Chu Huaian's true purpose in coming here was to seal off the news of the spiritual vein, so how could he let Hu Guang and the two others leave?
Conversely, from the moment he first saw Chu Huaian, Hu Guang had already determined that he was no match for him; even with two more elders, he would not have a chance of winning.
This was simply because Chu Huaian radiated immense spiritual energy and carried a murderous aura, so from the very beginning, he had never considered fighting Chu Huaian.
However, Hu Guang was still confident in escaping from this place.
The three exchanged glances, without the slightest hesitation, and simultaneously burned their origins, fleeing at extreme speed in different directions.
Chu Huaian had not expected the three to be so decisive; not only did they abandon their sect, but they even burned their lifespans to escape.
It wasn't that Hu Guang and his companions were afraid of death, but rather that the cultivation world was too cruel, especially for small sects, where life and death were but a fleeting moment.
Watching the three about to escape his sight, Chu Huaian immediately unleashed his full cultivation, his body transforming into a bolt of lightning as he pursued them.
At this moment, Hua Xia Sect had already breached the main hall and was extensively plundering treasures.
Seeing that their Sect Leader and elders had fled, the disciples of the Qingcheng Gang, who already had low morale, immediately dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground, surrendering one after another.
The entire Qingcheng Gang did not occupy a large area, only two mountain peaks, with thin spiritual energy, and there were no pills or spirit stones of note.
The players searched again and again, only then returning to the main hall, grumbling and cursing.
"Damn it, they're all poor devils!"
"I dug three feet deep, and only found a few dozen low-grade spirit stones!"
"There were only a few bottles of Body Tempering Pills in the alchemy room, and the quality was terrible!"
"Not a single spirit artifact in the armory, it's absolutely ridiculous."
"And the scripture pavilion, what kind of trash is that, all low-level cultivation techniques."
"Poor, they're too damn poor!"
Lin Ye and the others glared fiercely at the Qingcheng Gang disciples, their faces dark.
Of a sect with over three hundred people, only thirty-odd disciples remained, kneeling on the ground, dejected.
Looking at these poor devils, Fang Yuan was filled with indignation; he casually grabbed one by the collar, tied him to a pillar, then pulled out a whip, lashing him while scolding, "Will you speak or not, will you speak or not?"
"Ah, ah..."
With each lash, that disciple would let out a miserable scream.
The other disciples trembled in fear, curling up and not daring to look away.
Seeing that the disciple was about to be beaten to death by Fang Yuan, Huo Sichun quickly stepped forward to stop him, "You keep asking him if he'll speak or not, but you should actually ask him something!"
Hearing this, Fang Yuan stopped his actions, scratching his head somewhat awkwardly: "It seems so, I thought this person had a hard bone."
That disciple's entire body was covered in bloodstains, his eyes hazy as he looked at Fang Yuan, his lips trembling as he mumbled, "Your... mom... died..."
"Oh, you dare to curse me? Come, bring the pepper water!"
Fang Yuan glared fiercely at the disciple, extending his hand towards the players, but unfortunately, no one paid him any mind, even rolling their eyes at him.
Fang Yuan's mouth twitched slightly, he muttered a few words, then self-sufficiently pulled out a bottle of chili sauce from his robe, scooped out a large amount, and slyly approached the disciple.
"What are you going to do? Let me go, quickly let me go!"
"Are you scared now? Quick, tell me, where are your sect's treasures?"
"I don't know, I don't know, take it away, ah!"
To everyone's shock, Fang Yuan applied the chili sauce to the man's wounds.
Heart-wrenching screams echoed throughout the entire sect.
Everyone grimaced at Fang Yuan, and a few soft-hearted players, unable to bear watching, spoke up to persuade him: "Fang Yuan, that's enough, even though they are NPCs, tormenting them like this is quite painful to watch."
"Alright then, I'll give them another chance. Where are the treasures?" Fang Yuan reluctantly withdrew his hand, his gaze turning to the other disciples.
