From the family treasure tree to build an eternal family

Chapter 237 Accountability
On Mount Ru'an, all the Qi Refining members of the Chu family were summoned.

The battle just now was a swift and subtle one, and they were unaware that their two Foundation Establishment cultivators had perished.

Before them stood an unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The crowd whispered and murmured among themselves.

A clansman at the late stage of Qi Refining stepped forward respectfully: "Greetings, senior. May I ask what has happened to my clansman?"

The presence of a strange Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet the absence of Chu Shuyue and Chu Luo, is highly unusual.

Tuoba Hongyang looked at the nearly eight hundred Qi Refining cultivators in front of him, pondering how to explain.

As the head of the Demon Subduing Division of Yuanli County, he coveted the "spirit-bearing body" of the Chu family, but he did not want to cause too much bloodshed.

The deaths of Chu Shuyue and Chu Luo were based on evidence, since they killed Cheng Xingao, a celestial official of the imperial court.

Just as Tuoba Hongyang was pondering how to begin, a powerful aura descended from the sky.

"Wow--"

A chilling wind blew, strong enough to devour souls and rot bones.

The Qi Refining members of the Chu family suddenly turned pale with fear and began to wail in pain.

"Ah~~"

A vibrant Qi Refining cultivator collapsed into a deathly pale corpse within moments.

One by one, souls were ripped from their bodies, torn apart, and swept into the sky.

Cultivators in the early and middle stages of Qi Refining cannot sustain this for more than a few breaths before their souls are sucked away.

Cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining have slightly stronger souls and can hold out for a few more breaths. The souls that are absorbed are relatively intact and can even emit a sound like a ghost's lament in the air.

In just a few moments, corpses lay scattered all over the ground.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Tuoba Yaowu descended from the sky, ignoring the corpses scattered all over the ground.

He only felt that the souls of these Qi Refining cultivators tasted good, and could slightly improve his cultivation level.

"Master Yaowu, this..."

Tuoba Hongyang hadn't expected his family's Golden Core cultivator to be so swift and decisive, annihilating hundreds of Qi Refining cultivators in the blink of an eye. This was almost all of the Qi Refining members of the Chu family; from this point on, the Chu family could no longer be considered a cultivation family.

The Chu family, who built their foundation on Mount Ruan, is gone.

Tuoba Yaowu acted swiftly, but the trouble that followed would have to be dealt with by Tuoba Hongyang. Whether in Zhennan Prefecture or Yuanli County, the Tuoba family wasn't a powerful clan that could control everything; how could they so easily slaughter another family?
"A mere Foundation Establishment family, not worth mentioning. I spared their entire mortal clan, which shows my mercy."

You haven't been in Jiurong City for years, so you don't know how lacking in resources your clan is. Now that you have this opportunity, try to acquire more resources for the clan.

As Tuoba Yaowu spoke, he pointed to the corpses strewn all over the ground and said, "Let's get started. Collect all their storage pouches for me."

Previously, the storage pouches of Chu Shuyue, Chu Luo, and others had already been collected by Tuoba Yaowu.

And so, Tuoba Yaowu and Tuoba Hongyang cleaned up the battlefield and put away all their storage bags.

"There are still a few precious medicinal herb fields on Mount Ru'an. I'll go and collect them. You can hand over the rest to the county government as a way of giving them an account."

Tuoba Yaowu said in an unquestionable manner.

Those medicinal herb fields contain second-tier spiritual plants, which are relatively precious resources for cultivating immortality.

"Master Yaowu, what about the spirit-infusing body?"

Their target was the Spirit Embryo Body; robbing the Chu family was merely a side effect. The Chu family's resources were far inferior to those of a member of the Earth Spirit Root clan.

"The Chu family, who know that person best, has searched for a long time but haven't found him. Continuing the search would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, with little hope. However, we still need to find him. Send people to continue the search in secret."

There's another way, just do as I say..."

As Tuoba Yaowu spoke, he used his true essence to transmit his voice into Tuoba Hongyang's ears.

