150: It's not my fault!

Inside the main hall of Hundred Flowers Valley.

Heaven-Grade Cultivation Techniques were treasures that even Deity Transformation Heavenly Venerables would scramble for.

And then there were those ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Medicines, numbering in the dozens or even hundreds; each one could be considered a rare treasure.

Now, Han Qing was handing them out to them like candy.

"Enough."

Han Qing looked at them and broke the silence with a hint of impatience.

"Don't look like you're about to cry; it's pretentious."

He said flatly, "Only if your strength increases can you better serve me. It's as simple as that."

He stood up, and an invisible Aura naturally spread out, causing the women to snap back to their senses instantly.

"Go into seclusion. Increasing your cultivation as quickly as possible is the best reward you can give me." Han Qing's tone brooked no argument. "No one is allowed out without my order."

"Yes, Master (Husband)!"

The women bowed in unison and then, filled with excitement, headed to their respective secret rooms to begin their crucial seclusion.

Only Han Qing remained in the hall.

He slowly walked to the doorway, stood with his hands behind his back, watched the clouds drift by outside, and exhaled a breath of turbid air.

"Building up a faction is truly exhausting."

Han Qing muttered to himself.

He actually had no ambition to conquer the world. He just wanted to Cultivate peacefully and not be bullied.

The current situation was quite good.

His core team consisted of the women around him.

They had been tested through life and death and were absolutely reliable.

Externally, he had the eight Spirit Transformation Realm Demon Venerables from the Misty Forest as secret enforcers, ready to strike wherever he pointed, so there was no need to worry about combat power.

Such an arrangement was low-profile, secretive, and efficient.

The resources he could now leverage far exceeded his current Cultivation needs, which was enough.

A self-deprecating smile curled at the corner of Han Qing's mouth.

"I keep complaining about their low strength, but I almost forgot that I'm not doing great myself either."

"I need to Breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm as soon as possible."

Han Qing's gaze became serious.

By breaking through to the Nascent Soul, he could unlock a higher level of special effects—the [Void Refining Realm].

At that time, it would be a whole new world.

"Once I unlock the Void Refining Realm effects, no one should be able to bully me, right?"

He whispered to himself.

"On this journey of mine, every step has truly been taken with fear and trepidation, like walking on thin ice."

Han Qing stretched, his gaze sharpening once more.

"Before going into seclusion, there's one small thing to do."

With a thought, a Divine Thought crossed mountains and rivers, transmitting directly into the minds of those eight Demon Venerables.

"There's a small job I need your help with!"

...At the same time.

In the Tianxuan Domain, hundreds of millions of miles away, the Lu Family.

Inside the ancient and majestic Ancestral Hall, sandalwood incense smoke curled.

The Family Head sat in the main seat, his square face as gloomy as water.

Beside him, several Elders also had solemn expressions, with a lingering trace of fear in their eyes.

In the hall.

The most favored direct descendant of the Lu Family, Lu Mingxuan, was kneeling pathetically, trembling all over, the color drained from his face.

The fear emanating from the depths of his Soul still clung to him like a maggot on a bone.

"Mingxuan."

Lu Jinbei's low voice was the first to break the dead silence.

He asked, "Say it again. Did you see it with your own eyes? That Han Qing killed your uncle and those two Spirit Transformation Realm Enshrined Experts with just one sword strike?"

"Yes! Yes! It's absolutely true."

Lu Mingxuan shuddered violently and shrieked, "Third Uncle, it's true! Just one sword strike!"

"I didn't even see how the sword came; Uncle and the others were just gone! Nothing was left."

"It's too terrifying. That Han Qing is a devil. If I hadn't hidden far away, I wouldn't have seen you all again!"

He sobbed as he spoke, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Just then.

"My poor brother—"

A beautiful woman threw herself at Lu Qian's feet; she was Lu Qian's wife, Tian Wenlong's Elder sister, Madam Tian.

She clutched Lu Qian's robes, sobbing uncontrollably, "Husband, Wenlong died so miserably! You must avenge him!"

Lu Qian suppressed his irritation and asked in a low voice, "Old Third, you've dealt with Han Qing a lot. Is he truly that terrifying?"

