Chapter 424 Harvest
Jiaojue stretched out its claws, calculated the time, and thought to itself that the new Chijian Mountain God would arrive to take up his post in no more than ten days.
Out of respect for the mountains and rivers, Jiao Jue decided to do a good deed and, while digging for treasure, also clear out a vacant lot for the new mountain god to build a temple.
Otherwise, given how clean Chijian Mountain is, the new mountain god probably wouldn't be able to find many strong cultivators who could clean up the mess for him, and he'd probably have to live in the trees and among the rocks for quite some time.
As Jiao Jue thought about those deities, who were about the size of the four little dragons, having to carry out the orders of the main god Shan Shui to integrate the underground network while also selecting sites to cut down trees and break stones to make bricks, he squinted and wanted to laugh.
The three thousand soldiers obeyed orders, removed their armor, and neatly arranged the usable materials in the temple. Before long, they discovered the treasure.
With treasure to be found, the clearing process will be even faster.
In just three days, the three thousand soldiers had sorted through all the items on the ruins.
They also followed Zhan Shi's instructions to flatten the large cracks. Once the new mountain god arrives, all they need to do is select some suitable materials from the sorted materials and find a group of cultivators who know how to build houses, and they will be able to have a magnificent little temple.
Their gains this time far exceeded their expectations.
Besides the exquisite objects that hadn't been moved from the dozens of palaces, behind the Hall of the God of War, in the twenty treasure vaults used to store the spoils of war, there were also thirteen treasure vaults containing riches.
These treasuries were originally well-constructed, and their external structures did not collapse along with the main hall, but the ground beneath the treasuries was damaged.
After the soldiers cleared away the debris above, they saw many precious lights shining through the cracks beneath the treasure vault. They followed these cracks down into the deep ravine and discovered that not only were there spirit crystals everywhere and piles of bones, but also many unsorted, blood-stained storage rings and furs...
Everything they could imagine and everything they couldn't imagine was here.
At that moment, Jiao Jue and Zhan Shi exchanged a tacit glance. They said they would go down and check the situation, telling everyone not to get too close to avoid the soil from collapsing again. They then dismissed the soldiers and quickly jumped into the ravine.
They picked out many of their favorite items and put them into their storage rings. Only then did they reluctantly manifest their Dharma bodies, open all twenty treasure vaults, and summon recorders to register their spoils.
There was so much treasure that Zhan Shi had to personally lead the captains to act as recorders.
Meanwhile, Jiao Jue summoned Yun Lai and Pan Zai Kong to keep watch below, preventing the soldiers from succumbing to temptation and stealing the treasure.
But in reality, no one did it at all.
In the past, when cultivators went out to fight and take over territory, how much they could get depended entirely on their own abilities. However, Ji Rong felt that this was extremely unfair, so he issued a strict order to suppress this practice.
She set strict requirements for the spoils of war: 40% of the spoils had to be used to reward soldiers and officers; of these, 20% would be distributed equally among the soldiers who went to war, and the other 20% would be used to reward those who were brave in the battle.
This system won over the hearts of the lower-ranking soldiers!
You see, without this system, the soldiers with the highest cultivation would take the best first, and so on down the chain. Only when everyone's storage rings were full would it be the turn of the lowest-ranking soldiers to take some. Often, by then, all they would get were some meat that wouldn't keep for long.
But with the rules set by Ji Rong, things were different. Lower-ranking soldiers could also share 20% of the spoils of war. How could they not be loyal to their superiors?
——————
He was sitting cross-legged, incredibly wealthy; he had plenty of free time, and his enemies were dead.
As the overseer, Jiaojue, watched, he felt a wonderful sense of realization that his long-cherished life had finally come true. He wanted to pour himself a cup of wine and taste it, but the words of the Lord of the Colorful Birds immediately echoed in his mind.
Ji Rong forbade his soldiers from drinking on the march, saying that doing so was setting an example of sabotage, and if this continued, it would lead to a situation like Xi hosting a banquet, with subordinates following suit...
Thinking of this, Jiao Jue sighed. These soldiers were now completely open with Ji Rong. If he dared to drink in front of them, Ji Rong would surely find out when they returned to Danxue Mountain Range.
Although he knew that Ji Rong knew he had drunk wine and could not really do anything to him, Jiao Jue felt that he did not necessarily have to drink the wine, thinking that the Bird Lord would take the opportunity to talk to him about his principles.
After collecting the treasure, Jiao Jue ordered Zhan Shi to lead a thousand soldiers to carry the treasure and the inventory back to Danxue Mountain Range to report to Ji Rong. He and Zhan Shi each led a thousand soldiers to their hometown.
Wealth and honor should naturally be returned to one's hometown; only in this way can one repay kindness and avenge wrongs!
Unlike the joyous atmosphere in the Chijian Mountains, in the Fulu Mountains, Qing Guanzi and his three thousand armored soldiers were struggling to even find food and drink.
This place is so poor. I remember there were many plump geese in these mountains when I passed through before, but now I don't see a single one.
Fortunately, most of Qingguanzi's group could eat grass, so they made do with the spiritual herbs and pills they had brought with them while cleaning up the filthy Fulu Hall. They would return to the Danxue Mountains to report back once the new mountain god arrived.
The situation in the Lianyun Mountains was not much better than that in the Fulu Mountains. The cultivators who could escape had already fled, leaving only the old, weak, sick, and disabled.
This made Shan Wu, who had come with great ambition and wanted to have a few fights, feel bored. If it were in the past, without meat and wine, he would have immediately led his soldiers back to the Danxue Mountains.
But this time he brought Gu Qingqing with him. Gu Qingqing pointed to the dilapidated palace covered with vines on Tianming Peak and said, "Uncle, let's search there. Even if we don't find any treasure, as long as we can dig up some fine jade artifacts to take back, it won't be a wasted trip."
Shan Wu nodded and said, "Nephew, you're so clever. I never thought there might be some treasures hidden under this dilapidated palace amidst the vines." With that, he directed his soldiers to clean up the ruined Tianming Palace.
Because Gu Qingqing had served as Jiaojue's divine attendant for many years, she had developed a keen eye for identifying treasures. She could tell the value of any item that came into her view, so their trip was not entirely fruitless.
After cleaning the palace, Gu Qingqing instructed Shan Wu to summon the remaining cultivators in the Lianyun Mountains to meet their clan leaders or stewards, tell them about the deeds of the current ruler, Lady Ji, and praise her virtues so that her decrees could be effectively communicated in the future.
With the demolition of the palace ruins, the last trace of these deities left in the world was also erased and disappeared into the long river of time. Only the "Divine Objects Chapter" in the "Great Ceremony of All Races" can reveal their past glory and achievements.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com