novelnext Chapter 171 - 147: Breaking the Array and Ransacking the Home
Chapter 171 - 147: Breaking the Array and Ransacking the Home
Fang Qingyuan took Jinbao and entered the pool. The other Cultivators saw this but didn’t ask any questions. It wasn’t their place to be curious about their leader’s actions.
During the time Fang Qingyuan was in the water, the Wen Family brothers’ mental defenses were gradually broken down. Under relentless interrogation, they were on the verge of spilling even the deepest secrets of their lives.
So when Fang Qingyuan returned to the camp, he saw that Liu Yi’s expression was grim. It was only then that the Foundation Establishment Cultivator understood why Fang Qingyuan had mobilized such a large force—his true targets were the two Foundation Establishment Clans.
But Liu Yi’s realization came too late. Fang Qingyuan gave him no opportunity to send a warning, leading his men directly out of the Wilderness Forest. After rendezvousing with the main army, he charged toward the mountain of one of the Foundation Establishment Clans.
The scale of Fang Qingyuan’s army was immense, making it impossible to conceal their movements. The Cultivators in the mountain spotted them from a great distance. Shouting in alarm, they quickly activated the Mountain Protection Array and launched a daytime firework, preparing to defend their position and call for aid.
Fang Qingyuan observed all of this but remained unconcerned. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, he captured a few Qi Cultivation Cultivators who hadn’t made it inside in time. He had them dragged before the array and executed one by one as a sacrifice to the war banner before he spoke.
"Your Li Family colluded with the Wen Family brothers, instigating them to raid my trade routes and slaughter my people—both mortals and Cultivators. Today, I will collect on this debt, with interest."
"Slander! When has our Li Family ever done such a thing? If you want to frame someone, you’ll always find a pretext. I see you’ve been coveting our Spiritual Land and are just looking for an excuse to kill us and seize our mountain!"
The one shouting back at Fang Qingyuan was the Li Family Patriarch, who retorted sharply from within the Mountain Protection Array. Fang Qingyuan had already anticipated this reaction.
So, he had the Wen Family brothers brought forward. Shoving them into view, he yelled:
"Take a good look! These three have already confessed. Still trying to deny it? Patriarch Li, you should own up to what you’ve done. Don’t make me look down on you."
"The Wen Family brothers? I don’t know them at all! Don’t think you can frame us by grabbing a few random people. So what if you’re from Beast Taming Mountain? Under the rule of the Great Zhou Academy, you can’t just do as you please!"
After the Li Family Patriarch finished speaking, a clamor arose from Fang Qingyuan’s side. Fang Qingyuan had no patience to continue this war of words. It was time to let their actions do the talking.
He had the Wen Family brothers taken away, then pointed a finger at the Li Family’s array. The next moment, hundreds of Talismans and Magical Artifacts flared with multicolored Spiritual Light, crashing against the Mountain Protection Array and causing ripples to spread across its surface.
According to the intelligence Fang Qingyuan had gathered, the Li Family Patriarch was a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and the clan had one other Early-stage Foundation Establishment Elder. The remaining dozens of Cultivators were all at the Qi Cultivation level.
Although his side only had She Xi Yu, who was at Foundation Establishment Early-Stage Perfection, Fang Qingyuan wasn’t worried at all. When it came to Foundation Establishment Battle Power, his forces were superior, not inferior.
Liu Yi had already left Fang Qingyuan’s army and hurried back to Jiuye Square as soon as they began marching on the Li Family. Fang Qingyuan didn’t stop him. Although Liu Yi was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, he couldn’t make a difference in a war to annihilate a clan. Besides, Fang Qingyuan believed Liu Yi was smart enough to know which matters he could get involved in, and which he couldn’t even touch.
The Li Family’s array was a Tier Two High-Grade Array. At full power, it would take Fang Qingyuan’s Cultivators seven or eight days to break it with their attacks alone.
Naturally, Fang Qingyuan didn’t want to drag this out. He wanted a swift and decisive battle to showcase the might of Yuanling Mountain. At his command, five enormous monsters, conjured from Tier Two Monster Talismans, appeared before the Li Family’s array.
These were the Five Elements Monster Talismans, a set of five that could summon Elemental Monsters of five different attributes. Fang Qingyuan had spent ten Top-grade Spirit Stones, in addition to his merit points, to redeem two sets from the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect, specifically to shatter this array quickly.
The five massive, uniquely-shaped monsters were each seventy to eighty feet tall. The moment they appeared before the Li Family’s array, they unleashed a ferocious assault, each in its own way.
The earth-attribute Sand Earthworm spewed a tornado of yellow sand at the Mountain-Protecting Spirit Shield, while the metal-attribute Golden-Horned Monster Hound rammed the array with its horn.
Meanwhile, the wood-attribute Banyan Wood Demon swung dozens of branches as thick as large bowls, lashing them furiously against the Li Family’s array. Each strike was equivalent to an attack from a First-grade top-quality magic tool.
The water-attribute Sea Monster Giant Octopus spat out shards of ice that mingled with the pillars of fire from the fire-attribute Molten Lizard. In an instant, they melted a large hole in a corner of the array.
Although the array quickly repaired the hole, its shimmering light dimmed considerably.
Witnessing this, the Li Family Patriarch, who had been so defiant just moments before, now had a face twisted in fury. He roared:
"Stop feeding Low-grade Spirit Stones into the array! Use the Middle-grade Spirit Stones! Pour them in like your lives depend on it! And hurry to the Storage Room! See how many Top-grade Spirit Stones are left and bring them all to me!"
The Li Family Patriarch’s mindset had shifted from being as cool as a cucumber to anxious, even terrified, in less than fifteen minutes.
