The Rise of a Family: Starting from Daily Intelligence - Chapter 418 (Patreon)

Chapter 418: Sign of Atavism, Fellow Disciples Slaughter Each Other, Calamity of Clan Extermination

“This is…”

Before him, the sky-piercing ancient tree poured out vast, pristine spiritual energy—the densest he had ever seen.

“Could this… be the legendary Donghua Yimu?”

At the same time, the azure flood dragon had already moved ahead of him. Its curious tail flicked, about to coil around the towering tree—

A sudden change!

Hum!

The entire spiritual tree burst into a blinding golden radiance. The pale cyan glow flowing through its branches and leaves turned into scalding streams of gold-fire, flooding the cavern like a furnace.

“Xiao Qing, back.”

He retreated two steps. Three Ice Talismans flew from his sleeve and pasted themselves onto his now searing black robe. Notes from the Myriad Spirits Compendium flashed through his mind: [Golden Sun Wood]

[Grade: Earth-grade High Spiritual Wood]

[Attributes: Pure Yang, Geng Metal]

[Habitat: Born upon peaks tempered by Astral Winds of the Ninth Heaven, or in caverns where earth-veins and magma converge. A thousand years to form a bud, ten thousand to gain spirit. It blossoms once every three thousand years, like a blazing sun-disc; three thousand years later it bears fruit, called “Golden Sun Seeds.” Taking them can forge a Pure Yang Dao Body.]

Fu Changsheng took a closer look. The tree matched the record exactly: the trunk looked as if cast from red gold; under daylight, flowing fire-veins flickered. Golden liquid oozed from cracked bark.

“Could this truly be Golden Sun Wood?”

Only… such wood should grow at a volcano’s mouth—so why was it in a damp ant den?

“A single test will tell.”

Per the Compendium, the tree’s three-inch golden leaves were razor-sharp at the edges. By day they drank the essence of the sun; by night they exhaled Geng Metal qi, able to form an array on their own to protect the body.

Fu Changsheng’s eyes narrowed.

He pinched a hand seal.

A thread of spell power stretched from his fingertip toward the Golden Sun Wood’s leaves. The instant it touched a blade—

Zheng!

Three golden leaves quivered. Their edges flashed with stabbing cold light, condensing out of thin air into three arcs of Geng Metal sword-qi that slashed at him!

“As expected!”

He snapped his spirit back. With a sweep of his sleeve he flung out an ancient bronze shield.

Ding ding ding!

Sword-qi rang against the shield with the clash of metal on stone. Three hairline cracks crawled across the face.

“Self-born warding—this sharp? It can only be Golden Sun Wood.” Fu Changsheng was secretly shocked, yet puzzled. “The Compendium says this wood’s temper is as fierce as fire; there should be lava and earthfire nearby. How could it be…”

While he struggled to make sense of it—

“Roar!”

The azure flood dragon, enraged that the ancient tree had dared attack its master, swelled to several dozen zhang in length and slammed a claw into the ground.

Rumble!

The earth heaved.

The floor split apart and scalding steam spewed from the cracks.

Fu Changsheng looked down and saw that the deeper soil glowed a dark red—veins of molten light flowed beneath!

“So that’s it!” He understood. “There must be a fire-eye of the earth-vein under this nest. The damp surface is just a disguise. The Golden Sun Wood rooted here, tempering its Geng Metal qi by earthfire, while the clammy ant-den hides its Pure Yang aura… What a natural yin-yang array!”

Joy brightened his gaze.

“Truly, I wore out iron shoes searching, only to find it effortlessly!”

Golden Sun Wood was the key spiritual material for cultivating the fourth layer of the Nine Heavens Starry Technique—the Marrow-Refining stage.

The intelligence he’d received also mentioned:

Once a year, a pool of Golden Sun Sacred Water would be born.

Judging from the age of this tree, quite a lot should have accumulated.

Light flared in Fu Changsheng’s eyes. His figure flashed like lightning—he stopped three zhang from the trunk. Forming seals with both hands, he called out in a low voice:

“Mysterious Yin True Water—condense!”

