Raise a sword!

Liu Quan said the words "blood debts must be repaid in blood" with particular gritted teeth.

Jiang Peng subconsciously put down the alchemy notes written by Qin Yuan in his hand and looked at Liu Quan for a moment.

His face was slightly pale, his breathing was weak and his panting was a little heavy.

Are you injured?

"It's just a minor injury," Liu Quan said nonchalantly. "I killed two disciples of the Jade Pavilion Sword Pavilion this time, and I only suffered their last-ditch counterattack. It's not a loss at all."

Jiang Peng frowned slightly.

Among the three major sects in the northern foothills, the disciples of the Illusionary Sound Sect rarely travel outside, so their reputation is not well-known.

As a result, the northern foothills of the entire Diming Mountain Range have always been a battleground of open and covert struggles between the Cangshan Sect and the Yulou Sword Pavilion.

This situation has persisted for so many years that the two sides have long since developed a tacit understanding.

There are probably two points to this tacit understanding.

First, only Qi Refining disciples are allowed to fight; Foundation Establishment elders rarely intervene.

Secondly, it will not easily harm the other party's life.

During the battles between the two sects, it was common to lose limbs, and countless others had their cultivation destroyed and could no longer cultivate. However, in terms of actual casualties, the situation was not that serious.

In recent years, however, this tacit understanding seems to have been broken.

First, Elder Li Xiangui of the Jade Pavilion Sword Pavilion utterly destroyed the Cangshan Sect's black market, breaking the rule that Foundation Establishment cultivators do not easily take action.

Now Liu Quan is talking about killing two of the other party's disciples, and it seems he's not satisfied yet.

"They're really getting serious now," Jiang Peng thought to himself.

If Jiang Peng was initially uneasy about being the catalyst for the deterioration of relations between the two groups, he now finds it all laughable.

Three Qi Refining disciples of the Cangshan Sect died outside the black market, suspected to be the work of the Jade Pavilion Sword Pavilion... Is this something that should cause the relationship between the two sects to deteriorate to this extent?

Do not make jokes.

The disciples under the sect are passionate people, and it's one thing for them to fight to the death for their pride, but how could the true controllers of the two sects, those high and mighty Golden Core cultivators, possibly lose their composure?

Thinking about this, Jiang Peng understood.

The current situation is clearly being fueled by two high-ranking officials, and it is merely a few signs before the real battle begins.

"Brother Liu, conflicts with others are inevitable, but you should always prioritize your own safety," Jiang Peng advised. "Don't let anything unexpected happen, or it will be too late to regret it."

"I know what I'm doing," Liu Quan said, bowing in thanks, both for the affordable pills and for Jiang Peng's reminder.

...

A few days later, Lan Yingying arrived at Biwu Peak.

"Senior Brother Jiang, it's been a long time! How have you been?"

Jiang Peng, who was watering the vegetable garden, rolled her eyes at the woman and casually picked a green fruit from a nearby tree and tossed it over.

Perhaps because she trusted Jiang Peng too much, Lan Yingying took the fruit and took a bite without even looking at it, her beautiful features immediately scrunching up.

When Lan Yingying stormed up to her, Jiang Peng finally smiled and said, "You were here just half a month ago, how can you say it's been a long time?"

Lan Yingying looked around and, seeing that no one was around, boldly took a step forward and quietly grabbed Jiang Peng's body in an indescribable place.

Jiang Peng tried to dodge, but failed.

"Tsk, in public!"

"Haven't you heard the saying 'a day apart feels like three autumns'?" Lan Yingying chuckled, responding to Jiang Peng's earlier words.

Lan Yingying has also changed a bit in the past two months.

She is now wearing the robes of an outer disciple of the Cangshan Sect, which means that she has already joined the sect.

This was quite a coincidence.

At the mutual aid society gathering on the third day of this month, Jiang Peng chatted a bit with that rogue cultivator Zhang Fushi and mentioned Lan Yingying. Unexpectedly, Zhang Fushi also recognized her.

At that time, Master Zhang said that he had given Lan Yingying guidance on talismanic arts and wanted to recommend her to the Cangshan Sect.

The Cangshan Sect has an Elder Zhou, a second-level talisman master. He has many disciples who also practice talisman arts and other miscellaneous skills, but none of them are outstanding.

Elder Zhou once told Master Zhang that the Cangshan Sect looked down on many miscellaneous arts. Whenever a disciple with good talent appeared, they were not allowed to practice miscellaneous arts, for fear of delaying the disciples' cultivation.

As a result, over the years, he has never found a truly satisfactory disciple.

In this respect, Elder Zhou is somewhat similar to Qin Yuan.

Because of Zhang Fushi's recommendation, Jiang Peng, using Qin Yuan's name, took Lan Yingying to visit Elder Zhou.

The final result was not bad.

Although Elder Zhou did not make any promises, considering that Lan Yingying was a rogue cultivator and had achieved her current level of success in studying talismans, he granted her the status of an outer disciple and promised to guide her in the study of talismans.

If Lan Yingying achieves something in the future, it's not impossible that Elder Zhou will take her under his wing and impart all his knowledge to her.

After the playful banter, Lan Yingying got down to business.

"The Li family has already left Cangshan Market."

This news surprised Jiang Peng.

"It's much earlier than expected. Didn't the sect allow them to make a killing before they left? It's only been a short time. The Li family has two Foundation Establishment cultivators. Surely they can't be that greedy."

"Times have changed," Lan Yingying said with some worry. "Recently, the friction between the sect and the Jade Pavilion Sword Pavilion has become more and more frequent. The sect needs independent cultivators, so it doesn't want to see independent cultivators in the market unable to even afford pills."

"I'm not entirely sure of the specifics, but just yesterday, the Li family sold off many of their assets in the market, and some members of the Li family have already moved out... The rest is probably just the final stages."

At this point, Lan Yingying glanced at Jiang Peng with a half-smile.

"Perhaps you're partly to blame for this."

"What does it have to do with me?"

"The Li Ruhai you killed held a high position in the Li family. He was a peer of the two Foundation Establishment cultivators... Even his death was shrouded in mystery. I'm afraid the Li family was afraid of being dragged into the sect war if they left too late, which is why they left so decisively."

Finally, Lan Yingying handed Jiang Peng two mid-grade spirit stones.

Jiang Peng is still in a state of having plenty of money, with a little over two thousand spirit stones scattered around him.

Therefore, unlike when he first came to the market, these two mid-grade spirit stones were no longer worth his attention.

"What's going on?"

"With the Li family gone, the business can proceed. Consider this a kickback."

Lan Yingying said with a smile, "Senior Brother Jiang has a great reputation in the Pill Hall, so Sister Yinxi said that as long as Senior Brother Jiang can recruit a disciple of the Pill Hall for the business, he will be given two hundred spirit stones."

"The disciples of the Pill Hall are far too worthless," Jiang Peng chuckled.

But Lan Yingying leaned over Jiang Peng and whispered her breath in his ear.

"Young Master Jiang, you also have a share in the business."