Dead Men Tell No Tales

"Has a foreign enemy invaded?"

A thought popped into Zhou Ning's mind: this voice could travel from such a distance; even Foundation Establishment cultivator probably couldn't do that, right?

And then there were those Demon Beast, much larger than human figures!

"It's best to hide first!"

Zhou Ning activated his Concealing Shadow Technique, flashed to the lakeside, took out Yuan Dahu's self-developed Water-Adept Talisman, and crushed it!

He instantly plunged into the water and continued to dive, soon reaching a depth of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) below, where all he could see was a dark, deep blue.

Zhou Ning looked at the faint flowing patterns emanating from his body, like fish swimming in water.

"Truly wondrous! We must not underestimate any cultivator in the world, even those who have only Qi Refining." Zhou Ning exclaimed in surprise.

He had tried the Water-Adept Talisman before.

When a cultivator's Divine Sense travels through water, it is already obscure and hindered, and is greatly diminished.

If a person in deep water were to conceal their presence and blend into the fish and shrimp, they would practically vanish into thin air.

Even with Zhou Ning's Divine Sense, which was comparable to that of Foundation Establishment, he was powerless to search for spirit fish in the deep water on the surface.

Zhou Ning was now completely out of the loop.

Unfortunately, he could no longer hear anything on the water.

"Let's go check out the Spring of the Spirit Eye first. I remember it connects to the underground water veins. Once we're inside the cave, we can listen for any signs from the outside world."

Cuiwei Lake is not only vast, but its deepest point is nearly thirty feet deep. Zhou Ning has opened six meridians, Qi and Blood are vigorous, far surpassing those of Qi Refining cultivators. He can walk on the bottom of the lake with ease.

On the lake.

Yuan Dahu and his group were hunting fish, Xu Qinghou was among them.

He carried a bottle of liquor, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, which made him appear increasingly weathered.

Seven years have passed since Xu Qinghou broke through to the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement. He is still at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. Although he is close to the perfection of his cultivation, he has been overtaken by Zhou Ning.

Especially after meeting Gu Xiangning that day, whose status and position were completely different as she had already Late Qi Refining.

However, as old friends, they still chatted happily.

The disciples from the Azure Mystic Sect didn't even give him a second glance.

Afterwards, Zhou Ning was refining pills in the room, and the next day Xu Qinghou brought some local specialties from the lake and went to look for him again.

He encountered a cold-looking female cultivator outside. She called out to him, looked him up and down as if scrutinizing a stray dog on the roadside.

Then he said, "So you're Xu Qinghou? A nice name, but you're quite ordinary. I heard that the disciples who entered the sect in the seventh year of Xuanhe all called you 'Azure-Robed Wanderer Xu Qinghou '."

"Junior Sister Shen once admired you and gave you a sachet. Now it seems her taste wasn't so great after all?"

With that, she casually flicked her sleeve, sending him flying.

At that moment, Xu Qinghou truly experienced the gap between social classes.

He felt somewhat disappointed. He had Low-Grade Spirit Root, and although he could earn a decent amount of spiritual resources by fishing with Yuan Dahu.

However, if one continues to cultivate in this way, it will take five or six years to reach the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, and without the Spirit Condensation Pill, one will be stuck at the bottleneck of the Late Qi Refining for another seven or eight years, or even for a lifetime.

After reaching the Qi Refining Ninth Layer Perfection, it takes at least another twenty years... and then you need to gather the spiritual materials for Foundation Establishment...

He's almost thirty now; back then he was well past sixty, and his Qi and Blood was waning...

"Never underestimate the poor and elderly!"

"Brother Xu, I saw Qingqing today." Li Ji's face was flushed, full of enthusiasm.

Since Little Die was killed by the Guo Household cultivators, he had been in tears. Fortunately, the Su Household recruited a new female disciple, and he regained his power.

"Brother Xu, can you give me some advice from someone who's been through this?" Li Ji admired Scholar Xu's talent.

Scholar Xu felt weak all over and his spirits were broken. "What's the use of giving you advice? I'd rather give you some spirit rice, but unfortunately I don't have any spirit rice."

Yuan Dahu clicked his tongue in amazement and exclaimed, "Hey, Little Li, how come your Qingqing is on the same boat as Little Mo?"

