Clan Cultivation: Starting from Beast Taming

The cultivator surnamed Qian also responded loudly to the words of Taoist Mingjing, vowing he wouldn't let anyone be treated unfairly.

After these assurances from the two, although the other cultivators still felt reluctant, they refrained from asking for too much and said no more.

Together, they began to pick the Spiritual Medicine from the garden, placing them into jade boxes to be handed over to Taoist Mingjing and the cultivator surnamed Qian.

Following that, the group broke through the main gate of the cave dwelling and rushed inside.

However, unexpectedly, there were still some formidable forbidden techniques left behind by the Golden Core Stage cultivator within the cave dwelling.

A Purple Mansion Cultivator from the Moon Wheel Sect, who went in to scout first, was severely injured on the spot by the power of the forbidden technique. Had it not been for the timely rescue by the cultivator surnamed Qian, he might have perished then and there.

Seeing this development, the other family cultivators all stopped outside, merely turning their gazes expectantly towards the cultivator surnamed Qian and Taoist Mingjing.

It was clear that, knowing they wouldn't be able to reap benefits directly, these people were no longer willing to take any risks.

"Let me try!"

Confronted with everyone's gaze, Taoist Mingjing hesitated for a moment before deciding to take the risk himself.

After applying several layers of protection to himself, he plunged headfirst into the cave dwelling.

Soon after, a series of booming noises echoed from inside the cave dwelling, one after another and ceaseless for a long time.

Eventually, all sounds finally stopped, and the voice of Taoist Mingjing was heard coming from within.

"All is well now, fellow Daoists may come in."

Hearing his words, Zhou Chun and the others didn't hesitate, rushing into the cave dwelling eagerly, impatient to witness the grand splendor inside the Golden Elixir Stage cultivator's abode.

The cave was deeply buried within the mountain, seemingly hollowing out half of the mountain, with various stone chambers totaling twenty or thirty.

Upon entering, Zhou Chun and the others also saw several female cultivator corpses, most likely the slaves of that Golden Elixir Cultivator.

Taoist Mingjing, who had entered first, was already waiting in front of a stone chamber with tightly closed doors.

Once the others came in, he spoke gravely, "Here lies the Treasure Vault of the dwelling, let's see together what's inside!"

With that said, he smashed open the stone doors with a blow.

To the disappointment and surprise of the expectant crowd, the Treasure Vault inside the stone doors was completely empty, not a single treasure to be seen.

"This..."

Gazing at the empty Treasure Vault, Taoist Mingjing couldn't help but gape, clearly also struggling to accept this outcome.

"It seems the Golden Elixir Cultivator had already prepared to flee, having packed up all valuable items to take with him. Those Spiritual Medicines were merely a Blinding Method to deceive us!"

Zhou Mingde narrowed his eyes, voicing this bitter reality in a low tone.

The ensuing search of the cave dwelling completely confirmed his statement.

Not only was the Treasure Vault bare, but the library was just as empty.

Even the jade bed in the bedroom had been moved away.

The entire cave dwelling was as clean as if a mouse had scurried through, leaving no valuables behind.

This outcome nearly drove Taoist Mingjing mad, his old teeth almost shattering.

He had used many techniques to erode the formations and restrictions in the dwelling, even expending a precious third-tier mid-grade Defensive Talisman.

All this for nothing?

With a gloomy expression, he walked out of the cave dwelling and exhaled towards Zhou Mingde and the others, "The situation inside the cave dwelling has been seen by all fellow Daoists, if the senior members ask about this, everyone must bear witness together."

Hearing this, the cultivator surnamed Qian quickly responded, "Rest assured, Taoist Mingjing, with so many witnesses, the senior members will certainly believe our words."

"Indeed, indeed, we will certainly vouch for Taoist Friend Mingjing!"

The rest of the crowd also spoke up, soothing the wounded heart of Taoist Mingjing.

Afterward, the two teams joined forces and began scavenging through the Black Dragon Hall of the Dragon Transformation Sect's Branch Temple Gate.

By then, the situation inside the Black Dragon Hall was settled, with most of the Dragon Transformation Sect's Black Dragon Hall cultivators either dead or having fled the temple gate.

