Chapter 136

Blood flowed on the forbidden array for a while. The island in the middle of the lake, covered by the array below, was a scorched earth. After the brilliance of the spells dissipated, one could see a cowering middle-aged man lying with his head in his arms, closing his eyes and shivering.

A huge bloodstain had been scraped across the middle-aged man's waist, dripping blood. It was a long time before he opened his eyes, looked blankly at his surroundings, and raised his head in disbelief.

Grinning with wild joy, the middle-aged man simply treated his wounds and rummaged through the ruins for a while. However, his complexion became paler due to blood loss, so he had to wrap some talismans and magic tools in his clothes and come out. The cultivators on the shore grumbled as they took the clothes, cursing:

"Damn it, these mud-legged peasants are more cunning than the last. If it weren't for the fear that the following mud-legged peasants wouldn't cooperate after entering the array, why would we need to give any gold?"

After speaking, he threw down a bag of gold, hauled the man onto an empty boat for two or three people, and shouted loudly:

"Number twenty-one, take him away."

The small boat carried two or three lucky survivors with broken hands and feet away. The people on the several small boats at the stern of the large ship looked forward expectantly, waiting for orders from the large ship.

Li Tongya was watching the myriad states of life on the island in the middle of the lake. After waiting for a while, a withered old man flew over from the east riding the wind, holding a jade ruyi in his hand. It was Lu Sisi.

"Brother Tongya!"

Lu Sisi cupped his hands and stood in the air with Li Tongya, asking suspiciously:

"This Yu family said to meet on this island in the middle of the lake, but I don't see any Yu family members. I watched from a distance for a while and only saw several heads of small clans waiting together in the sky. What does this mean?"

Li Tongya gave a low laugh, glanced left and right, pointed to the large ship in the distance, and smiled:

"Nothing else, just killing the chicken to warn the monkey."

Lu Sisi stared at the large ship, put on a look of sudden realization, laughed with schadenfreude, and replied:

"The old man understands! We also find this group of rogue cultivators quite unpleasant, but there are several Qi Condensation cultivators on that ship, and none of the families want to cause trouble, which is why they have been allowed to remain at large for so long."

The two chatted for a few sentences when the large ship in the distance suddenly hoisted its sails and became alert. There was a chorus of shouts from above. Several figures standing in the air emerged from the side of the large ship, surrounding the four directions of the large ship. Directly above stood a middle-aged man in black, standing with his hands behind his back, his momentum magnificent.

"Nine Qi Condensation cultivators; the Yu family's foundation is truly substantial."

Lu Sisi counted them, looked up at the man in black, and said somewhat dejectedly:

"This person should be the current head of the Yu family, Yu Xiaogui. He is now a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He and I achieved Qi Condensation in the same year. I dealt with him back then; this person is insidious and ruthless, not easy to deal with."

"Oh?"

Li Tongya flew with him for a while and approached the large ship. Lu Sisi rambled on:

"Yu Xiaogui was the head of the five heroes of the Yu family back then. Later, two of the five heroes perished midway, and the remaining three all reached the peak of Qi Condensation and went into seclusion to break through, but only he survived."

Yu Xiaogui and the others stood in the air for a moment. Everyone on the large ship below was in danger, all panicked and spiritless. An elderly rogue cultivator flew up with an ugly expression, cupped his hands toward Yu Xiaogui, slapped his own face twice, his face full of fawning, and said repeatedly:

"Ah! This junior has met the Yu family head. We were foolish and did not know the rules on this lake. Sailing on the lake has disturbed you all. This junior expresses deep apologies and is willing to compensate for your losses! Yu family head..."

This old man was also at the peak of Qi Condensation, and the true essence in his body was still quite clear. What he swallowed should not have been impure Qi, but it was not very brilliant either. He was much older than Yu Xiaogui, yet he fawningly called Yu Xiaogui 'senior.'

Yu Xiaogui's expression was amiable. He stepped forward, his sleeves sliding down as he raised his hand, revealing an arm as smooth as jade. With just a light wave, the head of the old man several feet away instantly exploded like a watermelon. Before he could even groan, he fell straight down, landing on the ship and startling a chorus of screams.

