Chapter 507

Milin Prefecture. The Qingchi Sect does not impose many requirements on the division and management of the prefecture-level cities. These cities vary in size, and Milin Prefecture, having been established as a small prefecture by Yuanwu back in the day at the suggestion of Yu Muxian, has always been under the jurisdiction of Yuanwu Peak.

Li Zhouwei rode over on horseback, taking several cities in succession. The garrison commanders were all routed at the first touch, and the cultivators stationed in the cities were all people addicted to wine and women; having made no progress in their cultivation, they only lingered in these places at the foot of the mountains, where there was no spiritual energy, to flaunt their power.

Seeing the fires rising in the south and the blood-Qi soaring to the heavens, those with some discernment had already turned and fled. Others, unable to escape, knelt on the ground. Li Zhouwei rode past, and naturally, cultivators followed behind him, binding these kneeling people one by one.

Only a few scattered figures rushed hurriedly to the city gate, their faces full of rage, cursing as soon as they opened their mouths.

This middle-aged man's face was pale, and he reeked of alcohol. Whether he was truly loyal to these aristocratic families or just stupid, the robe on his body looked as if it had been thrown on in a hurry, and the jade bottle at his waist was surging with blood-Qi. He shouted, "Which idiot family in Milin is this! Qingdu has issued an order forbidding mutual slaughter, how dare you kill like this! Are you not afraid of the upper clans blaming you..."

His words only drifted halfway before the red-black light on Li Zhouwei's long halberd surged, piercing through his chest in a single strike and bringing out a pool of blood.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

The sound of rapid hoofbeats rang out. His expression was calm, and he rode past without stopping, the middle-aged man still hanging from his long halberd, having breathed his last without a sound. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the body onto the ground, causing a series of bone-cracking sounds.

"Dog guts, you still dare to secretly refine blood-Qi at Wangyue Lake."

He shook off the blood. Entering the city beneath the immortal peak, there was dust everywhere, excrement and urine flowed across the road, and it was a complete mess. Everywhere were gaunt, skeletal commoners, each kneeling on the ground. Occasionally, they would lift their heads, their sparse gazes piercing through like arrows.

Truth be told, the various families had received warnings from the Li family, so the commoners on their lands were not living too poorly—at least they had food to eat and hemp clothes to wear—but the gazes they cast were still burning.

After all, the commoners under the Li family's rule lived far too well.

The various families all had immortals and mortals living together; even if they had their lives, they lived every day in a state of being at the mercy of others. How could they be like the Li family? As Li Zhouwei rode past on the road, all he saw were lowered heads and countless withered hands pressed to the ground, dense and numerous.

When they arrived beneath the Lu family's immortal peak, the Lu family's Qi Refining patriarch had already come out bound, leading a group of people kneeling. Behind him, someone held a formation disk in their hands and said respectfully:

"This lowly one pays respects to the main family!"

The Li family moved out secretly, and it was not just Li Zhouwei's troop that came. To prevent these families from taking their formation disks, spirit items, and cultivation techniques and fleeing, seven troops moved out simultaneously, with Foundation Establishment cultivators suppressing the area from the sky, not letting a single person escape.

The Li family fought the rabbit with the strength of a lion, giving their all, yet they had overestimated these aristocratic families. The Lu family, the strongest among them and the leader, had opened their formation to welcome them at the first opportunity, adopting an extremely low posture.

Li Zhouwei's long halberd was still dripping blood, his expression somewhat disappointed. He flicked his magic tool forward, hooking the formation disk, which drifted lightly into his hand. He took a careful look.

"Mid-grade Qi Refining."

After looking, he took a talisman from his bosom and flicked it into the air, and a golden light immediately rose in the sky.

The Lu family patriarch trembled, not daring to say more. Li Zhouwei only glanced at the group of clansmen behind him, looked up at the sky, and waited for the time of an incense stick, after which golden lights rose one after another.

"Three hours."

Li Zhouwei planted his long halberd in the ground and counted; exactly six more had risen. In just one night, Milin Prefecture had already fallen into his family's hands.

The Yu family had grown from the corpses of the Jiang family and eventually split, turning into the various Milin families of today. With the Lu family as the leader, every family's mountain gate was dim, and they were terrified to the extreme.

Several families did not even have Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the mastermind behind them, Jiang Heqian, had disappeared. Even seeing the faint golden light in the south, they did not know what had happened, and their inquiries were even more muddled.

The Li family suddenly launched an attack, and Li Zhouwei, armored and mounted, killed his way along the road with his halberd. By the time the military front reached the nearest family, the various families finally understood that something had happened, but it was already too late to flee.

He looked around and said softly, "These remnants of the Yu family are to have their cultivation sealed and be sent back to Qingdu to await judgment."

The Lu family patriarch's face turned pale instantly. Hearing Li Zhouwei call them remnants of the Yu family, he feared that the Yu family's debts would be settled on his family. He wanted to explain, but his mouth was sealed by the Yuting Guards who surrounded him from left and right, and he was dragged away.

