Many cultivators were looting and taking away all kinds of valuable things. They looked at the unripened Jade Marrow Ganoderma. A bandit cultivator wanted to chop them up.
If he could not take them away, he should not leave them with anyone else.
However, the gray-clothed Daoist stopped him and said, "Don't destroy them. Leave them where they are."
"Senior, why?" The bandit cultivator did not understand.
"Don't understand? It's actually very easy to understand," the gray-bored Daoist said. "The reason why the cultivators of the Lu Clan didn't destroy these medicinal gardens and spirit fields is to use these treasures to delay us and give the disciples of the Lu Clan a chance to escape. Similarly, we can't destroy the spiritual veins or spirit fields. We also have to use these treasures to delay the reinforcements of the Lu Clan."
"How long before the reinforcements arrive?"
"Roughly two hours," a certain cultivator replied.
"With these treasures, they can only buy us at least an hour and a half," the gray-robed Daoist said. "Even if the Dan yang Sect's reinforcements recover these lost lands, will they still return them to the Lu Clan?"
Everyone came to a sudden understanding. Returning them to the Lu Clan? That was impossible.
If the Lu Clan was at its peak, with a Zifu disciple overseeing it... The reinforcements of the Dan yang Sect would accept a few gifts and then leave.
However, after this battle, the Lu Clan had suffered heavy losses. There were less than four Foundation Establishment cultivators left, and the majority of the remaining cultivators were low-level cultivators. After the Dan Yang Sect recovered the lost lands, would they still give these lands back to the Lu Clan?
Impossible.
Even if the Dan yang Sect had an outstanding character and cared about morals and they returned Mount Ziyang to the Lu Clan... With the Lu Clan's current power, would they dare to accept it?
No, nor would they accept it.
Having money was not a crime, but having money without power was a great crime.
A moment later, the cultivators left. Before they left, they quickly divided the spoils according to their previous agreement and left.
Before participating in this operation, everyone wore masks. When they were robbing the Lu Clan, a fierce-looking person was like a bandit. However, when they took off their masks, they were all well-dressed cultivators on the righteous path.
After dividing up a portion of their spoils, the gray-robed Daoist left.
Four hours later, the Ye Clan's reinforcements arrived. The Flying Bird warship landed on Mount Ziyang, carrying the Ye Clan's Patriarch, Ye Liuyun.
The Patriarch of the Ye Clan was at the third level of the Zifu stage. Back then, he was able to enter the Zifu stage thanks to the assistance of the Lu Clan.
When he received the news that Mount Ziyang had been besieged, he immediately set off personally, bringing along six Foundation Establishment cultivators from the clan to rescue the Lu Clan. However, in the end, he was still a step too late.
The entire Lu Clan had been annihilated. Only their corpses lay on Mount Ziyang.
"What a pity for the Lu Clan." Ye Liuyun's heart was filled with both sadness and joy.
The sad part was that after the Lu Clan's Patriarch passed away, the Lu Clan was besieged by powerful enemies. The clan that had lasted for 1,000 years was on the verge of destruction. In the years to come, when he passed away, the Ye Clan could also be on the verge of destruction. As the saying goes, the fox mourns the death of the hare. They needed each other in the end.
The joyful part was that with the rise of the Ye Clan, there were conflicts between the Ye Clan and the Lu Clan in some spirit veins, spirit mines, and other areas. In the end, most of the conflicts were resolved through coordination. However, these conflicts would never disappear completely.
Now, the Lu Clan was destroyed, leaving behind a large share of the pie for the Ye Clan.
Four hours later, the warship of the Dan Yang Sect appeared.
The Zifu Patriarch of the Dan Yang Sect said, "Unfortunately, we were still too late."
Four and a half hours later, the warship of the Wu Clan appeared.
"On Mount Ziyang, the Lu Clan was destroyed, but there are still some cultivators stationed outside. Those cultivators happened to be rebuilding the Lu Clan," Ye Liuyun said.
"Of course," the cultivator from the Dan Yang Sect said.
"The Lu Clan should be rebuilt," the cultivator from the Wu Clan also said.
However, only God knew how sincere he really was.
