Three Years Later

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye.

This year was the 444th year of the Qianfeng Emperor's reign, eleven years after the founding of the Sect Leader Kang Da's Foundation Establishment.

This seventh-generation leader of the Chongming Sect, the restorer of its power, has been in charge of the sect for thirty-nine years. He is now fifty-six years old and nearing sixty.

For the increasingly prosperous Chongming Sect, there are a few things worth mentioning during these three years.

First, after the death of the Chongming Sect Shan Sheng head of the Shan Household, two elders from the Chongming Sect, Ye Zhengwen and Zhou Yixiu, went to Hong County to pay their respects. Although they went together, their identities were different; the former was an envoy of the Chongming Sect, while the latter was the Shan Household's son-in-law.

Even with their titles as elders of the Chongming Sect, the two of them alone would find it difficult to control the wolves and tigers roaming Hong County.

The Jade Moon Shan Household Jade Moon Valley, having cultivated it for a long time, had long since turned it into a fertile and prosperous land. Now that Shan Sheng, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, was no longer in charge, it would seem somewhat foolish for the Shan Household to continue occupying it. Among the surrounding Foundation Establishment forces eager to grab a piece of the pie, which one was capable of doing so?

However, Sect Leader Kang Da always acted cautiously. After Ye and Zhou arrived first, Jiang Qing was stationed in Hong County, entered the venue with Ji Yunsheng, one of the Four Friends of Cold Mountain. Then, Ming Hun of the Ming Household and Mo Wen of Ingenious Craftsman Fort all arrived. Li Mingyuan, the Hemu Dao priest of Hemudao who used to stay with Jiang Qing at the Spirit Stone Mine in Tanggu County, also came to the venue.

After carefully counting, the local tyrants in Hong County discovered that the Chongming Sect had actually summoned six Foundation Establishment cultivators to support the Shan Household. And these six people represented five Foundation Establishment forces.

While some, like Hemu Dao, were extremely weak, others, like the Four Friends of Cold Mountain, were incredibly talented and influential in Hong County.

Don't think that just because only Xu Liuxian, the eldest of the Four Friends of Cold Mountain, is a late-stage cultivator, he is nothing to fear. Late-stage cultivators are quite valuable, and these families can't even afford to raise one!

If you want to eat fatty meat, you have to gnaw on the bones first!

It wasn't that the leaders of each family thought they couldn't handle it, but rather that they felt it wasn't worth the effort. As a result, some of them began to consider giving up.

Ye Zhengwen, who was in charge of the hall, saw through their thoughts. In order not to hurt the harmony, he suggested that each family hold a small competition for Qi Refinement disciples at the Shan Household, with the winner determining the outcome.

The leaders of all the families readily agreed, as this solution was far superior to simply killing a powerful opponent of the same level.

However, things soon went beyond what the Foundation Establishment had anticipated.

Just after Double Brightness Second Yuan had rushed over, killed eleven fellow cultivators in a row on the arena, the atmosphere in the arena became eerily quiet.

"The Chongming Sect's Ape Demon Cannon Hammer hasn't appeared in the world for many years. How come this short man seems to use it even more perfectly?"

Some of the Foundation Establishment True Cultivator present, who had lived for a long time, may have witnessed the splendor of Patriarch Zhang in the past. They recalled his immortal robes fluttering as he slaughtered his peers without shedding a drop of blood; they also remembered the humiliation of their elders who could only bow their heads in obedience.

Among them, not all Foundation Establishment cultivators remained silent. Some Foundation Establishment True Cultivator, having lost their composure due to the death of their capable nephews, wanted to kill Yuan Jin on the spot to avenge him.

However, neither the gleaming flying sword in Jiang Qing's hand nor Ye Zhengwen's casual remark, "This is the junior brother of Sect Leader Kang of the Chongming Sect," could calm them down quickly.

After all, taking a piece of flesh from a rather far-fetched in-law of the Chongming Sect is a completely different matter from bullying the Sect Leader Kang Da's own junior brother.

These Foundation Establishment forces, who had lived in Hong County for generations, were of low social standing and unaware of Kang Dabao's remarkable achievement in the Fei Household's competition. However, even Wu Cangyun, the Hongyi Sect elder who had been brutally killed by Kang Dabao, was already considered a formidable figure in their eyes.

That's a legitimate elder from a major Golden Core sect!

