Inside the simple dwelling.
The Smelling Groundhog lay on the ground, motionless, as if its life force was extinguished, like a corpse.
"If you don't get up, then don't bother getting up..."
Looking at the Smelling Groundhog, Lin Sheng spoke indifferently.
Evidently, this rodent was the Smelling Groundhog that Wang Hai had mentioned.
Before killing Fang Huasheng, he had first knocked out this cunning rodent. Last time, he had let this rodent escape, which was how the message was sent.
So this time, he specifically captured it and brought it back.
This rodent possessed high intelligence.
When he appeared and blocked Fang Huasheng, it had already burrowed into the ground and fled backward, intending to hide far away.
If he hadn't focused his attention on it, it might have truly escaped again this time.
At this moment, the Smelling Groundhog remained motionless. Seeing this, Lin Sheng stopped wasting words.
He slapped his hand down towards it.
The wind was fierce, and the power was considerable.
Just as the palm was about to land on the Smelling Groundhog, it finally reacted.
The rodent suddenly leaped up, agilely avoiding the blow, and then shot towards the only window like a golden arrow.
It seemed it had already planned how to escape.
"Hmph..."
Seeing this scene, Lin Sheng snorted coldly. The teacup in his hand had already left his grasp.
With a bang, it landed squarely on the golden rodent.
Squeak—
Amidst a tragic shriek, the Smelling Groundhog fell straight to the ground.
Threads of blood flowed from its fur. Its body twitched continuously. Looking at it, it was clearly severely injured and dying. After struggling a few more times, its head drooped, and it completely lost its breath.
Lin Sheng walked over unhurriedly and placed his hand on the rodent's wound.
Its specific information appeared on the consciousness panel.
【Beast Name: Smelling Groundhog (Pseudo-Spirit Beast)】
【Golden fur all over, sensitive and swift, quite intelligent, good at understanding human speech, capable of burrowing into the ground. This is a rare Pseudo-Spirit Beast rodent, naturally possessing an extraordinary perception of various dangers and able to identify many exotic beasts.】
【Assimilation Requirement: None】
【Assimilation Effect: Perception Increase 5, Agility Increase 4】
【Talent: Danger Perception (Intermediate)】
"It's actually a Pseudo-Spirit Beast!?"
Seeing the information feedback on the panel, Lin Sheng's face showed a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected this Smelling Groundhog, which seemed to have no threatening abilities, to be rated as a Pseudo-Spirit Beast by the System.
What surprised him even more was that the Smelling Groundhog's talent was also Danger Perception, and it was even one level higher than the Caiyu Worm, reaching Intermediate Danger Perception.
Although the attribute increase from assimilation didn't even reach 10 points, the Perception increase was a full 5 points, which was quite good.
The greatest gain from killing Fang Huasheng this time was clearly this Smelling Groundhog.
The mysterious talent of Danger Perception, while not directly increasing combat power, was quite good for saving one's life.
As for why he killed the Smelling Groundhog, he had his own considerations. This rodent was highly intelligent and was likely raised by the Fang Family since it was young.
Keeping it by his side might cause unexpected trouble. If it accidentally escaped and went back to the Fang Family to report, it would undoubtedly be very troublesome, so after thinking about it, he simply killed it.
After disposing of the Smelling Groundhog's corpse, his gaze fell on the direction of Ghost Cry Peak, deep in thought.
"The Fang Family should discover something is wrong very soon. The death of a direct descendant Genius is a huge loss for any power. I imagine they will take action soon."
Lin Sheng withdrew his gaze and shook his head slightly.
"What does the incident involving a Bone Transformation Realm Genius have to do with a mere Blood Transportation Warrior like me?"
Having thought this, he was already sitting cross-legged on the bed, entering cultivation.
Now that the miscellaneous matters were handled, it was time to cultivate properly and strive to advance the Chasing Star Finger to the fifth layer in the next few days.
...
Ghost Cry Peak.
In the main hall, Fang Jinping's face was ashen.
At this moment, he was sitting on a cushion, and a layer of fine azure-gold scales emerged on his skin.
Azure light gathered from his hands, finally merging entirely into his muscles and bones.
At the same time, his body began to tremble rapidly, and his ashen face gained a hint of pain, as if he was enduring some intense suffering.
As his body trembled more violently, he finally opened his mouth and coughed up a large mouthful of fresh blood with a 'wah' sound.
However, this large mouthful of fresh blood, upon landing on the ground, seemed to possess consciousness, slowly gathering and condensing, forming a blood-colored snake shape about an arm's length.
