Milin Commandery.
The Qingchi Sect placed few rigid constraints on the borders and sizes of commandery seats; commanderies came in all sizes. Milin Commandery, originally established by True Person Yuanwu as a small commandery at the behest of Yu Muxian, had always remained subordinate to Yuanwu Peak.
The Li clan launched a sudden strike. Li Zhouwei came astride his steed, taking several cities in rapid succession. The defenses crumbled at the first touch. The cultivators stationed in these cities were all debauched hedonists whose cultivation had stalled, lingering in this place devoid of rich spiritual energy only to lord it over mortals.
The Li clan had mobilized in secrecy, and Li Zhouwei's vanguard was not the only detachment deployed. To prevent these families from absconding with formation discs, spirit items, and cultivation scriptures, several detachments advanced in unison, backed by Foundation Establishment powerhouses suppressing the skies above, allowing not a single soul to escape.
None of these families even possessed a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Their former backer, Jiang Heqian, had long since vanished without a trace. Even if they caught glimpses of the faint golden luminescence rising in the south, they remained clueless about what was unfolding, and what little information they could scrounge up was incomplete at best.
It was only natural: to the north, Tangjin Gate could barely look after itself; on the northern shore, the Fei family dared not make a move; the mountains to the west marked the demarcation line drawn between Qingchi and Jinyu; while on the western shore, the various small abbeys and Daoist He kept their doors firmly shut, minding their own affairs without any intention of meddling.
To the east, the Li clan had already secured the Xiao family's consent, agreeing not to touch the Xiao family's vassals on the eastern shore. With the sect also mediating matters clearly, it would have been strange indeed if any unexpected interference arose.
Seeing fires igniting to the south and blood qi soaring into the heavens, those with any sense turned on their heels and fled. Those who could not escape fell to their knees. Li Zhouwei rode past without pausing, followed naturally by clan cultivators who bound every person kneeling on the ground.
Only a few scattered figures rushed frantically before the city gates, their faces flushed with rage as they shouted curses.
The leading middle-aged man had an ashen face and reeked of wine. Whether out of foolishness or true loyalty to these clans, his robes were thrown on in haste, and the jade bottle at his waist roiled with blood qi. He barked:
"Which fool family of Milin is this?! Qingdu issued strict orders prohibiting internecine slaughter—how dare you march in and massacre like this! Aren't you afraid the superior clan will hold you accountable—"
His words were only halfway out when red-black luminescence flared from Li Zhouwei's halberd. With a single thrust, it pierced straight through the man's chest, drawing a spray of blood.
*Clatter, clatter, clatter...*
The hurried clatter of hooves echoed as Li Zhouwei rode past with an impassive expression, not slowing for an instant. The middle-aged man was still impaled upon the halberd, breath leaving him without a whimper. With a flick of Li Zhouwei's wrist, the corpse was hurled onto the ground with the sickening crunch of shattering bone.
"Insolent dog, still daring to refine blood qi in secret at Lake Wangyue."
Li Zhouwei rested the halberd across his saddle, clear light shimmering over his hand as he wiped away the bloodstains.
He shook off the blood and rode into the city beneath the immortal peak. Dust filled the air, waste ran across the streets, and everything was in shambles. Gaunt, emaciated mortals were everywhere, kneeling on the ground. When they occasionally raised their heads, scattered glances gathered upon him like piercing arrows.
In truth, having received warnings from the Li family before, these clans had not treated the mortals under their rule too harshly; at the very least, they were given enough to eat and coarse linen to wear. Yet the gaze they directed toward him was still burning with fervor.
After all, the common people under the Li clan's rule lived far too well.
These clans all lived in mixed settlements of cultivators and mortals. Even if the mortals retained their lives, they lived every day like cattle waiting for slaughter. How could they compare to the Li clan? As Li Zhouwei galloped along the road, all he saw were bowed heads and countless withered hands raised in homage, pressing against the ground in dense clusters.
The Yu clan had grown from the corpse of the Jiang family, only to end in fragmentation, degenerating into the present clans of Milin. With the Lu family at their head, every mountain gate was dim and trembling with terror.
The Li family had gone all out, striking like a lion pouncing on a rabbit, yet they had still underestimated their opponents' timidity. The Lu family, the strongest and leader among them, had opened their protective formation at the very first moment, adopting the humblest posture imaginable.
After all, the mountain's formation was no longer the Foundation Establishment ward forged by the Yu family in their prime. Through repeated strife, it had long been battered into ruins, and the various foreign-surname branches had conspired to dismantle it, dividing the spiritual materials among themselves.
When Li Zhouwei arrived beneath the Lu family's immortal peak, the Qi Refinement clan master of the Lu family had already bound his own hands and emerged, leading a crowd of kin kneeling in surrender. The man behind him respectfully held up a formation disc, declaring in a reverent tone:
"This humble servant pays homage to the master clan!"
Li Zhouwei's halberd was still dripping with blood. A hint of disappointment showed on his face. With a flick of his weapon, he hooked up the formation disc, letting it float smoothly into his hand. He examined it closely.
