"How could this happen?!"
Li Ye's voice cracked in disbelief as he looked at Zhang Liangfu's sorrowful expression.
He had just emerged from seclusion, having successfully crafted the Sunfire Serpent Talisman, only to be met with news that instantly shattered his elated mood.
Zhang Liangfu had come to see him bearing only two pieces of news.
One - Cai Siwei had been spotted.
Two - Hu Zhiquan, one of the disciples who had discovered Cai Siwei's whereabouts and was returning home with his companions to visit his wife and child, had been killed by him.
Zhang Liangfu's expression was grim.
"It seems they noticed that bastard Cai was weak and badly injured. Some in the group got reckless and urged the others to charge in. According to the disciples who managed to escape, Brother Hu was among those who attacked..."
"The result was nearly a total massacre only one or two who hesitated early managed to escape."
"They said that bastard seems to have some method of draining blood essence… Not even complete corpses were left behind."
"Brother Hu still had a wife and child waiting for him at home… That monster deserves to die a thousand deaths!"
Li Ye listened silently.
In his storage pouch, the dual cultivation manual Hu Zhiquan had once gifted him still lay quietly.
He could still recall the man's proud smile as he spoke of his beloved wife and young son.
Hu Zhiquan had always been calm and steady never one to advocate for reckless action. He had even praised Li Ye's cautious ways more than once.
Yet it was this very man, upon spotting Cai Siwei, who had let his blood run hot and charged forward with the others.
Considering his age and inferior spiritual roots, Hu Zhiquan's path in cultivation was all but sealed.
Even if he had slain Cai Siwei, how much further could any reward have taken him?
... unless he was hoping to seize this one opportunity to pave the way for his son's future.
"Junior Brother Li, a few of us are planning to visit Brother Hu's home to pay our respects and offer some support to his widow and child. Will you…"
Zhang Liangfu hesitated as he spoke, casting a glance toward Li Ye.
He knew better than most how cautious Li Ye truly was.
In such troubled times, asking him to leave the sect might as well be asking the heavens to fall.
Sure enough, Li Ye shook his head without hesitation. "The current situation is far too unstable. The elders have already warned me against acting rashly I won't be going. Senior Brother Zhang, you shouldn't leave the sect either."
"Even with Brother Hu's passing, as long as his wife can keep a level head and has some family support, they shouldn't fall into hardship anytime soon… Visiting when things settle down will be far safer."
He wasn't going to let a new Tier-Two talisman inflate his ego.
Nor was he foolish enough to consider hunting down Cai Siwei in the name of vengeance for Hu Zhiquan.
That was Hu Zhiquan's choice his path. It had nothing to do with Li Ye.
Besides, Cai Siwei's reappearance would surely stir the situation into even greater chaos.
Heading toward the area where he'd been spotted was simply too dangerous now.
Zhang Liangfu's expression shifted again and again.
"But right now is when that widow and child need the most support…"
Even though he had already guessed what Li Ye would say, hearing the actual refusal still left a tinge of coldness in his heart.
But listening to Li Ye's words sincere and grounded he realized that they were not empty or selfish.
Between loyalty to a fallen friend and the preservation of one's own life, the answer was already hidden in his hesitation.
At that moment, he truly understood Li Ye and even felt a little foolish for feeling disappointed earlier.
"…Alright. Ever since I've known you, Junior Brother, your cautious decisions have never once proven wrong."
Gritting his teeth, Zhang Liangfu finally said, "Then I won't go either!"
"Good." Li Ye nodded, then pulled out a small wooden box from his storage pouch.
"We may not go, but if others insist on visiting, please ask them to deliver this for me… Consider it my small offering to Brother Hu's family."
There was nothing particularly valuable inside just a few talismans Li Ye had personally drawn.
At times like these, gifting precious items could bring only trouble and greed upon the mother and child.
But talismans could give them immediate power just enough to resist, should anyone ever try to take advantage of them.
"I understand."
Zhang Liangfu received the box with a solemn nod and then took his leave.
Li Ye stood silently, not returning inside right away.
He remained where he was, his gaze distant, watching the drifting clouds above for a long time without moving.
The images of his former self, his former self's father, and Hu Zhiquan all flashed through his mind.
And for a moment, he felt that cultivators weren't so different from ordinary people after all.
When one's own path came to an end, they would place their hopes on the next generation to one day reach the heights they could only dream of.
To fulfill the ambitions they could never achieve.
"…But rather than pinning my hopes on a future child I want to see that view of ascension and immortality with my own eyes."
After a long pause, Li Ye let out a soft sigh.
His eyes were now filled with only one thing resolve.
........
Ever since Cai Siwei's whereabouts were discovered, the Purple Profound Sect intensified their manhunt efforts once again.
Nearby factions, sensing the danger, also sprang into action as if facing a great enemy, launching large-scale, carpet-style searches.
It didn't take much effort before Cai Siwei who had been quietly recovering from his injuries was located.
However, his combat power turned out to be far greater than anticipated. Not only did he successfully break through the encirclement, but he also managed to seize the opportunity to drain the blood essence of several cultivators before escaping once more.
The Purple Profound Sect, along with the factions that suffered losses during the siege, were enraged and began a relentless pursuit.
But just then, a sudden change occurred an unfamiliar force, clearly lying in ambush, launched a surprise attack on the Purple Profound Sect's pursuing party, catching them completely off guard.
In this ambush, two Foundation Establishment elders from the Purple Profound Sect were slain, and their elite Qi Refining disciples suffered significant casualties.
Other forces that had joined the chase whether to curry favor with the Purple Profound Sect or simply to vent their anger also sustained losses, with some Foundation Establishment cultivators wounded or killed, and countless Qi Refining disciples in the less organized factions either dead or severely injured.
Nearly every faction involved in the pursuit from the surrounding regions suffered a devastating blow.
And on that very same day
At the border between the Huan and Yue Kingdoms, a massive force of cultivators led by Feiyu Sect a Golden Core sect from Yue suddenly emerged and charged into Huan territory like a sharpened arrow.
In nearly a single night, the Yue Kingdom seized almost half of the Huan Kingdom's land.
Caught completely off guard, the various forces within the Huan Kingdom crumbled under the combined assault.
Only faction strongholds and marketplace outposts protected by defensive formations managed to hold out for a while longer. The rest of the cultivators struck like helpless prey, fled in panic deeper into the kingdom, toward the Purple Profound Sect's mountain stronghold.
The tide of fleeing cultivators grew into a full-blown wave of escapees.
Fortunately, the chaos didn't last too long.
Thanks to the Purple Profound Sect's deep roots in the Huan Kingdom, even while their forces had been stretched thin and caught off guard, they still managed to respond swiftly.
Reinforcements were dispatched at once, and using various marketplaces as strategic nodes, they established a defensive formation that successfully halted the enemy's advance and even reclaimed a portion of the lost territory.
But now that war had broken out, it would not be so easily ended.
The Yue Kingdom's Feiyu Sect had come prepared. They quickly adapted to the Purple Profound Sect's counterattack and withstood the first wave, turning their conquered regions into forward bases and pushing forward steadily.
More intense clashes erupted, with both sides locked in a tug-of-war over key resource points.
The situation spiraled into chaos.
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 75+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader