Chapter 91: Chapter 91: Post-War Gains

“Father, Mother, Uncle, Aunt… I will avenge you.”

In a cave five hundred miles away.

Mist rose from the Black Tiger’s body as it transformed into a man in black clothing.

He gnashed his teeth, resentful qi towards heaven.

Recalling how his father was killed, and how his mother and uncles were slain while trying to intercept that human sword cultivator, the anger in his heart reached its peak. After the anger, a fervent killing intent arose.

Without his father to hold the fort, White Tiger Mountain couldn’t be preserved.

Old enemies would pounce, dividing everything in his home.

As for him, he would become the target of certain Demon Kings, hunted down to eliminate future threats.

After he was killed by certain Demon Kings, those Demon Kings would pin the blame on some human cultivators, absolving themselves.

“Father was always cautious, leaving no room for error. He set up sentries and a tight defensive line in the vicinity. If human cultivators attempted a sneak attack, they could be detected in advance. Even in surprise, a demon beast would manage to leak the news out. But now, all warning methods have failed, all sentries have failed.”

The Black Tiger pondered, a murderous intent flickering in his eyes.

No thought was given, but upon close scrutinization, fear arose.

Yet a human cultivator knew White Tiger Mountain inside out, avoiding all sentries, and preventing news from leaking.

All conditions were perfectly utilized, delivering a fatal blow to White Tiger Mountain.

To accomplish this, there must have been some demon race support providing information, avoiding dangerous areas, and infiltrating here.

Without intelligence support from the demon race, this attack would have been impossible to achieve.

“Who exactly borrowed the hand of the human cultivator to kill my father?”

Murderous intent flickered in the Black Tiger’s eyes, along with the names of various adversaries and related information.

Those demon cultivators leaked information to his father, causing his unexpected downfall.

In the demon race, Qi Cultivation Demon Beasts are muddle-headed cannon fodder, with many Demon Kings tacitly allowing them to kill each other, holding low status. But once a demon beast breaks through the bottleneck and becomes a Foundation Establishment Demon Beast, they are brought to the Demon Emperor Hall, taught cultivation techniques and lifebound divine techniques, and given some nurturing.

Great Demons of the Purple Mansion can transform into human shape and are prioritized in cultivation by the Demon Emperor Hall.

Golden Core Demon Kings guard a Spiritual Mountain and become high-ranking members of the Demon Emperor Hall.

The demon race order is orderly, joining hands against human cultivator hunts.

But ultimately some “demon traitors” defect to the human race, selling demon race intelligence, facilitating humans.

……

Swoosh swoosh.

The Flood Dragon silently departed.

Back in the cabin, the three sat in silence, resting.

The Grand Elder was injured, circulating True Essence to heal his wounds; Father Lu Jinwen not only was injured but also lost an arm; and Lu Xuanji was also injured, recuperating his meridians.

In the cabin, other cultivators were also injured, meditating.

Some cultivators had minor injuries and would recover after a few months; some were seriously injured and needed ten or even twenty years of recovery.

Some cultivators’ injuries were so severe that their foundation was damaged, preventing any cultivation progress.

Those without injuries felt embarrassed claiming they participated in this battle.

This battle left almost everyone wounded, their lives on a tightrope.

This is war, where injury and bloodshed are the main themes.

As for the enemies dying by the thousands with no casualties on our side, that’s a theme only found in novels and tales.

Killing a thousand enemies with three hundred of our own dead counts as a major victory.

“Huff huff.”

Thinking of something, Lu Xuanji directly handed the storage bag to the Grand Elder.

“Grand Elder, there are thirteen demon beast corpses in here, please check.”

The Grand Elder took the storage bag, counted, and said, “This time, aligning with the Ye Family allowed us to avoid the danger. We must thank the Ye Family, and give them three demon beast corpses.”

Father Lu Jinwen nodded, “As it should be.”

“It should be so.”

Lu Xuanji also nodded.

One must understand gratitude; the Ye Family provided aid on the battlefield, a favor we must reciprocate and thank them for.

“The demon beast corpses, along with the merit rewards, will be enough to buy half a Purple Mansion Pill for the Grand Elder,” Father said happily.

“The Purple Mansion Pill isn’t needed. It’s too expensive. I plan to rely on myself to break into the Purple Mansion Realm,” the Grand Elder directly refused, “It’s best to use these elixirs to reserve three Foundation Establishment Pills for the Lu Family. Also, get some supporting elixirs for Xuanji to increase cultivation.”

“Each minor level in the Foundation Establishment Stage takes too long. Without elixirs, breaking through is nearly impossible. The Foundation Establishment has a lifespan of two hundred forty years. It seems long, but it’s actually too short.”

“With the Spirit Stones earned from this battle, three parts used as reserve, two parts to buy Foundation Establishment Pills, three parts to buy elixirs for Xuanji, and the remaining two parts for Elder to buy some elixirs.”

The accomplishments haven’t been distributed yet, but the Grand Elder already estimated the post-war rewards.

After the war, the Lu Family could receive at least two hundred thousand Spirit Stones as a reward.

That’s a huge sum.

The Lu Family earns about fifteen thousand Spirit Stones annually from spirit fields, elixirs, mining, etc. But salaries, benefits, cultivation resources, etc., require spending eleven thousand Spirit Stones annually. If you factor in annual taxes and social obligations, that’s another three thousand Spirit Stones spent.

Every year, at most, they can save one to two thousand Spirit Stones.

In ten years, one Foundation Establishment Pill is saved.

In a hundred years, one Purple Mansion Pill is saved.

This is assuming no accidents, but accidents happen frequently.

Relying on the Lu Family’s foundation, saving one Foundation Establishment Pill in twenty years, and one Purple Mansion Pill in two hundred years is already considered good luck.

Big income, big expenditure, little savings–this is the situation for the Lu Family, as it is for many cultivation families.

As for reducing family cultivator salaries or welfare benefits, that’s not even considered. Welfare can only go up, not down. If salaries drop and welfare drops, family morale will scatter, and the family will disintegrate.

And the annual salary for Lu Family cultivators is indeed not high.

Qi Cultivation Stage cultivators earn between ten and thirty Spirit Stones annually.

Foundation Establishment Cultivators earn between three hundred and seven hundred Spirit Stones annually.

Many loose cultivators have an annual income that surpasses the Lu Family cultivators.

The Lu Family cultivators’ salaries are low, unlike the higher annual income of loose cultivators. However, they have various hidden benefits, family protection against outsiders’ robbery, stable Spirit Veins’ Cultivation Grotto Heaven residence, and discounted cultivation techniques and Hundred Arts Books. Low salaries but high hidden benefits make many family cultivators surpass loose cultivators.

Even so, the salary can’t go any lower.

Any lower, it wouldn’t be decent.

Now, with the family gaining over two hundred thousand Spirit Stones from this expedition, future finances can afford to be a bit more generous, allowing the purchase of many things, and some plans can be unfolded.

Of course, these two hundred thousand-plus Spirit Stones belong as private property to the three who fought and risked their lives, not the Lu Family’s.

They cannot, and will not, be directly credited.

Instead, it’s entered into the family account in the name of family debt.