First Strike

Su Changyu immediately stopped Su Yu from leaving the Medicine Garden. He valued Su Yu, his medicine apprentice, greatly. "Don't return to Jiang City yet. The Lin Family has sent quite a few people outside. They're laying ambushes everywhere, plotting against our Su Family."

"Third Elder has already taken people to deal with this matter, and the Lineage has sent reinforcements as well. I believe it will be resolved soon."

Su Yu pretended to understand nothing, looking slightly alarmed as he said, "Teacher, why would the Lin Family attack us? How would they dare?"

Su Changyu hesitated for a moment before saying, "You know about the Earth Rock Rat demon swarm that appeared in the Medicine Garden recently. Although the Lineage ordered that the news not be spread, the Lin Family still learned of it."

"Earth Rock Rats are demon beasts that specifically inhabit the vicinity of Spirit Veins. And over the past year, the spiritual energy in the Medicine Garden has indeed become much denser."

"This indicates that there is most likely a first-grade Spirit Vein beneath our Medicine Garden."

"Neither our Su Family nor the Lin Family had a Spirit Vein before. Now that the Lin Family knows this news, they naturally cannot remain unmoved."

"That group outside is likely trying to determine whether news of the Spirit Vein is true."

Just as Su Changyu had said, not long after Su Qingyi and the others were ambushed, Third Elder Su Chang personally led people out to find the Lin Family's men.

At the same time, the Lineage dispatched several elders to personally lead teams in causing trouble for the Lin Family.

In barely over half a month.

The two great cultivation families of Jiang City clashed and fought no fewer than thirty times, large and small.

Cultivators from both the Su Family and the Lin Family suffered losses.

Even elders from both sides fought a battle. However, when the Lin Family discovered that they could gain no advantage, they ultimately withdrew of their own accord.

One month later.

Su Yu secretly returned to Jiang City without incident.

Yet only after returning to Jiang City did Su Yu discover that, compared with the current tranquility of the Medicine Garden, the tense atmosphere between the two families in Jiang City seemed unchanged.

People hurried along the streets, and Jiang City no longer possessed its former peace.

Su Yu frowned slightly as he walked back toward the Su Residence. Suddenly, a voice came from a restaurant beside him. "Hm? Someone from the Su Family?"

Before Su Yu could turn to look, a Mana Water Snake abruptly formed in midair.

Whoosh!

The next instant, the water snake shot toward Su Yu at incredible speed, seemingly intending to coil around him and bind him.

But just as the water snake rushed to Su Yu's side, Blood-colored Markings emerged across his body, blazing with crimson light. One hand clenched into a fist, he struck out like Giant Crocodile Claws.

Boom!

The water snake was instantly blown apart by his punch.

At the window on the third floor of the restaurant, a young man who looked to be in his twenties suddenly changed expression.

He had happened to spot Su Yu passing by. He had seen and recognized all the young cultivators of the Lin Family, but Su Yu was an unfamiliar face, younger and more immature than himself.

Moreover, he had sensed Su Yu's mana aura. He was merely at Qi Refining Stage Two.

He himself was already at the third layer of Qi Refining. Dealing with a rookie at Qi Refining Stage Two—wouldn't that be like tormenting a chicken?

Thus, without hesitation, he cast a Water Snake spell, planning to bind Su Yu and drag him up for humiliation and torture.

Who could have imagined that his spell would be blasted apart by a single punch from the other party's body?!

"A Body Refining Technique?"

The young man's face changed drastically. Without another thought, he turned and fled, intending to escape from the other side of the restaurant.

The next second, a tremendous boom sounded behind him as the third-floor wall and windows of the restaurant exploded into fragments.

Roar!!!

A faint yet terrifying beastly roar echoed out, sending chills through everyone present. Even the young man at the third layer of Qi Refining instinctively stiffened beneath that roar, his steps halting for an instant.

And that instant was already fatal.

Boom!!!

Bang!

Crimson light blazed across Su Yu's body as he transformed into a nearly ten-foot-tall Humanoid Giant Crocodile. At a speed far surpassing the young man's, he leaped from the street into the restaurant and drove a punch straight into the man's back.

Bang!!!

The explosive strength of the fourth layer of Crocodile Demon's 108 Forms Body Refining Technique erupted in full, pouring from Su Yu's arm like a raging torrent.

The young man's body, barely stronger than that of an ordinary person, was smashed to pieces by Su Yu's single punch.

Blood splattered everywhere, while severed limbs and chunks of flesh scattered across the ground.

After killing the young man.

Su Yu's eyes were crimson as he roared furiously, "You dared to ambush and kill me? Courting death!"

Inside a private room of the restaurant, two beautiful women were so frightened that they collapsed to the floor. A faint stench wafted from between their legs—they had been scared into wetting themselves.

The two stared in utter terror at the "monster" wrapped in Blood-colored Markings.

The next moment, Su Yu suddenly turned his head and glared at them.

"Ah!"

The two shrieked. Their eyes rolled back, and they instantly fainted from fright, collapsing to the floor.

Su Yu merely snorted. Sweeping his gaze around, he spotted a beast-hide pouch that had fallen into a corner. He hurriedly picked it up without even opening it for a look, then flashed away and vanished.

A long while later.

The restaurant owner finally arrived at the scene, trembling all over. Seeing the Lin Family cultivator reduced to nothing but chunks of flesh, his vision went dark, and he wailed, "It's over."

A Lin Family cultivator had died in his establishment. Wouldn't the Lin Family kill him?

At that thought, the owner shuddered and turned to run downstairs. He hastily fled Jiang City with all his belongings and his family.

The Lin Family did not learn of the incident until nearly half an hour later, when several cultivators descended upon the restaurant.

Seeing the miserable scene, the eyes of the Lin Family cultivators turned red.

"Lin Xiu!!!"

One of them roared, "Damn it! Such ruthless and vicious methods, and he even dared to kill someone from our Lin Family! Su Family, are you trying to start a war?!"

It was too horrific.

Suppressing their nausea, they collected Lin Xiu's remains and hurriedly carried his mangled corpse back to the family, asking the elders to uphold justice.

Meanwhile, the "culprit" had already returned to normal and secretly made his way back to his own courtyard in the Su Residence.

"Young Master, you're finally back." At the sight of Su Yu, Lin Dong happily rushed straight toward him.

If Su Yu had not stopped her, Lin Dong might have thrown herself into his arms.

After the two chatted for a while, Lin Dong cheerfully went to prepare Su Yu's dinner for the evening. Young Master had returned, so tonight's meal had to be especially lavish.

Su Yu returned to his room and took out the beast-hide pouch to inspect it.

"Hm?"

Besides fifteen Low-grade Spirit Stones, the beast-hide pouch actually contained a Jade Bottle, as well as a Water attribute cultivation technique and a Water attribute spell.

The Jade Bottle contained Qi Refining Pills. There should originally have been ten, but only three remained.

The Water attribute cultivation technique was called the "Profound Water Art." It was the Lin Family's primary cultivation technique and the one practiced by the most people. It could be cultivated up to the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

It contained the first six layers of the technique.

As for the Water attribute spell, it was called the "Profound Serpent Technique," a spell with considerable power that could both attack and defend.

Seeing these gains, Su Yu was overjoyed. "I've struck it rich."

No wonder so many wealthy players in cultivation games used to love being bandits. This kind of windfall came fast and felt damn good.