The old man waved his hand, signaling the black-clad guards to rise.
He looked Lin Xue up and down, his gaze as sharp as an unsheathed blade, stabbing straight into her soul.
Lin Xue bristled under his scrutiny like a startled wildcat, every hair standing on end.
A powerful sense of danger engulfed her, as if she had fallen into an icy cellar, her whole body freezing and trembling uncontrollably.
She felt like a helpless lamb under the watchful eyes of a hungry wolf.
This was the Ancestor in Foundation Establishment of the Yang Family—the most powerful cultivator in Xichuan.
There was absolutely no way she could be a match for this old man.
Without hesitation, Lin Xue circulated her demonic energy at full speed.
The teleportation spell on her ring was instantly primed, ready to be activated at any moment.
She spun around and bolted into the house as fast as she could.
Since this old monster from the Yang Family had come, there was no way it was just for a friendly chat.
She had killed several members of the Yang Family, and now she was even brazenly stepping on their Flying Boat.
The Ancestor probably wanted nothing more than to grind her bones to dust on the spot.
Her plan was to rush inside, grab Zhang Zongnian, and teleport away immediately.
There was no chance of saving Zhang Zongnian’s mother today, but at the very least, she had to take Zhang Zongnian with her.
If he was left behind, he would surely die at the hands of the Yang Family.
As for his mother, her fate would be left to heaven—perhaps there would be another chance to save her in the future.
Lin Xue had just turned and leapt toward the window when a heavy blow suddenly struck her from behind.
The Ancestor in Foundation Establishment from the Yang Family had made his move.
He reached out and pressed his palm against the center of her back.
Though it looked gentle, Lin Xue felt as if she had been struck by a massive battering ram.
She screamed, crashed through the window, slammed into the opposite wall, and then collapsed to the ground.
Her vision went black, her back throbbed in agony, and it felt like her spine was nearly broken.
She coughed up a mouthful of blood with a “wah,” her face turning as pale as paper.
The attack power of a cultivator at Zhuji Qi was indeed on a whole different level.
That single palm strike nearly cost her half her life.
Zhang Zongnian was still desperately prying his mother’s fingers, trying to pull her up from the floor.
Suddenly, he saw Lin Xue fly into the house, smash against the wall, and fall limply to the ground like a broken puppet, clearly suffering grievous injuries.
Zhang Zongnian’s mind went blank, nearly exploding with panic.
His greatest fear had come true—Lin Xue had gotten hurt trying to help him.
This was the last thing he ever wanted to see.
He cried out, “Miss Lin!” Abandoning his mother, he rushed to Lin Xue’s side, lifting her off the ground with urgent worry all over his face.
Li Shi watched her son fret over Lin Xue, despair and sorrow covering her features.
Her son had truly been bewitched by that Yaojing, lost all sense, and even after being hurt so badly by her, still devoted himself entirely to her.
How could this demoness be so destructive?
It was a good thing that Old Immortal Master had struck her! Served her right!
Why hadn’t that wretched Yaojing been beaten to death by the Old Immortal Master?
Why did she have to bring disaster upon her son?
Li Shi was about to curse at the Yaojing, when suddenly the wall beside her collapsed, a pile of bricks crashing down, burying her frail body beneath the rubble.
The Ancestor in Foundation Establishment of the Yang Family had kicked down half the wall of the Zhang residence, stepping over the ruins and striding inside.
He planted his foot atop the fallen wall that covered Li Shi, looking down at Lin Xue and Zhang Zongnian.
Seeing Li Shi buried under the collapsed wall, Zhang Zongnian nearly fainted on the spot.
He wailed, “Mother!”
He tried to rush over, wanting to claw through the rubble and pull his mother out from beneath the bricks.
But a hand gripped his arm tightly, and in the next moment, he felt the world spin as if he were a leaf caught in a hurricane, swept up by an overwhelming force into an unknown vortex.
A moment later, Zhang Zongnian’s feet touched solid ground again.
He stumbled a few steps and fell to his knees.
His vision gradually cleared, and he realized he was lying in a dense forest.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves above, casting mottled shadows all around.
Birds chirped in the branches, and from the distance came the occasional cry of an unknown beast.
Zhang Zongnian sat up in a daze, his face etched with both grief and confusion.
What happened?
How did I get here?
Wasn’t I at home?
Where is the Yang Family’s Ancestor?
Where is Miss Lin?
He looked around and saw a delicate woman in white lying not far away.
Miss Lin!
Staggering to his feet, Zhang Zongnian rushed over and lifted Lin Xue from the ground.
Lin Xue’s eyes were shut, her face deathly pale—she had fallen into a deep coma.
Her features were delicate and beautiful, but blood still trailed from the corner of her mouth, making her look both tragic and heartbreakingly fragile.
Zhang Zongnian pressed his finger under her tiny nose, feeling the faintest breath, and finally relaxed a little.
