290: The Murong family?

As the light of the Teleportation Array gradually faded, Lu Ming's figure had already appeared thousands of miles away.

Looking back at this Formation of the Luo Huang Immortal Sect, he struck down with his palm, completely destroying the foundation of the Teleportation Array.

He had been using the Teleportation Arrays at various branches of the Luo Huang Immortal Sect to travel, heading towards the border of the "Falling Star Plain."

The Profound Spirit Domain is vast, and the outer regions can generally be divided into four major areas: the Northern Territory, the Western Wilderness, the Southern Ridge, and the Eastern Marsh.

The Northern Territory is rampant with the Demonic Path, the Western Wilderness is full of strange and bizarre arts, and the Southern Ridge is the gathering place for Sects and Families of the Righteous Path.

Finally, the Eastern Marsh is relatively chaotic, a place where all sorts of people mix, with the highest number of Loose Cultivators.

The place Lu Ming chose to head to was the edge of the Northern Territory, where the forces of the Demonic Path were deeply intertwined—the junction of "Wan Hai Valley" and the "Falling Star Plain," which also fell under the jurisdiction of the "Six Desires Demonic Sect," one of the three Demonic Path Sects within the Seven Grotto-Heavens.

He had carefully considered choosing this location, and there were three reasons for it.

First, this place is far from the sphere of influence of the Chu Family and avoids the direct radiation zone of the Zixiao Grotto-Heaven.

Second, the Families and Sects here are constantly at war, making it the perfect place for him to scout for candidates for a 'Puppet Family.'

And the last point: within the territory of the Demonic Path, the disappearance and death of Cultivators are commonplace, so his harvesting of "talent" would not easily invite scrutiny.

Based on these points, Lu Ming finally arrived here.

His plan was very clear: to find a Golden Core Family, secretly control it with a secret technique, and use their hands to conquer in all directions, harvesting "resources" for himself while also accumulating the capital to make a Breakthrough into the Thirty-Six Blessed Lands.

However, the ideal is grand, but reality is harsh.

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Lu Ming had almost traversed a million miles around "Wan Hai Valley" and had secretly observed over a dozen Golden Core Families, but the results all disappointed him.

It was not that there were not enough Golden Core Families, but that most of these Families had lost their edge; some were content with the status quo, guarding a few Spiritual Veins and Spirit Fields, just getting by.

Some had ambition, but their Clan Chief was indecisive, their clansmen were hedonistic, and even worse, internal factional strife was severe, making them completely useless.

"Having ambition without the corresponding ruthlessness and execution capability means that if I rashly support them, the Family's style of operation would change abruptly, which would instead arouse suspicion."

Standing on a mountain peak, Lu Ming looked down at a Golden Core Family below that was hanging lanterns and setting up a grand banquet, and he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.

"Taking a nine hundred and ninety-ninth concubine; could it be, Fellow Daoist, that you have a 'More Children, More Blessings System'?"

This was, of course, a joke; Lu Ming could naturally sense that this person's internal Yang was already deficient.

It was ridiculous; a dignified Golden Core True Person was almost drained dry.

"Sure enough, lust is a knife that scrapes the bone!"

Sighing, Lu Ming turned and left.

As for the Golden Core Family below, Lu Ming didn't look at them again.

They were too trashy; supporting such a Family would simply be a waste of time.

...

At dusk that day, just as Lu Ming was planning to shift regions and head towards the "Black Sha Marsh" further north to explore.

"Boom!!!"

Intense fluctuations of spiritual power suddenly erupted over a hundred miles to the southeast.

Lu Ming's Divine Sense spread out like a tide, and he saw that in a narrow valley, three parties were locked in an inseparable battle; the light of Spells was darting about, and screams and roars were intertwined.

Observing their cultivation, the vast majority were at the Qi Refinement Stage, and the ones fighting most fiercely in the arena were those six Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

"Foundation Establishment..."

Lu Ming originally wanted to ignore it directly; such events played out every day in the outer regions, and he had already seen no less than a hundred of them.

It was nothing more than resources, vendettas, or treasure grabbing; he was accustomed to it.

However, the moment he withdrew his Divine Sense, he caught a few roars, which made his figure, about to leave, pause.

"Murong Feiyu! Hand over the 'Golden Core Pill,' and I might leave your corpse intact!"

"Hahaha! My Murong Family has plotted for so long and finally succeeded in bidding for this item; how could I allow you to covet it! Once my father attains the Golden Core, he will surely wash your families in blood!"

Murong?

Lu Ming's heart skipped a beat.

There aren't many people with this surname, and as it happens, he actually knows one!

At this moment, a dusty memory suddenly burst open.

His thoughts drifted to the Southern Wilderness Region, when he was still just a small Loose Cultivator at the Qi Refinement Stage, living in a small place called the Green Bamboo Market.

And the controller behind this market was the Murong Family.

It was just that later, the market encountered a beast tide riot, and he and his group of Loose Cultivators were treated as cannon fodder and abandoned.

If not for his formidable means, he would have long since perished in the jaws of the beasts.

And from that time on, he began to use the golden book's ability to transfer side effects, crazily retaliating against the Murong Family, once nearly exterminating them.

However, there are always exceptions to things.

Among them, only one person quietly left the Southern Wilderness Region after the beast tide retreated, disappearing completely into the depths of the Cloud Mist Mountain Range.

This person was the pillar of the Murong Family, Old Ancestor Murong—Murong Jingyang!

At the time, everyone thought he was dead, but only Lu Ming knew that he was still alive and well!

It was just that at the time, he had plenty of "talent" on hand, and combined with his intention to take revenge personally, this old thing had luckily survived.

However, the idea Lu Ming had back then was to let this person develop for a while, and slaughter him once he was fattened up.

As it turned out, he forgot about him while letting him develop, and coupled with his own cultivation becoming increasingly profound, by the time he reached the Golden Core Stage, he hadn't even paid attention to the names on the [Foundation Establishment Chapter] page of the golden book.

"It couldn't be the same name, could it?"

Now, suddenly hearing this name, Lu Ming's first reaction was that it was a coincidence.

After all, the Profound Spirit Domain and the Southern Wilderness Region are separated by countless millions of miles; even he had to be extremely careful and exhaust all his efforts to pass through it.

How could Murong Jingyang, who was only at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment back then, cross it?

What could he rely on? This is simply unreasonable!

So he just considered it a coincidence.

Shaking his head, Lu Ming intended to turn and leave.

However, after walking a little further, Lu Ming turned back again.

Curiosity ultimately gained the upper hand, and he intended to go and confirm it.

If it really is Murong Jingyang, then this matter is too interesting.

He really wanted to know what kind of Opportunity a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator could have obtained to cross the Cloud Mist Mountain Range, where even Late Golden Core Stage Cultivators almost met their end!

Moreover, according to the conversation of these few people, it was clearly for the "Golden Core Pill."

Lu Ming naturally knew what the "Golden Core Pill" was; it was a precious Spirit Pill that could assist in breaking through to the Golden Core Stage.

Its rarity was such that even in a remote corner like the Southern Wilderness Region, people had only heard of it, but no one had ever seen it.

"It really has to be the vast and resource-rich Profound Spirit Domain!"

Lu Ming exclaimed, then immediately realized something.

If it really is Murong Jingyang, in just a few decades, he has actually touched the threshold of the Golden Core Stage?

However, Lu Ming really wasn't clear about this point.

After all, his cultivation was too low at the time; he only knew that Murong Jingyang was at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, but he knew nothing about his talent or lifespan.

But this is not important; even if this person is not Murong Jingyang, it is not important!