The jade ewer at his waist leapt up. From its mouth spilled a curtain of dusky-blue water, like the River of Heaven overturning, pouring straight toward the roots.

This water came from an abyss in the extreme north, the perfect bane of Pure Yang. The moment it touched root, it hissed and seethed, lofting billows of white steam.

The Golden Sun Wood shuddered violently. Red-gold veins along the trunk flickered as if struggling. Those golden liquid chains that had slithered like vipers now slowed, their edge dulled.

“Now!”

Without hesitation, Fu Changsheng’s Thunderstriking Sword flashed from his sleeve as a thread of silver, stabbing straight for the heart of the trunk. Sparks spat when the blade met bark, as though he were chiseling wrought iron. He grunted, driving the Green Emperor Longevity Technique to a frenzy, flooding the sword with essence—

Crack!

The trunk finally split. Molten-gold liquid seeped out like lava, but upon touching air it condensed into crystalline amber—precisely the legendary Golden Sun Sacred Water.

“So it’s here!”

Delighted, Fu Changsheng flipped out a green jade vial.

Suspended midair, the vial’s mouth glowed with a faint cyan light. Pools of Golden Sun Sacred Water streamed inside.

The instant the sacred water entered, fine golden Dao-patterns crawled across the bottle. It trembled slightly, as if unable to bear the force of Pure Yang within.

“What a domineering aura!”

He dared not delay, corked the vial, and slipped it into his sleeve.

“With this much sacred water, reaching perfection in Marrow-Refining shouldn’t be a problem.”

His mood soared.

His gaze returned to the Golden Sun Wood. A heaven-and-earth spiritual root like this would be wasted if left here. He formed a new seal and chanted the Five Spirits Conveyance Technique:

“Lend me Heaven and Earth, let the Five Elements turn—rise!”

Wind and thunder surged through the cavern.

Five beams of light split the ground around the tree—green, red, yellow, white, and black—coalescing into a massive Five Elements hand that uprooted the whole tree. The instant the roots left the earth, lava erupted from below, but Fu Changsheng had a “Mysterious Ice Prison-Suppressing Talisman” ready and slapped it down to seal the fire-vein.

“Collect!”

His sleeve billowed. It looked as though he’d put the Golden Sun Wood into a storage pouch, but in truth he flung it directly into the Five Elements Space.

As for planting it…

He would leave that to Qiuniang once he left the Kunlun Minor World.

He swept the cavern with his spiritual sense and, finding nothing else of value, was about to depart when—

“Chew!”

The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast that had been dozing on his shoulder suddenly opened its eyes, as if sensing something. It grew agitated. The little beast’s body looked carved from crystal; seven-colored radiance flowed between its scales.

“Xiao Cai, what is it…”

Fu Changsheng blinked.

Since its birth, the Seven-Colored Glazed Beast had always been lazy. This was its first fierce mood swing. Its eyes flushed red and, ignoring him, it turned into a rainbow and dove for the fissure.

“Xiao Cai!”

His heart jolted. He followed the rainbow through layers of magma rifts. The scalding earthfire rushed against him, but a pale green aura three inches from his skin blocked it—the body-protecting light that came with the Green Emperor Longevity Technique.

Three thousand zhang below—

Boom!

The space opened up.

The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast had halted before a sky-spanning light screen, every scale standing on end, screaming shrilly.

Fu Changsheng’s pupils contracted.

This was no natural cavern.

It was a pocket space opened by tremendous power!

The entire barrier was a translucent amber, its surface flowing with a dense web of silvery Dao-patterns that sometimes aligned like constellations and sometimes formed archaic thunder sigils.

“Is this the legendary Zhoutian Starry Demon-Sealing Array?”

An odd pattern on the ant queen’s demon core flashed through his mind. Clearly, the queen had devoured power from this barrier and mutated.

“Chew!”

The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast suddenly went berserk, ramming the barrier. A crimson sigil flared on its brow, identical to that on a certain set of remains. Ripples spread across the barrier and a backlash shattered its scales.

“Xiao Cai, don’t!”

Seeing the little beast mad with frenzy—smashing itself bloody yet heedless—Fu Changsheng swept it into the Five Elements Space with a thought.

