Starting My Immortal Life by Upgrading Buildings

Chapter 102: Ji Yuan’s Strength

Based on familial ethics, the head of the Yue family, Yue Zhu, should be Wang Shan’s eldest uncle.

So, how is this different from seduction within the family?

Even though Ji Yuan had heard of many shocking stories in his previous life, this was the first time he encountered such a situation personally, making it hard not to be surprised.

Thinking about it, no wonder Wen Lin said his father was a weak-willed person.

To be able to watch his own wife become his elder uncle’s lover—such self-restraint is not something an average person possesses. From this perspective, he was also a ruthless character.

“Exactly.”

A mocking expression appeared on Wen Lin’s face. “Just a pair of adulterers. My mother’s death—Yue Zhu was involved. He tacitly allowed all of this to happen. Otherwise, that slut Wang Shan wouldn’t have dared to kill my mother.”

“Yue Zhu is the second person I want to kill.”

As Wen Lin spoke, he handed over the second scroll.

This time, Ji Yuan examined it more carefully, as Yue Zhu was not only the head of the Yue family but also a cultivator at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Currently, Ji Yuan’s cultivation was only at the ninth level of Qi Refining. A ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator facing an eighth-level one must go all out, without the slightest bit of underestimation.

This year’s selection for the Water Dragon Sect—Yue Zhu didn’t attend.

Therefore, he wasn’t sent to the front lines and was still residing within the Yue family. He likely wouldn’t attend next year’s selection either.

He was probably following the path of Old Blind Qin, staying behind in the Yunyu Marshlands.

After reading the scroll, Ji Yuan put it away and then looked up to ask, “Who is the last person?”

Wen Lin wanted Ji Yuan to kill three people in total, all in the late stages of Qi Refining.

So far, he had only provided information on two.

“As for the third person,”

Wen Lin shook his head. “He’s also from Lingshan Market but not a member of the Yue family. He’s a rogue cultivator named Zhou Qingfa. This year, he joined the Water Dragon Sect during the selection and was sent to the front lines.”

“If he dies on the front lines, that would be ideal.”

“If he survives and you happen to encounter him in the Water Dragon Sect in the future, it would be best if you could avenge me. If it’s inconvenient, that’s fine too.”

Ji Yuan pondered for a moment before slowly nodding. “Alright.”

Previously, he had already accepted Wen Lin’s favor of the incomplete Foundation Establishment Pill formula.

Moreover, the Yue family possessed the main ingredient for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill—a thousand-year-old Qinghui Grass.

Therefore, this task was worth undertaking. An eighth-level Qi Refining cultivator and a seventh-level one shouldn’t pose much of a problem.

The only issue was that Lingshan Market was a bit far, located in a corner of the Yunyu Marshlands.

Few fishermen ventured there, and most people made a living through other means, so it didn’t have much presence within the Yunyu Marshlands.

If he set out tonight, he should arrive by tomorrow morning and could potentially return by tomorrow night.

“Then I’ll go now. The sooner I leave, the sooner I return.”

Everything was already prepared, so there was no need to wait.

Traveling at night was also more discreet.

“Alright, thank you, Brother Ji,” Wen Lin quickly stood up to see him off.

“Mm.”

Ji Yuan left the house without further words. He summoned the Thunder Falcon Boat and, taking advantage of the night, silently ascended into the sky and departed.

After he left, Zhao Yuechan came out with Wen Ling’er, while Wen Lin stood at the doorway, not turning back for a long time.

“Husband, I told you that Brother Ji is not someone who breaks promises. Since he gave us his word, he will definitely avenge us.”

“Mm.”

Wen Lin took a deep breath before turning around.

“Brother Ji is reliable.”

After speaking, he squatted down, looked at the innocent Wen Ling’er in front of him, and softly said, “Ling’er, remember this: no matter what happens, your Uncle Ji is our family’s benefactor.”

Wen Ling’er nodded vigorously and then corrected him, “Not Uncle Ji, it’s Brother Ji!”

“Alright, alright, it’s Brother Ji.”

Wen Lin laughed.

Although Yue Zhu was over eighty years old, his body remained healthy due to his early years of physical cultivation.

That morning, he woke from his sleep and glanced at the still-beautiful woman beside him, feeling a bit distracted. However, his body showed no reaction.

Old age.

He was indeed getting old.

Just as he sat up, the beautiful woman also woke up. She opened her drowsy eyes and sat up.

“Eldest Uncle, let me help you dress.”

“Let Xiao Hong handle these trivial matters.”

