To comprehend all laws and attain immortality

Xuanyin Mountain.

A smoky, eerie aura spread and dissipated from the earth, making the world even more sinister and terrifying under the cover of night.

Gu Fan stood before the two men in black, pondered for a moment, and then confirmed, "You mean... the one behind the Lu family is the demonic cultivator from Wu Kingdom?"

"Absolutely true!" the two men in black said in unison.

Gu Fan nodded slowly, then flicked his finger and threw down two sparks.

The two men in black instantly burst into flames like torches, turning into ashes in the blink of an eye.

After the flames died down, Gu Fan did not leave immediately. Instead, he sat down cross-legged on the spot, recalling the information he had just obtained from the interrogation.

According to the two men in black, the mastermind behind the murder of the Lingxiao Sect disciples was the Lu family, one of the five Xuan Yin families!

At first, the short, stout old man was dishonest, implying in his words that the five surnames of Xuan Yin were involved.

Unfortunately, his feigned expression wasn't quite convincing enough.

Gu Fan separated him from the pockmarked youth for interrogation and quickly uncovered the truth of the matter.

Thirty years ago, the Lu family was in a period of transition, with a lack of successors.

The original head of the Lu family, Lu Shanjun, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, was nearing the end of his lifespan, but no one in the Lu family had successfully established their foundation.

The outside world is eyeing the Lu family covetously, waiting for Lu Shanjun to die so they can devour the entire family.

As a result, the Lu family somehow colluded with the demonic cultivators of the Wu Kingdom and used the Gu worm technique to help the current Lu family head successfully establish his foundation, instantly reversing the situation!

With the help of two Foundation Establishment cultivators and the secret assistance of demonic cultivators.

The Lu family swept away its decline, uprooted its mortal enemy family, swallowed up all their assets, and rose to become one of the five great families of Xuan Yin.

Not long after, Lu Shanjun died of old age.

Just when everyone thought that the Lu family only had one newly established Foundation Establishment cultivator left and needed to consolidate its power, another member of the Lu family successfully established Foundation Establishment!

With this, the Lu family's power was completely consolidated, and they even recruited many guest advisors.

The short, stout old man and the pockmarked young man were the first cultivators to be recruited.

The two were not related to the Lu family by blood, and had no relatives still alive, which is why they confessed so readily.

They thought that joining the Lu family would allow them to enjoy the offerings without worry, but before long they were taken to pay homage to the so-called Supreme Being, who was actually a demonic cultivator from the Wu Kingdom.

The two had Gu worms planted in their dantian and dantian, and were also taught a secret method to drive the Gu worms to devour life force, becoming henchmen for the demonic cultivators to collect the life force of all living beings.

The Lu family has to provide enough life force to the demonic cultivators every month.

There are no restrictions on the sources of life force. Monsters and cultivators are the best, as they can devour not only life force but also magical power. Mortals, on the other hand, only have life force.

From that day on, when the Lu family exterminated other cultivator families, they always chose to use Gu worms to devour their life force.

Furthermore, they secretly dispatched their family retainers to attack the rogue cultivators in Xuan Yin Mountain from time to time.

The life of a rogue cultivator is inherently perilous; as long as they don't engage in large-scale slaughter at once, they don't have to worry about being discovered.

In return, the life force consumed by the Gu worms will be transferred to them, helping them break through cultivation bottlenecks.

Thanks to the miraculous effects of the Gu worms, the two broke through from the mid-stage of Qi Refining to the late-stage of Qi Refining.

Gu Fan finally learned the name of this Gu worm—the Life-Eating Master.

Gu Fan also inquired about the consequences of the plague in Blackwater City and the attack on the Lingxiao Sect disciples.

The cause began six years ago when the demonic cultivators suddenly demanded an increase in the amount of life force they offered as tribute.

The Lu family was caught off guard, and despite their best efforts, they were still somewhat lacking.

However, since the entire clan had already been planted with the Life-Eating Master, they dared not have any thought of resisting the demonic cultivator's demands. Therefore, they took the life force of the mortals in Blackwater City as payment.

After that, the Lu family intensified their efforts to hunt down demonic beasts and cultivators, and finally completed the task assigned by the demonic cultivators.

