"Now that the Crimson Whale Hall has been destroyed, the recently settled situation in Wan Hua City will inevitably fall into chaos again. You must be careful in the city, especially try not to have any friction with the Imperial Court, lest you invite trouble..."
Inside the room, Xie Qingyun sighed softly and instructed Lin Sheng and Zhao Kongfang.
"We understand."
The two cupped their hands in a salute and responded in unison.
"It's a turbulent time. Alright, you two may leave for now. I still have to go to the main peak for a discussion later. If possible, it's best for you to stay within the Sect during this time. No matter what happens outside, nothing will happen within the Sect..."
Xie Qingyun added another sentence and then waved her hand.
Lin Sheng and the other nodded, turned around, and withdrew.
It wasn't until they walked out of the courtyard that the two spoke.
"I didn't expect something like this to happen, the Crimson Whale Hall... Speaking of which, I have a younger sister there who I haven't seen for many years, I wonder how she's doing now?"
Zhao Kongfang said with a sigh and a shake of his head.
"It's truly a turbulent time. I don't know what kind of luck we're having this year. Master is right, this incident will undoubtedly cause Wan Hua City to fall into chaos again, perhaps even more so than before. However, it might not necessarily be a bad thing. Our Seven Forms Sect might even gain some benefits from this..."
"Let's hope so."
Lin Sheng softly agreed, but in his heart, he didn't think it would be that simple.
The Crimson Whale Hall occupied a lot of territory and businesses in Wan Hua City. Now that it's shattered and no longer exists, the vacant interests in the city will undoubtedly be redivided.
And now, the remaining three major forces are undoubtedly the biggest beneficiaries. If they can divide up the interests of the Crimson Whale Hall, it will definitely be a lucrative piece of cake for the three major forces.
But there is a prerequisite: no external forces interfere. And the largest external force is naturally the Imperial Court.
If the Imperial Court has no interest in the cake left after the Crimson Whale Hall's destruction, then it will naturally be the turn of these three major forces. But if Fu City is interested, then there will be nothing left for the three major forces.
In fact, in his opinion, if Fu City is interested in Wan Hua City, then the situation of the three major forces will definitely not be as comfortable as before.
Thinking of this, a sense of urgency rose in his heart.
After all, throughout the entire Northern Yan Kingdom, the Imperial Court is undoubtedly a colossal existence that no single force can contend with.
A top force in Wan Hua City like the Crimson Whale Hall is as fragile as a bubble under the scorching sun, nearly wiped out overnight.
So what about the other three major forces like the Seven Forms Sect and the White Dragon Gang?
This was the first time Lin Sheng realized the iron-blooded methods of the Imperial Court, this colossal entity.
When it doesn't act, it's fine, but once it does, its methods are like thunder.
Even in places like Wan Hua City, where the Imperial Court's influence is seemingly weak, nothing can be hidden.
The two didn't converse much.
Zhao Kongfang said a few simple words to Lin Sheng, agreed to meet again in three days, and then left in a hurry. It was clear that he needed to return home immediately to discuss this matter.
A merchant Family like the Zhao Family would undoubtedly also be affected.
In comparison, Lin Sheng was much better off.
After all, he didn't have many businesses in the city. The only one that counted was the Listening to the Moon Pavilion, and nearly half of the Listening to the Moon Pavilion's business was in Fu City, so even if there was an impact, it wouldn't be significant.
Lin Sheng went all the way to the foot of the Seven Forms Sect mountain and first went to see Lin Hong and Xie Guilan.
At this time, the two Elders had rosy complexions and were full of energy. They looked much better than their aged appearance back in Lin'an County.
Under the nourishment of various tonic medicines and Spirit Beast meat powder, it naturally had great benefits for their bodies.
Especially Lin Hong, his leg injury. Since arriving in Wan Hua City, Lin Sheng had specially paid a high price to invite a famous doctor to treat him. After several months, Lin Hong was now able to walk by himself. Although his steps were still a bit unsteady compared to a normal person, it was a great improvement compared to before. He would likely fully recover in not too long.
The disability in his leg had always been a lingering concern for Lin Hong, difficult to erase from his mind.
Now that he was close to recovering, for this father, it undoubtedly brought back vitality. His originally full head of gray hair now had a luster.
His face was also full of smiles; this was genuine happiness from the heart.
After Lin Sheng spent half a day with the two Elders, he left and returned to Wan Hua City.
The news of the Crimson Whale Hall's destruction would soon spread, and it would undoubtedly cause huge waves in the city.
However, none of this concerned him. After having Lao Zhou send a letter to Cao Ying with some reminders, he immersed himself in cultivation again.
Strength is the foundation of everything.