Li Zhouwei rested his long halberd on his horse, clear light appearing on his hand to wipe away the bloodstains.

He and his father had long since discussed the disposal of these Yu family outsiders. It was absolutely impossible to let them remain in these places; these people were deeply rooted locally and had their own secret methods for cultivating blood-Qi.

They had also cultivated many landlords and even the majority of rogue cultivators, playing a significant role in the disintegration of the Yu family. Their collusion was deep, so naturally, they could not be suppressed simply.

"Local snakes... then relocate them."

Although most of these people had consumed blood-Qi, such a large number of cultivators could not just be killed off. They must be relocated south while the momentum was high. Once they left the local area, it would be difficult for them to use any more tricks.

In the air.

Li Xijun had sent Bai Rong back and, watching the vast Milin Prefecture suddenly filled with the brilliance of golden talismans, he relaxed slightly:

"It seems the work was done quite thoroughly; no family caused any trouble."

It should have been so. The Tangjin Sect to the north was too busy to care for itself, the Fei family on the north bank did not dare to move, and the great mountains to the west were the line drawn by Qingchi and Jin Yu. The small temples and Daoist He on the west bank had always closed their doors to mind their own business and had no way to interfere.

To the east, they had obtained the Xiao family's consent, agreeing not to touch the Xiao family's vassals on the east bank, and the sect had coordinated it clearly. If anything else happened, that would be the strange thing.

After waiting for a moment, Li Chengliao arrived on the wind, wearing a gray fur coat and tied at his waist with the 【Jiaopan Ying】 that had patterns like fish scales. He had managed the family for many years and was steady in his actions. He stopped before Li Xijun and answered with a bow:

"Greetings, Eighth Uncle. The eighteen towns and five immortal peaks of Milin Prefecture have all fallen under our family's control. The seven remnants of the Yu family outsiders have all been captured and sent to Lijing."

Li Xijun nodded and said softly, "Not bad. Do not let any family slip through; detain them all first."

He answered first, then asked softly:

"Have you thought about how to dispose of them?"

Li Chengliao followed him forward on the wind and answered softly:

"Does Eighth Uncle still remember that there are many shamanic sites in the Shanyue lands?"

Li Xijun nodded gently and replied:

"Naturally, I remember."

As the Li family controlled the entire Shanyue, some of the ancestral lands of the Shanyue in the high mountains and deep ridges appeared before them. In these places, the shamanic cults and evil shrines were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and they often killed people for sacrifices. There were over one hundred thousand shamanic followers scattered everywhere, ninety-nine percent of whom were mortals.

The Li family had just conquered the Shanyue when these desolate mountain temples immediately sent people, saying they were willing to join the Li family. Those territories were rugged and dangerous, and strictly speaking, they were on the territory of the demon caves of Great Lishan.

The Li family naturally did not want to risk offending the demon caves by going deep, and besides, they were mortals who were fanatical believers, making them very difficult to handle. The cost of governing them would far outweigh the benefits, so they only collected offerings.

And the former lands of the Huoluo evil ones near these poor mountains and bad waters were also places where spiritual energy was not apparent; the folk customs were fierce, and these were the shamanic lands Li Chengliao spoke of.

"I intend to do this... the seven families will first relocate their entire clans to Lijing Mountain, be registered one by one, and then be used to fill those shamanic lands in the deep mountains of the Shanyue."

"Those evil mountain temples have fierce customs, and most of the Shanyue do not even speak the Eastern language. Everywhere is wilderness, and the spiritual energy is not high. No cultivators in the family are willing to go to such places... If people are truly sent there, it is more like a punishment... It is perfect to use these seven families to fill them!"

He smiled, clearly having had this plan for a long time, and said respectfully, "The strength of these seven families is not weak. Placing them in those places to consume each other, change customs, and deter those desolate mountain temples will prevent them from having any small thoughts about blood sacrifices."

Li Xijun listened, nodded slightly, and replied softly, "That is indeed a good idea, but you must send people over to supervise these seven families. You must send more loyal ones and keep them under heavy pressure."

He raised his sword-like eyebrows and explained:

"That place does not have dense spiritual energy, and these seven families are already accustomed to using blood as food and are used to those blood pills and meat. If they are placed in those places, I fear they will become even worse... It is even more likely that they will collude with those desolate mountain evil temples to exploit the commoners together."

When he said this, Li Chengliao understood immediately. He bowed very respectfully and replied:

"Thank you for your guidance, Eighth Uncle!"

Li Xijun smiled softly, "Guidance is not the word. If you truly act, you will be able to see it with your own eyes. It is just that planning ahead prevents too many losses... If you and I had acted just two days slower, I don't know how many more people would have died..."

