Chapter 322

Old Master An also sipped his tea, then spoke:

"Back then, when my An family competed with the Qian family for profit, we didn't start at a disadvantage."

"At first, both families won and lost alternately, but the Qian family valued profit above all, and their disciples were mostly selfish and greedy, while our An family was harmonious, united in heart, and didn't exploit others as brutally as they did—so gradually, we gained the upper hand in our struggle against them."

"At that time, over half the alchemy and artifact-making trades in Tongxian City were controlled by our An family; the Qian family was on the verge of defeat…"

"Did something happen?" Mo Hua asked.

Old Master An nodded, sighed deeply, and said slowly:

"Yes, a great disaster occurred—we An family took on a contract…"

"It was the largest contract our An family had ever taken; if we completed this deal, the Qian family would never again challenge us for a hundred years."

"We had prepared everything; all we needed was to safely transport it out of Tongxian City to the nearby Runan City, and the deal would be successfully concluded."

"For this, I specially assigned our An family's only Foundation Establishment elder to oversee the mission, escorted by fifty elite disciples, along with two hundred An family cultivators."

How to assess the enemy's strength, including their cultivation level, techniques, Dao methods, spirit weapons, and more.

"Definitely, kill them on the spot!"

"This proves that Elder Yu was never the Village Master, and he is not the same person as the Young Master!"

While discussing strategies, each voiced their opinions, complementing each other's strengths and compensating for weaknesses.

Old Master An hardened his resolve; I wanted to tell Mo Hua about that incident, so I wouldn't drag him into danger—but now it seems the boy already knows something.

Old Master An said: "Originally you were certain whether this matter was connected to the Qian family, but recently, because of a spirit furnace, our An family developed a rift with the Qian family again."

"Though our An family suffered great losses, we still held onto that last breath and resolved to fight the Qian family to the end—but the Qian family's ancestral patriarch said one thing to me…"

Whether it was Heishan Village as the Dao Bing commander, Zhang Lan with his deep family lineage, Yang Jiyong with his vast experience, or Mo Shan with his countless battles, all were quite skilled in such matters, each with their own strengths.

Mo Hua had been listening quietly beside them.

Mo Hua nodded, "Peng Piao took the Longevity Pill to extend his life—he'll live a long time. If he survives, he'll eventually become a great calamity, so we must strike first to gain the upper hand."

With that, I understood.

Mo Hua watched silently, listened silently, stored all of it in his mind, thought quickly, and turned it into his own knowledge.

Old Master An's face showed regret and anguish.

Old Master An calculated: "How many hands do we have?"

"I want to confirm with you: what is the relationship between the Qian family's ancestral patriarch and Elder Yu? And tell me—do you want revenge?"

"Do you know Elder Yu?" Mo Hua asked again.

"No one came back!"

Old Master An nodded slightly, "It's said to be a group of evil cultivators from Shenshan, recently exterminated by the Dao Bing."

Old Master An's face trembled, his emotions surging violently.

"When you said 'the Young Master is dead,' the Seventh Master opened his eyes and laughed coldly, saying it was unlikely; when you said 'the Village Master is dead,' the Seventh Master sneered again—that's even more unlikely."

Mo Hua had originally only wanted to gather information and find evidence proving the relationship between the Qian family's ancestral patriarch and Elder Yu.

"Too many."

Though our An family is weakened, we are still the seventh family of Tongxian City; with our help, defeating the Qian family gains another measure of certainty.

Mo Hua nodded: "Peng Piao Yao was created by the Qian family's ancestral patriarch behind the scenes; our An family disciples were likely killed by Peng Piao Yao's evil cultivators. On the surface, the Qian family's ancestral patriarch didn't act directly, so he can wash his hands clean."

Old Master An nodded, "I'll speak first—about the Qian family."

"But this matter was definitely initiated by the Qian family!"

How to deploy personnel, how to maneuver, how to avoid the enemy's strengths and exploit their weaknesses, how to minimize casualties.

Besides, these are all old matters; probably nothing can be dug up from them.

Old Master An was startled, "You mean…"

"I thought my planning was meticulous enough, my preparations secure enough—but I never imagined, never in my wildest dreams…"

Mo Hua counted carefully: there were Hunter-Yao specialists, Dao Ting Si, and Dao Bing Si.

