Hearing Lin Xiye's aged voice, the young members of the Lin Household all froze.
All these years, they had lived under the Lineage's protection and had never experienced the brutal struggles between rival powers.
"Changge, send someone to take the younger members of the Lineage around Qiao Town. Let them have a good look at the villages that depend on our Lin Household!"
Lin Xiye shook his head slightly and gave Lin Changge his orders.
Only by facing the cruel truth firsthand could these young people... truly grow.
Meanwhile, after hearing Lin Xiye and Lin Changge's conversation, the Zhao Household's armored guards grew restless.
Their faces were filled with terror as they began to scream. Many of them twisted frantically, trying to break free of their shackles.
Unfortunately, they had thought of resisting and fleeing for their lives far too late...
"No! Don't kill me!"
"I'm willing to be a slave! I'm willing to serve the Lin Household as a slave forever..."
"I have money, lots of gold and silver... Please, spare me!!"
Clang!
The Lin Household's armored guards had already drawn their sabers and begun the slaughter.
Heads rolled one after another. Watching their clansmen and comrades slaughtered one by one was sheer mental torture for the Zhao Household guards who were still alive, waiting for death.
Their faces were streaked with tears, and their bodies went limp.
Under the crushing fear of death, some guards even lost control of their bowels and bladders.
At the sight of the bloody scene, some of the Lin Household's younger members could not help closing their eyes and covering their ears.
But Lin Changge and many of the Lin Household's elders shouted at them.
"Open your eyes wide, watch carefully, and listen closely..."
"Bloody? Cruel? I know what you're thinking."
"But remember! These enemies who look so pitiful to you right now... not only wanted to wipe out our Lin Household, but also slaughtered several villages in our territory."
"Showing sympathy to enemies, taking pity on a pack of executioners! That is the greatest weakness and the greatest folly."
"If the old ancestor hadn't intervened, if everyone in our Lin Household hadn't stood together... these enemies from the Zhao Household wouldn't have stopped at slaughtering a few villages. They would have washed all of Qiao Town and our entire Lin Household in blood."
An elderly woman with a hunched back spoke in a grave voice, her face stern.
Ever since Lin Xiye had entered the Falling Rosy Clouds Sect to cultivate, the Lin Household had enjoyed a century of stable development under the shelter of the sect's fearsome reputation.
For a hundred years, the Lin Household had faced no crisis, causing many of its members to forget how cruel this world was.
That was especially true of the Lin Household's younger generation. The Lineage had protected them far too well...
The killing continued for half a day.
Blood dyed the earth red and gathered into a winding river... Under the dim golden light of the sunset, the stench of blood rose to the heavens outside Qiao Town, making it look like a purgatory on earth.
"Reporting to the old ancestor and the patriarch, everything seized in this battle has been counted!"
"In total, we seized fifteen thousand suits of armor, fifteen thousand sabers and swords, and five hundred warhorses. In addition, the various miscellaneous items are worth at least fifty catties of gold!"
"Our Lin Household lost fifty armored guards! Twenty were severely wounded and ten lightly wounded!"
An armored guard commander, his body covered in blood, reported to Lin Xiye and Lin Changge with a face full of reverence.
Lin Xiye left the remaining matters alone.
He was the Lin Household's old ancestor, not its patriarch. As long as a matter did not concern its long-term development or major affairs of the Lineage... he would not interfere.
"For every armored guard who fell in battle, pay ten catties of gold to his family, his wife and children! From now on, the Lineage will also be responsible for educating his children and supporting his parents."
"For every severely wounded guard, pay three catties of gold to his family, his wife and children! The Lineage will also be responsible for educating his children and supporting his parents from now on."
"Reward each lightly wounded guard with one catty of gold."
"Reward every other armored guard with five taels of gold."
In response to the commander's report, Lin Changge's first actions were to reward and provide for the armored guards.
Only then did he order the spoils carted back to Qiao Town, wagon by wagon.
As for the bodies of the Zhao Household guards who had been cut down, a great fire was lit and reduced them all to ashes.
By then, Lin Xiye had returned to his own small courtyard.
This time, he had also obtained quite a few resources from the Zhao Household's immortal cultivators.
There were dozens of Spirit Stone fragments, for instance.
There were also several volumes of low-level cultivation methods.
What interested Lin Xiye most, however, were two items he had obtained from the Zhao Household's old ancestor.
One of the two was a middle-grade Spirit Nourishing Law Treasure, the Earth River Shield. Its defensive power was second to none.
Even a cultivator at the Early Spirit Accumulation Stage could use it to remain undefeated against an immortal cultivator at the Middle Spirit Nourishing Stage.
It was only because the Zhao Household's old ancestor's cultivation was insufficient and he could not fully unleash its power that Lin Xiye had been able to kill him, using various methods with the support of the Lin Household's heavy crossbows.
Besides the Earth River Shield, the Zhao Household's old ancestor had also carried a manual: the Insect Rearing Scripture! As its name suggested, it was a cultivation method for nurturing and controlling poisonous insects.
This Insect Rearing Scripture contained only the first half, but even that recorded how to nurture and control Foundation Establishment Realm poisonous insects.
If he used the Immortal-Appraising Treasure Mirror to upgrade and complete it, it could very well become a Nascent Soul-grade cultivation method...
Moreover, unlike an ordinary Nascent Soul-grade cultivation method, if he could raise a vast number of Nascent Soul Realm poisonous insects, he could walk sideways even among those in the same realm.
Of course, for now, Lin Xiye had no need to upgrade and complete the Insect Rearing Scripture.
At least until he broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, there was no need.
The poisonous insects a cultivator controlled could be no more than two major realms above him! Otherwise, they might devour their master... among a host of other troubles.
An immortal cultivator in the Foundation Establishment Realm could control Core Formation Realm poisonous insects at most, and usually not many of them.
Lin Xiye was quite interested in the Insect Rearing Scripture.
If he could raise some poisonous insects, he might not even need to act himself when facing an enemy. With a sweep of his sleeve, he could command thousands upon thousands of poisonous insects... to gnaw the enemy down to white bones.
Most importantly, raising poisonous insects did not consume many resources.
Raising spirit beasts and making puppets... both consumed more resources than raising poisonous insects of the same rank.
It was just that an individual poisonous insect's fighting strength was far inferior to that of a spirit beast or puppet...
Lin Xiye slowly put away the Insect Rearing Scripture. Once the Lin Household had formally established itself in Zichuan City and the situation had completely stabilized, he planned to make another trip to the immortal cultivators' market.
The Azure Shore Pavilion should have poisonous insect eggs.
Besides poisonous insect eggs, Lin Xi also planned to buy some materials when the time came.
Once a cultivator broke through to the Spirit Nourishing Realm, he could refine a Life-Bound Law Treasure of his own.
The Three Talents Formation Flags were not low in grade, and their power was considerable, but as a Life-Bound Law Treasure... they still fell somewhat short.
As for the Earth River Shield, it was only a defensive Law Treasure. As a Life-Bound Law Treasure, it would be even worse than the Three Talents Formation Flags.
A Life-Bound Law Treasure was meant to accompany a cultivator through long years... and even grow alongside him until they reached the true realm of the immortal path.