Family Rise: Beginning with Grandfather.

Chapter 787 Martial Arts Strength
As night deepened, a thin layer of mist rose from Lingxi Mountain, and the clear light of the crescent moon shone down, creating a hazy atmosphere that enveloped the mountain and its surroundings.

In the dimly lit mountain path, more than ten men dressed in linen shorts silently crept towards Lingxi Mountain.

"Is this Lingxi Mountain?" Wu Dashan asked, gazing at the hazy Lingxi Mountain.

Zhou Yuntao nodded slightly, "That's right, this is Lingxi Mountain. Look over there, there are Chiyan Army soldiers on duty!"

They didn't know Lu Jianghua was at Lingxi Mountain, so they went to Nanqing Mountain, only to find it completely empty when they arrived.

Then they arrested several people in a village near Nanqingshan. After questioning them, they learned that Lu Jianghua and the Chiyan Army had gone to Lingxi Mountain three days earlier.

That's why they came to Lingxi Mountain at this time.

"Looks like we didn't make a mistake! Haha~~" Wu Dashan laughed coldly.

“The Yang family of Lingxi has a martial artist at the Heavenly Gang stage. Should you deal with him or should I?” Zhou Yuntao asked.

“He’s just a senile old fool who can’t see the situation clearly. I’ll send him to his grave!” Wu Dashan’s eyes flashed with a fierce light.

Isn't it because they can't see the situation clearly?
At a time like this, how dare they take in Lu Jianghua? Aren't they just courting death?
Zhou Yuntao nodded and said to his subordinates behind him, "Alright, I'll be in charge of finding Lu Jianghua, and you're in charge of wiping out the Crimson Flame Army!"

Although there were only a dozen or so of them, all of them were innate martial artists.

Although the Crimson Flame Army still has seven or eight hundred men, its innate martial artists had already been almost entirely killed or wounded in previous battles, so the remaining Crimson Flame Army is not a threat at all.

After a brief discussion, the two led their people toward Lingxi Mountain.

On Lingxi Mountain, Yang Zhengshan, who was dozing off, was startled and slowly opened his eyes.

"coming!"

"Two Heavenly Gang stage cultivators, four Earthly Fiend stage cultivators, and six Qi Sea stage cultivators! Not bad at all!"

It is very difficult for a martial artist with innate martial arts skills to see through a person's cultivation level. At most, they can judge a person's cultivation level by their aura. However, if the other party conceals their aura, they can only judge by observing their appearance.

Cultivating immortality is different. Immortal cultivators possess spiritual consciousness, which allows them to perceive auras more subtly. Moreover, the aura perceived by spiritual consciousness is not the aura emitted by others, but rather the aura within others' bodies, specifically the aura of true qi and true essence within their dantian and dantian.

Therefore, Yang Zhengshan could easily see through the cultivation level of a martial artist at the Innate Realm.

Slowly standing up, Yang Zhengshan waved his hand, and a dark blue spear appeared in his hand.

"Homeowner!"

Wang Lei, who was cultivating, saw him take out a long spear, his expression turned solemn, and he called out.

“The enemy is coming. Go and protect Lu Jianghua!” Yang Zhengshan said.

"Yes!" Wang Lei responded and quickly walked towards the courtyard where Lu Jianghua lived.

Yang Zhengshan walked slowly towards the archway. When he arrived at the archway, two figures flew over under the cover of night.

These two naturally became Zhou Yuntao and Wu Dashan. One of them was responsible for dealing with Yang Zhengshan, and the other was responsible for finding Lu Jianghua. Therefore, they headed straight for the Yang family's ancestral land on the mountaintop.

Yang Zhengshan stood under the archway, calmly watching the two people flying towards him.

"Huh~"

Zhou Yuntao and Wu Dashan also saw him, and they were slightly surprised.

"You are Yang Zhengshan!" Wu Dashan asked arrogantly.

"It is indeed I, and who are you two?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

Wu Dashan and Zhou Yuntao exchanged a glance. Zhou Yuntao nodded slightly, while Wu Dashan laughed and said, "I'm the one who will kill you!"

They naturally wouldn't reveal their identities. To conceal their identities, they wore black clothes and masks, so why would they reveal their identities?

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Dashan raised his knife and lunged at Yang Zhengshan. The blade whistled and instantly burst into a fiery red light, like a fire dragon trying to devour Yang Zhengshan.

Upon seeing this, Yang Zhengshan's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He thrust out his spear, the shaft gleaming with a bluish light, the tip like a cold star falling to the ground, to meet Wu Dashan.

He had no intention of using immortal cultivation methods to deal with two Heavenly Gang stage martial artists; it wasn't worth using immortal cultivation spells and magical artifacts. Martial arts methods would suffice.

When Wu Dashan saw Yang Zhengshan approaching, a ferocious smile appeared on his face.

