Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 672 - 661: Finders Keepers

The buff enhancement randomly dropped and improved something, but Jiang Yuan ignored it. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

It's not like he's grinding low-level creatures for ordinary materials. The evil cultivators were drained to ashes. Could their ashes somehow increase in quantity randomly?

Amused by the absurd thought that flashed through his mind, Jiang Yuan then understood the significance of the buff enhancement given by the system — after selecting another evil cultivator to drain their lifespan, the ashes blown away by the wind shimmered with silver light.

He couldn't see what it was, and it was automatically picked up into his storage bag.

[Evil Cultivator Beast Bone +3]

[Evil Cultivator Beast Bone: Essence of beast bones used by demon cultivators of the fallen evil path to enhance their bones with their lifetime of cultivation, can be ground into powder to feed animal evolution]

Meow meow meow?

There really was a drop! And it's a new material!

No wonder the rare animals newly purchased in the aviary and livestock pen could access the evolution interface, but the evolution materials were never found. Turns out they came from beast bones obtained from evil cultivators!

Seems like he hasn't killed enough evil cultivators; he never knew that after a body cultivator fortified their bones with a cultivation technique, rare materials could still drop.

Having tasted the sweetness, Jiang Yuan was more motivated than ever. While other cultivators hurried to Cold Spring Temple to claim the bounty orders and the just revealed evil cultivators were panicking, he struck first, leaving them wiped out!

As the entire city fell into turmoil, a sound like iron chains rubbing echoed from the suppressed fierce beast space under Cold Spring Temple, and then a loud voice excitedly said: "Slaughter? It's the smell of blood! I'm hungry! I want to eat meat!"

"Meat! Flesh and blood!"

"I've been hungry for a very, very long time!"

......

The echo buzzed around the ears as Abbot Faxiang sat cross-legged, his eyes slightly closed, and said expressionlessly, "Amitabha, calm your mind and listen to the teachings and meditate, only then can you dispel evil thoughts."

"What the hell! I'm hungry! I want to eat meat!"

Ignoring the opponent's angry roar, Faxiang continued from where he was interrupted by the demonic energy, "...all conditioned phenomena, like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning, thus should one observe them..."

The fierce beast hidden in the darkness was obviously annoyed by the monk's chanting to the point of a headache and cursed angrily: "Hey! Damn bald donkey, when I rise through the clouds one day, I'll definitely devour a few cities before my anger is appeased..."

The chanting drowned out the noise, and Faxiang remained unmoved, his monk robes fluttering as a golden image of a Vajra demon-subduing pestle condensed behind him.

The image grew larger and brighter, shining like a solid object, reaching over a hundred meters long as it rose into the air and struck down hard— "Bang!"

The fierce beast that cursed was abruptly silenced by a solid strike, then shouted furiously, "Damn bald donkey..."

"Bang!"

"Bald donkey..."

"Bang!"

"Bald..."

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Finally, the ears were at peace, as Faxiang calmly said, "Amitabha, blessings. If the benefactor is willing to listen, I can preach the Dharma; if not, I am also somewhat skilled in martial arts and can invite the benefactor to calm down and listen to the Dharma."

Whether it was genuinely knocked unconscious or pretending to be confused after defeat, in any case, the fierce beast dared not curse again, and Faxiang's chanting echoed through the vast space.

"Alas! Stubbornly clinging and insensible, what to do?" Faxiang sighed faintly after finishing a scripture.

Since he took over his master's mantle and became the abbot of Cold Spring Temple, he also inherited this ancient secret kept for thousands of years.

The monks in the temple all say that the abbot only manages big matters, and at other times he shuts himself in meditation, ignoring everything else. But who could know the cost of such seclusion?

Faxiang has silently guarded the fierce beast here for over a thousand years, seeing no hope of ascension and only a little more than a hundred years left of his lifespan, he must consider who will inherit the position of abbot next.

Zhiming is very good, with excellent talent and temperament, capable of taking on the heavy responsibility.

However, being chosen means never being able to leave the seclusion place again, binding one's remaining life with this fierce beast, either to outlast it or to convert it successfully.

From the first abbot guarding the fierce beast, it's been four generations and over seven thousand years.

Faxiang feels that outlasting or converting it isn't very likely, which means generation after generation of Cold Spring Temple's best Buddhist cultivators will give up the opportunity for ascension to Paradise, living out their lives here!

While it's true that monks must sever the three poisons of greed, hatred, and delusion, Faxiang still feels it's a pity for Zhiming to waste his life.

If he doesn't choose the best Zhiming, he's worried that if someone else can't handle the responsibility, the fierce beast might break free, leading to a massive catastrophe in the world!

Thinking back, when his master passed the mantle to him back then, he was probably just as anxious and conflicted.

"We have known each other for over a thousand years, listening to the scriptures day and night for all this time without removing a bit of hostility. I'm truly puzzled, where does such a great killing intent in the benefactor come from?" Faxiang sincerely asked, yet the other pretended to be dead, too lazy to even reply.

He sighed lightly and continued preaching, placing his hope in the profound Buddhist scriptures, hoping they might internalize a phrase or two, so his thousand-plus years wouldn't have been in vain.

The night deepened.

In Cold Spring City, however, the lights shone brightly amid the sounds of killing, blades and shadows mixed with cries and shouts, with bloodstains splattering as if the very purgatory had descended upon the mortal world.

"It's over, it's all over, what should I do?" Zhao Gui trembled and curled up in the deepest corner of the secret room, futilely patting away the evil aura emanating from his body that marked him as an Evil Cultivator.

