1: Chapter 1 Battle of Wits

This is a Family cultivation novel written from the first generation.

At the beginning, the Mo Family was just an ordinary hunter household under Baitou Mountain, with no powerful Old Ancestor and no ready-made Family fortune.

Later on, readers will watch them start with a few taels of silver and a few Spirit Stones, stepping out of Baitou Mountain step by step.

If there are any typos, contradictions, or parts that everyone feels are unreasonable in the text, you are welcome to point them out directly, and I will read them carefully.

I hope that for this story, someone will be willing to accompany the Mo Family all the way down. (Bowing to all readers)

Baitou Mountain is covered in snow year-round.

The Mo Family father and son checked the footprints left by the prey on the ground while carefully observing the movements around them.

The father was named Mo Shoutian, and the son was named Mo Xiaochuan.

They were both people from Mo Family Village under Baitou Mountain.

As the saying goes, rely on the mountain to eat from the mountain, rely on the water to eat from the water.

The people of Mo Family Village were no exception; they farmed in spring and harvested in autumn, and when winter arrived, they went into the mountains to hunt.

Just as the father and son were following the footprints to search for prey, a series of sounds of ironware colliding suddenly came from the sky.

Every collision was like a thunderclap exploding, shaking the trees and causing the snow to constantly fall from the branches.

Mo Shoutian only looked up once before pulling his son and hiding in a small cave not far away.

When the sound came just now, Mo Xiaochuan also looked up.

He clearly saw that two people were entangled in combat in the sky.

Just as he wanted to speak, he was pushed into the cave by his father.

Mo Shoutian lay at the cave entrance, cautiously sticking his head out to look at the two people fighting in the sky.

Because the two people in the air were too far from the ground, he couldn't see their appearances or ages at all.

But he could be certain that they must be Immortals.

Although Mo Family Village had no Immortals, the villagers could occasionally see people stepping on long swords flying over their heads.

"Dad, why are these Immortals fighting?"

Mo Xiaochuan asked in a lowered voice.

Mo Shoutian looked at the two people entangled in combat in the sky and said in a low voice:

"Why they are fighting, Dad doesn't know. But when Immortals fight, it is usually Mortals like us who suffer."

After speaking, he pulled back his head that had been poked out.

He looked at Mo Xiaochuan and exhorted:

"Xiaochuan, do not make a sound, and even more so, do not go out."

Mo Xiaochuan nodded and said nothing more.

The father and son clung closely to the stone wall in the cave, quietly listening to the movement outside.

Boom! Boom!

The sounds of explosions and the collision of ironware continuously came from outside.

Every time an explosion rang out, the cave would sway gently with it, and soil and gravel continuously fell from the cave roof, smashing onto the bodies of the father and son.

Under Baitou Mountain, Mo Family Village.

Quite a few villagers were alarmed by the sounds coming from the mountain, and one after another they walked out of their courtyards and looked towards the direction of Baitou Mountain.

Mo Family Village was about five or six miles away from Baitou Mountain.

Although they couldn't see the figures fighting in the sky clearly, they could see the snow on the mountain constantly being blown into the air by explosions.

After seeing this scene, several women immediately showed anxious expressions on their faces.

Because their husbands or children had been hunting on Baitou Mountain these past few days.

Mo Shoutian's wife was also among the crowd.

At this moment, the father and son hiding in the cave vaguely heard the conversation between the two Immortals in the sky.

One of them told the other to hand over some kind of jade.

The other said that he didn't have that piece of jade on him at all.

Immediately following that, the two fought again.

This fight lasted a full day and night.

It wasn't until the evening of the next day that the outside became completely quiet.

During this full day and night, whenever the father and son were hungry, they ate the flatbread brought from home, and when they were thirsty, they secretly grabbed a handful of snow at the cave entrance and stuffed it into their mouths.

Hearing that there was no more movement outside, the father and son were not in a hurry to go out either.

They lay at the cave entrance and observed carefully for a long time.

After making sure the surroundings were completely safe, Mo Shoutian said in a low voice:

"Xiaochuan, don't come out yet. I'll go out and take a look."

"Dad, be careful."

Mo Shoutian nodded and carefully walked out of the cave.

Just as he walked forward more than a dozen meters, he saw a corpse.

That corpse looked very old; as for exactly how old, Mo Shoutian couldn't tell.

After all, the true age of a cultivation practitioner was probably only known to themselves, and Mortals simply could not judge from their appearance.

The moment he saw the corpse, Mo Shoutian's mind was left with only one thought.

"Run!"

This kind of matter was not something a Mortal like him could get involved in.

Just as he was about to turn around and tell his son to run quickly, an extremely faint voice came from not far away.

"You... you come over."

Mo Shoutian's heart trembled.

He didn't want to pay attention to that voice; he only wanted to take his son and leave this place immediately.

But before he had time to speak, he felt his body suddenly go numb, as if all the strength in his entire body was drained away in an instant.

With a thump, he collapsed directly onto the snow.

That weak voice reached his ears once again.

"You..."

As soon as the other party uttered a single word, he coughed violently twice.

