Li Pingcan was about to search the corpse when he suddenly froze. The "Li Qian" lying in the pool of blood still had a faint rise and fall in her chest.

"Not dead yet?"

"Perfect. Saves me some trouble."

He walked up to the girl, looking at the barely breathing "Li Qian" but didn't immediately strike the killing blow. The truth behind his younger sister Li Qian's death... He decided to put in some extra effort.

Kneeling down, he took out a vibrant mushroom from his robes - a first-grade skill [Hallucinogenic Mushroom] with mesmerizing patterns on its cap. "I wanted to give you a quick death, but there are things I must know," he said softly, his voice devoid of emotion.

The girl's eyes were filled with terror as she stared at the mushroom, desperately trying to retreat but unable to move due to her severe injuries. Without an ounce of pity, Li Pingcan pried open her mouth and stuffed the entire mushroom inside, then snapped her jaw shut to prevent her from spitting it out.

The Hallucinogenic Mushroom dissolved instantly upon contact, releasing a strange sweetness. The girl's expression rapidly changed from fear to confusion, her beautiful phoenix eyes eventually losing focus as a childish, vacant smile appeared on her face.

"What's your name?"

"I... I'm Su Huanuan..." the girl murmured in response.

"Su Huanuan?" Li Pingcan raised an eyebrow. "Then why were you called Li Qian?"

"It was... mother..." Su Huanuan's face showed confusion and dependence. "Mother said you were born with heavenly gifts but damaged foundations, lacking spiritual roots, your immortal path bleak. Until one day, mother brought back an 'opportunity'... said if you obeyed, you could be reborn, leaping over the dragon gate..."

Her memories seemed fragmented and disordered, but they gradually pieced together the whole story.

Su Huanuan's mother, Li Mengze, was actually one of the current leaders of the Su Family - a renowned cultivation clan in Songling Prefecture. The Su Family specialized in pill refinement with deep heritage, even having a Foundation Establishment ancestor in secluded cultivation.

Li Mengze herself had late-stage Refining Qi cultivation and held a prestigious position in the Su Family with extremely high ambitions. But her daughter Su Huanuan was born with damaged spiritual roots, becoming her greatest regret. Despite spending countless rare treasures, the results were minimal.

Until several years ago, she learned of a forbidden technique called "Stealing Heaven to Change Fate" that could forcibly transplant someone's spiritual root aptitude to another through immense power. The technique was vicious - while the recipient could ascend immediately, the donor would have their soul annihilated without chance of reincarnation.

The real Li Qian became the most innocent stepping stone on Li Mengze's immortal path. As for Li Mengze herself, she knew little of the truth. She only knew that afterward, she transformed from someone with damaged spiritual roots into a rare upper-grade spiritual root genius, renamed "Li Qian," and was sent to the Seven Stars Sect to enjoy the best resources.

The blood behind this? She was either ignorant or unwilling to think about it, comfortably basking in her "Chosen One" halo.

"So that's how it was..." After hearing everything, Li Pingcan felt no more ripples in his heart. Pitiable? Perhaps. But every strand of light from her upper-grade spiritual root was stained with another girl's blood and tears. Different stances needed no further words.

"Please... spare me..." Su Huanuan seemed to regain some consciousness, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at Li Pingcan with trembling pleas. "I didn't know anything... I just obeyed mother... I don't want to die..."

Li Pingcan looked at her tear-streaked face. Ignorance wasn't absolution. Those who enjoy what they shouldn't must bear the corresponding karma.

He slowly stood up. "You truly didn't know. But you still stole someone else's life. Different stances leave only life and death between us."

Before his words faded, he formed a sword finger, sending a sharp sword qi piercing through Su Huanuan's forehead. The light in her eyes quickly dimmed, her final unspoken plea forever stuck in her throat. Perhaps until death, she never understood what she had done wrong.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Songling Prefecture...

A beautiful woman in cloud-patterned palace robes sat meditating on a cushion, her aura deep and prolonged, clearly a powerful cultivator. She was Su Qingxue, current matriarch of the Su Family.

