Book 2: Chapter 73: Jin Chief! The Strongest Eighth-Rank Aristocratic Family
Subsequently, some inferior magical tools, corpse coffins, and already ruined Yinsha poisonous corpses, due to lack of interest from any family, eventually entered the stage of being unsold.
Wang Shouzhe proposed: "For these spoils of war, I will first ask the Academy if they want to recycle them. If they don't, they will be sold to the black market of the Hundred Islands Guard."
Falling into the black market system, they would inevitably be bought by some hidden troublemakers, and perhaps eventually return to the territory of the Yinsha Sect.
However, these items were of considerable value, and the alliance led by Wang Shouzhe couldn't just not sell them, right? This was a matter of interest to every family.
The Academy, with its high status, had astronomical profits just from the insect extermination tax. To prevent these magical tools from aiding the enemy, it wouldn't be a problem to buy them.
In addition, there was the inferior spiritual tool "Nameless Sword". It wasn't called the Nameless Sword because it didn't have a name. Whoever bought it could name it themselves.
In the end, this sword fell into the hands of Ancestor Yuanbai of the Liu's Clan. He got it at a low price of 10 points, making a small profit.
Wang Shouzhe guessed that Ancestor Yuanbai bought this sword probably for his uncle Liu Yuanhui. After all, Liu Yuanhui had just advanced to the Lingtai realm not long ago, and this inferior spiritual sword was most suitable for him.
As such, Liu Yuanhui's combat power would greatly increase, and his ability to protect himself would also greatly improve.
Finally, there were only two storage rings left.After hesitating for a while, Ancestor Ruhong of the Chen's Clan directly took an inferior storage ring for 10 points.
This was also the first storage ring for the Chen's Clan in Donggang.
Although storage rings were very practical, they couldn't improve combat power. Therefore, many lower-ranked families would rather have inconvenient carrying than buy storage rings. After all, they were not cheap, and if they had the money, they would definitely prioritize buying inferior spiritual tools to increase their strength.
Then, there was a medium-grade storage ring.
Everyone looked at each other, but no family made a bid.
Although the Xu's Clan of Changning was covetous, they could only covet.
Storage rings involved spatial laws and were a kind of special spiritual tool that required very strict material and refining techniques. They were rare and therefore always valuable.
With that money, instead of buying this medium-grade storage ring, it would be better to add a medium-grade spiritual tool to greatly increase the family's combat power and foundation.
"Everyone, then I will bid 38 points." Seeing no one bidding, Wang Shouzhe said with a smile, "Consider me picking up a small leak."
Of course, no one else would object.
Amidst the sounds of agreement, Wang Shouzhe obtained the ownership of this medium-grade storage ring.
Unlike others, Wang Shouzhe had high requirements for storage rings.
After all, he planned to venture into the outer regions in the future, and the more supplies he could carry, the better. The more hidden trump cards, the better.
Moreover, he already had a top-grade spiritual shield, a medium-grade spiritual sword, and the Bloodthirsty Vine as combat methods, so he naturally chose to supplement his carrying capacity first.
The extra storage ring could be used by Ancestor Long Yan. After all, she was already in the late stage of the Lingtai realm, and she needed to have some prestige when she went out.
However, in this way, the Wang's Clan had spent a total of 64 points. They owed the spoils pool 9 points, totaling a debt of more than 28,000 Top Gold.
Following this, it was time to repay the money and distribute the money.
As for Zhou Zhenwu's share of the money, someone would naturally be sent to deliver it to him.
Among them, the Xu's Clan of Jinsha and the Lu's Clan of Yingxiu did not get any treasures from the spoils of war, so their points would be directly converted into Top Gold.
With Top Gold, they could naturally purchase the resources they needed.
This distribution of spoils of war made all the families feel very fair and satisfied, and their goodwill towards Wang Shouzhe rose again.
What they didn't know was that Wang Shouzhe's method was nothing more than the principle of distributing spoils of war when he needed to form a team to play games in his previous life.
Using it in this fantasy world, the fit was very high.
After the distribution of spoils, there was naturally another round of eating and drinking.
In the end, everyone dispersed happily.
......
After the night banquet of the Huangfu's Clan in Changning, the former Huangfu's Clan was sealed off on the charge of "colluding with the enemy and betraying the country", and fell overnight. This news quickly spread and caused a great uproar in the entire Changning Guard.
Those merchants, tenant farmers, craftsmen, etc., who were attached to the former Huangfu's Clan, were all in a state of panic and full of confusion about the future.
Those common people who were not implicated were quite interested and secretly guessed who the former Huangfu's Clan had offended to have their bottom exposed.
Of course, most of them were cursing the former Huangfu's Clan for colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, and they were worse than pigs and dogs.
But the various noble families in Changning Guard fell into a strange calm.
Only under the surface of the water, there were still undercurrents surging.