"You come over."

Mo Shoutian lay on the ground, struggling to look in the direction the voice came from.

He saw a blood-stained man lying not far away.

That person looked about the same age as the corpse on the ground; his right arm was already gone, leaving only a left arm.

The one-armed man looked at Mo Shoutian, who was limp on the ground, his gaze looking like he was staring at prey that had fallen into a trap.

"Crawl over here."

Mo Shoutian said with difficulty:

"I can't move, I have no strength on me."

The one-armed man glanced around, then raised his only remaining left hand, listlessly flicking his finger lightly toward Mo Shoutian.

A faint light flew out from his fingertips and drilled into Mo Shoutian's body.

After the light entered his body, Mo Shoutian felt that he had recovered a little strength, but he still couldn't stand up.

He could only prop up his body and slowly crawl toward that person.

Watching Mo Shoutian approach continuously, the one-armed man's gaze of looking at prey gradually turned into excitement.

Mo Shoutian understood this kind of look.

He was the same when he caught prey.

Especially when the prey completely lost the ability to resist and escape, it was precisely this look.

Half a lifetime of hunting experience told him that once he got close to this person, he would undoubtedly die.

Although he didn't understand cultivation, he had also heard that cultivators could perform Possession, and some people would absorb the vital blood of Mortals to heal themselves or prolong their lives.

While crawling forward, Mo Shoutian quietly accumulated strength, and his right hand also slowly felt for the dagger at his waist.

Just when there was only one step left from that person, Mo Shoutian suddenly clenched his teeth, exerted the very little Qi strength he had left in his whole body, and abruptly stood up from the ground.

He pulled out the dagger and stabbed it toward the one-armed man's throat.

Although the movement was still crisp, because his Qi strength was currently insufficient, he drew his knife much slower than he usually did when hunting.

The one-armed man was stunned for a moment, and then a sneer appeared on his face.

He didn't raise his arm, but only moved the finger from before slightly, and Mo Shoutian collapsed limp onto the ground once again.

The dagger in his hand also fell onto the snow.

The one-armed man coughed while saying:

"Mortal ants dare to be disrespectful to an Immortal."

After finishing, he extended his only remaining left hand and grabbed Mo Shoutian's head in one clutch.

Mo Shoutian only felt that the blood in his body seemed to be pulled by a force, wanting to be forcibly extracted from his body.

Heart-piercing pain instantly spread through his entire body.

He wanted to cry out, but couldn't emit even a shred of sound.

Just when he thought he would undoubtedly die today, a dagger suddenly stabbed in from the one-armed Immortal's throat.

Mo Shoutian was very familiar with that dagger.

It was forged by his own hands for his son.

The dagger was pulled out and fiercely stabbed into the same spot again.

One time.

Twice.

Three times.

Until the one-armed Immortal's head limply drooped down did that dagger finally stop.

As the one-armed man completely breathed his last, the sense of weakness on Mo Shoutian's body began to rapidly recede, and his Qi strength also began to recover bit by bit.

"Dad, he's dead. Are you alright?"

Mo Xiaochuan gripped the blood-stained dagger, his voice trembling slightly.

Although he had killed quite a few large beasts, killing a person—or to be precise, killing an Immortal—was a first for him.

Mo Shoutian breathed heavily while glancing at his son; he didn't comfort him, because he understood his son.

"I'm fine, but these two corpses must be dealt with quickly."

"These Immortals definitely have a sect behind them. If someone discovers this, not only will the two of us father and son not survive, but even the people of the entire Mo Family Village won't live."

After hearing this, Mo Xiaochuan hurriedly asked:

"How about burning them with fire?"

Mo Shoutian shook his head.

"No."

"When the corpses burn, there will definitely be smoke on the mountain, which is very easy for people to discover."

"Then what should we do?"

Mo Shoutian looked around.

"Ahead is the old forest where there are many wild beasts. Throw the corpses into the old forest and let the wild beasts eat them."

While speaking, Mo Shoutian's strength had also recovered almost completely.

"Come, Xiaochuan."

"You lift his shoulders, and I'll lift his feet. Let's throw this corpse into the old forest first."

The father and son, one in front and one behind, lifted the one-armed man's corpse.

Just at this moment, a palm-sized cloth bag fell out from the bosom of the breath-deprived one-armed Immortal.

Mo Shoutian immediately put down the corpse and picked up the cloth bag.

After opening it, he discovered that inside were some faintly glowing stones and several bottles and jars.

Seeing these things, Mo Shoutian said to his son:

"Xiaochuan, go to the side of the other corpse and search his body carefully."

"You cannot leave a single thing behind."

"Wild beasts will only eat corpses, but they won't eat these things."

Mo Xiaochuan nodded, walked over to the side of the other corpse, and began to grope around carefully.

Mo Shoutian squatted down and began to search the one-armed man who had almost taken his life.

He rummaged through the corpse from head to toe, and besides finding a tael of silver in his bosom, he found nothing else.

Just at this moment, Mo Xiaochuan, not far away, shouted in a low voice:

"Dad, what is this?"