In his eyes, Yang Zhengshan was just a martial artist from a small family. Although he was also just a rogue cultivator, he felt that his cultivation level was already considered high among the Heavenly Gang stage martial artists.

However, his smile quickly froze.

Just as the two were about to clash, Yang Zhengshan's spear suddenly thrust out, and a flash of blue lightning appeared on the tip of the spear, which was as cold as a star.

The next moment, a streak of lightning pierced through the flames on the longsword, grazing the blade and approaching Wu Dashan's face.

Wu Dashan's pupils contracted sharply as he watched the sudden appearance of the blue lightning. In a panic, he tried to sheathe his sword and lean back to dodge the shot.

Unfortunately, his reaction was too slow; to be precise, Yang Zhengshan's gun was too fast.

The spear tip struck like lightning, arriving in an instant. Wu Dashan's mind reacted instinctively, but his body couldn't keep up with his thoughts.

The spear, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, plunged directly into Wu Dashan's throat. The blue spear tip pierced through the back of Wu Dashan's neck, and a crimson mist of blood spread out, enveloping Wu Dashan's head.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye, just a fleeting moment. Zhou Yuntao had just circulated his true energy to rush into the Yang family ancestral home below to find Lu Jianghua, but he had only moved forward three feet when Wu Dashan's neck was pierced by the spear.

Zhou Yuntao was stunned, staring in astonishment at the blue lightning bolt that pierced through Wu Dashan's neck.

After the initial shock came disbelief, and after the disbelief came an overwhelming sense of fear.

How can this be?

His heart was trembling, trembling with fear!
Yang Zhengshan was unaware of the fear in his heart. After hitting the target with one shot, he calmly put away his gun and turned to look at Zhou Yuntao.

What's impossible?
The Yang Zhengshan of today is no longer the Yang Zhengshan of the past.

Although he switched to cultivating immortality, it did not mean that his martial arts strength declined. On the contrary, his martial arts strength actually increased significantly after switching to cultivating immortality.

His ability to fly was enhanced, his Thunder Strike ability was regained, and most importantly, Yang Zhengshan gained spiritual awareness, which greatly improved his control over himself and his perception of enemies.

It may seem that nothing has changed qualitatively, but each aspect has increased a little bit, and when they are put together, they amount to a significant amount.

Yang Zhengshan just used the "Unique Spear Intent" technique.

He used to not use the Sole Spear Intent lightly, but rather reserved it as a trump card.

But now that he has several trump cards, there is no need for him to hide his true intentions from the Only Self Gun anymore.

That shot just now looked simple, but in reality, it was a full display of Yang Zhengshan's martial arts prowess.

If this shot can't kill Wu Dashan instantly, then Yang Zhengshan's years of cultivation can be said to have been in vain.

Zhou Yuntao didn't know Yang Zhengshan. When he saw Yang Zhengshan looking at him, those calm eyes brought his fear to its peak.

The instinctive reaction to fear is to run away.

His previously frozen figure suddenly burst forth with extreme speed. His true essence surged throughout his body, and he was enveloped in a layer of golden light. Then, he transformed into a golden ray of light and sped down the mountain.

At that moment, Zhou Yuntao unleashed the fastest speed he had ever achieved in his life, a speed that even he himself found unbelievable. But just as he was fleeing at top speed, a beam of azure light shot out from Yang Zhengshan's hand, like a flash of lightning, and in the blink of an eye, the azure light pierced through his chest.

This is not the Azure Sword, but the spear in Yang Zhengshan's hand, a spear carrying the power of thunder.

Yang Zhengshan used to be skilled at throwing short spears, but he has rarely used this technique in recent years because it is somewhat useless against Tiangang-stage martial artists and does not pose much of a threat to them.

But things are different now. Yang Zhengshan possesses the art of controlling objects. Although the spear is not a magical artifact, it does not prevent Yang Zhengshan from controlling it using the same methods as those used to control magical artifacts.

Even without using the Azure Sword, the spear he threw was extremely fast, though still much slower than the Azure Sword, but enough to kill Zhou Yuntao in front of him.

Zhou Yuntao felt a sharp pain in his chest, and then he uncontrollably crashed into the farmland on the hillside.

But he is not dead yet; he is still alive.

The spear pierced his chest, but not his heart.

Ignoring the spear stuck in his back, he scrambled up from the green rice paddy in a panic, wanting to flee again in fear.

Just then, Yang Zhengshan strolled leisurely up to him.

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand, and Zhou Yuntao flew uncontrollably toward Yang Zhengshan.

Although the art of manipulating objects is the most common and basic spell among immortal cultivators, being basic does not mean it is not powerful. Any spell, when cultivated to its extreme, can unleash terrifying power.

Those powerful spells are actually evolved and advanced from these basic spells.

Of course, Yang Zhengshan had not yet mastered the art of telekinesis, but telekinesis was not a powerful ability; it was merely the simplest way to use the art of telekinesis.

