Cultivation Begins From The Desert

Chen Fangli assassinated a cultivator from the Zhou Family. Whether it was to vent personal grievances or to help the Chen Family attack the Zhou Family, this wasn't the main point for Zhouyang.

As the Zhou Family Patriarch and a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator of the Zhou Family, he had the responsibility to protect the weaker members of his clan.

A Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator from the Zhou Family met an unjust death at the hands of Chen Fangli. For this reason alone, it was enough for him to kill Chen Fangli to avenge the deceased Zhou Yuanjing.

However, before killing him, he had to do one more thing, force Chen Fangli to confess.

He saw Zhouyang reach out and tap his storage bag, pulling out two Memory Pearl magical artifacts, which he hid after activating, and then used a "Soul Calming Technique" on the unconscious Chen Fangli. This helped him barely calm his chaotic mind, allowing him to wake up a bit faster.

After waiting for about half an hour, Chen Fangli on the ground finally moved his eyelids and regained consciousness.

"Pain! Such pain!"

Chen Fangli opened his eyes, the first thing he did was weakly cry out in pain.

Zhouyang's "Godslaying Needle" had caused him immense harm, something a simple "Soul Calming Technique" couldn't heal.

Although he was awake now, he couldn't use his divine sense at all. At this moment, even a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator could easily kill him.

Nevertheless, he was still a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator. After shouting in pain twice, he gritted his teeth and turned his eyes to observe his surroundings, seeing Zhouyang coldly watching him.

At the sight of Zhouyang's cold eyes, he shivered inside and couldn't help but cry out, "It really is you!"

"Elder Chen was always a senior I respected, but this time I am deeply disappointed. I never thought that an honorable Purple Mansion Stage cultivator would command his clan's Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators to assassinate a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator from the Zhou Family. How is this different from what the sand bandits do?"

Zhouyang's expression was cold as he watched Chen Fangli, but his words made Chen Fangli's face suddenly change dramatically.

He gazed at Zhouyang with a gloomy expression and yelled angrily, "Presumptuous! How dare you slander my family's ancestor? Does it take orders from the ancestor to kill a few Qi Cultivation juniors from the Zhou Family? I, Chen, would... just kill them..."

"Just kill them, right?"

Zhouyang listened to Chen Fangli falter at his words, and completed his unfinished sentence with a cold laugh. Then he nodded lightly, saying, "In that case, killing you is the same for me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Fangli's face turned pale, his whole demeanor filled with dread as he shrieked, "No! You dare not kill me! If you kill me, it will mean open war with my Chen Family! If you dare kill me, the ancestor will surely attack your Zhou Family personally, burying every member of your clan with me!"

Unfortunately, his words didn't sway Zhouyang's determination to kill him.

With a flash of sword light, Chen Fangli's head parted from his body, and a Foundation Establishment Fourth-Layer cultivator quietly died on this nameless patch of sandy ground.

Kill, search the body, burn the body!

Zhouyang was much more adept at these tasks than Chen Fangli.

After destroying the evidence, he summoned a "Gale Technique," quickly covering the shallow traces on the ground with yellow sand.

This was the same way Chen Fangli dealt with Zhou Yuanjing after killing him, and now Zhouyang used the same method in return.

Let it be said that justice is served, and retribution is inevitable!

Simultaneously, as Chen Fangli's head separated from his body, the Soul Token belonging to him in the "Soul Hall" of the Chen Family's ancestral shrine made a cracking sound, breaking into several pieces.

The noise alerted the Chen Family's Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator standing guard outside, and soon the news reached the ears of the two true authorities in the Chen Family.

At this moment, the Chen Family Ancestor had just used the power of elixirs to break through to the Ninth Layer of the Purple Mansion and was stabilizing his cultivation in his own cave dwelling.

Upon receiving a report from the people below, he immediately summoned Chen Ping'an, who was in charge of the family in his stead, to his cave dwelling to inquire: "Ping'an, during the time I was in seclusion, you managed the family matters. Do you know why Fangli suddenly fell outside?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping'an pondered for a moment before slowly answering, "That year, Fangli caused trouble at the Zhou Family's Foundation Establishment celebration. You confined him on White Camel Peak for twenty years. When his confinement ended a few years ago, because you were in seclusion, he asked me for permission to travel and relax outside."

"But I knew well enough he never left the Baisha River Oasis Cultivation Realm!"

"Recently, a Qi Cultivation Stage Elder from the Zhou Family suddenly went missing on the road from the Yuquan Lake Oasis to Baisha River Oasis. Despite three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators from the Zhou Family searching along the route for a month, they had no idea where he died. At the time, I suspected it was Fangli's doing!"

"Now it seems that my suspicions were correct. His recent fall outside is most likely because he didn't know when to stop and fell into someone else's trap!"

Zhouyang could guess Zhou Yuanjing was killed by Chen Fangli, even more so for Chen Ping'an, who knew Chen Fangli's whereabouts.

However, even Chen Ping'an couldn't have anticipated that Chen Fangli would fall so easily, unable even to send a flying sword communication for help to himself.

If Chen Fangli had sent him a communication flying sword, with his speed, even if he couldn't save him in time, he definitely could have tracked down the killer based on the scene's traces.

