Before he had a chance to ask Bai Xiaochun any questions about what he had been up to all these years, he looked out at the crater which surrounded them. With Bai Xiaochun’s help, they climbed out… whereupon Li Qinghou saw the crumbled ruins of the seven mountain peaks that made up the former Dao River Court, and the terrified Dao River Court disciples who were still fleeing off into the distance.
At that point, Li Qinghou couldn’t contain his excitement. Continuing to peer around, he said, “Did one of the patriarchs finally break through? Where is he?”
His first reaction was to assume that one of the patriarchs had finally reached the Deva Realm and come to break him out of the Dao River Court’s dungeon.
And yet, he immediately hesitated. After all, even after making a breakthrough, a single patriarch shouldn’t have been able to reduce the Dao River Court to this condition. At that point, he started to wonder if two patriarchs had broken through to become devas.
However, that seemed even less likely than his original guess.
Bai Xiaochun blinked a few times, then cleared his throat. “Uh… Uncle Li, none of the patriarchs broke through…. Nobody else is here… except for us two.”
Now that he had rescued Li Qinghou, his stress was fading away, and his personality was going back to normal. As such, he held back from sounding a bit pleased with himself.
Li Qinghou’s jaw dropped. He looked around at the ruins, and then back at Bai Xiaochun, and suddenly laughed loud and clear. Slapping him on the shoulder, he said, “Good. Great. Excellent!”
He didn’t ask any details. He didn’t need to. The excitement he felt in his heart was all he needed. The child that he had brought to the sect from Mount Hood had grown up into a shocking figure.
The only disappointment he felt was that the fledgling had left the nest to fly in the endless sky, and that he no longer needed someone else around to take care of him. It was a feeling of both happiness and disappointment mixed together.
Li Qinghou’s reaction got Bai Xiaochun even more excited. Feeling very pleased with himself, he swished his sleeve and said, “This is nothing, Uncle Li. You have no idea how awesome I was back in the Wildlands. I--”
Before he could continue, a whistling sound filled the sky, which was Bruiser, who had only just caught up. As soon as he arrived, he saw the ruins of the Dao River Court, and Li Qinghou.
He didn’t seem surprised at all that Bai Xiaochun could destroy the entire Dao River Court. He excitedly shrank back down to normal size, rushed over to Li Qinghou, and began to rub him with his head.
Li Qinghou’s heart swelled with both warmth and remorse. Softly stroking Bruiser’s head, he looked at the scars covering him, and sighed.
“I'd always hoped I would be able to help you get your revenge, Bruiser, but I guess I don’t need to now. Your dad’s already helped you.” Chuckling, Li Qinghou looked around at the ruins, and then back at Bai Xiaochun, his heart bursting with pride. “Let’s go, Xiaochun. The Dao River Court might be able to survive this somehow, but it will take them a long time to recover. If they ever do!”
“Calm down, Uncle Li, there’s more to do.” After measuring up the scene around them, Bai Xiaochun turned to Bruiser. “Bruiser, there were a bunch of other disciples following us, right? What’s the delay? Why don’t you go back and lead them here?”
Bruiser wasn’t quite sure what he had in mind, but never refused to do what Bai Xiaochun asked him to do. He shot off, then returned a moment later with more than a thousand airships following him. The cultivators piloting the airships soon saw the dismal state of the Dao River Court, and couldn’t help but gasp. Looking over at Bai Xiaochun with reverent gazes, they clasped hands.
“Greetings, Patriarch! Greetings, Elder Li!”
Their words confirmed what Li Qinghou had already suspected. Smile widening, he looked over at Bai Xiaochun, who shook his head and cleared his throat. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he waved his hand.
“Alright, enough of that. Hurry up and clear all this rubble away. The Dao River Court got destroyed too quickly, and everyone ran away. They definitely left some treasures behind. Let’s clean this place out!” By this point, his heart was pounding as he thought back to all of the shakedowns he had performed in the past. However, all of those had been clan shakedowns. This was his first time overseeing a sect shakedown!
In response to his words, the surrounding 1,000 disciples’ eyes glittered. Without any pause, they began to clear away the rubble and search the Dao River Court for treasure.
Li Qinghou’s eyes shone with even deeper praise as he mused about how much this child had grown up. Even he himself had forgotten to loot the routed enemy.
“You’re absolutely right, Xiaochun. The Dao River Court has years of reserves that will be of great help to the River-Defying Sect!”
However, even as the words left Li Qinghou’s mouth, Bai Xiaochun frowned. Looking around at the River-Defying Sect disciples, he said, “You people don’t know how to shake a place down! Aiya! Look, there are more rocks over there than anywhere else. It only takes a single glance to tell that there’s some treasure there. Clear that rubble!
“Look at this! Get over here, people. This boulder is obviously fluctuating with magical power. There’s definitely some kind of valuable treasure buried under it!
“Aiya! Look at you! What do you think you’re doing? Pry up those floor tiles! They’re obviously made from spirit stones!!” It was to Bai Xiaochun’s great frustration that none of these people knew how to shake a place down….
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Chapter
875: A Heavy Load And A Long Road
Bai Xiaochun was starting to get nervous. Therefore, he hurried up to the front lines. Considering that nobody knew what they were doing, he decided to take charge. Waving his hands and gesticulating wildly he said, “No, don’t dig there. Look at the ground. Who would put treasure there?! Look at that oversized vase right next to you. Now that’s a treasure!
“Look at all of you! Seriously…? Come come. Let me tell you how to do it. You 300 go and clear out those boulders over there. And you 300 get rid of the rubble of that temple over there!
“Now, for you 300, well, you have an even more important mission. You head to that restricted area over there and take everything you can get your hands on. Know what it does? Take it. Don’t know? Take it!
“The final 100 of you, come with me and just pick up whatever I tell you to. Oh, hey you… that’s actually not made from spirit stones. It’s just an ordinary floor tile….”
Considering the extensive experience he had shaking down clans in the Wildlands, it didn’t take long before he had the entire group of disciples sweeping over the sect like a hurricane… wiping everything away….
Eventually, he couldn’t help but sigh.
“Listen to me everyone, when you're shaking a place down, you have to pay attention. Do you understand that…? I mean, put some thought into it! If you were a sect patriarch, where would you hide all the treasure?!
“Too complicated? Alright, I’ll summarize. When you're shaking a place down, you have to remember three key words: Fast. Ruthless. Precise. Those are my Three Words of Wisdom I created to pass down as part of my legacy!
“Fast. You have to move quickly in everything you do. Have you people seen locusts before? When you shake a place down, you have to become like locusts!
“Ruthless. Well, that’s simple. Your eyes need to be bloodshot, and you need to grab anything you see. Just imagine you're in a treasure shop where everything is free. The more you can grab, the more you’ll profit. Our motto is… we take everything down to the grass and the roots!