Breaking Through Ziyang Mountain

"Set up the sword formation and surround them."

A Lu Family cultivator at Qi Refining Layer 9 called out, and they began besieging the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

Each Foundation Establishment Cultivator had to face the siege of eight or nine Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators.

Bang bang.

Boom boom boom.

Under the numerical assault, the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators were quickly wounded.

Whether it was the Gray-robed Daoist or the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators, all of them swiftly fell into a disadvantage. If this continued for some time, the Gray-robed Daoist and the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators might perish under the siege.

Yet at this moment, as a large number of Lu Family cultivators joined the encirclement, the number of cultivators operating the Mountain Protection Array greatly decreased, and its power fell again and again.

Under that Array Master's command, after a succession of attacks, another breach appeared in the Mountain Protection Array.

Another five Foundation Establishment Cultivators charged in.

With the addition of fresh forces, the Lu Family cultivators fell into a disadvantage.

The cultivators who had charged in continuously attacked Ziyang Mountain, destroying the terrain and damaging the mountain's structure. As some Array Foundations were destroyed, the Mountain Protection Array shook before completely shutting down.

Kill!

The remaining cultivators stormed Ziyang Mountain completely.

"Run."

Patriarch Lu Tianming's eyes flashed with despair as he shouted sharply, "Lu Family clansmen, flee for your lives!"

In truth, he did not need to say it. Some clansmen were already running.

"So be it. This old man is guilty."

"While I was Patriarch, the Lu Clan suffered a catastrophe of annihilation. I have failed the ancestors."

As he spoke, a trace of madness flashed across his face. "Fight to the death!"

He took out a pill and swallowed it directly.

This pill was called the Heavenly Devil Disintegration Pill.

After swallowing the pill, Lu Tianming's Foundation Establishment Ninth Layer cultivation continuously rose, stepping into the Purple Mansion Realm.

But at the same time, his essence blood, true qi, soul, and everything else burned violently.

At most, he could maintain it for thirty seconds before his qi and blood ran dry and he died.

Some of the other Foundation Establishment Elders also swallowed Heavenly Devil Disintegration Pills, their cultivations soaring as they entered a desperate state.

Great Elder Lu Tianyi smiled as he prepared to swallow a Heavenly Devil Disintegration Pill and fight to the death.

But the Patriarch struck the back of his hand with his sword, knocking the pill to the ground. "Seventh Brother, you cannot die. Break out."

Kill!

Madness flashed through Lu Tianming as he charged at the Gray-robed Daoist.

Kill!

The other Foundation Establishment Elders also went mad, charging at the other Cultivation Bandits.

At the moment of the Lu Clan's destruction, its elders erupted one after another, burning their lives to hold back the enemies and buy time for the family cultivators to escape.

"Run!"

His figure flickering, Lu Xuanji fled with Ye Feixue, racing into the distance.

Not long ago, the Lu Clan had still been the overlord of Qingshui Commandery, with a Purple Mansion Ancestor overseeing it and its might shaking the land.

But now, the Lu Clan was about to perish, reduced to homeless dogs.

The Lu Family cultivators scattered in every direction, breaking out toward different routes.

Hoo hoo hoo.

Activating the Wind Escape Technique and borrowing the force of the gale, Lu Xuanji kept running.

By now, he was already Three Li away. Ziyang Mountain was burning with great fires, slaughter continuing and destroying everything.

Alas.

With a sigh, Lu Xuanji began his life of flight with Ye Feixue.

Fortunately, speed was the essence of war, and to preserve the suddenness of the attack—

The cultivators attacking Ziyang Mountain consisted mainly of Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Purple Mansion cultivators, numbering only thirty-one.

Meanwhile, there had been over a thousand cultivators stationed on Ziyang Mountain.

By scattering and fleeing, they had a great chance of escaping.

Those thousand-odd clansmen were dividing the enemy's attention, also giving Lu Xuanji an opportunity to survive.

Yet the thought of the Lu Clan's destruction weighed heavily on his heart.

With the Lu Clan destroyed, many Lu Family cultivators would become Rogue Cultivators.

Many cultivators already had poor survival skills, and having lost their family's protection, they might become cannon fodder for certain people or die in the jaws of demon beasts. Most would meet poor ends.

The life of a Rogue Cultivator was unstable, and the death rate was far too high.

Half an hour later, the battle ended.

On Ziyang Mountain, the Mountain Protection Array had completely shattered. The Array Foundations in some crucial locations had been damaged, and many buildings were severely ruined.

Corpses lay one after another across the ground, strewn without end. They were all Lu Family cultivators.

