CHAPTER 611: CHAPTER 596: BOTH THE PALM AND THE BACK OF THE HAND ARE FLESH!

With the rightful chief disciple Lu Xuewei returning, Zhouyang conveniently handed over the task of instructing the registered disciples on the mountain to her, while he himself ventured into the seclusion chamber to contemplate the God-slaying Sword Technique offered by Lu Xuewei.

As for Lan Cailian, after Zhouyang agreed to help her purchase the supporting Core Formation Spiritual Objects, she secluded herself in a cave on the mountain, preparing to ascend to the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion.

As time flowed, ten years passed in the blink of an eye.

In ten years, Zhouyang finally managed to successfully initiate practice of the God-slaying Sword Technique.

During these ten years, he also procured two types of supporting Core Formation Spiritual Objects that Lan Cailian requested, which were a "Condensing Pill Grass" and a "Profound Yin Spiritual Water".

These items, delivered to Chongxuan Mountain, were directly handed over to Lu Xuewei and never passed through Zhouyang’s hands.

Even when Zhou Guangxiang brought several Zhou Clan members to Chongxuan Mountain during this period, they never saw his figure and only collected some prepared Hidden Spirit Incense from Xiao Ying before departing on their own.

For the next thirty years, Zhouyang’s presence never emerged from the seclusion chamber; regardless of who visited, they were accommodated by Xiao Ying and Lu Xuewei on his behalf.

In the fourth decade of seclusion, Zhouyang’s cultivation successfully advanced to the Sixth-Layer Golden Core.

By then, he had also cultivated the Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique to the minor achievement realm, reaching the realm once attained by Tattooed Face Butcher Wu Biao.

At the minor achievement realm of the Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique, not only can it conceal body and breath, but it can also prevent being locked onto by various tracking magics.

Zhouyang focused on cultivating this divine technique over these decades specifically for its feature of avoiding tracking magic locks.

Coincidentally, shortly after mastering this divine technique, Zhou Guangxiang, traveling in the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm, sent a secret message requesting aid, asking him to help deal with a Golden Core Stage cultivator.

Zhou Guangxiang had traveled through the Liuyun Continent Cultivation Realm for over forty years, and after having set foot across most of the realm, finally found a treasure that could assist his Core Formation in an adventure—the Earth Radiance Spirit Milk.

The Earth Radiance Spirit Milk is a treasure formed from Earth Essence Qi, usable as a supporting Core Formation item for earth element cultivators, and is quite effective.

Zhou Guangxiang found a significant amount of Earth Radiance Spirit Milk. Besides using some for himself, he had plenty leftover, which he intended to trade for other supporting Core Formation spiritual objects.

Unfortunately, during a trade meeting, shortly after exchanging spiritual objects with someone, a Golden Core Stage cultivator ambushed him after he exited the Immortal City.

Fortunately, he had a Tier Five Puppet Beast gifted by Zhouyang as a trump card for survival. Ultimately, using this puppet beast allowed him an escape, sacrificing it as he cast the Blood Escape Technique to flee with his life.

However, repeatedly using the Blood Escape Technique weakened his primordial qi, forcing him to hide in an Immortal City to recuperate, while sending a message through hired help to Chongxuan Mountain, requesting Zhouyang’s help to reclaim his honor.

Upon receiving the message, Zhouyang promptly rode the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle to the Immortal City where Zhou Guangxiang was hiding, concealing his cultivation aura as he entered the city, meeting the recuperating Zhou Guangxiang.

Whether it was due to not seeing each other for over forty years or the true damage inflicted by using the Blood Escape Technique, Zhou Guangxiang’s face had aged conspicuously.

When Zhouyang saw him, his face was pale like frost and snow, sagging skin forming wrinkles, making him resemble a sixty-year-old mortal.

"What happened? How did you become so depleted in primordial qi!"

Zhouyang looked at this nephew with a gloomy expression, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Nephew was severely injured by that scoundrel and escaped three times under pursuit using the Blood Escape Technique, causing severe primordial qi depletion. Even with the spirit elixir refined by Aunt Nine, it cannot be replenished in a short time!"

Zhou Guangxiang spoke with a pale face about the incident, a hint of resentment rising in his eyes.

Originally, he had less than a century of lifespan left, and now heavily injured, would require ten to twenty years of rest to fully recover.

By the time he is fully healed and ready to attempt Core Formation again, he would only have one chance.

Attempting a Core Formation once is almost impossible for a non-Spirit Body cultivator to succeed, which is why Zhou Guangxiang is so bitterly resentful of the Golden Core Stage cultivator who ambushed him.

