Translator: AnubisTL
"Ha ha ha, we've caught another smuggler and confiscated a storage ring worth about eight million!"
"This guy reacted pretty quickly. As soon as we surrounded him, he immediately threw out the storage ring!"
"Little did he know, Captain Bai was well-prepared and had arranged for seven or eight people to specifically watch for the storage ring. The moment he threw it, before it could even hit the swamp, we intercepted it."
"Haha, the guy was completely dumbfounded, his face a picture of shock, muttering: 'Was it really necessary to go to such lengths for a storage ring?'"
"For ordinary people, as long as their entire body isn't submerged in the swamp, they can usually free themselves. For us, as long as not the entire team is trapped, we can get out."
"Boss Gu, this is our Mystic Artifact—a rope that connects seven or eight people together!"
A cultivator proudly pulled out a rope and waved it in front of Gu Feng. "With this Mystic Artifact, as long as the storage ring falls into the swamp for more than five breaths, we can retrieve it."
"The most extreme case was when eight people connected by the rope, seven of them were completely submerged in the swamp, leaving the last one terrified!"
"..."
The storage ring Chu Youhuan obtained was like a miraculous pill, opening up the Swamp Army's potential. From then on, they had almost daily successes.
During their operations, they also developed some tricks, boosting the morale of the entire team, with everyone's faces filled with excitement.
"How's the damage to the 'Sky Net'?" Gu Feng asked with a smile. 'Sky Net' was the name he gave to this large net.
As for why it was called Sky Net instead of Earth Net, because Sky Net is awesome!
"Out of two hundred 'Sky Nets', more than half are lost. Most were destroyed by smugglers, a few sank into the swamp due to broken vines, and a couple were torn by our own people in the heat of the moment during the encirclement..."
Chu Youhuan said softly. She had also been fighting on the front lines every day, with a hint of fatigue between her brows.
"The 'Sky Net' is about probability. Having fewer nets won't be effective; we need to maintain a stable number of around five hundred!" Gu Feng didn't care about the damaged nets.
The harvest from just the first storage ring alone exceeded the cost of two hundred 'Sky Nets'. These high-grade mortal tools are consumables anyway; once damaged, they're not worth repairing.
"Alright, everyone's been tired these past ten days. Let's all rest for the next twelve hours, recharge, and then get back to work.
I'll take a few people to the Sharp Edge Army to sell our recent harvests, and also to craft a few hundred more Sky Nets. More importantly, I want to inquire about the price of a Spiritual Energy Purification Array...
Many of our brothers and sisters here are starting to show signs of dark energy between their brows. This isn't sustainable in the long run. With a Spiritual Energy Purification Array, everyone can recover their strength inside it, and even cultivate!"
After sprinkling a bit of motivational talk, Gu Feng took Chu Youhuan and a dozen others and left, leaving the rest of the team energized.
As the workload increased, the consumption of pills also skyrocketed. Continuing like this, the cost in pills would far exceed ten million per month.
Rather than that, it would be better to invest in a Spiritual Energy Purification Array—a one-time investment for permanent benefits.
"Senior Zhu, I remember you saying that besides alchemy, you're a jack of all trades!" Gu Feng softly asked the Thunder Spirit Grass on his chest.
"Now you remember me? Look, just a few days into the swamp, and my once lush green leaves have turned like this," Zhu Qingyan's voice came through with a hint of grievance.
Gu Feng looked down and grinned. Since entering the swamp, Zhu Qingyan's leaves had taken on a faint black hue and some yellowing.
"Check the Storage Ring for any Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures, help yourself!" As he spoke, Gu Feng opened the Storage Ring and placed it in front of Zhu Qingyan.
"At least you have a conscience!" Zhu Qingyan spat lightly, extending a leaf into the Storage Ring to search for Thunder Attribute Natural Treasures, then began absorbing and refining them.
"Ah~~~, refreshing!" After a while, Zhu Qingyan let out a contented exhale.
