After the witch ripped out his heart, this mortal body began to lose control.

Meanwhile, at the Li residence in Yunyang City.

Li Wanguan sat upright in the main hall, sipping tea, the fear he had felt at Zuixianlou earlier that day long gone from his face.

"Steward, don't rush to pay the remaining 20,000 spirit stones that we promised to compensate the Shen family."

As he said this, a smile appeared on his chubby face, his small eyes narrowed into slits, and he was secretly pleased with his scheme.

At this moment, Li Yuansheng rushed into the house and asked in confusion, "Father, are you really going to hand over the two spirit mines in Chengnan Village to the Shen family? The spirit mines are the most stable source of wealth for our Li family!"

The five spirit mines generate a stable annual income of over 10,000 spirit stones, accounting for more than 30% of our total income.

Now we've lost the profits from two spirit mines for no reason, especially since the profits from the two spirit mines in Chengnan Village account for almost half of the total profits from spirit mines.

That's five thousand spirit stones a year!

Dad, you're so confused!

Even if you hand me over, do you think they can really kill me? Yunyang City isn't a place where Shen Qinghe has absolute power.

Li Wanguan raised his hand and slapped him across the face with such force that Li Yuansheng fell to the ground.

"Idiot! What do you know!"

Li Wanguan lowered his voice and said in a sinister tone:

"I deliberately transferred the spirit mine in the south of the city to them; it was bait that I deliberately threw out!"

The Shen family thought they had gotten a great deal, but that wasn't the case at all!

Li Yuansheng covered his face, looking completely bewildered: "Bait? Father, what do you mean by that?"

"Idiot! Have you forgotten who gets 20% of the profits from the spirit mine in the south of the city?"

"Oh yeah, how could I forget about that!"

"Father, I'll send a message to Situ Changfeng right away and tell him the news!"

Li Wanguan strolled over, his fat hand stroking the black jade thumb ring, a cold glint in his eyes.

"No need! I've already sent a telepathic message to the leader, Qin Lie!"

Let's just wait and see!

"Changfeng Village is a hungry tiger with insatiable greed!"

The 20% profit from the two spirit mines in Chengnan Village is no longer enough to feed it; just a few days ago, it was pressuring me to give it half of the profits.

These parasites demand half the profits without contributing anything; they're truly despicable.

Now that the spirit mine belongs to the Shen family, I can finally get rid of this damned Changfeng Village.

Let the Shen family and Changfeng Village fight it out!

Li Yuansheng's eyes suddenly lit up, and he instantly understood his father's scheme.

"Father! Your move was truly brilliant!"

What a brave and decisive move!

What a clever tactic of using one tiger to drive away another!

Use Changfeng Village to deal with the Shen family!

The child can't wait to see who is stronger.

"Hmph!" Li Wanguan sneered, his tone ruthless.

"Situ Changfeng's cultivation level is already at the peak of the late Foundation Establishment stage. His seven leaders are all Foundation Establishment level, and he also has three hundred Qi Refining Realm rogue cultivators following him. These people are all desperate criminals."

Now that they've lost their share of the spirit mine profits from Chengnan Village, they'll surely pounce on Chengnan Village like mad dogs, plundering and even committing massacres!

"It won't be long before I see Shen Qinghe fight Situ Changfeng. Shen Qinghe's Taiyin Xuan Gong is indeed domineering. I wonder if Situ Changfeng can withstand it."

It would be best to fight to the death.

"At that time, my Li family will have regrouped and prepared, then reap the benefits, seizing the opportunity to reclaim the spirit mine—a double victory!"

Li Yuansheng was deeply moved and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Father, you are brilliant! I was foolish! This scheme will surely bring the Shen family to ruin!"

He then added, "Lu Changsheng has become a thorn in my side, and I will not be able to get rid of this child until he is eliminated."

If there's a chance then, it would be best to take them all down at once!

