Rise of the Wang Clan: Starting with a Portable Farm

Chapter 198: Annihilating the Tang Family

“Agreed. If we are going to do this, we do it thoroughly,” Wang Yanzhao declared, his voice hard. “We move immediately. Every member of the Tang family who knows about the mine must be silenced. If we delay, the Tang clan will notice the lack of communication from the mine and send investigators.”

The three leaders of the Wang Clan were not indecisive men. Once the course was set, they acted with ruthless efficiency.

Wang Yanzhao summoned Wang Yanzhi to guard the family estate. The Tang Clan was weak, so a small elite force would suffice. Wang Yanzhao assembled 30 mid-to-late stage Qi Refining cultivators.

The group flew to Ruojun Mountain to pick up Wang Wenyuan, then four Foundation Establishment cultivators and thirty mid- to late-stage Qi Refining clansmen headed for Middle Strip Ridge, the Tang family’s home.

Everyone had changed into nondescript black robes. Although the region had been peaceful for five years, chaos still lurked in the shadows. The Wang Clan would disguise themselves as Evil Cultivators for this operation.

In truth, their actions were indistinguishable from those of Evil Cultivators. But in the cultivation world, the line between righteous and evil was often drawn in blood, not morality.

Middle Strip Ridge.

A Cloud Mist Tea Tree grew on the highest peak of Middle Strip Ridge. It had reached high-grade second-tier, yet produced only two jin of tea a year. Each liang sold for five hundred spirit stones. Drinking it could clear a cultivator’s mind and temporarily improve comprehension; the Tang family always sold out.

To protect this treasure, the Tang Patriarch had built his cave dwelling right next to it, using the tea’s fragrance to aid his own cultivation.

The patriarch, Tang Changyi, had reached the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment. The family had been growing under his leadership until the war killed half its members and a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Tang clansmen had found a spirit stone mine on Rubble Slope in Falling Phoenix Valley. Mining cautiously for several years brought in five thousand stones annually. This income helped them withdraw during the war and return when the Qingyuan Sect won.

As their miners gained experience and their numbers grew, they expected ten thousand low-grade stones this year. In a few decades, the family could flourish again.

Rumble.

The mountain shook.

Inside his cave, Tang Changyi snapped his eyes open.

Before he could react, a second, more violent explosion tore through the silence.

BOOM!

Tang Changyi’s heart went cold. This wasn’t an accident. Someone was attacking the Grand Formation.

He flew out of his cave, hovering above the ridge.

The scene below was a nightmare. A massive breach had been blown in the clan’s defensive array. Through the smoke, dozens of masked cultivators in black robes poured in, slaughtering the Tang disciples at the foot of the mountain.

“Who dares invade my Tang Family!” Tang Changyi roared, his voice shaking with rage.

His answer was four lethal artifacts whistling through the air.

Tang Changyi’s face drained of color. Two of the artifacts radiated the aura of Tier 2 High-Grade items.

Four Foundation Establishment enemies?

His will to fight evaporated instantly. He summoned an orange defensive bracelet and immediately retreated, intent on fleeing.

Quack! Roar!

A giant black duck, ridden by a white tiger, intercepted his escape route.

Yaya and Xiaobai unleashed beams of spiritual energy, blocking his path. They weren’t strong enough to kill him, but they bought precious seconds.

Wang Hao and the other three elders closed the net, surrounding him completely.

“You dare kill my people?” Tang Changyi shouted, desperate to stall. “Aren’t you afraid of the Qingyuan Sect’s punishment?”

Wang Hao didn’t waste breath on words. His sword hummed with lethal intent.

Attacked by four cultivators and two beasts, Tang Changyi, despite being in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, was overwhelmed. He could only parry, not fight back.

As Tang Changyi struggled to defend himself, a beam from the Phantom Moon Butterfly struck him. Wang Hao killed him with one sword stroke.

The raid ended almost as quickly as it began. The Wang force was stronger and struck without warning. A self-destructing magic tool Lei Liheng had given Wang Hao had blown a hole through the Tang defensive array before it could do much.

After eliminating the Tang cultivators, the Wang clansmen searched the estate and took its valuables, making the attack look like a raid by rogue evil cultivators.

The Tang spirit mountain was good, but occupying it would reveal who destroyed the family. Wang Hao took seeds from the Cloud Mist Tea Tree and picked its leaves, leaving the mother tree on the summit.

“Let’s inspect the spirit stone mine,” Wang Yanzhao said after erasing the final traces.

He sent Wang Wenyuan and the clan members quietly home, then went with Wang Longyou and Wang Hao to Rubble Slope in Falling Phoenix Valley.

Wang Hao returned to the cavern where he had killed the Double-Tailed Scorpion and called over the three hunters guarding the mine. Once they reported that no one else had come, he activated the array left in place. The stone wall vanished, and a gap wide enough for one person opened in a curtain of light.

As they entered the mining tunnel, Wang Yanzhao and Wang Longyou were struck by the purity of its spiritual energy.

“Heavens…” Wang Longyou breathed, his eyes widening. “There must be a Tier 3 Spirit Vein down here!”

Wang Longyou found the energy slightly denser than even the summits of Wang Family Ridge and Ruojun Mountain. A second-tier vein could hardly account for it.

“Spirit veins beneath spirit stone mines tend to lie deep,” Wang Longyou continued. “They are difficult to develop. Better to let this one nourish the ore and increase the mine’s reserves.”

“The spirit stone mine is farther in. Follow me,” Wang Hao said, leading them deeper.

Seeing the colorful, raw Spirit Stone ore studding the walls, Wang Yanzhao and Wang Longyou were like children in a candy store. Even knowing it was theirs, the reality felt dreamlike.

They followed the tunnels to the cavern where the mortal miners were being held. The spiritual energy was denser there.

“There must be a third-tier spirit vein below us,” Wang Longyou said. “Even the core of a high-grade second-tier vein would be weaker. If only our family could openly hold this place.”

For now, the Wang family could mine only in secret. As a Foundation Establishment clan, it could not openly claim land near Falling Phoenix Market without the Qingyuan Sect and local families objecting.

The raw ore here, left behind by the Tangs, was larger and more plentiful. Wang Yanzhao hurried to the wall and raised a spirit weapon to break off a piece.

“Yanzhao, not so fast,” Wang Longyou stopped him. “Spirit stones are hard, but a blow from a spirit weapon could damage them.”

“Ah… right,” Wang Yanzhao laughed sheepishly, lowering his weapon. “I lost my head for a moment. To think all this belongs to us…”

Wang Longyou gathered spiritual energy in his hands and slowly pried a piece of raw ore from the wall.

“When I was a Qi Refining cultivator, I worked in one of the Qingyuan Sect’s spirit stone mines. They taught me how to extract ore there.”