Langya

He stepped out of the cave. Time was pressing; he had to reach the purple gold mine before the secret teams dispatched by the Tian Household and Wan Household.

If he arrived too late and the mine was occupied, or the earth's crust was made to collapse, either would deal a fatal blow to the Xu Household.

Using Seven Star Steps, he sped like lightning and a shooting star, compressing a journey of over a day into just over half a day. Before nightfall, he finally appeared at the purple gold mining camp.

The Xu Household stationed a hundred guards and two Xiantian realm experts here. Together with the Xu Household's standing, this had kept things peaceful all these years.

The camp was large. Besides the guards, there were several hundred miners who worked day and night digging out ore to be transported from here. The Xu Household's convoy arrived every three days, a routine unchanged for decades.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose from the camp as the sky gradually darkened. Several hundred miners emerged one after another from the underground mine, dragging their exhausted bodies back to camp to rest.

The Xu Household paid its miners generously. Many commoners in Canglan City were willing to work at its mine for the high wages, so there was essentially no shortage of workers.

The camp was built against the mountains, surrounded by them on three sides, with only one entrance. A wooden palisade and a tall watchtower had been built, allowing anyone approaching to be spotted immediately. It was easy to defend and hard to attack.

The mine entrance lay on the western side of the camp, guarded by ten men who patrolled day and night to prevent theft. Discipline was strict.

Standing outside the palisade, Liu Wuxie looked at the peaceful mining camp and breathed a sigh of relief. The elite teams dispatched by the two households probably had not arrived yet.

A straight road led deep into the mine, marked by two deep wheel ruts.

Just then!

A slender figure walked along the straight road. He wore blue robes and had handsome features, his swordlike eyebrows angled slightly upward like sharp swords drawn toward the sky, pointing at the heavens.

He proceeded at an unhurried pace and, after the time it took to drink a cup of tea, stood before the Xu Household camp's gate.

"Halt! This is a restricted area, closed to outsiders. Leave at once."

A cold shout came from atop the watchtower. Several guards emerged from concealment, holding longbows aimed at Liu Wuxie. If he took another step forward, they would kill him without mercy.

"Guard Gan, don't you even recognize me?"

Liu Wuxie stopped and looked up at the watchtower. The Xu Household's guards rotated every three months, returning to Canglan City after a three-month posting at the mine, alternating back and forth.

He was no stranger to the guards present and recognized them at a glance.

"The young master-in-law? What's he doing here?"

A trace of confusion appeared on Guard Gan's face. They had been transferred here two months ago and knew nothing of what had happened in Canglan City. Their impressions remained as they had been two months earlier: in their eyes, Liu Wuxie was a good-for-nothing.

"That trash actually came all the way to the mine. How did he get here?"

The guards holding longbows lowered their weapons and voiced their contempt. Their voices were quiet, but still reached Liu Wuxie's ears. He paid them no mind, a faint smile lingering at the corners of his mouth.

"He probably got bored of Canglan City and came out for a taste of something new. Does he really think just anyone can enter the Sunset Mountain Range? The lineage's guards probably escorted him here."

No one believed Liu Wuxie had crossed the Sunset Mountain Range alone to reach this place. The guards accompanying him must have turned and left after delivering him.

"What's that trash doing here? Could it be the household head's idea, having him familiarize himself with the mine?"

Liu Wuxie took in everyone's expressions without losing his temper. His disposition had long since been tempered; how could a few words send him into a rage? Besides, there was no need to stoop to the level of a group of guards.

The palisade gate slowly opened, and Liu Wuxie walked into the camp amid puzzled looks and mocking smiles.

Upon learning of Liu Wuxie's arrival, both Xiantian realm experts stationed here appeared.

"Greetings, Deacon Hu, Second Uncle!"

Deacon Hu was in his thirties, at the third level of the Xiantian realm. The middle-aged man Liu Wuxie called Second Uncle had a resolute face and bore a seventy-percent resemblance to Xu Yilin. He was Xu Yilin's younger brother, Xu Yishan, and Xu Lingxue's second uncle. Liu Wuxie had called him Second Uncle since childhood.

After marrying Xu Lingxue, he should have changed his address to Second Father-in-law, but he was used to it and could not be bothered to change.

Xu Yishan's expression was unfriendly. It could be said that he loathed Liu Wuxie. He had repeatedly urged his elder brother to cancel the marriage, but his brother had insisted on his own way and ultimately let Liu Wuxie marry Xu Lingxue.

On the wedding day, Xu Yishan had not returned to Canglan City. He was deeply dissatisfied with the marriage.

Most matters at the mine were handled by Xu Yishan, with Xu Yilin rarely involved. He was at the peak Xiantian realm, making him a suitable choice to guard this place.

Busy managing the mine, Xu Yishan had never married and had long treated Xu Lingxue as his own daughter. One could imagine how he felt watching Lingxue marry a good-for-nothing.

"What are you doing here?"

Deacon Hu said nothing. He was an outsider, after all, and still had to show Liu Wuxie some respect. Xu Yishan asked the question coldly.

"I received word that the Tian Household and Wan Household have dispatched elite teams to seize our Xu Household's mine. I came to warn everyone to take precautions."

Liu Wuxie was not angry. He bowed slightly and shared what he knew. He still did not know how many people the other side had sent, but taking precautions could only help, not hurt.

"Did my elder brother tell you this, or did you make it up yourself?"