Li Wanguan gazed out the window toward the Shen family's residence, a ferocious smile spreading across his fat face.

Shen Qinghe, do you think you can crush my Li family with your domineering cultivation?

The waters of Yunyang City run much deeper than you think!

This time, I will make sure your Shen family is devoured by the tiger!

---

Yunyang City is more than 180 li southeast.

Changfeng Village.

The stronghold was built against the mountain, backed by the Southern Xinjiang Mountains and facing Zhuiyue Lake. The stronghold gate was high and the banners were fluttering, giving off a fierce bandit aura.

Inside the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, a bonfire roared.

Qin Lie, the leader, sat in the second-highest seat, dressed in black, with an arrogant expression and an aura of power emanating from him.

The six people sitting on either side below him had different expressions upon hearing this.

"Brothers! The chieftain is in seclusion. I just received news that the spirit mine in Chengnan Village has changed hands!"

The Shen family of Yunyang City seized two spirit mines from the Li family, and our original plan to share the profits of the spirit mine in Chengnan Village with the Li family for 50,000 yuan has fallen through.

That's not all; our original 20% profit sharing has also vanished.

Upon hearing this, Su Ning, the second-in-command, frowned deeply. As the person in charge of finances, she knew best the seriousness of the matter: "Brother, the more than one thousand spirit stones from the spirit mine are our stronghold's biggest source of income. Now that it's cut off, I'm afraid the more than three hundred brothers in the stronghold won't even have enough to eat!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Hu, the third leader, slammed his fist on the table and stood up, his face full of ferocity: "At worst, we'll just go down the mountain and rob them! Since the Shen family is blocking our path to wealth, I'll lead some brothers to Chengnan Village, rob them, and come back."

Upon hearing this, Qin Lie remained silent for a long time before turning his head to look at the fifth seat below and saying, "Ruyan, among the seven of us, you are the most quick-witted. Tell me your opinion."

The fourth leader, Liu Ruyan, said, "We were originally independent cultivators who escaped from Falling Moon Lake. Now we band together to survive. However, with our profits greatly reduced, it is difficult to maintain morale for long. The best course of action now is to solve the problem of resource shortage as soon as possible."

"Ruyan, do you mean you agree with Lao San's idea to go down the mountain and rob?"

It seems that they have no other choice but to resort to robbery now.

Liu Ruyan said, "My idea is not to seize it yet. Let's send some people down the mountain to scout the situation before making a decision."

I had long heard of the proud daughter of the Shen family; she was not like Li Wanguan, who was only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

If we rashly descend the mountain and happen to run into her, we're likely to suffer the consequences.

Zhou Hu said, "It's true that the Shen family's prodigy is powerful, but my chieftain is no pushover either. With the manpower of our Changfeng Village, we're not necessarily afraid of the Shen family."

In my opinion, we seven should gather our brothers, head straight to Chengnan Village, rob the spirit stones, and then come back. Otherwise, do those big families in Yunyang City really think my Changfeng Village is easy to bully?

Qin Lie's gaze swept over the six leaders, and he hesitated in his heart. Now that the chieftain was in seclusion, he was responsible for coordinating the entire village. If the decision was not made properly, it would bring annihilation to Changfeng Village.

After much deliberation, he finally decided to follow Liu Ruyan's advice.

Qin Lie looked at Feng Ying, the sixth leader, and said, "Then let's do as Ru Yan said. You're good at reconnaissance, so I'll leave this to you."

"Okay! Leave this to me, don't worry."

More than twenty scouts descended the mountain under the cover of night.

The destination was Chengnan Village, more than 100 miles away.

Meanwhile, Lu Changsheng, at the center of the vortex, stood in the bamboo forest courtyard, gazing at the waning moon in the sky, his unease growing stronger.

He always felt that the two spirit mines in Chengnan Village were acquired too easily, which was very unusual and suspicious.

Things are definitely not that simple. He must make arrangements in advance to avoid being caught off guard.