Most things in this world are like this. When ordinary people get the news, it has often gone through many rounds of game-playing, and everything has settled.
As for the various dangers behind the scenes, they are rarely known to outsiders except for the real parties involved.
After a period of time, after a series of work such as arrest, seizure, and interrogation, the case of the former Huangfu's Clan was quickly determined and closed.
All the clan members, family generals, and backbones involved in the case were arrested and sentenced, and they would be sent to the barren areas to reclaim the land, with a future that was basically nine deaths and one life.
And some ordinary clan members, the old, weak, women and children who were not involved in the case, would be dispersed and sent to remote areas to survive.
There, away from home, life was not as good as in Changning Guard.
Moreover, they would be strictly governed by the local city guard, often unable to turn over for hundreds of years.
Daqian has been established for more than 7,000 years, and the noble families who colluded with foreign evil sects to stir up trouble in the country, the former Huangfu's Clan was not the first, nor the last, and there were precedents to follow. Everything was handled according to the old rules.
Apart from this.
Even the disposal of the confiscated property of the former Huangfu's Clan was handled by Daqian, which had a complete set of procedures for such matters.
Usually, the city guard's office would auction off all the fixed assets. Thirty percent of the proceeds would be returned to the innocent clan members as resettlement funds for their survival in a new place. The remaining seventy percent would be collected into the city guard's treasury. After applying for approval from the higher-ups, it could be used for the construction of public facilities, maintenance of city walls, relief of disaster victims, and so on.
Of course, only the local families of Changning Guard were eligible to participate in the auction.
Families from other city guards, not to mention their lack of eligibility, would be unanimously opposed by the local forces even if they were eligible.
On the day the city guard's office hosted the auction, the entrance was crowded with people.
For the sake of fairness, the auction was held in the square in front of the city guard's office. In this way, not only could all the noble families come to watch, but even the common people and individual cultivators could join in the fun.
However, those who came to watch didn't have seats.
Only the representatives sent by the major noble families were eligible to take a seat.
And such a scene, which was rare to see even once in a hundred years, attracted most of the noble families to come and join in the fun, even if they didn't plan to bid.
Some ninth-rank noble families arrived early and, under the arrangement of the city guard's office officials, took their seats in their respective places.
Then came some eighth-rank noble families.
Now in Changning Guard, there were only seven eighth-rank noble families left: Shanyin Liu's Clan, Shanyang Gongsun's Clan, Donggang Chen's Clan, Ningxi Dang's Clan, Wangxia Lei's Clan, Ping'an Wang's Clan, and Changning Xu's Clan.
Originally, the universally recognized strongest eighth-rank noble family was Changning Xu's Clan.
It was said that Changning Xu's Clan had a total of six Spirit Platform Realm cultivators, one of whom was a family general in the Spirit Platform Realm.
But now, on the surface, Changning Xu's Clan still seemed to be the strongest.
However, within the Wang's Clan alliance, they privately felt that Ping'an Wang's Clan had gradually overtaken them.
The ancestors and family heads of the alliance knew that besides Ancestor Long Yan, the Spirit Platform Realm cultivators of Wang's Clan now included Wang Shouzhe and his wife, Girl Wang Lici, Wang Dingzu, the commander of the Second Patrol Battalion, and Ancestor Xiaohan, along with a third-rank Yuan Water Spirit Turtle.
Just these known ones alone amounted to seven Spirit Platform Realm combat powers, and given Wang Shouzhe's usual character, it was hard to guarantee that he hadn't hidden any Spirit Platform Realm cultivators.
Moreover, those who knew the inside story were aware that Wang Shouzhe and his wife were both freaks.
Especially Liu Ruolan, who could transform and kill Spirit Platform Realm demon puppets when she was in the Qi Refining Realm. Now that she had become a Spirit Platform Realm cultivator, her depth was even more unfathomable.
It was said that since she reached the Spirit Platform Realm, no one had seen her Autumn Water Sword unsheathed.
During the last battle on the Golden Sand Beach, she merely casually made a move and blasted Huangfu Kangping down, along with his bird.
Several friendly ancestors had privately discussed her, but they were never sure of her true strength.
In any case, Ancestor Ruhong, who was now in the late stage of the Spirit Platform Realm, always considered himself not much inferior to the core disciples of the academy. But he admitted that he had no certainty of victory against Liu Ruolan, who was in the early stage of the Spirit Platform Realm, and thought it would be at most a 40-60 chance.
And it was Liu Ruolan who had the 60...
Wang's Clan's wife, unfathomably deep!
Moreover, the younger generation of Wang's Clan was also extremely outstanding, with a high chance of advancing to the Spirit Platform Realm in the future. Even the "Ding" generation like Wang Dinghai and the "Shou" generation were all striving hard to develop, showing a great momentum to collectively break through to the Spirit Platform Realm.
It was estimated that it wouldn't be long before Wang's Clan would enter a period of explosive growth in the number of Spirit Platform Realm cultivators.
