Hundreds of corpses lay scattered across the battlefield, some cut to pieces, others sliced clean in half, many missing their heads, arms, or legs. Between these broken bodies, a lake of blood had formed, soaking into the cold stone ground beneath them.
It was a cruel, dreadful sight, a true field of death.
But Yuan looked over the sea of corpses without a flicker of emotion. Why should he feel anything for them? After all, they had wanted to kill him without a second thought, without a care for his life or feelings.
Killing them was only natural. It was survival.
As he stood there, Yuan glanced back toward Li Yun, who was waving at him, calling him over, signaling for him to join the others.
But Yuan didn't move.
He had no interest in the power struggles or petty disputes of the other Inner Sect disciples. Fighting over spoils or proving his worth to them was meaningless to him.
Instead, Yuan's thoughts turned to something far more practical.
Looting the dead.
Even low grade pills could assist his cultivation, they still helped stimulate his blood, allowing him to continue the transformation into spiritual blood. Eating a hundred low quality pills could provide the same effect as a single high grade pill from a skilled alchemist.
Normally, no one would consider this a smart trade. One hundred low grade pills would cost more than one high grade pill.
But this battlefield… this wasteland of corpses… here, the cost was nothing.
These bodies were lying still and silent, unclaimed by their allies, abandoned in death.
Yuan shook his head toward Li Yun, clearly refusing his signal. Li Yun looked back at him with brief confusion but then gave a small nod of understanding before turning away and heading into the tribe's village.
The other Inner Sect disciples were quick to begin their plundering, either stripping valuables from the dead or searching the village for anything of worth. But Yuan didn't care about competing with them. Even if he did find something valuable, keeping it would be its own challenge and drawing attention wasn't worth the risk.
So, while others pushed forward, Yuan quietly turned back, moving away from the crowd.
A few disciples noticed Yuan walking away, but none cared enough to question his choice.
Alone, Yuan began his quiet work.
One by one, he searched through the fallen bodies, methodically checking the dead for pills, tools, or anything useful for his cultivation.
Yuan prioritized taking only cultivation pills. He knew Yi Lao might later order that other items be collected as trophies, so he was careful about what he took and what he left behind.
Slowly, three hours passed.
Then, the sharp sound of a loud clap echoed through the air, followed by a familiar voice.
"Return to the front gate! We will now reorganize and prepare to attack the next tribe."
It was Yi Lao's voice, calm, cold, and commanding as always.
Hearing the order, Yuan stood up and quickly searched through the last corpse lying before him. His results were, to say the least, not bad.
A faint smile formed on Yuan's lips as he took stock of his gains from looting the battlefield. Among the items he'd found, a few pills had truly surprised him.
First were the countless low quality cultivation pills, most of which were meant to assist blood purification. These were common among the lowest ranking cultivators, and Yuan had focused his search only on the Blood Purification Stage cultivators, ignoring the weaker Mortal Awakened Stage bodies entirely.
The highest level cultivator he had searched was, surprisingly, one of the men he had killed himself, the middle aged man who had attacked him alongside the old man. Yuan remembered the fight clearly.
Though Roan had stepped in at the last moment and saved him, Yuan knew he could have dodged the attack on his own if necessary.
Still, it had been one of the closer calls he'd experienced on the battlefield.
Yuan had killed many that day, but this particular middle-aged man had carried something unexpected. Among his possessions was a rare type of cultivation pill that Yuan instantly recognized from the memories of Basilisk.
Blood Will Resisting Pills.
These pills were incredibly rare, designed specifically to reduce the resistance of one's blood during the Blood Purification Stage, all the way up to the Peak Layer. They were incredibly valuable for anyone walking the path of blood refinement.
Seeing such a pill on this man made Yuan suspect that perhaps the middle aged cultivator had been more than he appeared, maybe a spy, or perhaps even the son of the tribe head.
But Yuan didn't care.
The tribe head was already dead, his head and body cut apart somewhere on the battlefield. Whatever the true identity of that middle aged man had been, it no longer mattered.
What mattered now was the loot.
Aside from the Blood Will Resisting Pills, Yuan had also collected many ordinary cultivation pills. Most weren't particularly noteworthy individually, but the sheer number he had gathered was impressive.
With this collection, Yuan estimated that he could reduce the time needed to break through to the Peak Layer of the Blood Purification Stage by at least one or two months. And with the help of the Blood Will Resisting Pills, he could likely shorten that time by another two months.
In total, he had just saved himself around four months of bitter, grinding cultivation.
The smile on his lips widened slightly.
This was the true harvest of war.
With that, Yuan's bag of holding was slowly filling up with pills. At one point, he even found a nearly empty bag of holding on one of the countless corpses scattered around the battlefield. Without hesitation, he took it and bound it next to his own, giving himself more space to store his loot.
