Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 197: Tang Qingfeng

In the world of cultivation, the weak were prey to the strong. Treasures belonged to those with the strength to hold them. Wang Hao was not a man burdened by misplaced mercy.

He took up his Child-Mother Green Light Sword and went deeper into the tunnel.

Moments later, two Qi Refining cultivators appeared ahead. Guards.

“Who are you—”

Wang Hao’s spirit sword flew out and killed both guards before they could finish asking who he was.

He swept up their Storage Bags without breaking stride and continued.

After roughly a hundred zhang, the tunnel opened into a modest cavern. The walls were studded with raw Spirit Stone ore, glittering in the dim light. Seven or eight cultivators supervised hundreds of mortal laborers who were chipping away at the rock.

At the center of the cavern, a Foundation Establishment cultivator sat at a stone table. He opened his eyes, his gaze locking onto the intruder.

“Who dares trespass in the Tang Family’s mine!”

“Fellow Daoist Tang, what a temper,” Wang Hao stepped into the light, a cold smile playing on his lips. “Though I suppose illegal mining requires a certain… boldness.”

Wang Hao recognized the man immediately: Tang Qingfeng, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator he had met once at the Qingyuan Sect.

When the Blazing Heaven Sect invaded Falling Phoenix Market, the Tang family abandoned their spirit mountain and mortals and fled. Many clansmen died during the pursuit, but the core family survived, enabling them to return quickly afterward.

Tang Qingfeng’s face flashed with fear upon recognizing Wang Hao, but he masked it instantly. He stood up, clasping his hands in a polite greeting.

“Ah, Fellow Daoist Wang. Since you’ve found us, I won’t beat around the bush. My Tang family stumbled upon this vein by accident. However, our strength is limited, and our progress has been slow. If the Wang family is interested, I can speak for my clan—let us develop this mine together. A fifty-fifty split. What do you say?”

As he spoke, his left hand quietly reached toward the storage bag at his waist, and a gleaming second-tier talisman appeared in his hand.

Wang Hao’s smile didn’t waver.

Share a Spirit Stone vein? A resource that formed the foundation of a Golden Core power?

Wang Hao had no intention of sharing. And neither did Tang Qingfeng. The offer was a stall tactic, a lie to buy time for a lethal strike.

“Of course I am interested. I have a fine pot of second-tier spirit wine. Why don’t we sit down and talk over a drink?” Wang Hao put away his Child-Mother Green Light Sword and reached for the gourd at his waist.

Tang Qingfeng’s eyes narrowed. Seeing Wang Hao stow his weapon, he thought his moment had arrived. He prepared to activate the talisman.

Thwip.

Pain exploded in his palm.

A needle almost too fine to see shot through his palm, tearing away half the flesh. The talisman dropped from his hand.

“Ah! You—!”

Tang Qingfeng roared in agony and rage. He summoned a long saber, slashing at Wang Hao with desperate fury.

Wang Hao’s green light sword met the saber.

Clang!

The saber snapped in two.

Tang Qingfeng stared at his broken weapon, terror finally dawning on him. He remembered the rumors about Wang Hao’s monstrous strength—stories he had dismissed as exaggeration. Now, facing the reality, he realized how foolish he had been.

Wang Hao didn’t give him time to regret.

The Silver Shadow Needles struck again.

Thud.

One needle pierced Tang Qingfeng’s brow and killed him.

The Qi Refining cultivators in the cavern froze. Their Elder—their strongest protector—had been killed in seconds.

Panic erupted. They turned to flee.

Wang Hao didn’t move. He simply flicked his fingers. Nine silver needles danced through the air, weaving a web of death.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

In the blink of an eye, over a dozen cultivators lay dead.

Wang Hao turned his gaze to the hundreds of mortal laborers. They dropped to their knees, weeping and begging for mercy.

His hand hovered over his sword.

Mortals lived hard lives. Mining was dangerous work. They were innocent pawns.

But they were witnesses.

Wang Hao could not bring himself to kill the mortals, but he could not let them leave and reveal the mine. He blocked the cavern with a massive stone, leaving a breathing hole. They had enough food to last several days, but could not move the stone themselves. They might spend the rest of their lives mining here.

With Tang Qingfeng dead, there was no turning back.

The Tang family had only forty or fifty Qi Refining clansmen and three Foundation Establishment cultivators left. With Tang Qingfeng dead, only two Foundation Establishment cultivators remained.

Wang Hao could lead his clan to destroy the Tang family quickly and seize the mine. Otherwise, the Tangs would surely report the mine to the Qingyuan Sect in revenge.

He fired a Sound Transmission Talisman, summoning Wang Wenzhu and the others.

When the five juniors arrived and saw the carnage, they paled.

“Fifth Brother,” Wang Wenzhu whispered, looking at the bodies. “Who are these people? Mine guards?”

“Yes. They are from the Tang family of Falling Phoenix Market. If we want this mine, we must eliminate the Tang family before complications arise. Search every tunnel. Do not let a single Tang cultivator escape.”

“Yes!”

The five bowed, their expressions hardening.

In ordinary circumstances they might have asked why. But Wang Hao spoke seriously on behalf of the family; since childhood they had been taught to obey such orders.

The Tang tunnels were short. Over two ke, the five searched them twice and killed the remaining Tang guards. Once certain no one had been missed, Wang Hao took up the Tang array, changed its orientation, and set it up again.

At the entrance, he turned to Wang Wenjiang.

“You three guard this place. If Tang cultivators come and you cannot kill them all, withdraw at once and carry word back to the family. Do not fight them head-on.”

“Understood.”

The traces in the cavern had been erased. Short of a Golden Core cultivator using bloodline tracing, no one would know Wang Hao had done it.

Wang Hao used the Sun and Moon Shuttle to carry Wang Wenzhu and the other returning hunters swiftly back to Wang Family Ridge.

Upon arrival at Wang Family Ridge, he immediately fired off transmission talismans, summoning the key Foundation Establishment elders to the peak.

The Peak. Council Hall.

“Tell us why you called us here in such a hurry,” Wang Yanzhao said with a long face. His son was capable but forever bringing him new troubles; the patriarch had hardly had a quiet moment in years.

“This time, we’re doing something big,” Wang Hao said calmly.

He swept his hand over the table.

Clatter.

Several chunks of raw ore tumbled across the wood, glowing with spiritual light.

“This… this is raw Spirit Stone ore?” Wang Yanzhao stared, his breath hitching. He looked up at his son, eyes wide. “Where did you get this?”

“You recognized it. Of course it came from a mine,” Wang Hao replied.

“You found a Spirit Stone vein?” Wang Longyou stood up, his composure shattering.

He immediately cast a Soundproof Barrier around the three of them. Even though the hall was shielded, this secret was too dangerous to risk.

“Does anyone else know?” Wang Longyou demanded.

“Wenjiang, Wenzhu, and the team know,” Wang Hao replied. “And… the owners know. It belonged to the Tang family of Falling Phoenix Market.”

He explained the situation, detailing the discovery and the confrontation with Tang Qingfeng.

Wang Longyou frowned deeply. “You killed Tang Qingfeng. There’s no turning back now.”

“Tang Qingfeng was about to activate a talisman. I had no choice,” Wang Hao said. “Besides, having found a spirit stone mine, we could hardly give up the fight for it.”