Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

The Shi Family, within the cultivation chamber.

Shi Jian of the Shi Family clan was a brawny man with a burly figure and a fierce temperament.

"Would the Wei Family, that young Wei Qingqing, concede?"

Shi Jian pondered.

In fact, if given the choice, he wouldn't have wanted to attack Wei Qingqing either, especially right outside Beast Spirit Immortal City, after his audience with Hall Master Hei Tianlan of the external pavilion.

It wasn't that he didn't dare,

but to provoke the direct lineage of the Hei Clan at the Golden Pill Peak, was almost an open challenge to the laws of the Beast Spirit Immortal City, risking the annihilation of his entire clan.

What did the Shi Family end up gaining for such a risk?

They exchanged a third-grade low-quality Spiritual Vein for a third-grade mid-quality Spiritual Vein!

That was it.

Reaching the Middle Jindan Stage was already the limit for a vassal family, the limit allowed by the Hei Clan. What use were more Spiritual Veins anyway?

Despite this...

"A member of the Hei Clan's direct lineage? Collateral lineage?"

A trace of maliciousness flashed in Shi Jian's eyes.

If they didn't choose sides, his Shi Family would face extinction. Any excuse, such as blaming bandits, would suffice, for no one would investigate. The death of lowly slaves was inconsequential.

"Father, if Wei Qingqing doesn't back down, can we capture him?"

Next to him, a bald young man at the early Golden Pill stage spoke with greed, "A furnace cauldron of early Golden Pill stage, and I have heard he is still a virgin. If harvested properly, perhaps your and my cultivation base could advance even further."

"Nonsense!"

Shi Jian scolded, "Lord Hei Pang specifically asked for him; how dare our Shi Family lay a finger on him? Do you not fear bringing disaster upon us?!"

"Father, what kind of 'lord' is Hei Pang anyway?"

The bald young man touched his smooth head and spat, "He is only at the Middle Jindan stage. In another few decades, when he sees you, Father, he will have to call you 'Brother Shi.' Are we shaking in our boots even now?"

This was the reality.

Although vassal families were slaves, they were slaves of the direct lineage!

As for those from the collateral lineage of the Hei Clan, despite carrying the Hei name, oftentimes their authority was not as great as that of a trusted Golden Pill from the vassal family.

"These are but small-timers swollen with arrogance," the father mused.

"Father, times have changed. Nothing compares to the power in one's own hands," the young man put away his drooling greed and said earnestly, "In my opinion, these low-lives are merely using us as cannon fodder."

"If you, Father, had the cultivation of the Golden Pill Peak, why would you need to put up with the Hei Clan's arrogance? Why not find some neglected remote area that even a Patriarch Nascent Soul wouldn't pay attention to, start our own sect, and become ancestors ourselves? Wouldn't that be joyous?"

"Isn't that much better than being a petrified vassal family, fearing the next moment could bring about our clan's demise?"

Shi Jian hesitated, the scolding on his face gradually subsiding.

"You do have a point there," he conceded.

"But, the Golden Pill prohibition... sigh," he lamented with a long sigh.

The Hei Clan was a diabolical family that certainly didn't control its subordinates through trust and loyalty.

Otherwise, in this era where the family no longer dominated everything, it's likely that many vassal family Golden Pill would have had far too many thoughts and possibly taken action already.

"Haha, I knew you had such thoughts, Father!" The bald youth felt reassured and laughed heartily, "If Wei Qingqing still refuses to give up the Tuling Spiritual Vein, we can find an opportunity to ambush and capture him. We can exterminate his clan and push the blame onto some Loose Cultivator saying he was killed by them. We'll just muddle through with some excuse."

"The Yu Family, I see they've always been cautious and meticulous. Even if they suspect something, they certainly won't reveal it."

"So be it," Shi Jian no longer objected.

As the father and son were discussing their plans with high spirits, a faint blood shadow crept in through the gap under the door, slowly making its way behind them. It turned into two crimson palms, silently climbing from their backs, up their spines, to the backs of their heads, enveloping them bit by bit.

"Be careful with the aftermath."