They couldn't afford to offend Wu Cangyun and the others, let alone the even more ruthless Sect Leader Kang. Regardless of what methods the latter used, he had indeed killed a fake alchemist in the prime of his life!

Moreover, the former doesn't have a bad reputation, while the latter...

Now that things have come to this, some sensible and perceptive heads of households are seriously Suo Household who could be sent away to ease tensions.

This time, not a single one of the Qi Refinement juniors from each faction who went on stage survived! They simply didn't believe that Yuan Jin's actions weren't instigated by Kang Dabao!

"This must be a warning and lesson from Kang Dabao! We can't cross that line again!"

Ye Zhengwen looked at the Foundation Establishment of various factions who were now silent and trembling with fear, and could only sigh. He had only called Yuan Jin over to show his strength, but he had never expected the latter to be so ruthless.

This situation left all parties looking rather awkward.

Ye Zhengwen was clearly one of those who felt rather embarrassed, but these were minor matters and not worth worrying about. After all, Yuan Jin's actions had been quite effective.

Ye Zhengwen did not let the Foundation Establishment leave empty-handed. Instead, he allocated a spiritual field that the Jade Moon Shan Household had been cultivating for a long time and divided it equally among the families.

This would at least save face for all the families and preserve the Foundation Establishment spiritual artifact and Lineage heritage that Shan Sheng valued most during his lifetime.

Afterwards, Ye Zhengwen couldn't resist the pleas of the Shan Household, and with Zhou Yixiu, the Shan Household's son-in-law, speaking on his behalf, he took over the Jade Moon Shan Household, his former in-laws, without consulting them first, making them another vassal of the Chongming Sect.

To reassure the Shan Household, Ye Zhengwen also took five percent of the Shan Household's one-tenth share in the Tanggu mine.

After this incident was reported, there was a great uproar within the New Cloud Alliance. Alliance Leader Ye Zhen repeatedly posted articles to verify and condemn Chongming Sect's behavior of taking advantage of others' misfortune as extremely improper!

Upon hearing the news, Sect Leader Kang Da was also furious. However, the die was cast and there was no turning back. He could only order Ye Zhengwen, the elder in the Chongming Sect thing, to return to the sect and reflect on his mistakes for three years as a warning.

Six months after Shan Sheng's death, Shan Shijie, the Foundation Establishment seed he had originally chosen, failed to Foundation Establishment using the Five-Pattern Heavy Peak Stone. This added another layer of grief to the already gloomy Shan Household.

This news couldn't be kept from those who were interested. The surrounding families, whose appetites had been whetted by the initial success, began sharpening their knives as they watched the lucrative Shan Household grow.

Not only were the Foundation Establishment forces unable to restrain themselves, but even the minor Qi Refinement clans under the Shan Household's jurisdiction were also eager to make their move.

Ironically, just one month after Shan Shijie failed to Foundation Establishment, his cousin Shan Shijie Shan Shiwen succeeded in doing Foundation Establishment without taking any elixirs.

The Fang Yi this news was released, it gave a jolt to the gloomy and dejected Jade Moon Shan Household.

The surrounding families immediately changed their tune and returned the still-unwarmed spiritual field as a congratulatory gift. After accepting Shan Shiwen did not rearrange it but instead offered the spiritual field to the Chongming Sect.

Sect Leader Kang Da was a kind and generous man, so how could he accept it? After a stern refusal, Shan Shiwen offered it again. Again, he refused, and then he offered it again.

After this was repeated several times, Sect Leader Kang Da finally came to appreciate Shan Shiwen's sincerity and reluctantly accepted the spirit field, entrusting it to the Spirit Plant steward Kang Rongquan for safekeeping.

Six months after acquiring this spiritual field, Zhou Yixiu's first batch of Moon Fern failed to grow and rotted into weeds. This elder of the Chongming Sect, who was also an expert in Spirit Plant, did not lose heart. Instead, he and his disciple Kang Rongquan persevered and tried again.

The spiritual field that the Shan Household has invested in includes some Second Tier spiritual fields, which is perfect for Kang Dabao to plant some more Moon Fern to cultivate his pupil technique.

During this period, in addition to burning the midnight oil and getting up at the crack of dawn to practice, Zhou and Kang also specially invited Zhang Qingran to provide personal guidance and fill in any gaps in their knowledge.

Half a year later, Sect Leader Kang Da finally found the Moon Fern, a variant of the Calamity Heart Grass unique to the Fenli Zhang Household, who lived thousands of miles away, in Hong County.

