Chapter 14: The Enjoyment of Setting a Trap

“No wonder a natural illusion array has materialized here,” Zhang Shen muttered.

Then, at some unknown time and with a stroke of luck, someone had accidentally wandered into this place and even managed to sketch out a map of it. Regrettably, the fate of that individual remained a mystery, as he never returned. The map, after changing hands numerous times, ended up with Qin Shuang.

“What a stroke of luck that person had. For a mere rogue cultivator to obtain such a map, he must have been incredibly fortuitous. Pity he wasn’t more careful.”

After a brief moment of contemplation, Zhang Shen began gleefully inspecting the treasures in the storage bag.

“A storage bag spanning three hundred square feet, truly befitting of a True Core powerhouse’s possession,” he remarked.

He then proceeded to empty out the storage bag entirely.

There were as many as four to five thousand spirit stones within it. Among these, twelve hundred were top-grade spirit stones and thirty-eight hundred were mid-grade stones. There wasn’t an absence of low-grade spirit stones, only that they were reduced to a pile of ash in the storage bag.

“These low-grade spirit stones likely kept the bag functional over the years,” he deduced.

A storage bag was a unique type of magical treasure. It didn’t require much spiritual qi to maintain from the day it was created, but over time, even the little it needed added up to a significant sum.

“I’m rich, I’m rolling in it!” Zhang Shen couldn’t contain his joy as he began to count the other items.

Among them was a red short arrow with intricate patterns engraved on it, and a long knife, blazing like fire, heavy and domineering. There was also a top-grade True Core cultivation technique the Mountain of a Thousand Layers, a mid-grade True Core martial technique known as the Sky-Splitting Finger, and around a dozen Innate Stage cultivation and martial techniques.

There were dozens of boxes filled with spiritual herbs, along with various bottles and jars containing elixir pills.

“I’ll inspect the spiritual herbs and elixir pills when I get back home. With my current level of knowledge, I might not recognize all of them right away.”

Feeling somewhat euphoric, Zhang Shen skimmed through the items. Unexpectedly, the legacy that had long been a source of his concern was now right before his eyes. Despite this fortune, he decided not to abandon the basic martial technique of his family.

“These all provide valuable experience points that I can’t discard them.”

It took him half a day to calm his excited heart. Once at peace, he began his final collection.

He gathered the lotus leaves and flowers from the milky-white lake into his bag, leaving behind only a few. “You shall remain here and make your last contribution to me.”

Packing up his belongings, Zhang Shen left, making his way toward the mountains.

Exiting the illusionary array, he noticed several members of the Wang family loitering nearby.

Without applying any special movement technique, he exhibited raw physical strength. With each stride, he spanned dozens of meters, and in a few breaths, he darted past the Wang family members.

The Wang family members watched in awe. Any warrior with such speed couldn’t be ordinary. As their initial shock subsided, they realized where he had come from.

“Qin Shuang initially referred to this area, and that man was in such a hurry to leave… Could it be?” An ominous hunch washed over the leader of the Wang family group.

Following the subtle traces left by Zhang Shen, they pursued the path.

From his hideout in the thick forest, Zhang Shen watched the Wang family members trace his path. A sly smile curled up at the corners of his mouth.

Before long, the news of the Wang family discovering a new resource spot in the mountains spread among the independent cultivators, merchant caravans, and family disciples gathering poisonous creatures and gases near the Poison Abyss. Even though some doubted the credibility of this information, it didn’t stop them from checking it out themselves.

“When they arrive and find only a few Pure Lotus Leaves and Twenty-Petal Life-Sustaining Lotus Flower left, and then see the Wang family members who got there earlier, I wonder if they will trust the Wang family’s story that someone beat them to the punch. If they show up just as the Wang family members are plucking the remaining lotus leaves, it would be even more perfect.”

Zhang Shen was quite pleased with his casual undermining of the Wang family.

Jiuchuan City was uncomfortably close to Hongyuan City, and the Wang family was far too powerful. If Hongyuan City ever planned to expand in the future, Jiuchuan City would prove a significant obstacle.

Having done all this, Zhang Shen soared into the air and flew away.

As a physical cultivator, he views the heavens and earth as his parents, effortlessly gliding among them. This modest capability of flight had been born since his breakthrough into the Innate stage.

Why didn’t he fly away when confronted by the Wang family members earlier? How could he accurately leave a trail to guide them into his trap if he flew off?

Why didn’t he fly here earlier to reach Poison Abyss? Flying all the way here would be too conspicuous. If someone caught sight of him, how could he freely relish this opportunity all by himself? Even now, Zhang Shen only flew a short distance before descending.

If a new illusionary array was discovered here in the Poison Abyss, and he showed up again, along with the Wang family’s constant complaints, someone might just investigate Zhang Shen’s current disguise as a commoner.

Although Zhang Shen was not afraid, he also had no desire to split the agro. Letting all the blame fall on the Wang family would be much more entertaining.

Upon returning to Hongyuan City, Zhang Shen first addressed the family task he had accepted.

“Let’s see, a tribe that has exceeded this year’s deadline and hasn’t paid the protection fee. It’s not a big issue, it can be resolved easily.”

Typically, they either get arrogant and refuse to pay, or they fall behind, genuinely lacking food to offer.

“The latter can be reasoned with, we can grant them a reduction. But if it’s the former, then they’ll have no choice but to face their doom.” Zhang Shen uttered such chilling words nonchalantly.

Hongyuan City’s protection fee wasn’t mere posturing, they genuinely provided protection to these tribes.

These villages and tribes were able to survive and thrive safely within the domain of Hongyuan City because the city fend off troublesome spiritual beasts and packs of wild animals.

If they no longer wished to stay or believed they could fend for themselves, they were free to submit a request to leave. But if they had been freeloading for a year and still believe they could walk away without consequence, then they were effectively trampling on Hongyuan City’s dignity and would face severe repercussions.

Fortunately, after Zhang Shen’s investigation, he found that the situation hadn’t reached a point of no return.

This impoverished tribe had no plans of breaking the contract, nor had they encountered natural disasters. On the contrary, they had experienced a rare abundant harvest.

Their issue was a man-made disaster. A conman posing as a merchant swindled over 60% of the tribe’s food supply with his silver tongue. Now, they could barely get enough to eat, and everyone was emaciated and unhealthy.

Zhang Shen couldn’t help but comment, “In such a large tribe, only three or four of you have received an education, and it’s not even profound. It’s ridiculous how you fell for such an obvious scam. In the vast wilderness, how could there be a transaction offering returns more than fivefold? Even if such a deal existed, it would never fall into your hands. It would be snapped up by others.”

Despite his criticisms, Zhang Shen decided to alleviate the protection fee they had accumulated over the years.

“Thank you, sir. We are truly grateful,” expressed the tribal chief, worn thin due to the food shortage and the pressure of overdue payment. Only now did he let out a sigh of relief.

“Alright, don’t fall for such scams again. If you can’t deliver the food next year, there will be no leniency,” Zhang Shen warned with a cold stare, causing the chief to break out in a cold sweat.

“According to the rules, select two or three children of notable status to accompany me to Hongyuan City for work. Once you deliver next year’s food quota, you can come and take them back.”

The chief nodded repeatedly, acknowledging this long-standing rule of Hongyuan City.