Unlike Golden Core cultivators who had packed their belongings and prepared to flee early on, the Purple Mansion and Foundation Establishment cultivators' caves and residences were left with many of their treasured possessions.

This turned out to be a windfall for some bold, independent family cultivators.

From dusk till dawn, after a night of battle, only Jingguo Country's cultivators remained inside the Black Dragon Hall.

It was only at this time that leaders like Taoist Mingjing ordered the troops to return to camp, bringing Zhou Chun and others who had fought throughout the night back to the temporary camp to rest and recuperate.

Meanwhile, in the skies above, the Golden Core cultivators of the Dragon Transformation Sect, sensing this development, were both shocked and furious,

but powerless to do anything!

Their numbers were at a disadvantage; they managed to just barely hold off Jingguo Country's Golden Core cultivators, with no spare strength to do anything else.

In the end, they had to retreat from the Black Dragon Hall in resentment and rage!

Jingguo Country's Golden Core cultivators, of course, would not watch the enemy escape and gave chase for thousands of miles until the enemy reinforcements appeared, at which point they stopped the pursuit.

In this battle, although the Dragon Transformation Sect didn't lose any Golden Core cultivators, dozens of protectors and hundreds of missionary envoys, as well as up to a thousand ordinary sect members, perished.

Following the battle, besides a few Black Dragon Hall's Golden Core cultivators and protective spirit beasts who survived, the entire Black Dragon Hall was nearly decimated, following in the footsteps of the catastrophe that befell the Red Dragon Hall.

By contrast, on Jingguo Country's side, only two Golden Core cultivators were injured, less than ten Purple Mansion cultivators had perished, and fewer than a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators were lost, marking a resounding victory!

This was another significant victory for Jingguo Country following the triumph at the Red Dragon Hall, since the war began.

Therefore, after the chasing Golden Core cultivators returned to the camp, except for the clans like those from Wang Family of Hongyao Valley, who had suffered severe losses and could not smile, the rest of the cultivators with minor losses were all beaming with joy.

The Zhou Family members were no exception!

While waiting for the twenty Golden Core cultivators to return, they had already tallied up the gains from the battle of the Black Dragon Hall.

Not counting the Spiritual Medicine they had harvested, they had as many as seventeen Storage Pouches belonging to the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Black Dragon Hall!

These seventeen Storage Pouches, coming from thirteen cultivators of the Dragon Transformation Sect, contained possessions that now belonged to the Zhou Family. Moreover, they could use the corpses and the Storage Pouches to register their Battle Merits and later claim rewards based on them.

After opening these Storage Pouches, counting the Magic Artifacts left by their owners, the Zhou Family alone gained four second-grade superior Magic Artifacts, seven second-grade middle-class Magic Artifacts, and eleven second-grade inferior Magic Artifacts!

In addition, they also found over ten second-grade Talismans, dozens of Elixirs, and four sets of Formations.

Other items, such as Spirit Gold, Spirit Jade, and Spiritual Medicine, totaled dozens more!

But the most abundant were Spirit Coins.

The Spirit Coins from the dozens of Storage Pouches added up to more than fifty-four thousand!

As war booty, these Spirit Coins were not useless; the three major sects planned to reclaim them after the war.

Even though it's not yet known how much the three major sects will pay for these Spirit Coins, even at half their value, that would still be over twenty thousand coins!

"At least over a hundred thousand Spirit Coins! The items in these Storage Pouches, converted into Spirit Coins, wouldn't be less than a hundred thousand, even at the minimum!"

In the room, Zhou Chun, having estimated the total value of everything counted, suddenly exclaimed with a face full of joy at the astronomical figure.

Hearing this, Zhou Mingde also nodded with a delighted face, "That's right, my estimate is also above that amount. And that's not even counting the Spiritual Medicine we dug up from the Medicine Garden. If we include those, we will have at least one hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Coins guaranteed!"

After speaking, he turned to Zhou Daoquan with a smile, "It seems that after the war is over, Daoquan, the family can find a way to gather the Spiritual Objects you need for opening your Purple Mansion!"