Chương 140: An Unwelcome Visit

The Fang and Zhou families had already set the course for Qingtai Prefecture's development over the next two decades. For the Zhang family, this changed nothing. Just as Huaijin prepared to depart from Qingtai City, Fang Tao caught up with him one final time.

"Brother, please, this is our apology. I was wrong to drag you into our petty factional squabbles. I never imagined Fang Tianyu would be so vindictive." Fang Tao pressed a cyan ore into Huaijin's palm and turned to leave.

"Brother, what's this about?... It was all a misunderstanding from the start. I was wrong to suspect you. Let the past stay buried." Huaijin caught Fang Tao by the arm, holding him in place. Fang Tianyu might be dead, but his faction lived on. Huaijin wanted no part in the Fang family's internal warfare, not now, not ever. Fang Tao looked at the ore Huaijin was trying to return and offered a bitter smile.

"Brother, this is simply a gift of gratitude. Nothing more. Please, accept it with an easy heart. What happened before was an accident, and I swear to you, it will never involve you again." There was a resolute gleam in Fang Tao's eyes. Twenty years. That was all it had taken for Huaijin's cultivation to catch up to his own. And now, with Huaijin's battle record shining so brilliantly, Fang Tao genuinely wanted to cement their friendship. Huaijin was silent for a long moment. Finally, he accepted the cyan ore.

"Never again."

"You have my word. The Fang family's internal disputes will stay far from your doorstep." Fang Tao struck his chest with a fist, a vow as much as a promise. With Fang Tianyu's fall, Fang Tao's faction had been granted a second chance. Huaijin said his goodbyes and left Qingtai City behind. ——"A Hollow Bamboo Stone. Fang Tao truly put thought into this." Huaijin studied the Tier 2 upper grade ore in his palm, murmuring to himself.

It was a perfect match for his Blue Bamboo Serenity Sword, a material so compatible it might as well have been mined for the purpose. Clearly, Fang Tao had his own calculations.

'Once I return to the clan, I can begin preparing to break through to the seventh level.' Huaijin turned the matter over in his mind as he traveled. The spirit beast tide had ended with unsettling abruptness. And Qingtai Prefecture had paid a grievous price. In the chaos that followed, the rampaging demonic cultivators had once again melted into the shadows, vanishing without a trace. Green Bamboo City had come under attack as well.

But with Zhang Liliang and Zhang Lixian holding the line, and a Tier 2 mid grade defensive formation protecting the walls, the city proved unbreachable. The mid stage Tier 2 demonic cultivator who led the assault was gravely wounded and barely escaped with his life. The Qi Refining demonic cultivators fared even worse, fewer than one in ten survived the slaughter. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

Green Bamboo Mountain itself, however, remained untouched. The Zhang family's strength had suffered no losses whatsoever during the spirit beast tide. Still, one thing gnawed at Huaijin's thoughts: Hu Lingsi, the cultivator who had sacrificed his own clan in a blood ritual, had never shown his face... The Zhang family would need to remain vigilant against him in the years to come. Huaijin's cultivation currently hovered at the middle of the sixth level.

After returning to Purple Cloud Peak and entering secluded cultivation for a few years, he could reach the peak of the sixth level. Then, with the Realm-Breaking Pearl in his possession, he could shatter through to the seventh level in an instant, becoming a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. At that point, the Zhang family's influence could begin spreading toward Qingtai City. The Zhangs already boasted five Tier 2 cultivators.

Huaijin's personal merits alone could be exchanged for three Foundation Establishment Pills. And after more than thirty years of careful accumulation, the clan's vaults were brimming with resources. If the Fang and Zhou families had surplus Foundation Establishment Pills, the Zhangs might purchase a few more. The Zhang clan's younger generation had been born into fortunate times. The more Tier 2 cultivators a clan possessed, the greater its might, and the further its reach.

Yet this only deepened Huaijin's regret over his elder brother, Zhang Hanren. Such ill fortune. If Hanren had held on for just one more year, he would have had his chance at a Foundation Establishment Pill. Perhaps he, too, would have broken through. It was a wound that would never fully heal. —— A few days later Huaijin finally returned home. Zhang Chongwen's tightly wound nerves finally began to ease.

Zhang Lixian and Zhang Liwei had already made their way back, along with Zhang Wujian, who had held down the mountain in their absence. Apart from Zhang Liliang, still stationed in Green Bamboo City, all the Zhang family's Tier 2 cultivators were now assembled. Huaijin distributed resources to Zhang Liwei and the others. He also relayed the decision of the Fang and Zhou families. Zhang Lixian and the supreme elders received the news with barely concealed excitement.

The Zhang clan members who had reached the peak of Qi Refining Realm were most driven of all. They began borrowing merit points from their fellow clansmen to secure Foundation Establishment Pills, and threw themselves into clan missions with renewed fervor. After all, advancement required not just merit, but proven contribution to the clan's prosperity.

"Liwei, Wujian, Father, our family lacks nothing in resources right now. Use them to strengthen yourselves. Blood Lion Mountain has fallen, and in twenty years, we will face the Raging Blood Lion Clan in open battle." Huaijin's voice carried the weight of absolute certainty. The three cultivators nodded in unison. Zhang Chongwen, however, felt no fear. The family had risen. Huaijin was their pillar. In twenty years, the Zhangs would undoubtedly stand even taller.

But for Zhang Chongwen himself, even with life extending resources, his lifespan was fast approaching its end. He likely would not live to see that day. —— Three days later, Huaijin prepared to leave Green Bamboo Mountain and return to Purple Cloud Peak for secluded cultivation. The name "Tiger of Langya" had spread across half of Bing Province. Even the Heavenly Crane Sect had taken notice of Huaijin's legendary feats.

Weng Zho, who had recently broken through to the late stage of Purple Mansion realm, fell silent for a long, long time upon hearing Huaijin's name. He found himself thinking what Zhang Chongwen had thought before him: Can the cultivation speed of the Earth Fiend Spirit Body truly be this terrifying? Zi Xuanwu, the very cultivator who had once escorted Zhang Lixian to the Heavenly Crane Sect, had also succeeded in his breakthrough, becoming a Tier 3 cultivator.

And Zhang Renan, who had been taken as a disciple by Weng Zho all those years ago, had made such extraordinary progress that he, too, had broken through to Foundation Establishment Realm. Such was the power of a Variant Spirit Root, rivaling even a Heavenly Spirit Root's speed. When Zhang Renan heard of Huaijin's achievements, his emotions churned like a storm.

He still remembered, as vividly as yesterday, the day when he was six years old, when Huaijin had discovered his spirit root and sent him away to the Heavenly Crane Sect. —— At Green Bamboo Mountain, just as Huaijin was about to depart, a clansman rushed forward with urgent news: The Jin family from Qingtai City had arrived requesting an audience. Huaijin's expression turned cold as winter frost.

"Tell the Jin family cultivators that I will not see them." With those words, he announced his intention to enter secluded cultivation. He made it abundantly clear that none of the Zhang family's Tier 2 cultivators were to receive the visitors either. The Zhang family's leadership exchanged bewildered glances. Zhang Lixian and the others felt their own expressions darken with unease.