"Today, we'll see whether it is my Lin Family that is destroyed, or his Wu Family that falls to ruin!"
Lin Anshuo's warmth was gone. His face brimmed with Killing Intent, and the aura of his mana was unmistakably that of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
So he had long since broken through to Foundation Establishment. He had merely concealed his cultivation to lull the Wu Family into complacency.
After all, counting Grandmaster Yun Ku, the Lin Family had no fewer Foundation Establishment cultivators on the surface than the Wu Family.
"Let's wait and see!" Lin Yuanru was the same. The faint mana fluctuations leaking from him were unmistakably those of Foundation Establishment Late Stage!
With Lin Anshuo included, the Lin Family had three Foundation Establishment cultivators. Relying on the lineage's great formation, it was still unknown who would emerge victorious.
At the same time, Danbao Pavilion also received news that the three families were attacking.
Grandmaster Yun Ku immediately informed everyone in Danbao Pavilion.
"Dashan, are you truly not leaving with your teacher?" Grandmaster Yun Ku looked at his eldest disciple and earnestly tried to persuade him.
His eldest disciple respected his teacher and valued righteousness, placing great importance on loyalty and affection.
"Revered Teacher, Danbao Pavilion is the Lin Family's lifeblood, and it is also your lifeblood. This disciple will never give it up so easily!" Lin Zhishan shook his head. Danbao Pavilion's protective formation was Tier 2 mid-grade.
If he presided over it himself, Foundation Establishment cultivators would never be able to break it in a short time.
"With three families attacking, how can you defend it? Besides, Danbao Pavilion is only a shell. As long as you remain, as long as I remain, we can rebuild Danbao Pavilion at any time!" Grandmaster Yun Ku continued persuading him.
Lin Zhishan still shook his head.
He was a member of the Lin Family. How could he bear to flee when the lineage was in crisis? He could not do it.
"Alas, you foolish child!"
Grandmaster Yun Ku had taken Lin Zhishan as his disciple in childhood, so he naturally understood his disciple's temperament.
With a long sigh, he took out three Tier 2 Low-Grade Talismans.
"Keep these three Tier 2 Low-Grade Talismans. One Wind Escape Talisman, one Ice Rain Talisman, and one Golden Shield Talisman. Live well!"
After giving a cold round of instructions, he changed his appearance and turned to leave Danbao Pavilion through the back door.
After Grandmaster Yun Ku left, Lin Xueying, having received the news, was the first to arrive.
"Where is Revered Teacher?" Lin Xueying looked at the empty room and could not help asking in confusion.
"Revered Teacher has left. Danbao Pavilion will most likely be impossible to hold. Xue Ying, you should leave quickly as well. You possess the greatest talent of our Lin Family's generation. In the future, the Lin Family will have to rely on all of you!" Lin Zhishan said calmly, tirelessly instructing her.
"Senior Brother, if it cannot be defended, why aren't you leaving?" Lin Xueying grew anxious.
The most important thing in Danbao Pavilion was the alchemists like them. Lin Zhishan naturally understood this principle as well.
"Danbao Pavilion is an important place of the Lin Family. Foundation Establishment cultivators will certainly come to attack it in person,"
"But Danbao Pavilion's defensive formation is Tier 2 mid-grade. If I preside over it myself, they will not be able to break it in a short time."
"In that case, we can tie down a great number of people and lessen the pressure on the lineage. You must know that disciples from every branch of the entire Lin Family live within the lineage grounds!"
"As long as we hold back enough people here, more of our Lin Family's younger generation will be able to escape!"
"Enough, there is no need to persuade me!" Lin Zhishan said flatly.
The moment he learned the news, he had already developed the resolve to die.
Danbao Pavilion's reputation was known far and wide. He would never allow it to end in such a bedraggled, shameful manner.
Suddenly, Lin Zhishan remembered something and took an exquisite jade bottle from his Storage Pouch.
"This is the Foundation Establishment Pill Revered Teacher gave me. I suppose I will have no use for it now, so take it. With your talent, you will surely achieve Foundation Establishment in the future!"
"Senior Brother, take care!"
She was the legitimate daughter of the Lin Family's patriarch and also the most talented person in the Lin Family. If the Lin Family was truly breached, the burden of rebuilding it in the future would fall upon her shoulders.
Lin Xueying nodded, accepted the jade bottle, and turned to leave.
As she left, she changed into a different outfit as well.
She exited through Danbao Pavilion's back door, then flashed into an alley and vanished without a trace.