Naturally, Xu Yishan did not believe him. His elder brother's carrier-pigeon message had mentioned an attack on the transport convoy, but nothing about the two households planning to strike the mine. He thought Liu Wuxie was spouting wild nonsense.

"Father-in-law doesn't know yet. There wasn't time to inform him, so I hurried here first to warn everyone."

Song Tianhao had told him that the Tian Household and Wan Household intended to harm the mine, but the information had not been confirmed, so Liu Wuxie could not make wild guesses. Only after obtaining definite information from Tian Lie had he hurried here.

"You expect us to take your word alone? What a joke. Go back where you came from. This isn't a place for you."

Xu Yishan scoffed, his face filled with disdain. He had no goodwill toward this good-for-nothing whatsoever. From childhood to adulthood, Liu Wuxie had caused so much trouble, and his elder brother had always wiped his backside for him. Yet he still had the nerve to stay in the Xu Household.

"Second Uncle, I respect you as an elder and have shown you all the respect a junior should. The information is absolutely true. Whether you believe it is for you to decide."

Liu Wuxie flicked his sleeve, unwilling to waste more words on them, and walked deeper into the camp. No one stopped him. It was already dark, and entering the Sunset Mountain Range alone was extremely dangerous. They could only wait for the transport convoy to arrive in three days and take him back to Canglan City.

The guards along the way cast disdainful looks at him and made all sorts of mocking remarks. Liu Wuxie turned a deaf ear to them and walked a circuit of the camp. It was already evening.

"Young master-in-law, a room has been prepared for you. Get some rest."

Despite their reluctance, they still arranged lodging for Liu Wuxie, setting aside a small room of only seven or eight square meters for him alone. Though the mining camp seemed large, living conditions were harsh. Ordinary miners shared a room between ten people.

"Sorry for the trouble!"

With the entire camp's layout imprinted in his mind, he returned to his room and began sorting things out.

"Surrounded by mountains on three sides and built against them. If I could set up a mountain-guarding formation, even experts who came wouldn't be able to break into it. What formation should I set up?"

Liu Wuxie muttered to himself. Setting up a formation would take several days, so it was already too late to start now. He also lacked some materials that would have to be purchased in Canglan City. A carrier pigeon would take a day to deliver the message to his father-in-law, and transporting the materials here would take more time.

An overly powerful formation would demand a terrifying amount of resources, and he might not be able to gather all the materials.

An overly weak formation would be useless. The formation had to be powerful yet economical in resources, with both defensive and offensive capabilities. It truly posed a challenge for him.

He searched his memories, selected several powerful formations, and blended them to create a new one. That would take some time.

"You'll do. I'll call you the Surging Waves Earth Essence Formation! It combines the essence of the two formations, Surging Waves and Raging Billows and Earth Destruction. It doesn't require too many resources, and with this place's natural terrain, it won't be too difficult to set up."

After spending over two hours, he blended them into an entirely new formation. Taking the surrounding terrain into account, this formation was the most suitable.

The night deepened. Large numbers of guards patrolled the camp, with visible posts and hidden sentries spread throughout.

"I heard that on his wedding night, our good-for-nothing young master-in-law was beaten out of the room by the young lady and went off to a brothel. His beastly nature ran wild and brought the whole brothel down. He almost got crushed to death."

Three patrolling guards happened to pass not far from Liu Wuxie's door, talking as they walked. Their grating mockery carried inside.

"That trash really has a tough life. Even that didn't kill him."

Their tone dripped with scorn. In the eyes of the Xu Household guards, Liu Wuxie was actually this contemptible.

"The young lady is so beautiful. Heaven must truly be blind, letting that pig root her up. With her talent, she'll enter the Imperial Academy and ascend to the heavens in a single step. The Xu Household's standing will soar too, and guards like us will have a great chance to rise above the crowd."

Their voices faded as they passed Liu Wuxie's door. The night returned to silence.

A large group quietly approached from afar, stopping a hundred meters outside the mining camp.

"Boss, this is the Xu Household's mine. There's only one entrance. How do we get in?"

There were over a hundred of them, and there was even the presence of someone in the Spirit Cleansing realm. The Xu Household's mine was in danger.

They lay concealed in the grass, beyond the sight of the Xu Household's patrolling guards. It was a moonless night, with only occasional light spilling from the camp.

Loud snoring came from deep within the camp. After a hard day's work, the miners had eaten and gone to bed early.

"Go bring the leaders from the Tian Household and Wan Household here. We'll discuss a plan."

At the leader's command, a black-clad man hurried back and soon returned with two old men, elders of the Tian Household and Wan Household at the peak Xiantian realm. To take the Xu Household's mine this time, the two households had spared no expense.

"Commander Langya, you wanted us?"

Tian Qihong asked quietly. Had an outsider been present and heard the name Langya, they would certainly have wet their pants in fright.

Besides the four great lineages, Canglan City had another force: the Langya Mercenary Corps. They took on any business, committing murder and arson, stopping at nothing.

As long as you could afford the gold, they would handle whatever could not bear the light of day.

Even more terrifying was Langya himself. Rumor had it that he had lived with a pack of wild wolves since childhood and grown up drinking wolf's milk. Savage and cruel, he liked drinking human blood. Under normal circumstances, they were unwilling to provoke the four great lineages, and everyone left one another in peace.

Most of the time, they roamed the Sunset Mountain Range, hunting demon beasts to sell for gold, or helping escort merchant caravans for generous rewards.

At its largest, the mercenary corps had expanded to three hundred members, while Langya himself had reached the fifth level of the Spirit Cleansing realm.