“I believe there are a few rogue cultivators like me here, but most of you must be cultivators from the Yin Zhi Region.”

Taoist Yu Ci was not as kind toward these cultivators as he was toward Zhao Jiuge’s group. His expression was calm, but he gave off a sense of pressure.

Most of the cultivators quickly nodded in agreement after hearing what Taoist Yu Ci said. These people were all natives of the Yin Zhi Region and all had various forces backing them. Most of the people here were at the late stage of the Foundation Realm and had hoped to enter the spirit vein to temper their bodies. Unless they got lucky or had excellent talent, they wouldn’t have a backing strong enough to provide them with the resources to cultivate.

Among those people, Peng Bo called out the loudest and was the most happy. He occasionally tried to get Taoist Yu Ci’s attention. He was very excited to have known Zhao Jiuge’s group, and he was not going to let this opportunity go. Fortunately, his Peng family was not a small force in the area.

“The mastermind Ren Wuya has been eliminated and most of the spirit corpses have been destroyed as well. The remaining people from the Wind Mountain Villa must have heard about what happened here and have all scattered.”

After Taoist Yu Ci finished speaking, he turned toward the hill and continued, “The last Spirit Core Realm cultivator from the Wind Mountain Villa has just been killed by my origin soul. The rest that escaped are all below the Spirit Core Realm. I want you all to return to the forces you belong to and quickly send people out. If you find someone from the Wind Mountain Villa, kill them without hesitation in order to prevent any problems in the future. Do you all understand?”

“We understand, Senior!”

They didn’t dare to disobey Taoist Yu Ci’s command. The most powerful cultivators in their families were only at the Nascent Soul Realm. Some of them didn’t even have any Nascent Soul Realm cultivators, only a few Spirit Core Realm cultivators.

Most of the people said their goodbyes to Taoist Yu Ci and quickly left. They were eager to complete Taoist Yu Ci’s command. Perhaps if it was someone else ordering them, they would have felt resentful, but being called upon by a Dao Origin Realm cultivator was a great honor. It wasn’t just them, even the elders in their families would have similar reactions.

Seeing everyone leave, Taoist Yu Ci revealed a satisfactory smile. After he killed Ren Wuya, he had released his origin soul and killed Han Zhibao along with the dozens of Wind Mountain Villa disciples who were heading this way.

Yu Ci understood that he had to remove the problem completely, so he was not going to let the people of the Wind Mountain Villa escape. Because he had allowed Ren Wuya to escape once, even more lives had been lost.

The scarred burly man, his two remaining brothers, and the two men in blue who had lost one of the members were in shock. At the Spirit Core Realm, they had a better understanding of the later realms. They were in awe at the ability to release your origin soul and kill someone with it.

“You guys go too. After all, reducing the casualties will help save more innocent people.”

Looking at the small group of cultivators remaining, Yu Ci waved at them to join as well. There were several Spirit Core Realm cultivators, so it would reduce the casualties.

“Yes, Senior.”

The burly man with the scar became excited when he saw Yu Ci looking at him. A shy expression appearing on a man as big as him was quite strange. He left with his two remaining brothers to chase after the people from the Wind Mountain Villa. Although they had lost two sworn brothers, they were people who lived with their lives constantly on the line. However, just because they didn’t show, it didn’t mean they weren’t feeling sorrow. They had simply buried it deep within their hearts.

After the scarred burly man left, the older among the two men in blue immediately said, “Thank you, Senior, for avengering our junior brother. The two of us will immediately head back to the sect and tell our teacher about this. He will send people out to clean up the mess here to prevent these people from harming any more innocent people.”

Then both of them sincerely bowed toward Taoist Yu Ci, almost 90 degrees. Their expressions were sad as they flew away on their flying swords.

The news would quickly spread to the forces in the area and they would all immediately act to eliminate the corpse cultivators that escaped, but they wouldn’t be as effective at it as the bigger sects. Although the people that had escaped weren’t strong, there were still over 100 of them, and it was best not to allow a single corpse cultivator to escape.

When almost everyone was gone, there were only six or seven people left, Peng Bo being one of them.

Taoist Yu Ci casually looked at them, which startled them. They took one last look at the valley before leaving. They were afraid that Yu Ci might get angry at them.

