Stirring Up a Hornet's Nest

"This talisman isn't for protection, but for the heart. It can protect your primordial spirit... Hmm, you don't have a primordial spirit, so it protects your soul and brain," Mr. Feng said weakly.

Shen Leling smiled, "That's right, Yan Nu, your mind has no protection. Last time at Tea Mountain Fort, I could make you fall asleep with just a few words."

"Thank you!" Yan Nu grinned and immediately sat down on the field ridges to cultivate.

This time, he had two talismans that consumed True Qi.

One green and one purple, one water and one fire, one yin and one yang.

Yan Nu infused them with True Qi, and in just one breath, he had used it all up.

So fast! Yan Nu thought.

Just as he was about to go find grass, Shen Leling handed him a bunch. She had cultivated it from grass seeds.

Along the way, Shen Leling had collected many grass seeds. After all, with Yan Nu being such a big eater of grass, and after the previous battle where they almost ran out of food, she needed to be prepared.

As a 'master gardener,' Shen Leling planned to research more spells for cultivating sheep grass.

"Hoo!" After eating, Yan Nu's True Qi was full, reaching four thousand six hundred and eighty-seven years of cultivation.

What a waste! Mr. Feng thought.

Most of the True Qi wasn't stored by the water and fire talismans; instead, it dissipated and returned to nature.

Mr. Feng and Shen Leling, standing beside Yan Nu, could feel the Vital Energy suddenly become dense and immediately began to absorb it.

Amazing! Huang Banyun thought.

He couldn't feel the Vital Energy, but using a cultivator's life-bound talisman to cultivate True Qi was already outrageous.

Even more extravagant was that Shen Leling had directly given Yan Nu a handful of Dragon Fodder Grass to eat.

"Is Dragon Fodder Grass absolutely necessary for refining the True Qi of Peaceful Governance?" Huang Banyun couldn't help but ask.

"Yes... Hmm?" Shen Leling realized, "Dragon Fodder Grass?"

Huang Banyun said, "It's the grass you just gave him."

"..." Mr. Feng and Shen Leling stared at him in disbelief.

Huang Banyun's expression turned serious, thinking he had asked something he shouldn't have.

He immediately said, "Sorry, I was being nosy. You don't need to answer, just pretend I never asked."

"You..." Shen Leling looked at him with a very suspicious gaze.

Even his monkey understood, yet Huang Banyun still thought it was Dragon Fodder Grass?

Huang Banyun thought they suspected him of having ulterior motives and quickly said, "I didn't mean anything else, please don't misunderstand me. I won't ask about cultivation techniques again."

Mr. Feng, however, quickly came to a realization, "There are no cultivators in your family, are there?"

Huang Banyun shook his head, "No... counting me, I'm only the third generation of scholars."

Shen Leling also understood. Huang Banyun knew almost nothing about the cultivation world.

Therefore, he couldn't possibly believe that a person could eat grass to refine Qi; it was too absurd. He could only choose to believe in the concept of Dragon Fodder Grass.

Old Dog Wulong was the same in this regard. He had no idea about Heaven-Defying Talent, and coupled with his lack of experience, he believed in the existence of Dragon Fodder Grass until his death...

This wasn't stupidity, but rather, in their understanding, it would be even more foolish to think it was ordinary grass.

Regarding the grass ring, Wulong even provided an explanation until his death. Huang Banyun firmly believed it and also thought his monkey had found Dragon Fodder Grass.

"Well, young friend, there are some things you will understand slowly in the future," Mr. Feng smiled without explaining.

He contentedly leaned beside Yan Nu, absorbing the Vital Energy that Yan Nu was emitting.

Shen Leling was also absorbing it and said, "So, when Yan Nu cultivates, so much Vital Energy scatters outwards..."

"What a pity. Absorbing it like this is the least effective. The Vital Energy dissipates too quickly, diluting into the entire world in an instant."

Mr. Feng muttered, "Next time, we should get him a formation. Let him cultivate within the formation, and the formation can also absorb the Vital Energy he emits."

Shen Leling tilted her head, "Do you know formations? I don't, and I heard they're very difficult."

Mr. Feng was surprised, "What's difficult about formations? It's just the Qianyuan Star Array arranged in turns."

"Not difficult? Don't be so arrogant! Are you a formation master?" Shen Leling recalled, "Back then, I... I was discussing Dao with someone, and that person said that ordinary people shouldn't study formations."