Unexpectedly, the demonic cultivators recently increased the required amount of life force again.

The Lu family was in a terrible predicament and failed to properly screen their targets, which resulted in them targeting the disciples of the Lingxiao Sect.

The news of the Lingxiao Sect disciples' escape shocked the entire Lu family.

If the Lingxiao Sect discovers this, it could be a crisis that wipes out the entire clan!

The Lu family head hurriedly reported the matter to the demonic cultivator, but to his surprise, the demonic cultivator said there was no need to worry. He only needed to provide one last batch of life-saving opportunities, and then there would be no need to continue.

After the deed is done, the Lu family will be used to wipe out the other four families, and after annexing their property, the entire clan will move to the State of Wu.

However, the number of these last remaining chances of survival is enormous.

After much deliberation, the Lu family finally persuaded the other four families to raise the price of the Nether Lamp Grass at great cost, all in order to attract the most rogue cultivators into the mountains today and seize the opportunity to harvest their life force!

Gu Fan sat cross-legged on a patch of grass. Holding the white jade ring, he thought to himself, "The demonic cultivator's ambitions are clearly not small. If he manages to obtain the last bit of life, a major change will likely occur, and his momentum will be difficult to suppress."

"We must not allow him to have these chances of survival, no matter what!"

"As for the Lu family..."

Gu Fan considered it for a moment.

The Lu family already has two Foundation Establishment cultivators, the longest of whom has been in Foundation Establishment for only thirty years. Logically speaking, they are only in the early or middle stages of Foundation Establishment and are not a great threat.

"However... with the help of the Food God, we cannot draw conclusions hastily."

"Moreover, there is a demonic cultivator behind him."

Thinking of this, Gu Fan's eyes flashed with murderous intent: "If this demonic cultivator is indeed the one who spread the plague in Lin'an City back then, he's probably already in the late Foundation Establishment stage!"

He was fighting against three opponents, including at least one late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Tsk." Gu Fan clicked his tongue.

He said, "We still need to call in more people!"

......

The night is deep and quiet, and the bright moon hangs high in the sky.

At a time when all things should be silent and all living beings should be asleep, Gu Fan quickly began to wander around Xuan Yin Mountain.

Upon encountering the man in black and discovering that he carried Gu worms, they mercilessly killed him, burning all the Gu worms in the process.

Unfortunately, the Xuan Yin Mountain stretches for hundreds of miles, and the scattered cultivators are too numerous. Gu Fan only managed to find four pairs of men in black before dawn broke.

As dawn breaks, the gentian quietly disappears.

Countless rogue cultivators rode their escape lights away from Xuan Yin Mountain, flying towards Xuan Yin Market, their minds filled with fantasies of exchanging the Netherworld Lamp Grass in their storage bags for spirit stones.

Some people noticed that some of the independent cultivators who had gone into the mountains with them were missing, but they simply assumed that the other party had gone ahead of them.

Gu Fan concealed his figure, his speed far exceeding that of the many rogue cultivators. After leaving Xuan Yin Mountain, he immediately released a command arrow to send a message to the Lingxiao Sect.

The golden arrows used for communication are specially made and are faster than the escape speed. However, Xuan Yin Mountain is located in the eastern region of Wei, and is almost across the entire Wei Kingdom from Ling Xiao Sect.

The command arrow can only reach the nearest Lingxiao Sect stronghold before relaying the message back to the sect.

In addition, reinforcements would take time, so Gu Fan had no choice but to wait in the market.

......

Meanwhile, the Lu family's territory.

The Lu family's territory is located near Xuan Yin Mountain, and it is a second-tier spiritual land.

As a branch of Xuan Yin Mountain, its spiritual energy is even more abundant than that of Xuan Yin Mountain Market. It was seized by the Lu family after they established their status as one of the five surnames of Xuan Yin.

As the Lu family's influence grew, they undertook several large-scale construction projects to expand their businesses.

There, a gray stone wall was built against the mountain, with emerald vines climbing on top. Dozens of palaces sprawled down the gentle slope, with pavilions and towers dotting the landscape.

Surrounded by numerous palaces, a majestic gray stone palace stands tall.

