Chapter 276

Chapter 276: Dividing the Spoils

"What, what is happening?" Mr. Suan Mei asked in shock.

"Hehe, it’s nothing, just a simple matter of control!" Fang Lie replied with a smile. "From now on, this guy will be my loyal dog!"

As he spoke, Fang Lie reached out to pat the bald head of the Man-Eating Demon Monk.

If the Man-Eating Demon Monk still had his mind, he would probably have been outraged by Fang Lie’s gesture. But unfortunately, his mind had been completely controlled, turning him into a puppet. So when he heard Fang Lie’s words, instead of being angry, he respectfully lowered his head and said, "Yes, Master!"

Mr. Suan Mei and the Seven Dragon True Immortals were stunned; they never imagined that this proud and arrogant figure, who roamed freely across the seas, could be turned into a puppet so easily. It was simply incredible!

Fang Lie, however, didn’t waste any time with more talk and directly commanded, "Kill all your subordinates."

"Yes, Master!" the Man-Eating Demon Monk uttered and then activated the deadly poison within him.

In the next moment, they saw the crowd from Chongming Ancient Temple, who were fleeing in the distance, crying out in heart-wrenching screams as they fell from the sky like dumplings.

"Hahaha~" Fang Lie laughed heartily. "Everyone, what are you waiting for? The time to collect our rewards has come!"

With that, he excitedly soared into the air, ready to gather the spoils of war.

Mr. Suan Mei and the Seven Dragon True Immortals snapped back to reality and hurriedly flew over, eager to start retrieving the Sumeru Bags from the bodies in the sea.

In just a quarter of an hour, they had collected all the Sumeru Bags and then gathered on the treasure ship that had sailed from Chongming Ancient Temple.

This was a Fifth Rank treasure ship, over fifty zhang long, made entirely of dragon beard wood, with a tower resembling an ancient temple and adorned with statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, clearly reflecting the design style of the Buddhist Sect.

The ship was named Chongming Thirteen, one of a series of treasure ships crafted by the monks of Chongming Ancient Temple during ancient times.

Though it was not the strongest and came from mass production, it was still an outstanding vessel among its peers.

Being a treasure ship of the Buddhist Sect, it naturally possessed Buddhist light. Its speed might not be the fastest, but it was undoubtedly the sturdiest.

Especially with the solidified Buddhist Formation on board, which was incredibly tough to break and exhibited heightened power against evil forces.

Additionally, this ship was embedded with a special divine skill from the Buddhist Sect, capable of summoning a shadow of the eight-armed Vajra, which boasted combat power akin to that of an ordinary Fire Tribulation Immortal, making it terrifyingly strong.

One could say that such a treasure ship was precious, and many of its techniques were lost even to the four great Buddhist temples of today.

It was a pity that such a fine treasure had fallen into the hands of a demon like the Man-Eating Demon Monk.

As soon as Fang Lie boarded the ship, he immediately caught a whiff of fragrant incense, reviving the spirits of everyone after a long battle.

Then, Mr. Suan Mei took a moment to inspect and exclaimed, "What a wonderful ship! Even after thousands of years without any offerings, it still carries such a fragrance of zen. Just think of the effort that must have gone into crafting it. Luckily, the visitors are a bunch of false monks; if they were true high monks, they could activate the special formation on board and summon the Buddha’s shadow. Our chances of winning this battle would then be in question."

"Hehe~" Fang Lie smiled slightly and said, "Since you like it, this item will temporarily belong to you. You’ll need a good treasure ship for your journeys at sea!"

Mr. Suan Mei was overjoyed at this and said, "Really? Thank you so much, island lord!" Without hesitation, he hurried to the center to begin refining it.

In fact, just like the Seven Star Soul Lock Formation, this treasure was only temporarily borrowed and not a gift. However, the duration of this borrowing was almost unlimited; unless they chose to leave Fang Lie and no longer serve as his disciples, Fang Lie would never take it back, effectively gifting it to them. That was why Mr. Suan Mei was so excited.

Of course, this was also a means of gaining loyalty. Mr. Suan Mei had limited combat strength but was a rare formation master, with the ability to predict outcomes, making him valuable compared to any of the Seven Dragon True Immortals.

Since Fang Lie had given such great benefits to the Seven Dragon True Immortals, he would certainly do the same for Mr. Suan Mei.

Moreover, Mr. Suan Mei had made significant contributions today; he was the only one who had suffered heavy losses and endured heavy injuries, so Fang Lie naturally had to reward him well. Otherwise, who would serve him in the future?

While Mr. Suan Mei refined the treasure ship, Fang Lie instructed Little Peach Red to set up a fine banquet and drink a few cups with the Seven Dragon True Immortals in celebration.

Of course, the primary purpose was to use the Spiritual Energy contained in the Low-Level Beast meals to replenish the magic of the Immortals.

The Man-Eating Demon Monk was not much of a threat, but the Bright Pearl was another matter; sealing it had drained over half the magic power of the Seven Dragon True Immortals. Thus, their combat strength was now halved, posing a serious danger in the perilous sea!

The Low-Level Beast meals were all prepared and given to Little Peach Red for safekeeping, so now they just had to take them out.

The meal, worth tens of millions of spirit stones, was enough for ten Wind Tribulation Immortals. In the past, the Seven Dragon True Immortals were so poor they could hardly afford such things, but after following Fang Lie, they enjoyed a feast every few days. They felt so joyful to be with such a generous master.