"Yes, I will obey Master Yaowu's orders."

Tuoba Hongyang responded.

"There's one more thing. The selection of celestial officials is imminent. Does your Yuanli County have any people with earth spirit roots?"

Tuoba Yaowu inquired.

This had nothing to do with him; he was just curious.

"Yes. I know of one so far, a member of the Fan family, who is my deputy director. He is a sixteen-year-old with the spiritual roots of water, fire, and earth."

The news about Fan Tianlin's water, fire, and earth spiritual roots has recently spread throughout the cultivation families of Yuanli County.

"Water, fire, and earth elemental roots? Ha, those people got lucky."

Tuoba Yaowu glanced sideways at the direction of the prefectural city and curled his lip.

"If you capture that spirit-bearing body, inform me immediately."

After saying that, he left Ru'an Mountain with a large amount of resources he had collected from the Chu family and flew towards Jiurong City.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Tuoba Hongyang looked around. The Ru'an Mountain was littered with the corpses of Qi Refining cultivators and the chaotic fields of spiritual herbs, all of which required his attention.

Right now, he has another thing to do.

The outer perimeter of Mount Ru'an is where the ordinary people of the Chu family live.

Several prison cells held Du Wanyun's family members, more than a dozen people.

Her elderly grandfather, her parents, her eldest brother's widow and children, and her second brother's entire family are all imprisoned here.

This prison was originally intended to punish those mortals of the Chu family who violated clan rules; now it is used to imprison them.

The Chu family specially assigned several innate martial artists to guard them here.

Tuoba Hongyang descended from the sky and appeared next to the prison.

"Who?"

The innate martial artist in charge of guarding the area asked a question upon seeing that the visitor was unfamiliar.

"Ok?"

Tuoba Hongyang's mere cold gaze was enough to freeze the Innate Martial Artist in place, as if plunged into an ice cave. The pressure of a Perfected Foundation Establishment cultivator was not something an ordinary Innate Martial Artist could withstand.

"Bring all the members of the Du family out."

"Yes, sir."

After a while, a dozen or so ordinary people, young and old, men and women, were led out of the prison, looking at Tuoba Hongyang with surprise and fear.

Tuoba Hongyang suppressed his aura and revealed a calm expression: "Are you all Du Wanyun's family?"

"Yes…"

The crowd responded with nods and murmurs.

An elderly man in his fifties stepped forward: "Sir, I am Du Wanyun's father. You must have misunderstood something. My daughter has been kind since she was a child and would never do anything bad."

Tuoba Hongyang nodded: "I know, the matter has been investigated and cleared up. It was the Chu family who slandered Du Wanyun; she did not commit any crime. Now the Chu family has received the punishment they deserve, and you can go home."

what?
This?
The Du family members looked at each other in bewilderment. What was the status of the Chu family, and had they received the punishment they deserved?
Who exactly is this important figure standing before us?
They were puzzled but dared not ask. Du Wanyun's grandfather, who was seventy years old, knelt down with a thud and kowtowed, saying, "Thank you, Your Excellency, for upholding justice for the people! Thank you, Your Excellency!"

The others quickly followed him, kneeling down and kowtowing.

Tuoba Hongyang used his spiritual power to help everyone up: "No need to thank me. Your Du Wanyun escaped unharmed, so you don't need to worry. Go back now."

After speaking, he soared into the sky, ignoring the Du family. Releasing Du Wanyun's family was Tuoba Yaowu's order.

On the surface, Tuoba Hongyang let them go, but secretly he would send people to keep an eye on them. As long as Du Wanyun had a good relationship with her family, she would definitely come back to visit, and that would be the time for him to capture Du Wanyun.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Two days later.

A large number of servants under the Demon Subduing Division arrived at Ru'an Mountain and began collecting the spiritual plant resources left behind by the Chu family.

As for the ordinary members of the Chu family, they were driven away from Ru'an Mountain to find another way to make a living.

