Hearing the discussions around them, Tang Long subconsciously glanced at Ye Xuan. Judging from the news they just heard, it seemed Ye Xuan’s killing of the five Ning family Elders had heavily impacted the Ning family. This must have been why they were annihilated overnight. In other words, the Zhang family owed Ye Xuan a debt of gratitude for helping them destroy the Ning family.
Ye Xuan didn’t speak. He ordered a cup of tea and continued listening to the chatter.
Someone else chimed in. "That’s not right. Even if the Ning family’s Grand Elder and the others went missing, don’t they still have their Clan Protection Grand Array? It’s exactly because of that Grand Array that they haven’t been annexed for a thousand years."
"Yeah, I heard a big shot from a city personally set up that Array for the Ning family. Its power is astonishing."
"What! A big shot from a city actually set it up?! No wonder it could protect them for a millennium. My biggest wish in life is to visit a city, but alas, I’m afraid I’ll never achieve it."
At the mention of a city, everyone’s eyes filled with yearning. The Moyue Kingdom had vast territories and countless towns, but cities were exceedingly rare. In the entire massive Moyue Kingdom, there were only about a hundred cities. Each city was like a primordial behemoth, stretching endlessly beyond the horizon. Major families and great factions all rooted themselves in cities. The City Lords possessed peerless cultivation, capable of suppressing entire regions.
Cities were simply too fascinating. Legend had it that the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi there was something even a Main Town couldn’t compare to—it was five times denser, if not more! Cultivating in a city for a day was equivalent to cultivating for five days elsewhere; cultivating for a year meant five years of progress for others!
"Yeah, cities are something we can only look up to. I’m afraid only a Three-Star Main Town would have the qualifications to enter one."
Hearing this, Ye Xuan furrowed his brows. Three-Star Main Town? It sounded as if even Main Towns were divided into different ranks.
"It’s a pity that Cultivators at our level can’t stay permanently even if we went to a Three-Star Main Town. We could only stay for a temporary seven days. Even if we pulled strings to become residents of a Three-Star Main Town, it would be useless. Only the Town Mayor of a Three-Star Main Town has the right to be summoned by a great faction of a city. I’m afraid we’re destined to have nothing to do with a city in this lifetime."
"Let’s not talk about cities for now; let’s get back to the Ning family. How was their Clan Protection Grand Array broken so easily? Does the Zhang Family Main Town actually have that kind of strength? I remember a century ago, the Zhang Family Main Town also attacked the Ning family, only to suffer a crushing defeat. How did they succeed this time? There shouldn’t be much difference in strength between the two families."
"I heard that the Zhang family’s genius returned from his studies in a Three-Star Main Town."
"The Zhang family’s genius? Zhang Wuzong?"
"Yes, that’s him. Last night, monstrous sword shadows covered the sky above the Ning family’s home, and they were all unleashed by Zhang Wuzong. It’s a highly formidable area-of-effect Swordsmanship, seemingly called ’Three Thousand Demon Swords’."
"That powerful?!"
"It’s extremely powerful, but I heard Zhang Wuzong’s greatest skill is picking up women. He has quite a few beauties around him."
"Beauties? How beautiful are we talking? Speaking of which, I actually know one. Not only is she pretty, she’s also wild..."
"Really, how wild? The kind who’ll jump into bed the moment you meet?"
The onlookers continued their chatter, but as they talked, the group’s topic drifted off course and steered entirely toward women. Such was the world of male Cultivators.
Ye Xuan listened for a little while longer before losing interest. "Let’s go," he said to Tang Long and Zhou Yuxin.
"Lord of the Family, you don’t plan to stay here?" Tang Long asked in confusion.
Ye Xuan shook his head. "What’s the point of staying? The Ning family is gone."
"That’s true. The Zhang family destroying the Ning family can be considered as doing you a favor, Lord of the Family. In that case, you aren’t in any danger at all. Patriarch, you truly are someone with great fortune."
Tang Long finally breathed a sigh of relief. With the Ning family wiped out, Ye Xuan no longer needed to step into the tiger’s den. He had actually been worried that Ye Xuan would be in danger going to the Ning family.
Ye Xuan didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure if the Zhang family had helped him, or if they had snatched the resources that should have rightfully belonged to him. If he could have destroyed the Ning family himself, it would have meant the Ye family practically picking up a thousand years of accumulated resources for free. For a small family like the Ye family, that would be incredibly precious. But the Zhang family had forcefully intervened, stripping away the resources that should have been his.
Whatever. Since it was already a done deal, he couldn’t blindly go and destroy the Zhang family without knowing their true strength. Besides, he had no grievances with the Zhang family. Slaughtering an entire family merely for resources was something others might do, but Ye Xuan could not. Unless he found an opportunity.
When it was time to kill, he would never show mercy!
Ye Xuan paid for the tea and left the teahouse.
When they returned to the town entrance, the carriage was still tied by the roadside. The three got into the carriage and left the Main Town.
Zhou Yuxin and Tang Long started singing again. With nothing else to do, Ye Xuan organized his spoils of war.
Even though the Ning family had been wiped out by the Zhang family, there were still plenty of good items in the Qiankun Bags of the several Ning family Elders. He hadn’t had the time to check the Grand Elder’s Qiankun Bag earlier.
With a thought, his Divine Sense entered the Grand Elder’s Qiankun Bag. Inside the Qiankun Bag were quite a few Spirit Medicines, including a Spirit-grade low-tier Healing Spirit Medicine. Such a premium item could rapidly heal the injuries of Cultivators at or below the 3rd Layer of the Super Spirit Realm. This meant that even if the Grand Elder had suffered severe injuries in battle, he could have recovered swiftly. Unfortunately for him, he had been instantly killed by Ye Xuan, leaving him no chance to even consume the Spirit Medicine.
In addition to that, there were nearly a hundred Super Soul Crystals in the Qiankun Bag. The number of Frenzy Soul Crystals was even more staggering—a full twenty thousand of them. For an ordinary Cultivator in the Frenzy Spirit Realm, they only needed a thousand Frenzy Soul Crystals to advance their cultivation to the 9th Layer. In other words, these Frenzy Soul Crystals were enough to nurture twenty Cultivators to the 9th Layer of the Frenzy Spirit Realm.
Of course, Frenzy Soul Crystals were merely auxiliary. Their energy could only guide Spiritual Qi to the correct locations. To truly break through, what one needed most were Elixirs or Spirit Medicines that boosted cultivation.
"Is there really no Spirit Medicine capable of raising cultivation in the Frenzy Spirit Realm?" Ye Xuan’s eyes gradually filled with disappointment.
He had checked all the Qiankun Bags of the several Elders. Surprisingly, not a single one of them possessed a Spirit Medicine to elevate Frenzy Spirit Realm cultivation. It seemed that cultivation-boosting Spirit Medicines were indeed in extremely high demand. Whoever obtained such a treasure would immediately give it to their juniors to consume. For every one used, there was one less in the world. Perhaps there had been some in the Ning family’s storage room, but the Ning family was already annihilated by the Zhang family.
Just as Ye Xuan was feeling disappointed, the Dragon Capturing Cauldron within his Sea of Consciousness suddenly emitted a radiant glow on its own. Even its body was trembling slightly.
"What’s going on?" Ye Xuan was completely baffled.
Soon, he discovered the clue.
"Is it this futon?"
He realized that when his Divine Sense rested upon a certain futon, the light from the Dragon Capturing Cauldron grew exceptionally intense, and its trembling worsened.
"Rumor has it that treasures can sense each other. Could this futon be some kind of precious item?"