118: Chapter 118 Are you crazy?

The flying boat slowly landed on the stone platform outside the mountain gate, the wind-guiding lamp extinguished, and the light of the array patterns on the hull gradually dimmed.

Without waiting for the flying boat to come to a complete stop, the person at the bow stepped out, landed steadily on the stone platform, straightened his lapels, and bowed deeply toward the direction of Yang Zhenghua.

His voice was not loud, but it carried extremely far: "Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong pays respects to the esteemed envoy of the Spirit Sword Sect."

Yang Zhenghua turned slightly, cupped his hands in greeting toward Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong, and the smile on his face deepened by a few fractions.

He turned his head to look at Wang Yaozu, those eyes filled with the gratification of smug satisfaction, and his tone was casual, as if he were speaking of a matter that had long been nailed down.

"Did the Head of the Wang Family not ask who the human witness was just now? Look, the witness is here."

He raised his hand to gesture vaguely toward the direction of Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong, a hint of cat-and-mouse playfulness added to his smile: "Head of the Yan Family, tell everything you saw and heard that day in front of the Head of the Wang Family."

Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong straightened his body.

His eyes, which habitually wore a smile of amiable wealth-seeking all year round, slowly swept across the face of Wang Yaozu, then swept past Wang Chongyang, and finally swept over those young faces behind the mountain gate, as if looking at a group of people about to die.

His lips moved slightly, and he was about to speak.

Wang Chongyang suddenly laughed.

It was not a sneer, nor an angry laugh, but a form of extremely hearty laughter, as if suppressing something for countless years.

The laughter was aged and resounding, shaking the pine needles down in rustles and making the eardrums of everyone present buzz.

He laughed so suddenly and so inappropriately that even the two Foundation Establishment elders behind Yang Zhenghua were stunned for a moment.

"Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong!"

Wang Chongyang stopped his laughter abruptly, replaced by a fierce roar, the killing intent wrapped within that voice so intense it almost condensed into substance.

"Back then, this old man was able to cut off the descendants' root of your father, and today I will slaughter you damned thing as well!"

Before his voice fell, he had already rushed straight toward Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong like a gray shadow.

No one expected that he would make a move—an old man whose Lifespan was nearing its end actually dared to strike first in the face of the coercion of three Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Spirit Sword Sect.

"Audacious!"

The two Foundation Establishment Cultivator behind Yang Zhenghua shouted simultaneously, the fire in the palm of one suddenly flaring greatly, condensing a flame barrier in front of him.

The other flicked his ten fingers continuously, dozens of wind blades intertwining into a net, covering Wang Chongyang from head to toe.

This was the standard interception spell of the Spirit Sword Sect, balancing both offense and defense, and ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator encountering it could only temporarily avoid its sharp edge.

Their task was only to trap Wang Chongyang for a moment and buy time for Yang Zhenghua to draw his sword.

But Wang Chongyang did not dodge at all.

He crashed straight into it like that, the crimson flames around his body suddenly surging by three chi, shattering the flame barrier with a loud crash.

The wind blades slashed onto his body, cutting open his gray Daoist robe and tearing his withered skin, yet they failed to impede his figure by even a fraction.

Fresh blood oozed from his shoulders, arms, and ribs, staining half of his Daoist robe red.

Oblivious to it all, his crimson flame palm print had already slapped right before Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong.

The expressions of the two elders changed drastically, forced back seven or eight steps by this reckless impact force before they barely managed to steady their footing, their eyes filled with disbelief.

"Is this old thing crazy?"

The elder who used fire arts blurted out.

They were here to knock some sense into the Wang Family and conveniently help Yang Zhenghua pry the Ning Family's properties out of the mouth of the Wang Family, not to risk their lives fighting someone.

A Foundation Establishment Cultivator whose Lifespan was nearing its end cared nothing about Foundation damage, cared nothing about hurting the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred, and only cared about dragging a few people down with him before dying—such a person was more terrifying than ten Cultivator of the same rank combined.

The elder wielding the wind blades also lowered his voice and said anxiously: "Senior Brother Yang, this old thing intends to trade his life for ours! We have no reason to fight him to the death—as for the matter of the Wang Family, giving them a beating is enough. That batch of Spirit Stone and spiritual fields can be requested another day using another method."

Yang Zhenghua merely gave a cold snort.

He pressed his right hand onto the sword hilt, pushed with his thumb, and the long sword clanged out of its scabbard.

The sword body was entirely silver-white, with a layer of deep blue cold light circulating along the blade.

Before the Sword Intent was released, the sword's hum arrived first.

