"Family Head, originally we had already killed that group of monkey demons, but suddenly, a spiritual toad not even the size of a fist appeared out of nowhere and devoured the monkey demons we had slain.
At that time, Fourth Brother was somewhat careless. He rushed too close, and as a result, was ambushed by the toad and had his chest pierced."
The cultivator at the peak of Qi Refinement spoke.
He was named Huang Tingshan, he was from the same generation as the Family Head and was considered the eldest brother of their generation, but his aptitude was far inferior to Huang Tingyuan's. Now, at an old age, he was still in the Qi Refinement Realm, with no hope of ever reaching Foundation Establishment.
Upon hearing this, Huang Tingyuan's face relaxed slightly, but he still looked somewhat exasperated: "Fourth Brother is already several decades old, how could he still act so recklessly? How am I supposed to explain this to Fourth Sister-in-law and that little nephew when I return?"
"Family Head, there is one more thing I need to report to you."
Huang Tingshan continued: "While we were chasing that spiritual toad, due to the severe injuries of Tingyu and the others, Sixth Brother stayed behind to watch over them.
Suddenly, a cultivator appeared, lured Sixth Brother away, and then another cultivator jumped out, not only incapacitating Tingyu and the others but also robbing them of all their magic artifacts and spiritual objects, as well as the monkey demons we had painstakingly slain."
As he said this, his tone became increasingly resentful. It was unclear whether he resented the opponents for injuring his clansmen, or for robbing them of their prey as well.
Originally, this trip should have brought them some gains, but now, not only did they lose a clansman, but the remaining members were also injured to varying degrees, ending up with nothing in the end.
Huang Tingyuan didn't pay attention to the resentment in his words, instead, he looked grave, frowning deeply in thought.
He was not only the only one of his generation in the Huang Family to advance to Foundation Establishment, but also the most adept at scheming.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have achieved his current cultivation, nor would he have ascended to the family's leadership.
After a moment of pondering, he finally asked, "Did you see anything on those two cultivators that could identify them?"
"I asked carefully, but nothing could be discerned."
"What about the spiritual toad?"
Huang Tingyuan asked again: "Was that spiritual toad a spiritual beast under someone's control?"
Upon hearing this, Huang Tingshan was startled: "The Family Head means, this was the Qin Family's doing?"
"Whether it was the Qin Family or not depends on whether that demon beast was under someone's control."
"This…"
Huang Tingshan hesitated for a moment and then shook his head, saying, "It doesn't seem like it. We've seen the Qin Family's methods of beast taming. That spiritual toad didn't look controlled, but rather was very wild.
Besides, whether it's Qin Guanbao or Qin Long, if they were to act, they wouldn't just send an average demon beast, nor would they only harm Fourth Brother alone.
With their capabilities, it wouldn't take long to kill us all, let alone rob such insignificant items from Tingyu and the others."
"Yes, that's what I thought too."
Huang Tingyuan nodded: "In that case, the demon beast was likely an accident."
"But if it wasn't the Qin Family, who else would do such a thing, secretly robbing our prey without killing anyone? This matter feels very strange."
Huang Tingshan scratched his head, filled with confusion.
"Brother, don't forget, besides the Qin Family, there's still the Wang Family in the west of Kun City."
Huang Tingyuan felt helpless, his cousin was really not sharp, needing him to make such an obvious reminder?
"You mean to say, this was done by the Wang Family?"
Huang Tingshan was surprised: "They've always been cautious; when did they dare to offend our Huang Family?"
"It might not be that they want to offend us, but they could be trying to pin the blame on the Qin Family, making us fight the Qin Family while they reap the benefits."
Huang Tingyuan pondered, saying: "Although the Wang Family is cautious, it's not that they don't have expansionist ambitions. Especially since their younger generation has a couple of talented juniors; in twenty or thirty years, there might be two more Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Wang Family.
Kun City isn't very large. If the Wang Family wants to develop, they can only carve out pieces from the Qin and Huang families."
Upon hearing this, Huang Tingshan showed a ruthless expression: "Why don't we strike first to eliminate this potential threat?"
"Do not act rashly."
