Chapter 55: Life-and-death crisis!

The sun rose, and the morning light shone through the clouds onto Maple Forest Town; the townsfolk, as usual, rose early to prepare for the day's labor.

On the road outside the town, four unusually large and rather divine horse-like ferocious beasts carried a group swiftly toward Maple Forest Town.

"Uncle Master, this is Maple Forest Town." Said a middle-aged man with short beard, wearing a purple brocade robe, seated on one of the cloud-stepping steeds, respectfully clasping his hands toward the leading youth, who was only in his twenties.

This man was the eldest son of the Wu family, the older brother of Wu Ning Snow, Wu Yuanqing.

The youth gave a slight nod, glanced at the thousand-year-old ancient maple in the town's center, which resembled an imperial canopy, and lightly said, "What a fine feng shui treasure spot; I hope it won't disappoint me."

"Yuanqing, my nephew, before coming, my master instructed that after this move, we shall settle the old debt of gratitude."

"Besides healing your senior brother Wu, I will act to eliminate all your enemies; you must think it through, make sure nothing is omitted."

Hearing the youth's words, Wu Yuanqing's eyes flashed with a hint of ruthlessness; he then respectfully clasped his hands and said, "Thank you, Uncle Master; let's start with those few wall‑grass families first."

"Please, Uncle Master."

On the cloud‑stepping steeds, after Wu Yuanqing clasped his hands, he directly led the three of them rushing toward the town center.

……

Inside the small courtyard.

Fang Xu was having breakfast with Chu Mu when a virtual light screen suddenly popped up before him.

【Your friend Hu Lin has died; as a friend, you may randomly inherit any one of Hu Lin's three legacies.】

Legacy One: 【Red Legacy·Hu Family's estate (equivalent to 133 taels of gold)】 Inheriting carries great danger; the Hu family was exterminated by Wu Yuanqing leading the Ascension Immortal Sect, and the Hu family's legacy has long been regarded by Wu Yuanqing as his own pocket; if the host rashly occupies it, they will surely suffer Wu Yuanqing's retaliation.

Legacy Two: 【White Legacy·Strength attribute 40 points】 Inheriting carries no risk, but requires touching Hu Lin's corpse.

Legacy Three: 【White Legacy·Life attribute 35 points】 Inheriting carries no risk, but requires touching Hu Lin's corpse.

Hu Lin?

Looking at the name on the virtual panel, Fang Xu frowned slightly.

This person was one of the local magnates invited by my master Lu Zhiyuan to the opening of the Blood Food Stall that day; why would Wu Yuanqing and the Ascension Immortal Sect act against him?

Doubting in his heart, Fang Xu quickly looked at the other five people who had been added as friends that same day, and shockingly found their life values had all dropped to 1%!

This……

Life and death are unpredictable, normally a common occurrence, but if six people die simultaneously……

【Your friend Qi San has died; as a friend, you may randomly inherit any one of Qi San's two legacies.】

Legacy One: 【Red Legacy·Qi Family's estate (equivalent to 89 taels of gold)】 Inheriting carries great danger; the Qi family was exterminated by Wu Yuanqing leading the Ascension Immortal Sect, and the Qi family's legacy has long been regarded by Wu Yuanqing as his own pocket; if the host rashly occupies it, they will surely suffer Wu Yuanqing's retaliation.

Legacy Two: 【White Legacy·Life attribute 32 points】 Inheriting carries no risk, but requires touching Qi San's corpse.

Before Fang Xu could choose to inherit Hu Lin's legacy, another prompt popped up on the virtual panel.

Immediately——

【Your friend Guo Shun has died; as a friend, you may randomly inherit any one of Guo Shun's three legacies.】

【Your friend……】

【Your friend……】

……

A series of prompts kept popping up from the light screen!

In less than a quarter of an hour, seven people on my friend list were left with only Li Xun!

All dead!?

Why did the Ascension Immortal Sect strike so hard, directly wiping out the six minor local tyrants of Maple Forest Town?

Could it be that the Wu family's assault that night is related to these six?

Or perhaps……

Realizing something was wrong, Fang Xu hastily told Chu Mu, "Mu, go back to your room; absolutely do not go out!"

After pushing Chu Mu into the room and closing the door, Fang Xu hurried toward the Hall of Distant Ambitions.

