Returning Victorious

Shan Sheng and Ma Wenhan, one wielding a jade sword and the other a bronze bell, joined forces with more than ten Ma Household cultivators in a battle against the Toothless Old Man in the large warehouse of Mi Household Stockade.

Of the three Foundation Establishment, the one surnamed Feng had already fled, but it was unknown where the old woman had gone.

Although Shan Sheng had shortened his lifespan, his skills were still far superior to those of an old cultivator like Ma Wenhan, who was truly nearing the end of his life.

Therefore, when Sect Leader Kang Da arrived with his disciples, the Toothless Old Man was already on the verge of collapse.

Unable to Shan Sheng's dazzling sword light, and with Ma Wenhan's bronze bell occasionally shaking the Toothless Old Man's mind, he had no choice but to turn his head and exert his strength towards the dozen or so Ma Household cultivators.

Kang Dabao then realized that the Toothless Old Man was actually practicing a body cultivation Cultivation Method that was rarely practiced in Cloud Horn Prefecture.

He moved closer with lightning speed, his iron fists swelling to the size of bowls, covered in mysterious light, and indestructible. In just a short while, two or three cultivators from the Ma Household had been smashed to pieces, along with their magical Law Artifact.

Blood, flesh, and fragments of Law Artifact were stuck together and smeared all over the ground, which naturally pained Ma Wenhan.

But he also knew the danger. If he could keep this Toothless Old Man alive, he might be able to leave the Ma Household with a bit more Foundation Establishment strength before he died.

Therefore, although Ma Wenhan was heartbroken to see his capable disciples die one by one, he did not go to save them. Instead, he glared and gritted his teeth as he repeatedly activated the Purple Spirit Bell to help Shan Sheng, hoping that the latter's Jade Sword could kill the Toothless Old Man as soon as possible.

The Toothless Old Man's physical body is incredibly well-cultivated. Despite his hunched and small stature, once he activates his profound magic, his skin develops a layer of bronze color, making it extremely difficult for the Qi Refining Realm cultivators to break through his body when wielding magical Law Artifact.

Often only a white mark is left, which is then quickly covered by copper.

However, Shan Sheng Light Sword was quite formidable, Second-Tier Middle-Grade, enough to cause the Toothless Old Man a great loss.

As the Toothless Old Man plunged into the crowd of Qi Refinement cultivators and slaughtered them, Shan Sheng also left a horrifying bloody gash on the Toothless Old Man's back.

The sword light pierced through skin and flesh, the Sword Qi raging mercilessly, tearing the Toothless Old Man's back into a chaotic mess of flesh and blood.

The Toothless Old Man had no time to bandage his wounds. Even though several strips of skin and flesh were already hanging down his back, they grew longer with each swing of his arms, and the blood flowing out almost soaked his entire lower body red.

But the Toothless Old Man could only dodge Shan Sheng's flying swords while rushing towards the formation formed by the Ma Household disciples.

Seeing reinforcements arriving from the opposite side, the Toothless Old Man's expression grew even more anxious. He punched through the round mirror magic Law Artifact of a Ma Household disciple at the Qi Refinement Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, then changed his fist into a claw, tearing off the latter's magic robe and gouging out a still-beating red heart.

Ma Wenhan flew into a rage, sparing no effort to expend his vital energy. The bell tolled repeatedly, causing the Toothless Old Man's head to throb with pain. He bit his tongue hard to regain his composure, and risked taking Shan Sheng strike from Shan Sheng to kill two more Qi Refinement Ninth Layer cultivators from the Ma Household, also tearing out their hearts.

The three human hearts, still steaming, were held in his hand Toothless Old Man's cloudy eyes narrowed, and he saw the human hearts in his hand gradually rot into blood. He opened his mouth and inhaled, and a wisp of black mist enveloped the blood and sent it into the Toothless Old Man's mouth.

As the blood entered his stomach, the Toothless Old Man shrank an inch, and the last bit of sebum seemed to seep out of his pores, dripping down his body covered in oily sweat, making him appear even smaller.

The brass body appeared to have been scorched by fire, turning into something resembling hot iron.

