Mortal: Fellow Daoist! May I borrow your essence for a moment?

A loud bang.

In a secluded valley, Han Paopao was dizzy, his face covered in soot, and he looked utterly disheveled.

He opened his mouth, and a plume of black smoke rose up.

But he was overjoyed: "Brother Li! I did it! I did it!"

"Um--!"

Li Feiyu nodded with satisfaction.

Although it was just the most primitive form of gunpowder, it was already quite an achievement that Han Li was able to create it.

He patted his younger brother on the shoulder:

"Now that we've succeeded, Brother Han, let's move on to another place."

"The eldest brother will find a way to produce the raw materials, as long as enough quantities are made."

"We'll send the Ye family's ancestor on his way."

"When that time comes, according to the old rules, after the death of the Ye family patriarch, his estate will be divided equally between you and me."

Han Li was overjoyed upon hearing this, but he couldn't hide his worry as he said:

"Brother, although it is true that as long as there is enough gunpowder, it is possible to injure a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"But how can you leave that Ye family patriarch there to be set on fire by us?"

"Brother, you don't need to worry about that. I have a brilliant plan."

Li Feiyu smiled slightly, leaving Han Li puzzled.

But when he thought about all his discoveries, the runner finally gritted his teeth and nodded.

Half a month later.

The Ye family patriarch sat upright in the main hall, listening coldly to the reports from the Seven Mysteries Sect members.

"Useless! They're all useless! After all this time, they still can't find two living people."

"My patience has now run out."

"Sect Leader of the Seven Mysteries Sect, commit suicide!"

He spoke in a sinister tone, his eyes filled with anger.

The Seven Mysteries Sect Leader was filled with grief and indignation upon hearing this, but there was nothing he could do.

"I have failed in my duties, and I should give the immortal an explanation."

"I only hope that after I die, the immortal will have mercy and spare my family and disciples."

Before he could finish speaking, the sect leader drew his sword, made a snap decision, and committed suicide on the spot.

"Sect Leader!" the Seven Mysteries Sect members cried out in grief.

But this only elicited a cold laugh from the Ye family patriarch:

"Hmph, a mere ant, yet it dares to bargain with me. How utterly presumptuous of it."

"Pass down the order: from this day forward, if Li Feiyu and Han Li are not found..."

"Throughout the Seven Mysteries Sect, from the elders down, leave no one alive!"

Faced with the terrifying Foundation Establishment cultivator, the members of the Seven Mysteries Sect, no matter how angry they were, could only swallow their anger and reluctantly accept their orders.

It's unclear whether the pressure from the Ye family patriarch had an effect, or if there were other reasons.

The next morning, a clue suddenly appeared.

This delighted him greatly, and he immediately took to the air, steering his small boat with murderous intent as he flew into the distance.

A few signs of human presence appeared in a secluded place that was rarely visited by people.

"It really is here!"

The Ye family patriarch was overjoyed, and his terrifying Foundation Establishment aura immediately spread.

His body crackled with lightning as he stood arrogantly atop the small boat.

A sound like thunder suddenly exploded.

"Li Feiyu! Han Li! Get out here right now!"

Hehehe, hehehe.

"It was that little brat who disturbed your grandfather's meditation!"

An old man, short in stature and thin in face, with the appearance of a mischievous old man.

He stroked his beard and chuckled as he strolled over.

Upon seeing the old man, the Ye family patriarch was dumbfounded, cold sweat pouring down his neck.

Because although the old man was pacing, he was pacing in the air!

Soaring through the air, this is actually a Core Formation True Monarch!

"Junior Qin Yeling Ye Zhi Qiu, I did not mean to offend you today. I hope you will forgive me and not take your anger out on me."

"Qinye Ridge?"

After pondering for a moment, the old man suddenly stuck out his cheek: "What kind of awful place is that? I've lived for almost nine hundred years."

"How come I've never heard of it?"

"What?!"

Ye Zhi Qiu trembled violently.

With a thud, his legs buckled and he knelt down.

The old man claimed to have lived for nine hundred years, but even a Core Formation True Monarch only has a lifespan of five hundred years.

Could he be the legendary Nascent Soul stage monster?!

"This junior is terrified and has offended you, senior. May I ask who this esteemed person is?"

"snort!"

"You, a mere Foundation Establishment stage ant, dare to ask my name?"

"Well, I'll tell you anyway since I'm not in a bad mood today."

"Yellow Maple Valley, Linghu."

Although there was no surge of spiritual energy emanating from the old man, there was still a trace of oppressive aura emanating from him.

But his words struck Ye Zhi Qiu like a bolt from the blue.

"So it's Elder Linghu from Yellow Maple Valley!"

He was terrified and hurriedly kowtowed.

Legend has it that there is a Supreme Elder in Huangfeng Valley named Linghu.

Although he is unruly, his cultivation is extraordinary, and he has already successfully formed his Nascent Soul.

The old man's appearance and demeanor were almost exactly the same as those in the rumors.

This must be Elder Linghu of Yellow Maple Valley.

Ye Zhi Qiu knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly until his forehead was almost bleeding.

He was only hoping that Elder Linghu would show mercy and let him off the hook.

"Alright, alright, alright!"

Just as the rumors said, this Old Ancestor Linghu was indeed extremely strange:

"Why are you, a child over a hundred years old, kowtowing so many times in front of this old man?"

"You're not my son, and you're not my grandson."

"Besides, if my son and grandson were like you, they'd be this old and still only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

"I'm going to die of anger."

"What the ancestor says is true. This junior is incompetent and dull-witted, and has simply offended the ancestor's eyes."

"He deserves to be beaten, he deserves to be beaten, he absolutely deserves to be beaten."

The Ye family patriarch was extremely obsequious and immediately raised his hand to slap his cheeks repeatedly.

Even when blood splattered everywhere, they dared not stop.

"Hey, hey, don't do that."

Linghu Patriarch spoke strangely: "That Ye family brat from Qinye Ridge, he disturbed my meditation today and was originally to be severely punished."

"But since you're still pleasing to the eye, I'll punish you a little."

"You will stand still for a month and are not allowed to move."

"Leave on your own after a month."

"Grandpa, I'm going to sleep now."

He stretched and yawned.

It departed step by step in the air.

The Ye family patriarch was overjoyed: "Respectfully seeing the patriarch off!"

He knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times and nine times.

He immediately stood still, afraid of displeasing Linghu Laozu.

Facing an old monster who had already reached the Nascent Soul stage.

He was barely clinging to life at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment, so how could he dare to act recklessly!

The Ye family patriarch was meticulous, standing ramrod straight, his body taut like a club.

They didn't even dare to breathe loudly, watching Linghu Patriarch leave into the distance.

But it was right under his feet.

The barrels of gunpowder were piled up like a small mountain.

Han Li, completely black, silently lit the fuse and then disappeared into the dug hole.

After a while.

A deafening roar!

Amidst the screams of the Ye family patriarch.

In the valley, a wave of air surged skyward, and a mushroom cloud slowly rose.

Within this mushroom cloud, the Ye family patriarch, whose cultivation had reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, was reduced to ashes!