Chapter 42: Spoils of War

What came next was the time to collect the spoils of war.

Though the Demon Goat Sect had only recently risen to power, they had accumulated a wealth that ordinary people couldn't even imagine in a lifetime. The Soul Battle Legion soul masters who had been deployed today were bound to return with full hands.

The treasury of the Demon Goat Sect—originally the most heavily guarded location within the sect—now lay exposed like a bashful maiden stripped bare before a pack of hungry wolves after the sect's downfall.

One by one, the soul masters of the Soul Battle Legion looked at the treasury doors with eyes full of desire. They all knew what kind of temptation the treasury of a top-tier mid-level sect like the Demon Goat Sect would offer.

However, when they looked at the group at the very front, they knew this place was out of their reach.

Leading the way was Fang Yuan, followed by Gui Changhao, Chen Hong, Yang Jingxue, Ximen Rongcheng, Ma Zhibin, Long Wenkai, Zhong Kui, Xue Tianming, Cheng Nanxing, and Qu Yixiang—eleven people in total, all Titled Douluo or Soul Douluo. Since this operation was proposed by the Chen Clan and they had made significant contributions, Chen Xun, the Chen Clan's young patriarch, was also included. No one else had the qualifications—not even Chen Jingyao, captain of the First Battalion.

Fang Yuan walked up to the treasury doors and punched forcefully. With a boom, the doors shattered into pieces, revealing a faint golden glow from within.

The treasury had been built into the mountainside. The hollowed-out mountain chamber was vast, spanning over a thousand square meters, with piles of gold, silver, jewels, ancient tomes, and antiques forming ten or more small "hills."

Yet none of the eleven people gave a second glance at the gold and jewels.

Though the wealth here might be unimaginable for an ordinary Soul Douluo, it was not much for a sect—and everyone knew this was far from the Demon Goat Sect's true treasure.

They walked deeper into the vault until they reached a stone wall. Fang Yuan punched again, but this time, countless energy ripples spread out. A searing dark light shot toward Fang Yuan—powerful enough to severely wound even a Soul Douluo caught off guard.

Unfortunately, it was useless. Fang Yuan summoned the Zhen Tian Xuan Stele to shield himself, emerging completely unscathed.

He then pressed his palm to the stone wall. Countless dark lights danced across the surface. Moments later, with a crack, the stone wall split open, revealing the true core of the Demon Goat Sect's treasury.

The hidden chamber wasn't large. It held only four or five shelves, each with about seven or eight small boxes.

However, nearly half of the boxes were empty.

Fang Yuan opened the nearest box. Inside lay a bone glowing faintly with a soft halo.

A soul bone—even a left arm soul bone over 10,000 years old was an invaluable treasure.

From the corpses of Demon Goat Sect soul masters, they had already harvested five soul bones. Among them, the most valuable was the head soul bone from Wilbur Weiss.

Opening all the boxes revealed a total of seven soul bones. Compared to the ones extracted from the corpses—which were mostly dark- and spirit-attributed—these had more varied attributes, though the overall quality was slightly inferior.

Still, seven Soul Bones exceeded everyone's expectations.

The group's breathing became noticeably heavier. With the five soul bones previously harvested, there were now twelve in total. Even if their quality varied, just this alone was more than enough to cover the cost of annihilating the Demon Goat Sect.

And that wasn't all. Besides a few exotic ores and medicinal ingredients, several items in the remaining boxes especially caught their attention:

A rare mineral: Mystic Demon Silver

A bottle of dark golden liquid

A dragon scale

A damaged jade crown

A silver-white suit of armor

Fang Yuan's voice rang out calmly:

"We'll each take one item from here. How about that?"

Even a Titled Douluo would be tempted by the Demon Goat Sect's treasures.

According to standard procedure, all loot from such missions should be delivered back to Douhun City for centralized distribution. No one was allowed to privately keep anything.

However, there were always exceptions. Frontline combatants would usually withhold a portion of the spoils, and the higher-ups of Douhun City turned a blind eye to this. It was considered a tacit reward for those risking their lives on the front lines.

Too much purity leaves no fish—in other words, rules that are too strict stifle results. Besides, everyone present was either a Douhun City elder or a representative of a top family.

Unsurprisingly, Fang Yuan's suggestion was quite appealing.

"Alright. Old Fang, you choose first!" Ximen Rongcheng nodded.

Fang Yuan didn't hesitate and picked a box containing a soul bone.

This was the most valuable of the seven—a nearly 50,000-year-old fire-attributed left arm soul bone.

Ma Zhibin and others were a bit reluctant to look away. They had their eyes on that one too.

Fang Yuan said, "You two go next."

