Chapter 88: Seizing the Island (Requesting Subscriptions)
Chapter 88: Seizing the Island (Requesting Subscriptions)
Peach Blossom Island.
The island boasted picturesque scenery, with vast peach blossom groves. It was precisely the season for the peach blossoms to bloom, their petals falling in a vibrant, scattered dance, a truly beautiful sight.
Mirror Moon Lake.
The lake was like a calm mirror, with spiritual mist rising around it, reflecting the moonlight—evidently, a formation at work.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh!
On this day.
Five streaks of escape light (escape light) arrived from the horizon, piercing into the formation with the speed of thunder, leaving no time to cover one's ears.
Inside the Lu family manor by Mirror Moon Lake.
They had arrived too swiftly; the formation hadn't even had time to activate.
And Ruan Xing Ling was clearly quite familiar with the Lu family's formation. She charged directly for the formation's core, decapitating an elderly Qi Refinement early-stage cultivator with a single sword stroke!
This Lu family's mountain-protecting grand array, it's quite possible it used to belong to the Ruan family. . .
Moreover, the Lu family's late-stage Qi Refinement patriarch and four mid-stage Qi Refinement experts were all dead. The remaining cultivators, at most early-stage Qi Refinement, simply lacked the power to threaten Fang Xi's group.
Therefore, after killing Lu Jing Qing, Ruan Xing Ling chose to strike directly at the heart of their power!
Even more crucially. . . Feng Bai Meng had not accompanied them!
Perhaps she believed Ruan Xing Ling alone was sufficient to suppress them, or perhaps she had other important matters to attend to.
In any case, the dirty work that followed fell to Fang Xi and the other three.
Perhaps for rogue cultivators, this wasn't dirty work, but a lucrative opportunity.
After all, the spoils of war from slaying a great enemy were by default the property of the killer.
"Those of Lu family bloodline, kill!"
"Those who stubbornly resist surrender, kill! !"
"Those who intentionally damage property, kill! ! !"
Ruan Xing Ling presided over the formation's core, the three 'kill' commands overflowing with murderous intent, like a declaration that initiated the slaughter.
'So this is the way of the cultivation world: if you don't kill others, others will kill you? '
Fang Xi, clutching his Green Reaping Sword, his face grim, kicked open a door.
"Ahhh, I'll fight you to the death!"
Inside the room, a corpulent early-stage Qi Refinement youth held a talisman, instantly activating his spiritual power.
Several wooden arrows struck Fang Xi's protective light shield, only causing the shield to ripple slightly, failing to break through his defense.
After all, he was merely early-stage Qi Refinement, while Fang Xi was mid-stage Qi Refinement; there was a clear suppression in cultivation realm!
He wielded the Green Reaping Sword as if it were an ordinary blade, swinging it once to slice across the cultivator's neck, sending his head flying.
From within the room, a woman's shriek echoed.
Fang Xi frowned, saw it was a mortal, couldn't be bothered with her, and simply withdrew, heading towards another location.
'This time, I still need to display some of my strength. '
'Hmm, using True Vigor-level martial arts will suffice. . . mid-stage Qi Refinement combined with second-layer Body Cultivation, that should be enough! '
True Vigor circulated beneath his feet, his figure ghost-like, flashing past several individuals like fleeting shadows.
These few individuals stared blankly, then suddenly, from the waist down, they neatly separated, collapsing to the ground with screams of: "Ahhh! Ahhh!"
Blood mixed with peach blossoms, fluttering like petals across the courtyard.
"Kill, protect my Lu family!"
"Fight the enemy to the death!"
Most of the external cultivators knelt and begged for mercy, but the remaining Lu family bloodline fought back with their lives.
After all, they knew themselves that the Ruan family would absolutely not spare them!
A white-haired, ancient Lu family cultivator roared, seemingly having cast some demonic secret art. His aura surged to mid-stage Qi Refinement, and talismans flickered in his hand, one after another.
"Little Thunder Talisman? !"
Wei Yi Xin shrieked, struck by lightning, spitting blood as he was sent flying backwards to the side.
"Pull back and defend first, wait for the effects of his secret art to pass!"
The old man of Deadwood waved his whisk, firmly protecting himself.
And at this moment, Fang Xi walked over.
He held the Green Reaping Sword and charged directly at the old man.
"Haste!"
The old man of the Lu family, his expression ferocious, raised his hand and released another Fireball Talisman.
Boom!