“What in this barrier…”

Could drive the Seven-Colored Glazed Beast into madness?

He pressed middle and index fingers from brow to eyes, activating a long-unused divine power—Clear-Spirit Bright Eyes. For years he had regularly washed his eyes with a concoction brewed from the Spirit-Eye Tree’s pure sap.

Now—

A green gleam surged as his eyelids lifted and fell.

He looked again and finally pierced the barrier’s interior—

A mountain-sized crimson skeleton had nine bronze pillars driven through its vitals. Chains wrapped around each pillar, etched with ancient “Command” sigils. The bones were crystal-clear like jade. Eighteen spikes along its spine still radiated heat that warped space. Even after tens of thousands of years, its world-burning ferocity was palpable.

In the chest cavity—

A crimson demon core hung there.

A secret note from the Myriad Spirits Compendium sprang to mind:

The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast is in truth a devolved variant of the ancient ferocious beast, the Nine Hells Flame Sovereign. If it encounters blood of the same source, a sign of atavism will manifest…

“So that’s it!” Fu Changsheng’s heart thudded. “Xiao Cai sensed blood of the same source—no wonder it lost control!”

Even as he thought, silver Dao-patterns along the barrier flared violently as if corroded by some force. Stable constellations twisted out of place.

“What…”

Fu Changsheng started.

He stared—and saw the crimson demon core begin to throb.

“Did the Nine Hells Flame Sovereign sense Xiao Cai’s aura as well?”

No sooner had the thought formed than the core’s pulsing intensified. Each beat sent tremors through the pocket space. Fine blood-red lines crept across the mountain bones like veins, spreading outward.

“Roooar—”

A low, ancient bellow came from the depths of the barrier, as if crossing ten thousand years.

Fu Changsheng stiffened.

In the hollow eye sockets, twin flames suddenly burned, locking straight onto him!

Boom! Boom!

Terrifying power speared from the bones and hammered the barrier.

Fu Changsheng saw that—

And ran.

If this Nine Hells Flame Sovereign broke free, even as a remnant soul, it was far beyond what his present cultivation could handle.

“Huh?”

As he turned, the barrier’s silver patterns erupted in dazzling light. The warped constellations snapped back into place; archaic thunder sigils became chains, whistling like lightning as they rewound around the bones and brutally suppressed the murderous aura.

“The Zhoutian Starry Demon-Sealing Array… truly worthy of its name.” He exhaled in relief.

Pressed down by the grand seal, the remnant soul of the Nine Hells Flame Sovereign fell silent again.

Thoughts spun.

For Xiao Cai, that remnant soul was undoubtedly a great opportunity. But with his current cultivation, rashly meddling with such a relic of antiquity would be courting death.

“We’ll leave it for next time.”

The Kunlun Minor World opened once in centuries.

By the next opening, he would have stepped into Golden Core—perhaps even Nascent Soul. While his strength rose, the remnant soul would further fade. He could harvest the remains then, without haste.

He decided at once. Twelve formation flags flew from his sleeve and nailed into earth-vein nodes.

“Heaven and Earth conceal, Five Elements return—seal!”

The flags landed.

Hum!

Beams of spiritual light shot upward, weaving a dome that then inverted and dropped. With a subtle thrum it turned invisible, shrouding the barrier from sight.

Fu Changsheng cast one deep glance toward the sealed area, then turned into a streak of green and sped toward the surface.

…

At the same time—

Two graceful figures stepped into the Misty Ghost Forest one after the other.

“Sister-in-law, in such a rush—afraid I’ll steal the credit?” Liu Jitang glanced back at Su Lianxue, three steps behind.

Su Lianxue’s smile was cold. “You jest. The bans along this forest are vicious. My cultivation is shallow—I’d best learn a thing or two by following you.”

The two were plants the Joyous Sect had embedded within the sixth-rank Yun Clan of Jingzhou.

They had married into the Yun Clan almost together. Barely a hundred years later, Liu Jitang had reached the False Core realm and even propped her husband up as young clan leader.

