A hundred lifetimes of cultivation, merely seeking immortality in the cultivation world.

Chapter 207 The Dust Settles

Cui Tao and his group quickly approached, but when they arrived, they only saw a scene of devastation in front of the treasure vault and the dead body of Cui Jue.

The thieves who broke into this place had already fled, right under their noses!

Without offering any explanation, Cui Tao swiftly grabbed Cui Yong's neck with his palm, his dark magic binding Cui Yong and preventing him from escaping.

Shen Wanzhong and Shen Wanding tacitly did not stop him, allowing Cui Tao to capture Cui Yong.

If they still can't see that Cui Yong has a problem, then they are really too stupid.

Cui Yong's reaction was clearly wrong. As a puppet cultivator, the fact that he had not seen a puppet for so long was indeed suspicious.

Cui Yong blushed, and when he saw the indifferent expressions of Shen Wanzhong and Shen Wanding, his heart skipped a beat.

"Where are the people who stole the treasure vault? You're a puppet cultivator, take out all your puppets. Do you know what I'm talking about? Where is that half-step Foundation Establishment puppet?"

Cui Tao asked sternly.

"Lord Wan Zhong, please save me! This matter has absolutely nothing to do with me."

Cui's neck was choked red. He was extremely anxious, but dared not resist at all. He coughed a few times and struggled to explain.

"My life is now in your hands, so I have no reason to lie. My puppet was only just sent here and barely managed to find the man's trail. It is still tracking the thief. If you do not believe me, I am willing to swear an oath of faith."

"Besides, my true form is here. Even if I were to seize the treasures from that vault, wouldn't it all be of no use? We're all at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, so why would I do something so unwise?"

"Bullshit! This is all a conspiracy between you and the Shen family!"

"You never intended to resolve this peacefully with us. Do you think you can be afraid of a bunch of good-for-nothings just because there are only two of us?!"

Cui Ze's face contorted with rage as he drew his knife, seemingly intent on devouring Cui Yong alive.

"I think we must have a showdown today to bring the whole truth to light!"

"Fellow Daoist Cui, let Cui Yong go first. After all, he is now a member of my Shen family. I, Shen, have always abided by the rules, as you and I both know. There is no need to make trouble here."

Shen Wanzhong remained expressionless, making it impossible to guess his thoughts. He completely ignored the angry Cui Ze and instead looked directly at Cui Yong.

"If that thief manages to escape, it will be a loss not only for your Cui family, but also for my Shen family."

As he spoke, Shen Wanzhong's gaze lingered on Cui Yong's face for a moment.

Seeing this, Cui Yong became even more flustered. "Since Fellow Daoist Shen has said so, then I'll give you face."

Cui Tao stared at Cui Yong and said coldly, "Find him, or no one can protect you."

The spirit stones in the treasure vault are not important; they can obtain them by cultivating a spiritual land for some time. However, the two precious herbs are priceless treasures, and they are even related to his and Cui Ze's foundation building.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot afford to lose it.

Cui Yong was extremely anxious. He knew that Cui Tao must have secretly reached a consensus with Shen Wanzhong and the others.

He could no longer devour the treasures of the Cui family.

At this moment, he also wanted to simply grab Lu Qingyun and hand him over to Cui Tao to settle the matter.

But he never expected that Lu Qingyun would be as slippery as an eel.

He was clearly only at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but his escape speed was even comparable to that of his half-step Foundation Establishment puppet.

"Young man, don't run away. If you surrender now, I promise to spare your life. Otherwise, once I catch you, those two from the Shen family, along with Cui Tao and Cui Ze, will surely skin you alive. By then, it will be too late for you to regret it."

Cui tried to persuade him with earnest words.

However, he grew increasingly terrified.

When Lu Qingyun used the talisman, his speed was similar to Lu Qingyun's. If he continued, it wouldn't be difficult for Lu Qingyun to catch up with him using the puppet body of a half-step Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, in no time, Lu Qingyun noticed Cui Yong, who was like a leech. He used a blood escape technique, burning some of his essence blood, and left Cui Yong far behind.

Cui Yong had no choice but to overclock the puppet core, hoping to catch up with Lu Qingyun, but the result was that the gap between the two continued to widen.

"How much longer can your life force last? Do you really intend to wait until you bleed to death?"

"Young man, why have you gone to such lengths?"

"You're right, senior."

Lu Qingyun suddenly turned around and threw a storage bag, which hit Cui Yong directly.

"I have given you the treasure, but you still have to escape. I hope you will not pursue me after you have it."

The storage bag lightly struck Cui Yong, who was not pleased but alarmed. The shadow of the [Heavenly Thunder Talisman] was too enormous, and he was terrified as he snatched it aside.

However, it turned out to be a false alarm.

Cui Yong couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope. Could it be that Lu Qingyun had really given in and handed over the treasures of that vault?

Cui observed for a moment.