On the way, he inherited the legacies of all six people; except for one whose legacy was a family estate, the other five all gained attribute points.

As for the family estate, the system had already warned him, so Fang Xu naturally would not provoke the Wu family and the Ascension Immortal Sect over some external possessions.

"Master!"

Upon entering the gate of the Hall of Distant Ambitions, Fang Xu immediately shouted.

Seeing this, Lu Qingluo slightly frowned and said, "Shouting and yelling—what propriety is this……"

"Senior sister, something has happened!"

"Where is the master?"

In the inner courtyard, Lu Zhiyuan walked over slowly, looked at Fang Xu, frowned, and asked, "What happened?"

Fang Xu urgently said, "The Ascension Immortal Sect has arrived; upon entering the town, they with thunderous force slaughtered all the local magnates who had come to the banquet at the opening of the Blood Food Stall!"

I, the disciple, suspect their next target is surely you!

"Master, you and senior sister, hurry and leave!"

Hearing this, the faces of Lu Qingluo and Li Yunshan changed, and they quickly looked toward Lu Zhiyuan.

Lu Zhiyuan, however, remained unmoved, furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, and said, "Leaving now would surely be too late; our only recourse is……

As he spoke, he glanced at Lu Qingluo and Fang Xu and said, "The Ascension Immortal Sect has a rule: if a disciple commits an offense, as long as they pass the Ascension Immortal Platform examination, they can be exempt from punishment and even make a request."

"As for Yunshan……

Boom!

Before he could finish his sentence, the gate of the Hall of Distant Ambitions was kicked open!

The terrifying force directly shattered the hard gate into fragments, which flew outward!

Immediately, four figures appeared at the gate; the leader, a young man in a black robe with an elegant visage, walked forward slowly, smiling lightly and said, "You're not simple after all; you actually know about the Ascension Immortal Platform."

"However, I advise you to give up on that idea."

"The one who wants to kill you is him; this also involves a life-saving debt of my master... I'm thinking, the life-saving debt of an officer of the Ascension Immortal Association—at least one must pass through the seven layers of the Ascension Immortal Platform to be able to cancel it, right?"

"Just the two of them..." He glanced at Fang Xu and Lu Qingluo, the young man scoffed: "Whether they can pass the entrance qualification is uncertain."

"What cultivation is required to enter the Ascension Immortal Association!?" Beside her, Lu Qingluo asked, somewhat unwillingly.

The young man glanced at her, shook his head slightly, and said: "Entering the Ascension Immortal Association doesn't look at cultivation, only at aptitude."

"I observe you two, at such ages, one is a Martial Disciple Ninth Level, the other a Martial Disciple Second Level... hehe..."

Sneering, he shook his head, waved his hand: "Tao'er, Xiao Lin, it's up to you; give them three breaths' time."

Behind him, the two younger youths, hearing this, cupped their fists slightly toward him and said:

"Yes, senior brother!"

Saying that, the two immediately each charged toward Lu Zhiyuan and Fang Xu, four people!

"Wait!"

Lu Zhiyuan let out a loud shout: "Sir, I recall that the Ascension Immortal Association has a rule prohibiting fellow disciples from killing each other!"

Hearing this, the young man frowned slightly, but still raised his hand to stop the two junior disciples' attack.

"The Ascension Immortal Association does have this rule, but those two are not disciples of the association."

"I have already registered them!" Speaking, Lu Zhiyuan pulled out two scrolls with strange patterns from his bosom.

"Immortal Sect Path Certificate?"

Looking at the two scrolls in Lu Zhiyuan's hand, the young man furrowed his brows; the Immortal Sect Path Certificate is the token for registering to join the Ascension Immortal Association, and holding it makes the two before him half-members of the Ascension Immortal Association.

From registration to before the examination, I indeed cannot act against them.

"Since they both have Immortal Sect Path Certificates, they can temporarily be spared death, but you and he... still must die."

Staring at Lu Zhiyuan and Li Yunshan, the young man smiled playfully.

Adding an extra chapter; later I need to save up manuscripts, aiming to release a burst of 50,000 words upon launch! Folks, please follow and vote with a monthly ticket, thanks! Thanks!

(End of chapter)