Chapter 140: Extortion and a Rain of Spirit Stones

Over two million fellow cultivators from the Southern Domain roared in unison, their voices shaking the very firmament. They arrived like a dark, suffocating cloud, while countless more formations of cultivators were still streaming in from the distance.

"I, Xiu Binggan, on behalf of the entire Shura Mansion, express my deepest gratitude and thanks to all our fellow daoists for your immense support!"

Unable to hold back, the Master of the Shura Mansion, Xiu Binggan, wiped away two lines of aged tears before bowing deeply to the vast multitude of gathered forces. The other high-ranking elders and the surviving combatants, who were clinging to life through sheer willpower despite their utter exhaustion, followed suit with sincere, solemn bows.

Across the battlefield, the leaders of the dozens of factions that had intended to launch a final assault looked down from their positions. Seeing the Southern Domain cultivators surrounding them in a complete encirclement, their expressions turned ghastly.

Victory, revenge, and profit had been within their grasp—how could it come to this?

Was the Shura Mansion’s reputation in the Southern Domain not notoriously foul? Why had nearly every faction in the entire region poured out in full force to support them? When had the Shura Mansion issued a call to arms, and why had none of the dozens of opposing factions received even a whisper of news? Furthermore, while the Shura Mansion was powerful, by what right or merit did they possess such immense rallying power?

Why had these millions of reinforcements arrived with such impeccable timing? Could they not have been a few hours late? No, even an hour later would have made all the difference! And what of those rogue cultivators who were the first to arrive—what was that all about? Since when were rogue cultivators so united, let alone willing to actively participate in the wars of established factions?

It was baffling—completely baffling!

In truth, not only were the opposing factions bewildered, but even the high-ranking members of the Shura Mansion, despite their overwhelming excitement, were equally confused. After a brief exchange of telepathic messages between Xiu Binggan and Xiu Xuantian, they were left even more perplexed. It wasn't him, it wasn't her, and it wasn't me—did this mean the Shura Mansion hadn't organized this mobilization at all?

Then who possessed such influence to rally millions of Southern Domain cultivators to their aid? Knowing the Shura Mansion’s villainous reputation and lack of genuine allies, why would anyone bother to break this siege for them?

Meanwhile, the surviving members of their own faction looked at their leaders with faces full of worship, as if to say, "Look! Our Shura Mansion masters had the foresight to plan for this all along! Only our leaders could command such awe and have everyone respond to a single call!"

But knowing the truth, the leaders were left in a bind. Should they be honest with their subordinates? But since they themselves were still at a loss, how could they explain it?

...

With all the forces of the Southern Domain present and the dozens of hostile factions completely boxed in, the entire continent and all its regions were left in shock.

"Taishi Zheng, Old Man Qin... what do you have to say for yourselves now?!"

"This—this is all a misunderstanding! A complete misunderstanding, haha. Brother Xiu, we shall withdraw at once, withdraw immediately!"

"A misunderstanding? Withdrawing? Hahahaha!"

"Whether it’s a misunderstanding or not is beside the point. You want to leave? That’s fine. But, hehe, we’ll have to see how much sincerity you bring to the table."

As he spoke, Xiu Binggan rubbed his fingers together with extreme arrogance, the friction producing a sharp, piercing, yet strangely melodic clicking sound.

The dozens of leaders—including Taishi Zheng, the Sect Master of Qin, and an old man in flashy red robes—all wore looks of extreme agitation. The tides had turned so quickly; they never expected the advantage they had painstakingly secured to vanish in an instant.

"Brother Binggan, my ancestor and your mansion’s ancestor were close brothers in their youth. Don't you think..."

"Only now do you remember to claim kinship? Where were you before!"

"I advise you all, don't think of leaving without showing enough sincerity, or you’ll be wishing you hadn't."

"Don't say I, Xiu Binggan, am being overbearing. You have one stick of incense's time. The Puppet Sect must provide one hundred million spirit stones, and the other factions must provide fifty million each. Only then will this matter be put to rest."

"If you don't have enough spirit stones on you, you can pool them together."

"Remember, this is your blood-money! Otherwise, hehe, don't blame my fellow Southern Domain daoists for joining forces and leaving you here permanently. Hahaha!"

The surrounded leaders cursed Xiu Binggan’s ancestors eighteen generations back in their hearts, and they dragged the meddling Southern Domain cultivators into their vitriol as well.

If this wasn't being overbearing, then what was? Who could tell them what truly being overbearing meant?

Taishi Zheng now hated not only the Shura Mansion and the Southern Domain cultivators but even the dozens of factions that had only pretended to come and help. He had previously only needed to hand over eighty million spirit stones to leave; it was all the fault of these old fools that the price had been hiked to one hundred million.

In contrast, the Shura Mansion was filled with inexplicable excitement. Even the millions of Southern Domain cultivators who had come to the rescue were eyes-bright at Xiu Binggan’s words. They reasoned that if they hadn't come, the Shura Mansion would have been finished. Since such a vast fortune was being extorted, they certainly deserved a significant share. Unless the Shura Mansion was truly blind to the situation and wanted to invite the wrath of the masses, they would have to pay up.