Zhouyang naturally sensed his nephew’s resentment and knew any comforting words would be ineffective, so he straightforwardly asked, "Have you figured out the background of the opponent?"

Zhou Guangxiang was waiting for this question and immediately replied with hatred: "That scoundrel is a Golden Core Ancestor of a major cultivation clan, the Wu Family, named Wu Baitong, with a Fourth-Layer Golden Core cultivation. The Wu Family is a vassal cultivation clan under the Beast Taming Sect. Besides Wu Baitong, they also nurture a Tier Five Middle-Grade clan guardian spirit beast, the Jade-Scaled Poison Python."

"Oh, it’s the Beast Taming Sect again? It seems our Zhou Family and their Beast Taming Sect are destined to clash!"

Zhouyang raised an eyebrow, his expression turning extremely peculiar.

All these years, he had been diligently cultivating on Chongxuan Mountain, and the Beast Taming Sect hadn’t troubled him, so he almost forgot he had such a foe.

Unexpectedly, the grudge with the Beast Taming Sect was not yet resolved, and Zhou Guangxiang was harmed by vassal cultivators of the Beast Taming Sect again. It seemed this enmity was impossible to unravel.

He pondered briefly, then nodded lightly and said, "I understand the situation. You can’t delay your injuries; you should return to Chongxuan Mountain first and find Aunt Nine for treatment. I’ll have the Golden Roc take you back."

After speaking, he paused, and his expression suddenly turned severe as he said sternly: "As for the Wu Family, since they dared to scheme against a high-tier cultivator of our Zhou Family, I, Ninth Uncle, naturally will not let them off. I will definitely take Wu Baitong’s head as revenge for you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Guangxiang was immediately moved to kneel heavily on the ground and kowtowed respectfully, saying, "Nephew, humbly thanks Ninth Uncle for the great kindness!"

He had never worried about whether Zhouyang would avenge him, because he knew Zhouyang would never stand by and do nothing in such matters.

However, Zhouyang’s decisive decision to engage in a life-and-death magical combat with a cultivator of the same tier for him still moved him deeply.

Afterward, Zhouyang took Zhou Guangxiang out of Immortal City, then released the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle from his Spirit Beast Ring to escort Zhou Guangxiang back to Chongxuan Mountain. Zhouyang himself used a Disguise Mask to change his appearance and concealed his aura as he headed toward the Spirit Mountain of the Wu Family.

The Wu Family, being a Golden Core Clan and also the vassal of a top major sect like the Beast Taming Sect, naturally had strong clan power.

Besides having a Golden Core Stage cultivator, Wu Baitong, and a Tier Five Middle-Grade Clan Guardian Spirit Beast, the Jade-Scaled Poison Python, the Wu Family also had five Purple Mansion Stage cultivators, including one Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion cultivator.

Wu Baitong’s ambush on Zhou Guangxiang was to seize the Supporting Core Formation Spiritual Objects he carried for that Ninth-Layer Purple Mansion junior.

At this time, due to the failure of the ambush on Zhou Guangxiang and discovering Zhou Guangxiang actually had a rare treasure like a Tier Five Puppet Beast, the cunning Wu Baitong already knew he had provoked a formidable enemy.

Thus, after returning to the clan, he gathered all high-tier cultivators of the clan to the clan’s ancestral land to prevent an enemy from coming for revenge.

The Wu Family’s ancestral land was at the door of a Tier Five Middle-Grade Spirit Mountain, not only with the Five-Tier Middle-Grade Mountain Protection Array arranged with the help of high-tier array masters from the Beast Taming Sect but also their Clan Guardian Spirit Beast, the Jade-Scaled Poison Python.

Even so, Wu Baitong still wasn’t completely assured and quietly contacted a Golden Core Stage cultivator of the Beast Taming Sect with whom he had good relations, spending heavily to invite him to secretly oversee the clan’s ancestral land.

Fortunately, because the matter involved the top major sect, the Beast Taming Sect, Zhouyang was also cautious and did not rashly attack the Wu Family’s ancestral land relying on his strength alone.

He first went to the marketplace established by the Wu Family, originally intending to secretly capture and question the Pu Zhang Stage cultivator stationed there. But when he didn’t sense the aura of any Purple Mansion cultivators from the Wu Family in the marketplace, he immediately realized that the Wu Family had already prepared for the enemy coming to their doorstep.

So, he changed his plan and captured a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Wu Family in the marketplace to interrogate for information.