Since Chen Hong was a Titled Douluo and Yang Jingxue a quasi-titled Douluo, a one-item-each distribution was actually a little unfair to them. So Fang Yuan offered them the second and third choices.

"Chen Xun, you choose. I'll use your pick order," Chen Hong said. By the draw, Chen Xun was supposed to go last.

"Uncle Hong!"

"Quit whining and choose!"

Chen Xun nodded and walked to the bottle of dark golden liquid. Even through the glass, he could feel his own blood boil.

Something deep inside told him this strange blood would be greatly beneficial to his body, so he chose it without hesitation.

Seeing Chen Xun bypass the soul bones for an unknown soul beast's blood surprised Chen Hong and Cheng Nanxing.

They knew anything kept by the Demon Goat Sect wouldn't be ordinary, but in their eyes, the soul's bones were still the continent's most valuable treasures.

That Chen Xun would abandon six soul bones to choose a bottle of blood was hard for them to comprehend.

Yang Jingxue chose a large piece of Mystic Demon Silver—an extremely rare metal that fuses perfectly with soul power. Though the Douluo Continent favored martial spirits, certain divine weapons could rival soul bones, and Mystic Demon Silver was a priceless material.

The Yang Clan had a batch of specially crafted arrows using rare metals for use in combat gaps—like Yang Jingxue's Blossom Arrow.

Soul skill arrows or those formed purely from soul power were powerful, but they consumed enormous amounts of energy.

In her fight with Jonah Weiss earlier, had she relied only on soul power, her energy would've been depleted halfway through the battle.

So for someone like her, Mystic Demon Silver was crucial. Arrows made from it were hard and soul-power-efficient, capable of soul-skill-level impact with minimal input, and could even be recovered and reused.

Next was Gui Changhao. That bottle of blood would have suited him well, but since the younger generation had taken it, he let it go. He chose a right leg soul bone—earth-attributed and defensive, a perfect match for him.

Ximen Rongcheng bypassed the soul's bones and chose the silver-white armor. When his fingers touched it, a needle of silver light pierced his fingertip, a drop of blood merging with the armor and making it glow brilliantly.

This ice-type armor helped suppress the increasingly violent aura of his demonic blade. The armor offered full-body defense and was light and agile—perfect for battle.

Ma Zhibin chose a 20,000-year-old fire-attributed right arm bone. Though not the best match, he already had a right arm bone and planned to trade this one within his clan.

Long Wenkai chose the dragon scale—his family had a secret technique for absorbing dragon-type treasures.

Zhong Kui hesitated among the remaining four soul bones, seemingly guided by some instinct. He eventually picked a 20,000-year-old water-type soul bone.

The next few chose more conventionally. Cheng Nanxing picked a dark-type right leg soul bone—clearly from an agility-attack spirit beast and over 30,000 years old.

Finally, Chen Hong took the damaged jade crown.

After all was selected, Fang Yuan packed up the remaining items. Some were of comparable value to those chosen, but the most suitable ones had already been picked.

As for the five soul bones stripped from Demon Goat Sect members, no one mentioned them—they were understood to be personal trophies.

Chen Hong and Chen Xun each had a head soul bone—Chen Xun's came from Wilbur Weiss, a 60,000-year-old Three-Eyed Demon Goat inheritance skull, while Hesus Weiss had a 40,000-year-old Dark Blood Demon Wolf head bone.

Guido Weiss, as sect master, certainly had a soul bone. Jonah Weiss, as the sect's strongest, wouldn't lack one either. Thus, Ximen Rongcheng and Yang Jingxue each had one—both of good quality. That's why they hadn't rushed to pick from the vault earlier.

"Men!"

As they exited the treasury, Fang Yuan commanded:

"Inventory the Demon Goat Sect's treasures. Before dawn, move all goods and prisoners out of Chilin Mountain!"

Even though the top forces on the continent knew Douhun City was behind this, Douhun City itself could not admit it. Their strength was solid, but low-profile wealth was their motto.

Before sunrise, the group departed from the Demon Goat Sect—fully loaded.

By the time officials from the Star Luo Empire arrived the Demon Goat Sect had already been looted bare. Countless sect disciples lay dead in the wilderness, their valuable possessions stripped away. Some had even become food for minor soul beasts around Chilin Mountain.

Thus, the Demon Goat Sect, once ranked in the top ten under the Seven Great Sects, was completely erased from the history of the Douluo Continent. The Three-Eyed Demon Goat, a top-tier martial spirit, became nearly extinct. A few scattered survivors of the sect could no longer uphold the legacy of such a spirit—and they couldn't reveal themselves, for fear of pursuit.

Its rise was swift, and its fall sudden—a story best described as:

"Amidst endless turmoil, brief prosperity blooms,

When the splendor fades, all returns to dust."