Lu Jinbei nodded heavily, deep wariness appearing on his face.

"Big Brother, I've said before that this person is unfathomable and acts completely outside of common sense. Last time, when all eight of us Soul Transformation experts arrived together, we didn't gain the slightest advantage; instead, we were suppressed by his strange Domain."

He sighed and continued, "I can understand Tian Wenlong's feelings, but charging over aggressively with only two Enshrined Experts was truly too careless."

"He simply didn't understand what kind of monster he was facing."

"Lu Jinbei!"

Madam Tian snapped her head up, glaring intensely at Lu Jinbei, and roared:

"It's all your fault! You were the one who said Han Qing hadn't appeared for a long time and was likely dead."

"That's why my brother went to the Zhilan Domain to take advantage of the situation. You're the one who killed him!"

Facing such an accusation, Lu Jinbei's face darkened; he didn't get angry but simply shook his head coldly.

"Sister-in-law, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want."

"My speculation at the time was exactly: 'Han Qing hasn't appeared for a long time, there might be a change; we can send someone to test him, but remember not to let it be linked to our Lu Family in any way.'"

"It was you who took the initiative to suggest letting Tian Wenlong act as the 'white glove.' You wanted to use this opportunity to seize a foundation for the Tian Family. Big Brother and the Elders present can all testify for me on this matter!"

He finished speaking.

Madam Tian's face instantly turned pale.

She wanted to argue further, but Lu Jinbei's gaze made her heart falter, and for a moment, she couldn't speak.

Lu Jinbei's words were true; she had indeed been moved by greed.

She thought Han Qing was dead and wanted her brother to claim the top merit, thereby securing immense benefits for the Tian Family.

But she wasn't resigned! She needed an outlet for her frustration.

So, she began to cry and plead in despair.

"Husband, that Han Qing has given our Tian Family an ultimatum!"

"He's given my father three days to personally go to the Zhilan Domain and offer a humble apology, or else he'll come to the Tianxuan Domain himself and exterminate the entire Tian Family!"

"Husband, you can't just ignore us!"

"I beg of you!"

A flash of pity crossed Lu Qian's eyes, and he was just about to speak.

"No!"

A Lu Family Elder immediately objected.

His objection was immediately echoed by several other Elders.

"Family Head, this is absolutely out of the question!" another Elder said. "For the sake of an in-law, to have our Lu Family directly confront a monster who can kill three Soul Transformation experts with one sword strike—the risk of this deal is too great!"

"Exactly!"

Another person chimed in, "The Tian Family brought this on themselves; they can't blame anyone else! Our Lu Family has a ten-thousand-year Legacy; we must not let them drag us into an abyss of eternal damnation!"

"Indeed!" the last Elder added. "Didn't Old Third make it very clear?"

"The most terrifying thing about Han Qing isn't just that one sword strike, but also his elusive methods! Once we become enemies with such a person, our Lu Family will never know peace. We'd be constantly worried about someone giving us such a sword strike at any moment!"

Those words left Lu Qian in complete silence.

Indeed, a top-tier assassin who couldn't be killed and also possessed the strength to face thousands of troops head-on was simply a nightmare for any faction.

Moreover, as the Family Head, he had to consider the survival of the Family.

He clenched his fists tightly and ultimately chose silence. And that silence was the cruelest answer.

Madam Tian's sobbing gradually stopped.

She looked at her husband's silent face and then swept her gaze over the cold and resolute eyes of those Elders.

She understood completely: the Tian Family had been abandoned.

She stood up, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and straightened her back.

"If you won't handle it, I'll handle it myself."

She said flatly, her eyes terrifyingly hollow.

"My brother is already dead. The hundreds of people in my Tian Family cannot be allowed to perish just like that."

After speaking, she turned resolutely. "I will go to the Zhilan Domain myself and kowtow to Han Qing to apologize!"

"I'll beg him to stay his hand and grant my Tian Family a way to live!"

"Wife, you..."

Lu Qian's expression changed drastically; he stood up abruptly and instinctively reached out to stop her.

However.

Madam Tian walked straight past his outstretched hand, and her figure quickly disappeared outside the hall doors.