Overjoyed, Kang Dabao spent some time indulging with his beautiful wife and concubines before burying himself in seclusion. To this day, he has not yet emerged from his seclusion.

The second matter also involved Zhou Yixiu.

Under his careful cultivation, just one year after the Sect Leader Kang Da went into seclusion, the Glazed Treasure Tree that he valued most finally produced twelve Glazed Sarira.

After learning of this, the Daoist Black Shoes personally went to the Sima Chief Clerk's Temple and asked the Buse Clerk Buse to come and examine it. After examining it for a while, the latter concluded that its medicinal properties were not much inferior to those in the Original Buddha Sect's medicinal fields.

Now, all twelve Glazed Sarira are stored in the warehouse, awaiting distribution by Sect Leader Kang Da.

The third incident occurred after the Daoist Black Shoes escorted Buse back to Xuanwei City.

This Daoist priest, harboring reckless thoughts, stormed into the military academy with his sword, and forcibly fed the Lifespan Pill to Lord Yin Shan. From then on, the old man could continue to bring blessings to Cloud Horn Prefecture for another five years.

This rude behavior angered the Lord Shan, who jumped up and down and cursed for a while. The Daoist Black Shoes did not refute, but simply bowed his head and listened to the reprimand. Afterwards, he set up camp at the Military Commander's Mansion and practiced with the Lord Shan for a period of time.

In this fourth matter, Chongming Sect suffered a minor loss.

During Fei Nanying Core Formation his core, Governor Zhu Tong was unable to stand alone and could not withstand the slanderous words of Yue Lin and Tie Liuyun. He thus gave the Capital Region Faction the unprofitable task of attacking the Jingnan Yuan Household.

However, after the state government entered the fray and the conflict escalated dramatically, Prefectural Governor Zhu realized that Yuan Buwen was not someone to be trifled with.

Although both were at the stage of False Core, the combined efforts of the fake Sima Gun Shilu and the False Core patriarch of the Yunwei Zheng Household were insufficient to suppress him. Yuan Buwen even managed to free up some of his resources to kill and injure many Foundation Establishment True Cultivator. Even Xu Yingshi from the Dai County Xu Household perished in the formation.

Not only were they outmatched in one-on-one combat, but Zhu Tong also discovered that even when they fought in formation, their state court did not gain any advantage.

While the Zheng Household received assistance from the state government, the Yuan Household also had the support of the Two Instruments Sect behind them.

At first, the Yuan Household stopped their offensive and retreated to their clan territory, but soon after, they pushed back the state government's forces back to White Sand County the Zheng Household had fortified their territory.

The situation was far from pleasant. Prefectural Governor Zhu was in a state of great distress over the unsuccessful attack, while Tie Liuyun led his trusted local Foundation Establishment True Cultivator toward Ding Prefecture, the capital of the Hongyi Sect.

The Two Instruments Sect had not yet met its end here. Relying on Yue Lin's combat strength, which far surpassed that of ordinary False Core cultivators, and Tie Liuyun's Xiezhi Guard, who were indeed skilled in martial arts, on the other side of Ding Prefecture, there was also the Stone Mountain Sect, the local tyrant of Pu Prefecture, who was waving the banner of the state court, as their support.

With this two-pronged approach, the battle of Ding Prefecture proceeded very smoothly, with the capture of cities and territories, and the breaking of enemy lines and the seizure of enemy camps becoming commonplace. This also showed that Commander Tie had only recently dispatched his troops, yet he had already achieved great success in Ding Prefecture.

This performance caused Prefectural Governor Zhu and his entourage, who were facing an army at the gates, to lose face. Left with no other choice, they had to ask Fei Household's Granny Liu, who was in charge of the She Mountain Hall after Fei Nanying went into seclusion.

After hearing this, the old woman did not refuse and, along with some of the Fei Household members who were not currently employed, went to White Sand County to help.

While the skills and abilities of Granny Liu are certainly not comparable to Yuan Buwen of Fei Household Buwen, who has cultivated the incomplete "The Art of War by the Halberd-wielding Gentleman of the Wood Palace" and possesses Law Treasure, they should not be underestimated.

Since she entered the fray, the number of Foundation Establishment True Cultivator killed or wounded by Yuan Buwen on the state court's side has plummeted.

With the Fei Household's strong support, Zhu Tong had just begun to harbor a glimmer of hope for a counterattack, but this was quickly suppressed by the two new False Core sent by the Two Instruments Sect.

