chen spoke again.
"That night, the nine halls of the Mountain Breaker Gang, as well as the main headquarters and the Mi family ancestral grounds, were attacked by enemies outnumbering them several times over."
"As of now, news from the outside remains unclear, but the Mountain Breaker Gang exists in name only."
Luo Chen paused once more, giving these low-tier cultivators ample time to digest the reality.
With his sharp perception, he could see panic, commotion, and bewilderment surfacing on everyone's faces,
intermingled with worry, fear, and concern.
Evidently, many of them were not solitary individuals; they had friends and family in the other halls.
Take Tang Quan, for instance—trembling all over, looking as if he wanted to turn and flee on the spot.
He was likely worrying about his uncle, Zeng Wen!
Luo Chen thought to himself, then, as countless eyes turned back toward him, he spoke with clear and steady conviction:
"The Mountain Breaker Gang is no more, yet our path of cultivation must still go on."
"The life of a rogue cultivator is bitter; the life of a rogue cultivator is exhausting..."
*Damn it, why am I spouting doggerel at a time like this?*
Luo Chen pressed his lips together. "Life as a rogue cultivator is not easy. I know it, and every one of you knows it too."
"Therefore, despite my humble abilities, I wish to establish a small faction where we can huddle together for warmth."
"I have already settled on a name: the Luotian Association. Derived from the Grand Daluo Nine Heavens, representing the highest and vastest expanse, my wish is that every cultivator of our association may one day tread above the nine heavens and ascend the Great Dao."
"Of course, this is merely an aspiration; after all, we are currently nothing more than the weakest of Qi Refinement cultivators."
As his words echoed out, the cultivators gradually snapped out of their daze.
Hall Master Luo was setting up his own banner—creating a new Mountain Breaker Gang!
Only, he was merely at the eighth layer of Qi Refinement. Could he truly shield everyone?
Suddenly!
Many recalled the scene from earlier, when the three Foundation Establishment figures met.
At the end, True Cultivator Miao Wen of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect had conversed with Luo Chen in the Pill Hall for half the night.
Could the backer of this new Mountain Breaker Gang—no, the Luotian Association—be that very figure?
In an instant, many quick-witted cultivators grew excited.
"I will say no more on that, for the Luotian Association currently exists only in words."
"Right now, I wish to speak of two matters, which can also be considered one."
Luo Chen looked at the crowd with earnest sincerity.
"Do you wish to join the Luotian Association?"
"In the battle the night before last, we repelled the enemy together. I saw clearly how much each of you contributed."
"Therefore, even for those who choose not to join the Luotian Association, I will still grant them a share of the spoils—perhaps even more than those who stay!"
"Those who choose to stay will not receive a meager share either; it will at least be enough to satisfy everyone."
"Moreover, our sights should be set on the future."
"This vast hoard of spoils will also be poured into the future development of the Luotian Association, as heaven and earth may bear witness!"
Hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
Those who left would receive more spoils,
while those who stayed would receive less?
What kind of logic was this?
This time, they were given virtually no time to deliberate,
for someone stepped forward on the spot to declare their allegiance.
"I, Zhou Yuanli, am still willing to follow the Association Leader!"
At the same time, Liu Qiang voiced his stance without hesitation.
Not only them—Gu Caiyi, Granny Yuan, and Murong Qinglian, representing Qin Liangchen, joined in as well.
The only ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivator present who had yet to declare himself was Duan Feng.
Feng Xia, who had hurried over early this morning, immediately jabbed him in the ribs from behind.
Duan Feng snapped back to his senses at once, bowing deeply to Luo Chen with heartfelt reverence.
"I, Duan Feng, shall also follow Association Leader Luo Chen's lead!"
The low-tier rogue cultivators were left dumbstruck.
The Luotian Association, which had just been a lone endeavor, instantly gained five ninth-layer Qi Refinement experts.
Zhou Yuanli and Liu Qiang were renowned for fighting in tandem, capable of standing against an ordinary ninth-layer expert.
On top of that, they all remembered that on that very day, Luo Chen had single-handedly slain two ninth-layer experts: Shan Xiu and Gao Tingyuan.
In other words, Luo Chen himself wielded combat strength on par with top-tier ninth-layer experts.
Calculating it this way, the newly formed Luotian Association already possessed the fighting capacity of seven ninth-layer Qi Refinement cultivators.
Such strength, no matter where it was placed, could hardly be considered weak!
Ordinary rogue cultivators would never dare cross them!
At this point, practically no one hesitated.
With a faction to shield them, who would willingly remain a helpless, drifting rogue cultivator?
"I, Tang Quan, am willing to join the Luotian Association!"
"I, Yuan Dongsheng, am willing to join the Luotian Association!"
"I, Qu Hancheng, am willing to join the Luotian Association!"
Hearing that last name, Luo Chen's eyes lit up.
That old fellow was actually still alive!
Amidst the chaos earlier, he had assumed the old man had perished in the fighting.
Sure enough, the older ginger was indeed spicier.
Watching cultivator after cultivator volunteer to join the Luotian Association, the heavy stone weighing on Luo Chen's heart finally fell to the ground.
The conversation between Miao Wen and him the night before last had not been complicated.
Its core boiled down to a single word:
Cooperation!
Chapter 144