As for Su Lianxue, though she’d married a Yun scion in the direct line, the power struggle shifted, and her husband’s branch ended up on the losing side. Her cultivation suffered as well—she had only just forced a breakthrough to Purple Mansion eighth layer. Compared to Liu Jitang, her fellow disciple from the same sect, her status and realm were as far apart as cloud and mud.

Before the Kunlun Minor World opened—

A secret order arrived from the Joyous Sect’s upper echelons:

“Proceed to the Misty Ghost Forest. By any means, at any cost, seize the Golden Sun Wood from the Rotten-Bone Ant Queen’s nest. Whoever obtains the Golden Sun Wood shall be granted the complete Joyous Maiden Technique!”

Su Lianxue steeled herself.

No matter what, she would take the Golden Sun Wood first. That would restore her standing, and the sect would cultivate her as a priority.

“Hmph.”

Liu Jitang could see straight through Su Lianxue’s intent.

But—

She was now False Core. The Golden Sun Wood would never fall into Su Lianxue’s hands.

They had barely gone a few steps into the forest when they found snapped, withered trunks everywhere, the surfaces bearing vicious sword-qi scars.

Liu Jitang’s brows drew together. “Someone beat us to it.”

Su Lianxue lagged three steps behind. Her plain white dress remained spotless as she cradled a green lamp, its wick burning with a dusky-blue flame that frosted her features. She lifted her gaze over the surroundings and said coolly:

“The sword-qi hasn’t dispersed. He should still be nearby.”

At almost the same instant, the flame in Su Lianxue’s lamp flared, drawing into a line of fire that pointed toward the depths of the ant nest.

Her eyes chilled.

“The spiritual wood has been disturbed. If we delay any longer, we won’t even get leftovers.”

Liu Jitang’s face changed as well.

The sect’s secret order promised the complete Joyous Maiden Technique. She would get it no matter what. That technique was her key to Golden Core—whoever blocked her would die.

She flicked a finger. A silver-white spiritual ermine flashed from her sleeve—her life-bound pet, the Tracking Ermine.

The little beast sniffed, then streaked into the burrow. A moment later, it sent back a message through her spiritual sense:

“A male cultivator in the depths is uprooting the Golden Sun Wood with a Five Elements Technique!”

Liu Jitang’s red lips curled into a killing smile.

“A mere Purple Mansion eighth layer dares touch what I fancy? Doesn’t know life from death.”

She flipped out a blood-colored formation scroll—the Nine Nether Soul-Locking Array, tailored to trap a cultivator’s spirit.

Su Lianxue’s face tightened, and the mockery vanished. She produced a small white-jade sword, its blade crowded with eerie runes. A stroke of her fingertip split her wrist, and blood dripped onto the array. Runes blazed to life.

“If we’re to join hands, let’s not hold back.”

Liu Jitang’s eyes narrowed in mirth. She likewise cut her palm and bled onto the scroll. Their powers braided together. The scroll flew open and spread as an invisible net over the nest’s mouth.

The instant the array set—

An icy wind rose in the forest. Faint wails threaded the gloom.

Liu Jitang tapped her brow. A strand of spiritual sense merged into the Tracking Ermine and slipped into the den to spy. Moments later, she snorted.

“He’s taken the Golden Sun Wood and is leaving.”

Su Lianxue pinched a seal. The green-lamp flame surged, becoming nine fire serpents that coiled about the formation’s eyes.

“The moment he steps out, we activate the array—trap first, kill later.”

Liu Jitang licked her lips. A poison-dipped short blade slid into her palm.

“The Golden Sun Wood will count as our joint credit. His azure flood dragon is mine; his storage pouch is yours. How about it?”

They had only just entered the secret realm.

What could a man like this have in his pouch? Su Lianxue snorted, reluctant but willing.

“As you say, Senior Sister. But besides his pouch, his primal yang is mine as well.”

She would use the chance to break through to Purple Mansion ninth layer.

In the depths, Fu Changsheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. His keen spiritual sense caught a trace of murderous intent. He halted and looked toward the nest’s mouth.

“An ambush?”

On his shoulder, the azure flood dragon’s scales trembled with warning. Fu Changsheng narrowed his eyes. The Thunderstriking Sword slid three inches from the sheath, a cold gleam peeking out.