To ensure her daughter Su Huanuan could smoothly enter the Seven Stars Sect, she had mobilized all family connections and spent countless treasures. But just now, her heart suddenly wrenched as if pierced by an invisible blade.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of heart's blood stained the ground behind her.

"Warm'er!!!" That bloodline connection she had nurtured with endless treasures and care - severed completely! Her beloved daughter, bearer of all her hopes, was dead!

"WHO?! WHO DID THIS?!" Su Qingxue's power went berserk, reducing all furniture in the meditation room to powder with an invisible shockwave.

For her daughter's immortal path, she had secretly plotted, using forbidden arts to steal destiny. She had poured half her cultivation resources into her daughter, hoping she would soar. Now everything was ruined!

"Whoever you are! I, Su Qingxue, swear to tear you limb from limb, annihilate your soul, leaving you no chance of reincarnation!" She raised her hand, a drop of crimson blood forming a complex rune mark in her palm - the Su Family's bloodline secret art. Anywhere within thirty meters of her daughter's killer, this mark would react. To the ends of the earth, until death!

Li Pingcan naturally didn't know he'd been marked. He and Green Jiao were inventorying their spoils.

"Green Jiao, time to work!"

"Coming!" The "bracelet" on his wrist flashed as Green Jiao transformed, golden snake eyes gleaming with excitement. "Little Carp, I've been waiting!"

While speaking, it deftly searched the old man's body with practiced movements more skilled than Li Pingcan's. "Tsk, a first-grade superior horsetail whisk artifact! Nice! This storage pouch isn't bad either, decent space!"

"As expected of a sect elder - loaded!"

"And this star chart looks pretty high-grade too." Li Pingcan examined the ancient star chart. Though he couldn't understand it, his instincts told him it was valuable.

They emptied the storage pouches from the elder and Li Qian, gaining over a dozen mid-grade spirit stones and assorted pills and materials - quite a windfall. But the real prize was the second-grade demon core and meat floating at the water's center!

The demon core glowed dark blue, radiating vast water-attribute spiritual energy with faint lightning flickering within.

"Little Carp... how do we split this?" Green Jiao drooled over the core but restrained itself, looking expectantly at Li Pingcan.

"Look at you. No splitting - it's all yours." Li Pingcan chuckled. Though valuable, the core's violent demonic energy required expert alchemists to refine into pills for human consumption - too troublesome unless you had your own alchemist. But spirit beasts could directly absorb it.

"Really?!" Green Jiao's eyes bulged, stammering from excitement. "L-Little Carp... you're practically my godfather now!"

"Enough, eat it before I change my mind."

"Yessir!" Green Jiao swallowed the core whole.

"BOOM!" Terrifying energy erupted inside it! Green Jiao felt like a volcanic eruption - indescribable pain and pleasure simultaneously. Its massive body thrashed violently, churning the river as its scales shed rapidly, revealing new metallic ones underneath. The budding horns on its head elongated and branched, taking on draconic majesty.

Its aura skyrocketed terrifyingly! Mid Refining Qi peak... Late Refining Qi... Late Refining Qi peak! A terrifying pressure erupted, pushing back the surrounding water for dozens of meters!

"Hahaha! This Jiao has finally... no, this Dragon has finally made it!" Feeling unprecedented power, Green Jiao celebrated wildly, churning the river.

'This guy's getting carried away again.' Li Pingcan smiled at its antics but was genuinely happy for it. The stronger Green Jiao became, the more secure his position in this world. After all, who wouldn't want their buddy driving a luxury ride? Even if you can't drive it, riding along is nice too!

............

The beast tide retreated, leaving scorched earth and countless demon beast corpses. The army marched to the next disaster zone, with Li Pingfu accompanying as Li Pingcan disguised himself among the personal guards.

The vast battlefield was paradise for Green Jiao scavenging in the chaos.

"Little Carp, look! This Unicorn Rhinoceros' brain has treasure!" Green Jiao excitedly rooted through a mountain-sized corpse, unearthing a pigeon egg-sized demon core glowing with dark red light. It was about to swallow it when Li Pingcan's mental voice stopped it.

