Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 155: The Ye Family of Double Dragon Mountain

Wang Hao had to make up another story.

“Old Wang, I forgot to tell you. During the campaign against the demonic cultivators, Li Yaozu and I found one of their lairs. There were three Foundation Establishment Pills inside. The Li family took two; I took one and the Spirit-Concealing Boat.”

It was half true. Wang Hao doubted that Wang Yanzhao would ask Li Yaozu to verify it.

“Will the other clansmen object?” Wang Yanzhao asked.

“Is anyone else ready for Foundation Establishment? If so, let them exchange Spirit Stones for a pill. There’s only one condition: whether they succeed or fail, they must repay the cost. If one person can’t, the whole family can help pay.”

Wang Hao privately wished there were more candidates. The family’s earlier policy encouraging births had yet to bear fruit: the oldest children from that group were only about ten and at the second or third layer of Qi Refining.

The Burning Heaven Sect lay south of the Qingyuan Sect.

Its territory was farther from the frontier. Only some of its mountains connected to the Severed Origin Mountains, so demon beasts posed no large-scale threat there.

The Burning Heaven Sect had four Golden Core cultivators and little need to defend against mountain beasts. That also meant fewer resources to obtain from them. To expand, it could push north or venture out to sea; north was plainly the less dangerous option.

As the sect prepared for war, its subordinate powers began to mobilize too.

One of them was the Ye family of Double Dragon Mountain.

The Ye family had existed for four hundred years. Its three Foundation Establishment cultivators and more than a hundred Qi Refining cultivators made it comparable to the Wangs a few years earlier.

A group of Foundation Establishment cultivators now gathered in the Ye family’s council hall.

Their host, Ye Jingshan, sat beside the head seat rather than in it. A middle-aged man in a red Daoist robe occupied that place, the pressure around him marking him as a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

When the last few guests arrived and took their seats, the man looked over the gathering.

“The Burning Heaven Sect intends to attack the Qingyuan Sect to the north,” he said. “You must contribute. Our Old Ancestor knows your ways, though, so you won’t be required to attack the Qingyuan Sect with us.”

“Your task is to deal with the Five Families of Qingniu.”

He explained the assignment.

“They are small families with only a dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators between them, two of them at the late stage. You have the strength to defeat them. The sect asks only that you eliminate the five families. Divide their spirit mountains and everything else you take among yourselves.”

A horse had to be fed if it was expected to run.

The Burning Heaven Sect had no interest in these small families’ possessions, but the families gathered here valued them highly.

Xu Minglang, head of the Beishan Xu Family, was particularly interested. His family lived south of Green Bull Market and had long coveted its prosperity. When the Burning Heaven Sect lost its previous war against the Qingyuan Sect, however, its subordinate families had not dared provoke trouble there.

“Elder Ji, from what my family knows, the Lei family will be the hardest to deal with. They began as artifact refiners and are sure to have plenty of weapons. Lei Liheng is at the ninth layer of Foundation Establishment, and there are four Foundation Establishment cultivators in the family. They are probably the strongest of the Five Families of Qingniu.”

“Next would be the Wangs. They specialize in alchemy and have three second-grade alchemists. Wang Guang’an, their strongest, is also at the ninth layer. He was badly wounded long ago and spent years recovering in seclusion, but he has appeared in public recently and should be mostly healed. They have four Foundation Establishment cultivators, though two are at the early stage, and alchemists may be less experienced in combat.”

“Then there are the Lis, a talisman-making family. They have two mid-stage and one early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, none at the late stage. But they have plenty of second-grade talismans, so be careful.”

After Xu Minglang described the other two families as well, Ye Jingshan frowned. “The Five Families of Qingniu are not much weaker than us. If each of us attacks one family separately, we may gain little advantage. They can rely on their defensive formations while we tire ourselves out.”

“Even a surprise attack might cost us too much,” said the head of the Fengcheng He Family.

“Then why not combine our forces and attack them one at a time?” Xu Minglang suggested.

“That would let us defeat the first family,” objected Gu Lizhan, the grey-robed mid-stage Foundation Establishment head of the Lingshui Gu Family. “But the other four would be warned. If they abandoned their holdings and concentrated in one place, we might not be able to defeat them afterward.”

“We can’t divide our forces, and we can’t combine them. What would you do?” Xu Minglang asked.

“Pair up,” Gu Lizhan said. “Two of our families attack one of theirs. Each force will have several more Foundation Establishment cultivators than its target. Even if the two remaining families join forces after being warned, they won’t be able to withstand us.”

“A fine plan,” Elder Ji said, nodding. “Your six families are stronger already. Once you destroy three of theirs, the other two won’t be able to do much.”

“Which three do we attack first?” Xu Minglang asked.

“To minimize losses, attack the weaker three,” Gu Lizhan said. “To gain the most, attack the Lei, Wang, and Li families first.”

“Why?” asked the head of the He family.

“As Brother Xu said, each of those three has a valuable craft inheritance and has earned many Spirit Stones. They must have heard rumors too and may have stocked up on artifacts and pills. If we defeat them first, those supplies are ours. Leave them until later and they may use them up in battle—or send their wealth away with departing clansmen.”

“True,” said He Junyi, his eyes brightening. “An alchemy or artifact-refining inheritance would justify some losses. We paid more than ten thousand Spirit Stones for a first-grade alchemy inheritance; the Wangs have a second-grade one.”

“If you agree, then settle your assignments and call up your people as soon as possible,” Elder Ji said. The Burning Heaven Sect wanted them to keep the Qingyuan Sect’s subordinate families occupied so they could not send help to the sect.

The families argued at length over the assignments. Everyone wanted the alchemy inheritance, and artifact refining was valuable too. They nearly came to blows over the right to attack the Wangs and the Leis.

Elder Ji finally settled it.

The Xu and He families would attack the Wangs; the Ye and Gu families, the Leis. The two weakest families would attack the Lis.

Then they asked the Burning Heaven Sect for support. It could spare no cultivators for them while attacking the well-established Qingyuan Sect, but they hoped to obtain some of the many resources it had gathered.

Elder Ji looked at the expectant Foundation Establishment cultivators. “I would support giving you resources, but such a decision must go to the sect and its Golden Core Old Ancestor. Gather your people and supplies, and send scouts to Green Bull Market. Once the sect sets a date for the main attack, we will move together.”

Satisfied, Elder Ji flew back to the Burning Heaven Sect to report.