Fairy, help me cultivate.

"Who goes there!"

The man demanded an explanation.

Chen Yao's heart tightened, and the golden needle suddenly pierced out, piercing the top of the man's head before he could react.

Chen Yao acted first, grabbing the corpse, tearing off the outer robe and storage bag from the body, draping them over himself, and casually tossing the corpse into the bushes.

All in one go.

Just then, footsteps sounded behind me.

"what happened?"

Several more members of the Jiang family heard the commotion and rushed over.

Chen Yao dared not turn around, secretly summoning his golden needles, and mumbled, "It was just the shadow of a tree swaying in the wind. I thought it was an enemy... I was startled..."

He clearly heard the sound of relief from the people behind him: "Er Gou has always been timid, but it's never a bad thing to be more vigilant."

"Yes, I didn't expect Bai Lian to be so troublesome even though she's only at the late Foundation Establishment stage. It's been so long and we still can't handle her with so many of us."

"Hmph, isn't it because she has outstanding talent in alchemy that we need to capture her unharmed? Besides, there's Jiang Wuyin inside too."

"Alright, enough nonsense. She might launch a counterattack soon. Maintaining the formation that's trapping her is the most important thing. Otherwise, be careful of Third Grandfather and Nineteenth Grandfather getting angry, and then no one will benefit."

The footsteps faded into the distance.

Chen Yao breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Venerable Lianjiang was with Jiang Bailian, and judging from their words, they wouldn't rashly harm Jiang Bailian. This was good news.

Just as he was about to turn around and blend into the Jiang family's group, he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

It turns out there was still one person who hadn't left.

"Ergou, why do I feel like you're acting strange today?"

Chen Yao's eyes darted around: "Someone's attacking!"

At the same time, he released the three purple fire-devouring pythons into the grass, turned around, and shot the golden needles at the person behind him.

The man was clearly prepared; a green light flashed in front of him as he conjured a shield.

However, his shield, which was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, was no match for the golden needle of the Golden Core demonic cultivator. With a clang, the shield shattered, and the golden needle pierced his heart.

He stared wide-eyed at Chen Yao's face, then collapsed and died.

He didn't utter a single warning throughout.

Chen Yao withdrew the golden needles and then fell to the ground.

Soon the footsteps drew near, and a large group of Jiang's disciples rushed over.

They glanced at the completely dead mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, then at Chen Yao, who was curled up to the side.

Where is the enemy?

Chen Yao pointed to the bushes where the three purple fire-devouring pythons were lying, and said with grief and indignation, "He did it to save me..."

The three-purple fire-devouring python spewed out a mouthful of poisonous fire and then fled into the grass.

"Chase!"

The Foundation Establishment disciples disregarded his life or death and chased after him.

Make sure they've gone far away.

Chen Yao quickly stood up and ran towards the clan chief's residence.

Soon, the Jiang family disciples who had gone to chase the Three Purple Fire-Swallowing Pythons returned to their original positions.

Chen Yao, who had already reached the outside of the courtyard wall, breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the moment had truly been crucial.

Outside the courtyard wall, almost everyone was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, but there were far fewer of them than on the outer perimeter.

As he walked along, he had set up dark red stakes along the way according to the sixty-four hexagrams, with runes engraved on them, which were presumably a formation aimed at Jiang Bailian.

He stared at the shadowy figures before him and the high courtyard wall, wondering how he could sneak into the yard.

At this moment, a purple bead rose into the air in the courtyard, its purple light intensified, and streaks of purple flame shot out in all directions.

The Jiang family members activated various defensive magical artifacts, and at the same time, the dark red stakes lit up, indicating that the formation was activated.

Even so, many screams and groans could still be heard.

Fortunately, the purple flames seemed to be emitted according to the sixty-four hexagrams, so Chen Yao was not attacked.

After an incense stick had burned, the purple flame died down, and the purple round ball fell into the courtyard.

The dark red beams of light dimmed, but became more vibrant than before.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in fine clothes strode over along the courtyard wall.

The Jiang family members who had reached the late Foundation Establishment stage all bowed and addressed him as "Nineteenth Grandfather" and "Nineteenth Great-Grandfather."

The man waved his hand, indicating that formalities were unnecessary, and said to the courtyard, "Bai Lian, the situation is beyond our control. The clan leader has passed away, why are you still so stubborn? Our clan has cooperated with Kuanglu for hundreds of years, how many talented young men have we lost for Kuanglu? But how much has Kuanglu done for us?"

"If it weren't for Wuyin's sudden emergence, the Jiang family would probably still be a second-rate family in Jiujiang. The Qingxu Sect is currently planning to counterattack Kuanglu and needs our help. If we join the Qingxu Sect, we can definitely use them to annex the Kong and Ma families. In a few hundred years, we can build up our foundation and establish a sect in Jiujiang in no time. Why should we depend on others?"

The middle-aged man's voice was loud and clear, carrying far.

After a while, Jiang Bailian's voice came from the courtyard: "You want to seek refuge with the Qingxu Sect and negotiate with a tiger for its skin. My second uncle and I have nothing to do with it, nor do we want to. But why do you have to harm your family?"

"When you do great things, how can you do them without sacrifice and bloodshed?" the middle-aged man said coldly.