Without cultivation families, even tens of thousands of ordinary people are not worthy of occupying sacred mountains and spiritual lands.

The ordinary members of the Chu family received the following statement: Chu Shuyue, the head of the Chu family, together with Chu Luo, murdered the immortal officials of the Demon Subduing Division. When the director of the Demon Subduing Division came to investigate, they led the family members in a violent resistance, which was suppressed and wiped out!
Those ordinary tribesmen had no right to question them; they were driven away after receiving this "explanation."

That night, some members of the Chu family who were practicing Qi cultivation were not on Ru'an Mountain. Tuoba Hongyang secretly sent men to "eliminate" them all while they were away, unaware of what was happening.

Of course, there will inevitably be a few who slip through the net, but that won't affect the overall situation.

Tuoba Hongyang personally oversaw the operation: "Be quick and efficient, and don't make any underhanded moves! Collect all the spiritual plants and herbs."

These servants of the Demon Subduing Division were all without official rank or title, and their cultivation levels were all below the late stage of Qi Refining. There were about five hundred of them.

Since they are not yet at the late stage of Qi Refining and cannot use storage pouches, they don't need to worry about anyone secretly hiding spiritual plants.

Just then, more than a dozen magnificent auras flew in from the horizon, attracting the curious gazes of the demon-subduing officers.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

Tuoba Hongyang gave a stern rebuke, then ignored his heavy duty of working and went to meet the group of people who were flying towards him.

The leader was Nie Tingjun, the prefect of Yuanli County.

Beside Nie Tingjun were Fan Kongye, deputy director of the Demon Subduing Division, and Jin Kuiyuan, as well as Xing Wuming, general of the county camp, and the supervisors of the Forestry Bureau and the Water Conservancy Bureau, all powerful figures in Yuanli County.

"Your Excellency, Prefect!"

Tuoba Hongyang shouted loudly and stepped forward, his attitude respectful.

Nie Tingjun hovered in the air, followed by a group of late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators. His expression was icy as he glanced down at Mount Ru'an.

"Tuoba Hongyang, how dare you!"

He didn't even address him as "Chief Tuoba," but called him by his full name.

“Your Excellency, where does your anger come from? Although I am your subordinate, I am not someone you can vent your anger on.”

Tuoba Hongyang pretended to be stupid.

"Hmph! The Chu family of Ru'an Mountain, a perfectly good Foundation Establishment Immortal Clan, was wiped out by you without a sound? What do you take the prefectural government for? What do you take the imperial laws for?"

Nie Tingjun was genuinely angry, and at the same time shocked by Tuoba Hongyang's audacity.

Back when they dealt with the Xue family of Yunze Mountain, the Xue family's evil deeds were undeniable and extremely harmful. Even so, it took Nie Tingjun and the bigwigs several discussions before finally ordering the Xue family to be eliminated.

Moreover, it was the joint action of the Demon Subduing Division and the county garrison troops, which was in accordance with the rules.

This time, Nie Tingjun didn't even know what the Chu family had done wrong before he learned that all the members of the Chu family's immortal cultivation clan were dead and that the resources on Mount Ru'an had been confiscated by Tuoba Hongyang's orders.

The Tuoba family was a Golden Core family, far more powerful than the Chu family. But if a powerful family could so ruthlessly annihilate another family, the Great Qian Dynasty would have been in chaos long ago, with no rules or laws to speak of.

Tuoba Hongyang knew he would be questioned like this, so he prepared his response in advance: "Your Excellency, the head of the Chu family, Chu Shuyue, and her husband, Chu Luo, murdered my subordinate, the immortal official Cheng Xingao."

I came to Ru'an Mountain to investigate this matter, but I did not expect the two to suddenly attack me, gathering the Chu family members with the intention of killing me. That's why I wiped them out.

You can ask Vice President Jin; I asked him beforehand about the Chu family and Cheng Xingao.

Nie Tingjun turned his gaze to Jin Kuiyuan behind him.