"Creating such an Array Formation is a piece of cake for me. Gather the materials, and I'll help you craft it—a mid-grade spirit-level composite Array Formation, the Spirit Purification and Qi Locking Formation, combining purification and spirit gathering!"
"Senior Zhu, you're amazing!" Gu Feng's face lit up with joy as he whispered softly.
His expressions, sometimes frowning, sometimes smiling, were all noticed by Chu Youhuan beside him, who couldn't help but show a hint of shyness: "Just a Thunder Spirit Grass, is it really that precious?"
...
Central Camp of the Sharp Edge Army!
"Reporting to General Ning, Gu Feng and Chu Youhuan of the Swamp Army request an audience!"
Upon hearing his subordinate's report, General Ning put down the document in his hand, which had been delivered to him five days ago.
The document's content was about the 100-year management rights of the swamp area.
The reason it hadn't been promptly delivered to Gu Feng was due to an added clause: within 100 years, regardless of any circumstances, Gu Feng must be responsible for a 10-kilometer border line within the swamp.
In short, unless he perished, Gu Feng had to personally or send someone to guard this border line for 100 years.
This requirement was both simple and challenging. Who could endure 100 years in the swamp? Not just Gu Feng, even General Ning himself couldn't guarantee he could hold out there for a century!
Even if he hired someone to guard it, Gu Feng would have to pay a hefty price.
That area might well become a burden Gu Feng couldn't shake off for a century.
"Let them in!" General Ning waved his hand and then sat back in his chair, waiting quietly.
"Greetings, General Ning!"
"Take a seat!"
General Ning tilted his head, observing the two. From their expressions, he could see fatigue, which he interpreted as resignation.
Giving up? Indeed, they should. A wise choice.
Though he felt a bit disappointed, he quickly adjusted his mindset.
"Don't worry, this was expected. Even internally, no one held much hope, and I believe Prefect Chu will understand!" General Ning's voice was low, with a comforting tone.
Gu Feng and Chu Youhuan exchanged glances, silently communicating.
Gu Feng: What does he mean? Did something go wrong?
Chu Youhuan: Not sure—
"General Ning, what do you mean?"
"Aren't you here to say goodbye?"
"Of course not—" Gu Feng let out a bitter laugh, finally realizing that their hasty arrival had given General Ning the false impression that they were retreating.
"We're here to inquire about trading military supplies!" Gu Feng got straight to the point, stating their purpose.
Beside him, Chu Youhuan, fearing further misunderstandings, immediately signaled Gu Feng to take out the confiscated goods.
"General Ning, please take a look. These are the illegal goods we've seized over the past ten days. We'd like to trade them for the supplies we need!"
Seeing the more than twenty storage rings in Gu Feng's hands, General Ning was momentarily stunned.
Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, he quickly stepped forward and opened one of the storage rings.
With just a glance, his sharp eyes recognized that these items were specialties of the Chu Kingdom and were also in short supply in Great Li. There was no doubt that these were smuggled goods.
"Did you take down a smuggling ring?" General Ning asked in astonishment.
He had been in charge of the three-thousand-mile defense line for over a decade and had sent troops into the swampy regions no fewer than five times.
Apart from occasional minor gains, most of the time they had come back empty-handed. Roughly estimating, including the compensation paid for the soldiers lost in those operations, the total losses over the past ten years amounted to nearly two billion.
He couldn't believe that Gu Feng and his team had achieved such results in just a few days.
The goods in these storage rings were worth no less than 150 million, an unprecedented haul for that stretch of the border.
"There's no smuggling ring. With our strength, even if we discovered one, we wouldn't be able to intercept it," Gu Feng said with a smile.
"We've been seizing one or two storage rings every day, and over ten days, it's added up to this much," Chu Youhuan added.
"Every day?" General Ning's face was filled with disbelief.
In fact, he even found it somewhat amusing. When had these smugglers become so inept?