After all, the order issued by the Master of the Star-Picking Pavilion only stipulated that Golden Core cultivators would not be produced; ordinary False Core were not that valuable in the Two Instruments Sect.

After that, Zhu Tong completely lost his intention to make meritorious contributions, and ceased his campaign. However, he did not dare to withdraw his troops and still stationed them in White Sand County, guarding the initial battle line, waiting for the situation to change.

After the two False Core cultivators from the Two Instruments Sect entered the arena, Yuan Buwen lost his position as the commander at the front and could only watch as these two fellow cultivators from the Upper Sect practiced their skills outside White Sand County.

The reason why it is said that Chongming Sect suffered a loss in this matter is that although the state court did not make Chongming Sect contribute money or men this time due to the strong insistence of Fei Household Granny Liu, it did allocate a lot of supplies for the army.

If the battle is won, this would be a very lucrative job.

However, due to the unfavorable war situation, Prefectural Governor Zhu had already misappropriated a large sum of public funds from the governor's office for military expenses.

That wasn't enough; many forces that migrated from Capital Circuit, with a "if one of us is gone, we'll be left with nothing" mentality, generously contributed funds, which is why the war has been able to continue until now.

These days, Zhu Tong really can't offer much profit to share.

However, as a result, the various forces that were conscripted to do this would not earn many Spirit Stones, but they would earn back a good amount of "hard work".

Meanwhile, on the Chongming Sect's side, Kang Dabao was in seclusion cultivating his pupil technique; Ye Zhengwen was outwardly imprisoned, but in reality, he was still consolidating his realm; therefore, this task naturally fell to Jiang Qing, the only one with free time.

Because of this incident, this Double Brightness Sword Immortal has been running around all these years, and even his proper cultivation has been delayed.

However, escorting military supplies is not entirely safe. After traveling for a long time, there will always be times when a powerful enemy with excellent stealth skills attacks.

Besides, Jiang Qing has never been one to stay put. If others have the guts to sneak over here, how could Third Master Jiang not have the guts to sneak over here too?!

Therefore, Jiang Qing has indeed picked up quite a few unclaimed Storage Bag over the years, which can help the sect that is currently losing money.

If a list were made of the battle achievements of everyone on both sides, Jiang Qing would be among the top, given the number of Foundation Establishment he had accumulated over the years.

I wonder how furious Sect Leader Kang Da will be after he emerges from seclusion!

---On the mountain path back to Little Ring Mountain

Accompanied by the heavy hooves of pack animals, Pei Que and Ming Zhe led the long procession at the front.

The battle between the Cloud Horn Prefecture Court and the Two Instruments Sect in White Sand County may seem insignificant and restrained to the leaders of both sides, but in reality, it has a significant impact on the ordinary cultivators around them.

The Double Brightness Caravan's business had just begun to flourish when it was quickly brought back to square one. Fortunately, Sect Leader Kang Da had spent most of his time in seclusion these past few years, and when he finally had time to audit the accounts, he would surely sigh with regret once more.

Their luck was still bad this time. Even after traveling for half a year and taking a longer route, they still didn't make any money.

Pei Que walked at the front, having already mastered the "Reflecting the Void" technique, a Desolate Rank, Supreme Grade eye technique. His visual range had surpassed that of his Divine Sense by a considerable margin.

He gazed into the distance for a while, then said to Ming Zhe, "Junior Brother Ming, the Seven Stars Sect's territory is just ahead. I've heard that they have two Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivators and three or four early-stage cultivators, and their fees are always quite high. Let's take a detour."

Du Qing, who was handing Ming Zhe palm leaf petals, retorted, "Senior Brother Pei, we have to cross a large river ahead. Second Tier Demon Beast often appear in the river, so we can't swim across. We can only cross the bridge. That bridge is still controlled by the Seven Stars Sect, and we still have to pay the usual fees."

As soon as Du Qing joined the Chongming Sect, he was thrown into the newly built training hall by the Sect Leader Kang Da to learn skills. However, due to his limited aptitude, it is hard to say that he has mastered the skills properly over the years, but he is still quite good as a seasoned caravan driver.

Since he has said so, then it should be so. Pei Que exchanged a glance with the burly cultivator in charge of the flag, and after the Six-Leaf Azure Lotus Dao Flag was raised high, Pei Que led the team forward.

Unexpectedly, halfway there, Pei Que encountered an old acquaintance, and his eyes lit up with surprise.

"Brother Dao, it's been a long time!"