Post-Battle Gains, Ji Haoyuan's Speculations

A deep confusion rose in everyone's hearts.

Most of those present were elders of the Ji Family. They had all heard of the Demon Calamity that had occurred in neighboring Fuyang Prefecture several decades ago.

It was said that the Demon Calamity had caused the deaths of countless cultivators throughout Fuyang Prefecture.

Dozens of mortal cities had been massacred.

Even the Sun Family, likewise a Foundation Establishment Family, had failed to escape that disaster.

Their entire family had nearly been wiped out overnight.

Fortunately, the Crimson Cloud Sect had discovered it quickly.

They had dispatched a large force almost immediately.

In the end, they successfully suppressed that Demon Calamity.

So the question was—

What was the deal with this Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Sun Family from Fuyang Prefecture?

Or was he someone who had survived that Demon Calamity all those years ago?

If so, what did it mean for him to lead people in attacking Luohe Market Town under the Ji Family's jurisdiction?

What exactly was the other party after, for no apparent reason?

Ji Haoyuan temporarily pressed down these doubts and turned to Ji Yunshan and the others beside him. "Yunshan, hang these people's corpses outside the market town later.

"I'll remain here for a few days. If anything happens during that time, you can come find me."

Hearing Ji Haoyuan's words, Ji Yunshan and the others were startled.

They saw no issue with hanging Scarface Man and the others' corpses outside the market town.

But hanging the corpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator outside as well—wasn't that a bit too... much?

As if seeing through Ji Yunshan and the others' thoughts, Ji Haoyuan asked blandly, "What? You think there's a problem?

"Or have your experiences and circumstances over these years ground away all your edge and confidence?"

These words immediately shook Ji Yunshan and the others inwardly.

They quickly understood Ji Haoyuan's true intention in doing so.

Amid their shame, they all nodded and answered.

"Yes, Fifth Uncle!"

"Yes, Fifth Uncle-Grandfather. We understand what to do!"

Some time later.

Inside a quiet room in Luohe Market Town.

Ji Haoyuan looked at the Storage Pouches laid out before him.

These had all been taken from the Masked old man and the others.

After spending several days removing the restrictions on every Storage Pouch, Ji Haoyuan began examining their contents.

First was the Masked old man's Storage Pouch.

A Flying sword at the spirit artifact level.

It was the very Flying sword the Masked old man had wielded when fighting him earlier.

Next came nearly four thousand Spirit Stones, along with some Pills used by Foundation Establishment cultivators in their daily cultivation.

Among those Pills, the one Ji Haoyuan valued most was a Pill capable of extending a cultivator's lifespan.

It was called the Ten-Year Pill.

As its name suggested, it could extend a cultivator's Lifespan by ten years.

Though it was not much, the pill itself was already exceedingly precious.

Especially in Ji Haoyuan's eyes at present, a pill that could extend a cultivator's life by ten years was undoubtedly more precious than anything else.

There were also some mineral materials and spirit herbs, as well as the mask worn by the Masked old man.

It was actually a spirit artifact as well.

Its purpose, however, was not offense or defense, but concealing one's true face so that ordinary Spiritual Sense could not see through it.

It was quite a good auxiliary item.

Ji Haoyuan sorted and organized these items one by one.

Only then did he look at the neatly arranged, enormous pile of Jade Slips in the other party's Storage Pouch.

They were, in fact, the cultivation art and Daoist art inheritances accumulated by the Sun Family.

They included the Sun Family's core cultivation art, the Woody Longevity Art, as well as another cultivation art named the Primordial Water Art.

Both cultivation arts could be cultivated to the Foundation Establishment level.

However, their contents were far from complete.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, there was basically not much left in the way of further progression.

If one insisted on cultivating them, reaching the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage would probably be the limit of these two cultivation arts.

Next came Jade Slips concerning spells, alchemy, and talisman crafting.

Ji Haoyuan gave them all a cursory read.

From among them, he found two spells that were quite useful to him at present.

One was the Second Order Mountain Splitting Spear Technique, and the other was the Second Order Supreme Yuan Sword Finger.

The former could be used in conjunction with his Crimson Flame Pattern Spear, while the latter could serve as a backup offensive method.

Overall, the gains from this trip were quite substantial.

Especially the Ten-Year Pill and the Sun Family's Jade Slip inheritances.

The former could extend Ji Bochang's life by another ten years, while the latter could greatly strengthen the Ji Family's foundation.

The only slight regret was that Ji Haoyuan had not found any useful clues in the Masked old man's Storage Pouch or those of the others.

But that did not mean Ji Haoyuan had no thoughts or speculations of his own.

From the fact that the other party had carried all of the Sun Family's Jade Slip inheritances with him, it was not difficult to see that he had intended to rebuild the Sun Family.

Yet everyone knew that rebuilding a Foundation Establishment Family required far more than a single Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The foremost and most important requirement was having their own cultivation grounds and Spiritual Vein.

In other words, the core territory of a family.

Like the Ji Family's Ganyang Mountain, the Zhang Family's Dongming Mountain, and the Liu Family's Qingning Mountain.

Without these things—

Forget rebuilding a family; even the daily cultivation of their clansmen would become a problem.

So.

Had the other party set his sights on the Ji Family's Ganyang Mountain and its Tier 2 low-grade Spiritual Vein?

That was not merely possible—it was highly likely.

The only thing Ji Haoyuan still did not understand was why he believed that, after bringing down the Ji Family, the Sun Family could take over Ganyang Mountain.

One had to know that the three great Foundation Establishment Families of Nanning Prefecture had each existed here for at least five hundred years.

The division of interests among them had long since been fixed.

Even though the Ji Family had now set like the sun over the western hills, they still held onto certain core interests.

What made the Sun Family think that after the Ji Family fell, the other two families would yield the interests that had originally belonged to the Ji Family?

That was practically impossible.

Unless the other two families stood behind the Sun Family.

Or unless one of them did.

At that moment, Ji Haoyuan's gaze suddenly became exceptionally profound.

As if piercing through the void, it settled upon the distant Dongming Mountain and Qingning Mountain.

Would it be you?

Or one of you?

Several days later.

Once everything in Luohe Market Town had been rebuilt, Ji Haoyuan did not stay any longer and returned to Ganyang Mountain.

At the same time.

News that Ji Haoyuan had slain a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the same realm rapidly spread throughout Nanning Prefecture.

For a time, countless cultivators were shocked and horrified.

Especially after they personally saw the Masked old man's corpse hanging outside Luohe Market Town, the shock in their hearts grew even stronger.

Because it proved one fact: the news that the Ji Family had produced a second Foundation Establishment cultivator was not a rumor, but the undeniable truth.

And this Foundation Establishment cultivator seemed to be far stronger than ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.