Starting as a cowherd, he sought a way to cultivate immortality.

After evacuating Cloud Mist Valley, the Zhou family cultivators flew to their home base, Greenwood Peak, on a spirit boat.

Zhou Hanchuan's face was gloomy. He, Zhou Wuhui, and Zhou Qiudao followed at the back of the group to ensure that the Zhou family members would not be ambushed by the Zhao family.

Suddenly, the communication jade pendant at his waist shone brightly, and Zhou Hanchuan's pupils dilated sharply, realizing something was wrong.

Something happened to Aoki Mine!

"Walk!"

Zhou Hanchuan could no longer worry about covering the rear for his clansmen and flew towards Qingmu Peak at top speed.

Zhou Qiudao and Zhou Wuhui were also extremely anxious, following behind Zhou Hanchuan.

After a short while, the three returned to the sky above Qingmu Peak and saw that Zhou Qiude had arrived earlier than them and was staring blankly at Qingmu Peak below.

The formation of Qingmu Peak was broken, and the family's scripture pavilion and magic weapon storehouse were looted.

The Zhou family members who remained at Qingmu Peak were all killed, their shriveled corpses scattered on the ground.

Upon witnessing the scene below, Zhou Hanchuan swayed, nearly losing his composure and falling from the sky.

Zhou Qiudao roared and unleashed a dazzling spiritual blade that flattened the top of Qingmu Peak.

"Calm down, Qiu Dao." Zhou Qiu De's tone was cold, but anyone could see the anger on his face.

"Finding the enemy who invaded my Zhou family and avenging the dead clansmen is what you should do."

After saying that, Zhou Qiude flew down to Qingmu Peak.

Looking at the withered corpses, Zhou Qiude's expression gradually became solemn.

"After they died, their blood and vital energy were drained."

This was most likely the work of demonic cultivators.

"Demonic cultivators?" Zhou Wu Hui, who had regained his senses, frowned.

"When did such a powerful demonic cultivator appear in Donglin, daring to launch a sneak attack on our Zhou family?"

"Investigate!" Zhou Hanchuan clenched his fists, wishing he could slap himself twice.

Tonight was supposed to be a good day to eliminate the Zhao family and expand the Zhou family's power.

But now, the Zhao family has not been destroyed, while the Zhou family's stronghold has been slaughtered by mysterious demonic cultivators.

As the head of the Zhou family, he cannot escape blame.

Thinking about facing the Zhou family members who would return to Qingmu Peak later, Zhou Hanchuan gritted his teeth and said:

"No matter what means we use, once we catch them, we'll tear them to pieces!"

……

Meanwhile, back in Cloud Mist Valley, Zhao Hongyue listened to Zhao Jingming recount the Zhou family's attack.

Zhao Hongyue's face was still somewhat pale, clearly indicating that she had not fully recovered from the injury caused by Zhou Qiude's withered and flourishing finger.

"After I dealt with Wu Changkong, I immediately sent people to Cloud Mist Valley to warn you to be careful of people closely associated with Wu Changkong, but it was too late." A flash of frustration crossed Zhao Hongyue's eyes.

If she had known this would happen, she should have rushed back to Cloud Mist Valley immediately; perhaps she could have stopped Zhao Xia in time.

Zhao Jingming comforted him:

"At this point, there's no use thinking about it anymore; the key is to clean up the mess right now."

Zhao Hongyue glanced at the Zhao family members who were cleaning up the corpses in Cloud Mist Valley and slowly nodded.

"The Zhao family members who fought alongside me for the spirit mines on the border, I had already instructed them to return to Cloud Mist Valley before I arrived."

Given the current situation, the spirit mine has no choice but to be handed over to the Zhou family.

"Hongyue, you did the right thing," Zhao Jingming said in a deep voice.

"Our Zhao family will need to bide our time for a while."

……

Inside the Hall of Enforcement, Zhao Qingyun stood with his sword at his side, the ground beneath his feet stained with blood.

Zhou Rui's body lay not far away, his eyes wide open, looking as if he had died with his eyes open in disbelief.

Zhao Chenfeng walked over and looked Zhao Qingyun up and down.

"Are you alright?"

"No." Zhao Qingyun looked at Zhao Chenfeng's empty right arm and frowned slightly.

"You have lost your right arm. If you do not break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, your lifespan will be greatly reduced."

Zhao Chenfeng smiled nonchalantly:

"As a deacon of the Enforcement Hall, it is inevitable that I will be injured when facing a powerful enemy."

"At worst, I'll hand over this position to you and live out the rest of my life in seclusion. That way, I won't have disgraced the name of the Zhao family men."

Zhao Qingyun shook his head:

"I have no interest in this butler position."

Zhao Chenfeng didn't try to persuade Zhao Qingyun anymore. He glanced at Li Jing, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and asked:

"You saved his life again."

Just to repay that…

"Chen Chi".

"Yes, just to repay Chen Chi for giving you a jade pendant, you're helping one of his nephews like this?"