Although Yue Zhu said this, he didn’t move, clearly waiting for the beautiful woman to serve him.

Outsiders were still outsiders; they couldn’t serve him as comfortably as an insider.

Not to mention, dressing often came with some additional pleasures.

“Eldest Uncle, is there any news from Xuanqing?”

As Wang Shan helped Yue Zhu dress, she softly asked.

Xuanqing, whose full name was Yue Xuanqing, was the Yue family’s third late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. He had joined the Water Dragon Sect during this year’s selection.

Initially, the Yue family celebrated together.

Having a disciple in the Water Dragon Sect was undoubtedly a great joy. But when news came that Yue Xuanqing was to be sent to the front lines to confront the Joyous Palace, the Yue family became worried.

“Not yet. The front lines aren’t a place where news comes easily.”

Yue Zhu said, turning to glance at the scantily clad beautiful woman. “Don’t worry, I still have a few years left to take care of you.”

Wang Shan’s pretty face turned pale, and she quickly said, “Eldest Uncle, what are you saying? In my opinion, you will definitely become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. By then, you might forget about me.”

Hearing this, Yue Zhu felt a bit warm inside.

For others in the Yunyu Marshlands, Foundation Establishment was an unattainable goal. But for Yue Zhu, it seemed within reach.

In fact, Yue Xuanqing’s decision to join the Water Dragon Sect this time was Yue Zhu’s idea.

The whole purpose was to inquire about matters related to Foundation Establishment.

Yue Zhu had even considered, at worst, exchanging the Millennium Green Calamus for a complete Foundation Establishment Pill formula. After that, he would exhaust the efforts of several generations to see if they could cultivate someone into the Foundation Establishment stage.

Once successful, the Yue family would be able to surpass all other markets in the Yunyu Marshlands.

But he hadn't expected that man's plans couldn't match up to the schemes of the Water Dragon Sect and ended up falling into such a trap.

“If I can reach Foundation Establishment, I’ll make you the Madam Yue of my Yue family,” Yue Zhu said, patting Wang Shan's delicate hand.

“Really?”

Wang Shan looked overjoyed.

Ignoring that Yue Zhu was only half-dressed, she immediately began tying up her hair.

But just then, a hoarse voice suddenly rang out from outside the door.

“Quite the romantic, Patriarch Yue.”

Yue Zhu's back suddenly turned cold, his hairs standing on end. Before he could act, four golden talismans had already broken through the roof and came crashing down.

“Boom—!”

A tremendous sound echoed.

Yue Zhu immediately summoned his magical weapon.

It was initially an embroidery needle, but it expanded with the wind.

By the time it stood upright on the ground, it had already transformed into an iron rod.

Then it continued to swell, growing into a giant iron pillar at a speed visible to the naked eye, blocking the four descending golden talismans.

The roof had long since been blown away.

The iron pillar magical weapon, under the siege of the four golden talismans, had become extremely unstable, seemingly unable to hold on much longer.

Seeing this, Wang Shan, pale-faced and in disheveled clothing, didn’t hesitate in the slightest. She immediately summoned a fiery red flying boat and tried to flee.

“Don’t—”

Before Yue Zhu could finish his sentence, a streak of azure light flashed past, and several water mirrors appeared one after another.

A tortoise shell suddenly appeared in Wang Shan’s hand.

But under the assault of that azure light, the tortoise shell was instantly sliced in half.

Just as Wang Shan tried to stick another talisman onto herself, the closest water mirror to her suddenly emitted a slender, water-blue beam.

The thin beam pierced through Wang Shan’s glabella in a flash.

Penetrating from front to back.

At that moment, her flying boat hadn’t even reached roof height before she had already turned into a corpse and fell.

Watching Wang Shan get killed so smoothly while the person behind the attack had yet to appear—Yue Zhu grew anxious. He quickly slapped three protective talismans onto himself, and a set of bronze armor appeared on his body.

Though he didn’t know who the attacker was, based on the current situation—

Their strength clearly surpassed his.

“I don’t know which Daoist friend you are—Yue has no grievances or enmity with you—”

Before Yue Zhu could finish, the same azure light that had killed Wang Shan rushed toward him again.

“Ah—!”

The flying sword scraped across his armor, immediately sending up a spray of sparks.

Holding onto the iron pillar, Yue Zhu didn’t dare move at all. He feared that if he moved, the golden talismans would strike down, and even if he didn’t die, he’d be severely injured.

“Damn you!”

