"Father, it shouldn't be him, right? He's only six years old, still a child. How could he be so ruthless as to hire assassins from the underworld to wipe out my entire Ling Family?"
With her eyes closed, Spirit Consort spoke in a trembling voice.
"A child? The child who killed the Sima Family's dragon, Sima Chusheng? The child with an unparalleled physique, an unrivaled Heavenly Chosen? The child who could defeat two Land Immortal Realm experts at once? The child whom the two great sacred lands fought over, only to be rejected?"
From the communication jade pendant came Ling Xuntian's hoarse voice.
At those words, Spirit Consort opened her eyes, her gaze wandering, blank, and fearful.
It wasn't that she didn't believe him. She simply didn't dare believe it. She had never imagined that the loathsome insect she could once crush at will had actually transformed into a true dragon.
And she had become the insect instead!
"Father, what should your daughter do now?"
Spirit Consort asked in a trembling voice.
"No matter what method you use, go and beg for his forgiveness. You must understand that tomorrow it will be your fourth brother. The day after that, it will be your turn, Third Child!"
Ling Xuntian let out a long sigh.
At his words, Spirit Consort nodded helplessly.
Putting away the communication jade pendant, Spirit Consort sat alone in the chair, her eyes vacant. Her entire person looked like a walking corpse.
"Imperial Concubine..."
However, just then, Lu Xuan and Lu Ren entered Spirit Marvel Hall. Both of them were pale and staggered as they walked.
"Imperial Concubine, what are my younger brother and I supposed to do? That Lu Chen is far too strong. No matter what we do, my brother and I aren't his match."
Lu Xuan spoke helplessly.
When the originally bewildered Spirit Consort saw her two sons, she froze for a moment, her expression shifting between dark and light.
After pondering for three minutes, a ferocious and venomous look emerged on Spirit Consort's face.
"No! For the sake of my two children, I can't admit defeat so easily. The outcome hasn't been decided yet. Lu Chen, if it really was you who hired assassins to wipe out my entire Ling Family, you can hire them—why can't my Ling Family do the same?"
With that thought, Spirit Consort immediately took out the communication jade pendant she shared with Ling Xuntian.
That night, at Tianchen Hall!
Lu Chen's entire body radiated Supreme might.
In front of him stood a clone identical to himself, facing him directly.
It was the Supreme Rune Clone.
At this moment, the Supreme Clone was already identical to him in every aspect.
However, it only had the appearance. The current Supreme Clone possessed none of the corresponding strength.
In other words, Lu Chen had already completed the Supreme Clone's framework. From now on, over roughly a month, he only needed to construct the power-rune system within it.
However, just as Lu Chen was constructing the Supreme Clone, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Then, with a thought, Lu Chen took out the Emperor's Jade Pendant.
"My lord, the Ling Family's patriarch, Ling Xuntian, found this subordinate and offered money to hire an underworld assassin to assassinate you!"
Emperor Fengdu's hoarse voice came from the Emperor's Jade Pendant.
Hearing this, Lu Chen froze for a moment, then couldn't help laughing aloud.
Good, good, so this was how they wanted to play it.
They wanted to use my assassins to assassinate me.
This was way too absurd.
Lu Chen did not answer Ghost Emperor directly. Instead, he asked another question.
"During the day, my underworld became famous among the upper echelons of the entire Eastern Cang Region. How did it go? Did we receive any business?"
Lu Chen asked with great interest.
"Reporting to my lord, the results were remarkable. We received thirteen commissions today in total: three for Heavenly Phenomenon Realm targets, nine for Emperor Realm targets, and one for an Emperor Realm target!"
Ghost Emperor answered respectfully.
"Good. Complete the commissions perfectly and satisfy the clients. Once my underworld prospers, becoming the number-one assassin organization in the Eastern Cang Region will only be a matter of time."
A trace of a smile appeared on Lu Chen's face, and he continued, "As for the Ling Family, for the sake of the underworld's reputation, quote them a price they can't accept and make them back down. Don't refuse them outright."
"Yes, my lord!"
After putting away the communication jade pendant, Lu Chen fell into deep thought.
It seemed that the Ling Family—or perhaps Spirit Consort—had guessed that the disasters plaguing the Ling Family these past few days were because of him.
But it wasn't a problem. The Ling Family wouldn't be able to jump around for much longer.
At most two days. Then he would wipe out the Ling Family.
Within four days, he would deal with the Sima Family as well.
As for Northern Ouyang and Eastern Zhuge of the four top aristocratic families—
if they could be completely subdued, then he would subdue them completely.
If they couldn't be subdued—
then, just like the Ling Family and Sima Family,
he would slaughter every member of the Ling Family and Sima Family.
All the property of both families would belong to Daqian.
The Sima Family and Ling Family each monopolized one of Daqian's vital industries: one controlled its pills, while the other monopolized its spirit-energy supply.
If he truly confiscated these two families' wealth,
Daqian's overall assets could increase several times over.
This was the foundation of aristocratic families.
It was only by crawling onto Daqian like parasites and sucking its blood that these aristocratic families could gorge themselves to bursting.
After letting out a long breath, Lu Chen took out a Dragon Crystal and a Spirit Crystal, then sat cross-legged on the ground with his palms facing the heavens.
Ever since Lu Chen had directly advanced to the first layer of the Land Immortal Realm, he had been cultivating various divine abilities and the like.
He had never cultivated a technique, so his cultivation had remained stuck at the first layer of the Land Immortal Realm without advancing.
Today, after witnessing the absolute suppression exerted over him by Guixu Holy Lord and Eastern Cang Holy Lord,
Lu Chen finally understood that all divine abilities were empty shells.
Only one's own cultivation was the foundation.
Therefore, raising his own cultivation was the true key.
And if he wanted to cultivate, the fastest method was to absorb the power of Dragon Crystals and Spirit Crystals.
Dragon Crystals and Spirit Crystals were different.
Spirit Crystals were precious resources that could only be born within Spirit Veins.
Generally speaking, Spirit Crystals were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and the highest grade of all—Top-grade Spirit Crystals.
The grades of Spirit Crystals differed, and so did the spirit energy contained within them.
Generally speaking, the exchange rate between different grades of Spirit Crystals was one hundred to one.
However, under normal circumstances, only low-, mid-, and high-grade Spirit Crystals circulated on the market.
Top-grade Spirit Crystals contained an extremely terrifying amount of spirit energy.
At the normal exchange rate, no one was willing to exchange a Top-grade Spirit Crystal for high-grade Spirit Crystals.
There were roughly a thousand Spirit Veins within Daqian, and most of them were located in northern Daqian.
Therefore, the Northern Ouyang Family controlled fifty percent of Daqian's Spirit Veins, making them terrifyingly powerful.
As for Dragon Crystals, they were produced by Dragon Veins.
Dragon Crystals were precious resources gestated over ten thousand years within Daqian's Dragon Veins before they were born.
Dragon Veins were the foundation of Daqian's national destiny.
The entire Daqian had only nine Dragon Veins in total.
The Dragon Crystals produced by Dragon Veins were supreme treasures.
The spirit energy contained in a single Dragon Crystal was equivalent to that in ten thousand Top-grade Spirit Crystals.
Moreover, Dragon Veins contained a trace of dragon aura, which could strengthen the physical body and the soul.
They were incomparably precious.
Dragon Crystals were basically controlled by the imperial family.
Few circulated on the market. Every Dragon Crystal could provoke countless factions and experts to fight over it; its preciousness was self-evident.