Zhao Qingyun's eyes narrowed slightly, and he slowly said:

"The Green Bamboo Pendant has been extremely helpful in improving my cultivation. If it weren't for the Green Bamboo Pendant, I would never have been able to reach the late stage of Qi Refining at this age."

Chen Chi is already dead, so it's only right that I help his nephew.

Just as Zhao Chenfeng was about to speak, he suddenly looked up.

The formation in Cloud Mist Valley had not yet been repaired when a streak of light flashed in the distance. It turned out that Chen Chi and the others had returned in their spirit boat.

Chen Chi was shocked to witness the horrific scene in Cloud Mist Valley.

Li Jing was left in Cloud Mist Valley by him, and no one knew what was going on.

Thinking of this, he immediately steered the spirit boat into the Hall of Law Enforcement.

Without bothering to greet Zhao Chenfeng, Chen Chi flashed to Li Jing's side and noticed that he was still breathing but unconscious, which made him frown.

Only then did he turn around and ask Zhao Chenfeng:

"Steward, what's wrong with Li Jing?"

Zhao Chenfeng's face darkened.

Both Zhao Qingyun and Qi Sheng cared more about Li Jing than he did about him, their steward.

Before he could speak, Zhao Qingyun, who was standing to the side, had already explained:

"Li Jing withstood an attack from a seventh-level Qi Refining expert, but his internal meridians are probably broken and his dantian is injured."

Chen Chi's expression changed slightly, and regret spread through his heart.

If he had let Li Jing accompany him to the border, Li Jing would not have encountered such a disaster.

"Is there any way to save them?" Chen Chi asked slowly.

Zhao Qingyun glanced at Zhao Chenfeng, and seeing the other man shake his head slightly, he said:

"We don't know."

"Of course there's a way." A cool voice came from behind.

Chen Chi looked in the direction of the sound and saw Zhao Hongyue slowly descending from the sky, looking at him calmly.

He immediately stood up, clasped his hands in a salute to Zhao Hongyue, and said:

"Please enlighten me, senior!"

A strange light flashed in Zhao Hongyue's eyes as she spoke:

"Lingyun Sect has a treasured artifact called the Nourishing Essence Jade Lotus Platform."

This treasure is forged from spiritual jade and can nourish the meridians and stabilize the dantian.

She glanced at the unconscious Li Jing.

"If we can get Li Jing to sit on the platform, there is an 80% chance that his meridians will be repaired and he will wake up."

"Lingyun Sect?" Chen Chi's pupils contracted slightly, his mind racing with thoughts.

Seeing that Chen Chi was already interested, Zhao Hongyue continued:

"Elder Han Xuanyu of Lingyun Sect is currently a guest at the Zhao family. If I plead with Elder Han, he might agree to take Li Jing back to Lingyun Sect and treat him with the Nourishing Yuan Jade Lotus Platform."

After saying that, Zhao Hongyue stared at Chen Chi with her beautiful eyes, waiting for him to ask her for help.

Zhao Qingyun and Zhao Chenfeng, who were standing to the side, both saw through Zhao Hongyue's intentions.

The two exchanged a glance, puzzled as to why Zhao Hongyue valued Qi Sheng so much.

However, after a moment of silence, Chen Chi produced a silver token in his hand.

"Please give this token to Elder Han and tell him that Qi Sheng has something important to tell him."

A fleeting look of surprise crossed Zhao Hongyue's face. She gently reached out her hand, and the token floated into her palm on its own.

Zhao Hongyue frowned slightly as she glanced at the words "Lingyun Sect" and "Wang Qingfeng" on the jade plaque.

She had never heard of Wang Qingfeng before.

"Okay, I'll help you with this."

"Thank you so much, senior!"

……

Han Xuanyu remained expressionless in the face of Zhao Hongyue's visit.

He assumed that Zhao Jingming had sent a Foundation Establishment descendant from the Zhao family to mend their relationship after Zhao Jingming's attempt to persuade him to take action failed.

But when Zhao Hongyue took out the silver token, Han Xuanyu, who had been calm and collected, could no longer sit still.

He immediately stood up and excitedly asked Zhao Hongyue about the origin of the token.

Realizing that the silver token was of great significance to Han Xuanyu, Zhao Hongyue dared not delay and quickly brought Chen Chi out.

"Where is he?!" Han Xuanyu's face flushed red.

If Zhao Hongyue weren't a junior, he would definitely have grabbed her sleeve and questioned her.

"Qi Sheng is in my Zhao family's Enforcement Hall..." Before Zhao Hongyue could finish speaking, Han Xuanyu's figure had already disappeared in front of her.

"Qi Sheng, come out here!" A loud shout rang out in the Hall of Enforcement.

Chen Chi, who was quite nervous, saw the white-haired old man appear in the law enforcement hall with an anxious look on his face, and he felt more confident.

"Qi Sheng greets Senior Han," Chen Chi said with a smile as he bowed to Han Xuanyu.