Flaxseed and the others no longer needed to lift a finger, they merely waited for the haul to be brought out.
“Jared, you’re getting better at grandstanding every day. When we head to Bloodshadow Palace next, how about letting me show off?” Flaxseed called out with a broad grin.
Jared glanced at him, smiling faintly. “Mr. Flaxseed, is it because you know that everyone in Bloodshadow Palace happens to be a woman?”
“I know nothing about that, I just want my turn to show off!” Flaxseed hastily shook his head.
“Fine, you can take point, but I’m worried you’ll hesitate when the opponents are all female.”
“Relax, when have I ever balked at dealing with women? I’ll charm them first, and if they still refuse to surrender, I’ll finish the job. It’d be a shame to waste the chance!” Flaxseed ended his words with a lecherous chuckle.
Destiny Sect had stood as a big sect for ten millennia, its hidden foundations ran unimaginably deep.
Before long, the group unearthed the sect’s treasure vault inside the mountain’s heart.
The vault‘s massive doors, wrought from ten-thousand-year mithril and layered with intricate arcane wards, shattered like glass when Jared flicked his wrist.
As the heavy doors swung open, everyone froze, awestruck by the spectacle within. Celestial gems lay in miniature mountains, high-grade, supreme-grade, each heap casting dazzling rays of multicolored light.
Every wall bristled with magical items: flying swords, mystical armor, formation plates, charms, an endless armory of power.
Neatly aligned Jade boxes filled shelf after shelf, each cradling rare mystical herbs and pills, several containing ten-thousand-year spiritual medicines already on the verge of gaining sentience.
“Good heavens… How many resources is this?” Flaxseed swallowed hard, his eyes threatening to pop from their sockets.
Even Jhaelyn and Jemima, accustomed to plenty, had never glimpsed such an ocean of wealth, shock spread across their faces.
Jared strode into the vault. His gaze swept the treasure trove, yet his expression scarcely changed. To him, these riches, while precious, mattered only insofar as they could hasten his ascent in strength.
With a lazy wave, opened the Pentacarna Tower, and the vault’s contents began streaming inside in a ceaseless torrent.
Celestial gems, pills, mystical herbs, anything in sight vanished into the tower’s depths.
Within moments, the once-overflowing treasury stood empty, its smooth stone walls gleaming bare.
Jared did not hoard everything, however. He set aside a cache of magical items and weapons for Azurecloud Sect.
Such items offered little benefit now, his own arsenal far outclassed these trinkets.
Bestowing those treasures upon Azurecloud Sect would secure their loyalty and ensure they threw themselves wholeheartedly into any task assigned.
Once every last resource had been swept up, Jared and his companions departed the place that the Destiny Sect had once called home, leaving the mountain in ruined silence.
Behind them, the ruined sweep of Destiny Peak lay desolate beneath the dying sunlight, every broken stone seeming to mourn the tragic downfall of a once-majestic sect.
Hardly had Jared and his companions departed when several shadowy figures melted out of the gloom.
“That kid again, he’s already wiped out two sects in a row!” One of the dark-clad figures spoke, a deep frown creasing his brow.
These figures belonged to the same mysterious organization whose member Jared had wounded before.
The injured man had returned with reinforcements, tracking Jared all the way, though Jared himself remained oblivious to the pursuit.
***
At that very moment, Jared was heading straight toward Bloodshadow Palace.
“Jared, you promised me, Bloodshadow Palace is mine. Don’t you lift a finger. If you start swinging and people get killed, I would die of regret.” Flaxseed issued the reminder as they traveled.
“Relax… I’m pretty sure they can die without my help. Have your fun first, we’ll finish things afterward,” Jared answered, his tone both resigned and faintly amused.
“Mr. Flaxseed, Bloodshadow Palace has more than ten thousand members. Can you handle them all on your own?” Everett asked in a guarded whisper.
“How many?” Flaxseed Jerked upright. “Over ten thousand female cultivators?”
For a heartbeat looked utterly perplexed; even if wore himself out, could never manage to sleep with that many women.
“That is… Quite the crowd.” He pressed his brows together. “Perhaps I’ll start killing off the less beautiful ones first, they deserve swift justice… I’ll leave the prettier ladies for last; that sounds fair enough.”