Falling into Gu Feng's hands once or twice could be attributed to luck, but being caught consistently for over ten days? That had to be skill.
"You managed to catch smugglers with that trashy Mortal Grade artifact?" General Ning recalled the day Gu Feng had crafted a large net at the artifact forge. After Master Pang delivered it, he had reported it to General Ning.
He distinctly remembered being stunned when he heard that Gu Feng had crafted a Mortal Grade Spirit Artifact, thinking he must have misheard.
Using a Mortal Grade Spirit Artifact to capture smugglers who were at least in the Postnatal Realm was like trying to catch deep-sea sharks with an ordinary fishing net—utterly futile.
In fact, after confirming it with Master Pang, he had even cursed Gu Feng a few times.
He hadn't expected to be proven wrong so quickly. Fortunately, he hadn't scolded Gu Feng to his face, or he'd be feeling quite awkward now.
"How did you do it? Tell me!" General Ning put on a look of intense curiosity.
"Well—it's actually quite simple... Of course, such a big haul was mainly due to everyone's hard work.
It's a pity that our team only has Senior Sister Chu in the Innate Realm. Otherwise, those Innate Realm smugglers wouldn't have escaped!" Gu Feng said with some regret.
General Ning's mouth twitched. The method was too simple, almost crude.
No, that wasn't quite accurate. It was more that the approach was novel.
Unlike other officers who were fixated on the grade of Spirit Artifacts, Gu Feng had gone the opposite route, using disposable nets to mark the smugglers and then surrounding them!
"This method is excellent. How come my incompetent subordinates never thought of it?" General Ning suddenly slapped the table in front of him, the loud sound startling Gu Feng.
Gu Feng pursed his lips, wanting to say: Those subordinates may be incompetent, but didn't you also fail to think of it?
"Ah—it seems I was overly worried. You all truly have remarkable skills!" General Ning sighed.
"Hehe, just a small trick, hardly worth mentioning! Now, General Ning, you can put your worries to rest," Gu Feng subtly boasted.
"No, I'm even more concerned now. If I really give you this document, I fear it might become a future headache for the Chu Kingdom!" General Ning smiled, waving the document about the century-long management rights of the swamp area.
...
The profits during this period, converted into low-grade spirit stones, amounted to over 180 million.
Following Zhu Qingyan's request, Gu Feng spent 50 million to purchase the materials needed for refining the 'Spirit Purification and Qi Locking Formation.'
Since driving such an array required mid-grade spirit artifacts, Gu Feng exchanged 10 million low-grade spirit stones for 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones.
Finally, he splurged another 20 million to acquire four hundred 'Sky Nets'!
After completing all this, he brought some food and spirit wine back to the swamp.
"Brothers and sisters, I have some earth-shattering good news for you. I'm preparing to refine an array called the 'Spirit Purification and Qi Locking Formation.' This array has dual functions of purifying spiritual energy and gathering it. It's a mid-grade array, and just the materials alone cost 50 million low-grade spirit stones. To power the array, I exchanged another 10 million low-grade spirit stones for 100,000 mid-grade spirit stones...
Once successfully refined, it can cover an area of 500 meters, purifying the spiritual energy within and even gathering the spiritual energy of the entire swamp.
From then on, not only can you recover your strength within the array, but you can also cultivate!!" Gu Feng announced loudly to everyone.
"What? A mid-grade spirit gathering array with a purifying function? Does that mean we can also improve our cultivation here?" a Postnatal Realm cultivator exclaimed in delight.
"Such an array, not to mention the precious materials, the array itself is probably worth several billion!" another cultivator, who had some knowledge of arrays, said solemnly.
"It's not that expensive, just three billion!" Gu Feng shamelessly boasted.
"Wow—"
The crowd gasped in astonishment.
"Is Boss Gu also a master of array formations?"
"I heard your alchemy skills are exceptional, known as the dual cultivator of alchemy and martial arts in the outer sect of the Sunset Glow Sect, and even won first place in an alchemy competition. I didn't expect your array skills to be so extraordinary!"