If Zhou Yuntao hadn't been injured, he would definitely have been able to break free from Yang Zhengshan's manipulation technique. Unfortunately, that spear thrust had already nearly killed him.

"Don't kill me!" Zhou Yuntao cried out in terror.

He had his back to Yang Zhengshan, so he couldn't see the expression on Yang Zhengshan's face.

"I am willing to surrender, I am willing to serve my predecessors, I..."

Zhou Yuntao begged for mercy in fear.

In truth, he wouldn't easily give in, but the strength Yang Zhengshan had just displayed had greatly shocked him, almost scaring him out of his wits, which made him behave so poorly.

"What's your name?" Yang Zhengshan hovered in mid-air, gripping the gun handle, and asked in a calm tone.

"Zhou Yuntao! Senior, senior, please spare me!"

"People from the Great Yun Dynasty?"

"Yes yes yes~~"

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, drew his spear, and added a few more bloody holes to Zhou Yuntao's body. Then, with a flick of his spear, he sent Zhou Yuntao flying down to the foot of the archway.

At the foot of the archway, Wang Lei, Lu Jianghua, and Lan Xuanyu rushed over, only to see a corpse on the ground, and then another person came crashing down on them.

Zhou Yuntao's sudden attack startled them. Wang Lei raised his knife to strike, when Yang Zhengshan's voice rang out.

"Spare his life, we'll interrogate him thoroughly later!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Lei immediately sheathed his knife and, after Zhou Yuntao was smashed to the ground, rushed forward to subdue him.

Lu Jianghua stared in astonishment at the scene, his gaze shifting back and forth between Wu Dashan and Zhou Yuntao, his mind a complete blank.

How is this going?

Wasn't it said that a powerful enemy was coming?
What about a formidable enemy?
Just these two?

"Is this a Heavenly Gang stage martial artist?" Lan Xuanyu stepped forward and cautiously looked at Zhou Yuntao.

Wang Lei lifted Zhou Yuntao and dislocated his arm to prevent him from resisting.

Actually, it doesn't matter if he doesn't remove it. Yang Zhengshan didn't just poke those bloody holes randomly. The places he poked were all important acupoints, making it impossible for Zhou Yuntao to mobilize the true energy in his body.

Zhou Yuntao was not unconscious; his face was deathly pale, and he was filled with despair.

Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan had already flown down the mountain and killed all the invading enemies in a few leaps.

Even Wu Dashan and Zhou Yuntao were no match for him, let alone anyone else.

However, several Crimson Flame Army soldiers still died at the foot of the mountain. This was unavoidable. Ordinary Crimson Flame Army soldiers were too weak in front of innate martial artists. If they could not form a battle formation in advance, they would have a hard time fighting against innate martial artists.

This is why the war between the Lingxiu Three Sects and the Youyu Gate did not involve the use of conventional troops.

……

"Say it!"

In the main hall of the Yang family ancestral home, Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat, sipping hot tea, and spoke calmly.

Wang Lei and Yang Xiangheng stood on either side of him behind Zhou Yuntao, who was kneeling obediently. Lu Jianghua and Lan Xuanyu sat below, still in shock.

Not to mention them, even Yang Xiangheng would occasionally glance at Yang Zhengshan's back.

They all knew that Yang Zhengshan was quite strong, after all, Lan Peng had said many times that Yang Zhengshan's strength was no less than his own.

But they never expected that Yang Zhengshan's strength would be so ridiculously powerful.

Neither of the two martial artists at the Heavenly Gang stage could withstand a single move from Yang Zhengshan.

"Tell me about your origins," Yang Zhengshan asked.

Zhou Yuntao was covered in sweat. He looked up at Yang Zhengshan, and finally could only lower his head helplessly and say in a trembling voice, "I am the Marquis of Dingnan of the Dayun Dynasty. I am here on the orders of Mo Changbin of the Dayun royal family to capture and kill Lu Jianghua, the fourth young master of the Lu family!"

"Mo Changbin?" Yang Zhengshan looked at Lu Jianghua beside him.

Lu Jianghua said in a deep voice, "Mo Changbin is one of the Mo family's ancestors, and his status in the Mo family is second only to Mo Changfu."

Lu Jianghua was quite familiar with the Mo family's situation, after all, the Lu family and the Mo family used to be allies.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly. "Was it you who attacked Nanxia County?"

"Yes!"

"You were the ones who attacked Tianbao County and Suihua County?"

"No, it was the Great Zhen Dynasty and the Southern Zhao Dynasty that did it!"

"Who instructed you?"

"Duan Qiaofeng, a deacon of the Netherworld Sect, said that the Netherworld Sect gave the Mo family many benefits, which is why the Mo family agreed to target the Lu family!"

Zhou Yuntao honestly confessed everything. He was a nobleman of the Dayun Dynasty and was highly trusted by Mo Changbin, so he knew the inside story of this matter very well.

(End of this chapter)