After seeing the prosperity of the Niu Family, Ye Xuan made up his mind—he would either destroy them or subjugate them.
Their location, environment, and resources were simply too perfect for a small family to recuperate and thrive.
"Even if I believe you, your cultivation level is probably lower than mine, right? How are you going to fight the Niu Family?" Tang Long asked again.
"Didn’t I say it already?" Ye Xuan replied calmly. "Just give me a little time."
"How long is ’a little time’? A year? Three to five years? Or maybe eight to ten?"
"Don’t worry, it won’t take that long. Besides, having a glimmer of hope is better than wallowing in despair and waiting for death."
"You! Fine, what do we do now?"
"Over the next two days, there should be more tribute being transported back. We just need to wait here for the Niu Family’s carriages, then kill the escorts and seize the goods."
"What? You still plan to attack the Niu Family? You really have nerves of steel."
"What, are you scared?"
"Scared? I wouldn’t be scared of the Niu Family, no matter who they send! But I’m confused. How do you know we can take them? What if there’s an expert in the Frenzy Spirit Realm among the escorts? If that’s the case, we’d just be throwing our lives away. Besides, I’m heavily injured and haven’t fully recovered yet. I probably won’t be able to protect you."
"Who said I need your protection? When I make my move later, just stand back and watch."
"You?" It wasn’t that Tang Long looked down on Ye Xuan, but the boy was much younger than him. At his age, how high could his cultivation possibly be?
He wondered where this young man got his confidence.
Ye Xuan didn’t explain. Instead, he pointed ahead. "There’s a crossroad up ahead. The Niu Family has to pass through there whenever they leave or return. Let’s wait there."
"Alright."
The two fell silent, simply waiting in place.
As the sun began to set, a carriage flying a golden Ox Head Banner finally approached.
Ye Xuan pulled out a prepared mask. Slipping it on, he immediately stepped out to block the carriage’s path.
"Who dares block a Niu Family carriage? Are you courting death?!" a loud roar echoed from the vehicle.
Ye Xuan didn’t waste his breath. Activating his Divine-Demonic Overlord Body, he threw a punch at the speaker.
It only took a single strike to kill the man instantly.
Leaping onto the carriage, Ye Xuan swept all the tributes from the chests into his Storage Ring. He then turned to Tang Long, who was already dumbfounded, and instructed, "Clean up the scene and drag the carriage into the wilderness. Don’t leave it blocking the road."
Tang Long finally snapped out of his daze and did as he was told.
For the next three days, they remained on stakeout. In total, thirteen Niu Family carriages returned, and Ye Xuan confiscated the tributes from every single one. His Qiankun Bag was nearly full.
"It’s time to leave. It’s been three days without a single tribute carriage returning; the Niu Family has probably noticed something is wrong," Ye Xuan said. After stowing away his latest spoils, he didn’t linger any longer.
"Understood." Tang Long nodded, offering no arguments.
Over the past three days, he had witnessed Ye Xuan’s talent and strength firsthand, especially during the most recent battle. The escort for this particular tribute had been an expert in the Frenzy Spirit Realm, yet Ye Xuan still managed to slay him. Perhaps this young man really could help him.
Traveling through the night, the two returned to the Ye Family estate on the fourth day.
"Patriarch, you’ve returned!"
"Ye Xuan, where have you been these past few days?"
As soon as he arrived, Ye Xuan was surrounded by Ye Zeyun and the others.
"And who is this?"
"This is my friend, Tang Long. Find him a guest room. From now on, he’ll be staying with the Ye Family," Ye Xuan instructed the servants before turning to his grandfather. "Grandpa, come with me."
Ye Xuan led Ye Zeyun into the main courtyard’s hall.
After closing the doors, Ye Zeyun asked, "What’s the matter? Why all the secrecy?"
"Grandpa, take a look." Ye Xuan smiled faintly. With a mere thought, dozens of wooden chests materialized in the hall.
"Why are there so many chests? What’s inside? Hmm? Why do these chests look so familiar!" Ye Zeyun suddenly frowned. His eyes widened in realization, and he stumbled two steps back. "Aren’t these the tribute chests we handed over to Niu Dali? How did they end up back here? Ye Xuan, what exactly did you do?! Don’t tell me you..."
Ye Zeyun wasn’t a fool. Ye Xuan had left immediately after Niu Dali’s departure, so he already guessed what his grandson had done.
Sure enough, Ye Xuan’s next words confirmed his suspicions.
"I killed Niu Dali. Then, on the only road leading to Niu Family Town, I killed thirteen other Niu Family members and robbed thirteen carriages of tribute... Huh, Grandpa, why do you look so pale? Aren’t you happy? Come on, give me a smile."
At this moment, Ye Zeyun was on the verge of tears. How could he possibly smile?
"Ye Xuan, oh, Ye Xuan. What am I going to do with you? You know full well how powerful the Niu Family is, yet you still provoked them. Haven’t you just doomed our Ye Family?"
"Grandpa, that Niu Dali spent his entire journey plotting ways to destroy the Ye Family. If I hadn’t killed him, we probably wouldn’t have survived another month. As the saying goes, ’if you’re out to condemn someone, you can always trump up a charge.’ He would have found a reason to wipe us out eventually."
"Even if you had to kill Niu Dali, why did you have to kill thirteen more people and steal all these goods?!"
"Is there a difference between killing one person and killing thirteen?" Ye Xuan retorted calmly.
"Of course there is! If you kill one person, the chances of exposing yourself and the Ye Family are slim. But if you kill thirteen, the risk is astronomically higher!"
"Grandpa, I think it’s the exact opposite. If I only killed Niu Dali, it would have drawn the Niu Family’s attention straight to us. After all, he was in charge of collecting tributes from our Hongtu Town. But by killing a few more, their focus won’t just be on us anymore. And even if they eventually trace it back to us, it doesn’t matter, because I’m going to destroy the Niu Family anyway! The Niu Family has the resources our Ye Family desperately needs!"
"What! You want to destroy the Niu Family? To seize centuries of their accumulated resources?!"
Ye Zeyun finally understood Ye Xuan’s true intentions. But wasn’t this idea far too audacious?! It was true that in this world, murder and robbery were the fastest ways to get rich, but you had to have the strength to back it up!
"Ye Xuan, are you certain you can do this?"
"I wasn’t before, but after intercepting this shipment, I’m absolutely certain. Grandpa, look at this." Ye Xuan took out a stalk of Spirit Medicine. The herb was entirely silver, glowing like the bright moonlight.
"Moon Spirit Grass!" Ye Zeyun gasped in shock.
Moon Spirit Grass was a high-grade Yellow-tier Spirit Medicine. Its purpose wasn’t healing—it directly elevated one’s cultivation level. Spirit Medicines that could directly boost cultivation didn’t require Soul Crystals to guide their energy.
This meant that a single stalk of Moon Spirit Grass could instantly elevate a Cultivator at the 6th Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm to the 7th Layer.
"This... did you find this in the tributes too?"
"Yes. And not just one stalk, but fifteen. This amount is enough for my cultivation to break through to the peak of the 9th Layer of the Strong Spirit Realm."
"Good, good, excellent! You’re only at the 7th Layer, yet you can leap across a major realm to kill a Cultivator at the 1st Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm. If you break through to the peak of the 9th Layer, won’t you be able to fight anyone below the 3rd Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm? What if you break into the Frenzy Spirit Realm itself? Heavens! Grandpa doesn’t even dare to imagine! I don’t dare!"
Ye Zeyun didn’t even know how to begin calculating Ye Xuan’s true combat power anymore.