Huang Tingyuan shook his head: "Although the Fog Hidden Sect's strength is far inferior to Taiyi Mountain's, it's still a sect with a thousand-year legacy and some foundation.
Moreover, their sect is not too far from Kun City. If things go wrong, Taiyi Mountain might not storm the Fog Hidden Sect for our insignificant Huang Family.
Keep an eye on this matter in the dark, but don't let them take advantage, and remember not to bring it into the open."
"So we just swallow this loss and pretend this never happened?"
Huang Tingshan was clearly dissatisfied.
"It's not that we can't retaliate, it's just not the right time."
Huang Tingyuan said: "The Great Elder has arduously obtained a batch of fine artifact refining materials and is currently in seclusion crafting a spirit sword. If successful, the Great Elder can truly advance to an artifact refiner capable of crafting spiritual artifacts.
At this time, everything must prioritize the Great Elder. We must avoid creating disturbances that could disrupt his work."
"Yes, I understand."
Although still somewhat unwilling, Huang Tingshan dared not disobey the Family Head's orders and had to comply.
......
After several days of clearing demon beasts in Qifeng Mountain, the cultivators of the three families in Kun City gradually returned to their respective families.
Besides the Huang Family, who unfortunately lost a Qi Refinement late-stage cultivator, the other two families also had injured clansmen but no fatalities.
On the night of their return home, Qin Feng recounted to his father the events of teaming up with Qin Yang to rob the two Huang Family cultivators.
This matter was hard to conceal, and they needed their father's help to deal with these items and exchange them for spirit stones and elixir pills.
Qin Long was somewhat astonished upon hearing his son's words. He hadn't expected his son to be so bold.
But he didn't blame him, rather, he was quite approving.
After all, the cultivation world was fraught with dangers. If there was an opportunity to gain resources from opponents, there was no reason to let it pass.
Qin Long looked at the items before him, casually tossing the Heart-Clearing Jade and Binding Spirit Net to Qin Feng, saying, "Don't sell this Heart-Clearing Jade. Keep it on you daily; it will aid your cultivation.
However, it's just a low-grade Heart-Clearing Jade. After reaching Foundation Establishment, it won't be of much help; you can dispose of it then.
As for the Binding Spirit Net, although it's not high-level, it's quite useful. Keep it for yourself, just don't flaunt it in front of the Huang Family."
Qin Feng nodded and put the two items away.
Anyway, he was going to the Beast Taming Sect soon. By then, he would have nothing to do with the Huang Family, and he could use these artifacts freely.
Qin Long then picked up the two storage bags. With his Foundation Establishment cultivator's True Yuan, he quickly broke the prohibitions on the storage bags and poured out their contents.
There were many scattered items, including demon beast materials, refined iron for artifact refining, two bottles of elixir pills, and dozens of spirit stones.
Qin Long gave the spirit stones to his son, then collected the remaining materials and refined iron, saying, "I happen to be going to the commandery to deal with materials from the demon beasts. I'll take care of these for you as well.
Everything else is fine, but remember not to take elixir pills carelessly."
He sternly warned: "Especially those obtained from others, with unknown origins, they might contain poisonous pills. Taking them carelessly could cost you your life."
"Is it that serious?"
Qin Feng was astonished: "Those two Huang Family cultivators wouldn't carry poisonous pills, would they?"
"You never know."
Qin Long smirked: "It's not like this hasn't happened before. A cultivator killed an opponent, took a lot of spirit pills, couldn't bear to discard them, and ate them.
But what he didn't expect was his opponent had mixed a deadly poisonous elixir among the spirit pills, leading to his death due to greed.
Haha, since then, many in the cultivation world have followed this practice, mixing a poisonous pill among their spirit pills, in case they are killed, they might still get their revenge through this method."
Qin Feng was flabbergasted: "I never thought such things could happen."
"There are many things you can't imagine. Once you enter the sect, always be cautious, don't let anyone scheme against you."
Qin Long looked at his son and said, "You're quite smart, but the cultivation world is full of devious minds. Observe more, think more, don't act impulsively. After all, you only have one life. If you die, you lose everything."