"Mid-grade Qi Refinement."
The Lu clan master trembled, not daring to utter another word. Li Zhouwei swept his gaze over the kin behind him, then looked up at the sky. After waiting for the time it took an incense stick to burn, streaks of golden light began rising one after another.
He looked on, then retrieved a talisman from his robes and flicked it into the air. A streak of golden radiance instantly surged into the sky.
Li Zhouwei planted his halberd into the ground. Counting them, eight more had risen. In just one night, Milin Commandery had already fallen completely into his clan's grasp.
"Seal the cultivation of all these Yu clan remnants and escort them back to Qingdu to await judgment."
The Lu clan master's face instantly went pale. Hearing Li Zhouwei refer to them as Yu clan remnants, he feared the crimes of the Yu clan would be pinned on his household. He opened his mouth to explain, but Jade Court Guards swarmed in from both sides, gagging him and dragging him away.
***
In the sky.
Milin Commandery comprised one main mountain and seven auxiliary peaks. The main peak was personally handled by Li Xijun, the cultivator of the highest cultivation present. He merely released the brilliant, shining [Huangyuan Pass] into the sky; bathed in its dazzling radiance, the cultivators on the mountain came out to surrender.
The present formation was barely at the Qi Refinement level, hardly able to withstand a few strikes from that shining, imposing mountain pass. Li Xijun took a tour through the mountain; it was reasonably well-preserved, with no severe damage to its spiritual veins or earth veins, though unfortunately, hardly any buildings remained intact on the mountain.
Li Xijun's cultivation had grown ever deeper, and his skill in alchemy had progressed as well. The clan had produced two foreign-surname cultivators who studied the alchemical dao, both of whom currently served as assistants in his alchemy chamber. Everyone in the clan sought his favor, and itinerant cultivators frequently came begging for medicine.
Over on Li Zhouwei's end, he had dispatched someone to escort Bairong back. Watching the vast Milin Commandery ignite in the golden radiance of talismans in an instant, he let out a slight breath of relief:
"It seems matters were handled thoroughly; no clan dared to play tricks."
Li Ximing nodded behind him. Li Zhouwei rode the wind downward, soon spotting the towering Milin Peak. While this mountain was not the best spiritual vein in Lake Wangyue, it was the most expansive and substantial, rivaling even half the size of the Xiao clan's Xianyou Peak.
Li Zhouwei descended onto the main peak, where Li Xijun, clad in golden Daoist robes shimmering with bright light, stood waiting for him.
Seeing the two descend, Li Xijun first nodded to Li Ximing, then smiled:
"I wouldn't call it guidance. When it comes down to action, you would have seen it with your own eyes anyway. It was merely planning ahead so we wouldn't suffer too many casualties... Had our actions been delayed by even two days, who knows how many more lives would have been lost..."
Before long, Li Chengliao flew up on the wind, draped in a gray fur cloak, with [Jiaopanying]—its surface patterned like fish scales—belted at his waist. Having managed the family for many years, he acted with steady prudence. Stopping before Li Xijun, he cupped his hands and reported:
"Greetings, Ninth Uncle. The fourteen towns and seven immortal peaks of Milin Commandery have all fallen under our clan's control. All the foreign-surname remnants of the Yu clan have been captured and are being sent to Mount Lijing."
Li Xijun paused, then replied:
"Good. Make sure none are overlooked; lock them all up first."
He then asked quietly:
"Have you thought through how to dispose of them?"
Li Chengliao smiled and said respectfully, having clearly conceived this plan long ago:
"I intend to do this: first relocate the entire clan to Mount Lijing, register every single one, and then use them to populate the shaman lands deep in the mountains of the Shanyue."
Li Xijun lowered his sword-like brows slightly, explaining:
"That place lacks rich spiritual energy, and these families are accustomed to harvesting blood food, long used to blood pills and rice flesh. Sending them there might only make them worse... and they may very well collude with those wicked mountain shrines to prey on the common people together."
Li Chengliao chuckled softly. "Does Ninth Uncle still remember the numerous shaman grounds across the Shanyue lands?"
"Naturally, I remember."
"With our family taking control of the entire Shanyue, the ancestral grounds of the Shanyue hidden within the rugged mountains have also emerged before us. In those places, demonic cults and wicked shrines have taken deep root among the people, frequently offering human sacrifices. Their shaman followers exceed a hundred thousand, scattered everywhere, with ninety-nine percent being mortals.
"When our clan conquered the Shanyue, those mountain shrines immediately sent emissaries claiming they wished to submit under the Li family. Those territories are impoverished and treacherous, strictly speaking falling under the domain of the Mount Dali Demon Cave.
"Our family is naturally unwilling to venture deep and risk offending the Demon Cave. Moreover, with mortals who are fanatic cultists, governance would cost far more than any returns, so we merely collect their tributes.
"Yet near those barren, treacherous former lands of the Huoluo'e, spiritual energy is similarly scarce and the folk customs are ferocious—those are precisely the shaman lands I spoke of.