After a long pause, Jiang Bailian finally said, "Alright, if you want to join the Qingxu Sect, then join. I don't want to pursue the matter of my second grandfather's lineage and my great-grandfather's death. Send me my junior brother Chen, open the great formation, and I'll take my second uncle and junior brother away..."

Chen Yao was moved when he heard that she was still worried about him even though she was in danger.

The middle-aged man laughed loudly: "Bai Lian, you're at least a hundred years old, how can your thinking still be so childish? Even if you hadn't come back, I would have gone looking for you, let alone the fact that you came back and directly interrupted our good deed! Did you think I would let you go and inform others?"

As he spoke, he turned around and glanced around. Seeing that Chen Yao was neither standing on the wooden stake nor defending himself, he frowned and coldly waved his hand at him.

Chen Yao's heart tightened, but he had no choice but to move closer.

The middle-aged man said to Jiang Bailian, "To tell you the truth, the condition for Qingxu Sect to help us annex the Kong and Ma families is your alchemy bloodline! Obey and surrender, and your nineteenth grandfather guarantees not to hurt you too much. As long as you hand over your bloodline, you can go to Kuanglu or Qingxu as you please."

As he spoke, he handed Chen Yao a dark red wooden nail, which was very similar in style to the wooden stakes.

"Climb over into the courtyard, find a way to get close to Bai Lian, and stab her in the back of the neck."

The middle-aged man said coldly.

Chen Yao narrowed his eyes, knowing that he was using him as cannon fodder, but it was also a good opportunity to reunite with Jiang Bailian.

He took the wooden peg and climbed over the wall.

Chapter 100 Heart to Heart

While the middle-aged man was speaking and using magic to attract Jiang Bailian's attention, Chen Yao climbed over the courtyard wall.

The courtyard looked like it had been the site of a fierce battle; corpses were strewn everywhere, bloodstains were everywhere, and it was a scene of utter devastation.

The courtyard, which should have been a tranquil and lush place with bamboo groves and a small pond, is now stained with thick blood.

Jiang Bailian was inside the room, her graceful figure reflected in the paper window by the lamplight.

Chen Yao was delighted and slowly approached the house. He pushed open the window and entered.

A burst of sparks and blade light erupted head-on, the scorching heat accompanied by a sharp, biting wind.

Startled, he quickly conjured a shield from his blood and hurriedly called out, "Senior Sister Jiang, it's me, Chen Yao!"

Amidst a flurry of sparks and flashes of light, the blood shield was shattered in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, Jiang Bailian recognized his voice and withdrew his attack.

The sparks originated from a fiery red pill suspended in her palm, while the blade's light came from a silver sequin on her chest.

"Junior Brother Chen!"

Jiang Bailian's blank face showed grievance and helplessness. She put away the pills and magical artifacts and threw herself into Chen Yao's arms.

Chen Yao was stunned for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her and gently stroked her back to comfort her.

But he didn't waste time; instead, he told Jiang Bailian what he had seen and knew.

"The dark red rune-covered wooden stakes outside are arranged according to the sixty-four hexagrams, which seems to be some kind of formation. Even if we can break through this formation, we will still need to deal with the intense search by the Qingxu Sect and the Jiang Clan disciples. The mountain-protecting formation has also been activated, making it difficult to break through."

After listening to his explanation, Jiang Bailian had regained her composure. She got up from his arms, her little face flushed, and said, "That dark red wooden stake must be what they used to steal my alchemical bloodline."

After hearing what she said, Chen Yao remembered that after Jiang Bailian used the purple pill to attack, the dark red wooden stake became even more vibrant.

"So, if you attack, those wooden stakes can steal a small amount of your blood."

He reminded her.

Jiang Bailian frowned: "No wonder they keep trying to provoke me into making a move. I'm much more tired than usual, and even taking pills can't help me recover."

"Senior sister, this is your home after all, you're more familiar with it. Is there any other way to escape?"

"Have!"

Jiang Bailian took Chen Yao's hand and led him into the inner room.

The inner room should be the clan chief's bedroom, where an old man with a pale face was lying on the bed.

“He is my clan uncle, Venerable Lianjiang Jiang Wuyin.”

"What's up with him?"

Jiang Bailian's eyes darkened: "Just now, in order to save me, he was seriously injured by Third Grandfather and Nineteenth Grandfather working together."

Chen Yao walked to the bedside and found Jiang Wuyin barely breathing.

"They're all one family, and their hands are truly ruthless!"

Hearing this, Jiang Bailian could only shake his head helplessly: "My uncle has an eccentric personality. He doesn't listen to anyone, but he is chivalrous and hates evil. In other words, he doesn't know how to be flexible, which inevitably makes him resented by others."

She went to the other side of the bed and pulled open a clasp.

With a creaking sound, a wall covered with runes was revealed.

"This is a teleportation array left by our great-grandfather. Only his closest blood relatives knew about it, in order to prevent today's disaster. It's a pity that he still fell for the tricks of those unfilial descendants and couldn't use it."

"Then why didn't you use it to escape just now? Was it because you couldn't activate it by yourself?" Chen Yao asked.

Jiang Bailian's unfocused eyes brightened: "That's right. This rune formation can only be activated if the runes are the great-grandfather's own blood. Otherwise, the two people must be of one mind to activate it."

Chen Yao frowned: "It's a bit difficult to have the same feelings..."