Chapter 268

"Ten Thousand Flowers and Thousand Illusions Array, how could it be?"

A Jin Dan master wrapped in white light looked at the sky full of petals that once again shrouded Mount Mount Baihua, his eyes full of surprise.

It was clear that this array had slowly stagnated before, how could it suddenly restore its power?

"Not good... Crane Venerable?!"

This Jin Dan master was very anxious.

He was the second Supreme Elder of the White Crane Gate, with mid-stage Jin Dan cultivation, known as Flying Crane Master.

He naturally knew what kind of status that Rank 3 high-grade Crane Venerable had in the heart of the Supreme Elder.

If it wasn't because Mu Wanlv's side was too strong and required the Supreme Elder to take action personally, he would never have sent the Crane Venerable to sneak into Mount Mount Baihua.

But now...

The Crane Venerable seemed to have failed?

Just as Flying Crane Master was hesitating in his heart, he saw the sky full of petals disperse, and a road paved with colorful flowers emerged.

An old man with an aged face and white hair stood proudly on the colorful flower path, holding a crane head in his hand.

"Mu Mu Wanlong?!"

Flying Crane Master was taken aback: "Late stage of Jin Dan? How is that possible?"

"White Crane Gate, you actually dare to secretly send a spirit crane to sneak into my Mu family and kill my Mu family's Jin Dan elder... My Mu family will definitely publicize this matter!"

Fang Xing snorted coldly.

Cultivators who mingle in the righteous path must always care about their reputation.

Therefore, the Jin Dan cultivators who came had to hide their heads and show their tails; even if their identities were guessed, they certainly could not admit it.

After the Mu family perished, the ones who destroyed the Mu family could only be demonic cultivators or robbery cultivators.

The White Crane Gate would just reluctantly take over the Mu family's property.

Of course, things had gone wrong now...

This Rank 3 high-grade exotic spirit crane was the greatest evidence, and the White Crane Gate could not get around it no matter what.

Even if the Du Qiankun Dao secretly supported the White Crane Gate, they would have to give the Mu family an explanation when encountering such a thing.

Flying Crane Master didn't say much; the White Crane Gate was now in a life-and-death struggle with the Mu family.

Unless he immediately led people to kill into the array now, smash Mu Mu Wanlong to ashes, and destroy all evidence along the way.

Other than that, anything said was superfluous!

But... he was just a mid-stage Jin Dan cultivator, and even the one with the highest cultivation among the Jin Dan masters in the vicinity.

Opposite him was the lair of a former Yuan Ying family, guarded by a quasi-Rank 4 array, and presided over by a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator!

No matter how this late-stage Jin Dan cultivation was obtained, now even a Jin Dan expert of Zhengqizi's level would not dare to forcefully charge into the Mu family's array!

"In this situation... only if the Supreme Elder brings those family ancestors, cooperating with the Rank 4 Pulse-Breaking Bead, would it be possible to take it down..."

"The key is that those late-stage Jin Dan great cultivators have long gone to ambush Mu Wanlv..."

"I originally thought there was an inside contact here, the Crane Venerable, and us... dealing with Mu Wanqing, a mere Jin Dan master, was a sure thing. I didn't expect this seriously injured Mu Mu Wanlong to have been playing the pig to eat the tiger all along..."

Flying Crane Master was extremely unwilling, but finally waved his hand: "Let's go!"

He retreated first, needing to return to the sect to prepare many things.

For example... the Mu family's appeal!

Must let the Du Qiankun Dao's Wuxingzi think of a way.

The Du Qiankun Dao's Wuxingzi was a newly selected Yuan Ying seed, a half-step Jin Dan cultivator, who was seen as the hope of the next generation after Hunyuanzi fell.

Yuan Ying sects like the Ten Great Righteous and Demonic Sects would certainly not put all their eggs in one basket.

Besides the Yuan Ying seed, there were backups.

Although Wuxingzi was slightly worse than Hunyuanzi, he was also a choice of the time.

On the demonic side, a new Yuan Ying seed was also selected.

It was just that they inevitably suffered heavy losses and lacked spiritual items for condensing the Yuan Ying; relying solely on that bit of sect foundation was not very safe.

That was why there was this great wasteland reclamation war!

Flying Crane Master transformed into a stream of light and left; the other Jin Dan masters looked at each other and retreated one after another.

"Elder..."

Seeing this scene, that False Dan master who attacked Mu Mu Wanlan first flew into the air, quite helpless: "Just let them go like this?"

"Cough cough..."

Fang Xing suddenly coughed, wiped with a handkerchief, and it was a bright red.

"I forcibly used a forbidden technique to suppress my injuries and raise my realm... now I am already at the end of my tether. It would be fine if I didn't move, but once I move, I'm afraid I'll pass away..."

Actually, he was just too lazy to be the Mu family's thug; just making a show of driving away the Mu family's enemies was enough.

"Elder, you are now the family's pillar of support. What should we do?"

This False Dan master looked panicked.

"Cough cough... Wanzhang..."

Fang Xing coughed again, the aura on his body rapidly weakening: "Now that Wanqing is dead, the family has suffered heavy losses... everything is entrusted to you. Now the Mu family needs to do three things!"

"Please instruct us, Elder." Mu Wanzhang's eyes were firm.

He was a cultivator who had proven his loyalty to the Mu family through disaster.

"The first thing, immediately notify the family head... perhaps it's already too late, but we must try to meet them and return to the family."

Fang Xing counted out a second finger: "The second thing, report to the upper sect... this spirit crane corpse is the best evidence."

"The third thing, the Mu family will seal the mountain!"

"Seal the mountain?" Mu Wanzhang was startled, muttering: "Has it reached such a point?"

