The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

Chapter 104 Capable of Taking on Great Responsibilities

Liu Mazi was terrified.

The armored warrior felt no pain, nor did he show any fear. He swept his heavy sword horizontally, creating a fierce gust of wind that went straight for the man's ribs.

He could only parry hastily, but was forced back three steps by the brute force, his blood churning.

Under normal circumstances, Liu Mazi would have a hundred ways to wear down this cumbersome puppet.

But now he is in a dangerous place, and the energy blades of the surrounding array are still relentlessly waiting for an opportunity to attack. His spiritual power is already greatly depleted, so how can he afford to lose it?

Dragging this out will only lead to certain death.

"To catch the thief, first catch the king!"

Liu Mazi's mind raced, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.

He endured a weak blade of energy to the back, his skin torn and bleeding, but he forced his way around the armored warrior with a strange escape technique and crashed into the main hall.

"You old bastard, prepare to die!"

The gate was shattered, and wood chips flew everywhere.

Liu Mazi leaped in, his Emei dagger aimed straight for Xu Dayou's throat.

Although Xu Dayou is old, he still has the foundation of the fifth level of Qi Refining: he is by no means someone who can be easily slaughtered.

Seeing the thief attacking, he quickly retreated to avoid his attack.

At the same time, his right hand shot out from his sleeve like lightning, holding a cinnabar talisman between two fingers, and he poured spiritual power into it.

"boom!"

The Crimson Flame Talisman ignited without wind, and a fire snake as thick as a water bucket roared out of the talisman and crashed into Liu Mazi in mid-air.

"Bang!"

The fire snake exploded, and the flames engulfed him.

Liu Mazi let out a miserable howl and fell heavily to the ground, rolling several times before finally extinguishing the remaining flames on his body.

"To hell with the old, weak, sick, and disabled! Which son of a bitch said anything about emptiness!"

He clearly sent people to find out everything before he took action.

Xu Changqing was conscripted away, and apart from Xu Dayou, who was at the fifth level of Qi Refining, the island was full of peasants.

Leaving aside the talisman for now, it might be the old man's most treasured life-saving item.

But where did this clan-protecting formation of such high quality and this puppet that can withstand the sixth level of Qi Refining come from?

Such resources would probably require even the Zhang family of Ling'ao Island to empty half of their fortune to gather.

"Zhang Shichang! You old dog, you've done me a terrible disservice!"

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Heavy footsteps approached from afar.

The armored warrior had already turned around and was approaching step by step, his heavy sword raised high.

The formation then condensed into a giant wind blade, blocking Liu Mazi's retreat.

Liu Mazi felt utterly hopeless.

"Pfft!"

Blood splattered, and a head rolled off.

With Liu Mazi's death, the last red dot representing the bandits on the battle array went completely dark.

Xu Dayou let out a long sigh of relief, his body went limp, and he almost collapsed to the ground.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with trembling hands.

"That was close!"

Looking at Liu Mazi's decapitated corpse, Xu Dayou spat out a mouthful of saliva.

"You blind fool, you think you can even covet the Xu family?"

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

Although the henchmen outside were almost wiped out by the great formation, there was still a lot of work to be done on the island.

He tore off Liu Mazi's storage bag and reached inside, but there was no joy on his face.

"Even a poor, destitute person like this dares to come out and try to wipe out an entire family."

Although Liu Mazi was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, his storage bag contained only a few well-worn low-grade magic artifacts, dozens of low-grade spirit stones, and a book of escape techniques.

He put the storage bag into his sleeve, then turned and ordered several still-shaken clansmen to clean up the mess and wipe away the bloodstains.

"Er Mazi, don't just stand there. Go to the back and tell the mistress and the women that the thief has been killed and that everyone should come back."

1

"Da Niu, take a few more men and clean up this mess."

Half an hour later, Cangwu Island returned to silence, with only the lingering smell of blood remaining.

In the study in the inner courtyard, the lamp was dimly lit.

Xu Dayou sat in front of the jade table, fiddling with the abacus in his hands by the dim light.

Amidst the crackling sounds, his old face grew even more distressed, his heart aching beyond measure.

Although the battle just now was won by taking advantage of the power of the formation to wipe out Liu Mazi's gang of bandits, the "Eight Gates Golden Lock Cloud and Smoke Formation" is simply a money-devouring beast.

The already meager supply of spirit stones in the warehouse was quickly depleted by this incident.

Now, all that's left in the accounts is less than two hundred low-grade spirit stones.

With this little wealth, if they encounter any more setbacks, they won't even be able to activate the grand formation for long.

"No, we can't just sit around and wait for the clan leader to return until we've exhausted our resources."

Xu Dayou paced back and forth, as if he had made up his mind, before getting up and heading towards Qingmo Pavilion.

Inside Qingmo Pavilion.

Xu Yanzhen did not rest. Hearing the door open, he put down the talisman brush in his hand and was about to get up to greet him.

Xu Dayou gestured that she didn't need to get up, and then dismissed Zhiqiao.

.

"Everything outside..."

"Everything is cleaned up."

He walked to the desk, found a stool to sit down, and got straight to the point: "Yanzhen, I plan to go off the island to Qinghe Market."

"No."

Xu Yanzhen frowned slightly.

"That Liu Mazi must have come under the orders of the Zhang family. Now that he's leaving the island, what if the Zhang family sets up an ambush halfway there—"

"It's because of the Zhang family that I have to leave tonight!"

Xu Dayou put down his teacup, his withered fingers gently stroking the edge of the table.

"That old dog Zhang is cunning and treacherous. Once he realizes that this band of bandits has been wiped out, he will definitely start to reorganize. Before he can catch his breath, this is our only opening."

Xu Yanzhen remained silent, knowing that the old man's words were true, but he still hesitated: "The island's food and medicine reserves are still sufficient, why rush things?"

"How could I not know that? But the clan's protective formation is a money-devouring beast."

Xu Dayou gave a bitter laugh, his tone weary.

"The hemostatic herbs in the ten acres of medicinal fields behind the mountain are ripe. You have been working day and night these past few days to accumulate some talismans. I must take this opportunity to send all of these items to the market."

The old man paused briefly, his gaze piercing through the dim light, carrying a hint of unspoken sorrow.

"We need to prepare for the worst; we can't just wait for the clan leader..."

""

Upon hearing this, the Qingmo Pavilion was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"The clan leader is a very capable man and the backbone of our Xu family, but that Black Wind Pass—"

"Swords have no eyes, and monsters are merciless. We cannot put the lives of our entire family on his shoulders."

7

Xu Yanzhen pursed his lips tightly, and after a long while, he slowly placed the talisman brush on the brush holder.

He knew that Xu Dayou's words reflected his preparation for the worst.

"What if the Zhang family breaks off all pretense of civility and forcibly attacks the island?"

"Xi Ning had already communicated with me before."

Xu Dayou looked slightly relieved.

"He made contact with a close disciple. With this connection, at least the Zhang family won't dare to openly gather forces to attack Cangwu Island."

Xu Dayou stood up, straightened his blood-stained robes, and his face was resolute.

"If even a child like him can walk on thin ice in the immortal sect, how can I, an old man, be so afraid of losing my life?"

Xu Yanzhen looked at the old man in front of him, who was usually stingy and miserly, but now shouldered the heavy responsibility of the clan, and a trace of respect flashed in the depths of his eyes.

He silently opened the drawer, gathered all the dozens of talismans he had accumulated over the past month into an oil paper package, and pushed it to the side of the table.

"Good lad."

Xu Dayou tucked the oil paper package into his pocket, patted Xu Yanzhen on the shoulder, and turned to walk out.