"But I noticed: on the day our An family disciples entered the mountains, the Qian family's ancestral patriarch and most of their Foundation Establishment elders did not leave the city, nor did they enter Great Baishan—they had no time to act against our An family…"

Old Master An suddenly understood, then fell into a hollow daze: "So that's how it was…"

Estimate what strength our side needs to successfully eliminate them.

Mo Hua nodded.

"No one can challenge the Qian family in Great Baishan—I want someone gone, and they vanish…"

Old Master An didn't hesitate: "Fine, count our An family in!"

His entire skill set cannot harm a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The entire next day, everyone gathered to discuss strategies.

Mo Hua quickly poured him tea; Old Master An drank it, took a breath, nodded slightly, and continued:

"It's not true—I'll apologize to the Qian family; my face is thick enough, I've insulted them plenty before, so apologizing now won't cost me anything."

"I want to fight the Qian family to the death, but our other An family disciples must survive; if we clash head-on with the Qian family, they might not suffer much, but our An family could vanish entirely…"

Old Master An gritted his teeth, his gaze sharp and cold.

Old Master An shook his head, then his expression turned grim: "Does he know?"

I don't need him now, but someday in the future, he might prove useful.

Old Master An exclaimed in shock: "How could he know?"

"Before, I entered Great Baishan, but no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find our An family's elder, nor any of our disciples—they vanished as if erased from the world."

Two days and one night later, all plans were settled.

"The strength of these cultivators—even the Qian family dares not underestimate them. Besides, the Qian family could never truly risk a direct confrontation; that would cost many lives, and in any calculation, it's a loss."

Heishan Village pondered: "It's not sufficient, but it's enough. This concerns evil cultivators—it's better to kill wrongly than to let one escape; if we delay further and the Qian family notices, we'll miss our chance."

The plan to eliminate Qian family's Peng Piao has officially ended.

Old Master An's gaze sharpened. "Revenge?"

Great Heishan nodded. "Good. You must now devise your next plan: infiltrate the Qian family and eliminate their ancestral elder!"

"You know this," Mo Hua's eyes hardened, and he spoke loudly, "what exactly did the Qian family do?"

"You even risked entering Shenshan, but the mist there was thick—you found no clues and dared not go deeper, so you returned."

"This isn't merely a wound to muscle and bone—it strikes at the very foundation of your An family, as if carving a piece of flesh from your heart!"

Old Master An's gaze hardened. "You summoned me here just to say all this?"

How to design the elimination of a weak opposing cultivator.

Yang Jiyong asked: "What did you find out?"

I don't understand Foundation Establishment cultivators; I'm unfamiliar with how Qi flows below Foundation Establishment, and I have no idea how to kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Before Mo Hua told Yang Jiyong about this matter, Yang Jiyong had already sighed in relief.

"All of them vanished in Great Baishan!"

Another hour passed, and Zhang Lan and Mo Shan also returned.

At dusk, Old Master An arrived quietly, dressed entirely in white.

Mo Hua asked: "Did you ever believe in the Qian family?"

He hadn't expected the feud between the An and Qian families to run so deep, nor that Old Master An would lend his aid—this was an unexpected blessing.

"... I never imagined that once they entered Great Baishan, they would never return!"

Yang Jiyong also nodded. "Chief Elder Yu, we won't know if it's the Qian ancestral elder until we strike."

These An family disciples weren't killed by the Qian family directly, yet they truly died at the Qian family's hands.

Now, Mo Hua could only listen on the side, while carefully learning:

Mo Hua asked quietly: "How did you know?"

The only thing that might harm a Foundation Establishment cultivator is using spiritual sense to calculate and unravel the formation.

"As long as that old dog of the Qian family lives, Xiancheng will never know peace!"

But recalculating the formation takes considerable time; Mo Hua has been busy tracking down the Qian ancestral elder and hasn't finished the calculation yet, nor has he ever used it in practice, so it's not yet deployable.

After the formal pleasantries, Old Master An revealed several secret facts about the Qian family: their terrain, the ancestral elder's cultivation scripture, Dao techniques, and habitual combat methods.

Old Master An sighed deeply. "Since then, I've known this was all the Qian family's doing. Their strength is weaker than I thought, and their methods are far crueler than I imagined."

Mo Hua repeated Old Master An's words and asked Commander Yang: "Are these proofs sufficient?"

Zhang Lan nodded. "We'll send someone to impersonate a demonic cultivator and speak to the Seventh Chief. He won't react to anything else."