Under Zhouyang’s threat of using the "Soul Searching Technique," the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wu Family had no choice but to accept his "Heart Inquiry Skill" interrogation honestly.

Through interrogating this Foundation Establishment cultivator, after learning that all high-tier cultivators of the Wu Family were gathered in the ancestral land, Zhouyang knew the Wu Family’s ancestral land must have become a dragon’s lair and tiger’s den by now; entering rashly might not yield any advantage.

But this did not trouble Zhouyang. After pondering briefly, he thought of a feasible plan.

He changed his appearance, transforming into a middle-aged man with seventy percent resemblance to Zhou Guangxiang, then suppressed his cultivation to the Fourth-Layer Golden Core, and directly revealed himself in Wu Family’s marketplace.

"Wu Baitong, don’t think you can escape a calamity by hiding in your old nest. The enmity of plotting against my son will be settled with you later. Today, we begin by destroying one of your marketplace as interest!"

In the Wu Family marketplace, Zhouyang appeared shouting, and directly attacked, breaking the marketplace’s guardian array, then released waves of magical power to abolish the dantians of all Wu Family cultivators in the marketplace.

After doing all this, he waved his sleeve to collect all the spirit stones and goods from various shops belonging to the Wu Family in the marketplace, then rode on the clouds away from the marketplace.

From Zhouyang’s shout revealing his presence to his departure on the clouds, only half an hour had passed.

Once his figure completely disappeared without a trace, the uninvolved bystanders who survived in the marketplace finally recovered from the shocking incident, and then various discussions started spreading uncontrollably.

At this time, only half a year had passed since Zhou Guangxiang was attacked. The magical combat battle between Zhou Guangxiang and Wu Baitong had already spread in the nearby Cultivation Realm, but few knew who the protagonists of that magical combat were.

Now, with the information revealed from Zhouyang’s shout, some bright minds immediately guessed the truth, and word quickly spread from one to ten, and ten to hundreds.

Unfortunately, at this time, the Wu Family cultivators in the marketplace had their cultivation abolished by Zhouyang, and they had no power to stop these rumors, which were detrimental to the clan’s reputation, nor could they report back to the clan about the happenings there.

Finally, a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the Wu Family, whose cultivation was abolished, spent a large sum to find a Foundation Establishment cultivator from a family friendly to the Wu Family in the marketplace to take him back to the Wu Family’s ancestral land to report.

Taking someone along for sword flight isn’t fast, so when Wu Baitong learned of the events in the Wu Family marketplace, over two hours had already passed.

"Fellow Daoist Gongsun, as an elder of the Beast Taming Sect, widely knowledgeable, do you recognize this person?"

On the Spirit Mountain of the Wu Family’s ancestral land, Wu Baitong, after sending the clan member who came to report to rest, approached Gongsun Xin, the Golden Core cultivator of the Beast Taming Sect they had invited to oversee their land, and showed him a drawing made by the reporting clan member.

"Let Fellow Daoist Wu down, this old man has never seen this person before. Perhaps he is not someone from the nearby Cultivation Realm."

Gongsun Xin stared at the portrayed face of Zhouyang after his disguise for a while, then shook his head and gave an answer that left Wu Baitong a bit disappointed.

Upon hearing this, Wu Baitong immediately said with a gloomy face: "According to the description by younger members of the Wu Family, this person’s cultivation should also be in the middle stage of Golden Core, possibly at the Fourth-Layer or Fifth-Layer like Wu himself. He has now plundered my Wu family’s marketplace, crippled the cultivation of dozens of Wu Family members, and threatened that these are just interests. It’s truly infuriating!"

What are you so angry about?

Isn’t it because you didn’t clean up your act, leaving loose ends that someone grabbed hold of? If it wasn’t for the Demon Pill you offered, this old man wouldn’t bother listening to your nonsense here!

Gongsun Xin rolled his eyes inwardly, full of disdain for Wu Baitong’s words.

He understood the causes and effects of the matter. To him, Wu Baitong’s attempt to kill and seize treasures wasn’t a big deal, but the failure to kill the target and the ensuing revenge by Golden Core cultivators associated with the target made it a bit of a mess.

If it weren’t for Wu Baitong’s gift that was hard to refuse, he wouldn’t have come to this muddy water.

Yet receiving favors binds you, so despite his inner disdain, he responsibly said: "Now that the enemy’s appearance is known, it’s manageable. I can help Fellow Daoist Wu by handing this portrait to Senior Brother He, who is in charge of information in the sect, and request his team to investigate this person’s background. Surely, we’ll have results soon."