This was also an important reason why the alliance was gradually taking Ping'an Wang's Clan as the leader. After all, even without considering their scheming and tactics, the potential shown by Ping'an Wang's Clan after Wang Shouzhe's years of painstaking management was simply too terrifying.
On the square.
The representatives of the eighth-rank noble families arrived one after another.
In the end, when Wang Shouzhe and Xu Anbang appeared together, they naturally attracted a lot of attention.
According to past practice, the officials still arranged for Changning Xu's Clan to sit in the chief seat.
However, Xu Anbang didn't sit down, but looked at Wang Shouzhe next to him: "Shouzhe, you should take the chief seat of the eighth-rank."
"You're joking, Uncle Five." Wang Shouzhe directly declined, "You're my elder and an old eighth-rank noble family, so naturally you should sit in the chief seat."
"I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy." Xu Anbang said seriously, "As the saying goes, the capable should be in charge. In the past, you kept a low profile to avoid attracting the attention of certain noble families, but now there's no need. When it's time to accumulate prestige, you should accumulate it well. In this way, you can gather more capital to confront a certain family."
"Moreover, our family's Ancestor Beichen is already in the ancestral hall, closing the door to break through to the Heavenly Man Realm. If he succeeds, Changning Xu's Clan will be a seventh-rank. If he doesn't, what right does Changning Xu's Clan have to sit above you?"
Wang Shouzhe thought for a moment and felt that this was indeed the case, so he no longer hesitated and said with neither arrogance nor humility, "In that case, thank you for your kindness, Uncle Five."
Afterwards, following a consultation between Xu Anbang and the reception official, the official changed the seating arrangement with a strange look on his face, then bowed to Wang Shouzhe with a smile on his face, "Master Wang, please take the chief seat of the eighth-rank."
"Thank you."
Wang Shouzhe returned the salute gracefully, then sat in the chief seat of the eighth-rank under the watchful eyes of everyone.
Such a seating arrangement didn't seem strange to the families within the alliance, as they had gradually become accustomed to looking up to Wang Shouzhe as their leader.
But in the eyes of the other eighth-rank and ninth-rank families, it was completely different.
Their eyes were filled with shock. Had Ping'an Wang's Clan developed to this extent?
Even Changning Xu's Clan, the perennial third-rank, had voluntarily given up the chief seat?
Unless they truly felt inferior, no one would give up their seat. They had seen two families of similar strength fighting for seats, but they had never seen a stronger family giving up their seat.
For a moment, there was a lot of discussion among the ninth-rank families, and their eyes were different when they looked at Wang's Clan again.
The Chief of the Eighth Rank, that was only second to the two Celestial Clans. Even when the Ancestor Zouxuan was alive, he had never been so glorious.
As Wang Shouzhe's gaze swept over those eighth and ninth rank clans, most of the clan leaders revealed smiles, their eyes unconsciously filled with a hint of flattery.
Following that,
The heads of the two Celestial Clans, Huangfu Jin Huan and Lei Yangyu, seemed to have agreed beforehand, entering the venue without distinguishing who was first.
In terms of overall strength, the Celestial Huangfu's Clan was actually half a notch stronger than the Celestial Lei's Clan. However, the Lei's Clan had always been unwilling to submit to the Huangfu's Clan, always competing with them, at least not willing to fall behind.
Their seats were on a higher level, divided into left and right, regardless of order, to prevent them from arguing.
When the Celestial Clans entered, it was naturally a different spectacle. Many clan leaders unconsciously stood up to show their respect.
"Clan Leader Shouzhe." As soon as Lei Yangyu saw Wang Shouzhe, he took the initiative to greet him, smiling and making small talk, "It's been half a month since our hurried farewell, I've really missed you."
Seeing him like this, Wang Shouzhe had no choice but to stand up and return the courtesy: "Seeing Clan Leader Yangyu, I am also excited."
As the two got closer, Lei Yangyu directly grabbed Wang Shouzhe's hand, whispering, "Little brother Shouzhe, I support you. We absolutely can't let that old Huangfu take advantage. Many industries in the previous town are related to spiritual grass and spiritual feed, which are upstream industries of the Huangfu's ranch. If you control this, it's equivalent to choking the Huangfu's Clan's neck."
Wang Shouzhe naturally understood this point, and knew that he might not have good intentions, at least there was an attempt to use him to attack others.
However, this kind of goodwill was also what Wang Shouzhe needed.
If your Celestial Lei's Clan wants to take the opportunity to suppress the Huangfu's Clan, I can naturally cooperate. However, you can't do nothing.
He immediately leaned in and whispered a few words in his ear.
Upon hearing this, Lei Yangyu's eyes narrowed, and he nodded with a knowing look, "Little brother Shouzhe, I find that you really don't suffer losses. Alright, I'll act according to your plan."
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