With a slap of his hand, four high-grade talismans shot out in the four cardinal directions. For a moment, wind and sand surged.

The four walls of the house shattered in an instant.

“Earth technique, Earth Dragon Talismans.”

Ji Yuan was slightly surprised.

In Yunyu Marshlands, the majority were water-type cultivators. Earth cultivators were not unheard of, but they were rare.

Moreover, earth techniques had some restraining effects against water techniques. Given this, Ji Yuan raised his right hand and pointed forward.

He lightly tapped the air with a single finger, and a blue glow gathered at its tip.

In an instant, all the surrounding spiritual energy was drained, including one-sixth of the spiritual energy within Ji Yuan’s dantian.

A black water droplet the size of a millet grain appeared out of thin air.

“Go.”

With a thought, Ji Yuan sent the black droplet shooting forward, piercing straight through the Earth Dragon whirlwind and arriving at Yue Zhu’s side.

As the Hundred Fish Shield blocked the whirlwind, Ji Yuan tapped his foot and instantly left the courtyard.

“Boom—” A huge explosion erupted inside the courtyard, followed by a shockwave.

The surrounding walls were all blown apart.

Taking advantage of the Hundred Fish Shield to dodge the deadly attack, Ji Yuan, without a word, hurled several Thunderstrike Talismans.

In an instant, several bolts of purple lightning descended upon the ruins of the house.

With his flying sword clearing the path, Ji Yuan re-entered the courtyard.

As the purple lightning dissipated, he finally got a clear view of the situation inside.

The third layer of the Water Drop Technique, “Explosion Storage,” combined with four high-grade offensive talismans and a surprise attack—

There was no reason Yue Zhu could have survived.

His corpse, lying amidst the ruins, had been brutally sliced by the explosion-stored water blades beyond recognition.

It looked like there was no need to finish him off.

Still, Ji Yuan activated his flying sword, decapitated him, then stepped forward to collect his storage pouch, the iron rod magical weapon, and Wang Shan’s flying boat magical artifact as well.

The moment he picked up the storage pouch, Ji Yuan had already refined it.

With a flip of his right hand, a finely crafted jade box appeared in his palm.

As he opened the jade box, a strong fragrance wafted out before he could even examine it closely.

Inside lay a herb blooming with pink flowers—tiny blossoms, numbering a dozen or so.

The leaves were large—only four in total—but each was about two fingers wide.

The Millennium Green Calamus—it was almost certainly this.

Not daring to examine it further, Ji Yuan stored it away. Then he decapitated Wang Shan.

He packed both heads into separate wooden boxes, then incinerated the corpses with two Fireball Techniques, reducing them to ashes.

After settling everything, Ji Yuan summoned the Thunder Falcon Boat, turning into a streak of violet light that vanished into the clouds.

Though the killing created a great commotion, the entire process was incredibly fast.

It couldn’t have taken more than a minute for Ji Yuan to finish and leave.

Not a single word of nonsense was spoken.

Killing meant killing.

First threatening with words, then mocking, and only then slowly taking action—Ji Yuan wasn’t foolish enough for that.

As for whether killing in this Ling Mountain Market would bring retaliation from the Water Dragon Sect, Ji Yuan had already made preparations.

After disguising and altering his appearance, he went to the fish market of Ling Mountain Market.

Revealing a bit of his cultivation and addressing the Water Dragon Sect cultivators as “Daoist friend,” he then divulged the deep life-and-death feud he had with Yue Zhu.

On one hand was Ji Yuan, soon to become a fellow disciple.

On the other was the aging, declining Yue Zhu, with no hope of entering the Water Dragon Sect.

“Daoist friend, please handle it quickly. If it drags on, we won’t be able to explain.”

Of course, if anyone discovered it, the on-duty cultivator would certainly say it was purely out of goodwill toward a future sect-mate.

And had absolutely nothing to do with the two high-grade talismans Ji Yuan had given him.

This kind of trick—Ji Yuan had already figured it out.

Cultivation wasn’t just about fighting and killing—it was also about interpersonal dealings.

After all, that on-duty cultivator was officially a Water Dragon Sect disciple but was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining.

Ji Yuan, already at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, casually drawing two high-grade talismans, was enough to shake his will.

That same night—

Ji Yuan returned to Zengtou Market and delivered the heads of Yue Zhu and Wang Shan to Wen Lin.

Wen Lin and Zhao Yuechan wept tears of joy and prostrated themselves in deep gratitude.

With the matter resolved—

Ji Yuan once again rode the Thunder Falcon Boat and returned to Misty Island.