After a while, seeing that the storage bag had not exploded, he cautiously used his divine sense to probe into it.

However, there was nothing inside.

empty!

"That despicable brat, how dare he play me!"

Cui Yong was furious. He never expected that Lu Qingyun would dare to trick him again and again. First, he used the [Heavenly Thunder Talisman] to launch a sneak attack, and then he made a show of force by giving a fake storage bag.

At this moment, Cui Yong wished he could extract Lu Qingyun's soul and burn it to ashes in the hundred-year-old Heavenly Lamp.

But how could Lu Qingyun sit idly by and wait for his death?

In just a moment, he had left him a thousand meters behind.

Cui Yong could no longer care about the damage to the puppet. If he couldn't catch up with Lu Qingyun, he would have no way to explain to the Cui and Shen families. In that case, the two half-step Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Shen family might push him out as a scapegoat.

Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they would likely have to sign severely unequal treaties and would never again be as free as they are today.

Cui Yong's heart skipped a beat, and the core of the puppet immediately began to burn, pressing towards Lu Qingyun at an even faster speed.

Lu Qingyun heard the sound of wind coming from behind him.

With a quick probe of his divine sense, he immediately detected Cui Yong's actions.

"Finally couldn't hold back anymore?"

Lu Qingyun muttered to himself, waved his right hand, and swallowed a [Essence Blood Pill]. The weakness he had just experienced from burning his essence blood immediately began to recover.

"It seems that, just as the intelligence indicated, this is all the methods Choi has employed."

Seeing Cui Yong closing the distance between them, Lu Qingyun relaxed considerably.

Even before arriving in Qiyang, he had already obtained all the information about the five half-step Foundation Establishment experts from the Cui and Shen families from the Zhao family.

Now that this has been proven true in Cui Yong's case, perhaps he no longer needs to keep trying to escape.

After all, prolonged use of Blood Escape will damage his fundamental abilities.

A cold glint appeared in Lu Qingyun's eyes.

He kept moving, constantly stealthing away at Cui Yong's puppet's condition.

Several moments later, in front of another majestic mountain, Lu Qingyun suddenly stopped and stood still.

Then, he turned around, drew his sword, and looked at Cui Yong.

"So you're finally not running away anymore?"

Cui Yong finally breathed a sigh of relief. His puppet's core had been mostly consumed, and it was no longer realistic to overclock and pursue it. Lu Qingyun stopping at this time was exactly what he wanted.

Cui smiled and moved closer to Lu Qingyun, his eyes revealing murderous intent.

"Young man, I once gave you a chance, but unfortunately you did not cherish it. Since that's the case, I have no choice but to take your life. I hope that in your next life you will not be so unwise."

"The afterlife?"

Lu Qingyun's face showed a mocking expression.

"Fellow Daoist Cui, you really think highly of yourself, relying on your puppetry skills?"

Before the words had even finished, the magic sword had already slashed out, a seemingly ordinary, scattered sword light piercing towards Cui Yong.

Cui Yong looked disdainful. A mere mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, without that superior-grade [Heavenly Thunder Talisman], instead of surrendering, he swung his sword at Cui Yong's half-step Foundation Establishment puppet body.

Isn't that just courting death?

Who did he think he was? Could he be Niu Gaoyao, who had comprehended the sword intent of old age?

Cui sneered.

However, the sword light grew even brighter.

His vision was completely obscured by the flashing white light; all his sight was absorbed by the sword's beam.

The second move of the "Withering and Flourishing Sword Technique" is "Scattered Flowers Splashing"!

One part of white light is 100, then 100, then 10,000!

At this point, Cui Yongcai realized something was wrong with the sword move. He tried to dodge, but it was too late.

The sword light struck his puppet body, and the puppet body, which was already burning its core, was quickly destroyed by the sword light!

"No, this is not destruction!"

Cui Yong's face showed terror. He asked in a panic, "This is sword intent! You've grasped sword intent with such low cultivation? Who are you?"

"Just an unknown nobody."

A smile appeared on Lu Qingyun's lips. Cui Yong pricked up his ears to listen, his fear evident as he tried to hear what Lu Qingyun was saying.

However, his puppet body had aged rapidly, and under the destruction of the [Withering and Flourishing Sword Technique] and the invasion of the [Longevity Sword Intent], it instantly turned into a pile of ashes.

Lu Qingyun unleashed a burst of magical power, shattering Cui Yong's puppet body into several pieces, and then quickly fled into the distance.

boom!

A violent explosion rang out!

Cui Yong, Cui Tao, and the others who were chasing after them only saw a dazzling white light bloom.

Immediately afterwards, Cui spat out a mouthful of blood as the backlash from the puppet's destruction struck, leaving him pale.

"You bastard, what on earth happened?"

Cui Ze suddenly sensed something was wrong and roared angrily.

"It's over, it's all over!"

Cui knelt on the ground, his eyes filled with fear.