At this moment, Zhang Ping, the chief disciple of the Qingcheng Gang, clutched his chest and said with a bitter smile, "We have no treasures; most of the cultivation resources were taken by the Sect Leader and the elders."
"Then how do you cultivate?" Zhao Shijie asked, frowning.
"By helping other sects mine for rewards, and also by accepting missions from other sects, doing some exploration work, or robbing some low-level rogue cultivators."
"Plus, the nearby villages and towns offer some spirit stones as tribute every year, and when everyone divides it, it's barely enough to maintain cultivation."
Upon hearing this, everyone was moved.
These people seemed a bit miserable.
"I still have twenty-odd low-grade spirit stones here; if you want them, take them. I only hope you can spare my junior brothers and sisters."
Saying this, Zhang Ping took out a strip of cloth from his robe, opened it, and placed it in front of Zhao Shijie.
"Senior Brother..." The other disciples, seeing this, crowded around Zhang Ping with tearful voices.
Zhao Shijie picked up the spirit stones on the ground and looked at Lin Ye and the others, who nodded at him.
"Zhao Shijie, you're not thinking of letting them go, are you?" Qin Hao asked, puzzled.
Zhao Shijie did not deny it, nodding directly in affirmation, "Yes, I have that intention."
"But Xian Ge said we must cut the weeds and eradicate the roots. If you let them go, everyone's missions will become failures."
Someone raised their objection, and immediately several others responded.
"This is tens of thousands of contribution points, divided among everyone, that's three hundred contribution points each. Isn't that price too high?"
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent, their gazes focused on Zhao Shijie.
After a while, Huo Sichun was the first to speak: "Senior Brother, I support you."
"The entire First Squad supports you." Lin Ye and the two others stepped forward without hesitation.
"Isn't it just three hundred contribution points? It's as if I'm very poor." Fang Yuan snorted disdainfully.
"Do you want to check your contribution points before you speak? You're a pauper." Qin Hao said contemptuously from the side.
"Damn it, will you die if you don't speak?" Fang Yuan jumped in anger, grabbing Qin Hao's neck and shaking him vigorously.
Ever since his Demonic Soul Banner was destroyed last time, Fang Yuan had not recovered, and he even owed Qin Hao a debt.
"How about this, let's vote by a show of hands. Those who agree with Zhao Shijie's approach, please raise your hands."
Whoosh, half the people raised their hands.
Three hundred contribution points, converted into soft currency, was 150,000, and many people were unwilling to pay this amount for these NPCs.
Just as the crowd was at a stalemate, Qin Zhenhua stepped forward and said, "I can compensate you for the contribution points, but I don't have that much, so I can only give it to you in soft currency."
Chen Shaocong, seeing this, also stepped forward and said grandly, "Isn't it just money? I'll pay the bill!"
Seeing this, Fang Yuan and Qin Hao simultaneously gave a thumbs up, saying in unison, "Boss is generous!"
Zhao Shijie felt somewhat embarrassed by this; after all, he was the one who proposed letting these people go, but in the end, it was Qin Zhenhua and Chen Shaocong who paid for him, which made him feel very bad.
"When some days pass, I'll transfer the contribution points to you."
"No need to be polite, just take me to fight monsters and level up then." Chen Shaocong waved his hand indifferently.
For the past month, Chen Shaocong had been trying to find an opportunity to resolve the conflict between the two.
However, Zhao Shijie was either killing monsters in the secret forest or cultivating in his villa, so this was a good opportunity to ease the relationship between them.
Qin Zhenhua's realm had always been stable in the top ten precisely because of his good relationship with Zhao Shijie, which made Chen Shaocong incredibly envious.
Just as everyone reached a consensus, a spaceship suddenly slowly descended from above, followed by a dozen men and women in uniform who jumped down.
Looking at the devastated, corpse-strewn Qingcheng Gang, the dozen people's eyes instantly erupted with boundless killing intent.