The blood-colored snake shape arched its upper body, then shot over and coiled around Fang Jinping's neck.
Fang Jinping reached out his hand and stroked the blood-colored snake shape. His face was paler, but his brows became increasingly gloomy.
"Second Brother, using the Bloodline Transformation technique like this will also affect your cultivation."
Fang Jinmei, standing to the side, couldn't help but speak at this moment.
He naturally knew the effect of the technique his second brother was using.
This was a secret technique derived entirely from one's own Bloodline, possessing extremely strong tracking ability for one's blood relatives. Other than that, it didn't have much significant use, but using this secret technique would damage one's vital energy. Of course, the most important thing was that if the blood wasn't retracted for a long time, it might affect one's Bloodline potential.
For aristocratic families like theirs, Bloodline potential was the most important thing and could not afford any mishaps.
"Fifth Sister, there's nothing for you here anymore. Go back to the Fang Family. I will naturally handle the matters on Ghost Cry Peak..."
Regarding the old woman's words, Fang Jinping's face showed no ripple, only speaking indifferently.
"This..."
Hearing this, Fang Jinmei opened her mouth as if she still wanted to say something, but looking at her second brother's cold face, she finally sighed.
"That's fine. However, if Second Brother needs any help, just send a message home. My brothers and I will certainly not stand by and do nothing..."
For aristocratic families like the Fang Family, the competition within the clan was even more severe than in some sects. The disappearance, or even death, of a clan Genius like Fang Huasheng, on whom high hopes were placed, was certainly something the other two branches of the family would be happy to see.
However, anyone who dared to lay hands on their direct descendants, no matter who they were, would absolutely not be spared as long as a clue was found.
Originally, she had intended to stay here and assist from the side, but seeing her second brother's demeanor, he clearly didn't want her to stay.
Having spoken, she had no intention of remaining and turned to leave the main hall.
Only after her figure disappeared from sight did Fang Jinping stand up.
"Sheng'er, Jie'er, rest assured, your father will avenge you..."
His gaze lingered towards the distance.
The reason he didn't hesitate to expend his vital energy to condense this blood python was, firstly, to find the culprit who killed Fang Huasheng, Fang Huajie, and others. Besides that, there was another most important reason, which was to find the mineral seed of the Bone-Piercing Azure Evil Python.
The two had already mentioned this matter in their previous message to him.
Although he was old, as long as the Bone-Piercing Azure Evil Python's essence blood was sufficient in quantity and high in quality, it could still bring him great benefits, enough to further improve his Bloodline potential.
Entering the Divine Transformation Realm was naturally an impossible fantasy, but stepping into the seventh layer of Bones Transformation had a seventy percent certainty.
So no matter what, he couldn't let go of this Azure Evil Python.
He gently patted the blood-colored snake shape coiled around his neck. This snake shape, condensed from blood, seemed to understand his meaning. It leaped to the ground and crawled out of the main hall.
He followed closely behind, disappearing from the main hall.
Several hours later.
The blood-colored snake shape had arrived at the edge of Ghost Cry Peak, the place where Fang Huasheng had died.
After circling on the ground several times, it once again determined a direction and shot away.
Fang Jinping's eyes were gloomy as he followed.
The sun was high in the sky, and sunlight shone down on the earth, making it a rare good day during this period.
Ten thousand meters high in the sky, two palm-sized black distortions circled above Ghost Cry Peak. Their gem-like eyes scanned the area below, then slowly moved away.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Wanhua City.
Prefectural office backyard, side hall.
A rich aroma of wine wafted from within.
Inside, there was indeed a black wine vat taller than a person.
Wei Bo stood beside the wine vat, holding a copper ladle the size of a human head, occasionally scooping up a full ladle, and gulping it down in two or three mouthfuls.
Looking closer, the wine in the black wine vat was actually blackish-green. Although it emitted a strong alcoholic scent, it was soaked with many valuable medicinal herbs.
If someone familiar with medicinal herbs saw this scene, they would likely be stunned, because a single herb in this wine vat would probably be worth several thousand taels of silver.
In such a large vat, the medicinal herbs inside would likely not be less than 100,000 taels of silver.
Wei Bo's movements were fast. In just the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the entire vat of wine was drunk clean by him.
After drinking, he finally let out a satisfied burp. His cheeks showed a hint of redness, but more so, a look of enjoyment.
"This Hundred Herb Wine obtained from the Southern Qi Country is indeed effective. It can actually provide good assistance to the Bone Transformation Realm."
He muttered softly, his face showing a hint of regret.