"These families are not weak in strength. Placing them there will let them wear each other down, transform local customs, and also deter those wild mountain shrines from entertaining thoughts of blood sacrifices.
"Those wicked shrines have ferocious folk customs, and most Shanyue cannot even speak the tongue of the Easterners. The region is wilderness throughout, and its spiritual energy is poor. None of our clan's cultivators are willing to go there... Sending our own people would feel more like a punishment... It is just the right place to fill with these families!"
"A local tyrant... then relocation it is."
Although most of these people had consumed blood qi, with so many cultivators, it was not a matter of simply slaughtering them all. They had to take advantage of the grand momentum to migrate them south; once removed from their local roots, they would hardly be able to pull off any tricks.
They had also cultivated numerous landlords and even a large portion of the itinerant cultivators, playing a major role in the collapse of the Yu clan and entangling themselves deeply. Naturally, they could not be suppressed with simple measures.
Li Chengliao and his father had long discussed the fate of these Yu clan foreign surnames; they could never be allowed to remain here. Rooted in this region, they had their own clandestine methods of cultivating blood qi.
Hearing this, Li Xijun nodded slightly and replied:
"It is indeed a good idea. However, people must be sent to keep watch over these families. Be sure to assign loyal subordinates and maintain strict supervision."
Hearing Li Xijun's words, Li Chengliao immediately understood and bowed respectfully:
"Thank you for the guidance, Ninth Uncle!"
***
Li Xijun glanced around and said softly:
"The Yu clan's storehouses were looted nearly bare, so empty that rats could run through them. Only after searching carefully twice did I discover a few secret chambers.
"Before and after the Yu clan's fragmentation, there was too much turmoil. Each family grabbed what they could and hauled away what was movable, leaving almost nothing behind. The herb gardens and alchemy pavilions have long since turned into desolate mounds.
"These secret chambers are reinforced by Foundation Establishment wards and likely require a token or specific bloodline to open. Those families were all at Qi Refinement; before and after the split, I reckon only Jiang Heqian ever entered."
He had evidently waited specifically for Li Zhouwei to inspect them together. Seeing the young man nod, he stepped forward alongside him. With a look of reminiscence, he glanced sideways at him and sighed:
"Do you still remember An Jingming?"
Li Zhouwei nodded naturally, answering in a gentle tone:
"Other families might not know, but our clan has a deep impression of him. Any direct descendant who has read the clan chronicle knows of him."
"Now you can see what he looked like!"
Li Xijun sighed and drew an object from his sleeve. It was a dusky-gray head, preserved with magic. From years of storage, it had withered slightly; its eyes were tightly shut and its features utterly lifeless, yet a trace of heroic spirit could still be discerned.
Li Zhouwei glanced at it; it bore a distinct resemblance to the two brothers, An Siming and An Siwei. Li Xijun said in a low voice:
"An Jingming was far too extraordinary. Before his death, his flesh and blood were devoured by his kinsmen, leaving only this head. The Yu clan couldn't understand it, so they preserved it with magic power and stored it in the vault.
"Later, the Yu clan suffered repeated upheavals, and warfare erupted within the clan. Few people ever visited the storehouses. When the clan fractured, the secret vault was mobbed and looted, with blood spilled everywhere.
"Amid all the scrambling, no one cared about this head. It was discarded alone in a corner, tossed together with some mortal trinkets. If I hadn't scanned the place with my spiritual sense and specifically searched for it, I might well have missed it."
He quietly put it away and said with a touch of melancholy:
"Put this away and bring it back to An Zheyan so he may give it a proper burial. As for that head of Yu Mugao, find a place to bury that as well... Consider their grievances settled."
Li Zhouwei chuckled softly:
"Having obtained this item and stored it in our vault, I vaguely remember there is also that head of Yu Mugao... Alas, it only invites sorrow. After striving to the very end, all it amounted to was death, clan destruction, and their severed heads falling into the hands of others.
"You and I look upon this head today with such lament, but I only fear that a century from now, should our clan decline and others breach our vault, seeing these two heads, they might also sigh: 'Past grudges and grievances, all ended in death and clan ruin after all.'"
Li Xijun swallowed his words in silence. The two walked past the empty secret vaults to the deepest recess of the storehouse. Before Li Xijun could speak, Li Zhouwei had already looked up, studying the blank stone wall twice, and said softly:
"Sure enough, a secret chamber is hidden here."
"I almost forgot about your spirit eyes," Li Xijun remarked.
The two studied it for a while. Li Zhouwei's eyes were formidable after all; though he knew little of formations, he could still discern certain workings. He said softly:
"To open this formation, it likely requires either the direct bloodline of the Yu clan or the magical treasure [Mount Yuyan]. If broken by brute force without exceptionally profound formation mastery, the contents within will likely be destroyed."
Lowering his sword-like brows slightly, he added in a low voice:
"I hear that when the Yu clan fell, their direct line suffered a massacre, so hardly any survivors remain. This nephew will go down and investigate right away."
Chapter 518