Mr. Feng chuckled, "He was right, you just misunderstood. Learning formations is difficult, the biggest difficulty is the cost."

"Cost?" Shen Leling was a bit bewildered.

Mr. Feng spread his hands, "A formation master carefully arranging a formation diagram with stones is not as effective as a formation apprentice holding gold and placing them according to the diagram..."

"What kind of logic is that?" Shen Leling couldn't understand.

Mr. Feng shrugged, "That's just the logic. Otherwise, why would they say ordinary people shouldn't study formations? They can't afford it."

"The world's number one formation is on Penglai Island. The world's second formation is in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor."

"Even the Human Emperor can't find Penglai Island, and True Immortals can't enter the Mausoleum of the First Emperor."

As they chatted, half an hour quickly passed.

In this half hour, Yan Nu had re-cultivated eight times, his cultivation reaching nine thousand one hundred and thirty-four years.

The speed of re-practicing the Emperor Tai's Cultivation Method has increased since many lives have been born and died before, but not by much.

However, he couldn't not practice it. The True Qi from the Emperor Tai's Cultivation Method wouldn't recover by eating grass, and without it, the quality of his True Qi had dropped by two levels.

"I can't anymore, both the Fire Talisman and Water Talisman are full," Yan Nu said to Mr. Feng.

Mr. Feng beckoned, and a Fire Talisman appeared on Yan Nu's chest. With a gentle touch, Mr. Feng felt an immense surge of pleasure.

"Hiss!"

"What's the difference between this and eating an immortal pill!" Mr. Feng was ecstatic. He had just absorbed two hundred segments of Magic Power, and there was still some left.

Shen Leling also absorbed a wave of Vital Energy, her spirit refreshed. "Didn't I tell you long ago? It's equivalent to eating an immortal pill..."

"Mmm..." After absorbing the Vital Energy, Mr. Feng's expression quickly turned weak again.

Although Vital Energy was more abundant than many elixirs, the feeling of invigoration only lasted for a moment, unlike the sustained effect of elixirs.

Mr. Feng's gaze dimmed. "It's a pity. Vital Energy can only replenish Magic Power. My origin is damaged, and only Incense and Faith can mend it..."

"Do you have any descendants left?" Shen Leling asked.

Mr. Feng said with hatred, "None... not a single one. The Zhang family wiped out my entire clan."

"I was the first to be killed, which is why I had the chance to be sacrificed and become a ghost."

"And it was precisely because I became a ghost that Zhang Tong spared my life, sealing me within a Bronze Contract to guard the Zhang family."

Shen Leling inquired, "Seeing your profound Daoist arts, you must have been quite renowned in life, right? Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

Mr. Feng proudly placed his hands behind his back. "Feng Xiu, Feng Junyou!"

"I was famous throughout the martial world at fifteen, entered the mountains to cultivate at seventeen, befriended countless Mystic Practitioners, and was known as the Drunkard of Hongnong!"

However, the scene was silent. After a long while, Shen Leling said, "Feng Junyou? Never heard of him."

"..." Feng Junyou's eyes dimmed.

Huang Banyun suddenly said, "Hongnong Commandery?"

"You know of it?" Feng Junyou asked eagerly.

Huang Banyun shook his head. "I've never heard of any noble families surnamed Feng in Hongnong Commandery."

"Alas! After only fifty years of demise, no one remembers?" Feng Junyou sighed to the heavens with a sorrowful expression. "There is no longer a Feng clan of Hongnong in this world..."

Yan Nu patted him in comfort. "Isn't it enough that I remember you?"

"..." Feng Junyou thought to himself, what good would that do?

He stood sadly in the air, the moon cold and the wind clear, feeling only desolation.

His voice was mournful, like a ghost's cry: "Seventy years ago, an old drunkard, now gone from the martial world. Alas, in one night of west wind, blown away like autumn sounds, leaving nothing."

Yan Nu didn't understand the poem and asked confusedly, "Why did the Zhang family wipe out your entire clan?"

Huang Banyun also asked, "Yes, what grudge could there be? Is it necessary for noble families to exterminate an entire clan? Such behavior cannot be tolerated by the scholarly world!"

Feng Junyou shook his head slightly. "Actually, I don't know... The Zhang family had no enmity with my Feng family. In fact, we were from long-standing friendships."