“If they want the mantis to catch the cicada…” Cold amusement tugged his lip. He flipped out an Earth-Burrowing Talisman. “Let’s see who’s the oriole.”

He didn’t rush out. Instead, he took out a bronze compass. Its needle shuddered wildly and pointed outside—right at the array’s core.

“Generous, aren’t they.” He laughed under his breath and drew three Formation-Breaking Talismans. They ignited without wind and sank into the soil as golden lights.

Outside—

Liu Jitang and Su Lianxue stood to either side of the array, pouring power into it. Runes brightened; ghostly blue flames licked up from underground and sealed the opening tight.

“He’s noticed,” Su Lianxue said suddenly. The lamp-flame shook violently. “The array’s power is being corroded!”

Cold light flashed in Liu Jitang’s eyes. “No matter. As soon as he sets one foot—”

Her words died as a deafening blast thundered from within.

Boom!

A pillar of crimson fire erupted from the nest. Fu Changsheng had triggered an Earthfire Talisman, detonating the magma vein below. Lava fountained up, blowing out half the mountainside. Savage fire-spirit power tore a hole in the array.

“Courting death!” Liu Jitang snarled. Her poisoned blade shot through the smoke toward a wavering silhouette.

Ding!

The Thunderstriking Sword split the blade midair. Fu Changsheng strode out through the fire, robes snapping, a pale green aura around him.

His gaze swept over the two women and tightened.

“The Joyous Maiden Technique.”

So—

These two were the embedded spies the intelligence had mentioned, planted by the Joyous Sect in a great clan of Jingzhou.

“Hmph. You have some discernment after all—to recognize us at a glance. In that case, die.”

Su Lianxue’s eyes went hard. She pinched a seal.

The ground split. Nine fire serpents roared out of the array, each woven from nether ghost-flame. Stone blackened and pitted wherever they passed.

Fu Changsheng advanced instead of retreating. His sword traced a silver arc. “Thunder Smite!”

Sword-waterfalls poured down. The instant they met the fire serpents, blinding thunder burst forth and ripped the ghost-flames apart. Yet as his strength ebbed, Liu Jitang ghosted behind him. Crimson-tipped nails hooked into a claw to seize his heart.

“Your heart—belongs to me!”

Shhh—

Her talons pierced the aura and closed on emptiness. Fu Changsheng’s figure rippled like water and vanished, leaving behind only a Substitute Talisman slowly burning to ash.

“An illusion?!” Liu Jitang’s pupils contracted. A killing chill poured from above. She looked up. The real Fu Changsheng hovered there, the Thunderstriking Sword swelling into a ten-zhang thunder dragon that crashed down roaring.

Boom!

Lightning exploded. Liu Jitang barely had time to throw up a bone shield. The backlash flung her dozens of zhang. Blood beaded at her lip. She steadied herself—and saw Su Lianxue not saving her but driving the green lamp instead. The flame became chains that lashed at Liu Jitang’s ankles.

“Wretch, you—”

“Forgive me, Senior Sister.” Su Lianxue’s face didn’t change. “Isn’t the complete Joyous Maiden Technique better enjoyed alone?”

Fu Changsheng watched their internecine treachery with a curl of his lip.

He had been waiting for this moment.

“Xiao Cai!”

At his low shout, the Seven-Colored Glazed Beast sprang from his sleeve. The crimson sigil on its brow blazed. It spat a waterfall of seven-colored radiance that draped him from head to toe. His internal power surged; his aura climbed by leaps—

Purple Mansion eighth layer… ninth layer… False Core, early stage!

“What?!” Liu Jitang’s eyes shrank. She had never imagined this seemingly ordinary Purple Mansion cultivator had such a trump card.

Thunder leapt in Fu Changsheng’s eyes. With a wave of his sleeve, two more Thunderstriking Swords shot out to join the first, forming a triangular sword array. Their rims hummed and drew down nine-heaven thunderclouds.

“Starry Sky Heavenly Thunder Sword Array—open!”

Rumble!

Three sword-lights fell like meteors, sealing every path for Liu Jitang. Within the array, thunder serpents writhed; each thread of sword-qi carried annihilating force.