It was at this moment that Shan Sheng was surprised to find that not only was the Jade Sword no longer effective, but the wound he had inflicted on the Toothless Old Man's back was also showing signs of scabbing over and healing.

"How wonderful it is to Evil Method!" Shan Sheng exclaimed. He had only heard that the Toothless Old Man had a good reputation and was fair in dealing with all the Qi Refinement Refining juniors.

I've never heard of him being so skilled in this Evil Method.

In Shan Sheng's opinion, this was far superior to the so-called "secret techniques" that were so common, like the Blood-Burning Great Method.

With a "hiss," the white sword light slashed down. Jiang Qing frowned, but felt that the Toothless Old Man's physical body was no less than that of an ordinary Second-Tier Lower-Grade Demon Beast.

The White Dew Sword fell back into Jiang Qing's hand, and the Toothless Old Man's screams followed.

Seeing Jiang Qing make a move, Ma Wenhan did not feel any joy.

The old man puffed out his chest, exhaling golden energy, and added more force to the bronze bell, causing the Toothless Old Man to become dazed for a moment. When he came to, Jiang Qing's sword was already close at hand.

The Toothless Old Man was shocked. He took a step back and knocked away the Ma Household Qi Refinement behind him who dared to take advantage of the situation.

Just as he was about to dodge, he felt a chill between his brows and a salty taste in his eyes. Shan Sheng's flying sword from behind crashed into him again, and his newly healed skin suddenly tore open again. The excruciating pain made him howl.

Jiang Qing seized the opportunity, flicked his wrist, and sent the White Dew Sword piercing through the Toothless Old Man's mouth, taking away his skull and flipping it over.

The flying sword then rose upright in the air, shaking off all the slippery material until its blade shone as clear as a mirror.

With a swift, white Sword Qi, as fast as lightning, cleaved the Toothless Old Man's body, which was now only half-covered by his head, in two. Hot fragments of his organs scattered across the sky, finally bringing this man, who had spent years Foundation Establishment, to his end.

"Fellow Daoist's Swordsmanship is superb; I, Shan, am ashamed to admit my inferiority." Shan Sheng sheathed his flying sword, his tone becoming even more respectful. He then flicked his finger, placing the Toothless Old Man's Storage Bag beside Jiang Qing.

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Ma Wenhan's eyes, but it quickly disappeared, and he adopted an admiring expression, praising her endlessly.

Kang Dabao clearly saw this change. Ever since Jiang Qing obtained the "Ten Discourses on Qingfuzi's Sword Classic Manual" from Second Master Ming, his Swordsmanship had indeed improved to a higher level.

According to the Daoist Black Shoes, there is a sign of transcending the illusory and entering the real.

Shan Sheng, though only an average swordsman, could still discern the power of the sword. As for Ma Wenhan, Sect Leader Kang Da understood his intentions; his earlier silence was also due to his consideration of this matter.

Although he was displeased, Kang Dabao still offered a few empty compliments, such as "the old steed in its stall still aspires to gallop on."

Ma Wenhan showed little interest in this, her gaze fixed intently on the Toothless Old Man's Storage Bag. After Kang Dabao and Jiang Qing exchanged a gesture, Jiang Qing slowly and methodically took out the items from it one by one.

The Toothless Old Man was one of the few cultivators in Cloud Horn Prefecture who was not skilled in using Law Artifact, so there was not a single Spirit Artifact in his Storage Bag.

Several top-grade magic Law Artifact and First Tier miscellaneous items were divided equally among the three. The remaining items were considered to be of high quality. The other two agreed that Jiang Qing had made the greatest contribution, so they let him choose first.

There was half a Rank Second-Tier Upper-Grade Horned Dragon Grass, which was the most eye-catching item among them. It was one of the most crucial main ingredients for refining Second-Tier Upper-Grade Lifespan Pill.

This Lifespan Pill can extend a cultivator's lifespan by five years. One pill can be taken at each of the Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment stages in one's lifetime.

As its key ingredient, the Horned Dragon Grass is extremely rare. Even if an ordinary person obtains it, they would not be willing to exchange it for Spirit Stone.

