80: Chapter 80 Expanding the Business

Ye Jing had watched quite a show. He put away his axe as he saw the dawn breaking in the distance.

He said, "Xuaner, Yier, go report to the Village Chief. Tell him the Tang Family colluded with bandits and came to massacre the village, and have him report it to the authorities!"

"Yes! Dad!"

In the morning, the entrance to the Ye Family home was covered in corpses. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the dead were heinous criminals, and among them were several wealthy Young Masters dressed in silk.

Many people in Liu Village had heard the sounds of fighting and killing last night, but none had dared to show their faces. Now, seeing the Ye Family unharmed after dealing with so many brigands, they couldn't help but be amazed.

The morning light dyed the dirt roads of Liu Village a warm gold, but the corpses lying haphazardly at the Ye Family's door exuded a bone-chilling cold.

"This... these look like the two Young Masters of the Tang Family, and that one next to them, isn't that Second Master Tang who just became the Patriarch?!"

Several villagers who frequently went to the county town quickly recognized the Young Masters in silk and cried out in shock.

"My goodness! The Tang Family is one of the top wealthy families in the county town. Why did they come to our Liu Village?"

"Look at those fierce-looking ones! Are they bandits? Did the Tang Family actually collude with bandits?"

"The people of the Ye Family are too incredible, aren't they? They actually won against so many bandits? I thought something might have happened to the Ye Family!"

"No wonder the Ye Family has had so much confidence lately. It turns out they were hiding such great capability?"

The discussions among the crowd gradually turned into waves of admiration, and they looked at Ye Jing's Family with nothing but awe.

Seeing the villagers like this, Ye Jing said, "Please, everyone, bear witness! The Tang Family colluded with bandits to plague our neighborhood; their crimes deserve death! When the Inspector arrives later, you must all help me speak up!"

The people of Liu Village naturally responded. They had been too terrified to come out last night, but now that the bandits were dealt with, they naturally stood up to uphold 'justice.'

Before long, Inspector Li Kun rushed over. Seeing so many corpses lying at the Ye Family home, it nearly scared the minor official to death.

Seeing him arrive, Ye Jing immediately said, "Lord Inspector, this Tang Family colluded with bandits, intending to massacre the village and plunder our homes. You see..."

At this, Li Kun broke into a cold sweat.

Not long ago, the imperial court had just dispatched an Immortal to suppress Longhu Mountain, and yet only a few days later, bandits had come to cause trouble in the village. If this wasn't handled well, both his and the County Magistrate's official hats would fall!

Li Kun wiped the cold sweat from his brow, his gaze sweeping over the corpses on the ground and the angry faces of the surrounding villagers.

He quickly made up his mind. Taking a deep breath, he cupped his hands toward Patriarch Ye and said solemnly, "Rest assured, Patriarch Ye! This is no small matter. The Tang Family was bold enough to collude with bandits, showing utter disregard for the law. This official will certainly report the truth and return justice to the villagers!"

After saying that, he immediately turned and shouted to the Constables behind him, "What are you all standing there for! Hurry up and count the bodies! Verify the identities of the Tang Family members!"

The Constables dared not delay and immediately set to work.

The Tang Family was truly finished this time. Colluding with bandits was a capital crime involving the execution of nine generations, no different from rebellion.

After hearing of the matter, the County Magistrate quickly sent men to seize all the Tang Family's assets in the county town and arrest all their descendants.

By now, the downfall of the Tang Family was inevitable. Those forces that usually relied on the Tang Family saw the way the wind was blowing and stepped forward one after another to clear their names, some even kicking them while they were down by exposing the Tang Family's past misdeeds.

A few days later, the county yamen's verdict arrived. The remaining members of the Tang Family were sentenced: the males were to be beheaded, and the females exiled to the frontier.

At the same time, Ye Jing was rewarded with a significant amount of silver. However, Ye Jing was not short of silver now; he needed to go find Zhao Yuanyi to discuss the jade business.

The two of them agreed to meet at Zhenxiu Restaurant.

Zhao Yuanyi was also surprised to hear that Ye Jing wanted to go into the jade business. He had long since heard about the downfall of the Tang Family.