Her face drained. At death’s door, she bit her tongue and spat blood.

“Maiden’s Substitution—shift!”

Blood fog erupted. She and Su Lianxue swapped places.

“Liu Jitang, you—!” Su Lianxue stumbled right into the triple thunder. She threw up the lamp in panic. The flame unfurled nine ghost-fire screens—only to shatter layer by layer under lightning.

Puff!

One Thunderstriking Sword punched through her shoulder. The other two sheared her protective treasures. She vomited blood and flew backward. The lamp fell; its wick-fire nearly guttered out.

“How tender, your sisterly bond,” Fu Changsheng sneered. His finger flicked. “Thunder Smite—extinguish!”

The remaining thunder gathered into a purple-black spear that shot for Liu Jitang’s heart.

Face twisted, she tore open the front of her robe and pulled out a pitch-black bone pendant. Clawing into her own chest, she wrenched a drop of heart-blood and fed it to the bone.

“Nine Nether Profound Yin Aegis—open!”

Hum!

The pendant exploded into a hundred-zhang ghostly shadow that swallowed the thunder spear. Both ghost and lightning collapsed, and the shockwave ground everything within a hundred zhang into powder.

Fu Changsheng slid back three steps, a trace of gravity in his eyes. “A life-saving charm forged by a Golden Core cultivator?”

Liu Jitang fled backward, whipping out a blood-colored banner embroidered with twisted human faces—the Joyous Sect’s wicked treasure, the Ten Thousand Souls Heart-Devouring Banner.

“Dog of a man, forcing me to use this—be proud.”

She shook the flag. Innumerable wailing spirits poured forth, turning earth itself into stinking blood-mud.

Fu Changsheng dared not grow careless. A crimson talisman flashed from his sleeve—its golden phoenix spread its wings. A Phoenix Talisman.

“Burn the heavens!”

The talisman flared. A golden-flame heavenly phoenix screamed into being, wings spanning ten zhang. Scorching phoenix fire clashed with the ghosts, throwing up reeking black smoke.

At the same time, the azure flood dragon burst from his sleeve. The scale at its brow blazed blue as it unleashed three bloodline techniques in succession.

A wall of floating scales rose to block straggler wraiths.

A curtain of water fell like a monsoon to scour away blood-poison filth. Then countless water-threads braided into a net that snared Liu Jitang for a moment.

Trapped, she only grew wilder. She yanked a lock of hair free. It became nine blood snakes that drilled underground.

“Maiden’s Blood Curse—explode!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Nine points of the earth-vein erupted at once. Berserk blood-sha qi blasted up, scattering the phoenix phantom by a third. Fu Changsheng’s sword array rocked. Blood touched his lip.

“It’s time to end this.” He wiped the stain and suddenly drew together the array’s remaining thunder, condensing everything at his fingertip into a purple-black bead.

“Three Talents Tribulation Thunder—fall!”

The bead struck earth. Heaven and earth blazed. Liu Jitang’s body-guarding treasure shattered; the Ten Thousand Souls Banner howled and snapped. She screamed as half her body charred to coal.

Before the smoke cleared, a pale green streak lunged at Fu Changsheng’s back—the dying Su Lianxue. She clutched the lamp’s half-burned wick; the feeble flame sharpened into a poisoned needle aimed at his dantian.

“Die together!”

At the last instant, the Seven-Colored Glazed Beast leapt. Its seven-hued glow congealed into a shield. The needle punched through but lost force, and the azure flood dragon swatted it aside with its tail.

Fu Changsheng’s return slash took Su Lianxue’s head. Her eyes froze with unwillingness.

Seeing it, Liu Jitang detonated her ravaged body.

Flesh and blood erupted into scattering arrows.

“Escape? Dream on.”

A cold gleam lit Fu Changsheng’s eyes. He raised two fingers. A purple-gold sigil blossomed on his brow.

“Purple Qi Divine Light—annihilate!”

Vmm—

Dazzling purple radiance lanced from his brow like divine judgment, piercing Liu Jitang’s remains. Blood-mist boiled away. Even the nascent spirit she had nearly loosed was shredded to nothing.