If a massive force like the Crimson Whale Hall is as fragile as paper, then what would happen if the Seven Forms Sect encountered such a situation one day?
He always considered the worst-case scenario, being prepared for danger even in times of peace.
Therefore, his current strength was still not enough, far from enough.
Time flowed like water, and three days passed quickly.
Inside a spacious courtyard.
On the rustic stone table were a few plates of simple pastries and dishes.
Lin Sheng and Zhao Kongfang stood facing each other.
"Phew... It's truly a turbulent time. The city is in complete chaos. Although the Crimson Whale Hall was destroyed, a dead tiger still has its might. The ones who died were mostly the Crimson Whale Hall experts in Baiyun Peak and Bo Peak. However, there are still quite a few Crimson Whale Hall experts remaining inside and outside Wan Hua City. After learning about the Imperial Court's actions, they have become desperate. Many have fled with the city's finances, and some have even brazenly looted several wealthy families in the city."
"This has caused panic in the city. Let me tell you, Junior Brother Lin, even our Zhao Family had a caravan attacked, and it was the remnants of the Crimson Whale Hall who did it. Fortunately, I reminded them in advance, and this time the caravan was equipped with many experts, so they didn't succeed."
Zhao Kongfang picked up a cup of apricot blossom wine, drank it in one gulp, and clicked his tongue.
"Since Fu City has already taken action, and I've seen many constables in Wan Hua City recently, do these remnants of the Crimson Whale Hall still dare to be so rampant?"
Lin Sheng picked up a piece of pastry, put it in his mouth, and said doubtfully.
"Fu City did indeed send many constables over, but their main targets are the Crimson Whale Hall's businesses inside and outside the city. As for pursuing these remnants of the Crimson Whale Hall, that's secondary. The remnants of the Crimson Whale Hall are not fools; they naturally won't run into the constables' muzzles. However, they don't have so many scruples when dealing with the merchants and wealthy families in the city."
"In the past few days, I know of no less than a dozen caravans that have been robbed, and the strength of the remaining Crimson Whale Hall members should not be underestimated. Although the core members in the Bone Transformation Realm have all been killed, there are still at least dozens of elite Disciples at the Blood Transportation level."
Zhao Kongfang poured himself another glass of wine, took a small sip, and said, shaking his head.
"Speaking of which, the Crimson Whale Hall did indeed have great ambitions. Most of these Blood Transportation elites involved are new faces, definitely secretly trained by the Crimson Whale Hall. Moreover, according to unofficial rumors, these are only a small part of what the Crimson Whale Hall has trained; the main group is in Bo Peak."
"According to the information leaked by the Prefecture Yamen constables, there were nearly two hundred Crimson Whale Hall Blood Transportation elite Disciples killed on Bo Peak. Furthermore, the strength of those Crimson Whale Hall Bones Transformation Elders was basically hidden; they were much stronger than what was revealed on the surface... They were definitely the strongest existence among the four major forces in Wan Hua City."
Hearing what Zhao Kongfang said, Lin Sheng's face showed surprise.
"Nearly two hundred Blood Transportation elites, they were indeed well hidden."
One must know that those who can be called Blood Transportation elites are basically Disciples in the middle and Late Stages of Blood Transportation. The Seven Forms Sect has just over 100 elite Disciples at this level.
And the Crimson Whale Hall already had nearly two hundred and fifty.
Leaving aside other things, just the number of elite Disciples alone is probably comparable to the sum of the Seven Forms Sect and the White Dragon Gang.
With such a base number, one doesn't even need to think to know that the number of Bones Transformation experts within the Crimson Whale Hall was definitely not just the few revealed on the surface.
"Second Senior Brother, the Crimson Whale Hall is hidden so deeply, is what's in Bo Peak really that valuable?"
He had always had this question in his heart, and now was the perfect time to ask Zhao Kongfang.
From Xie Qingyun, he knew that what the Crimson Whale Hall was after was something in Bo Peak called a god seed.
He had some guesses about this god seed, but he couldn't be sure what it was that made the Crimson Whale Hall do this.
"Junior Brother Lin, you're talking about the god seed."
Hearing Lin Sheng's question, Zhao Kongfang's face showed a bit of solemnity. He looked around before slowly speaking.
"Speaking of this deep matter, I didn't know about it before either. It wasn't until I returned home and asked the old man that I knew what it was."
He leaned closer to Lin Sheng and said in a low voice.
"This god seed is actually a type of ore within a mineral deposit, but it's far from being as simple as a monster ore; it's an ancient beast ore."
"Ancient beast ore!"
Lin Sheng thought to himself, "As expected." If there was truly a 300,000-year-old beast ore in Bo Peak, then the ore born within it naturally couldn't be an ordinary monster ore.
