Even a clay figure has some temper. Shawn Steele's words made Lone-Blade Gideon and his men tremble with rage.
Lone-Blade Gideon stepped forward, suddenly drawing the long saber from his back. "Since Chief Shawn Steele is so eager to teach us a lesson, then we won't hold back—everyone, attack!"
A flash of saber-light—Lone-Blade Gideon swung his blade, slashing straight at Shawn Steele.
The other six chiefs and Gavin Loneblade all launched their own moves, attacking Shawn Steele with everything they had.
"Since you're all fighting to the death, I'll spare your lives!"
Facing the attacks of eight people, Shawn Steele replied calmly, then casually waved his hand. It was as if a whirlwind swept across the ground—Lone-Blade Gideon and the others were all knocked back by a surge of force, sent flying several meters away and crashing to the ground.
Seeing this, Shawn Steele grinned, showing two rows of white teeth. "Now I declare: Sunrise Peak belongs to Clearwind Stronghold. Any objections?"
"No objections!" Lone-Blade Gideon said through gritted teeth, though his heart was full of frustration.
Shawn Steele nodded with satisfaction. "By the way, are you willing to surrender to Clearwind Stronghold?"
Hearing Shawn Steele's question, Lone-Blade Gideon felt a raging fire churning in his chest. Grinding his teeth, he spat, "I'd rather die than surrender!"
Shawn Steele said admiringly, "Chief Lone-Blade really is a true man. I respect that. However, I have to warn you: if you don't surrender, I will kill you!"
Hearing Shawn Steele's demand that they surrender, Lone-Blade Gideon felt like coughing up blood. Unable to hold back his fury, he roared at Shawn Steele, "Shawn Steele, your cultivation may be high, but you can't humiliate us like this! If you want to kill us, just do it. If I so much as frown, I'm no son of my parents!"
Hearing Shawn Steele demand their surrender, Lone-Blade Gideon felt like coughing up blood. Unable to hold back his fury, he roared at Shawn Steele, "Shawn Steele, your cultivation may be high, but you can't humiliate us like this! If you want to kill us, just do it. If I so much as frown, I'm no son of my parents!"
"I'm willing to die with my foster father!" Gavin Loneblade shouted heroically.
"Me too! I'll die alongside the chief!"
"Shawn Steele, if you've got guts, just kill me—eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again!"
Madam Shaw: "Shawn Steele, to think I wanted to sleep with you before. Now, even if you begged me, I wouldn't!"
............
Seeing the chiefs of Blue Dragon Stronghold and Gavin Loneblade all showing fearless expressions, Shawn Steele couldn't help but feel both amused and impressed.
In fact, the reason he wouldn't let them surrender was to complete a system mission, not to torment or humiliate them on purpose.
He hadn't expected this group of bandits to be so fiercely stubborn.
Just as Lone-Blade Gideon and the others closed their eyes, ready to die, Shawn Steele's voice sounded again: "Everyone, I was only joking with you just now. Looking back, I went too far. I apologize to all of you."
With that, Shawn Steele gave Lone-Blade Gideon and the others a deep bow.
Seeing Shawn Steele bow and apologize, Lone-Blade and the others were stunned. Such a top expert actually apologized to them? It felt unreal.
It was as if a random nobody couldn't imagine a mayor or governor ever apologizing to him.
Shawn Steele continued, "At the same time, I sincerely invite you all to join Clearwind Stronghold. I can promise you that if you join, I'll treat you as brothers and sisters. Of course, if you don't wish to, I won't force you, and you'll be free to leave unharmed."
Shawn Steele's words were so sincere that, little by little, the anger in Lone-Blade and the others faded, replaced by a hint of temptation.
"Chief Shawn, may we discuss it among ourselves?" asked Lone-Blade Gideon.
"Go ahead!" Shawn Steele replied graciously, smiling.
So, Lone-Blade Gideon and the other seven quietly discussed among themselves. After a while, all eight walked over to Shawn Steele, stopped one meter away, then bowed together and called out in unison: "Greetings, Chief!"
"Haha! Brothers, please rise—welcome to Clearwind Stronghold!" Shawn Steele laughed loudly.
That day, everyone from Clearwind Stronghold moved to Sunrise Peak.
The next day, the Blue Dragon Stronghold plaque was taken down and replaced with one reading "Clearwind Stronghold." Chiefs from more than thirty other bandit camps in the Blackwind Mountains came bearing gifts to offer their congratulations.
From then on, after absorbing Blue Dragon Stronghold's forces, Clearwind Stronghold instantly became the number one camp in the Blackwind Mountains. Shawn Steele was unanimously chosen by the more than thirty chiefs as the dragon-head chief.
After taking over Blue Dragon Stronghold, Shawn Steele copied Clearwind's training methods and reward system over to the new, larger force.
However, with so many people, having only five reward slots was far too few.
So, Shawn Steele made some adjustments, changing the reward system to hold two small competitions each month. Anyone who placed in the top hundred would win ten taels of silver.
The top ten would receive an additional ten taels of silver.
Every three months, there would be a grand competition. The top hundred would be awarded a hundred taels of silver, while the top ten would get two hundred taels.
As the saying goes, heavy rewards breed brave men. For the sake of all that shining silver, over two thousand underlings trained desperately, and after ten days, the results were remarkable.
Especially during a small competition half a month later, when Shawn Steele personally handed out silver to the top hundred. The underlings who didn't make the cut all looked on with red eyes, full of envy.
In the blink of an eye, two months had passed since the mysterious treasure fell from the sky.
On this day, the autumn sky was clear and crisp. Shawn Steele was hiding out on a broken cliff on Sunrise Mountain, grilling barbecue.
Beside him, three women stared hungrily at the two golden roast chickens in his hands.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake violently.
"Is it an earthquake?" he wondered, a look of confusion in his eyes.
The shaking grew even more intense.
"Crack! Crack!"
Cracks appeared in the cliff, and Shawn Steele and the three women quickly retreated from the edge.
The tremors continued to intensify.
"Crack!"
The ten-meter-long cliff broke off with a thunderous crash...
But as the cliff fell away, the tremors gradually subsided. Within a minute, everything was calm again.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Shawn Steele sensed something unusual. It felt as if the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was being summoned, rushing madly toward the Blackwind Mountains.
As a Foundation-Building cultivator, Shawn Steele was extremely sensitive to the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
The spiritual energy in this world was already several times richer than in the real world, though still less than in the secret realm, where it was dozens of times greater.
And this was only the beginning.
The spiritual energy was gathering faster and faster, and the concentration in the Blackwind Mountains was rising rapidly.
Double.
Triple.
Five times.
Ten times.
In less than ten minutes, the spiritual energy in the Blackwind Mountains was over twenty times richer than before, already matching the concentration found in the secret realm.
But it showed no sign of stopping.
Fifty times!
Moreover, Shawn Steele discovered with his clairvoyant eye that whenever the spiritual energy in the Blackwind Mountains was depleted, energy from outside would immediately replenish it.
Why had the Blackwind Mountains undergone such a transformation? Shawn Steele thought back to the mysterious treasure that had fallen from the sky fifty days earlier.
The spiritual energy in the Blackwind Mountains had reached a hundred times its original level. Just taking a breath would draw vast amounts of energy into your body.
What did this mean?
It meant that cultivating here would be dozens of times more effective than anywhere else.
Moreover, Shawn Steele discovered with his clairvoyant eye that whenever the spiritual energy in the Blackwind Mountains was depleted, energy from outside would immediately replenish it.
Why had the Blackwind Mountains undergone such a transformation? Shawn Steele thought back to the mysterious treasure that had fallen from the sky fifty days earlier.