"Dinner is served, everyone!"

Without a hint of politeness, Chu Sheng dove headfirst into the mountain-like pile of Spiritual Plants.

Then, his proboscis began to pump furiously!!

[Ding! Absorbed one Eighth-Grade Spiritual Plant. Gained 1,500 Evolution Points! Fire Realm Comprehension +2,000!]

[Ding! Absorbed one Ninth-Grade Spiritual Plant. Gained 3,000 Evolution Points! Wood Realm Comprehension +5,000!]

[Ding! Absorbed one King-Tier, Lower-Grade Spiritual Plant. Gained 12,000 Evolution Points! Gold Realm Comprehension +7,000!]

The system notifications spammed his mind, forming a dense cascade of alerts.

Chu Sheng was in absolute ecstasy.

’As expected of the city with the most developed Spiritual Plant industry in the entire Sakura Country!’

’The quality of the goods in this City Lord’s Mansion treasury is frighteningly high!’

’Compared to this, the Mu Family’s Spiritual Plant cultivation garden on Hong Kong Island was hardly worth mentioning! Even the Qin Family’s treasury couldn’t compare when it came to Spiritual Plants alone!’

The Eighth-Grade and Ninth-Grade Spiritual Plants here were piled on the floor like common weeds.

He had even absorbed several King-Tier Spiritual Plants!

In just about half an hour, every last one of the Spirit Herbs and Elixirs in the entire treasury had been sucked completely dry by him.

All that remained on the floor was a thick layer of ash—the dregs left behind after a Spiritual Plant’s essence was thoroughly drained.

"Not bad... not bad at all..."

Chu Sheng let out a satisfied burp.

He pulled up his system panel for a look.

[Evolution Points: 920,000!]

’Holy crap! I absorbed nine hundred thousand in one go?’

"I’m rich! I’m rich! This Sakura Country is my land of fortune!"

Chu Sheng was so happy he rubbed all six of his legs together.

His mind was already racing with calculations.

’And this is just the treasury of one City Lord’s Mansion.’

’You have to remember, the Sakura Country has 812 cities and forty-eight Provincial Governments.’

’If I ransacked the treasuries in all of those places...’

’How many Evolution Points would that be?’

’Wouldn’t that be tens of millions?!’

’Even if the other cities don’t have as many Spiritual Plants as this one, every little bit counts.’

’Besides, other treasuries are bound to have other Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, like Ores, Magical Artifacts, and so on.’

’Anything with Energy can be converted into capital for me to grow stronger! Even if it’s just to accelerate my evolution, that’s fine too.’

However, Chu Sheng’s excitement lasted for all of two seconds before a very practical problem occurred to him.

’Over nine hundred locations... even if I worked without rest and swept through fifty a day, it would still take me more than half a month to get through them all, right?’

’That’s way too exhausting!’

’And far too inefficient!’

’What if... I just pack everything up in the Primordial Grotto Heaven and absorb it all later?’

The thought had barely surfaced before Chu Sheng rejected it himself.

’No, it won’t fit.’

’The Primordial Grotto Heaven is currently just a small space, with a diameter of less than seven hundred meters.’

’Plus, there’s that massive Witch Race Ancestral Hall inside, taking up a huge chunk of it.’

’If I tried to move the contents of over nine hundred treasuries in there, wouldn’t the Primordial Grotto Heaven just burst at the seams?’

’I could probably stuff the inventory of a dozen or so City Lord’s Mansions in there at most, and even then, the space would be filled to the brim with no room to even set foot.’

Just as Chu Sheng was worrying about how to increase his looting efficiency,

his keen Mental Power suddenly perceived a rush of hurried footsteps outside the treasury door.

’Someone’s coming!’

’And from the sound of it, there’s more than one. It seems like they’re having a heated argument.’

Chu Sheng immediately grew vigilant.

Almost instinctively, with a single thought, he swept up all the other items in the treasury—things like Spirit Ores, weapons, and Elixirs—and stuffed them all into his Primordial Grotto Heaven.

...

「Inside the Primordial Grotto Heaven.」

Immortal Venerable Shi Xi was strolling leisurely through this small world, her hands clasped behind her back.

Suddenly, the empty space before her flashed with light.

"CLATTER—"

A small mountain of various weapons, Ores, and Jade Boxes materialized out of thin air, appearing without any warning and nearly burying her feet.

Immortal Venerable Shi Xi: "..."

’What in the world is it doing? Wasn’t it going to retrieve a Spatial Treasure?’

’Why... did it bring in a pile of junk?’

...

