She is Jianxiu

Disciple of Zhaoyan?

Dong Kuan's face darkened, and he couldn't help but rebuke, "Of all people to mess with, you had to mess with the people brought by that evil god."

Hearing this reprimand, Dong Guan felt a bellyful of grievances that he could not express, and immediately cried out softly, "I don't know what I did to offend her. I only took two demon horses, and these people came to my door and I lost my life for nothing. I'm afraid... I'm afraid there are other people involved. Grandfather, you must do justice for me!"

Dong Kuan was already angry, and upon hearing this, his long eyebrows furrowed even more, and he thought bitterly—

Of course it was someone else's scheme! Otherwise, how could those two mere rock-scaled horses and two insignificant juniors from the Wan family have attracted the attention of Zhaoyan disciples?

His eyes widened, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "Tell me everything you've heard lately."

After listening to Dong Guan's detailed report, Dong Kuan gradually understood the situation.

"Fool! You can't even see through Kang Shouyun's simple provocation, and you just walk right into his trap to become a scapegoat! I ask you, although Kang Shouyun comes from a collateral branch of the Kang family, in my daily interactions with him, have I ever seen the Kang family owe him anything? Two mere rock-scaled horses, how could they possibly leave him in such dire straits that he has to go to the Wan family to snatch them?"

Unable to defend himself, Dong Guan realized that he had been tricked by his cronies. He was filled with hatred and wished he could tear them to pieces.

"Forget it. With your mindset, I never expected much from you. But Kang Shouyun, that junior, seized on your feud with the Jiao family, which led to this scheme today."

"What should we do then?" Dong Guan felt guilty but couldn't swallow his anger. "Ancestor, are we just going to let them go like this?"

He relied on his overwhelming power to be arrogant in Dingxian City for only a few decades. Seeing those once haughty aristocratic disciples now turning their backs on him, he was naturally extremely pleased with himself. In addition, he never hesitated to spend lavishly to gain favor and prestige among Kang Shouyun and others, always displaying his wealth and generosity.

How could these two-faced scoundrels dare to plot against him!

Dong Kuan glanced at him, pondered for a moment, and said in a low voice, "They dared to use the descendants of the Ancestor as a raft, so they should be taught a lesson. Otherwise, wouldn't I, Dong Kuan, become a pushover in Dingxian City? Hmph, just wait and see. If the Ancestor refuses to see that Zhaoyan disciple, they will be the ones who are anxious."

Not just any force would dare to involve Zhao Yan in today's events.

The Kang family or the Jiao family?

Or perhaps several companies join forces...

He didn't care about any of that; he just wanted to see who would get restless first!
After Kang Shouyun returned to the inner city, he immediately reported the incident. Upon hearing that Qi Zheng had been struck by the golden needle, the Kang family patriarch's eyelids twitched, and he secretly thought, "This is bad." He then sent out several letters, summoning various cultivators to convey his message: "Dong Kuan was able to establish himself in the city years ago thanks to his skill with the Golden Needle Technique. I never expected that young Dong Guan would be so favored by him, even bestowing upon him one of these needles, and it just so happens to be Zhao Yan… What are we to do now?"

The patriarch of the Kang family was a short, elderly woman. This appearance was not intentional; rather, it stemmed from a premonition hundreds of years ago that she sensed her lifespan was nearing its end and that the Kang family was on the verge of decline, with few new cultivators reaching the Divine Realm. Therefore, Kang Rong had no choice but to cut off a large portion of her Dao Diagram and entrust it to a descendant of the clan as the foundation for a breakthrough to the Divine Realm. She ultimately succeeded through this method. From then on, her cultivation greatly diminished, and even with her best efforts, she feared she wouldn't survive a hundred years. Therefore, before her death, she had to pave the way for the Kang family's future.

Jiao's sage was a young woman with a headdress adorned with crimson, golden, and emerald beads, which complemented her radiant face, making her captivating at first glance.

At this moment, she smiled gracefully, as if she had been confident all along, and said calmly, "Fellow Daoist Kang, are you worried that Dong Kuan is ungrateful and will not remove the golden needles for the Zhaoyan disciples? Why don't you all think about who brought those disciples into the city? How much guts does Dong Kuan have to challenge this evil god? I guess in no more than two days, someone will put pressure on him."

A young Taoist priest standing nearby glanced around and immediately understood, saying, "If it is him, Dong Kuan will have no choice but to comply."

After the Jiao family's insightful explanation, most of the gloom in their hearts dissipated. Only Kang Rong remained worried, thinking to herself, "You all know that person is not easy to mess with, yet you've dragged him into this mess." What she feared was that after Zhao Chun dealt with Dong Kuan, he would turn around and hold their families accountable.

Dingxian City, Wuyan Cave.

Over the centuries, this city has grown to an immense size. As the number of cultivators in the city increased, there was a fear that there wouldn't be enough cultivation caves to go around. Therefore, Dingxian City invested more than 50% of its annual tax revenue into nourishing the earth's veins. Over time, thanks to this tireless support, a region rich in spiritual energy has truly been cultivated, which has been designated as the inner city area by the city's powers.

Within this inner city, besides the blessed lands occupied by the nine families and fourteen lineages, new cave dwellings have been continuously opened up over the past ten thousand years, and the Five-Extended Cave is considered the best among them.

Countless cultivators within the city coveted this cave dwelling, but without the approval of a Void Realm cultivator, no one dared to make a move on their own.

More than a hundred years ago, one of Dong Kuan's disciples successfully asked the Heavenly Origin Question, which immediately alarmed the three great masters. They not only summoned him one after another and bestowed upon him all kinds of rare treasures, but also granted him the Five-Distance Cave as his dwelling. Who wouldn't be envious of such favors?
However, Wan Chong knew perfectly well that all three powerful cultivators wanted to take him under their wing. But if he chose one of them, he would offend the other two. It was not easy to be a fence-sitter, and it was also difficult to be a centrist.

Fortunately, he still had his mentor Dong Kuan, who allowed him to hide for a while. Now that he has successfully broken through to the Divine Realm, those three will probably bring up the old issues again.

He shook his head and sighed, then stepped out of the room. He saw the clouds drifting across the sky and a gentle breeze blowing from all sides. He was just about to relax when a servant rushed in, shouting, "Master, something terrible has happened!"

Wan Chong frowned, thinking to himself that after his breakthrough, he needed to properly reorganize the servants in the mansion. Their careless behavior might offend outsiders in the future.

"Why are you in such a panic!"

The gray-clad servant immediately knelt down, speaking in a somewhat incoherent manner, saying, "It was Master's mentor, no, it was Master's mentor's descendant, a man named Dong Guan, who was killed this morning by a disciple of Zhaoyan. Later, it was said that the disciple was struck by Master's mentor's 'severing pulse needle.' In short, everyone in the city is saying that the Great Dao Leader is going to hold Master's mentor accountable."

Wan Chong's vision went black, as if he were hearing a celestial book, and for a moment he didn't know what he was hearing.

What master, what mentor, what descendant—how could they possibly be connected to the leader of the Great Dao! (End of Chapter)