His puppet was destroyed, and not even a wisp of his soul escaped. Cui Yong could almost imagine how the two half-step Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Shen family would treat him.

Cui Tao, expressionless, arrived at the site of the loud noise.

Only the remnants of Cui Yong's puppet remained; as for Lu Qingyun's figure, it had long since vanished.

All the treasures in the Cui family's entire treasury have been stolen!

"Can they still catch up with that person?"

Shen Wanzhong spoke slowly, his expression showing neither joy nor sorrow.

"The tiger-shaped pendant on Cui Jue's body is gone. That pendant is used to conceal divine sense. Not to mention that the person has other methods, even if he is just a mortal, it is impossible for us to find him from such a distance."

Cui Tao shook his head.

"Since it's already too late, let's issue the kill order. I can keep the previous agreement unchanged, and the lives of those lower-level cultivators will be enough to make up for our losses."

Shen Wanzhong said coldly.

Then, a restriction was placed on Cui Yong's body.

Cui Yong's face was grim, but he did not dare to resist at all. As a puppeteer, having lost his own natal puppet, even if he was now a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, he could be killed in a head-on confrontation.

He realized that Shen Wanzhong had no intention of killing him.

One can only remain silent and let the other party do as they please.

Once Shen Wanzhong's restriction was lifted, Cui Yong clearly felt that Shen Wanzhong had placed a device on his heart.

But at this moment, he was actually glad that he had survived, and he sincerely thanked Shen Wanzhong for his magnanimity, and followed behind him.

Shen Wanzhong slowly said, "Since Changzhu failed to conquer the Cui clan within half a day, according to our agreement, our Shen clan will only take one-third of the Cui clan's supplies. Are you satisfied, fellow Daoist?"

"Fellow Daoist is fair; I have no objection."

Cui Tao nodded indifferently.

In fact, given the current situation, the Cui clan had already been defeated. Shen Wanzhong could have demanded that they hand over 50% or even 70% of their supplies, taking only 30%, which would have been a compromise.

After the group finished discussing all the matters, they stopped chasing after Lu Qingyun, whom they knew they could never catch up with.

Instead, they returned to Qiyang.

Qiyang Mountain.

Blood soaked the mountains and fields. Some of these people died in blood sacrifices, some were killed in the chaos of battle, and others were robbed and cruelly murdered by the Shen family.

Shen Changzhu looked wearily at the person opposite him, Cui Jue's father, Cui Ao, who had been captured. The man's perseverance and courage far exceeded his expectations, and he led the Cui family in a continuous resistance.

They only managed to capture him when his magical powers were completely exhausted.

In this battle, a full 30% of the members of the Shen family died.

Even though he was slightly better than the Cui family at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, and the outcome was already decided, the Cui family's tenacity and difficulty in dealing with him far exceeded his expectations.

"Young Master, as you instructed, all the secret vaults and spirit stones in the Cui family have been confiscated. Once this is over, we can erase 30% of the spirit stones, and even the two people in the family will not find out anything."

Shen Changzhu nodded. Finally, this battle had yielded some results. As long as there were no problems with the accounts, even if the spirit stones were embezzled, the two elders, Wan Zhong and Wan Ding, would not raise any questions.

This is the unspoken rule within the Shen family: anything that doesn't qualify is considered nonexistent.

Shen Changzhu sighed and said, "Senior Cui, I said before that even if you resist stubbornly, in the end you will only cause more casualties and make your Cui family shed more blood in vain."

"Why bother? If the Shen family captures you, you at least have a sliver of hope. At worst, you'll be taken to the mines and forced into lifelong labor. Why continue this insistence and let both our families die in vain?"

Shen Changzhu turned around and turned his back to Cui Ao.

"There are still some members of your Cui clan resisting in various places. If you can persuade them to surrender, I will certainly ask the two elders for leniency in your case."

"Lenient treatment... you think you can get away with that? You yellow-mouthed brat!"

Cui Ao sneered and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"We have already failed. Do you really think that even if we surrender, we would still have a chance to survive?"

Are you perhaps questioning Mr. Shen's credibility...?

Shen Changzhu frowned, about to refute Cui Ao's words.

However, the next moment.

boom!

Cui Ao's head exploded like a watermelon right in front of him, blood splattering on his face. Shen Changzhu stood there, stunned, wiping the blood off his face.

Several powerful figures suddenly appeared; they were the Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Cui and Shen families, arriving together.

The men had different expressions, and they didn't look like enemies at all.

Shen Wanzhong patted Shen Changzhu on the shoulder.

"Elder..."

Shen Changzhu opened his mouth and took a few steps back.

He finally understood Cui Ao's words. It turned out that from beginning to end, they were nothing but ants, and their fate had already been determined by these clan elders.

Cui Tao walked past him expressionlessly, and with his gaze, the heads of the Cui family members exploded one after another.

At first, there were cries of agony.

In the end, only bloodshed and deathly silence remained.