A few hours later, Fire clone broke through the protective formation of the cave abode, effortlessly looting all the treasures inside. He then brought the bulging storage bag to Long Xuan, who was overjoyed and immediately snatched it away.
“So fast?”
He eagerly opened the storage bag and glanced inside. Seeing the three cultivation techniques and the Soul Nourishing Tree, his eyes narrowed, and his smile widened.
“Well done. Now, go back and transplant this Soul Nourishing Wood into my herb garden.”
“Make sure to guard it with a formation. Don’t let those little creatures ruin it.”
Long Xuan tossed the storage bag back to Fire clone.
The Sou Gu house couldn’t be used here, but it could be used outside. Otherwise, Long Qian wouldn’t have brought them over via teleportation.
However, to use the Sou Gu house outside, they still needed to figure out how to get rid of the Long Clan overseers. Long Xuan's eyes flickered as a plan formed in his mind.
...
Outside.
Three Long Clan overseers in the Spiritual Sea Realm sat around a table, which was laden with a sumptuous feast. There was roasted chicken, duck, a whole roasted lamb, and fine wine—everything one could imagine.
After two and a half years of lockdown, these three Long Clan Gu cultivators were utterly exhausted from a life of eating dirt and drinking urine. They were terrified of starving again.
So, ever since the lockdown in Blackstone City was lifted, they had been indulging in revengeful consumption—eating and drinking the best every day, trying to make up for the hardships of the past few years.
“Boss, something’s not right. Lately, we haven’t found a single piece of Geng Metal, and even the Geng Metal output has dropped drastically.”
At the table, Long Zhan bit fiercely into a chicken leg as he spoke.
Long Gang, who was sitting at the head of the table, frowned slightly, somewhat uncertain. “Mining Geng Metal is a matter of luck. Fluctuations in output are normal.”
“That’s not quite right,” Long Xunhuan said after taking a sip of his wine, looking toward the Bai Clan’s direction. “Look over there. They have far fewer mining zones than we do, yet their Geng Metal output is much higher than ours.”
“Yesterday, they even dug up a piece of Geng Metal Essence. The miner who found it was rewarded handsomely by them. I was envious just watching.”
The two others looked toward the Bai Clan’s direction and saw that their yield was indeed much higher. They instantly felt a sense of injustice.
Why was it that their side had the largest portion of the vein, yet the Bai Clan was getting more out of it? It didn’t seem fair.
“Could it be that they just got lucky and all the richest zones happened to fall into their hands? While we, despite grabbing most of the zones, only got the poor-quality ones?”
Long Gang’s face darkened, and the food on the table suddenly didn’t taste so good.
Long Zhan tossed away the chicken bone in his hand and hesitantly said, “That could be the case. After all, the mining zones were assigned by drawing lots. Maybe they just got lucky and picked the richest zones.”
“Still, I think we should go check the mine after we finish this meal. There could be some other reason for the drop.”
The other two nodded in agreement, and they decided to inspect the mine after eating.
Just then, Long Xuan emerged from the mine, walking toward them with a serious expression, as if he had something important to say.
“If we submit this Image Record Gu now, the City Lord will certainly take a conciliatory stance, smooth things over, and perhaps offer us some compensation. But in the end, nothing substantial will happen.”
“We can’t let those wolves get off so easily. I won’t rest until they pay dearly. So, we cannot submit this Gu.”
Looking at the Image Record Gu in his hand, Long Gang smiled wickedly. “Don’t you think this is a perfect opportunity for a righteous act of killing and seizing treasure? A chance like this won’t come again.”
“We don’t need to do anything. We’ll just wait for them to fall into the trap. When they come to kill us, we can legally defend ourselves and kill them in return. Along the way, we can seize their treasures, including the large amounts of Geng Metal ore and Geng Metal Essence they’ve extracted.”
“I’ve discovered that this Image Record Gu has the ability to record from a long distance. It can capture the Bai Clan’s night raid on us in full.”
“Then, we’ll take the recording to the City Lord and claim self-defense, saying we accidentally went too far. No one will blame us.”
“On the contrary, with the Great Yin Dynasty invasion looming, the City Lord will be keen to maintain peace in the city. He’ll certainly suppress the Bai Clan’s aggression against us.”
“All we have to do is sit back and watch. The City Lord will handle everything for us, covering up the matter. This is what we call 'fighting fire with fire.'”
Hearing this, both Long Zhan and Long Xunhuan were stunned. They exchanged surprised glances at Long Gang.
They thought to themselves, “This Long Gang, with his thick eyebrows and honest appearance, is far more devious than we expected. His plan is ruthless. He’s aiming to eliminate all six Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators from the Bai Clan in one fell swoop. The Bai Clan will surely go mad!”
Long Zhan and Long Xunhuan exchanged looks, and Long Zhan excitedly slapped his thigh, exclaiming, “Brilliant! This plan is simply brilliant!”
“That’s the way to deal with those wolves. We must make sure they can’t walk away from this!”
Long Xunhuan also smiled darkly. “You’ve thought this through thoroughly, even factoring in the City Lord’s mindset. You’re right. We can execute this plan without hesitation. Even if we kill all the Bai Clan Gu cultivators here, the City Lord will cover for us. Haha...”
He was even more ruthless, now harboring the idea of exterminating all the Bai Clan Gu cultivators present. With the City Lord backing them, he was completely fearless.
Long Gang nodded with a cold smile, saying, “Since we’re all in agreement, let’s start making arrangements.”
“I’ll hide this Image Record Gu in a discreet location. Additionally, the three of us should each contact three close allies—ones who can fight. That way, we’ll have twelve Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators in total.”
“They have six Spiritual Sea-level Gu cultivators. We’ll have twice their numbers, enough to create a two-on-one situation.”
“With traps set in advance, we’re sure to win. Once they’re trapped inside the defensive formation guarding the mine, they won’t escape.”
“Haha! They’ll never expect us to have developed the ability to teleport living beings over long distances. Our reinforcements can arrive instantly.”
“Even if they plan to attack us tonight, we’ll have enough manpower to take them down.”
“Haha, when they see how many people we have hidden in the building, they’ll be utterly shocked.”
“I’m looking forward to their expressions. This time, we’ll make sure they can’t walk away from this!”
Long Gang slammed the table with excitement, his eyes filled with a fierce light. The killing intent spread throughout the room.
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