Her scream cut off. What was left of her turned to ash in the light and drifted away.

Silence settled.

Fu Changsheng let out a long breath. His surging power eased. The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast, exhausted, curled back into his sleeve. With a beckon, the Thunderstriking Sword flew to his palm. The lightning patterns along its blade had dulled—this battle had cost it dearly.

“Joyous Sect maidens—venomous to the core.” He cast a cold glance at Su Lianxue’s headless corpse, then at the place where Liu Jitang had vaporized, and snorted. “Fellow disciples turning on each other—die without pity.”

He flicked his sleeve and drew in their fallen storage pouches.

A sweep of his spiritual sense.

In Liu Jitang’s pouch:

The Nine Nether Soul-Locking Array, though part of its runes were scorched by lightning, remained a rare trapping formation; the Ten Thousand Souls Heart-Devouring Banner was broken, but its core “Soul-Devouring Jade” remained; three bottles of Blood-Marrow Pills; more than eight hundred mid-grade spirit stones; and a shattered black bone pendant with a lingering Golden Core aura.

Su Lianxue’s pouch was poorer.

Besides a partial Joyous Maiden Technique, the lamp’s wick was destroyed, but the lamp’s yin-jade body could be reforged. The white-jade shortsword that specialized in breaking body-guarding qi was a decent prize, and she had five hundred low-grade spirit stones.

At that moment—

A familiar mechanical chime sounded in his mind.

“Ding.”

“You have slain two Joyous Sect infiltrators and acquired much rare material for your clan. Reward: five thousand Family contribution points.”

The number on his panel ticked up to twelve thousand.

“This isn’t a place to linger.”

Just as he moved to leave, the azure flood dragon growled low, scales bristling.

Fu Changsheng’s face tightened. His spiritual sense surged outward like a tide—several auras were racing in from the depths of the Misty Ghost Forest. One carried the pressure unique to a False Core cultivator.

“The commotion drew others.”

He stowed everything at once, crushed an Earth-Burrowing Talisman, and sank into the ground. As he vanished, he glanced back over the ravaged battlefield, a faint smile touching his mouth.

“When the Joyous Sect learns two of its best pawns died by my hand… they’ll be hopping mad, won’t they?”

…

Deep within the Joyous Sect, in a shadowed secret chamber, two green lamps guttered out. At the instant the wicks burst, thin threads of smoke coiled into Liu Jitang’s and Su Lianxue’s twisted, despairing faces—and dispersed.

“Trash!” Real Person Yun smashed the table with a palm, fury nearly tangible in his eyes. The pieces he had nurtured with countless pains—gone in a day.

Which meant his plan for the Golden Sun Wood had also come to nothing.

“I will see who dares spoil my work!”

He shaped seals. Blood mist boiled up in the chamber, forming a scarlet mirror. It showed the instant purple light speared through Liu Jitang’s nascent spirit and the terror in Su Lianxue’s eyes as her head flew—then froze on Fu Changsheng’s cold face.

Fu Changsheng!!

“You again!” Real Person Yun’s eyes bulged. His chest heaved and he spat blood. The beads splashed the mirror; the image buckled and shattered. His only blood kin had died under Fu Changsheng’s sword; the disciples he had painstakingly raised had fallen one after another; now even the long-planted dark pawns had been uprooted.

“Fu Changsheng.” Real Person Yun wiped his mouth, voice like the chill of Nine Nether. “The Fu Clan will be buried with you.”

He flung his sleeve. The stone door boomed open.

Moments later—

A line of Purple Mansion disciples knelt outside, all quaking. From above came Real Person Yun’s glacial command:

“Send word to the Xuanshao Sect. March at once on Huizhou Prefecture. I will dispatch three False Core elders to aid in secret—leave not a dog or chicken of the Fu Clan alive.”

“Yes, Master!”

They took the order and fled.

Real Person Yun turned to the map of Wuzhou on the wall. His fingertip scraped across “Huizhou Prefecture,” leaving a blackened scar.

“Fu Changsheng, this time I want you to watch with your own eyes as your kin die one by one before you.”

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