He had been so confident before, certain that his Mountain Protection Array could hold off the enemy army for half a month. By then, his allies would arrive, and together they would crush this Beast Taming Array in a pincer attack. After that, he would be known as the man who repelled the forces of the Beast Taming Sect. Who wouldn’t look upon the Li Family with respect then?
However, reality proved that the Li Family Patriarch had been far too optimistic. Just as he gave the order to fetch the Top-grade Spirit Stones, the Talisman that Fang Qingyuan produced next plunged him into despair.
It was a Tier Two Array-Breaking Talisman. Items like Array-Breaking Talismans were strategic assets. Their crafting methods were secret, and only major powers possessed them. Although they were expensive to create, the cost was negligible compared to the results they could achieve.
Needless to say, Fang Qingyuan had also purchased this Array-Breaking Talisman from the Southern Border Beast Taming Sect. With the backing of Zhao Liangde, the head of the Miscellaneous Affairs Peak, the sect’s storerooms were completely open to him. As long as he could afford the Spirit Stones, he could take anything he wanted. Moreover, as a Core Disciple, he even received a twenty percent discount.
For the past four or five years, Yuanling Mountain had an annual income of over twenty Top-grade Spirit Stones. In the final year, that income had reached as high as twenty-seven Top-grade Spirit Stones.
With nearly a hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones, Fang Qingyuan had more than enough to wage an unscrupulously wealthy war. Compared to Fang Qingyuan, who had come so well-prepared, the Li Family hadn’t even realized a war was upon them until the banner of the Beast Taming Spirit was right in their faces. The gap between them was immense.
Fang Qingyuan saw that the Li Family’s Mountain Gate array was crumbling under the assault of the Five Elements Monster Beasts but still hadn’t broken. So, he simply took out a Tier Two Array-Breaking Talisman and threw it at the array before him.
A streak of golden light flew past, blending in with the sky full of Magical Artifact Talismans, appearing utterly unremarkable. The effect it produced, however, was astonishing.
It was as if the sky itself was shattering. The vast Mountain Protection Array’s Spirit Shield first showed a web of cracks. Then, with a deafening CRACK that resounded across the battlefield, it let out a mournful cry that no one heard—a dirge for the Li Family. The Tier Two High-Grade Array, which the Li Family had paid a fortune to build, had lasted less than two hours before Fang Qingyuan’s army. It was broken!
"The array... it’s broken!?"
The Li Family Patriarch stared at the scene, muttering in disbelief. A clan Cultivator then grabbed him, shouting:
"Patriarch, we have to go! Retreat to the Scripture Pavilion! There are no defenses left out here."
The Li Family Patriarch finally snapped back to his senses. He yelled sharply:
"Everyone, retreat to the Scripture Pavilion! We’ll use the arrays there to make a final stand! Hold on for just a little longer, reinforcements are on their way."
Hearing the Patriarch’s orders, a clan elder asked:
"What about the other areas? The medicine garden, the nursery, the storage and artifact rooms... should we send someone to destroy them?"
The Li Family Patriarch lamented with a sigh:
"There’s no time. I thought they wouldn’t be able to break through, but it didn’t even last two hours. If we send people now, it’ll be a one-way trip."
Hearing the Patriarch’s words, the clan elder’s face filled with sorrow and indignation. He said resentfully:
"I’m old and have lived long enough. I’m willing to sacrifice my life, but I won’t let these thieves have any of our treasures! I’ll go destroy everything so they get nothing!"
The Li Family Patriarch was deeply moved by the elder’s declaration. He took out a Token, handed it to the elder, and said emotionally:
"Adversity reveals a person’s true character. I have misunderstood you so much in the past. If we both survive this battle, I will personally apologize to you."
The elder took the Token and said, "Take care, Clan Leader. This old one is off." Then, he turned and left. Watching him go, the Li Family Patriarch’s eyes filled with regret. He gathered his clansmen and began retreating toward the Scripture Pavilion.
But after leaving the Patriarch, the sorrow and indignation on the elder’s face vanished instantly. He disguised his cultivation as that of an Early-stage Qi Cultivation practitioner, summoned a Second-order Magical Artifact to protect himself, and, after finding a direction with fewer people, made a quick dash for it.
The elder carefully dodged numerous Cultivators and was just about to break through the encirclement when a light breeze passed by. The next moment, his head slowly tumbled from his shoulders.
"Fang the Kid, I took care of a Cultivator for you. His disguise was pretty good; no one else noticed him. His personal fortune must be quite substantial. Don’t forget to give me half of whatever you loot from him."
A faint voice echoed in Fang Qingyuan’s ear. After listening, he gave a subtle nod in one direction without changing his expression and whispered:
"Understood. Please continue to plug the gaps for me, Master Heiye. Let’s try not to let a single one escape."
"Idiot, I’m not in that direction. Look to your right."
Fang Qingyuan’s face turned awkward. He looked to his right and saw a pitch-black panther reveal its form for a brief moment before immediately melting back into the shadows. Even with his Divine Sense, now comparable to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and knowing Master Heiye was hiding right there, he still couldn’t sense him at all.
This Master Heiye was none other than Zhao Liangde’s Companion Beast, with an Early-stage Golden Core Cultivation. It had cost Fang Qingyuan five Top-grade Spirit Stones just to hire him for the trip; the price for him to actually take action was a separate fee.
After losing sight of Master Heiye, Fang Qingyuan directed his army to change course. In an instant, a dozen or so Tuo Yao swam forward, shaking their heads and wagging their tails, and entered the Li Family’s Mountain Gate, surrounding the Scripture Pavilion completely.