When the meal was served, everyone became less formal, raising their cups to toast Fang Lie and then they all began to drink heartily together.

After a few rounds of drinks, everyone was hungry, so they quickly started eating.

Half an hour later, Mr. Suan Mei finally refined the treasure ship and quickly steered it toward Chongming Ancient Temple, expecting to arrive in just over an hour.

He hurried over to join the banquet.

Fang Lie and the Seven Dragon True Immortals knew that the real hero of the day was Mr. Suan Mei, so they respectfully poured him several cups of wine, showering him with praises, which made Mr. Suan Mei so happy that he couldn’t stop smiling.

After a few rounds, Fang Lie took out the Sumeru Bag of the Man-Eating Demon Monk and smiled, saying, "I feel undeserving of the Bright Pearl, but thankfully this fellow should have rich resources and won’t let us down."

With that, Fang Lie began pulling out items one by one.

First, he brought out five small Sumeru Bags, all filled with spirit stones, of all ranks—upper, middle, and lower—stacked high like mountains.

High-level cultivators no longer had use for these, so Mr. Suan Mei waved his hand and said, "The Fire Spirit Peak of the master needs a massive amount of spirit stones. I can’t use them, so I don’t want them!"

"We don’t want them either!" the Wind Dragon True Immortal also expressed for the others.

"Thank you!" Fang Lie returned the gesture and collected everything.

Next, he pulled out another Sumeru Bag containing over fifty thousand small spirit pearls, hundreds of medium-sized spirit pearls, and a large fire element spirit pearl the size of a walnut, radiating a captivating glow.

Seeing so many spirit pearls, everyone gasped in surprise.

Mr. Suan Mei forced a smile and said, "Although I knew the Man-Eating Demon Monk was incredibly wealthy, I never expected he would be this rich!"

"The last time we dealt with Ghost-Eating Monster Granny, she was only able to gather a few thousand small spirit pearls just to reclaim the Thousand Souls Banner!" the Wind Dragon True Immortal added, "But look at this guy; he carries over fifty thousand spirit pearls with him! Who knows how much he has hidden in his lair! It’s infuriating how rich some people are!"

Fang Lie frowned and remarked, "Ordinary Wind Tribulation Immortals usually have two or three thousand small spirit pearls on hand, considering that they are wealthy, but he has so many! Isn’t that excessive? Could it be that Chongming Ancient Temple has some special products?"

"Hmph~" Mr. Suan Mei let out a cold laugh and said, "Does Chongming Ancient Temple have special products? It merely has more Spiritual Energy, suitable for growing spirit pills. But how could such significant wealth be accumulated from farming?"

"Keep in mind, there are nearly 20 Wind Tribulation Immortals in the entire Chongming Ancient Temple, each with a sixth-rank treasure, and there are hundreds of Nascent Soul True Immortals and Purple Palace realm cultivators, all well-equipped and extraordinary. Plus, considering their daily cultivation expenses, the numbers are substantial. The mere few tens of thousands of acres of Spiritual Fields in Chongming Ancient Temple couldn’t support them!" Mr. Suan Mei analyzed.

"Since they can’t support themselves, where does their wealth come from?" Fang Lie curiously asked.

"Ha-ha, it naturally comes from the tributes of various places!" Mr. Suan Mei chuckled. "The local powers must pay their respects to it every year. Just the Four Seas Alliance has to give him ten thousand small spirit pearls annually, or else he’ll lead his men to rob your shops and treasure ships, ruining your business!"

"Ha~" Fang Lie laughed and said, "So it’s a protection fee!"

"Exactly!" Mr. Suan Mei shrugged. "He has the backing of Master Tianlong and the Great Thunder Sound Temple; even the Thunder Tribulation Immortal dare not provoke him easily, so they can only pay to avoid disaster!"

"Wow, this money really comes easily!" Fang Lie said with a bitter smile. "As far as I know, the Four Seas Alliance has a net profit of only ten thousand small spirit pearls a year, and they have to give him a full ten thousand. That’s extortion!"

"But it’s still good, considering the Four Seas Alliance is backed by the Thunder Tribulation Immortal. Those smaller forces without such powerful backers are the ones in deep trouble, often losing everything. Nearby, dozens of smaller powers have been wiped out by the Man-Eating Demon Monk for failing to pay those exorbitant protection fees!" Mr. Suan Mei sighed. "This time, we are also avenging those who died unjustly!"

"That bastard truly deserves to die!" Fang Lie cursed, then unceremoniously collected all the fire element small spirit pearls, saying, "I need this for my Fire Spirit Peak, so I won’t be polite! You all can divide the rest!"

"Ha-ha~ Thank you, island lord!" The others didn’t mind and all expressed their thanks, then divided the remaining spirit pearls according to their numbers.

As for the hundreds of medium and large spirit pearls, before Fang Lie could say anything, Mr. Suan Mei quickly said, "Island lord, these are all yours. We wouldn’t feel right taking them this time!"

After all, the success of this endeavor was mainly due to Fang Lie. Without his borrowed Seven Star Soul Lock Formation, they couldn’t have taken down the Man-Eating Demon Monk. Moreover, he was their master, bearing the pressure from the Great Thunder Sound Temple and Master Tianlong, so it was only fair for him to take the bigger share.

Seeing this, Fang Lie decided not to be polite and quickly collected everything.

Next, he took out three sixth-rank top-grade treasures: an eight-foot-long black soul-splitting spear, green dragon scale armor, and an ancient bronze mirror.