Is This a Dou Di or a Great Love Immortal Venerable?

Outside the eastern mountain exit of Long Sun Mountain, between it and the Silver Sand River, lay a stretch of lowland that the Xu family had reclaimed into swathes of spirit fields years ago.

This place had once been called Xu Family Bay, but had naturally since been renamed He Family Bay, where the He's spirit-field estate now stood.

It was noon.

A gaunt old man with a stooped back and a face full of wrinkles slowly approached from afar.

This old man was He Sheng in disguise.

Earlier, after gaining entry into the Flesh Rebirth Art within that hidden cave, he had spent less than a year of universal cultivation time pushing this secret art to the realm of perfection.

He could now alter his appearance at will, control his own aura, disguise his mana fluctuations, and more.

"According to the memories Brother Piao left behind, the He family was a place where immortals and mortals lived together, with status determined by bloodline.

Brother Piao was born into the second branch of the He family's main line. The second branch resided on Long Sun Mountain's main peak, and their bloodline was the most noble.

As for this spirit-field estate, those living here were almost all disciples from collateral branches beyond the fifth degree of kinship, as well as spirit farmers, live-in sons-in-law, and the like recruited by the He family."

Leaning on his cane as he walked, He Sheng looked around while comparing what he saw to Brother Piao's memories.

He intended to use asking for water as a pretext to visit the estate, listen to bits of gossip, and learn what the current situation within Long Sun Mountain was.

Yet just as he stepped onto a field ridge, a clamor of hoofbeats and unrestrained laughter reached his ears.

"Hyah! Hyah! Run faster, old bastard!"

"Hahaha, this spirit wheat is growing nicely. If we trample it, it'll make perfect snacks for the horses!"

"There's a rabbit! Take one of my arrows!"

He Sheng frowned slightly and followed the sound with his gaze, only to see several tall, sturdy fiery horses galloping through the spirit fields.

Several richly dressed youths sat atop the horses. Every one of them wore an unrestrained expression, utterly disregarding the people around them.

Beneath the horses' hooves lay patch after patch of thriving spirit rice.

Spirit rice was no ordinary thing. It was a low-grade spiritual plant, the cultivation sustenance that the low-level cultivators of the spirit-field estate depended upon.

But now, beneath the fiery horses' trampling hooves, the spirit rice fell in swathes, snapped apart, and splattered juice everywhere, leaving a complete mess.

"Stop! You can't do this!"

An angry shout rang out.

A youth in rough hemp clothes, his complexion sallow, rushed out from the other end of the field ridge.

The youth looked no more than eleven or twelve. He was thin in build, but his long, slender brows were like swords, and his bright eyes seemed to carry an edge.

He gripped a spirit hoe in his hand, trying to block the fiery horses' path.

"Neigh!"

The youth on the red horse at the front sharply yanked the reins. The horse reared high on its hind legs with a shrill neigh, its front hooves nearly striking the slender-browed youth in the face.

"Where did this stray dog come from, daring to block this young master's path?"

Looking down at the slender-browed youth with a mocking expression, the red-horse youth said, "Which collateral branch are you from? You've got some nerve!"

The slender-browed youth clenched his spirit hoe and pointed at the wrecked spirit wheat covering the ground. His voice was slightly distorted with agitation.

"This is Steward Li's family's food supply, and it's also what we must turn in according to clan custom. How can you people of the main line trample it so carelessly!

This spirit rice hasn't even matured yet. If it's ruined, we'll have to compensate for it ourselves!"

"Compensate for it?"

Another youth in blue gave a scornful laugh, jumped off his horse, and walked up to the slender-browed youth.

"Oh?

Not bad. At such a young age, you've already drawn qi into your body. You can even be called a Qi Refining immortal master.

I'm so scared."

The blue-clad youth put on a frightened act, making the companions behind him burst into laughter.

But then he reached out and patted the other youth's cheek. The force was neither light nor heavy, yet the gesture was steeped in humiliation.

"You lowborn bastards from collateral branches should count your ancestors' graves as having sprouted smoke just for being allowed to share the He surname with us.

They're only a few lousy stalks of rice. So what if we trampled them? What, you want us to compensate you?"

"You... you've gone too far in bullying others!"

The slender-browed youth's eyes reddened. As his chest heaved violently, specks of spiritual light blossomed from the spirit hoe in his hand, as though he could no longer hold himself back from striking.

"Gone too far in bullying others?"

The red-horse youth burst into laughter, as if he had heard the greatest joke in the world.

"On Long Sun Mountain, the bloodline of our main branch is heaven!

Whatever we say goes!

"Forget trampling your rice—if I broke your legs today, you'd still have to kneel and thank me!"

Having said that, his gaze turned cold as he addressed the two mid-stage Qi Refinement guards behind him:

"A Fu, A Lu.

This little beast dares disrespect us disciples of the main branch, and he even looks like he wants to fight. Teach this little beast properly what rules are!"

"Yes, Third Young Master."

