The Wang Family's Plot

Within the Market.

After tidying up, Lin Chang'an moved into the residence the Zhou Family had arranged for him.

Compared to his previous quarters, this was practically a courtyard estate.

It had a small yard, and its pleasant surroundings were no exaggeration. The residence was far better than before as well.

[Golden Light Talisman +5 (Proficiency 18/1000)]

Inside the room, Lin Chang'an studied the notes on the First-tier Mid-grade Golden Light Talisman provided by the Zhou Family. As the prompt sounded in his mind, his expression instead sank into contemplation.

Because of the lifespan entry, he seemed to have discovered an important problem.

[Lifespan: 40/98]

"Although I can earn Spirit Stones now, and my cultivation has even broken through to the Qi Refining Mid-Stage, it seems there is still one thing that has not changed."

Before this golden finger came along, I was only going to live a hundred years. Now that it has come, I am still only going to live a hundred years. Wouldn't that mean it came for nothing?!

The moment he thought of this, Lin Chang'an's earlier good mood vanished. Perhaps this reunion had stirred him up after seeing that others had already begun planning for Foundation Establishment.

The main thing was that he had awakened too late. If it had happened twenty years earlier, he would probably already be preparing for Foundation Establishment now. Why would he be worrying about his lifespan like this?

"Foundation Establishment cultivators have a lifespan of two hundred years!"

"With the talent I have awakened now, aiming for that may not necessarily be overreaching."

Although the golden finger had not granted him immortality, it had given him limitless opportunities.

The more Lin Chang'an thought about it, the more fired up he became.

"After the age of sixty, the chances of Foundation Establishment will only grow smaller and smaller. I still have twenty years. Let me first set a small goal: break through to the Qi Refining Seventh Layer within ten years."

"If I cannot break through before sixty, then while I still have a few decades left, I must enjoy myself. Otherwise, wouldn't I have come here for nothing?"

With a goal in mind, Lin Chang'an was brimming with drive. He set down the notes in his hand and walked over to the talisman-drawing table he had prepared long ago.

Holding his breath and focusing his mind, Lin Chang'an took a deep breath. Unlike other Talisman Masters, he did not close his eyes to compose himself. Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up his talisman brush and dipped it in cinnabar.

Swish, swish!

The brush tip danced across the talisman paper like dragons and snakes, his movements flowing as smoothly as drifting clouds and running water.

Pfft!

A cloud of thick smoke rose up, making Lin Chang'an cough violently. Clearly, the first First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman of his life had failed.

"Again!"

After failing, other Talisman Masters needed to adjust their state once more. Yet he was exceptionally gifted and had no need for that at all.

Lin Chang'an was not discouraged in the slightest. Instead, with his full attention focused, he raised his brush again and began drawing another talisman.

A Mid-Grade Golden Light Talisman did not merely consume more materials and spiritual power. More importantly, it was far more intricate and complex. The increase in difficulty was nothing the earlier simplified low-grade talismans could compare to.

Swish, swish!

As wisps of white smoke rose from one talisman sheet after another, a golden spiritual glow finally flashed from the sixth sheet.

"It worked!"

With a broad smile, Lin Chang'an looked at the first First-tier Mid-grade Golden Light Talisman of his life and could not help laughing aloud.

"I never thought I would one day be able to draw a First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman too."

Half a year ago, he had still been a disheartened Qi Refining Third Layer cultivator, prepared to return to the mortal world and waste away the rest of his life. Yet in less than half a year—

His cultivation had now broken through to the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, and he could even produce First-tier Mid-grade Golden Light Talismans.

"A First-Rank Mid-Grade Talisman, and a defensive Golden Light Talisman at that, is worth four Spirit Stones outside."

From one Spirit Stone to four Spirit Stones, he had achieved another qualitative leap.

In the days that followed, Lin Chang'an returned once again to his homebound life.

In the Zhou Family's eyes, Lin Chang'an was a somewhat talented Talisman Master who had thoroughly grasped the craft and produced his first Mid-Grade Talisman in merely two months.

Starting from the third month, Lin Chang'an began teaching the four apprentices arranged by the Zhou Family.

The Wang Family.

Inside a secret chamber, young Demon Beasts howled from within iron cages. Two of them even bared their fangs with savage ferocity.

"Great Elder, we captured a total of thirty-eight Black Wind Wolf pack cubs. Among them, two possess the bloodline of Second-tier Wolf King Demon Beasts."

In the dim secret chamber, upon hearing the report, this Foundation Establishment elder of the Wang Family nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Good. Very good. This time, we must make the Beast-Taming Zhou Family suffer a crushing defeat."

