Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 176: Mutual Countermeasures

A quick count put their casualties at nearly twenty.

The sides defended by Wang Yanzhao, Wang Longyou, and Li Yaozu had held. Each lost two or three people while the damaged array put them under pressure.

Wang Hao’s side lost more than ten Qi Refining clan members. Without Wang Wenyuan’s timely support, the losses might have been worse.

This was only the first wave.

Only about a hundred Wang cultivators remained at home, and the Li reinforcements brought the total to just over two hundred. They had lost nearly a tenth in one attack.

The enemy had lost one Foundation Establishment cultivator, had another wounded, and suffered more than fifty Qi Refining casualties. Yet with over eight hundred cultivators, Maple Leaf Market could endure exchanges like this longer than the Wangs.

No matter how dire the odds, surrender was not an option. The Foundation Establishment experts might be able to fly away and escape, but for the hundreds of Qi Refining clansmen, a broken defense meant slaughter.

Wang Longyou, the oldest present, had survived two beast tides. Even so, seeing so many clan members killed and wounded in one battle made him tremble with grief.

“We cannot go on like this,” Li Yaozu said to Wang Hao. “What about your Talisman Treasure? At their next attack, we could cover you and kill several of their Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

Li Yaozu remembered Wang Hao using it against a third-rank demon beast at Green Bull Market.

The Li family wanted to end the battle quickly. Its spirit mountain stood empty, vulnerable even to opportunistic rogue cultivators. Immature spirit herbs and trees that could not be transplanted were still valuable.

“A Talisman Treasure is precious, yes,” Wang Yanzhao added, looking at Wang Hao with a mixture of hope and hesitation. “But objects are meant to be used. Our family is finally showing signs of true prosperity. The clan members are our foundation. If the roots are severed, even if we survive, it will take centuries to rebuild.”

Wang Hao smiled. “It is only one Talisman Treasure. Of course I will use it for the family.”

The family’s policy of encouraging births was aimed chiefly at Qi Refining members. Foundation Establishment cultivators focused on cultivation; Wang Yanzhao had the most children, with four spirit-rooted children besides Wang Hao.

Wang Hao’s Talisman Treasure had three uses left. Each release carried the full-strength strike of a low-grade Dharma Treasure.

Such talismans were made by sealing part of a cultivator’s Dharma Treasure power into paper, weakening the original. Few Golden Core cultivators were willing. Wang Hao had obtained his by chance; its power matched a third-rank, low-grade talisman, so its original treasure must have been at least mid-grade.

The Talisman Treasure was worth much more than a high-grade spirit weapon. Unused, Wang Hao’s could have sold for at least fifty thousand Spirit Stones; even after one use, it was worth more than thirty-five thousand.

But its effect was undeniable. It could cripple a Third-Rank demon beast. A mere Foundation Establishment cultivator? They wouldn’t stand a chance unless they possessed a Talisman Treasure of their own.

It could be used three more times. If it killed three mid-stage or later Foundation Establishment opponents, Maple Leaf Market might lose its advantage and withdraw.

They agreed that if the enemy used Array Breaking Talismans again, the defenders would gather around Wang Hao and charge out when the array broke. In the confusion, he could use his Talisman Treasure, and they might kill another one or two cultivators together.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leaf Foundation Establishment cultivators discussed their own plans below the mountain.

“I did not expect so many Wang and Li Foundation Establishment cultivators,” Ji Shuguang said. “The array itself does not sound too difficult; the defenders are the problem. At least nine fought, and Wang Guang’an has yet to appear. That would make ten. My intelligence said the Wang family had only three.”

“Most appear to be early-stage cultivators who advanced recently,” Xu Minglang said. “Where did they get so many Foundation Establishment Pills? Did the Qingyuan Sect give them some?”

“Impossible. We know where the sect’s limited supply went. The Wang and Li families received only two more than twenty years ago,” Ji Shuguang replied.

“Then the Wangs must have a source of pills,” Gu Lizhan said. “They are an alchemist family; perhaps they refined them themselves.”

“Obviously,” Ye Jingshan scoffed. “The question is where they found so many ingredients. How would they get third-rank demon cores?”

He stopped mid-sentence. The room went silent. The patriarchs looked at each other, the same realization dawning on all their faces simultaneously.

“The Essence Condensing Fruit Tree.”

“They must have an Essence Condensing Fruit Tree,” someone said. “Living near Severed Origin Mountain, they could have found one.”

The others breathed harder at the thought. Such a tree could produce Foundation Establishment Pills for a family over generations.

Ji Shuguang narrowed his eyes. Presenting the tree to the sect could earn him enough contribution to exchange for a Golden Core formation aid.

“Gentlemen. To avoid complications, we must press the attack immediately. I give you my word: if we capture an Essence Condensing Fruit Tree, every family participating in this campaign will receive at least one Foundation Establishment Pill. The family that discovers the tree will receive two.”

The excitement in the room instantly cooled.

Ji Shuguang’s promise made one thing clear: the tree would belong to the Burning Heaven Sect. The families would receive pills instead.

The difference was that between a hen that laid eggs and one egg.

Ji Shuguang had previously promised that all spoils of war from Green Bull Market would belong to the families. Now, faced with a treasure of this magnitude, he was blatantly reneging on the deal.

But who dared to object? This was the Burning Heaven Sect. This was the law of the jungle.

None of these families was skilled in alchemy. Even if they acquired the tree, they would likely hand it to the Burning Heaven Sect for pills.

Still, knowing the logic didn’t make the pill easier to swallow. They were bleeding and dying for the Sect’s benefit, while the Sect grew fat on their sacrifice.

A tree produced three fruits every fifty years, enough for at least ten Foundation Establishment Pills. In centuries, it could help create a family of nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, threatening the sect’s rule.

To lift their spirits, Ji Shuguang spoke forcefully.

“Rest assured, this seat will not stand idly by. I will personally lead the next assault. That old dog Wang Guang’an had better be dead already—otherwise, I will personally send him to hell!”

The others felt somewhat better. With Ji Shuguang joining the attack against the recently advanced Wang and Li cultivators, they hoped to take the ridge with fewer losses.