He pulled a bottle of Great Return Pill from his Storage Pouch at his waist, took out a pill, and placed it in her mouth.
Then he found a bottle of the Yang Family’s Sevenfold Resurrection Pill and fed her one of those as well.
Who knew if these medicines would help?
Lin Xue had been wounded by the Ancestor in Foundation Establishment of the Yang Family.
The power of a Zhuji Qi cultivator was worlds apart from the Qi Refinement Stage.
He didn’t know if her delicate body could withstand such injuries.
Sitting beside Lin Xue, Zhang Zongnian gazed at her unconscious, tragic beauty, and the memory of his mother buried under the ruins made his heart ache as if torn in two.
Mother was gone.
Dead by the hands of the Yang Family’s Ancestor in Foundation Establishment.
Clenching his teeth, he formed a fist with his left hand and pounded the earth again and again.
Yang Family!
All of this was because of the Yang Family!
You beasts of the Yang Family in Xichuan, I, Zhang Zongnian, will never forgive you! This hatred cannot stand beneath the same sky!
So long as I live, I, Zhang Zongnian, will stop at nothing to kill every last one of you in the Yang Family!
Blood now stained his fists.
……
Yang Zhen was two hundred and sixteen years old this year, his cultivation at the early stage of Zhuji Qi, and he was the only Foundation Establishment cultivator in Xichuan.
At the age of seventy-eight, having reached the Great Circle of Qi Refinement, he was granted a Foundation-building Pill.
After successfully breaking through, he remained stuck at the early stage of Zhuji Qi for nearly one hundred and forty years.
During this century, thanks to his presence, the Yang Family had flourished.
Generation after generation of cultivators had emerged among his descendants, and the clan gradually grew into a colossal force, ruling over an entire county with unmatched power.
Yang Zhen knew well that all of this was owed to that single Foundation-building Pill.
If not for it, he would have long since met his lifespan’s limit, buried underground as a pile of dry bones.
The Yang Family would have dwindled away, lacking resources, and eventually faded back into an ordinary mortal clan.
Therefore, the next Foundation-building Pill must remain firmly in the hands of the Yang Family.
The hidden rule of the Dazhou Dynasty was that each county could only have one Foundation Establishment cultivator.
According to custom, the prefecture would only select a new Foundation Establishment candidate from among the Great Circle of Qi Refinement cultivators in the county when the current one was nearing the end of their life, bestowing a single Foundation-building Pill to help one ascend and take the mantle.
Using the excuse that his lifespan was almost up and Xichuan would soon be without a Zhuji Qi cultivator, Yang Zhen had pulled every string he could, securing a Foundation-building Pill for his great-great-grandson, the youngest Great Circle of Qi Refinement cultivator in the Yang Family—Yang Yuting.
He thought that with this pill, another Zhuji Qi cultivator would rise, letting the Yang Family dominate Xichuan for another century.
The clan would grow ever stronger, and he could depart in peace, without betraying the legacy of the Ancestor.
But today, his great-grandson—Yang Deguang, the current head of the Yang Family—had come in tears, reporting that Yang Yuting had been killed, his body missing, and that the precious Foundation-building Pill had likely fallen into someone else’s hands.
Upon hearing this from Yang Deguang, Yang Zhen flew into a rage.
Someone had dared, right under his nose, to kill a Yang Family descendant, steal the clan’s possessions, and snatch their Foundation-building Pill!
At once, using the location of the Protective Jade Talisman provided by Yang Deguang, he tracked down the killer and sped over in a flash.
He wanted to see with his own eyes—who dared to tug on a tiger’s whiskers right at its mouth!
Arriving, Yang Zhen found that the culprit was nothing more than a petty little demoness.
He could easily tell from the aura swirling around her that she was just a minor demon at the late Body Tempering stage.
He struck her with a palm, intending to interrogate her about the whereabouts of the Foundation-building Pill.
If Yang Yuting was dead, so be it. He was just a Great Circle of Qi Refinement descendant—he could easily be replaced.
The Yang Family had no shortage of cultivators, no shortage of talented successors.
But the Foundation-building Pill was the key—it had to be recovered.
Yang Zhen chased them into the house, but hadn’t expected that demoness to use a teleportation spell, vanishing before his eyes with the man she’d taken.
Looking at the now-empty house, Yang Zhen let out a cold laugh.
Little demoness, do you really think you can escape this old man?
He took out Yang Deguang’s jade talisman.
This Protective Jade Talisman was one of a pair. The holder could use one to sense the location of the other.
Yang Yuting’s talisman was now with the demoness and the man she had taken.
At present, their position was three hundred li away.
Flicking his sleeve, Yang Zhen strode out into the courtyard, transformed into Dun Guang, and shot off in pursuit.
He would kill that demoness and the man she had risked her life to save, and take back the Foundation-building Pill of the Yang Family!