"Ah? Then why..." Everyone was a little surprised. No enmity, yet they exterminated an entire clan?

Feng Junyou lowered his head in thought. "To destroy a powerful clan, one usually eliminates all cultivators first, and then the mortal descendants."

"Fifty years ago, I was cultivating in the mountains. Zhang Tong came to drink with me. At the time, he was one realm higher than me, and with our families having a long-standing friendship, I naturally wouldn't refuse."

"As we were drinking, he killed me... Several other cultivators from the Feng family were also killed at the same time; their cultivation was not as good as mine."

"After that, Zhang Tong had my family sacrifice me to become a ghost. It took seven days for the Incense and Faith to shape my Ghost Body. By the time I awoke, the Feng family had already been wiped out, their blood staining the courtyard."

"Many people from the Zhang family, including Zhang Tong, were present. Seeing me take form, he quickly refined me into a Magic Artifact."

"So, for me, the entire incident was like a whirlwind sweeping through fallen leaves, sudden and unexpected. By the time I came to my senses, everything was gone."

"To this day, I still don't know why they killed my entire family. Perhaps I practiced some evil Cultivation Technique?"

Everyone listening was enraged. The Zhang family was too ruthless.

They first eliminated the cultivators, then the clan members, and even turned a person into a ghost.

Right up until their deaths, they were still drinking as friends, completely using trust to betray and kill others.

"Perhaps it was precisely because there was no enmity that they could get close to you and destroy you through trust..." Shen Leling murmured.

"How could they do this!" Yan Nu's eyes turned red.

Huang Banyun, who valued loyalty and righteousness the most, said indignantly, "The Zhang family of Hua County tramples on human lives to a nauseating degree. They are truly worse than beasts!"

He wasn't very good at cursing. "Worse than beasts" was already the harshest insult he could muster...

When Huang Banyun first saw Yan Nu, he didn't even have any clothes on and was covered in scars.

He knew it was likely related to the local Zhang family. Some powerful families bullying the villagers and abusing their servants was not uncommon.

He just didn't expect the Zhang family to surpass his imagination step by step. Whether it was exterminating the Feng family or casually slaughtering civilians, they were already disregarding the laws of the land.

"I want to destroy the Zhang family right now," Yan Nu said directly.

Huang Banyun was startled.

When powerful clans oppress, and the law cannot control them, naturally, there will be those who cannot stand by and watch the powerful oppress the common folk. In a fit of rage, they kill the oppressors and become fugitives in the jianghu.

Huang Banyun's father was such a person. Although he was a scholar, well-versed in literature and military strategy, he could not become an official or a general. He could only make a name for himself in the jianghu as one of the Eight Heroes of Qingzhou.

Even so, it was never said that any lone hero could destroy a noble family.

In the world today, it is a world ruled by noble families. Every powerful clan is deeply intertwined with disciples, students, famous friends, and connections in official circles, not to mention their ties within the cultivation world.

The only entity capable of destroying a noble family would be another noble family.

Yan Nu is merely a commoner. To attempt to destroy the Zhang Family is like poking a hornet's nest!

"Have you thought it through? If you destroy a powerful clan, there will be no place left for you in this world..." Huang Banyun looked somewhat melancholic at the Mysterious Iron Spear, then at Yan Nu.

Yan Nu said resolutely, "I never lie."

Shen Leling chuckled, "Alright, let's stir up trouble together until not a single chicken or dog is left."

Her Dao cultivation had been damaged, and she had long vowed to make the Zhang Family regret provoking her.

As for Feng Junyou, it was even simpler. He directly stated, "To destroy the Zhang Family, I am willing to die."

One demon, one ghost, and one commoner already had no place to belong. Everyone here intended to destroy the Zhang Family; they either had a grudge or a deep-seated, blood-soaked enmity.

The only one who could remain uninvolved was Huang Banyun. Shen Leling looked at him, "The water bead within you, I can take it back. You can leave whenever you wish."

Huang Banyun's brow furrowed, "No need to say more! Yan Nu saved my life and avenged me. If he wants to destroy the Zhang Family, I will certainly follow him!"

"Squeak squeak squeak!" the monkey on his shoulder chattered.

Yan Nu grinned, "Then it's settled. We'll go destroy the Zhang Family together."

p.s: Sorry.