"A friendly reminder: a stick of incense burns out very quickly!"

"After that, any faction still trapped in the encirclement will truly not be leaving. I will personally prepare a fine coffin for each of you."

Xiu Binggan was in high spirits, reveling in his triumph. The leaders of the dozens of factions had no choice but to bite the bullet and scrape together the funds, their hearts bleeding. After all, talking about tens of millions of spirit stones—who would carry so much on them?

A few factions with larger numbers quickly pooled their fifty million and slammed them toward Xiu Binggan. He caught them effortlessly, not at all angry, and immediately smiled, ordering his men to let those groups out of the encirclement. Once released, these groups left in such a hurry that they didn't even offer a parting greeting, fleeing back to their respective territories.

Seeing this, the remaining factions grew truly anxious. The leaders, with dark expressions, stripped every member of their groups of all their spirit stones just to scrape together the required amount.

Time passed quickly. One by one, the factions paid their ransoms and were released. Soon, aside from the Puppet Sect, only eight factions remained who hadn't managed to gather the required amount. They all turned their gloomy gazes toward Taishi Zheng.

"Brother Taishi, we only came to support your sect. Now we are still a bit short on stones, so..."

"No money!"

"Brother Taishi, if you're going to be like that, you're being truly unreasonable!"

"I said, no money!"

"Fine, you’re ruthless! Brothers, what do you say?"

"If you ask me, since we are all still short on spirit stones, and the Puppet Sect—whom we kindly came to assist—is being ungrateful and refusing to pay, maybe we could..."

"I think that works! I agree..."

"I second that!"

As they spoke, the remaining eight factions within the encirclement began to mobilize their own troops, forming a smaller circle that completely trapped the Puppet Sect in the center.

"You—you! Shameless!"

"Brother Taishi, you kept saying you had no money, so we were left with no choice."

"Besides, the gap we need to cover isn't that large. If you could just..."

"Hmph."

Seeing the eight factions turn their weapons toward his sect and clearly ready to fight, Taishi Zheng had to swallow his pride. After lingering over his storage ring with great reluctance, he finally gritted his teeth and threw a storage bag full of spirit stones at the eight factions. He then took out another, larger bag, not daring to look at it again, and threw it with great force toward Xiu Binggan.

...

With no external enemies left, the millions of Southern Domain daoists broke into thunderous cheers. Then came the highlight they had been waiting for: the distribution of the spirit stones. They had been counting every single bag Xiu Binggan caught. One hundred million from the Puppet Sect and fifty million from each of the forty-eight other factions—that was a staggering total of 2.5 billion spirit stones.

Who wouldn't be tempted? If divided equally, each person would receive over seven hundred shimmering spirit stones. Every single person, rogue or sect-affiliated, stared at Xiu Binggan with burning, greedy eyes.

Xiu Binggan’s expression was incredibly awkward. Even if he emptied the Shura Mansion several times over, they couldn't possibly come up with such a sum. Yet here it was, in his hands, collected openly before millions of eyes. He knew that if the Southern Domain forces hadn't arrived, not only would he not have collected a single stone, but his own men would likely have been wiped out. Thus, no matter how reluctant he was, he dared not provoke the wrath of the masses.

"Fellow daoists, I, Xiu Binggan, on behalf of the entire Shura Mansion, thank you all again for your help."

"I now have a total of 2.5 billion spirit stones, and I intend to distribute them equally among you all as a token of my gratitude."

As he finished speaking, the crowd watched as the Puppet Sect Master waved his hand, and a literal rain of spirit stones poured down from the sky. Each person quickly collected their seven hundred and ten spirit stones and bowed in thanks to Xiu Binggan.

In the end, the amount left for the Shura Mansion was a mere twenty million or so. Thinking of the 2.5 billion he had held just moments before, Xiu Binggan felt a deep, agonizing bitterness. He could only force a smile and nod as he acknowledged the thanks of the departing cultivators. Even his high-ranking officers and the surviving thirty thousand soldiers wore forced, bitter smiles, their hearts aching with loss.

As the spirit stone rain ended, the countless Southern Domain factions bowed and began to retreat, with the rogue cultivators being the quickest of all. To them, this was a joyous occasion. They had merely looked at a flyer, shown up to make an appearance, and shouted a few times—only to walk away with a handsome sum. The sects that had brought the most people were grinning from ear to ear; a simple trip had earned them tens of millions of spirit stones.

"Sect Master Nangong, may I ask how our fellow daoists of the Southern Domain were mobilized to come to our aid?"

"Replying to Master Xiu: I am not entirely sure about the others, but my Misty Sect received a flyer scattered outside our gates by your Elder Xiu Ji. We gathered our people and rushed here immediately."

"Xiu Ji? A flyer?"

As Sect Master Nangong Kang of the Misty Sect was preparing to lead his men away, Xiu Binggan finally transmitted his question, voicing the doubts of all his high-ranking members. Upon hearing that this was the work of his own elder—and after reading the flyer Nangong Kang handed him—his aged face was suddenly filled with profound gratification.