Ye Jing had even swallowed up many of the Tang Family's industries. Now, wanting to do jade business was merely adding flowers to the embroidery for the Ye Family.

He had no objections and agreed. The two of them chatted while they ate, refining many details.

Everything was settled quickly.

Ye Jing also took the opportunity to ask Zhao Yuanyi about the Immortals of the Yan State, learning that the Yan State held Immortals in extremely high regard. Any Immortal who sought refuge would be treated as an honored guest by the Emperor.

Some Immortals would even assist in battlefield combat. It was no exaggeration to say that a single Immortal could be worth a million-strong army.

Furthermore, the Emperor of almost every country would satisfy all reasonable needs of an Immortal. If an Immortal needed some kind of Heaven And Earth Treasure for their cultivation, the Emperor would dispatch the power of the entire nation to search for it.

Even the Cultivation Techniques, Magical Artifacts, and Spirit Stones used for cultivation in the national treasury were all available.

Ye Jing thought to himself that it seemed the Yan State truly respected Cultivators. However, the Ye Family had only just stepped onto the path of cultivation and still needed to be steady.

Therefore, Ye Jing temporarily focused his attention on the jade.

With the start of the jade business, the Ye Family would have resources for cultivation.

Once the business was finalized, Ye Jing transported the first batch of jade directly back home.

He specifically chose the jade that contained Spiritual Power for cultivation. After the Spiritual Qi was sucked dry, the jade would become dull, but it wouldn't affect its appearance, so it could still be sold for money.

He also opened various shops in the city, all marked with the Ye Family's name, serving as Ye Family industries to replace the original Tang Family businesses.

Now, the entire county town knew of the Ye Family; there was no one who didn't know them, and no one blind enough to dare find fault with the Ye Family again.

Ye Jing could finally take his Family and Cultivate in peace.

During this time, Wu Guiyun chose to contract the black bell as her Natal Spiritual Item. Although the contracting process was exceptionally painful, she persevered.

She became the sixth Cultivator in the Family.

After nine months of pregnancy, Liu Xianglan gave birth to a pair of twin boys, and the Immortal Willow grew two more willow branches.

The whole Family was very happy.

Even Ye Xuan, who was obsessed with cultivation, came out to celebrate.

Seeing this, Ye Jing held a Full-moon Banquet in the village and invited everyone to attend.

Ye Jing now had several grandsons. He believed that before long, the members of his Ye Family would continue to grow and develop!

Meanwhile, at the border of the Yan State.

The Beacon Towers on the south bank of the Yi River had long been swallowed by thick smoke. The crimson firelight dyed half the sky red, forming a piercing contrast with the cold, pale white.

The north wind howled, carrying sand and stones, but it couldn't drown out the clashing sounds of weapons.

The Yan State defenders' formation had been torn open by the enemy's iron cavalry. Those riders were like a black torrent, waving curved sabers. Wherever their horses passed, snow flew, leaving deep hoofprints and crushing the bones of countless soldiers.

Floating above was a man waving a long saber. That blade carried crimson bloodstains, and with every swing, the Yan State soldiers on the battlefield suffered heavy casualties with no power to resist.

He was precisely a Cultivator, helping the soldiers invade the Yan State.

Countries would invite some Cultivators to assist in combat. A Cultivator's strength was extremely powerful; a single move would result in heavy casualties.

And Chen Mingyuan, the Cultivator helping the Yan State, was clearly no match for this saber-wielding Cultivator.

"Hahaha... Is the Yan State out of people? To actually send a Qi Refining Sixth Layer Cultivator to fight! Then I'll start by sacrificing you to my blade!" The saber-wielding Cultivator grinned hideously, raising his large saber, which instantly grew several dozen feet long as it slashed toward Chen Mingyuan.

Chen Mingyuan clutched his blood-stained arm and fled in a panic. He hadn't expected this saber-wielding Cultivator to be so strong; it was no longer something he could handle.

He abandoned the soldiers he was supposed to be guarding and fled in haste.

Without the assistance of a Cultivator, none of those Mortal soldiers were a match for this saber-wielding Cultivator.

The flames of war soon swallowed the cities of the Yan State and began to burn toward the interior heartland.