However, there are very few Alchemist in the entire Cloud Horn Prefecture who can refine this pill. No wonder the spiritual light of the Horned Dragon Grass that the Toothless Old Man has collected has dimmed slightly, yet he still hasn't been able to exchange it for a spiritual pill.

Jiang Qing was quite knowledgeable and naturally recognized this rare herb.

However, upon seeing the gesture of the Sect Leader Kang Da beside him, he tacitly put down the herb and instead picked up the two bottles of pills that could improve the cultivation of Foundation Establishment cultivators.

After Jiang Qing selected the spirit medicine, she noticed that Shan Sheng's gaze softened considerably. The head of the Shan Household, however, was not polite and ignored Ma Wenhan's gaze, taking the Horned Dragon Grass directly away.

Ma Wenhan could not hide his disappointment. Although the next items were also valuable, they were far less satisfactory than the Horned Dragon Grass.

The three quickly divided up the Toothless Old Man's Storage Bag, and only then did Ma Wenhan and Shan Sheng think about sharing the information they had previously gleaned from the old man's tongue.

The Toothless Old Man's idea, Foundation Establishment old woman's instigation of a rebellion by some of the sorcerers, including scholars, resulted in the head of the Mi Household's chieftain being beheaded in his sleep.

As for the Foundation Establishment surnamed Feng, although he had always observed from the sidelines, he had indeed not participated in these matters, and he truly deserved to be the one with the best reputation among the three.

Even the Foundation Establishment old woman had slightly higher moral character than the Toothless Old Man; at least she didn't stay here to take advantage of the chaos. It was because of this that she wasn't blocked by Sect Leader Kang Da and the others.

The array set up by Mi Household Stockade outside the large warehouse was quite impressive; it took four Foundation Establishment a great deal of effort to open it.

There were many items piled up inside, but what Sect Leader Kang Da was most interested in was the method by which the Mi Household Stockade trained its witch soldiers.

Kang Dabao could verify this simply by comparing it with the military manuals passed down by Patriarch Zhang. He concluded that the Mi Household family's method was derived from the military formations of the Mountain Barbarians of yesteryear.

Although the sorcerer soldiers of Mi Household Stockade had only learned the basics, their rudimentary form already overwhelmed the disorganized Ma Household cultivators, preventing them from raising their heads.

The Sect Leader Kang Da thought that if he could find the original training manual of the Mountain Barbarians, even if it wasn't suitable for his own disciples, he could still recruit Rogue Cultivator to practice it.

Mi Household Stockade is ultimately just a Qi Refinement force. The vision of the Mi Household's leaders is limited, and they may have overly censored the original, losing much of its True Intention. Kang Dabao, however, is confident that he can rely on what Patriarch Zhang passed down to further streamline the Mountain Barbarians military training techniques.

However, things did not go as Sect Leader Kang Da wished. Chu Huer and his disciples searched for a long time, but only found the notes that Mi Household had kept during his training. It was just a supplement, and they didn't know whether it had ended up with Ma Wenhan or Shan Sheng.

Left with no other choice, Kang Dabao had to lead his disciples and the Ma Household cultivators to divide the contents of the large warehouse in half.

Objectively speaking, the Ma Household family members present at the scene benefited considerably from this incident.

However, since more people from other sects died, Sect Leader Kang Da didn't hold it against them. After all, there were fewer disciples from the Chongming Sect, and by dividing the losses among them and calculating the Merit Points, each person could still make a fortune.

At this time, with the concerted efforts of the Ma Household cultivators, the remaining witch soldiers in the village were gradually wiped out. Just as the Sect Leader Kang Da said before entering the village, he only spared the life of the scholar who opened the village.

As for the other witch soldiers captured by the Ma Household, whether Ma Wenhan would use them as medicine figures or sell them as furnaces was no longer Kang Dabao's business.

Just by looking at the Ma Household cultivators' eyes, each one filled with a desire to devour him alive, Sect Leader Kang Da knew their fate would be grim. He figured being sold into mining slavery and left to rot in the mines would be considered a stroke of good fortune.

With all this done, the matter here is finally settled.

Although Kang Dabao did not achieve his goal of having his real body appear and surrendering without a fight, he at least managed to vent his anger.