At the same moment, at the Lin Family's residence.
The entire Lin Family was shrouded beneath a golden curtain of light.
This was the Lin Family's lineage-protecting formation, the Near Tier 3 Formation—the Golden Azure Heavenly Radiance Formation.
The formation had been personally crafted by a Tier 3 Array Formation Master at great expense to the Lin Family. It combined offense and defense; under ordinary circumstances, it could even withstand a false-Dan cultivator for a time.
The Wu Family patriarch and the others were blocked outside the formation.
"Brother Wu, our Wu, Lin, Sun, and Li Families have been allied for five hundred years, sharing breath and branches. What has my Lin Family done to provoke the three families into coming together to demand an accounting?"
Lin Anshuo's face was filled with grief and indignation as he questioned them sharply.
"Hmph! What matter?"
Wu Zongheng, the Wu Family patriarch, sneered.
"Do you think the fine deeds your Lin Family has done can remain hidden forever?"
"Let me ask you: what is the matter with that Fire Essence Stone vein west of the market?"
"The four-family alliance agreement clearly states, 'Should a spirit mine be obtained, it shall be shared among the four families.' Have you upheld that?"
"Your Lin Family broke the agreement first, so do not blame our three families for holding you accountable afterward!"
"Today, we will erase your Lin Family from Red Leaf Square!"
Lin Anshuo had also guessed it was because of the Fire Essence Stone vein.
But the Lin Family had not started such practices. Over the past several hundred years, whenever the other families encountered fortuitous opportunities, spirit mines, cave abodes, or spirit lands,
they had always claimed them for themselves first. Only when one family could not swallow it alone, or could not conceal it after being discovered, would they bring it out to share.
This had been their unspoken understanding in private, and it was precisely why the Lin Family had acted this way.
"There is no need to go this far. We are willing to hand over the mine vein for your three families to share. How about it?" Lin Anshuo probingly made a concession.
"Too late! We reject those who betray the alliance. From now on, Red Leaf Square needs only three great families!" Wu Zongheng refused decisively.
Then he slapped his Storage Pouch. With a flash of light, a gleaming blue talisman appeared in his hand.
"A Near-Tier 3 Formation Breaking Talisman!"
Lin Anshuo's expression changed drastically.
Originally, relying on the Golden Azure Heavenly Radiance Formation, they still had some confidence in holding the lineage grounds. But now that a Near-Tier 3 Formation Breaking Talisman was here, the formation's usefulness would be neutralized.
Now, they could only clash head-on.
He immediately stopped concealing himself. The mana of the Foundation Establishment Realm around him was glaringly obvious.
"Foundation Establishment Realm!"
"Lin Anshuo, you hid yourselves deeply enough. Your Lin Family truly hid yourselves deeply enough!" Wu Zongheng's face turned livid.
If his eldest brother was not counted, the Lin Family now had more Foundation Establishment cultivators than their Wu Family.
Even now, they only had one more Foundation Establishment cultivator than the Lin Family. What came next would be difficult.
It was foreseeable that even if they won this battle, it would certainly be a pyrrhic victory.
The Second Elder of the Sun Family, who had come along, began to harbor thoughts of retreat.
"Daoist Wu, since the Lin Family is willing to hand over the Fire Essence Stone vein, considering the five hundred years of friendship between the four families, should we not spare them?"
The Fire Essence Stone vein was immensely valuable. Taking forty percent of it would already make up for their losses in demon beast materials.
"At this point, there is advance but no retreat!" Wu Zongheng said coldly.
Without hesitation, he activated the Restriction Breaking Talisman and hurled it toward the golden curtain of light before him.
Boom—
In an instant, a dazzling pillar of light descended from the heavens, illuminating the entire night sky as brightly as day.
It then struck the golden curtain of light directly. The white light and golden curtain tangled together, rapidly consuming one another.
Before long, the curtain could no longer hold. It shattered in an instant, turning into golden spiritual radiance that scattered and fell like streaks of golden rain, dazzlingly beautiful.
"It's broken!"
"The great formation is broken!"
"Kill!"
Several hundred cultivators surged toward the Lin Family like locusts.
The moment the curtain shattered, the tremendous commotion resounded throughout all of Red Leaf Square.
Countless people turned to look in that direction.
Zhou Xun was walking swiftly at the time, and he could not help looking over as well.
"The Lin Family is in trouble!" He sighed.
He had only just settled down and acquired a decent identity, yet now he could only abandon it.
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