Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 170: Silver Shadow Needles

Wang Hao resolved to heal quickly once he returned and fully absorb the True Sun Flame. Otherwise, he might eventually face the same trouble Si Zhiheng had.

An hour later, Yaya flew back carrying Xiaobai.

Several storage bags hung from Yaya’s beak. She squawked at Wang Hao, eager for praise.

“I know. Yaya did the most,” Wang Hao said, stroking her feathers. He fed Yaya and Xiaobai two Beast Rearing Pills.

After a little while, Li Derong and the others finished their fight and killed Si Zhijie.

The worry on Li Derong’s face faded when she saw Wang Hao. “I’m sorry. I wanted to help, but Si Zhijie fought desperately to hold us off, and I could not get away.”

“It is all right,” Wang Hao said with a wave. “I can handle an early Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

Li Yaozu and Wang Longyou descended from the sky shortly after.

Li Yaozu laughed. “Si Zhijie knew we had not gained much and kindly brought us his storage bag!”

Wang Longyou stroked his beard, a shrewd glint in his eyes. “Indeed. Let’s tally the spoils and divide them quickly. This place isn’t safe.”

They sent the Qi Refining clansmen outside to stand guard, then sat together to count the spoils.

Si Zhijie had sent part of the wealth away with some Qi Refining cultivators, but he still carried the most: over sixty thousand spirit stones and more than ten second-tier magic tools.

“These may be all the Si family’s spirit weapons,” Li Yaozu said, eyeing an orange flying boat. “Your family has several boats already. Could ours take this one?”

The boat was a middle-grade second-tier spirit weapon, slower and with less capacity than Wang Hao’s Flying Cloud Boat, let alone his Sun and Moon Shuttle or the boat taken from a demonic cultivator.

“If you want it, Senior Li, please take it,” Wang Hao said. “I will choose this set instead.”

He picked up a collection of silver needles.

There were nine palm-length silver needles in the set.

Each was a low-grade second-tier magic tool; together they were comparable to a top-grade spirit weapon.

The White Hair Divine Needle was better concealed, but the nine Silver Shadow Needles were more powerful. A set could form an array that reinforced each needle’s strength.

Flying needles were difficult to make; a complete set was rarer still. Wang Hao did not know where Si Zhijie had found them.

Founded by the wandering cultivator Si Ji, the Si family lacked a long-established clan’s resources. Instead of farming and ordinary trade, they explored ruins and hunted beasts. Many died, but successful members found treasures and gained the family’s support. Few of these tools had been bought; most came from ruins and old caves.

The needles were worth more than the boat, but the Li family badly needed a boat. The Wangs had done more in the fight, and the Lis did not object to their larger share.

Wang Hao tried to activate the needles.

Hum.

Only three wobbled into the air.

His body and divine sense were both injured, and he could not raise the full set. He guessed Si Zhijie and Si Zhiheng had also lacked the divine-sense strength to use it, explaining why neither had brought it out.

The distribution continued.

Li Derong chose a yellow shield; Wang Longyou took a piece of inner armor. The remaining tools were less valuable or damaged in the fight, so the four divided them simply.

The Si cultivators had used almost all their talismans. A few bottles of pills remained, along with a newly made Foundation Establishment Pill.

Wang Hao guessed the Burning Heaven Sect had recently sold Foundation Establishment Pills to these families to win their support.

At Wang Hao’s insistence, Li Yaozu chose a large quantity of artifact-refining materials instead of the Foundation Establishment Pill.

The recovered materials were valuable and could supply Wang Hao’s refining and puppet making for a while.

The Wangs also received several second-tier beast cores, a set of formation flags, and one of two unidentified beast eggs. Li Derong said Si Zhijie had used a Purple Cloud Eagle, so the eggs were probably from that beast. Each family took one.

Purple Cloud Eagles could reach high-grade second-tier and rarely third-tier, but their speed and strength were ordinary and they did not rank among notable spirit beasts. Wang Hao had no interest in raising one himself. Other Wang cultivators, influenced by him, would likely redeem the egg.

Some jade slips contained unremarkable cultivation and craft inheritances. A second-tier artifact-refining method was the only one Wang Hao hoped to study for useful insights.

The victory had cost lives.

Two more Wang clan members had died after failing to avoid the effects of a Foundation Establishment battle. Wang Longyou looked grave.

Their aim had been to weaken Maple Leaf Market. They had defeated the Gu and Si families and killed four Foundation Establishment cultivators, but Wang Hao and Wang Yanzhi were badly hurt, leaving the Wangs at a disadvantage in the next fight.

“Sixth Granduncle, the dead cannot return,” Wang Hao said with a sigh. “Let us take care of their descendants. My wounds and Uncle Yanzhi’s are serious, but our foundations are intact. We can recover after some time.”

Li Yaozu promised that the Li family would support the Wangs and send help if they faced danger.

After a few more words, they packed up and went home.

At Giant Wood Peak, the Si family’s former stronghold, a middle-aged man reported to Ji Shuguang.

“Elder Ji, we searched the whole spirit mountain and found no survivors. The people from Green Bull Market even destroyed some of the herbs, trees, and buildings.”

Ji Shuguang’s expression darkened.

“We arrived too late. Return to Double Dragon Mountain and prepare to attack,” he said with a sigh.

Cultivators from the other families quietly worried.

The Burning Heaven Sect had neglected their safety while preparing to attack the Qingyuan Sect. Maple Leaf Market’s strength had suffered badly; how could it fight Green Bull Market now?

They did not dare say so. They depended on the Burning Heaven Sect and could only hope it would finish its own war quickly and send reinforcements.

Ji Shuguang sensed their unease and sighed.

“I know this is difficult, but the sect’s orders must be carried out. Even if you cannot take Green Bull Market, you must hold its forces there so they cannot help the Qingyuan Sect.”