Chương 27: The Mystic Iron Mine

The Array Formation the Hu family had set up was shattered the moment the Zhang family cultivators joined the attack. Seeing the Zhang family figures closing in, the three Hu cultivators went pale. Without hesitation, they activated their family transmission talismans. Boom! Zhang Lixian's Crimson Rainbow Sword was a tier 1, upper grade Spirit Artifact. When he poured his spiritual energy into it, each strike hit with the force of a Perfect Qi Refining Realm cultivator. Clang! The blow landed.

Crimson sword energy swirled through the air and slammed into the Hu family's Level 7 Qi Refining Realm cultivator, sending him flying backward. Even the Spirit Artifact in his hand trembled letting out a dull, pained whine.

"Zhang Lixian! What do you think you're doing? Do you want an all out war with the Hu family?" the pale faced Hu cultivator roared.

"Hu Lihai, you will pay for the sixteen lives of my Zhang family!" Zhang Lixian's voice was icy, carrying a bone deep chill.

"Laying hands on mortals as cultivators… your Hu family is finished." Despair flashed in Hu Lihai's eyes.

"Damn it! Weren't they all supposed to be dead? How did this leak so fast? Useless! Can't even clean up a simple job." Hu Lihai threw everything he had into blocking Zhang Lixian's relentless assault, cursing wildly in his heart. The other two Hu cultivators were speechless. The truth was already out, there was no hiding it now.

"Impossible… I'm sure I killed every last one of them," muttered the Level 4 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator, his face a mask of disbelief. Boom! Zhang Huaijin surged forward at breathtaking speed. His Blue Bamboo Sword blazed with a brilliant sword beam wreathed in fire energy. The power erupting from it was on par with a Level 7 Qi Refining Realm cultivator.

"Heavenly Fire Sword!" In the blink of an eye, the searing sword beam was already bearing down on the Level 4 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator. Boom! The impact was devastating. The sheer force of the sword beam ripped the enemy's Spirit Artifact from his grasp and sent it spinning through the air. Swish! A flash of blue steel. A spray of crimson. The Level 4 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator's head left his shoulders in a single clean stroke by Zhang Huaijin's blade.

By the time Zhang Huaijin turned around, Zhang Linyi had already cut down the remaining Level 5 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator. Blood soaked the ground in the span of a few breaths. A quarter of an hour later, Zhang Lixian ended Hu Lihai's life.

"Huaijin, go inside and survey the mine," Zhang Lixian said, tucking Hu Lihai's storage pouch into his robe. His voice carried no warmth, only cold, quiet resolve.

"The Hu family has already received word. Three of their cultivators are dead, they won't just walk away from that. We'll wait for them here." Stolen story; please report. Zhang Huaijin nodded and disappeared into the excavated iron mine. The remaining Zhang cultivators sat down to recover their spiritual energy. Zhang Lixian himself had barely expended any effort killing Hu Lihai. Half an hour later, Zhang Huaijin emerged.

"Second Uncle, you were right. It's a Mystic Iron Mine," he reported.

"I did a quick survey, it's a micro scale deposit." Relief washed over the faces of every Zhang family cultivator. A micro-scale mine meant they could claim a share for themselves. If it had been a small-scale vein, they would have had no choice but to report it to a Foundation Establishment family in exchange for a payout. Trying to keep a small-scale mine for themselves would have been suicide. Time crawled by. Fifteen minutes later, eight figures appeared outside the mine. The Hu family cultivators had arrived.

At their head was the Hu family patriarch himself, Hu Lingsi, a Level 9 Qi Refining Realm cultivator in his seventies. Hu Lingsi's gaze fell upon the bodies of Hu Lihai and the other two. His expression turned ugly.

"Zhang Lixian, you're asking for death." His voice was low, seething with murderous intent. But when his eyes swept over the Zhang cultivators behind Lixian, his heart seized. This is bad.

"Death?" Zhang Lixian's lips curled into a cold smile.

"You're the one asking for it. From this moment, the Zhang and Hu family are at war." As if sensing the retreat flickering in Hu Lingsi's eyes, Zhang Lixian charged.

"Kill them all!" Zhang Huaijin's expression never changed. He followed his father straight into the fray. Zhang Linyi and Zhang Hong moved together, closing in on a Level 7 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator from both sides. The Hu family had once boasted five Late Qi Refining Realm cultivators. But Zhang Huaijin had assassinated one of them earlier. Zhang Lixian had just killed Hu Lihai. That left only one Level 9 Qi Refining Realm cultivator, likely guarding the Hu family compound.

The Hu family's situation had just become dire. The moment Hu Lingsi engaged Zhang Lixian, his expression shifted. Both were at Level 9 Qi Refining Realm, but Zhang Lixian's vitality was on an entirely different level. They traded blows evenly at first, but after only a few exchanges, Hu Lingsi was losing ground. The remaining Level 7 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator fared even worse.

Trapped between two Zhang cultivators of the same level, he could barely defend himself, stumbling from one narrow escape to the next. As for the Hu family's Mid Qi Refining Realm cultivators… On the Zhang side, most of the Mid Qi Refining Realm cultivators were only at Level 4, with limited combat experience. Only Zhang Huaijin fought at a Level 6 standard. Yet the battle was completely one-sided, all because of Zhang Huaijin's overwhelming combat power.

And there was still Zhang Liliang, a Level 7 Qi Refining Realm cultivator, adding to the pressure. Swish! Blood painted the edge of Zhang Huaijin's Blue Bamboo Sword. A Level 4 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivator dropped dead on the spot. The Hu family had only one Level 6 Qi Refining Realm cultivator, and Zhang Liliang kept him pinned down without mercy. Zhang Huaijin took on two Level 5 Qi Refining Realm Hu cultivators at once and held the advantage.

The remaining Zhang cultivators struck from the sides, forcing the Hu family fighters to stay constantly on guard. Eight Hu cultivators had come. One was already dead. Hu Lingsi's heart bled. But he had no one to blame except his own clansman, the one who hadn't finished the job cleanly. The longer Hu Lingsi fought, the more alarmed he became. Zhang Lixian had him completely suppressed, fighting with ease, almost casually. Meanwhile, the rest of the Zhang family had seized control of the battlefield.

Hu Lingsi began thinking about retreat. If the fighting continued, the Hu family's losses would only mount, and they were already hemorrhaging. The Hu family had been on a downward slide ever since two of their cultivators died to Spirit Beasts three years ago. Over three years, the neighboring Zhang family had only grown stronger. When they'd stumbled upon this Mystic Iron Mine, the Hu family had seen it as their chance to reverse their fortunes.

A micro-scale mine, even a poor one, could produce tens of thousands of tons of tier 1 Mystic Iron. Over time, that meant a steady stream of spirit stones. So they had thrown aside the rules of the cultivation world. They attacked Zhang family mortals. But they never imagined that someone would survive. Once word of this spread, the Hu family would be condemned by every other clan. Because they were undeniably in the wrong. The Zhang clansmen had discovered the mine first.

Hu cultivators had slaughtered Zhang mortals. No matter how you looked at it, the Hu family had no moral ground to stand on. Even their own allies might refuse to help them in an all out war against the Zhang family. The shame was simply too great. Unless, of course, the Hu family paid a price so steep that it made the disgrace worth enduring…