"You reckless idiot! Don't you worry about conflicting attributes upsetting your stomach?!" Li Pingcan scolded mentally.

"Heh, that's why I've got you! Fighting hard only for us to pocket all the treasures - this business is better than robbery!" Green Jiao carelessly tucked the core into its "dragonhide pouch," already bulging with loot.

Li Pingcan couldn't help but laugh. Over months, their teamwork was flawless - one using [Fungal Lord Domain] to scout targets, the other leveraging dragonhide defense and stealth for ambushes. Their efficiency earned them a fortune from the disaster.

Li Pingcan's storage pouch overflowed with hides, meat, and materials, even "found" some unclaimed sect artifacts. Green Jiao grew picky, ignoring anything below spirit beast grade - truly a "pauper turned rich."

"That's enough, Green Jiao." Li Pingcan eyed the mountain of materials. "Time to go back."

"Aw, Little Carp!" Green Jiao protested. "I just heard from a ground rat about a severely injured late first-grade demon bird in the valley ahead, we could—"

"Know when to stop. Greed swallows the snake whole." Li Pingcan cut it off firmly. Silent wealth was king - greed was battlefield taboo.

Far away in Yunshui County...

Two bedraggled figures trudged along the road - two fifth-layer Refining Qi sect cultivators, Qian Song and Sun Bai, who miraculously survived the beast tide. Not all sect cultivators treated it as a "hunting game." Smaller sects like their "Green Pine Sect" were nearly annihilated, with most elders dead. The two barely escaped but became homeless strays.

"Senior Brother Sun, what now?" Qian Song asked dejectedly, his once-decent robes now tattered and bloodstained.

"What else? Return to Yunshui County, find shelter, then plan." Sun Bai looked equally grim, though steadier, with hidden despair.

While sighing, they overheard villagers resting ahead:

"Hey, hear about Peach Blossom Village's Li Family? They're rising fast!"

"No kidding! Eldest son's the County Captain, second son's an official in the prefecture!"

"Damn, their ancestors must be smiling! Just farmers years ago, now among Yunshui's elite!"

"I say it's Peach Blossom's feng shui! Since the Li Mansion was renovated, even our village's harvests improved!"

Qian Song and Sun Bai exchanged greedy, disdainful looks. Some commoner family's fortune? Just peasant rumors. But if even the magistrate favored them, they must have wealth.

"Senior Brother," Qian Song whispered slyly, "should we... 'borrow' some travel funds?"

Sun Bai pretended propriety: "We're immortal cultivators! How could we stoop to theft?" Then shifted: "But that Li Family's young master Li Mengze attends the academy. As senior brothers, 'visiting' him would be natural. If he's sensible with 'greetings,' that's not extortion."

Qian Song grinned: "Exactly! We won't kill, just scout and flee. Who'd know?"

Greed ignited, they suppressed their auras and sneaked toward the Li Mansion, arrogantly dismissing the "mere commoner" family.

..........

That night, under cover of darkness, Qian Song and Sun Bai infiltrated the Li Mansion.

"Senior Brother... something feels off here." Upon entering, Qian Song felt the air grow thick, his spiritual sense suppressed.

"Just tricks." Sun Bai scoffed, though noticing the anomaly, assumed crude mortal arrays. "Follow me closely." He took out a compass artifact, chanting to locate the formation eye.

"Whoosh!" A pale blue light barrier suddenly appeared on the walls, gently but irresistibly flinging them back!

As they sprawled in shock, the scenery shifted - familiar walls replaced by blinding fog.

"A Mysterious Tracking Formation! Damn it!" Sun Bai summoned his flying sword nervously.

Qian Song paled: "Senior Brother, what now?!"

"Calm down! Just a minor maze!" Sun Bai barked, though inwardly panicked.

Hidden in the formation core, Li Rongzhou coldly watched the bumbling intruders. Two fifth-layer Refining Qi cultivators daring to challenge the Li Family?!

The [Seven Spirit Array], improved by Can'er multiple times, was no mere defense - its killing intent could give mid Refining Qi cultivators a nasty surprise. He wasn't in a hurry to appear.