Chapter 139: The Blood Feast (Please Subscribe)

This day, brilliant golden light erupted from the back mountain. A dazzling stream of golden essence pierced through the black mist, forming a pillar of light. Floating before Lu Qian was a pouch crafted from golden threads.

The mouth of the sword pouch was wide open, with golden essence swirling inside like a living dragon. This essence, the quintessence of the Five Metals, was the sharpest force under heaven; anything it touched was instantly shredded to dust. Merely looking at it caused a sharp, piercing pain between one’s brows.

"The Sixth Heaven!" Lu Qian’s gaze sharpened.

Dharma artifacts are structured with seventy-two layers of Earthly Fiend restrictions, with every nine layers constituting a "Heaven." The Sixth Heaven, as the name implies, encompasses the forty-fifth to the fifty-fourth layers. Gazing into the interior of the sword pouch, one could see forty-six overlapping, translucent membranes. Each layer was composed of thirteen nodes, and each node represented a massive investment of resources. Calculating carefully, he had already consumed enough metal to form several mountains just to refine this Profound Gold Sword Pouch.

The results, however, were evident. A Sixth Heaven artifact possessed combat power comparable to a late-stage Soul-Nurturing practitioner. Furthermore, its internal space had expanded significantly, capable of holding items within a radius of one mile. Beyond the debris and golden essence, the pouch housed twenty Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced soldiers, as well as nine Dog-Headed Taoists. These Dao-soldiers cultivated using the demonic energy leaking from the pouch’s opening. Sensing Lu Qian’s gaze, they lowered their heads and respectfully chanted his title. Lu Qian did not respond, withdrawing his focus. The image of opening the pouch in battle to unleash a swarm of Dao-soldiers to hack at his foes was an enticing prospect.

Withdrawing his consciousness, Lu Qian summoned Yaoyue. A gust of black wind swept through, and a beautiful woman draped in a black robe approached, the hem of which reached only to her knees, revealing smooth, pale calves.

"Master."

"Report the expenses for this period," Lu Qian commanded.

"Yes, Master. The resource profit for this quarter was eight thousand magic coins, with four thousand from bounties. Expenses totaled sixteen thousand, resulting in a deficit of four thousand magic coins. Excluding the Earthly Fiend items, the assets you left behind amount to ninety-eight thousand magic coins."

The bulk of the spending went toward refining artifacts and Qi cultivation. A pair of Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced soldiers cost two thousand coins, while a Dog-Headed Taoist cost eight hundred. These Dao-soldiers were powerful, but their creation was costly; the price to produce a single upgradeable Dao-soldier could buy a medium-sized cave dwelling. Including those in his sword pouch, he had over thirty such soldiers, consuming sixty thousand in resources. The profits from Lingbo Tower and the inheritance from the Suixin Pawnshop had been completely drained.

Contemplating this, Lu Qian said, "Forget it. Set aside the matter of refining more Dao-soldiers for now; supplying enough resources for their daily needs is sufficient. I will send out more Dao-soldiers to hunt for bounties."

Since they were only capturing Qi-refining Taoists, the income wasn't high—perhaps eight hundred to a thousand per head, with the better ones fetching ten thousand. However, the benefits of building his own force were clear. The profits from Lingbo Tower were only a thousand or two a month; if he had relied solely on his own spoils of war, he would have been destitute long ago.

"I must increase revenue and cut expenses," Lu Qian thought. Refining artifacts became exponentially more difficult at higher levels; he had failed to forge the restrictions several times recently, causing another batch of metal ore to go to waste. While his proficiency was high and his craftsmanship beyond reproach, external factors were always a consideration. His success rate was already high enough; some people spent decades to reach his level.

"If Master were to annex Lingbo Tower, we would have no need to worry about money," Yaoyue said with a soft, covered smile.

"Is that so?" Lu Qian smiled meaningfully. The dragon in his sea of consciousness raised its head, looking rather excited. In legend, the dragon was always depicted as a wicked beast, lawless and defiant of authority. How could it not be excited by such a prospect?

"We shall see in the future," Lu Qian laughed. He, too, coveted the assets of Lingbo Tower. Their quarterly goods were worth two million; surely, they made tens of millions a year. Compared to them, his current operation at Black Mountain was nothing.

Just then, at Hidden Dragon Cave, a paper crane landed steadily at the entrance. Lu Qian used his paper-doll avatar to open it, revealing a single line of text.

"I am returning now, and I will bring my Yin Spirit with me. Watch over things well," Lu Qian said, turning to Yaoyue. Every quarter, Fubo would appear to arrange affairs. Lu Qian dared not slack off by letting his Yin Spirit remotely control his physical body; such a small deception would likely not escape a master like Fubo.

"Master, didn't you say you might leave Lingbo Tower soon?" Yaoyue asked, puzzled. Although Black Mountain was small, its growth was promising, bringing in fifty or sixty thousand coins annually. While Lingbo Tower was large, the master only skimmed a bit of profit from it; the income couldn't compare to Black Mountain. However, she only dared to think this; she would follow her master’s orders without a hint of defiance.

"You don't understand; the time is not yet right," Lu Qian shook his head with a smile. It would be easy to run; the blood curse in his sea of consciousness could be wiped away at any time. But he did not want to leave empty-handed, wasting another identity and adding to his bounty.

*Whoosh!*

His figure soared into the sky and vanished beyond the horizon.

At Lingbo Tower, the gathering was not held on the fifth floor, but in a secret realm connected to the fifth floor by a teleportation array. Stepping into the realm, black clouds obscured the sky. Even though it was high noon, it was as dim as twilight below. Surrounded by a vast river, they appeared to be on an island in the middle of it. In the center of the island stood a vermilion wooden stilt house. Its dark red lacquer resembled dried blood, and the open door looked like the maw of a monster. Various grotesque plants grew on both sides of the house.

Entering the building, a stench of blood assailed his senses. On both sides of the hall stood two beautiful