Li Chengliao nodded and followed behind. Li Xijun flew down on the wind and soon saw the towering Milin Peak. This mountain could not be considered the best spiritual vein of Wangyue Lake, but it was the most vast and solid, even comparable to half the size of the Xiao family's Xianyou Peak.

Milin Prefecture had one main mountain and five auxiliary peaks. This place was handled personally by Li Ximing, who had the highest cultivation. He only had to place the bright 【Huangyuan Pass】 in the sky, and with the bright light shining, the cultivators in the mountain came out to surrender.

After all, the formation of this mountain was no longer the Foundation Establishment formation built by the Yu family of the aristocratic era. After many chaotic battles, it had long been broken and dilapidated, and the various outsiders had dismantled it together, each family taking a share of the spirit items.

The current formation was barely Qi Refining level, and I fear it was not enough for that bright, shining majestic pass to smash a few times. Li Ximing patrolled the mountain and found it was still well-preserved, with no major loss to the spiritual energy or the earth veins, but unfortunately, there were not many buildings left on the entire mountain.

There had been too much turmoil before and after the Yu family split. Each family grabbed what they could and moved what they could, leaving almost nothing behind. The medicine courtyards and pill pavilions had long since become desolate mounds.

Li Xijun landed on the main peak. Li Ximing, wearing a golden Daoist robe and shining with bright light, was standing there waiting for him.

Li Ximing's cultivation was becoming increasingly profound, and his pill path was also making progress. Two outsiders in the clan who practiced the pill path were now helping out in his pill room, and he was well-liked by everyone in the clan, with rogue cultivators coming to seek medicine from time to time.

Seeing Li Xijun and the other two land, he first nodded to Li Chengliao and then smiled, "The Yu family's few storehouses were almost all looted, empty enough for mice to run in. I searched carefully twice before finding a few secret chambers."

"These secret chambers are reinforced with Foundation Establishment, and I fear they need some kind of token or bloodline to open. These families are all Qi Refining, and I estimate that only Jiang Heqian had entered before and after the split."

He was clearly waiting specifically for Li Xijun to go and see them together. Seeing his younger brother nod, he went forward together, feeling somewhat emotional. He tilted his head to look at him and sighed:

"Do you still remember An Jingming?"

Li Xijun naturally nodded and said warmly, "Other families may not know, but our family has a deep impression of this person. All the direct descendants who have read the clan history know."

Li Ximing sighed and took an object from his sleeve. It was a gray head, reinforced with magic, and because it had been stored for many years, it was slightly dry. Its eyes were tightly closed, and there was a sense of death between its brows, yet one could vaguely see some heroic spirit.

"This time I have finally seen his appearance!"

Li Xijun glanced at it slightly and saw that it was quite similar to the two brothers An Siming and An Siwei. Li Ximing said in a low voice, "An Jingming was too monstrous. After he died, his flesh and blood were eaten by his clansmen, leaving only this head. The Yu family did not understand and used magic power to preserve it, storing it in the storehouse."

"Later, the Yu family went through repeated turmoil, and swords and soldiers rose everywhere in the clan, so few people went to the storehouse. By the time the family split, the secret storehouse was looted, and there was blood everywhere."

"After being snatched back and forth, this head was ignored, left alone in a corner with some mortal items. If I hadn't used my spiritual sense to look through it and specifically come to find this thing, I fear I would have missed it."

He silently put it away and said somewhat inexplicably:

"Having obtained this thing and stored it in the storehouse, I vaguely remember there is also that head of Yu Mugao... Sigh... It just makes one feel emotional. Fighting to the end, the result is death and the destruction of the clan, falling into the hands of others."

Li Xijun paused and replied, "Put this thing away and take it back to An Zhiyan, let him bury it properly. As for that head of Yu Mugao, find a place to bury it together... consider it the end of the grudges."

He lowered his sword-like eyebrows slightly and said softly, "You and I can feel so emotional looking at this head today, but I only fear that a hundred years from now, when the clan declines and others break into our storehouse and see these two heads, they will have to sigh again—the grudges of the past, in the end, led to death and the destruction of the clan."

Li Ximing silently swallowed his words. The two walked past the empty secret storehouse until they reached the very back. Before Li Ximing could speak, Li Xijun had already looked up, stared at the blank stone wall for two glances, and said softly:

"Sure enough, a secret chamber is hidden here."

"I forgot about your spiritual eyes."

Li Ximing recited, and the two studied it for a while. Li Xijun's eyes were indeed powerful. Although he did not know much about formations, he could still see some things and said softly:

"To open this formation, I fear it either requires the Yu family's direct bloodline or the 【Yuyan Mountain】. If you use brute force to break it without quite exquisite formation cultivation, I fear it will destroy the things inside."

Li Xijun said this, and Li Chengliao understood immediately and answered:

"I heard that when the Yu family was destroyed, the direct descendants were slaughtered. I fear there are not many survivors. This nephew will go down and investigate."