Chapter 163: 119 chapter: Inheritance_1
Translator: 549690339
In the world of Cultivation, the territories were vast.
Take Liang Country as an example, with its fifteen provinces, each governed by the Three Sects of Golden Core.
Among them, Tianshu Sect was the strongest, controlling nine out of the fifteen provinces, while the remaining six were evenly divided between Green Jade Sect and Medicine King Valley.
Even these three provinces were comparable to a large nation, and Green Jade Sect could not govern them directly. It could only co-govern with various Foundation Establishment forces through the Twelve Green Jade towers.
The Twelve Green Jade towers, each led by a Foundation Establishment Cultivator as The Twelve Fairy Seekers, and in each Cultivation Market, there were smaller Green Jade establishments managed by those with either complete Qi Cultivation or early Foundation Establishment as directors.
This formed the ruling system of Green Jade Sect.
Their strength was clearly formidable.
At this moment, within a Green Jade Tower.
“Is it true?”
One of The Twelve Fairy Seekers, Bai Yunzi, furrowed his brows upon hearing the news from his subordinate.
“There’s confirmation from Director Zhang at Qingfeng Mountain Market, no mistakes, it really happened!”
The subordinate reported, “On their way back, the Zhou Family was ambushed by Evil Cultivators. Their Magic Artifacts were seized, their people slain. The patriarch Zhou Mingyu and the family head Zhou Jifeng have gone missing, their fates unknown, with more likelihood of ill than good.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Yunzi fell silent.
The Zhou Family of Qingfeng Mountain was considered among the top-tier Foundation Establishment powers under Green Jade Sect’s rule.
After all, those with complete Foundation Establishment dared not travel lightly, and late-stage Foundation Establishment was the usual pinnacle of combat power.
With this advantage, the Zhou Family firmly held their ground in Qingfeng Mountain’s second-tier Spirit Land, operated markets, rented out Cave Mansions, and accumulated considerable assets through various means. Their legacy had persisted to this day, still thriving without any sign of decline.
Zhou Mingyu, a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, had nearly a hundred years of lifespan left. He had also raised an early-stage Foundation Establishment heir. Even a hundred years later, when his time came, his successor could maintain this family enterprise.
But unexpectedly…
Zhou Mingyu was dead!
This was completely unforeseen.
As a Searching Immortal Envoy tasked with overseeing the area, Bai Yunzi was well aware of Zhou Mingyu’s strength. Not even a complete Foundation Establishment Cultivator could easily take him down without extraordinary means.
And yet, he was now dead.
Who had made the move?
The Zhou Family’s known enemies?
Or those aged ghosts with complete Foundation Establishment?
Or perhaps a ferocious dragon that had crossed the river from some unknown land?
Bai Yunzi’s brows were tightly knit as an image of a withered old face, drained of both Qi Blood, inexplicably surfaced in his mind.
“Was it him?”
“No, no, no, although he bore a grudge against the Zhou Family, it shouldn’t have escalated to this extent.”
“Furthermore, the timing doesn’t fit. Zhou Mingyu left by boat first, while he stayed on the island to talk with me. The difference in their departures was too great; how could he have caught up?”
“Even if he set out immediately after I left, with his mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation and considering the speed of the Zhou Family’s Tower Treasure Ship, it would be very difficult to intercept Zhou Mingyu before he returned to Qingfeng Mountain.”
“Not to mention he was injured, with his life essence greatly damaged and both Qi Blood weakened!”
“With such a state, how could he possibly have killed Zhou Mingyu?”
“Unless he concealed his real strength.”
“But that doesn’t make sense…”
“So, was it just his strike that severely wounded Zhou Mingyu, providing an opportunity for others?”
Bai Yunzi analyzed, initially casting suspicion on Xu Yang, then shifting it away.
This was a normal reaction.
For such an unsolved murder, the first suspect would naturally be someone with a vested interest.
In the struggle for Spirit Land by Dongting Lake, the two had just engaged in a confrontation, even sparking a real fire.
With this context, Zhou Mingyu’s ambush naturally pointed to Xu Yang as the prime suspect.
But after his analysis, Bai Yunzi dismissed the suspicion towards him.
