Hold Them Off, Hold Them Off

That was an Azure Nether Guard, a Foundation Establishment Realm puppet!

Lin Qing was genuinely panicking. Even if it did not attack him and targeted his puppets instead, he would still be heartbroken if it damaged his First-Tier Superior-Grade puppets.

As he spoke, Lin Qing hurriedly put away all his puppets, his face flushed with anxiety.

Then he hastily pulled out the Pill Furnace and offered it up. "Since Alchemist Zhou needs it, I hope he can carry on the wishes my wife Zhangzhang left behind and do everything in his power for the Su Household!"

Su Wen glanced over the Pill Furnace. Only after seeing that the cloud patterns cast on its surface and the small seal-script inscriptions were all intact did she look satisfied.

"You wouldn't shed a tear until you saw your coffin," she scolded.

Lin Qing felt stifled. Wasn't this woman from a collateral branch of the Su Household? How could she produce a second-tier puppet?

More importantly, she could not only produce one, but also afford to use it!

A second-tier puppet consumed a tremendous amount. Fighting at full strength for the time it took an incense stick to burn would use up one Spirit Stone.

For a non-core Lineage member like Su Wen, that was all she received in basic income for an entire year.

"Could she have attached herself to Alchemist Zhou?" Lin Qing guessed.

He looked at the freckles on Su Wen's face in disbelief. "Does Alchemist Zhou really have such heavy tastes?"

Su Wen put away the Pill Furnace and said, "You took everything Madam Yin left behind as well. Bring out her second-tier talisman brush and second-tier spirit jade too."

Lin Qing's face darkened at her words, a trace of anger in his voice. "Miss Su, don't push people too far!"

Su Wen was utterly unmoved. "Will you hand them over or not?"

Under another's eaves, one had no choice but to bow one's head. Looking at the Azure Nether Guard's chilling presence, Lin Qing finally swallowed his anger and handed them over.

Su Wen was in a good mood after obtaining seven pieces of second-tier spirit jade.

She had traded two Spirit Stones for so many resources for Zhou Ning. Wouldn't he be so moved that he would swear loyalty to the Su Household?

She was a genius!

Ten thousand times better than Su Yunjin, who knew only how to waste Lineage resources!

Su Wen left.

Lin Qing activated the formation, then angrily kicked over the loquat tree.

It was Zhangzhang's loquat tree.

"Su Wen, Alchemist Zhou..." Malice grew in his somewhat deep-set eyes. "Su Household, you'll regret this!"

"In that case, don't blame me for giving your shabby house a kick!"

Lin Qing took out a sheet of paper and lightly moved his finger, writing in small characters:

"Ancestor Su Changxi has yet to recover from his injuries. Nie Yi, a Foundation Establishment great cultivator, sought medicine from Pharmacist Lan yesterday... Su Wen has the Azure Nether Armor protecting her. An Alchemist has emerged on Bamboo Creek Island. Su Yunjin's whereabouts are unknown; she is suspected to be on her way home..."

He crumpled the paper tightly and put it inside a wax pellet. Then, with a gesture toward his Storage Bag, a small beast jumped out. It looked like a cross between a rat and a pangolin, its whole body covered in glossy black scales.

This was a Black-Scaled Rat from the Beast-Taming Han Household, best at carrying messages and launching sneak attacks.

The Black-Scaled Rat swallowed the wax pellet in one gulp and found its way to a tree in the courtyard. With a scrape of its claws, it burrowed into the ground and vanished.

Lin Qing gloated. "There's a good show coming."

East of Bamboo Creek Island, in front of the residence.

"Before the increase in spirit rice, you had to catch at least fifty jin of Fuluo Eels a month. Now your spirit rice has doubled, but we're still collecting fifty jin of Fuluo Eels. Wouldn't that make the increase a waste?"

Steward Su raised his chin, his words ringing out. "Starting this month, every fisherman must catch at least one hundred jin of spirit rice!"

As soon as he made this announcement, wails rose from the crowd. The Fuluo Eels had already been dwindling rapidly under the heavy fishing by Yuan Dahu's group.

Just as Old Jia had said out of jealousy back then, the Fuluo Eels really were nearly all caught!

Now the monthly fishing quota had been raised as well. Wasn't this forcing them into a dead end?

Cultivation wars raged everywhere beyond Cuiwei Lake. If they left, where could they find a place with a Spirit Vein to cultivate?

An old man at the Third Layer of Qi Refinement came trembling forward. "Lord Su, I've mined, farmed, and fished for the Su Household..."

Su Changhe shouted, "Didn't the Su Household provide you with a cultivation ground on a Spirit Vein? Didn't it give you spirit rice?"

"Outrageous! You have no gratitude at all!"

He waved a hand, releasing a powerful surge of spiritual power that sent the old man sprawling.

The retainers all fell silent as cicadas in winter.

Zhou Ning stood in the sky, watching the scene. For a moment, he hardly knew what to make of it.

In this world, where those at the top controlled absolute resources and possessed the mighty power of heaven and earth themselves, cultivators at the bottom could never turn their lives around unless they had heaven-defying aptitude.

As for taking one down with them? Utterly laughable.