Li Ji forced a smile, "It's okay, they're just friends, it's normal for them to travel together on a boat."

"Wow, they're kissing. Qingqing is pretty fair, did you give her the Jade Skin Pill?" Yuan Dahu said, adding insult to injury.

Li Ji caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of his eye, and his eyes widened in fury.

"Brother Yuan, do honest people really never have a good ending?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice that resounded through the sky rang out, "Old dog of the Su Household, get out here!"

The lake surface rippled at these words.

Yuan Dahu spotted the Demon Beast in the sky, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly jumped into the lake:

"Quick, run side by side!"

At the same time, everyone who heard the question looked up.

"You old dog from the Su Household, do you dare to confront me?"

"You old dog from the Su Household, come out here!"

Several beams of light rose above the lake, revealing Su Yuanye, Su Lixia, Nie Yi, Nie Yi Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Su Yuanye, dressed in a python robe, suppressed his anger. "What business does True Person Han have with my ancestor?"

The green-robed figure was named Han Qingrong, the patriarch of the Han Household, and possessed the cultivation level of False Core cultivator.

The flying lizard beneath its feet was a near-third-tier Demon Beast cultivated by the Han Household, with combat power comparable to False Core.

Such a display of power is virtually unmatched on the entire Cuiwei Lake.

The Han Household patriarch glanced at Su Yuanye; this young man was not yet fifty, yet he possessed the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

They will surely become a major threat like Su Changshuo in the future!

A glint flashed in his eyes, and with a flick of his sleeve, a massive surge of spiritual energy emanated from it.

Su Yuanye's expression changed drastically. He crushed a talisman, and the shadow of a dragon snake appeared around him. At the same time, he summoned his Ruyi magic Law Artifact.

Even so, being hit by that spiritual energy, his figure was forced back dozens of feet.

Su Yuanye looked unwell, clearly not feeling well.

"A junior like you dares to stand before me?" The Han Household patriarch said with disdain.

He then deliberately laughed and said, "You're still far from it. If your younger brother, Su Huaijin, were here, perhaps he could discuss matters of the heart with me."

Upon hearing this, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Su Household immediately darkened their faces, and anger appeared in their eyes.

Su Huaijin is a genius of the Su Household, of the same generation as Su Yuanye and Su Junsong, but he has the Earth Spirit Root.

Even without Core Formation Material, those with Earth Spirit Root have a 30% higher chance of Core Formation compared to other cultivators.

How could the surrounding Lineage sit idly by and watch him grow up?

Thus, the Core Formation Lei family seized the opportunity to strike and killed him with a single slap.

At this moment, Han Qingrong's words were tantamount to striking at a sore spot, killing the enemy's spirit.

Su Lixia suppressed her anger and said, "Senior Han, I hope you will show some mercy with your words and do something good for the Han Household!"

The Han Household patriarch stood on the back of the Demon Beast, and before he could speak, another figure stepped out from behind him. This person had sharp eyes like an eagle and was none other than Han Ziyue, who had planned the plot to assassinate the Alchemist. He was now at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage stage.

His voice was cold and hard. "Have some decency? Your Su Household has quite the nerve to slander my Han Household!"

"That Daoist Mu was clearly invited by your Su Household. He tried to raise a dog but got bitten instead. Why are you telling the outside world that it belongs to the Han, Duan, and Ye families?"

At that opportune moment, the Han Household patriarch called out, "Su Changshuo, come out and have something to say to me!"

The rolling sound waves swept across dozens of miles once again.

"You're spouting nonsense! It was clearly Daoist Mu who was chasing after my Yunjin!" Su Lixia argued forcefully.

The Han Household patriarch burst into laughter. "No need for further words, just have Su Yunjin confront me!"

The younger generation member Han Ziyue, suggested, "Let Su Yunjin respond."

Su Yuanye was already furious, gripping his spear, ready to strike at any moment, intending to rebel against the False Core True Person.

Su Lixia said, "Senior, you know Yunjin is dead, so why say such a thing?"

"Oh? Doesn't this just prove that stray dogs bite their masters?" Han Ziyue remained noncommittal.

At this moment, a handsome man in his early thirties stepped forward and said:

"True Person, when Daoist Mu was chasing Su Yunjin, a guest elder also appeared and participated. If True Person wish to know the details, you may summon him for questioning."