Yet the Wang Family's Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator standing behind him looked somewhat pained upon hearing those words.

"Great Elder, are we abandoning even those two Demon Beasts with Second Tier bloodlines?"

It was not that he was petty. Once a Second-tier Monster Beast was raised to adulthood, it could rival a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

However, this Great Elder merely snorted coldly.

"Demon Beasts! Leaving aside the difficulty of raising them, just consider the time and resources spent cultivating a beast. Wouldn't those be better spent on the younger cultivators of our clan?"

Our Wang Family has flourishing descendants. We cannot compare to the Zhou Family, which keeps company with beasts."

"Yes, yes." The Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator cupped his hands.

"Be careful."

Looking at the cages in the secret chamber, the Wang Family's Great Elder revealed a greedy smile.

"While the Market is in chaos, release this pack of wolf cubs into the Black Market. The Zhou Family will definitely not let such an opportunity pass. Then we will spread the word and help the Zhou Family build up its reputation.

Let every cultivator know one thing: the Beast-Taming Zhou Family has acquired two more Second-tier Monster Beast cubs."

The Wang Family Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator beside him likewise revealed a sinister smile upon hearing this.

"Rest assured, Elder. When we captured the wolf cubs, I personally led the team. We left behind Zhou Family disciples' clothing, the scent of Talismans, and even fragments of the Clan-Protecting Spirit Beast Black Water Turtle's shell. Those beasts must already have gone mad."

"Once the Demon Beasts attack the Market, the Zhou Family will have to wear this hat whether they want to or not!"

When the Wang Family Great Elder heard the words Black Water Turtle, hatred surfaced in his eyes.

"Twenty years ago, it was because of that beast. Otherwise, this Market would long since have belonged to our Wang Family. This time, we must take down the Zhou Family!"

Twenty years ago, the Wang Family and Zhou Family had clashed over the Market's resources. The Zhou Family had only avoided defeat by relying on their last-resort Black Water Turtle, though they had likewise suffered severe losses.

It was precisely because of this that Li Erniu had the chance to marry into the Zhou Family.

From a valley in the Cloud Mist Mountain Range came waves of chilling wolf howls.

Under the moonlight, wolf dens had been dug out one after another, while traces of battle between cultivators and Demon Beasts remained at the scene.

The sight was especially gruesome. Disemboweled wolf cubs and mother wolves lay everywhere, displaying extreme brutality. It looked more like an act of vengeance.

As pairs of oily green beast eyes radiating humanlike fury emerged, two Black Wind Wolf Demon Beasts with terrifying auras appeared above the valley.

They stared fixedly in the direction of Green Bamboo Mountain Market, then threw back their heads and howled beneath the moonlight.

The waves of wolf howls shook loose stones tumbling down the valley. Countless Demon Beasts a hundred miles away seemed to sense something, and in an instant, innumerable beasts were frightened into panic, their fur standing on end.

At the same time, even denser wolf howls rose from within the valley.

Under the cover of night, led by the Wolf Kings, dense black shadows shot out of the valley. Their target, however, was not Green Bamboo Mountain Market, but the depths of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

As the leading Wolf King led the pack charging into the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, it looked back toward Green Bamboo Mountain Market. In its pair of chilling beast eyes was a humanlike hatred carved deep into its bones.

As the wolf pack vanished, the night became terrifyingly silent. Yet atop a large tree at the edge of the valley, a figure slowly emerged.

"What a terrifying aura. That Wolf King's aura has likely reached the Second-Order Late Stage, and there is another Second-Order Early Stage Demon Beast."

The revealed figure watched the distant wolf shadows disappear, a sinister smile appearing on his face.

"A pack of beasts. Now go obediently drive the Demon Beasts out from the mountain range. When the time comes, Green Bamboo Mountain Market will once again witness the misery of the Demon Beast attack from fifteen years ago."

With a hoarse laugh, the figure recalled the scene of the Demon Beast attack on the Market fifteen years earlier, and fear still could not help surfacing in his eyes.

"But this time will be different. When the time comes, the fury of every cultivator in the Market will be poured onto the Zhou Family's heads."

With a cold smile, the figure tossed out a Flying Boat and vanished directly into the night.

Black Wind Wolf Demon Beasts were not only extremely vengeful but also highly intelligent.

When facing the human Market, they did not rashly seek revenge. Instead, just as the Wang Family had expected, they charged into the mountain range and used their advantage to drive countless Demon Beasts out, thereby plunging the Market into chaos.