Despite colluding with three Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, Mi Household Stockade was still Chongming Sect and the Changyun Ma Household within a few days. This news was enough to solidify Chongming Sect's reputation as a major Foundation Establishment sect.

Anyone with eyes can see how badly the Changyun Ma Household has fallen. In the past, they couldn't even do anything to the cultivators of the Mi Household Stockade themselves, let alone now that the latter has three Foundation Establishment True Cultivator helping them.

In this way, in the eyes of outsiders, this battle would naturally be attributed to the Chongming Sect family.

Having achieved his goal, Sect Leader Kang Da first sent a message home to Duan Anle, indicating that there was no need to ask Deng Baichuan to send troops to help. He also thanked Shan Sheng again for his assistance.

The latter was naturally overjoyed, but after sending a letter, it was estimated that the hundred tribal soldiers he had summoned would not have even left the camp yet.

In the end, the Jade Moon Shan Household didn't shed a single drop of blood or sweat, yet they had already earned a favor from the Chongming Sect leader. Not to mention the rare items like the Horned Dragon Grass that Shan Sheng had just acquired. This favor-based deal was definitely worthwhile and very profitable.

Having done all this, Sect Leader Kang Da could no longer linger.

Mi Household Stockade is a good spiritual place, but the Changyun Ma Household's own ancestral land, which supports three or four hundred Qi Refinement cultivators, is already somewhat overburdened.

The Spirit Vein have long shown signs of decline, and even the fertility of the clan's spiritual fields has diminished, making it difficult to grow anything. As for the spiritual springs and earth fire, they are also far from what they used to be, and the crisis of spiritual deficiency urgently needs to be addressed.

Therefore, the Changyun Ma Household had long ago conceived the idea of taking back the Mi Household Stockade to settle their clansmen. Now that their wish has finally come true, they naturally fear that their powerful enemy, Chongming Sect, is also eyeing a share.

If Kang Dabao and his followers linger for a few more days, Ma Wenhan will probably have to bite the bullet and ask them to leave.

Seeing that Sect Leader Kang Da had actually taken the initiative to suggest leaving, Ma Wenhan was pleasantly surprised, but still pretended to stay a couple of times. However, before he could finish speaking, his great-grandson had already served him a plate of Cheng Jing that had been prepared beforehand.

After a moment's thought of this eagerness, Kang Dabao found it amusing, but without any hesitation, he sent Duan Anle forward to take it.

The plate held a thousand Spirit Stone, neither a small amount nor a large sum. It was like the so-called friendship between the two families—neither too good to eat nor too bad to throw away.

Sect Leader Kang Da understood the situation. Currently, Chongming Sect has few disciples, and Little Ring Mountain has sufficient Spiritual Qi. In addition, he hasn't even settled things properly in Pingrong County, which is right next to his own territory. He doesn't have the time or energy to acquire an enclave in another county, and he might even cause some trouble with local bullies like the Changyun Ma Household.

As for the marriage proposal between the two families, Kang Dabao has made up his mind and will definitely not marry his disciple to the Ma Household.

Ma Wenhan's great-grandson was not a good match and did not perform well on the battlefield. If it weren't for someone carefully watching over him, he would probably have died on the battlefield. Yet, he still valued him so much.

This was mostly because Ma Wenhan, due to his decent aptitude, harbored the idea of using resources to help his great-grandson reach the Perfected Qi Refinement before his lifespan ran out, and then try to reach the Foundation Establishment so that he could continue to support his family.

The Sect Leader Kang Da was not optimistic about this, after all, if Ma Wenhan were to die, his faction might not even be able to take charge of the Changyun Ma Household anymore.

If, by then Chongming Sect's marriage alliance is still with a good-for-nothing, then it will be quite meaningless.

The Chongming Sect group boarded their flying boat to return home. Shan Sheng also came to say goodbye, only saying that he had to leave on business. Sect Leader Kang Da guessed that he was going to a large city like Han City or Xuanwei to find some spirit medicine for alchemy, so he didn't ask any more questions and took his leave.

When Kang Dabao led his disciples back to the sect after traversing mountains and rivers, they had just returned to the main hall when they saw a woman with bloodshot eyes, lying on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to the memorial tablet of Sect Leader He.

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