Xuanjian: I am the tenth son of Zhenchi, and I plot to seize the throne from Zhenlong.

"Senior, my master said that the True Man has issued a decree that the mountain gates will be closed in recent years, so the peaks are not allowed to receive guests. This has caused you some trouble. Please return."

At the foot of Jianmen Mountain, a young disciple, sword in hand, bowed to Su Ming with a polite attitude.

Su Ming nodded and returned the greeting. He had originally planned to pay his respects to the Sword Sect first, but now he could only sigh helplessly.

"Ugh~"

"Father, I'm back."

Su Ming knelt on the ground and kowtowed softly, placing a broken sword hilt in front of a mound of earth covered with weeds in a forest.

The grave was empty, containing only Su Yunji's jade thumb ring; his body had probably long since turned into a wisp of blood.

Although the speed at which he could travel using the Foundation Establishment technique far exceeded that of the Qi Refining technique, it still took him nearly a year to return to this place.

There were quite a few demonic cultivators along the way, but he was busy traveling and only casually killed a few groups. However, he encountered an unexpected person.

Once outside the woods, several demonic cultivators were sitting by the river, spouting lewd remarks and occasionally letting out lewd laughter, but they stopped talking the moment Su Ming walked over.

The leader, with a fawning smile, approached: "Senior, my brothers are all here. When...when are we going to attack the Qin family?"

A few days ago, he ran into these people and was about to kill them on the spot when he noticed that the long sword and magic used by this kid looked quite familiar.

After treating him and questioning him carefully, it was discovered that he was Zhang Zeguan's adopted son, Zhang Luyuan. As for Zhang Zeguan, he was beaten half to death by Lei Xiu when he went out to beg for money two years ago. He barely escaped with his life and died not long after returning.

Su Ming casually sat down on a blue stone, his tone indifferent: "No rush, let's observe for a few days first. It's still uncertain whether the old Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Qin family has truly passed away."

"Start by attacking their spiritual fields. You and your brothers go and attack the formation. I'll intercept their reinforcements from the shadows and make sure a few of their Qi Refining cultivators die first."

A tall, thin demonic cultivator scratched his head and stammered, "Then... Ancestor, what if their Foundation Establishment ancestor comes to attack directly?"

Su Ming gave the demonic cultivator a strange look, chuckled, and pointed his finger repeatedly: "You two are at the fourth level of Qi Refining, you are at the fifth level, and you are at the sixth level."

"To conquer even a small spiritual field? The north is in such chaos right now, are you really asking Foundation Establishment cultivators to abandon their clan's territory and personally lead the attack?"

Zhang Luyuan's expression also changed, and he immediately rebuked, "What else is on your mind besides womanizing? You even dare to question the ancestor's plan? Who gave you the right to speak?"

The tall, thin demonic cultivator hurriedly kowtowed twice and retreated timidly to the side. He was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, while Zhang Luyuan was at the sixth level of Qi Refining, not to mention that he had invoked Su Ming's name. Naturally, he dared not make any further moves.

Su Ming frowned and glanced at Zhang Luyuan, thinking that Zhang Zeguan had really made a mistake in choosing such an adopted son. He then waved his hand to stop him.

"He wasn't entirely wrong. If the Qin family's Foundation Establishment cultivators dare to come out so easily, it only proves that both of their Foundation Establishment cultivators are still alive, just keeping it hidden."

"Also, even if they are Qi Refining cultivators, we should kill two more waves to make them feel the pain before we can make a judgment."

Zhang Luyuan quickly nodded and bowed again: "Yes, yes, the old master is right."

A hint of helplessness flashed in Su Ming's eyes. He could only close his eyes and rest. He didn't know what was going on. In the past year, the voice in his head had only given him a few spells, but not anything about foresight. Now he had to rely on these small fry to test things out.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes: "When I first met Zhang Zeguan, he never mentioned having a family. How come he suddenly has an adopted son like you?"

Zhang Luyuan remained composed and respectfully replied, "Reporting to Senior, I initially lived with my mother in the desert. Later, when we joined the Shang Sect to fight demons, we came here and met my father..."

"We just live one day at a time. They took a liking to each other and consummated their marriage that very night. Then, they met that Lei Xiu, and my mother died on the spot..."

Zhang Luyuan wiped away his tears and became nonchalant again: "If you kill me, I will kill you. We have harmed so many people. It is only reasonable for us to be killed one day."

"But if that Lei Xiu ever gets seriously injured and runs into my hands, I'll skin him alive and avenge him!"

Su Ming nodded and looked at him carefully: "Where are you planning to go from now on?"

The demonic cultivators looked at each other blankly, but Zhang Luyuan replied: "Just stay in this area. I heard that the Demon Tower of the Upper Sect collapsed and a lot of Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators ran out. They have all marked out their territory."

"If we go there, we'll have to risk our lives for them. They'll say they'll protect us, but in reality, we'll die as fools."

Seeing that Su Ming had closed his eyes to rest again, the demonic cultivators no longer dared to talk recklessly here. Instead, they found a place to whisper and gesture among themselves.

……

Zhang Luyuan roughly cut down handfuls of spirit rice, and with his brutal movements, a lot of the spirit rice spilled on the ground. Then, the demonic cultivator following behind splashed a handful of blood on it, rendering it completely useless.

This blood is made from the residue and pus left after refining blood essence. If it is sprinkled on the ground, nothing will grow on that ground for the next ten years or so.

They usually only robbed small clans of their wealth and left after taking a small amount. Such an act of exterminating their lineage would create deadly enmity with others, something they would never dare to do. However, since Su Ming had made the request first, the demonic cultivators naturally dared not object.

The Qin family's spiritual field wasn't large, but with two groups of people harvesting it so violently, the entire field was ravaged in no time, filled with the aura of blood.

The most valuable spiritual plants were also cut down, and Zhang Luyuan gritted his teeth and even stuck the corpses of the Qin family cultivators stationed there into them.

Several demonic cultivators watched with twitching eyelids. One of them, struggling to suppress his voice, said, "Boss, if we do this... what if the Ancestor..."

"Shut up! You think you're the boss and I'm the boss? Run!"

"Wait." Just as the group was about to scatter like birds and beasts, Zhang Luyuan, who had sharp eyes, quickly called them back.

Su Ming flew out of the forest carrying a cultivator who looked like a dead dog, and casually threw him to the ground: "Which of you knows how to perform a soul search?"

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin demonic cultivator smiled and quickly took a few steps forward. He then placed his hand on the cultivator's face, while the other demonic cultivators helped to hold down his limbs.

As the black mist from the tall, thin cultivator's hand surged into the Qin family cultivator's mouth and nose, the two demonic cultivators pressing down on his hand began to break off the cultivator's fingers one after another.

Amidst hoarse screams, the tall, thin demonic cultivator coughed up blood from his nose, abruptly ending his spell, his eyes glazed over.

Zhang Luyuan casually stuck the Qin family cultivator into a wooden stake as well, and hurriedly explained, "Ancestor, doing too much soul searching will damage your brain. Brother Peng Hao needs to rest for two days before he can answer."

"It's alright, you guys can divide the spirit rice among yourselves, but give him some extra."