The Yu family's Qi Condensation cultivators swarmed up instantly. The array engraved on the ship shone brightly. Everywhere, cultivators were fighting. The lake water rose and fell, and from time to time, the aftermath of spells exploded on the lake surface. The lucky ones from before had not sailed far when they instantly capsized in the waves. Several wounded and disabled people sank into the river and lost their voices, dying on the spot.

"As always! As always! This is Yu Xiaogui's style."

Li Tongya stroked his chin and stared at these people. Seeing that they were only a few feet away from the cabin when they appeared, they had long since entered the spiritual sense range of these cultivators, so he secretly thought:

"The Yu family probably has some magic tool to conceal their figures, and the range is quite large. They can cover these people until they are close to the ship before revealing themselves, so as not to scare these rogue cultivators away."

During their conversation, the ship was already a scene of carnage. The small boats trailing at the stern had all capsized. Hundreds or thousands of mortals were lying on the bellies of the boats, and more people had to swim toward the island in the middle of the lake, but they did not understand the array and did not know where to land, so it was naturally even more bloody and unbearable to look at.

Before long, the rogue cultivator's large ship capsized with a rumble. A larger and more luxurious ship slowly sailed over from behind Yu Xiaogui and the others. The Yu family cultivators, still stained with blood, landed on the ship. Only then did Yu Xiaogui raise his head and smile, circulating his magic power, and his voice spread across the lake:

"Various family heads, please land on the ship for a chat!"

It took more than ten breaths before people landed on the ship from far to near. They looked like Yu family supporters, chatting with smiles on their faces.

Lu Sisi and Li Tongya landed on the ship. A sweep of their spiritual sense made everything on the ship clear. Two rows of stone tables had already been set up on the deck, and Yu Xiaogui sat at the head, holding a wine cup and drinking.

That young master Yu Mugao greeted them early, cupped his hands toward Li Tongya, ignored Lu Sisi on the side, and smiled:

"Senior Tongya arrived early, but I kept you waiting for a long time!"

"Not at all, not at all. It was Tongya who had the pleasure of learning the demeanor of your noble family's head!"

Li Tongya responded politely. Yu Xiaogui at the head instantly raised his head, put down the wine cup in his hand, squinted at him, and did not know what he was thinking.

The two exchanged a few pleasantries, and all the families had arrived. Among the families on the lake, only two had Foundation Establishment cultivators. One was the Yu family on the east bank, and the other was the Fei family on the north bank. The Li family's seat was arranged beside Yu Xiaogui, right opposite the Fei family, which was quite eye-catching. Li Tongya frowned, and seeing Yu Xiaogui staring at him, he had no choice but to take his seat.

The Fei family head opposite was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator, dressed in brocade, with a dashing and romantic appearance. He looked much younger than Yu Xiaogui and smiled slightly at Li Tongya. Li Tongya only exchanged a glance with him, and seeing the look of hope on his face, he nodded slightly, and both had a bottom line in their hearts.

Yu Xiaogui saw that everyone below was present, nodded, stood up, smiled, and said loudly:

"You all arrived in time, which counts as giving my Yu family face. Xiaogui thanks you all here."

The various families below stood up in a hurry, saying they did not dare. Yu Xiaogui waved his hand, interrupting the families' words, and said to himself:

Lu Sisi below was stunned and cursed in his heart:

"Each family is living happily; who would want your Yu family to appear on top of their heads... The words are spoken beautifully, though."

But on his lips, he replied respectfully:

"The Yu family head is right!"

"Not bad."

Yu Xiaogui nodded, glanced at Li Tongya, who was silent at his side, and then turned his head to look at the middle-aged man in brocade who was staring at his wine cup as if he were trying to find a flower in it, and smiled:

"My son has entered the Yuanwu Peak and begged the Yuanwu Peak Master to report to the main peak, dividing the entire Wangyue Lake into a jurisdiction, separating it from the Li Xia Jun. My Yu family's twelve towns will be built into a prefecture, called the Milin Prefecture. From now on, fellow Daoists do not need to go to Li Xia Jun to pay tribute; you can just pay it in my Milin Prefecture!"