Ancient beasts are terrifying existences much more powerful than monsters.
Based on Martial Artist Realms, terrifying variant beasts of this level are existences above the Divine Transformation Realm.
Monsters are already powerful enough to destroy cities and shatter mountains at will.
Then, for ancient beasts that are much more powerful, one dare not imagine what kind of mighty power they possess.
"Ancient beast ore basically only has a very small chance of existing in beast ore deposits exceeding 250,000 years. According to the old man, ancient beast ore often has mysterious effects, and it does indeed have the effect of breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm, which is why it is also called a god seed."
When he said this, Zhao Kongfang paused, and a hint of longing appeared in his eyes.
"It has a great effect on breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm. You don't need to think to know how valuable it is. It's just that how the Crimson Whale Hall determined that there was a god seed in the mineral deposit of Bo Peak is unknown. It's also unknown whether the Crimson Whale Hall actually dug out the god seed, but it doesn't matter anymore. After all, the Crimson Whale Hall is gone, so even if there was a god seed, it would have already fallen into the hands of the Imperial Court."
"Speaking of which, the Imperial Court has strict control over beast ore deposits exceeding 200,000 years. No matter what force discovers a beast ore deposit of 200,000 years or more, they must report it. If they know and don't report it, once discovered by the Imperial Court, the consequence is the destruction of their Sect."
"So that's how it is."
Lin Sheng nodded slightly.
This was also the first time he knew about the existence of this rule.
The value of beast ore deposits exceeding 200,000 years is far beyond that of ordinary beast ore.
It's probably worth at least as much, if not more, than the price of Spirit Beast meat.
But compared to its high price, Lin Sheng still felt that the true purpose of this rule's existence was for the god seed.
Thinking of the monster ores he had discovered at the foot of Da Cui Peak, the attributes entering the body from basically every monster were terrifyingly strong.
"So what kind of strength would the attributes entering the body from an ancient beast have!"
This thought popped into his mind, but he quickly shook his head and laughed wryly.
He didn't know if there were any living ancient beasts left in this world. Even if there were, it was absolutely not something he could fantasize about at his current level.
Even if an ancient beast were placed before him to be manipulated at will, he would absolutely find it difficult to meet the conditions for its attributes to enter his body in a short time.
"Alright, Junior Brother Lin, Senior Sister and the others also finished their garrison duty yesterday and returned to the Sect. It should be said that not just them, all the Disciples on Da Cui Peak have returned."
Zhao Kongfang suddenly changed the subject and started talking about other things.
"Oh? There should still be two months until the garrison duty ends. Returning now, could it be...?"
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, as if he realized something.
"That's right, Junior Brother Lin, you're indeed as smart as me. The reason for returning is the Prefecture Yamen's intention. It's not just our Seven Forms Sect; the Imperial Court has issued an order for everyone in the entire Yunshui Mountain to withdraw."
"How overbearing! The mineral deposit that was so hard to occupy was just taken away like this."
When he said this, Zhao Kongfang couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, his words full of regret, and naturally mixed with a lot of dissatisfaction.
Hearing this, Lin Sheng couldn't help but frown.
He didn't expect that the Imperial Court wouldn't even spare the other four peaks. In these few months, the mining work had only just begun. Returning in such a hurry now, they probably hadn't even had time to process the beast ore they had originally mined.
Then this nearly half-year of mining work was effectively a waste of effort.
Not to mention that his share of the beast ore mining profits hadn't arrived yet, even if he had already received it in this situation, the Sect might take it back.
The Seven Forms Sect clearly attached great importance to the beast ore on Da Cui Peak, otherwise they wouldn't have given such generous garrison rewards and profit shares.
Now that their efforts were in vain, it was probably a huge loss for the Seven Forms Sect.
Of course, the White Dragon Gang and the Fang Family were probably not doing much better.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side, in the Seven Forms Sect's Main Peak Discussion Hall.
The seven heads of the courtyards, as well as Sect Leader Ouyang Bing, were all present.
Despite this, the atmosphere in the hall was quite suffocating.
Finally, Yuan Zhongfei, who looked travel-worn, couldn't help but punch the stone pillar beside him, letting out a muffled sound.
"This is going too far, simply too far! By what right do they make us withdraw and give up ownership? What does what the Crimson Whale Hall did have to do with us!!"
Yuan Zhongfei's face was full of anger, his clothes were somewhat tattered, and his aura was unstable, making him appear a bit disheveled, clearly injured.
Facing his roar, no one in the hall responded. Ouyang Bing, who was seated at the head, frowned into a knot but ultimately closed his eyes.
However, his tightly clenched hands still revealed that his heart was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface.