Taking Over

If it were only Su Chang and Su Ruosu, the two elders, it was doubtful whether they could even stand against Guo Chudong.

But with the Medicine Garden's layers upon layers of grand formations, even though Guo Chudong was a first-tier Earth Master at the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm, he would still be trapped alive and die here.

Outside the Medicine Garden.

Lin Kui tried to lead the Lin Family cultivators in attacking the Medicine Garden's grand formation. Although they could shake the defensive formation barrier and send ripples spreading across its surface,

it was far from enough to break the formation and rescue Guo Chudong, Lin Hai, and the others.

Lin Kui was both shocked and furious. His expression shifted uncertainly as he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Su Chang, I know you can hear me."

"Release Lin Hai, and from this day forth, my Lin Family will no longer be enemies with your Su Family. My Lin Family will no longer set foot in this first-grade Spirit Vein either."

"I, Lin Kui, mean what I say."

Yet after waiting for a while, there was not the slightest response from within the formation. The surrounding mountains lay deathly still. Not even a bird could be seen; the silence was terrifying.

Lin Kui could not help but fly into a rage. "Su Chang, if you dare lay a hand on Lin Hai, then don't blame my Lin Family for fighting your Su Family to the death!"

"If you want to die, then make your move!"

Lin Kui cursed and raged outside the Medicine Garden, trying every means he could think of, but the people inside the formation did not spare him a glance.

Seeing that quite some time had passed, Lin Kui clenched his teeth, turned around with a dark face, and barked, "Leave!"

"Return to the family!"

They had suffered a loss.

Killing intent flickered in Lin Kui's eyes. He had even developed the urge to kill Guo Chudong, this Earth Master.

Because he suspected that this might have been a scheme by Guo Chudong and the Su Family, meant to deal with the Lin Family.

But on second thought, that did not seem right.

If Guo Chudong had colluded with the Su Family against the Lin Family, then they should have let all of them enter.

Only by laying down layers of ambushes could they have dealt a crushing blow to the Lin Family.

Now, only Lin Hai had been trapped inside. Though the Lin Family had lost an elder, it was not enough to cripple them.

So Guo Chudong probably had not betrayed the Lin Family.

Then what exactly was going on?

Hadn't Guo said that the Earth Rock Rat beast horde beneath the Spirit Vein had already gone berserk and attacked the Su Family's people?

"Could it be that the Medicine Garden's formation can suppress so many beasts? Impossible. A few dozen beasts would be one thing."

"But that was several hundred beasts. Even if Su Chang controlled the formation, exhausting all his mana, he could only deal with a small portion of them."

Lin Kui could not understand it. "Besides, Guo said he had already tampered with all the formations in the Su Family's Medicine Garden."

"By all rights, they should only have been able to deal with the berserk Earth Rock Rat horde themselves."

If that were truly the case, then the Lin Family joining forces with Guo Chudong to crush the Su Family should have been no problem at all.

But why was the Su Family completely unharmed?

Even the formations had not been damaged.

Naturally, Lin Kui and the others could never have imagined that the Earth Rock Rat beast horde they viewed as the greatest threat had been drugged unconscious by a single junior of the Su Family.

Not only had there been no losses at all, but it had also brought the Su Family a harvest of nearly two hundred beasts.

Lin Kui led the Lin Family members away.

Inside the Medicine Garden, Guo Chudong, who was trapped within, was not panicked. Instead, he began chatting with Su Chang and the others.

"So my making the Earth Rock Rat horde go berserk actually did you a favor?" Guo Chudong asked in surprise.

With something like this, why the hell had you not cleared out the Earth Rock Rat horde beforehand? Why leave it there?

Guo Chudong felt rather frustrated.

He had not anticipated this. Otherwise, how could he have plotted against the Su Family like this?

After waiting for more than an hour.

Su Peng, the Su Family Patriarch, personally arrived with people. Together with several Su Family elders, they swiftly subdued Guo Chudong, who was trapped in the formation, and placed him under control.