Should Zhou Mingyu’s death indeed be the doing of this individual, then the affair would become incomparably terrifying.
As the Searching Immortal Envoy, Bai Yunzi truly did not wish for such a frightful event to occur within his jurisdiction.
It was a kind of instinctive subjective intention, one that even he himself had not noticed.
His subordinates also opportunately said, “Director Zhang reported that a few of the Zhou family managed to escape by luck. According to their descriptions, the person who ambushed and killed was a nefarious evil cultivator, who attacked with overwhelming Yin Qi, with a hundred ghosts surging like tides.”
“Such behavior is extremely similar to that of the Yin Mountain Taoist who wandered through various ghost markets some time ago, luring and killing two Foundation Establishment cultivators.”
“Yin Mountain Taoist?”
Bai Yunzi frowned, “A devious evil cultivator was able to ambush and kill Zhou Mingyu?”
Within his speech, uncertainty and shock were evident,
but he soon came to a realization.
“Although Zhou Mingyu was not weak, he was severely injured by Li Jianchen with the Golden Core Sword Jue. The Yin Mountain Taoist took advantage of this, launching a surprise attack; it is only natural that the Zhou family were destroyed unsuspectingly by his hands!”
“Li Jianchen, Li Jianchen…”
“Well then, I shall do them a favor with the flow!”
Murmuring to himself, he finally decided and rose to leave.
Meanwhile…
On the small island, within the secret room, in front of the Yin Altar.
Looking at the dozens of Storage Bags before him, Xu Yang revealed a smile akin to that of a weathered farmer.
Hard work reaps rewards, a fruitful return!
Next, comes the joyous and much-anticipated segment of opening the bags.
For this, Xu Yang was also somewhat eager.
In this period of time, for the refining of the Increase and Decrease Two Generals, he traveled across Liang Country, collecting evil ghosts, purchasing all sorts of materials, constructing the Righteous Skills Yin Altar — he did not know how many Spirit Stones he had spent in total, back and forth.
Lastly, he had to deal with Bai Yunzi, the Green Jade Immortal Envoy, and gave away two Storage Bags, which were not light in weight and extremely precious.
After all these maneuvers, even he was drained, facing a potential deficit crisis.
Fortunately, the effort paid off and was able to fill in the gaps!
The dozens of Storage Bags represented the accumulation of hundreds of years by the Zhou and Wang families.
Most valuable of them all, undoubtedly, were the possessions of Zhou Mingyu and Wang Tianling.
As the heads of their respective powers and mid-to-late stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, the wealth and potential of the two were incomparable to that of ordinary loose cultivators.
With an expectant heart, Xu Yang first opened Wang Tianling’s Storage Bag.
“Clatter!”
Within the Storage Bag, the most numerous and eye-catching items were the Spirit Stones, neatly stacked, amounting to no less than a hundred thousand.
As the head of the Wang family and a second-tier Artifact Refiner himself, Spirit Stones were something Wang Tianling certainly did not lack.
Apart from Spirit Stones, there were Magic Artifacts, Supreme Grade Magic Artifacts.
Wave Pearl, Ice Dragon Pearl, a Mystical Tortoise Shield with one side broken, that Buddha’s Light Mat, and a furnace cauldron used for Artifact Refining a total of five Supreme Grade Magic Artifacts.
In the end, Xu Yang even found a completely black sword with subdued edges, a Flying Sword.
“Is this… a Spiritual Artifact?”
“A lower grade Spiritual Artifact?”
“And a Flying Sword?”
Xu Yang was surprised; he had not expected Wang Tianling to have such a collection, a truly pleasant surprise.
But soon, his attention was captured by a pile of Jade Slips.
While Spiritual Artifacts were excellent and Flying Swords powerful, the most valuable to Xu Yang were likely these Jade Slips.
Xu Yang picked up a Jade Slip, swept his divine sense over it, and immediately revealed an expression of delight.
Most of these Jade Slips were Cultivation Skills with not very high tiers; they were all Foundation Establishment level with limited value.
However, one of them was a skill inheritance, the skill inheritance of a second-tier Artifact Refiner.