65: Being bullied

The Head of the Cui Family wore a bitter expression, wanting to deny it, but seeing Xu Sanyan's gaze, he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and nodded wearily, "This old man will go fetch it for you now."

Xu Sanyan's eyes brightened slightly; the item was indeed still with the Cui Family.

This old man was narrow-minded and would certainly not entrust such an important item to Yang Qizhu.

"Then many thanks."

Xu Sanyan was in a good mood; with the token in hand, there was no need to search for Yang Qizhu anymore.

A moment later, the Head of the Cui Family walked over, holding a palm-sized gilded token, his Face dark as he said, "This is the Sect Token, please accept it, Young Master Xu."

Just as Xu Sanyan was about to reach out and take it, a shout came from afar.

"Father, no!"

Xu Sanyan turned his head to look; it was indeed Cui Sheng, the Eldest Young Master of the Cui Family.

The Head of the Cui Family's expression changed, and he quickly reprimanded, "Sheng'er, step back!"

"Father!"

Cui Sheng's Face was filled with resentment; this token was not only his stepping stone onto the path of immortality but also the key for him to lead the Family further. He was unwilling to hand it over so easily!

Xu Sanyan reached out and took the token, then subtly glanced sideways, a smile playing on his lips as he looked at Cui Sheng.

Cui Sheng's Face flushed crimson, filled with extreme grief and indignation; he clenched his fists tightly, his sharp fingernails digging into his flesh, drawing drops of fresh blood.

"You want it?" Xu Sanyan gently shook the token.

Cui Sheng did not answer, his eyes filled with endless fury.

He only regretted his own weakness; the last time Xu Sanyan caused a ruckus in the Cui Mansion, he beat his younger brother half to death and crippled his cultivation, while he could only watch from the side.

It was the same this time; Xu Sanyan swaggered into their home and demanded the Cui Family's most precious item, and he could still only watch from the side.

He hated it!

Cui Sheng desperately wanted to gain power; he wanted to protect his Family from further humiliation and wished for such incidents to never happen again.

But at this very moment, he wanted to kill Xu Sanyan even more!

Xu Sanyan looked at his resentful expression and chuckled, saying, "Let me teach you a lesson: never show your anger before you have the ability to take revenge. You really should learn more from your father."

Upon hearing this, the Head of the Cui Family immediately felt a sense of dread, turned around, and knelt on the ground with a "thump," tearfully saying, "Young Master Xu, my son is ignorant; please don't bother with him. I beg you, spare him."

"That's not right; Young Master Cui is even older than me, how can he be ignorant?" Xu Sanyan let him remain kneeling.

"This..."

The Head of the Cui Family was momentarily speechless, then angrily cursed with an agitated expression, "Unfilial son, why aren't you quickly kowtowing to Young Master Xu and apologizing!"

Cui Sheng's handsome Face was flushed red with suppressed anger; he didn't understand why the dignified Cui Family had to endure such humiliation. At worst, they could fight as a whole Family. He refused to believe Xu Sanyan could kill all nearly a hundred members of the Cui Family!

"Kneel! How can you offend Immortal Master Xu!" The Head of the Cui Family roared, his words pointing out Xu Sanyan's ascension to the path of immortality.

"Immortal... Immortal Master?" Cui Sheng's expression changed, his mind instantly a mess, almost doubting his own ears.

He had achieved a Breakthrough...?

Under pressure, Cui Sheng slowly knelt on the ground, his Face pale as he said, "I was momentarily confused; I beg Immortal Master Xu to forgive me."

"Hehe..."

Xu Sanyan felt nothing inside, neither the satisfaction of bullying with power nor the guilt of oppressing the weak.

The world was just like this: survival of the fittest, the strong preying on the weak. Because Xu Sanyan was strong, even if he stole from the Cui Family, they still had to kneel and admit their mistake.

They even had to consider whether he was satisfied.

And the Cui Family was weak, so they could only be slaughtered at will, without daring to show the slightest complaint.

Xu Sanyan waved his hand, "Get up. Remember what I told you; I want fifty precious herbs tomorrow. It shouldn't be difficult, right?"

The Head of the Cui Family gritted his teeth, squeezing out a few words, "Not difficult."

Precious herbs had extremely low yields; even for a Family of the Cui Family's size, gathering fifty would be a significant strain, requiring them to spend a fortune to purchase them.

"Good, I'll come to collect them at this time tomorrow." With that, Xu Sanyan turned and left.

The Cui Family must be destroyed; the enmity between them was irreconcilable, but it was best not to do it himself. He would find an opportunity to use someone else to do his bidding.

Xu Sanyan never had the habit of leaving hidden dangers.

Cui Sheng quickly stepped forward to help the Head of the Cui Family up, his eyes bloodshot as he said, "Father, let's go ask our maternal uncle; ask him to avenge us!"

The maternal uncle Cui Sheng referred to was Cui Yousheng.

The Head of the Cui Family shook his head, sighing helplessly in his heart; how could their Cui Family have such Face?

To Cui Yousheng, the Cui Family was already a burden; now, not only could they not help, but they were also creating enemies for Cui Yousheng everywhere. It was unreasonable both emotionally and logically.

The Head of the Cui Family gazed at the sky with a crestfallen expression and slowly said, "Take Hao'er with you. Tonight, under the cover of darkness, leave the city through the secret passage. Never come back, and don't even think about revenge. Go directly to Qi Country and leave a Bloodline for my Cui Family."

Cui Sheng was stunned, his voice trembling as he said, "Father... what do you mean?"

"Alas..."

The Head of the Cui Family sighed, "Just in case, go. Take the Cultivation Technique with you."

He worried that Xu Sanyan would not spare the Cui Family, so he could only resort to this last measure, hoping that the Family Bloodline would not be cut off in his hands.

"Father... what about second brother?" Cui Sheng felt a pang of sorrow.

"Jie'er is already crippled; let him stay in the Cui Family."

"Yes..." Cui Sheng wiped away his tears and turned to leave.

...

Xu Sanyan returned home and pulled out the token from his embrace, examining it carefully. The front of the gilded token was engraved with a high mountain shrouded in clouds, and the back had a large character " Refining" (liàn).

"Liàn..."

Xu Sanyan pondered silently, what did this character represent?

Alchemy?

Corpse Refinement?

Overthinking was useless; he would understand once he went there.

Then, with a thought, his magical power surged into the token, and immediately a burst of mist rose, slowly unfolding into a simple map, with a high mountain at the destination.

Seeing this, Xu Sanyan became interested. According to the map, his current location was Qi Country. He would have to pass through two countries and a desert to reach it, a truly long journey.

He put away the token and took out the two Spirit Stones he had obtained from Ma Tianqing.

Now that he possessed magical power, he should be able to draw out the Spiritual Qi within the Spirit Stones.

Holding a Spirit Stone in each hand, Xu Sanyan sat cross-legged and mobilized the magical power within his body to envelop the Spirit Stones.

In an instant, a pure Spiritual Qi flowed out from within the Spirit Stones, slowly surging towards his hands, flowing through his Meridians throughout his body, and finally converging in his Qi Sea.

A quarter of an hour later, Xu Sanyan opened his eyes. The two Spirit Stones in his hands had lost their crystalline luster, turning grayish-white. He gently applied pressure with his hands, and they immediately turned into a pile of dust.

"Hahaha..."

Xu Sanyan's eyes gleamed, and he was extremely satisfied. Just two Spirit Stones did not significantly increase his cultivation; one could only say it was better than nothing.

But the "Qi" on his panel had changed.