Inside the Medicine Tower.

After hearing Su Chang recount what had happened, Su Peng was still shaken.

If Guo Chudong and the Lin Family had truly succeeded, the Su Family would undoubtedly have suffered a devastating blow.

Not only would they have lost the Medicine Garden, they would have faced the danger of extermination.

By then, perhaps only fleeing far from Jiang City would have preserved the Su Family's bloodline.

With that thought, Su Peng's gaze toward Su Yu became incomparably gentle. Moreover, after learning of Su Yu's temperament and character from the Third Elder, Su Peng said, "Little Yu, what reward do you want? Tell me. So long as the family can provide it."

Su Yu shook his head. "Family Head, there is no need for this. I am a member of the Su Family. The family raised me from childhood, and now that the family is facing a threat, I should naturally do everything I can to protect it."

"Ah."

Su Peng interrupted, "I am very gratified that you think this way, but merit is merit. Those who have rendered service must be rewarded; the family cannot be without rules."

"Think it over carefully first. What do you want?"

After hesitating for a moment, Su Yu said, "My cultivation should break through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining within a year or two. At that time, I wish to take a master and learn alchemy. I hope the Family Head will grant this."

Su Peng, Su Chang, Su Ruosu, and the others were all stunned.

This—

What kind of reward was that?

Su Peng gave Su Yu a deep look. "Forget it. I will discuss the matter of your reward with the elders later."

"As for your wish to learn alchemy, speak to the Third Elder about it when the time comes. It is not an important matter."

He waved Su Yu away.

Su Peng looked at the family elders and smiled helplessly. "That boy is a clever little fox. He does not ask for a reward, yet he has given us a headache."

Su Chang chuckled. "Family Head, he previously gave the family the recipe for Beast Luring Powder. Its effects are truly extraordinary. Even late first-tier Earth Rock Rats in a furious state could not resist the temptation of that medicine, and after eating it, they collapsed to the ground in an instant."

"And I have never heard of this medicine before. This means that none of the families around the Cloud Sword Sect possess such a medicine."

"And Earth Rock Rats are beasts that can be found at nearly every Spirit Vein—"

Su Peng, Su Ruosu, and the others' eyes lit up at those words.

If that was the case, then the value of this medicinal recipe was no small matter.

But once that was taken into account, the question of how to reward Su Yu became even more troublesome.

After a long silence.

Su Ruosu suddenly said, "Su Zhi has her own path in the Cloud Sword Sect. Returning to the family would not be advisable."

"Then who will take over the Su Family in the future?"

Su Yu returned to his room and chatted for a while with his master, Su Changyu, and his three senior brothers. Su Changyu and the other three were all utterly shocked by Su Yu's performance during this crisis.

After his shock faded, Su Changyu was still quite happy—happy for Su Yu.

This time, he had seen things clearly. Su Yu was by no means ordinary; his future achievements would be far beyond anything Su Changyu himself could compare to.

Perhaps he might even become one of the family elders in the future.

Thinking of this, Su Changyu was delighted. After all, having an elder as a disciple would bring great honor to him as the teacher.

By the time Su Changyu and the other three left, the sky had already begun to brighten.

Su Qingyi came to find Su Yu. His expression was somewhat complicated as he looked at him and said, "Now that I see it, the secrets in your hands are no fewer than mine."

Su Yu laughed but did not explain. "You did not come looking for me just to say this, did you?"

Su Qingyi nodded. "I had planned to tell you in a few days, but I did not expect this to happen today. I have secured an opportunity to go to the Alchemy Pavilion in Cloud Mountain Market as an alchemy apprentice. I will leave at the end of the month."

"That is a good thing," Su Yu said, happy for Su Qingyi.

Back then, the two companions who had taken part in the Cloud Sword Sect novice disciple examination together—one had remained in the Cloud Sword Sect to cultivate, while the other had achieved goal after goal under the family's nurturing.

And he himself was also cultivating step by step. Each had their own experiences, each wonderful in its own way.