Jin Kuiyuan looked embarrassed. He knew that Tuoba Hongyang was investigating the Chu family, but he knew nothing about the Spirit-Born Body or why Cheng Xingao died. He also didn't know why Tuoba Hongyang had wiped out all the Chu family cultivators overnight.

Tuoba Hongyang is dragging him into this mess, which is harming him.

"Your Excellency, this matter originated from the arrest warrant issued by the Chu family. Cheng Xingao was involved because of the warrant and subsequently died without cause. I know nothing about the ins and outs or the reasons behind it."

As Jin Kuiyuan explained, he secretly glanced at Tuoba Hongyang.

Caught between his superior and the prefect, he decisively chose to "mind his own business" and not get involved in Tuoba Hongyang's affairs.

This matter is too serious; he cannot bear the responsibility.

"Director Tuoba, are you saying that Chu Shuyue, who is at the fifth level of Foundation Establishment, and Chu Luo, who is at the second level of Foundation Establishment, joined forces with a group of Qi Refining cultivators to try to kill you, the Director of the Demon Subduing Division, who is at the peak of Foundation Establishment?"
Do you think this is believable?

Furthermore, this concerns the death of a celestial official. Instead of sending someone to investigate thoroughly, or bringing the Demon-Subduing Guards or the Deputy Director, you, as the Director, insisted on wiping out an entire clan by yourself?

Nie Tingjun bombarded him with questions.

Tuoba Hongyang's explanation is simply unbelievable.

He knew in fact that his rhetoric was full of loopholes and illogical. But he had no better options.

The existence of a spirit-bearing body cannot be spoken of; it is a secret of their Tuoba family.

He also couldn't mention Tuoba Yaowu. Shifting the blame onto his own Golden Core cultivator was pointless and would only make things more complicated.

“Your Excellency, it is indeed the case, whether you believe it or not.”

Tuoba Hongyang said, forcing himself to speak, with an attitude of "believe it or not."

It has a kind of local rogue attitude of "a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water".

In Yuanli County, Tuoba Hongyang was indeed Nie Tingjun's subordinate, but was he afraid?

I'm not that scared.

In terms of cultivation, over the past few decades, Tuoba Hongyang has finally progressed from the ninth level of Foundation Establishment to the peak of Foundation Establishment, just like Nie Tingjun, which has given him some confidence.

In a contest of magic, Tuoba Hongyang would be no match for Nie Tingjun; he was well aware of his own limitations.

However, because of the Chu family's affairs, Nie Tingjun wouldn't go so far as to openly confront Tuoba Hongyang; at most, he would file a complaint with the Zhennan Prefecture government.

A prefectural governor cannot appoint or dismiss a position of the rank of Director of the Demon Subduing Division.

"Alright, Tuoba Hongyang, let's see how the government deals with you!"

After saying that, Nie Tingjun turned around and flew away in anger.

As for the others, they looked at Tuoba Hongyang with complicated expressions before following Nie Tingjun away.

As Fan Kongye and Jin Kuiyuan were about to leave, Tuoba Hongyang stopped them: "Vice President Fan, Vice President Jin, you two stay."

The two men appeared very uncomfortable in front of Tuoba Hongyang.

The Chu family's affairs caused Tuoba Hongyang's prestige among the officials of Yuanli County to plummet to its lowest point.

He committed such an act of genocide, and no one will respect him.

"The resources of Ru'an Mountain must be handed over to the county government's treasury. Send a few Demon-Subduing Guards over here."

After saying this, Tuoba Hongyang left.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Since the matter had reached the prefectural city, they would still have to consider the reputation of the Tuoba family.

Ultimately, it all comes down to the Tuoba family's status in Zhennan Prefecture.

He valued his position as the head of the Demon Subduing Division highly. It was not only an official position for him to acquire resources, but also the "eyes and ears" or "henchmen" of the Tuoba family in Yuanli County.

Without him, the Tuoba family would not have known about the Xu family of Baihe Mountain, nor would they have known that the Chu family possessed a spirit-bearing body.

(End of this chapter)