The two burly men, each eight feet tall with knotted muscles all over their bodies, immediately stepped forward.

These two guards were clearly body refiners, and both were at the mid-stage of Qi Refinement. How could the fine-browed youth possibly be their match?

Yet the fine-browed youth did not retreat. He merely said:

"You humiliate me like this today. So long as you don't beat me to death, one day I'll demand justice! I refuse to believe there is no justice in this world!"

"Justice?

On Long Sun Mountain, the He Family's justice is bloodline!

You lowborn mongrel who doesn't even understand rank or station—beat him hard!"

The blue-robed youth's face was filled with vicious malice.

Slap!

A resounding slap viciously struck the youth's face, sending him flying straight into the muddy field. Blood instantly spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Pain wracked the youth's entire body with spasms, yet he clenched his teeth tight and did not let out a single pleading cry.

The sight left He Sheng, watching from afar, dumbfounded.

Although Brother Piao's memories had already told him that Brother Piao had led the He Family astray, setting the example from above so that every clansman had become arrogant and overbearing—

He had never imagined that this tyranny had reached such an absurd extent.

The main branch disciples had clearly ridden their horses through the spirit rice, trampling it flat, yet they acted as though it were only natural.

The fine-browed youth had merely stepped forward to stop them, afraid he would be unable to pay the clan's penalty, and the main branch disciples had directly set their guards on him.

Moreover, every word they spoke treated the closeness of one's bloodline as an absolute, ironclad law of status and superiority. They cared nothing for the bonds of kinship, nor even for the most basic rules of the cultivation world!

That last point was the most absurd of all, because He Sheng could sense that these overbearing youths from the main branch were all mortals!

"To defy immortals as mortals... that is simply courting disaster. Aren't they afraid that some Great Love Immortal Venerable might emerge from the clan someday?"

He Sheng secretly shook his head.

"And besides..."

He Sheng swept his gaze around. There were quite a few low-level cultivators on this spirit-field estate, yet only the fine-browed youth had stepped forward.

And now, as the youth was beaten until he spat blood, no one came forward even to offer a word of restraint.

"As the saying goes, those who gather firewood for the masses must not be left to freeze to death in wind and snow.

This youth stepped forward to protect the estate's shared interests, yet none of the others dared stand up. They merely watched with cold eyes.

With people's hearts grown so distant and cold, the moment news of Brother Piao's death arrives, these people will scatter like monkeys when the tree falls.

Some who harbor grievances may even become traitors within.

This He Family... is rotten to the core!"

From this scene, He Sheng could also tell that Long Sun Mountain should still be perfectly safe for now—perhaps even calm and peaceful.

Otherwise, how could these disciples who considered their bloodlines so noble still have the leisure to go out and "enjoy the spring"?

While He Sheng's thoughts raced, the blue-robed youth continued to clamor arrogantly, his face brimming with wild insolence.

"A Fu, A Lu, break this mongrel's legs!"

The blood and qi of the two body-refining guards surged wildly. Like two humanoid savage bears, they lunged at the fine-browed youth in the mud from either side.

The fine-browed youth raised his spirit hoe to block, but how could he withstand them? In just a few blows, the spirit hoe snapped. He lay in the mud, watching a massive fist hurtle toward his knee!

At that critical moment, a sharp shout exploded like heavenly thunder, shaking the entire scene!

"Get lost."

A single hoarse word, yet one carrying supreme authority, came from He Sheng's mouth.

The next instant, a sudden change erupted.

The two fierce mid-stage Qi Refinement guards abruptly froze in midair, as though they had slammed into an invisible wall of bronze and iron.

Then, a terrifying force of suction arose from nowhere. It did not pull them toward He Sheng—instead, it directly crushed the blood and qi protecting their bodies!

Crack!

Crack!

Bone-splitting sounds that made one's teeth ache rang out in rapid succession.

Before the two burly men could even scream, their bodies were kneaded viciously like dough by an invisible giant hand, their limbs twisted and broken at grotesque angles.

Then, with two "thuds," they slammed heavily into the spirit field like two heaps of rotten mud, their fate unknown.

Had he hit a little too hard?

He Sheng was somewhat surprised. He had not even used any spell, merely wrapped the two of them in spiritual power, yet he had not expected them to be so unable to take a beating.

Yet as he looked at the two heaps of mud on the ground, He Sheng felt none of the discomfort one might expect from killing for the first time. Instead, a strange sensation rose in his heart.

There was a lofty, downward gaze in that feeling, mingled with the exhilaration of carrying out justice in the public interest.

While He Sheng carefully savored the feeling in his heart, the entire scene had fallen deathly silent.

The smiles of the several main-branch youths who had been laughing wildly moments before froze instantly, turning into utter horror and bewilderment.

"A Fu? A Lu?"

The red-horse youth's voice trembled as he stared in disbelief at the two guards on the ground, men who could normally take on ten by themselves.

The blue-clad youth looked around frantically, trying to find whoever had struck. His gaze quickly locked onto He Sheng on the field ridge.