Many cultivators' corpses were mutilated and incomplete.

The Gray-robed Daoist stood atop a mountain peak, breathing lightly. There was a wound on his chest and bloodstains on his Daoist robe. His breath came in faint pants, his aura fluctuating unstably and giving off a sense of weakness.

The other Cultivation Bandits also moved through the area, continuously finishing off survivors.

Many heavily wounded Lu Family cultivators were killed one after another.

"Elder Brother, we killed five hundred and thirty-two Lu Family cultivators, including seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators, one hundred and twenty-five cultivators at Qi Refining Layer 9, seventy-two at Qi Refining Layer 8, and others of varying cultivation. We also have wounded cultivators, and three died in battle," a cultivator stepped forward to report.

The Lu Clan had roughly over fifteen hundred cultivators, with more than a thousand stationed on Ziyang Mountain. Over five hundred cultivators had been killed in this battle. Yet those five hundred were the Lu Clan's elite, most of them Foundation Establishment Cultivators or Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators.

In this battle, the Lu Clan's elite had been almost completely wiped out, leaving its vitality gravely damaged.

"How were the gains?"

the Gray-robed Daoist asked.

"The Lu Clan's medicinal gardens were not damaged. The Spirit Rice in the Spirit Fields, the pills and spirit artifacts in the treasury, and so on are all relatively intact," the cultivator said. "These spirit herbs, spirit pills, and other goods are worth at least 1.2 million Spirit Stones."

"Only a little over a million Spirit Stones. Not much."

the Gray-robed Daoist said.

"Lu Family cultivators are not country landlords who stash away their money. The Lu Clan earns a great deal, but spends heavily too."

Cultivators spent their money as soon as they earned it and did not store too many Spirit Stones.

Likewise, the Lu Clan would not keep too many Spirit Stones in reserve.

"However, the Lu Clan truly is wealthy. Their treasury contains thirty million catties of White Yang Rice, as well as thirty Jade Marrow Mushrooms. Two of them have already matured, along with other spirit herbs of various kinds," the cultivator said, joy in his eyes.

Cultivators regarded food as their heaven.

White Yang Rice was superior Spirit Rice that only cultivators could grow, with a yield of merely two hundred catties per mu.

A Qi Refining Cultivator needed to eat at least ten catties of White Yang Rice each day.

This meant that a Qi Refining Cultivator had to plant at least twenty mu of Spirit Rice every year just to meet a year's food needs.

White Yang Rice was a consumable. There could never be too much of it.

As for the Jade Marrow Mushroom, it was the main ingredient for refining Foundation Establishment Pills. Using one Jade Marrow Mushroom as the main ingredient, along with other medicinal herbs, one could refine three to nine Foundation Establishment Pills.

A Cultivation Bandit said, "Jade Marrow Mushrooms are the main ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills, but they are difficult to tend. A single mistake in their care may cause them to die. Only those Great families can afford to cultivate high-grade Spirit Planters and grow Jade Marrow Mushrooms on a large scale. Judging by the number of Jade Marrow Mushrooms and their maturation times, the Lu Clan could open the furnace once every twenty years and refine two batches of Foundation Establishment Pills, giving some to family cultivators and selling some to outsiders."

The Gray-robed Daoist asked, "Can they be transplanted?"

"No. Once a Jade Marrow Mushroom takes root somewhere, it cannot be transplanted. If transplanted, it will die from failing to adapt to the soil and water," the cultivator said.

"The Lu Clan truly is shrewd, leaving us White Yang Rice and Jade Marrow Mushrooms."

the Gray-robed Daoist sighed.

During the fierce battle, the Cultivation Bandits had instinctively avoided medicinal gardens, treasuries, and such places, lest the fighting damage the property;

But the Lu Family cultivators had also been shrewd. They had not stepped forward to destroy the medicinal gardens, Spirit Rice, or other property, deliberately leaving them for the Cultivation Bandits.

The Lu Clan had not destroyed these things not because its cultivators were unaware, but because they wanted to use these assets to draw the Cultivation Bandits' attention and win a sliver of life for the family cultivators fleeing for their lives.

And that was indeed what happened. When the mountain gate was breached, part of the Cultivation Bandits' forces were used to strangle the Lu Clan's Foundation Establishment Cultivators and Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators, while another part seized the medicinal gardens and took control of the warehouses, scripture halls, and other areas.

Their pursuit of the Lu Family cultivators who escaped was correspondingly eased somewhat.

PS: Seeking collection, Seeking reward, Seeking recommendation tickets, seeking monthly tickets, Seeking readership.