After storing the items, Chu Sheng unhurriedly activated the Formless Myriad Phenomena Secret Technique, perfectly concealing his presence.

Like an invisible speck of dust, he clung silently to a corner of the wall, observing the situation outside with great interest through his Chaos True Sight.

「In the hallway outside the door.」

A fat, balding, middle-aged man with a greasy face was wiping cold sweat from his forehead while bowing and scraping behind three men in black uniforms.

The uniforms of the three men were embroidered with the special emblem of the Sakura National Mansion.

They were clearly special envoys sent directly from the National Mansion.

The leader of the trio, a man with a mustache, had a terrifyingly grim expression, his eyes fixed intently on City Lord Takahashi.

"City Lord Takahashi, I will say this one last time."

The mustached man’s voice held no room for negotiation.

"This is a direct order from the Holy Emperor! Within three days, all Cultivation Resources from every city in the nation must be confiscated!"

"All storerooms must be emptied! Not a single Spiritual Plant, not a single Spirit Stone, is to be left behind!"

Hearing this, City Lord Takahashi was so anxious the fat on his face began to tremble.

His heart was practically bleeding!

’The things in this treasury are the culmination of ten years of my painstaking efforts in this city of Haimachi!’

’Though it’s nominally the inventory of the City Lord’s Mansion, I’ve long considered a large portion of it my own private property.’

’And now, with a single order, the National Mansion wants me to hand over the fruits of the last ten years?’

’This is worse than killing me!’

"Sir! Lord Special Envoy! Please, be lenient!"

City Lord Takahashi pleaded bitterly.

"Handing everything over... isn’t that... isn’t that too much?"

"Haimachi is a major city for Spiritual Plants; our daily consumption and turnover are immense. If the storerooms are completely emptied, the entire city’s operations will be paralyzed!"

"If those aristocrats and Noble Families don’t get their reserved resources, they will absolutely cause trouble! If a riot breaks out, I, as the City Lord, cannot bear the responsibility!"

Every word he spoke was the truth.

This wasn’t just about taking his piece of the pie; it was taking a piece from every power in the entire city.

This kind of banditry would definitely cause a fierce backlash.

However, the mustached special envoy wasn’t buying any of it.

He sneered, his eyes filled with disdain and killing intent.

"A riot? Do you think the Holy Emperor cares about a riot among a bunch of ants?"

He stepped forward, grabbed City Lord Takahashi by the collar, and forcefully hoisted his obese body into the air.

"Takahashi, you listen to me and you listen good!"

"The Empire is about to undergo an unprecedented, great transformation! This is the ultimate plan, one that concerns the very survival of the Empire and its glory for ten thousand generations to come!"

"In the face of this plan, let alone the paralysis of your tiny Haimachi City, it must be executed even if it sets the entire country back fifty years!"

City Lord Takahashi choked, his face flushing red as he struggled to breathe.

His heart was filled with fear and bewilderment.

’Just what kind of plan could make the Holy Emperor resort to such an insane measure?’

’This is like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, destroying their own foundation!’

But he didn’t dare to ask, nor did he dare to argue any further.

He could clearly see the killing intent in the envoy’s eyes.

If he dared to utter another word of protest, these three men would absolutely execute him on the spot for treason and then forcibly take control of the treasury.

"I’ll... I’ll hand it over... Can I just hand it over..."

City Lord Takahashi squeezed the words from his throat with great difficulty, seeming to age ten years in an instant.

Only then did the mustached special envoy release his grip, dusting off his gloves in disgust.

"Should’ve just done this from the start. Why waste my time?"

"Open the door," he said, jutting his chin toward the treasury, motioning for City Lord Takahashi to open it.

City Lord Takahashi walked to the door, dejected.

He reached out a trembling hand, preparing to deactivate the Array on the door.

But when his hand touched the edge of the Array, he froze.

’Huh?’

’Why isn’t the Array reacting?’

He took a closer look, and his eyes went wide.

The originally seamless Defense Array had a massive hole torn in it!

It looked as if it had been brutally ripped apart by something incredibly sharp!

"How... How is the Array broken?!"

"And a broken Array that didn’t collapse or trigger an alarm! What... what kind of method is this?!"

City Lord Takahashi cried out in shock, a cold sweat instantly drenching his body.

The three special envoys behind him also had their expressions change drastically.

The mustached special envoy shoved City Lord Takahashi aside and kicked the heavy metal door directly.

BANG!

The door, no longer protected by the Array, was easily kicked open.

The four of them immediately rushed into the treasury.

And then...

They all stood there, completely dumbfounded.