Seventh Level Late Stage

"How could that clan cultivator let that Innate Martial Artist go after he had offended an Immortal like that?"

The young cultivator was somewhat tongue-tied.

He could more or less guess what had happened next.

"How do you know that cultivator did not make a move?"

Patriarch Zheng glanced at the young cultivator.

He spoke indifferently.

"At the time, that cultivator did not act in public, but killing intent had already arisen in his heart. Afterwards, he followed closely behind, intending to finish the other party off. Unfortunately, that Innate Martial Artist was no fool, and his methods were astonishing. He actually escaped that clan cultivator's tracking."

"Later, that cultivator used his connections to hire several low-level cultivators to capture the Innate Martial Artist's family as leverage. Unexpectedly, those cultivators were successively lured into traps and slain by the Innate Martial Artist."

"In the end, left with no alternative, that cultivator used his connections to request help from his family."

"Yet under that family's full-scale encirclement, the Innate Martial Artist still managed to escape with his family. They fled elsewhere and vanished from that family's sight."

"Originally, that cultivator's family had not thought much of it. So what if he disappeared? He was merely an Innate Martial Artist."

"But ten years later, that ridiculed Innate Martial Artist returned. When he stood before that family's gates again, he was already a Spirit Essence Realm Ninth Level cultivator."

There was no need for Patriarch Zheng to say anything further. The rest was easy enough to imagine.

The young cultivator was dumbfounded.

Not long ago, he had read a novel about strange people and extraordinary tales, supposedly written three years ago by an anonymous author. It told of a youth whose family had fallen into decline, only for his fiancée from an Immortal sect to break off their engagement.

After being cast aside, that youth had also declared, in humiliation, words such as, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river."

After leaving to train following the broken engagement,

he had also encountered a similar tale of being oppressed by an Immortal Sect Family, only to return and kill his way back after his cultivation rose.

Some of its plotlines

were almost exactly the same.

Who would have thought that something so similar had truly happened in River Pond Town?

All he could say was that reality was even more fantastical than fiction!

Unfortunately, that novel had abruptly stopped just as the three-year pact was about to culminate in battle. Three years had passed without the author releasing the slightest news of any continuation, making the young cultivator want nothing more than to tie the author up and lock him in a dark room to write the rest.

As for the thoughts in the young cultivator's heart,

Patriarch Zheng naturally had no way of knowing.

He merely said calmly:

"That family's conduct was never particularly good to begin with. Fortunately, we did not help them encircle that Innate Martial Artist, so no grudge was formed."

"Perhaps because he feared the deterrence of the Cloud Water Sect, that man did not make things difficult for us after exterminating that family. But after that incident, all four of our families were left with lingering fear."

Patriarch Zheng sighed.

"Cultivation is an act of defying the heavens. One's opportunities and fate have always been difficult to determine. How do you know that among those who joined that mission yesterday, no important figure will emerge in the future?"

"Our Zheng Family guards that Spirit Fruit Grove and possesses an unceasing source of Spirit Items. So long as the Lineage inheritance remains stable, that is enough. There is no need to take those crooked paths."

"Those Yao monkey corpses might indeed produce a few cultivation Seeds who successfully develop Qi Sense if we withheld them all."

"But in doing so, we might provoke a future great enemy. When that time comes, even the entire Lineage could be dragged down by you! The loss would far outweigh the gain."

"Third, apart from cultivation, you must interact more with matters beyond our walls in the future. Do not let your horizons become too narrow!"

Having said that,

he patted the young cultivator on the shoulder.

Patriarch Zheng then left with his hands clasped behind his back.

As for what happened behind him,

Zhang Qingyuan, who had already left River Pond Town and was hurrying toward the Seventeenth Branch, naturally knew nothing of it.

At this moment, Zhang Qingyuan stood atop a reed.

Imitating the description of crossing a river on a single reed from a martial arts novel in his previous life,

he followed the river.

Like a sharp arrow, he cleaved through the water surface, sending up white ripples as he sped Lightning Fast toward the downstream.

Layer upon layer of green mountains and clear waters flashed past on either side.

Zhang Qingyuan was in excellent spirits.

He touched his Storage Bag, sensing the additional twenty Spirit Stones within, along with a jar of Monkey King Wine.

His heart overflowed with delight!

Those extra twenty Spirit Stones were what Zhang Qingyuan had earned by selling the Yao Monkey King's corpse to the Zheng Family.

In truth,

a Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Yao Monkey King was not worth that price.

After all, even the corpse of a Spirit Essence Realm Eighth Level Crimson Fiend Yao Python only fluctuated between twenty and thirty Spirit Stones.

However,

Patriarch Zheng happened to know an Alchemist. Not long ago, that Alchemist had offered twenty Spirit Stones to purchase the corpse of a Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Yao Monkey King, reportedly intending to use the Monkey King's brain to refine a pill.

Thus, the Zheng Family offered Zhang Qingyuan twenty Spirit Stones for the Yao Monkey King's corpse.

Zhang Qingyuan had already been troubled over how to dispose of that Yao Monkey King's body.

Faced with the Zheng Family's high offer,

he naturally sold it directly to them.

The Zheng Family had purchased it at the Alchemist's original price

first to befriend Zhang Qingyuan,

and second to use this opportunity to establish a connection with that Alchemist, making it convenient to ask for help in the future should they need it.

Both sides had their needs completely met.

A win-win cooperation!

"Made a fortune!"

Sensing the wealth in his Storage Bag, Zhang Qingyuan could not help exclaiming.

This mission

had encountered a few extra twists and turns.

But he had also gained, for nothing, a fifty-year Quasi-Entry Grade Spirit Peach, twenty Spirit Stones, and a jar of incomparably precious Monkey King Wine. If he added the mission settlement he would receive after returning,

then the harvest from this mission was even greater than last time in Azure Mountain Town!

It would be wonderful if every mission brought in gains like this!

Zhang Qingyuan thought greedily.

Of course,

he knew that was merely wishful thinking.

Under normal circumstances, missions would not bring much additional profit. This was simply his opportunity and luck.

But that did not stop him from being happy.

In his delight,

Zhang Qingyuan suddenly wanted a drink to celebrate.

He happened to have Monkey King Wine.

So he simply stopped worrying about it.

With a turn of his palm, he directly took the jar of Monkey King Wine from his Storage Bag. With a light slap, the clay seal automatically broke apart, and an incomparably rich fragrance of wine immediately emitted into the air.

With only a single sniff, the Spirit Essence inside the body of Zhang Qingyuan faintly seemed to stir.

Without further hesitation,

he raised his head.

He took a large gulp and poured it into his mouth.

Glug glug glug!

An indescribable flavor exploded in his mouth, crashing into Zhang Qingyuan's taste buds as the aroma of wine spread through him.

Zhang Qingyuan was not much of a drinker, though he occasionally had some.

It could be said that

whether in his previous life or this one,

not a single wine he had ever tasted possessed even one-tenth the flavor of this Monkey King Wine!

The unforgettable taste lingered across his taste buds.

It transformed into a warm current that sank into his dantian.

Then,

Boom!!!

The mellow Spiritual energy and intoxicating force of the wine spread from within his dantian into the meridians in every direction, coursing through the meridians around the body. In an instant, it swept up Vast Spirit Essence, crashing through his internal circulation like a tsunami flood!

A small bottleneck that had blocked the path ahead of his realm, under the impact of that flood,

instantly burst open!

Spirit Essence Realm Seventh Level Late Stage,

achieved!