Tuyun Ridge's Guo Family was no more.
The Supreme Elder Guo Tong and three other Guo Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators all perished on the spot, without a single survivor.
Ninety percent of the Guo Family's Qi Refinement Cultivators were also killed, with only slightly more than ten managing to escape.
However, the assault on the Guo Family by the Zhou Family and other clans did not come without loss.
During the battle, while pursuing the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Guo Family, they all activated the third-tier Talismans given to them by Guo Tong as a last resort.
Caught completely off guard, one Foundation Establishment mid-phase Cultivator died on the spot, while Zhou Zhengyong and a He Family Foundation Establishment Cultivator were also injured.
Zhou Chun's Spirit Pet, the Golden Winged Tiger, was also severely wounded.
Regarding this situation, neither Zhou Chun nor Zhou Mingde had anything to say.
The war of annihilation was , even if a family was far weaker than their enemy, each would try by all means to drag their enemy down with them.
They had also given some life-saving items to several Zhou Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators before the war began.
After consoling the injured Zhou Zhengyong and the other, Zhou Mingde ordered the site to be cleaned up, preparing to return and report the outcome.
Unlike the previously annihilated Jiang Family, the Guo Family already had a heart set on mutual destruction upon learning that no reinforcement would arrive.
Therefore, before the Mountain Protection Array was breached, they had already destroyed everything that could not be taken with them. Not a single intact Spiritual Medicine could be found on Tuyun Ridge.
Thus, apart from the Storage Pouches of the fallen Guo Family Cultivators during the escape, there were actually not many spoils of war left for Zhou Chun and the others to collect.
The Zhou Family had already acquired most of the spoils, claiming the Storage Pouches of Guo Tong and two other Guo Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators (one had destroyed his Storage Pouch just before dying). As for those of the Qi Refinement Cultivators, it was tacitly agreed that whoever made the kill would keep the spoils.
This actually allowed the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators to make a small fortune.
After scavenging everything worth taking, everyone simply burned some of the corpses of the Guo Family Cultivators on Tuyun Ridge and then left.
Almost half a day after the Zhou Family members had departed, two Guo Family Qi Refinement Cultivators suddenly returned to Tuyun Ridge and took away seven or eight children from the surviving mortals.
These children were all Clan Members with Spirit Root Aptitude from the Guo Family and had been spared from the slaughter as they had yet to cultivate any Mana.
According to the rules of the Cultivation World, calamity should not befall mortals; generally, even in clan-annihilating wars, those without Mana in the enemy family are not killed.
Of course, not everyone abides by this rule. Sometimes, in order to prevent the possibility of the enemy's family seeking revenge, after annihilating the family, some would turn back and quietly eliminate those with Spirit Root Aptitude from the enemy family.
However, whether it was during the extermination of the Jiang Family or now with the Guo Family, Zhou Chun and his group did not do so.
This was not because they were merciful, but because both wars of annihilation were quite special; they could not directly occupy the losing family's territory and make it their own.
On the other side, once Zhou Chun and his group returned to the Little Bear Mountain base, Zhou Mingde found the Green Lotus Temple's envoy, "Senior Envoy, Tuyun Ridge's Guo Family has been annihilated. The heads of the Supreme Elder Guo Tong and the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators are here, please verify them, Senior Envoy!"
Having said that, he slapped his Storage Pouch, taking out four heads contained in wooden boxes.
"Correct, these are indeed the Supreme Elder Guo Tong and three Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Guo Family."
After carefully examining the heads, the Green Lotus Temple's envoy nodded lightly and immediately produced a ball of True Fire that turned the heads to ash.
Then he said to Zhou Mingde, who was still looking at him, "Taoist Friend Zhou, you have worked hard. I will accurately report your achievements to the Temple Master. For now, please rest well and await further orders from the Temple Master."
"Zhou understands. Then Zhou will not disturb the Senior Envoy any longer."
Zhou Mingde nodded, gave a cupped fist salute, then turned and left.
Once back at the resting place, he conveyed the Green Lotus Temple envoy's words to Zhou Chun and the others, allowing everyone to disperse and rest.
Then several Zhou Family members gathered in Zhou Mingde's residence to tally their gains.
After all, the Guo Family of Tuyun Ridge was a significant Cultivation Clan, with some ancestral depth.
From Guo Tong's legacy, the Zhou Family not only acquired two third-tier Magic Artifacts but also two millennia-old Spiritual Medicines, numerous high-aged Spiritual Medicines, and more than twenty thousand Spirit Coins.
The possessions left by two other Guo Family Foundation Establishment Cultivators also contained numerous Magic Artifacts, Elixirs, Spiritual Medicines, and nearly twenty thousand Spirit Coins.
All these were spoils of war, rightfully shared by those who had participated in the battle, by the rule.
Therefore, Zhou Mingde decided to divide two third-tier Magic Artifacts and two millennia-old Spiritual Medicines between himself and Zhou Chun, then each took fifteen thousand Spirit Coins and some high-aged Spiritual Medicines.
The rest of the items were shared among the three Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
After splitting the treasures, the five Zhou Family members also returned to their rooms to rest.
However, for the next five days, no further orders from the Green Lotus Temple were given.
No orders meant that Zhou Chun and his group were to continue their stationing at the Little Bear Mountain base.
But this Little Bear Mountain base was not a major stronghold, it was originally a territory abandoned by a Cultivation family that defected to Lingzhou, later taken over by the Green Lotus Temple.
The concentration of Spiritual Energy at such a place could hardly support the cultivation needs of several Purple Mansion Phase Cultivators like Zhou Chun and his companions.
Therefore, if stationed here for a long time, it would delay their Cultivation progress.