Although the previous Mu family had declined, it still maintained the airs of the number one Jin Dan family.

In the outside world, they still had many shops, spiritual herb gardens, and mining shares... even when some Jin Dan families plotted for benefits, they had to call the Mu family, who were considered the boss in the circle. Even if they declined later, they were still the second or third...

But sealing the mountain was completely different; it meant completely abandoning all outside interests and only guarding the ancestral grounds of Mount Mount Baihua!

This was undoubtedly a very painful thing; the resources of Mount Mount Baihua could not support so many family cultivators at all.

Either disperse most of them, or use the family's foundation.

If this continues for a hundred years, the Mu family will definitely decline.

Unless, while sealing the mountain, they are blessed with a heavenly opportunity to cultivate a new Jin Dan master.

But this is basically impossible.

Cultivation forces choosing to seal the mountain are mostly drinking poison to quench thirst, slowly dying...

Those who can be reborn from the ashes are all cases seen once in a thousand years, which is why they are spread so widely.

Of course, for Fang Xing...

It is definitely best for the Mu family to die slowly!

Because as long as he can occupy the Rank 4 cave dwelling, that's enough; the rest are the Mu family's interests, not his.

Naturally, he can abandon them without hesitation.

This is no longer cutting off a wrist to save the body, but cutting off the body along with it, leaving only the head.

"This kind of decision still needs to wait for the family head to return... but sealing the mountain temporarily and opening the mountain-protecting array to full power is feasible..."

Mu Wanzhang said: "I leave it to the Elder to decide..."

Now in the Mu family's main mountain, there is only one Jin Dan master left, Mu Mu Wanlong.

And, the other party is still the former family head!

Although there were some stains of being greedy for life and fearing death in the later stages of his administration, today's act of stepping forward is enough to prove everything!

"Wanzhang... this old man used a forbidden technique today, causing the injuries that had not yet healed to worsen. I can no longer maintain it for even a moment, and now I must go back to close-door seclusion... the family is entrusted to you."

Fang Xing waved his hand, transformed into a stream of light, and flew back to his own cave dwelling.

Before leaving, he didn't forget to throw the array token to Mu Wanzhang and took away the spirit crane's inner dan.

This was a Rank 3 high-grade demon beast inner dan, worth quite a few spiritual stones.

In the cave dwelling.

The escape light flickered, and Fang Xing's figure appeared.

"This is also human nature; the older one gets, the more one fears death... There are so many old seniors in the cultivation world who appear righteous; once their lifespan is nearing its end, in order to prolong their lives, they will do anything—dual cultivation, practicing demonic arts, transforming bloodlines... they will do anything! We possess the power to move mountains and fill seas, and can maintain the vitality of our bodies before the true pill collapses, without illness or disaster, and with infinite joy... Who would want to die?"

"Besides that, the eruption today... injuries on top of injuries, the soul lamp must be even dimmer..."

He didn't have any ideas about the Mu family ancestral hall; after all, there were heavy restrictions there, and many troubles.

"The simplest way is to torture Mu Mu Wanlong again and make his injuries worse..."

Fang Xing pinched a spell, used the earth-escape technique, and arrived at an underground secret room he had opened up below the cave dwelling.

Figures in strange black robes and masks were standing in every corner of the secret room, guarding an unconscious old man in the middle.

It was exactly the 'Five Mixed Demons' and the real 'Mu Mu Wanlong'!

"Torture him again, but he can't die; this really tests my craftsmanship..."

Fang Xing muttered.

Several days later.

Mu Wanzhang stood in the ancestral hall, beside the family head's seat, with a 'numb' expression on his face.

Before, when the Mu family participated in the wasteland reclamation war, many cultivators had already been transferred away.

Of course, many elites remained, and even several False Dan masters.

But after that night of Mu Mu Wanlan's betrayal, not only did Mu Wanqing die, but several False Dan masters were eaten one by one by that Rank 3 high-grade spirit crane, dying in a miserable way.

By now, there was only one False Dan master left in the family. With no other choice, he could only promote late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators to the ancestral hall to discuss matters.

"The family head's side..."

Mu Wanzhang's voice was dry, like a dead man, chasing the last glimmer of hope.

"The Long family replied that they found the wreckage of the White Jade Palace near 'Mount Tianyun'... there is no news of the family head and others..."

A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator's eyes turned red.

After all, they were from the same family; his own grandfather was in this expedition team!

"How ruthless the White Crane Gate is!"

Mu Wanzhang cursed, and saw a Foundation Establishment cultivator walk in, holding a letter talisman in his hand.

"Did the Du Qiankun Dao reply?"

Mu Wanzhang hurriedly took it, scanned it with divine sense, and immediately cursed: "Shameless! Shameless to the extreme! What, the Crane Control Token was stolen? This flat-haired beast... isn't it the Supreme Elder of the White Crane Gate's life-bound spirit pet? Since when? Life-bound spirit pets are all controlled by life tokens?"

The Du Qiankun Dao's response was simply blatantly biased.

The White Crane Gate gave an excuse, and the Du Qiankun Dao immediately believed it!

This kind of cooperation made Mu Wanzhang's heart turn cold: "The Mu family is finished... this time, I'm afraid we have no choice but to seal the mountain!"

He didn't even dare to leave the range of Mount Mount Baihua now, for fear of suddenly dying.

"Forget it, forget it... pass the order down, my Mu family will seal the mountain for a hundred years!"

Mu Wanzhang gritted his teeth and made the decision.

Although this means completely abandoning the outside world and never recovering the power of a Jin Dan family.

But at least it can preserve the family, even if only for a hundred years...

Two updates today.

(End of chapter)