20: Chapter 20 Night Raid on the Zhang Family

Chen Qingyuan looked at Wu Kui's "righteous" face as he haggled, and couldn't help but grumble helplessly in his heart!

"These old foxes of the immortal cultivation world are truly each more treacherous than a ghost!

Given the slightest chance, they'd love to squeeze every last drop of oil out of your bone marrow!"

However, the situation was out of his control, so he could only nod heavily in resignation, accepting the terms!

"Refreshing!"

Wu Kui finally grinned with satisfaction, revealing a mouthful of forest-white teeth, his smile full of mercenary pride!

He casually pulled out a low-grade fire talisman, and with a flick of spiritual power from his fingertip, the Talisman transformed into a ball of crimson flame that landed precisely on the head.

The flames flickered with a soft crackling sound, and within a few breaths, the head was completely reduced to a pile of ash, which scattered without a trace when the night wind blew.

"Let's go!" Chen Qingshan barked softly, taking the lead with large strides.

The group set off again, hurrying toward Luzhou Mountain.

Chen Qingshan and Big Tooth Dong still relied on the empowerment of Swift-Walk Talismans, their figures moving like the wind.

Meanwhile, Wu Kui leisurely patted the Storage Pouch at his waist, and a streak of light flew out.

It instantly transformed into a pair of wings woven from green feathers, attaching lightly to his back.

With a slight flap of the wings, he rose several feet off the ground and advanced leisurely, looking down from above at the two men running below.

"A flying Magical Artifact?!"

Big Tooth Dong caught a glimpse as he looked up and couldn't help but mutter under his breath!

"Pah, what's there to show off! When I strike it rich, I'll get a flying bed and travel lying down!"

...

Luzhou Mountain derived its name from the peculiar saline-alkali pond at its base.

The silt in the pond was deep, and a faint salty, fishy smell lingered year-round, nourishing a vast expanse of dense, resilient reeds that rose and fell like waves in the night wind, rustling softly.

This poetic and picturesque watery greenery seemed out of place yet full of life on this wasteland dominated by yellow sand and Gobi desert.

The mountain was not high, its slopes were gentle, and it possessed no real strategic terrain to speak of, let alone a mountain-protecting Formation!

With only a single Rank 1 Medium Grade Spiritual Vein to support two Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivators and over a dozen disciples in the early and Mid Qi Refining Stage,

plus the reclaimed spiritual fields and cultivated spiritual plants, resources were already stretched thin. How could they possibly have the surplus energy to maintain a high-consumption protective Formation?

This was one of the reasons why Chen Qingyuan dared to strike early.

The group arrived silently at the foot of the mountain and vanished into a dense thicket of reeds.

The salty, damp mist mixed with the scent of vegetation blew against their faces.

"Whew..."

Chen Qingyuan, who had been clinging to Big Tooth Dong's back, had recovered most of his mobility after a period of breath adjustment and recovery with Medicinal Pills, though his face remained pale.

He gently patted Big Tooth Dong's thick shoulder and whispered, "Big Brother Dong, put me down."

Big Tooth Dong stopped as requested and carefully set Chen Qingyuan down.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he took a deep breath of the air carrying the scent of his homeland's marshes!

Chen Qingyuan's eyes instantly became as sharp as a hawk's, scanning the terrain before him that was more than familiar.

"Three brothers,"

"Act according to plan! I'll leave the two old ghosts of the Zhang family to you!"

Wu Kui retracted the wings on his back and landed steadily, merely nodding calmly at the words.

Big Tooth Dong cracked his knuckles, making a popping sound!

"Don't worry, I'll make sure they sleep for a long time!"

Chen Qingshan stepped forward and firmly gripped Chen Qingyuan's shoulder!

"Xiao Yuan, be extremely careful! If things aren't going well, send a signal immediately. Saving your life is what matters most!"

"I understand!"

Chen Qingyuan nodded solemnly, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "Leave this place to me!"

The four said no more and split into two groups to begin their operation!

Wu Kui led Chen Qingshan and Big Tooth Dong straight toward the Zhang family's residential area at the mountain summit!

Chen Qingyuan's figure flickered as he used the moonlight to sneak toward his predetermined position.

He knew every blade of grass and every tree on Luzhou Mountain like the back of his hand!

The nodes of spiritual power flow, the essential paths up and down the mountain, where the view was open for observation, and where it was easy to hide for an ambush—all had been clearly outlined in his mind long ago.

The Late Stage Qi Refining experts of the Zhang family would be handled by Wu Kui's trio; the remaining Mid Qi Refining Stage and lower Cultivators could not fly,

their range of movement was limited—providing the perfect opportunity to use the terrain and Formation, to catch them all in one net!

Without a moment's hesitation, just as Wu Kui's trio launched their surprise attack, Chen Qingyuan patted his Storage Pouch, and nine earthy-yellow triangular flags appeared in his hand.

They were precisely the Formation Flags of the Yellow Sand Shackle Formation!

Next, he carefully inserted the Formation Flags around the Zhang family's residential area, leaving only half of the flagpoles exposed.

He then quickly took out eight Low-Grade Spirit Stones and placed them around the Formation Flags according to specific orientations.

As soon as the Spirit Stones touched the ground, a spiritual glow began to emanate from the Formation Flags, faintly resonating with the Spirit Stones.

"Whew..."

With the Formation set, fine beads of cold sweat had already broken out on Chen Qingyuan's forehead.

At this moment, the spiritual power in his body had only recovered by thirty to forty percent, which was not enough to support his use of a Formation Plate.

Had he not exchanged for Spirit Stones at any cost earlier, this carefully prepared Formation would be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal without a supply of spiritual power!

Nine Formation eyes, seventy-two Low-Grade Spirit Stones...

This once again exhausted all the Spirit Stone reserves in his possession. For today's battle, the Chen family could be said to have gone bankrupt and fallen heavily into debt!

Therefore, failure was not an option!

Just then!

"Bang—!!!"

A deafening roar suddenly erupted from the mountain summit!

"Wu Kui, you have some nerve! How dare you come to my Luzhou Mountain to cause trouble!"

"Your Luzhou Mountain? What a shameless old thing! Setting a trap to swindle a child and forcibly seizing another's inheritance, and yet you dare to be so arrogant?"

A massive blood-colored axe shadow tore through the night sky, hacking fiercely at a large, earthy-yellow phantom of a bell!

The sharp ring of clashing metal, accompanied by a visible shockwave, instantly exploded!

The rocky ground at the summit looked as if it had been overturned by a giant plow, cracking inch by inch, as stone fragments shot out in all directions like a rainstorm!

Amidst the swirling dust, two figures faced off in mid-air.

Both of them actually possessed flying Magical Artifacts.

Wu Kui, like a humanoid Vicious Beast, gripped a giant axe the size of a door with both hands, its blade shimmering with a cold light.

The massive axe shadow was precisely the manifestation of his full power driving the giant axe Magical Artifact!

Every strike of the axe carried the weight of a thousand tons, smashing the yellow bell phantom into violent tremors, its halo flickering uncertainly.

His opponent was none other than the Head of the Zhang Family, Zhang Changxuan!

This fat man's expression was now incredibly grave.

Floating before him was a small bell, his famous Magical Artifact—the "panshan bell"! The enormous yellow bell phantom was triggered by it.

Although he had blocked Wu Kui for now, Zhang Changxuan was shaken so hard his blood and Qi were churning!

He couldn't help but be horrified: this brute's strength was simply too overwhelming!