When the time comes, no matter what reason the murderer might have, he can kill or capture them before asking more questions.

But now Chen Fangli's Soul Token has shattered, and he doesn't even know where he died, so how can he catch the murderer?

Even if he's already guessed the identity of the murderer in his heart!

"Was it that brat from the Zhou Family again!"

The Chen Family Ancestor's face immediately darkened upon hearing Chen Ping'an's words, and a trace of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

He had once appreciated Zhouyang greatly, but now he dreaded Zhouyang just as much.

The cultivation talent Zhouyang exhibited, the ambiguous relationship between Zhouyang and Cao Wenjin—these were the reasons for his dread.

Originally, a "Qianyang Treasure Body" just demonstrated Zhouyang's strong magical combat ability, but now Zhouyang's displayed cultivation talent is stronger than some cultivators with Upper-Grade Spiritual Roots. How could this not cause the Chen Family Ancestor to feel a thrill of fear?

A Zhouyang like this, if he successfully opens the Purple Mansion, who in the Chen Family will be able to oppose him after he ascends?

"This child cannot be allowed to remain!"

He looked at Chen Ping'an with a fierce gaze, his heart filled with murderous intent.

Chen Ping'an's heart skipped a beat upon hearing these murderous words from the Chen Family Ancestor, and he couldn't help but speak, "It's not hard to kill him, what's difficult is deciding on what grounds we kill him? We still don't know the exact nature of Elder Cao Wenjin's relationship with him; if we kill him and wipe out the Zhou Family without a legitimate reason, what will we do if Elder Cao seeks justice afterwards?"

The Chen Family Ancestor's eyebrows twitched upon hearing this, and he looked deeply at him and said, "Ping'an, you seem to disagree with my intention to kill the Zhou family brat?"

"I always believe a clan should rely not on killing off external talents threatening the clan but rather on cultivating and nurturing outstanding talents within our own clan in order to remain strong over time!"

"Talents cannot be killed off completely! Today we may kill Zhouyang and destroy the Zhou Family; later, if Yang Xingyan from the Yang Family successfully opens his Purple Mansion, should we also kill him?"

"In the future, if any other family produces a disciple with potential to open a Purple Mansion, shall we keep killing until they are all gone?"

"More importantly, have you considered Elder Cao of the Yellow Sand Sect? Our Chen Family fears the Zhou Family's potential rise might threaten us, but wouldn't Elder Cao similarly worry about threats to the Yellow Sand Sect's position once he ascends?"

"If Elder Cao realizes our Chen Family eliminated Zhouyang and devastated the Zhou Family for these reasons, do you think he might seize the opportunity to use similar methods to wipe out our Chen Family before he ascends?"

Chen Ping'an looked at the Chen Family Ancestor with a calm gaze, unreservedly expressing his innermost thoughts.

These were his thoughts, and how he had acted on them.

At least in the years that the Chen Family Ancestor was closed off in cultivation, the Chen Family under his management had not made any moves against the Zhou Family.

Moreover, he did not fear the Chen Family Ancestor's anger over this, for he had not done anything detrimental to the interests of the Chen Family nor disobeyed any of the Chen Family Ancestor's commands.

If the Chen Family Ancestor now instructed him to kill Zhouyang and destroy the Zhou Family, he would undoubtedly take up the sword and ascend to Jade Spring Peak without delay to faithfully execute the Chen Family Ancestor's orders.

But he would not, in his heart, think that taking such action was right.

As a member of the Chen Family, even if the task is wrong, as long as the clan leader orders it, he would do it because that is his responsibility.

The Chen Family Ancestor understood this as well, so when he questioned Chen Ping'an earlier, his words didn't carry any sense of anger.

Cultivators who have reached the Purple Mansion Stage possess their own independent will and thoughts, even if in the presence of Golden Core Stage cultivators, they cannot impose their own will and thoughts on them and force them to accept their words.

If a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator cannot even manage this, then they definitely have no possibility of forming a Golden Core in the future, none whatsoever!

However, Chen Ping'an's words now caused the Chen Family Ancestor's face to immediately change color.

He looked at Chen Ping'an with anger written all over his face and exclaimed furiously, "Foolish!"

"How do you think our Chen Family became a Purple Mansion Clan? Back then, the Zhang Family who occupied White Camel Peak was also a Purple Mansion Clan. When their Purple Mansion Cultivator was alive, no other clans' Foundation Establishment cultivators dared to ascend to the Ninth Layer of Foundation Establishment stage, and I had to flee far away to avoid his deadly hand, unable to return to my clan for decades!"

"Later, I successfully opened my Purple Mansion, but the Zhang Family's Purple Mansion Cultivator ascended; only then, under my leadership, did our Chen Family unite with families like the Liu Family and Yang Family to overthrow the Zhang Family, and only then did White Camel Peak belong to our Chen Family!"

"If we follow your words, do you think you alone can stand against Zhouyang, who possesses a Qianyang Treasure Body and successfully opens his Purple Mansion, after I ascend?"

"If you cannot stand against him, will White Camel Peak still belong to our Chen Family?"

The roar of the Chen Family Ancestor echoed through the entire cave dwelling.

If it weren't for the cave dwelling's array isolating the sound, half of White Camel Peak could likely hear his furious roar now.