"Was it you?!

What did you do, you old bastard? Do you know that we of the He Family's second branch are of the same clan and same branch as Silver Sand River's number one cultivator?!"

On He Sheng's wrinkled old face, his eyes shone with a frightening brightness, like cold stars in the night.

"Mere mortals dare claim the nobility of their bloodline and trample their own kin?" He Sheng's voice was calm, but every word struck like a hammer. "In my eyes, you are not even worth as much as the spirit rice beneath your feet."

"Y-you dare lay a hand on us? The clan head... the clan head will never let you off!"

The blue-clad youth shouted fiercely despite his inner weakness, trying to invoke the family name.

"The clan head?" A mocking curve touched He Sheng's lips. "What a coincidence. This old man came precisely to find your clan head."

With that, he swept his sleeve.

The moisture in the air immediately gathered into several pale-blue ropes, binding the youths with perfect precision like rice dumplings.

They tried to struggle and cry for help, only to discover that even their tongues had been sealed by spiritual power. All they could make were muffled "mmph, mmph" sounds, their eyes filled with terror.

After dealing with those nuisances, He Sheng turned around and let his gaze fall upon the fine-browed youth still lying in the mud.

At this moment, the youth's eyes were wide open as he stared blankly at the scene, clearly not yet recovered from the sudden upheaval.

He Sheng raised one hand slightly, and a gentle current of spiritual power lifted the youth, suspending him steadily in midair before setting him lightly upon the field ridge.

"Thank you, Senior, for saving my life."

The youth clutched his chest and cupped his hands with difficulty. Gratitude filled his eyes, though there was also a measure of wariness.

He Sheng said nothing. He merely took out two pills glowing with a faint bluish-green radiance and flicked them into the youth's mouth.

The pills melted as soon as they entered his mouth. A cool current instantly coursed through his entire body, and the youth's pale complexion visibly regained its color while the external wounds on his body rapidly healed.

While the youth was regulating his breath, He Sheng seemingly casually extended a finger and lightly touched the pulse point on the youth's wrist.

A thread of fine spiritual power entered his body.

The next instant, a flicker of surprise abruptly passed through He Sheng's normally still eyes.

"Middle-grade spirit roots in metal, earth, and water?

And the affinity of his metal spirit root is close to high-grade?!"

Such aptitude might not compare to Brother Piao's, but within the He Family, he was absolutely a rare and exceptional seedling. With proper cultivation, he might even attain Foundation Establishment in the future.

"No wonder that nearly twenty years have passed since the He Family became a Foundation Establishment family, yet not a second Foundation Establishment cultivator has appeared.

To treat even such a promising seedling this way... truly..."

He Sheng shook his head. He was already somewhat numb to just how rotten the He Family was.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he suddenly heard a ringing sword cry beside his ear—coming from inside this boy's body.

"What... kind of special constitution is this?!"

Looking at the youth before him, whose brows rose like sword peaks and whose gaze was unyielding, he thought to himself:

*Could he really be material for a Great Love Immortal Venerable or a Fighting Emperor?

Could it be that with this light intervention, I spared the He Family the calamity of extermination that would have befallen them a hundred years from now?*

He Sheng laughed inwardly and opened his mouth, intending to ask the fine-browed youth's name.

But before he could speak, a long, heavy bell toll suddenly rang out from Long Sun Mountain!

He Sheng's movements could not help but pause.

Immediately after—

Dong!

Dong!

The bells rang without end, sounding seven times in a single breath!

He Sheng's expression instantly turned grave.

Within the He Family's rules, the bell's tolls signified different levels of warning.

Three tolls: a warning.

Five tolls: foreign enemies invading.

Seven tolls: a heaven-shaking upheaval had occurred within the clan. All disciples of the main branch had to return to the mountain at once, though it had not yet reached the desperate brink of life or death.

If there were nine tolls... that would mean the calamity of clan extermination—the time to destroy their own mountain gate.

"Seven bell tolls?" He Sheng frowned deeply. "Could that sword-bearing youth have come knocking at their door?

"No, if he had truly made a move, the He Family's meager foundations would have been slaughtered clean through long ago. It should be nine tolls."

"Or perhaps... something major has happened within the clan?"

He Sheng's gaze flickered as he swiftly weighed the gains and losses.

"Since something has happened in the clan, this is the perfect chance for me to slip into Long Sun Mountain and learn the details."

With a thought, He Sheng immediately lifted the few main-branch dandies, bound up like rice dumplings and still struggling desperately, in one hand. With the other, he reached into empty air and drew the fine-browed youth over to his side as well.

"Do you dare accompany this old man to Long Sun Mountain's main peak?"

The fine-browed youth pondered for a moment, then said cautiously, "If Senior is not an enemy of my He Family, this junior is willing to go with Senior."

He Sheng burst into laughter at those words, greatly pleased by the fine-browed youth's temperament.

The next instant, his figure transformed into a streak of watery-blue light, carrying the group as it shot into Long Sun Mountain.