"..."
"Stay humble, stay humble. I didn't want to show off, intending to live among you as an ordinary person, but my abilities just wouldn't allow it! Today, I'm done pretending. I'm laying it all out—I'm a master of array formations!" Gu Feng was completely carried away, while Zhu Qingyan in his chest looked at him with utter disdain.
"Alright, I'll take care of the array. Now, let's distribute the rewards I promised earlier!"
"First, let's invite our Senior Sister Chu to receive her reward!"
For the achievements so far, Chu Youhuan had contributed greatly. Out of the 180 million profits, her team alone accounted for 100 million.
"Boss Gu, you've worked hard too. Let's forget about the 5% commission!"
"Indeed, just this mid-grade Spirit Gathering Array is incredibly precious. Outside, it would cost at least 500 Low-grade Spirit Stones a day to cultivate within it!"
"Even without the commission, we still receive cultivation resources every month. Our treatment already surpasses that of most Inner Sect disciples in other sects!"
"We absolutely cannot take your commission anymore. Let's earn money together and cultivate together. How wonderful!"
"..."
Chu Youhuan, who had approached Gu Feng and extended her hand, froze her smile upon hearing the discussions, silently weeping inside.
Was this not a form of moral coercion? Those who were the most vocal were the teams that had gained nothing.
Five million in commission! She had never seen so much money in her life.
"What do you all think?" she turned her head and softly asked the members of her team.
"Senior Sister Chu, forget it. Gu Feng has invested a lot too."
"We don't want the commission."
"..."
"Senior Sister Chu, take your commission!" Gu Feng gently reminded, a triumphant smile in his eyes.
"You're ruthless! I didn't expect you to skip the trickery and directly sell sentiment!" Chu Youhuan gritted her teeth and softly scolded.
Then, she turned to everyone, her smile blooming, "You're all right. I was also thinking that this commission really shouldn't be taken..."
"Long live the Swamp Army!"
"Hail the Swamp Army!"
Zhu Qingyan wasn't boasting this time; her mastery of Array Formations was truly exceptional.
In just three days, she completed the 'Spirit Purification and Qi Locking Array.'
The moment the array was activated, everyone entered it, freely absorbing the pure and dense Spiritual Energy, their faces beaming with joy.
"Senior Zhu, you're amazing!"
"It's you who's amazing. I'm just a Spirit Herb... haven't you noticed how they're almost worshipping you as a deity?" Zhu Qingyan said with a hint of jealousy.
"Why sigh? In just a month, you've created such a scale in the swamp. What more could you be dissatisfied with?" Seeing Gu Feng sigh lightly, Chu Youhuan walked over and pouted.
"Barely satisfied, but it's far from enough!"
This wasn't just bravado. Given the current situation, defeating Shu Yuheng by the end of the year was indeed far from sufficient.
By then, Shu Yuheng would likely have truly reached the Spirit Nurturing Realm. For Gu Feng to defeat him, he would need at least the seventh level of the Innate Realm, and to ensure victory, possibly the eighth level.
Cultivating in the Postnatal Realm still required over 500 million Low-grade Spirit Stones, and reaching the seventh level of the Innate Realm would require 7 billion Low-grade Spirit Stones.
Subtracting the 2 billion promised by the Myriad Harmony Guild, at least 5.5 billion more were needed!
At the current pace, it was definitely not feasible!
"It's frustrating. This godforsaken place has no easy marks for me to swindle!" Thinking this, Gu Feng lamented.
"Be realistic. Who would come to this swamp just to be swindled by you?" Chu Youhuan said helplessly.
As she spoke, a streak of light pierced through the swamp's mist, and faintly, it seemed like a carriage was speeding towards them from the horizon.
"Is that him???" Chu Youhuan seemed to recognize the owner of the carriage, her lips slightly parted, her eyes flickering with recognition!
(End of the Chapter)
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