Upon hearing this, Wu Baitong’s face immediately softened, and he smiled, cupping his hands, saying, "With Fellow Daoist Gongsun’s words, Wu can truly be at ease."

As the saying goes, one can steal for a thousand days but cannot guard against thieves for a thousand days.

If the enemy’s identity and background couldn’t be made clear, not only Wu wouldn’t dare to leave the clan’s ancestral land easily, but also the middle-high tier cultivators in the clan would be trapped here, unable to leave.

In such a case, Wu Family’s industries everywhere would inevitably have issues, affecting the entire clan’s operations.

But if the enemy’s identity and background were clarified, whether to fight or to make peace, Wu Family could then arrange calmly.

Having received Gongsun Xin’s guarantee at this moment, Wu Baitong sighed in relief and thanked him while also saying accordingly, "To be cautious, please, Gongsun Daoist, continue to stay at the clan for a period. Wu will go to the marketplace to stabilize the people’s hearts and clarify some rumors."

"Fellow Daoist Wu can go without worry, with this old man here, nothing will happen to Wu Family!"

Gongsun Xin nodded slightly, accepting this matter with a face full of pride.

"Then I’ll rely on Fellow Daoist Gongsun."

Wu Baitong thanked again, then left Wu Family’s ancestral land without worry.

This time he went to flaunt his power and suppress those rumors unfavorable to Wu Family. Hence, when departing, Wu Baitong directly summoned the "Jade-Scaled Poison Python" trained by Wu Family, riding this hundred-zhang-long giant python towards the marketplace.

The "Jade-Scaled Poison Python" is a Tier Five Demon Beast, with flying speed not slower than a Golden Core Stage cultivator’s cloud-riding escape technique, soon carrying Wu Baitong to the marketplace.

At this moment, the cultivators inside the marketplace hadn’t dispersed yet, many wanted to know how Wu Family would handle this affair.

As Wu Baitong descended from the sky riding the Tier Five Middle-Grade Demon Beast "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," those middle-lower tier cultivators in the marketplace were instantly overwhelmed by the aura emitted from the "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," feeling flustered. Those who had previously rumored and commented on Wu Baitong’s killing for treasures were so scared that their heads nearly shrank into their pants.

"This old man Wu Baitong, heard someone here defame this old man’s reputation, dare to come forward and let this old man have a look?"

Standing with hands behind his back above the lifted snake head of "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," Wu Baitong coldly scanned the crowd in the marketplace, his voice so cold it made hearts shiver.

The reputation of a Golden Core Stage cultivator, coupled with the huge demon body of "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," naturally sufficed to deter a crowd of middle-lower tier cultivators who hadn’t reached the Purple Mansion Stage.

Seeing this, Wu Baitong couldn’t help but snort coldly, "Humph, today’s matter, if this old man hears any about..."

He intended to threaten the cultivators here, not to speak of anything heard today that would harm him and Wu Family, but halfway through the speech, he suddenly screamed miserably as if struck by lightning, falling from the head of the "Jade-Scaled Poison Python" towards the ground.

Hiss~!

An angry and shocked snake hiss sounded from the mouth of the "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," which sensed danger from Wu Baitong’s attack. As it spewed out a demonic wind to wrap Wu Baitong and return him to itself, it also blew a turquoise poisonous mist towards all cultivators in the marketplace.

A Tier Five Demon Beast’s intelligence already rivals humans. This "Jade-Scaled Poison Python," having followed two generations of Golden Core cultivators from Wu Family, is considered cunning and smart. In the instant of Wu Baitong’s attack, it judged the enemy must be a cultivator hiding among the market crowd.

Unfortunately, while it guessed the outcome correctly, it didn’t guess the conclusion.

Merely a Tier Five Middle-Grade Demon Beast, really doesn’t catch Zhouyang’s eye.

Using the "Stinging Dragon Avoiding Tribulation Technique," Zhouyang concealed his form and aura within the marketplace, secretly executing the "Godslaying Sword" to severely injure Wu Baitong’s Primordial Spirit. Then, he roared to stun all middle-lower tier cultivators in the marketplace, and with a wave of his hand, directly cast a golden true flame to burn away those turquoise poisonous mists into smoke.

Then he unleashed various techniques, and within less than a quarter of an hour, he killed Wu Baitong and the Jade-Scaled Poison Python, then calmly erased the battlefield traces, cut off Wu Baitong’s head, and left with the spoils.