It was even worse in the Land of Wei. Even those with outstanding talent had to toil like oxen and horses if they were not born into powerful clans.

Steward Su's domineering conduct made Yuan Dahu and his group clench their fists, but faced with a Late Qi Refining great cultivator, they ultimately did not dare act.

Zhou Ning suddenly noticed that the retainers gathered in front of the residence today included not only fishermen, but also those who grew spirit grain and collected spirit sand, and even the Spirit Lotus Root Woman, Jia Tingwan. They had all been summoned here.

The only one who seemed to be missing was Old Jia, who had comparatively more freedom.

Could it be because of the defeat on the front line? Do they need to conscript a batch of people as cannon fodder?

Zhou Ning had never hesitated to assume the worst possible malice of the Su Household's people.

At that moment, Su Changhe noticed Zhou Ning in the sky. His face showed surprise for an instant before darkening.

His gaze instinctively flicked toward the sky over the lake, where he could faintly make out several points of spiritual light in the distance. He said good, good, good to himself.

As luck would have it, Zhou Ning had left the formation today and happened to run right into this!

After this man became an Alchemist, Su Wen, that wretch, had targeted Su Changhe on his account and forced him to pay tribute in Spirit Stones.

Today, he would make sure Zhou Ning never returned.

Putting on an unwelcoming expression, Su Changhe asked coolly, "Great Alchemist Zhou, how did you find the time to come here and sponge off me?"

Seeing Steward Su's expression, Zhou Ning recalled how he had refused Jiang Xi's visit that day, only to find his efforts to collect eel blood obstructed afterward.

He said cheerfully, "Steward Su, haven't you been in a good mood lately? I've noticed that ever since I became an Alchemist, you've worn a long face every time you see me. Why is that?"

As soon as he said this, Su Changhe's expression changed.

Among the retainers, Xu Qinghou watched Zhou Ning's arrogance, and longing rose in his heart.

What was the point of living with his head down and swallowing every grievance?

Jia Tingwan, Old Jia's granddaughter, stared at Zhou Ning with wide, almond-shaped eyes, as though seeing him anew.

So her master at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining was actually this unyielding?

Su Changhe's heart was filled with killing intent, but he forced a smile. "How would I dare laugh aloud in front of Alchemist Zhou?"

Su Changhe did not continue the exchange. Instead, he said to the retainers, "If you don't want to work as fishermen, I have a new job under me that pays fifty jin of spirit rice a month."

"What? Fifty jin of spirit rice?" Even the people in Yuan Dahu's circle looked shaken.

Back when Fuluo Eels were plentiful, they had earned more than that.

But in the past six months, the number of Fuluo Eels had plummeted, and their income had fallen sharply.

Some of their companions had even begun thinking of breeding Fuluo Eels so they could keep fishing them!

Someone had tried it before, only to be secretly reported by another retainer and meet a terrible end, because there was a generous reward for reporting it.

Besides, people were not of one mind. Fuluo Eels one person bred would likely be scooped up by someone else in passing; there was no chance of everyone pulling together.

"They aren't sending us to the front line, are they?" someone asked uneasily.

By now, the distant points of light had drawn closer. Zhou Ning had cultivated the Spirit Eye Technique to a high level, and he looked toward them.

He saw a group of cultivators he had never seen before. At their head was a woman standing on a black boat, her face covered by a black veil.

The others were all on spirit boats of the same design, as though they belonged to an organization.

They were wealthier than Old Jia's two old acquaintances at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

People from the Su Household? Zhou Ning guessed instinctively.

Something's wrong... Why did Steward Su gather so many people here at this particular time?

Purple Monkey Flower... presenting a treasure...

The Su Household's defeat... the Guo Household...

This is bad! Zhou Ning's expression changed. Killing with a borrowed knife...

He immediately shouted, "Scholar Xu, Jia Tingwan, come back to the courtyard with me at once!"

The two did not know what was happening, but seeing Zhou Ning's manner, they both ran out of the crowd.

Steward Su could see his plan succeeding. Once the retainers on Bamboo Creek Island were wiped out, no one would ever know that he had learned of the Purple Monkey Flower!

He could also have that treasured place all to himself!

How could he let all his efforts come to nothing at the crucial moment?

Steward Su brought out a small dark iron ring Law Artifact and shouted, "Alchemist Zhou, you dare rely on your guest elder status to disregard my Su Household's clan laws!"

Zhou Ning ignored him. Instead, he pointed at the distant streaks of spiritual light and called out:

"Everyone, those should be cultivators from an enemy household. If you don't leave now, it'll be too late."

The retainers looked frightened and glanced around, unable to make up their minds.

"Nonsense! How could there be an enemy attack in my Su Household's Cuiwei Lake territory? I say you've fallen prey to some trick!"

Steward Su hesitated no longer. He did not need to kill Zhou Ning at all; he only needed to hold him for a short while, and the people of the Guo Household would take care of him!

The dark iron ring expanded in the wind and spun around, instantly shooting sideways to encircle Zhou Ning from above.

At the same time, Steward Su shouted to rally the crowd, "All of you, help me capture this man!"