Flames exploded upon Fang Xi's protective light shield, about to smash into his body.
The next instant, Fang Xi circulated his True Vigor, unleashing a sword strike that seemed to cleave open the flames, simultaneously flicking the sword's tip.
Ping!
The Green Reaping Sword pierced the old man's defensive artifact, directly flicking it away, then, like a green rainbow piercing the sun, it stabbed into the old man's chest.
"Kill the bandits. . . kill the bandits!"
Blood spilled from the old man's lips as he continued to mumble.
Pfft!
Fang Xi withdrew the Green Reaping Sword, not sparing a glance for the old man's collapsing corpse, and then charged towards the other Lu family Qi Refinement cultivators.
Wherever the sword's shadow passed, heads flew.
This sight caused the expressions of Wei Yi Xin and his wife to instantly change, turning incredibly pale and fearful.
The old way of Deadwood, on the other hand, had a sudden realization: "I wondered why Fellow Daoist Fang was so confident; so he's a body Cultivator. . . Looking at that defense, he must be at the second layer of Body Cultivation, right? No wonder he was able to kill a powerful enemy at Qi Refinement fifth layer before. . . and even dared to covet a spirit land. Truly, he's been keeping his abilities well hidden!"
Fang Xi, however, paid no mind to any of this. He simply felled every Lu family cultivator who dared to appear before him, one sword strike at a time.
Amidst the fluttering peach blossoms, his Green Reaping Sword's blade was also stained with fresh blood.
He didn't know how long he had been killing until the last cultivator knelt before him, his face filled with terror: "We. . . we wish to surrender, we wish to surrender!"
"..."
Fang Xi remained silent. He wiped the blade clean on a corpse's clothes, then stood holding his sword beneath a peach blossom tree.
...
The sun set in the west, as if the myriad things of the world held no concern for it.
In the town on Peach Blossom Island, the smoke from mortal kitchens curled upwards.
The tens of thousands of mortals across Peach Blossom Island had no idea that at this very moment, the heavens above their heads had changed. . .
...
As night fell.
Inside the main hall of the Lu family manor by Mirror Moon Lake.
The ground was densely packed with kneeling people, while directly in front, a 'Jingguan' (pyramid of heads) was piled high.
Those Lu family cultivators who were usually high and mighty now had ferocious countenances, their expressions frozen in the last moment before death.
The scent of blood mixed with a foul odor permeated the air, yet not a single person dared to frown.
Ruan Xing Ling sat upright in the main seat, spiritual wine and fine dishes laid out before her.
Deadwood Lao Dao and the other three accompanied her, while Wei Yi Xin and his wife watched the Pension Fang Xi beside them, feeling their breaths quickly slightly.
Hua Chan Juan repeatedly gave subtle glances, but upon realizing her Daoist Companion paid her no heed, she couldn't help but feel secretly exasperated.
She then forced a smile towards Fang Xi, sweetly saying: "Brother Fang. . . in the future, we will all be cultivating on the same island, living as neighbors. As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. My husband isn't very good with words, so if there was any offense given before, please don't take it to heart!"
She secretly stomped on Wei Yi Xin's foot again, and only then did Wei Yi Xin clasp his hands in apology before Fang Xi, his tone stiff: "Brother Fang, I apologize. . ."
"You two Fellow Daoists jest," Fang Xi replied with a smile. "Such minor matters, I've never taken them to heart."
As long as they didn't disturb his tree planting, anything was negotiable; otherwise. . .
After the two sides settled their past grievances with a laugh, the old man slowly and leisurely spoke: "Fairy Ruan. . . the inventory has been tallied."
He glanced at the kneeling individuals and chuckled: "Twelve early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators of the Lu family have all been decapitated. Of the six guest elders, three were killed, and three have surrendered. . ."
As for the Lu family's core mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, they naturally followed Lu Jing Qing, the patriarch.
One of them was killed by Wei Yi Xin and his wife, and another was said to have been nearly killed before seeing the situation was unfavorable and directly fleeing.
The one Fang Xi killed was merely an externally hired guest elder.
"Apart from that, the spirit stones and spirit rice in the storehouse are largely intact. . . Especially that second-order 'Spirit Peach Tree' in the medicinal field, thanks to Fellow Daoist Fang's decisive and swift swordplay, it wasn't destroyed and is perfectly safe."
The old way of deadwood even put in a good word for Fang Xi.
"Spirit Peach Tree? !"