More than an hour after Zhouyang left, Gongsun Xin rushed to the marketplace upon learning from the Wu Family that Wu Baitong’s soul token had shattered.

"Who did it? Answer me, who did this!"

With his eyes fixed on the headless corpse of Wu Baitong on the ground, Gongsun Xin waved his hand and awakened the middle-lower tier cultivators who had fainted from Zhouyang’s loud shout, angrily asking what had happened.

Naturally, nothing could be asked.

Before Zhouyang struck, everyone in the marketplace was knocked unconscious by his loud shout without even seeing his figure. When Gongsun Xin asked, all they knew was that Wu Baitong had been assassinated, but they didn’t know who the killer was.

Of course, he could guess even without asking.

Afterwards, Gongsun Xin took Wu Baitong’s corpse and the portrait to the Beast Taming Sect, requesting their intelligence cultivators to investigate the origin of the person in the portrait.

The result, of course, was no person was found.

From then on, Gongsun Xin understood that both Wu Baitong and himself had been played by the cultivator who killed Wu Baitong.

But by this time, even if he wanted to avenge Wu Baitong, he had no means to do so.

The only thing he could do was use his authority within the Beast Taming Sect to hang a bounty with the portrait of Zhou Guangxiang he obtained from the Wu Family cultivators, instructing the sect’s disciples to inform him if they found this person.

But the effectiveness of such a personal bounty depended entirely on the rewards for completing the task, and how much reward could Gongsun Xin offer for someone with whom he only had some acquaintance like Wu Baitong?

Zhouyang also learned about Gongsun Xin’s bounty for Zhou Guangxiang after returning to Chongxuan Mountain through inquiries from the Profound Purity Dao Alliance.

To this, he merely smiled lightly and paid no attention.

Upon returning to Chongxuan Mountain, Zhou Guangxiang entered a cave to heal in seclusion, with few disciples on the mountain ever having seen him, let alone the disciples of the Beast Taming Sect.

And besides Zhou Guangxiang, the only person who knew he killed Wu Baitong was his Dao companion, Xiao Ying, and neither of these two would betray him.

"Guangxiang, you should rest well on Chongxuan Mountain, and if you are preparing to form your core, remember to inform Ninth Uncle so he can vacate the cave for you during your core formation."

On Chongxuan Mountain, the peaceful Zhouyang placed Wu Baitong’s head and the Tier Five Puppet Beast retrieved from the storage ring before Zhou Guangxiang, and gently spoke of his arrangements.

"Nephew understands, thank you, Ninth Uncle, for avenging me!"

Grateful, Zhou Guangxiang bowed to him and then directly burned Wu Baitong’s head to ashes, resolving the grudge.

Zhouyang watched this scene, moved his mouth slightly, then simply nodded and said, "Rest well, I won’t disturb your recuperation."

Then he exited Zhou Guangxiang’s cave, tossing the corpse of the Jade-Scaled Poison Python to the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and Seven-Colored Peacock as food.

These two Spirit Birds enjoy eating the meat of such long creatures; the flesh of a Tier Five Demon Snake is a great supplement for them and will sustain them for quite a while.

"Ying’Er, do you think what I’m doing is somewhat indifferent? Guangxiang grew up under my watch and is of our Zhou Family blood; I should care for him more by rights!"

In Zhouyang’s cave bedroom, having just finished dual cultivation with his Dao companion, he suddenly became melancholic.

There are some things he cannot say to outsiders but only to Xiao Ying as his confidante.

Zhou Guangxiang’s core formation seemed less promising now to him, so he had been hesitant about whether to give the Jade Liquid Golden Pill to him for use, but now he decided not to, planning instead to save it for his eldest disciple Lu Xuewei’s future core formation.

Upon hearing his words, Xiao Ying embraced him tightly, pressing close, and buried her head in his chest, gently speaking along with his words: "The Jade Liquid Golden Pill was earned by you in deadly combat on the battlefield; it’s solely yours to dispose of, so how could it be called unkind?"

"Moreover, in practical terms, Xuewei’s likelihood of forming her core in the future is evidently much higher than Guangxiang’s; giving the Jade Liquid Golden Pill to her is perfectly reasonable."

"Lastly, as you said, the God-slaying Sword Technique Xuewei offered previously was immensely beneficial to you, yet you haven’t rewarded her with anything. Using the Jade Liquid Golden Pill as her reward is just right, isn’t it?"

"Ah, palm and backhand are both flesh!"

Zhouyang sighed deeply, implicitly agreeing with his Dao companion’s words.