In the blink of an eye, Peng Bo was the only one who remained. Facing Taoist Yu Ci, even the usually lively Peng Bo didn’t dare to be so unbridled. He somewhat embarrassedly rubbed his hair and pointed at Zhao Jiuge. He had a shy smile on his face and he said, “Senior, Zhao Jiuge is my brother.”

Half way through his words, he quickly rushed over toward Zhao Jiuge and hid behind him and Pei Su Su. He knew how to take advantage of the situation and knew that this senior wouldn’t chase him away for now. He had stayed out of pure curiosity about what was going to happen next. Also, he had finally found a thigh to hug

[1]

and he wasn’t going to let this chance go.

San Wu would naturally not leave, as he owed Zhao Jiuge an explanation. Yao Lufeng’s face was turning green and white. He knew that it was time for him to leave, and he wanted to leave without saying a word. However, he was afraid of being considered rude by Taoist Yu Ci. He also didn’t want to act so cowardly before Zhao Jiuge, as he didn’t want Zhao Jiuge to think he was afraid.

Yao Lufeng made a respectful gesture toward Taosit Yu Ci and said, “Senior, since we are finished here, I’ll take my leave first.”

Seeing Taoist Yu Ci nodded calmly and then he walked up to Zhao Jiuge. He had a fake smile on his face as he said, “Chief Head Disciple Zhao, I look forward to seeing you at the Battle Competition. I hope you will shine as brightly then as you did today. I’ll take my leave now.”

After he finished speaking, he left before Zhao Jiuge could even react. In a flash, he disappeared on his flying sword.

Zhao Jiuge was very confused. Why had this Yao Lufeng become so strange? He originally had a good impression of Yao Lufeng, but the words he left behind were the same as those of the Chief Head Disciple of the Giant Sword Sect. He wanted to meet Zhao Jiuge at the Battle Competition in two years. Had he done something that would make Yao Lufeng want to get revenge on him?

How could he know that Yao Lufeng was simply jealous? He had only acted so graciously before to get everyone’s attention. He thought that with his identity as the Chief Head Disciple of the Water Origin Cave, everyone would look at him. He hadn't expected Zhao Jiuge to be the Chief Head Disciple of the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect!

Although the Water Origin Cave was a first-rate sect, it couldn’t compare to a holy land like the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, so Zhao Jiuge had gotten the lime light in the end.

Yu Ci had treated San Wu and Zhao Jiuge well, but he wouldn’t even look directly at him. This made Yao Lufeng a bit resentful. Although his cultivation level was the same as Zhao Jiuge’s, his strength was indeed inferior. This made it so he couldn’t say anything, and now he was filled with jealousy. This was why he had said those words before he left. The purpose of this training trip was to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm so he could gain glory for the Water Origin Cave at the Battle Competition. He could only pray that he would get some payback at the Battle Competition.

Zhao Jiuge rubbed his nose as he watched Yao Lufeng leave and helplessly shook his head. He wondered how he had provoked so many people. His training had just begun and there were already so many enemies.

What he didn’t know was that his conflict with the Giant Sword Sect had been spread to all the sects in the area by Senior Brother Zhang. This caused a sensation throughout the Giant Sword Sect, so now many people wanted to teach Zhao Jiuge a lesson at the Battle Competition. The higher-ups were very happy about this and used it to push the disciples to train harder.

Everything that had happened here, along with his relation with Taoist Yu Ci, would cause his name to spread out even more. All the cultivators that had witnessed everything quickly spread the news, and this time it was not just the Yan Province. Even the neighboring Huang Province knew about Zhao Jiuge’s deeds!

Peng Bo stood there with his arms folded and looked at Yao Lufeng with a look of disdain.

Pei Su Su gently supported Zhao Jiuge. She had a big smile on her face while she stared at him. She seemed to enter a trance as she thought, 

“That mountain village boy has finally grown into a man.”

“Cough cough… If we keep looking, the sun will set.”

A dry cough that destroyed the atmosphere echoed. Peng Bo, who was hiding behind the two of them, saw this and interrupted with a cough. This caused Pei Su Su to stare at him with a ferocious gaze.

At this moment, only seven people were left in this empty valley. Zhao Jiuge, Pei Su Su, San Wu, Peng Bo, Yu Ci, and his two disciples.

Seeing that Zhao Jiuge was not doing well, Yu Ci walked toward them with his two disciples.