That was the Lu family ancestral hall, which not only enshrined the ancestors of the Lu family throughout the generations, but also served as a place for discussing important matters.

At this moment, the five figures inside the ancestral hall remained silent, and the atmosphere was tense.

Among them, one figure sat upright in the center, with another person sitting on his left, and three other figures standing on either side.

Seated in the center was a middle-aged Taoist priest, dressed in a Yin-Yang Taoist robe. His black and white hair was simply gathered up with a jet-black wooden hairpin. He held a jade ruyi in his hand, and the pressure of his mid-Foundation Establishment stage aura spread out, causing everyone present to fall silent in fear.

After a long silence, the middle-aged Taoist priest broke the silence.

"Tell me, why is the vitality of this harvest so much worse?"

Among the three standing figures, a gaunt old man immediately bowed and said, "Reporting to the patriarch, six groups of guest elders and disciples who went out to gather herbs have not yet returned."

"Although the others have gathered a considerable amount of life force, ... there is still less than 20% left."

The middle-aged Taoist priest lowered his eyelids, and words, carried by the chill of the wind, were spat out through clenched teeth: "I'm asking you, why haven't they returned yet!"

"This..." Cold sweat beaded on the gaunt old man's forehead as he tried to explain, "Perhaps... a few other families were interfering, which is why..."

"Enough!" the middle-aged Taoist shouted, and the withered old man immediately dared not say another word.

"They must have met with an accident if they didn't come back. Their lives are important, but preserving their life force is even more important."

"You should know what will happen if you can't gather enough shares."

Upon hearing this, not only the gaunt old man, but everyone present couldn't help but tremble.

Just then, a young Taoist priest with a fair complexion and narrow eyes spoke up to the left of the middle-aged Taoist priest: "Brother, there are only two paths we can take now."

"Firstly, they resorted to the same old trick, using the lives of ordinary people in Blackrock City as payment."

"Secondly, we should try to hunt down another group of rogue cultivators."

The middle-aged Taoist priest frowned and pondered for a moment, then slowly shook his head.

"It's too late to pay off the debt with the lives of mortals from Blackrock City."

"The Supreme Being has given us no more than ten days. If we want to gather enough life force from mortals, we will definitely not have enough time unless we do it on a large scale."

"But if we do that, the other four companies will definitely stop us."

"Then there's only the second path left," the young Taoist priest said.

"What brilliant plan do you have, my worthy brother?" the middle-aged Taoist priest asked.

The young Taoist priest rolled his eyes twice, opened a folding fan in his hand and fanned himself gently a few times, finally clapping his hands together.

"Got it!"

The young Taoist priest shook his head a few times, as if he were strategizing, and said slowly:

"Caiwei is not young anymore. Elder brother, why don't you spread the word and prepare to publicly select a husband for Caiwei in the clan?"

"Many cultivators will surely come at that time. If we can keep them all here, we will have no trouble finding a way to survive."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged Taoist priest looked alarmed and hesitated, saying, "If this happens, a large number of cultivators will die at the Lu family's hands, and I'm afraid the other four families will immediately realize something is wrong!"

"Hmph!" The young cultivator waved his hand and said, "Even if they feel something is wrong, they won't attack anytime soon."

"By then, we will have gathered enough life force to offer to the Supreme Being. The Supreme Being will then take us to the Wu Kingdom to cultivate, and perhaps we can even join the Supreme Sect!"

The middle-aged Taoist priest's face twisted in pain as he struggled internally.

Once this step is taken, there is no turning back.

All the disciples of the Lu family had been implanted with the Life-Eating Master, and because of this, they did not even dare to let their disciples enter the three sects of Wei Kingdom for cultivation, for fear of exposing their secrets.

The middle-aged Taoist priest's face twisted in pain as he struggled internally.

Once this step is taken, there is no turning back.

All the disciples of the Lu family had been implanted with the Life-Eating Master, and because of this, they did not even dare to let their disciples enter the three sects of Wei Kingdom for cultivation, for fear of exposing their secrets.

"But if we don't do it this way..."

The middle-aged Taoist priest pondered for a long time, then finally nodded fiercely and said through gritted teeth, "Alright! Let's do it this way!"