Ruan Xing Ling's expression became distant, unclear what she was thinking: "Back then. . . when that Lu scoundrel rebelled, even my father couldn't bear to destroy this Spirit Peach Tree. . ."
Her eyes suddenly turned sharp: "Are all the Lu family members killed?"
"All cultivators have been eliminated. As for the mortals, they await Fairy Ruan's instructions."
The old way of deadwood bowed.
Accidental killings during battle were one thing, but wantonly slaughtering mortals after a conflict would ruin one's reputation and be scorned by all in Myriad Islands Lake.
"All Lu family mortals are to be imprisoned until death!"
Ruan Xing Ling stated coldly.
"As you command! "Deadwood said bowed, his attitude respectful: "There is one more matter of concern. Many Lu family members have married women from the Ruan family, some even from the main lineage. . ."
He clapped his hands, and a trembling woman came forward, cradling an infant: "This child's father was an early-stage Qi Refinement cultivator of the Lu family, and his mother was a mortal descendant of the Ruan family's main lineage, who died in childbirth. What should be done with this child?"
"Impris—"
Ruan Xing Ling's eyes were distant, but gazing at the infant's face, she couldn't help but fall silent.
After a long while, a voice finally spoke: "Forget it. . . send him to be raised by mortals in the town. . . Does this child have a name?"
"No name has been given. We await Fairy Ruan's bestowal," Deadwood replied.
"Fellow Daoist Fang, what do you think? " Ruan Xing Ling turned her gaze to Fang Xi.
"If one has erred, then correct it. Perhaps. . . 'Lu Guo' would be a fitting name," Fang Xi mused, then replied.
He wasn't entirely sure of the woman's attitude. If he chose the Ruan surname, it might imply a desire to let the Lu family off the hook.
"Excellent!"
Ruan Xing Ling instructed a wet nurse to take Lu Guo away, then swiftly handled the surrendered rogue cultivators and mortals.
Finally, the hall became empty, leaving only Fang Xi and a few others.
Ruan Xing Ling stood up: "This one has avenged her great wrong, thanks to all your assistance. Please accept my bow."
"We dare not!"
Fang Xi and the others hastily declined.
"Fellow Daoists, please rest assured, this one will absolutely not go back on her previous vow. I wish to share Peach Blossom Island with all of you! "Ruan Xing Ling first swept her gaze over the anxious faces of Wei Yi Xin and his wife, then observed the slightly trembling sleeves of the old way of deadwood, finally resting her eyes on the expressive Fang Xi, speaking with a faint smile.
"Many thanks, Island Master!"
Fang Xi gravely clasped his hands in salute, thus settling the positions of host and guest.
"Many thanks, Island Master! " Wei Yi Xin and his wife were similarly overjoyed.
Hua Chan Juan glanced at Fang Xi, fearful that he might use his superior spiritual power to seize her Twin Peaks. Her eyes darted, and she proposed: "Fairy Ruan, the five of us have gone through life-and-death together. This one has a suggestion: why don't we become sworn siblings? Then in the future, we could be called the 'Five Peach Blossom Immortals' or the 'Five Peach Garden Righteous Ones', what do you think?"
"Cough, cough. . ."
Fang Xi's mouth twitched, barely suppressing a laugh. What kind of terrible nicknames were these? If an idol group debuted with names like that, they'd undoubtedly flop.
This female cultivator truly had a genius for naming things!
"That is improper. Fairy Ruan is at late-stage Qi Refinement, and moreover, she is the Island Master! Her status is noble; how can she be mentioned in the same breath as us? "The old way of Deadwood was the first to object.
"Let us drop this matter. . ."
Ruan Xing Ling actually seemed somewhat interested, but seeing Wei Yi Xin hastily apologize, and both Deadwood old Road and Fang Xi object, she graciously went along with it.
The five conversed for a while longer, then each returned to their rooms.
Inside a spacious room that had been temporarily cleaned, fragrant smoke wafted from a Purple Jade Cauldron.
Fang Xi affixed a protective talisman to the door, then sat cross-legged on an apricot-yellow meditation mat, taking out the storage bags he had acquired today.
Ignoring the others, he directly took out the Kou family's second brother's bag and began forcibly eroding the spiritual imprint with his spiritual power.
Several hours later, the storage bag burst open with a "boom!"
Within it, an object appeared, causing Fang Xi's eyes to light up: "It's actually. . . that!"
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