But the Buddhist light which somehow entered his body did not extinguish, and the evil aura didn't dissipate, so he couldn't rid himself of the Evil Cultivator identity.

Zhao Gui, flying on his sword back home, revealed his true form halfway, scaring him into grabbing a Teleportation Talisman from his Storage Bag to escape, but the teleportation failed, and he was caught by a Demon Cultivator right in the city.

One after another were shouting things like "Zhao Gui is an Evil Cultivator" and "Evil Cultivators should all be executed," eager to block his way.

Luckily for him, more low-level Evil Cultivators also showed signs, and the street fell into chaos, allowing him to seize the chance to escape back to his mansion.

The Zhao family engaged in many disreputable trades, and to prevent leaks, all the people employed at the mansion were of like mind.

So, he watched as everyone exuded streams of evil aura in a state of panic.

His trusted follower, under Zhao Gui's orders, drugged Huang Niu'Er, healed his injuries, packed him up and sent him to a partner for three thousand Spirit Stones;

he hadn't even had the chance to claim credit before discovering his identity exposed, and the Teleportation Array that was functioning perfectly a moment ago suddenly failed!

Sounds of shouting and fighting came from the street, and the entire Zhao Mansion was in confusion and panic.

The panic was because the Patriarch had not returned, and without the highest Realm master holding the fort, how long could this rabble hold out?

The confusion was because everything had gone well for many years, so how did the Evil Cultivator identity suddenly get exposed?

"Young master, why are you still hiding here?" The follower, seeing the chaos, thought to take the opportunity to steal some treasures from the secret room to sneak out of the city. To his surprise, he found his master curled up in the corner as soon as he crawled in, so he hurriedly changed his tone and said anxiously: "I've been looking everywhere for you!

Quickly come out, the baldies from Cold Spring Temple issued a Bounty Order, and the city's cultivators are searching everywhere in groups of three or five. Hiding here will get you caught sooner or later; we'd be better off taking advantage of the chaos in the city by rallying together and charging outside—it might still afford us some hope!"

Zhao Gui couldn't make up his mind, as nearly all matters from childhood were decided by his father. Being used to relying on his father's decisions, he now faced with a life-and-death situation, was utterly clueless on what to decide.

The follower, however, had his own plan—Zhao Gui's Realm was higher and his evil aura was much stronger. If he drags Zhao Gui along, any righteous path encounters would prioritize attacking him first, allowing himself to slip away!

Evil Cultivators, by nature, have no moral compass, and band together for profit. When it comes to critical life-and-death junctures, it's every man for himself. Who'd stupidly stay loyal and risk everything for a useless master?

"What about my brothers?"

"Forget about those two young masters, each courtyard is preparing to charge out! Our courtyard has the fewest capable helpers, and if we don't mix into the larger group, we'll surely die when the Buddhist Cultivators from the temple arrive!"

"Alright, mingling in the crowd and being united will surely enhance our chances..." Zhao Gui was finally persuaded, emerging from the secret room with his trusted follower.

Indeed, amidst the chaos, the capable subordinates of his eldest brother had already gathered, ready to charge out of the city; once out of Cold Spring City, the vast world would offer endless possibilities!

"Quickly, quickly! The more people, the greater the odds! With our numbers, any cultivators who took the Bounty Order would have to think twice whether it's worth it!" Zhao Gui's elder brother, Zhao Fu, full of cunning, was rallying the crowd to gather, allowing himself to stay in the center for greater survival odds.

When he saw Zhao Gui approaching with a few scattered subordinates, he enthusiastically welcomed them: "Quickly join the group and hold the formation; those baldies will surely weigh the risks and leave us alone when they see our mighty force!"

Zhao Gui thought it made sense, and others also felt banding together was better than going alone, so they entered one after another.

Over a hundred Evil Cultivators congregated in the Zhao family's courtyard. The event spewed evil aura, black mist rolling, intimidating other cultivators from acting rashly.

"Charge! Charge!"

"Cut through to the west gate!"

"Move aside! I'm an Evil Cultivator who kills without blinking, get lost if you value your life..."

......

The Zhao family Evil Cultivators grew more arrogant as they relied on their numbers, swarming up and taking to the sky, the evil aura like a rolling black cloud from afar.

"Oh my, such a huge gang!" Other cultivators dared not venture forth, and even the Buddhist Cultivators from Cold Spring Temple were too occupied with their affairs, but Jiang Yuan picked up the scent and came from afar.

Catching so many Evil Cultivators at once was an unimaginable boon to him.

This kind of opportunity, dithering further would only mock my lifespan!

"Chaotic Heaven Bell!"

Jiang Yuan's eyes sparkled; before Dragon Roar Sword could fly over, having just pinpointed a target from afar, he casually threw out the Chaotic Heaven Bell from his Storage Bag.

As it spiraled and grew larger with each circle, before many Evil Cultivators realized what was happening, it trapped them with a booming "Duang"!

"What's happening?"

"What is this thing?"

"Get the hell off me; who's stepping on my head!"

"Quick, break it and escape, hurry up!"

........

The Chaotic Heaven Bell trapped some of the Evil Cultivators inside, while the rest scattered in all directions upon witnessing this.

Jiang Yuan, not bothering to deal with the captured ones, grabbed a Capture Net with each hand and swiftly caught any fleeing, tossing them into his preset Chaotic Heaven Bell that only allowed him passage, sealing them in to squabble as they liked.

It was imperative to capture fleeing Evil Cultivators, for whomever seized them claimed ownership!