An formless Sword Qi had already shot out from the sword tip, plowing a scorched mark several feet deep into the ground and slashing straight toward Wang Chongyang.

With a cross of his steps, his body followed the sword, transforming into a silver-white ribbon of light, reaching the destination after the opponent but arriving first, and forcibly intercepting right between Wang Chongyang and Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong.

The sword light and crimson flames collided with a loud crash, the two forces of Foundation Establishment exploding before the mountain gate, shattering stones flying everywhere and rolling shockwaves sweeping the fallen leaves on the stone platform into flying ash all over the sky.

Wang Chongyang's tiger-like ferocious palm strike was actually sealed by this young man's single sword, and the crimson flames shattered inch by inch within the sword light.

His figure swayed slightly, and blood had already oozed from the web of his right hand.

Yang Zhenghua, on the other hand, was as steady as a monolith, the tip of his sword pointing obliquely at the ground, his face still wearing that condescending smile.

"Wang Chongyang, you are old."

Yang Zhenghua lightly flicked the sword body, the sword hum sounding like a Dragon roar.

"Considering your advanced age, this seat gives you one last chance—have the Head of the Wang Family follow this seat back to the Spirit Sword Sect's disciplinary hall for trial, cooperate with recovering the remaining assets of the Ning Family, and hand over all things that should not be taken. Perhaps you can still be dealt with leniently. If you dare to defy orders again, do not blame this seat's sword for being merciless."

Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong finally spoke.

"Please allow this humble subordinate to report, Envoy Yang. That night, a steward of our Yan Family happened to be handling business in Xiaoshan County. He saw with his own eyes that a large contingent of the Wang Family broke into the Ning Family Manor under the cover of night, killing everyone they saw and hacking down everyone they met."

He slightly raised his head, his gaze passing over Wang Yaozu and landing on those overlapping pavilions and towers behind the mountain gate. His voice was not loud, but every word was clear, as if he had rehearsed it countless times in his heart.

"Over three hundred people of the Ning Family, young and old, women and children alike, were not spared, and all died under the butcher knives of the Wang Family."

"That steward of mine was frightened out of his wits, hid in the dark to watch a general outline, and fled back to the Yan Family overnight to report the news."

"Upon learning of this matter, this old man also did not sleep for several nights. After much deliberation, I still decided to uphold righteousness above family and report this matter to the Spirit Sword Sect."

He let out a long sigh, a layer of just-right sorrow floating onto his face. He took out a handkerchief from his sleeve, pressed it against the corners of his eyes, and bowed deeply toward Yang Zhenghua once more.

"I ask the upper Sect's envoy to seek justice for the Ning Family. The lives of over three hundred people cannot be buried in vain just like this."

When he straightened his body, the damp trace at the corner of his eye slightly reflected light in the sunlight, except that the handkerchief was dry.

What he thought in his heart and what he said with his mouth were entirely different matters—seeking justice for the Ning Family?

He wished nothing more than for the Ning Family to die out completely.

As long as the Ning Family did not fall, his Yan Family could only ever be relegated to third place. Now that the Ning Family was gone, as long as they toppled the Wang Family as well, the Three Counties would have only his Yan Family remaining as the sole dominant power.

By then, the Spiritual Vein, mineral deposits, and market taxes accumulated over hundreds of years in the Three Counties would all belong to the Yan clan.

Utilizing the strength of the Three Counties to support the descendants of his Yan Family, why would he worry about failing to achieve Core Formation?

The reason the Sect had a Core Formation Immortal Master overseeing it relied not on some illusory mandate of heaven, but on sitting atop the Foundation of dozens of counties and monopolizing most of the cultivation resources of the Yue State.

Although the land of the Three Counties was small, if it all belonged to a single surname, it would be akin to a regional feudal lord.

As for the realm of Core Formation, Aptitude was indeed a threshold, but over several hundred years, the Yan Family would always have one or two good saplings. As long as resources were sufficient, Core Formation might not be an empty talk.

By that day, the Yan Family would be the second Spirit Sword Sect, and Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong himself would be the foundational lord of the Yan Family's rise.

Wang Chongyang stood in the center of the pool of blood and shattered stones. Half of his gray Daoist robe was already soaked through with blood, and the dried bloodstains together with newly oozing fresh blood dyed patches of deep and light red on his lapels.

He looked at the face full of sorrow of Head of the Yan Family Yan Bosong, looked at the blood droplets still dripping from the sword tip of Yang Zhenghua, looked at the spell lights shining once more in the palms of the two Foundation Establishment elders, and suddenly laughed wildly up at the sky.