"It's just a pity, it's only an auxiliary effect. To break through to the Divine Transformation Realm, this is far from enough..."
He shook his head and walked out of the side hall.
In the small courtyard outside, a trusted constable was already waiting.
"Speak, what is it?"
"Reporting, Sir, there are indeed some issues on Yunshui Mountain. Xuan Que has discovered some clues recently."
The trusted subordinate bowed respectfully and spoke.
"I knew there were problems. Tell me, is it Fang Tiankui or Red Hair?"
Wei Bo seemed to have anticipated this long ago. He chuckled lightly and said indifferently.
"There hasn't been much abnormality discovered on the Fang Family's side. The Fang Family Old Ghost has also been in seclusion in the mountain gate recently, not paying too much attention to his own Ghost Cry Peak."
"However, on the Crimson Whale Hall's side, which occupies two peaks of Yunshui Mountain, they openly focus on Baiyun Peak, but Xuan Que noticed that they also have many personnel secretly stationed on Bo Peak. It's just unknown what they are doing?"
The trusted constable truthfully reported the intelligence, even detailing some specific matters on Bo Peak.
"Interesting, dozens of Blood Transportation Warriors. It seems that old fellow Red Hair is hiding quite deeply. He has also secretly cultivated many loyalists over the years, and now he's using them all. That old fellow is truly not giving up his wicked ambitions."
Wei Bo clicked his tongue twice, narrowing his eyes, which flashed with dangerous light.
"Sir, do you mean Red Hair wants to..."
"What else could it be? At his level, there are few things that can move him. Besides breaking through to the Divine Transformation Realm, what else could there be..."
"It's just a pity, harboring thoughts he shouldn't have, the only outcome is death."
Wei Bo no longer paid attention to the trusted constable, walking forward on his own, speaking indifferently.
However, his face showed a hint of doubt.
"But that old fellow Red Hair has always been cunning and cautious. For him to disregard everything and choose to take a gamble, he must have great confidence. What could it be?"
He narrowed his eyes slightly, his fingers rhythmically stroking his chin.
In his mind, he recalled the actions of the Crimson Whale Hall during this period.
Soon, as if he thought of something, a sharp glint appeared in his eyes.
"Could it be... interesting, that is indeed possible..."
...
Two days later.
At the foot of Da Cui Peak.
A tall figure arrived rapidly.
"Who goes there? How dare you trespass on the Seven Forms Sect's territory! Stop at once..."
Several Seven Forms Sect Disciples stationed at the foot of the mountain immediately roared, drawing their weapons, and quickly blocked the figure. However, as soon as they made a move, two of them were sent flying back, crashing against the mountain wall, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. It was clear they were severely injured by this single blow.
"Yuan Lao'er, get down here!!"
A furious roar echoed throughout Da Cui Peak.
The voice was deep and powerful, traveling far without any sign of weakening, clearly some kind of sonic martial art secret technique.
Soon, Seven Forms Sect Disciples rushed over one by one, blocking the tall, sturdy figure, staring at the opponent with hostile eyes.
The tall, sturdy figure stood with arms crossed, staring coldly at the group of Seven Forms Sect Disciples, emitting a terrifyingly powerful Aura that even subtly suppressed the momentum of the Seven Forms Sect Disciples.
"Fang Jinping, what brings you to my Da Cui Peak? And aren't you being a bit too excessive towards my Disciples?"
Just as the two sides were at loggerheads, a figure in green robes rapidly descended from Da Cui Peak, appearing in front of the Disciples. It was Yuan Rong, Yuan Zhongfei, the head of the Golden Yuan Hall.
"Yuan Zhongfei, my Fang Family's direct descendants have gone missing in your Da Cui Peak territory. I demand an explanation from your Seven Forms Sect..."
The tall, sturdy figure spoke coldly. Who else could it be but Fang Jinping.
"Fang Jinping, you can't just say things like that. What does the incident involving your Fang Family Disciples have to do with my Seven Forms Sect?"
Yuan Zhongfei frowned slightly and spoke in a deep voice.
"We'll know whether it does or not with a test."
Fang Jinping spoke coldly. The blood-colored snake shape coiled around his neck had already landed on the ground. Its head pointed towards Yuan Zhongfei, but after a while, it shifted away, moving among the Seven Forms Sect Disciples.
However, not long after, it returned and leaped onto Fang Jinping's body.
Seeing this scene, Fang Jinping's brows furrowed tightly.
From the reaction of the blood-colored snake shape, it was clear there was no gain.
None of the Seven Forms Sect Disciples present had the blood of the Fang Family's direct descendants on them.