Satisfied with his fruitful looting, Yuan made his way back to the broken stone gate of the tribe's village and waited there for Li Yun to arrive. He didn't have to wait long, Li Yun, along with the other small team leaders, soon came walking toward him.
Li Yun gave him a small smile, though his expression carried a trace of concern. His voice reflected it as he asked, "Everything alright, Brother Yuan?"
Hearing the worried tone, Yuan simply gave a silent nod in response. Seeing this, Li Yun sighed softly in relief. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he tossed something toward Yuan.
Yuan caught it quickly and looked down at the object in his hand. It was a strange, round fruit. Its surface shimmered with red, gold, and a hint of green, giving it a bizarre, almost otherworldly appearance.
Yuan examined it closely, frowning slightly as he asked directly, "What is this?"
"Hehe…" Li Yun chuckled at Yuan's confusion, clearly amused. Lifting his head a little, he spoke with the proud tone of a senior explaining something important.
"Brother Yuan, this is what we call the Spiritual Golden Heart Fruit. I found a Spiritual Golden Heart Tree in one of the ancestral places of the village and managed to obtain six of these fruits from it."
Li Yun paused, then added with a grin,"There were about thirty fruits on the tree. I kept two for myself, and the others I shared, one each for Schmetterling, Roan, Yan Lao, and now one for you."
Hearing this, Yuan could easily guess what had happened to the remaining twenty four fruits. He said nothing about it but felt a flicker of surprise.
Still holding the fruit, he asked, "What does the Spiritual Golden Heart Fruit do, Brother Yun?"
At this, Li Yun's expression grew even more proud as he began to explain, his voice steady with confidence.
"These fruits can assist your cultivation all the way up to the peak of the Bone Forging Stage. Most importantly, if you eat this fruit right as you break through into the Meridian Awakening Stage, it will greatly increase your chances of awakening a third meridian, which is crucial for a perfect breakthrough into that realm. Wonderful, isn't it?"
Yuan was genuinely shocked. His gaze dropped back to the fruit resting in his palm, eyes narrowing slightly as he examined it with newfound appreciation.
"What a useful spiritual fruit… What a pity he couldn't collect more," Yuan thought quietly to himself.
Grateful, Yuan raised his hand in a respectful salute to thank Li Yun for the gift, but Li Yun simply waved him off with a lighthearted chuckle, clearly not expecting formal gratitude between them.
By now, the other team leaders, the squad leaders, as well as the gathered Inner and Outer Sect disciples, had finished organizing themselves into neat lines. The reorganization was complete, and the army stood ready.
Yi Lao stepped forward, standing tall before them, with Supreme Squad Leader Wang Feng positioned one step behind him, silent and watchful.
"Alright, we will begin with the casualties. Every Team Leader, report your numbers."
With Yi Lao's cold command, the Team Leaders immediately started to speak, one after another, each reporting the status of their teams. The process took nearly two hours before all the numbers were accounted for.
None of the Team Leaders or higher ranks had died, though a few were injured, some even seriously wounded, but their condition was still considered acceptable. Among the Inner Sect disciples, they had lost a few Ashes ranked cultivators, no more than five.
However, the majority of the casualties had come from the Outer Sect disciples.
Twenty Outer Sect disciples had fallen.
Hearing the report, Yi Lao clicked his tongue in annoyance. He pulled out a green recording stone and began to note down the details, specifically which Team Leaders had lost the most disciples and which had lost the least.
Surprisingly, Li Yun's team had not lost a single Outer Sect disciple.
"From seven hundred down to six hundred and forty… barely acceptable," Yi Lao muttered to himself, his tone sharp with dissatisfaction. After a brief moment, he gave a small nod and swept his cold gaze across the gathered disciples.
"We will rest for five hours, then we march forward," he ordered. "Take your Spiritual Blood Regeneration Pills now."
At his command, everyone began to sit down, using this short break to recover their strength and spiritual blood. Yuan, too, followed the order. Activating his red aura, he focused on fully restoring the spiritual blood he had expended during the battle.
He had used about thirty percent of his spiritual blood, leaving him with fifty one percent of his total eighty one percent transformed spiritual blood. Most of what he had spent hadn't even gone into attacks, it had been used just to dodge and endure the harsh fighting.
The five hours of rest passed quickly.
By the time the break was over, many of the disciples were ready to fight again. Yuan had fully recovered his spiritual blood thanks to the regeneration pills and his red aura. But not everyone was so fortunate, some still hadn't fully recovered, though it was clear that there was no time to wait for them.
During the resting period, Yi Lao had used the time efficiently. He personally collected the corpses from the battlefield, storing them in one of the many bags of holding that hung around his waist.
Now, as the break came to an end, Yi Lao once again stood before the assembled disciples.
All eyes, both Outer Sect and Inner Sect, were locked on him, waiting for the next order.
Yi Lao gave the signal with a single, cold sentence.
"Begin the march. Next is the Stone Mountain Tribe."