Shi Jian offered a tip.

"Haha, Father, rest assured, I've done this many times over the years..."

The bald youth laughed heartily, then suddenly stiffened, his mouth stuck open, revealing a toothy grin.

The Blood Palm closed.

Bang!

The head burst, blood spurted, countless grey and white Broken Bone fragments flew in all directions, and the two headless bodies fell to the ground simultaneously.

A moment later,

the storage bag vanished, the Formation Method sealed everything inside and out, and calm returned to the place, no longer filled with laughter and chatter.

...

Hundreds of kilometers away from the Shi Family, the sky was clear with a gentle breeze, completely empty.

"Sigh."

"Indeed, Blood Hand Demon is a psychopath, and imitating his style of killing doesn't please me; it's also too time-consuming," Jiang Ding sighed. "I'm supposed to be a kind and naive minor who still needs to go to school and Cultivate. Doing too much of this might affect my state of mind."

"Just end it with the Yu Family."

As for imitation, the Nanoscale Liquid State Robot naturally possesses the ability to change form at will, so this little trick is nothing.

His true body could also achieve this with Sword Qi.

Of course, it's just an appearance; the internal structure of the Magic, the method of True Qi circulation, and the Cultivation methods are entirely different matters.

After flying hundreds of kilometers, he arrived at the Yu Family's territory.

It was located next to a lake with lush water grass, flocks of cattle and sheep as far as the eye could see, ranchers and Chieftains from the Yu Family drove their herds to graze, truly a beautiful spot.

Only the Spiritual Vein by the lake was slightly inferior, merely a third-grade inferior one.

Jiang Ding recalled what was recorded about the Yu Family's ancestors in the Wei Family's records.

This ancestor rose to prominence around fifteen or sixteen hundred years ago, living in the same era as the Wei Family ancestor, who was then just a scholar.

The Yu Family ancestor followed the Chieftain of the Hei Clan of that generation into the millennial King's Court war, repeatedly slaying the Golden Pill Monks of other families in battle, defending his master, and earning illustrious war merits.

As a result, the Chieftain of the Hei Clan in that generation made his mark in the war of the King's Court. After their allied forces won, he successfully received a Royal Court Command Token and entered the Court's Blessed Land.

Upon returning from the Court's Blessed Land, the father of Divine Crow Immortal, the Chieftain of that generation's Hei Clan, advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage.

At that time, the Hei Clan had two Nascent Souls among them, which was quite distinguished at the time, and their territory expanded by more than double.

The ancestor of the Yu Family was likely a Cultivator at the Golden Pill Peak—

Without such a Cultivation Base, it would have been nearly impossible to earn such distinction in the millennial King's Court war among the strong from various great families.

After the war, as a reward, he was granted a third-grade inferior Spiritual Vein, becoming a vassal family of the Hei Clan.

"Quite interesting."

"What would a Golden Pill Peak Cultivator need a third-grade inferior Spiritual Vein for?"

Jiang Ding shook his head slightly, "The ancestor of the Yu Family must have been envied by others, not even as well-off as a servant scholar with no notable merits."

For an external Golden Pill Peak Cultivator with decent talent and intellect, such a fate in the Northern Plains was almost certain.

He must have anticipated it, but still longed for the slightest chance at a Nascent Soul, hoping for a miracle.

Perhaps the Chieftain of the Hei Clan that year promised something with all sincerity, or indeed had a deep bond, becoming sworn brothers with him.

Therefore, he fought selflessly to death, earning the Chieftain of the Hei Clan a chance to enter the Court's Blessed Land.

He concealed himself, approaching the ancestral land of the Yu Family.

"A third-grade peak Formation Method, limited by the Spiritual Vein, can only maintain a mid-third-grade level... The ancestor of the Yu Family must have been a Golden Pill Peak Cultivator, no doubt," Jiang Ding nodded slightly, and after pondering for a few days, he silently slipped through a weak part of the formation.

His subtle and concealed Divine Sense swept the surroundings.

Just as he extended his Blood Palm to smash the head of a Yu Family Golden Pill Monk, he paused, momentarily stunned.