...
After walking for a hundred miles, the gray-robed Daoist took off his mask, took off his gray robe, and changed into a red Daoist robe.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a small mountain village. At the back of the small mountain village, there was a tomb with a tombstone on it that read: The Tomb of the late wife Ling 'Er.
He took out a pot of wine and poured some in front of the tomb.
The Daoist Priest drank another mouthful of wine, and he said, "Ling 'Er, I took revenge for you. Not long ago, I exterminated the Lu Clan. All 500 cultivators of the Lu Clan had been exterminated. Haha, wasn't that Lu Clan cultivator arrogant back then? Not only did he want to kill me, but he also wanted to abduct you and make you his female slave."
"He's as pitiful as he was arrogant back then."
"I killed so many. The feeling of killing an enemy is really refreshing. However, it's still not enough."
"There are still cultivators of the Lu Clan stationed in some spirit veins, mines, or marketplaces. There are also five Foundation Establishment cultivators who happened to not be on Mount Ziyang, so they escaped a calamity."
"However, how could I leave these scourges behind to bring the Lu Clan back to life? I want to kill the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Lu Clan, as well as most of the Qi Refinement stage cultivators... As for the two million mortals under the jurisdiction of the Lu Clan, I can only forget about them."
A hint of dejection flashed through the Daoist's eyes.
By annihilating the Lu Clan, at most, the Dan Yang Sect would hunt him down.
The worst that could happen was that the Lu Clan would leave Chu Country and head to another cultivation country. They would still be free and unfettered.
He might not belong here any longer, but he will belong somewhere else. However, if he were to massacre a large number of mortals, he would be branded as a demonic cultivator. No one in Heaven or Earth would be able to tolerate him.
"Lu Clan." The Daoist Priest's figure flashed as he headed toward a market of the Lu Clan.
There was a Lu Clan Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding that marketplace.
...
Huff huff huff...
Lu Xuanji and Ye Feixue were on the run. They ran through the mountains, deeply afraid that the enemy would catch up to them.
Behind them, miserable screams could be heard. They could hear Lu Clan cultivators being killed behind them.
Lu Xuanji did not stop. He did not look behind him. All he did was run.
In many instances, he did not need to run faster than the enemy. He just needed to run faster than his fellow clansmen.
There were Foundation Establishment cultivators chasing after him. Lu Xuanji could not outrun these cultivators, but he could run faster than his fellow clansmen, and that was enough.
The escaping Lu Clan cultivators scattered and ran like sparrows.
Foundation Establishment cultivators were very powerful. Their flying swords flashed as they chased after them. However, after chasing them for 30 miles, they gave up and returned to Mount Ziyang.
They did not gain much from chasing these ants, and they also spent a lot of time. There, they would be able to plunder some treasure troves from Mount Ziyang or benefit from the medicinal herb garden.
Lu Xuanji continued to run. When the energy of the Flying Talisman was exhausted, he finally stopped.
Looking behind him, there was no one else. There were no Foundation Establishment cultivators chasing after him, nor were there any cultivators from the Lu Clan.
"We survived..." Lu Xuanji said, letting out a sigh of relief. He lay on the ground in a very disgraceful manner, as if he did not care about his clothes being stained with dirt.
"Big Brother, the Lu Clan is finished," Ye Feixue said, as if she was dreaming.
Just yesterday, the Lu Clan was still the overlord of Qingshui Prefecture, with a Zifu master and more than ten Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, today, Mount Ziyang had been breached, and most of the Lu Clan cultivators had been killed.
"Yes, the Lu Clan is finished, but we have to live," Lu Xuanji said.
"Tell me, what should we do next?" He seemed to be asking Ye Feixue, but he was also asking himself.
There were only three paths for cultivators. One was to join a cultivation sect (work), one was to establish a cultivation clan (self-employed), and one was to become an independent cultivator (self-employed).
Joining the Dan Yang Sect was pretty good. However, back then, he had already missed the quota.
As for establishing a cultivation clan, one had to be at least in the Foundation Establishment stage. Without a Foundation Establishment stage, one simply did not have the qualifications to establish a cultivation clan.
The only choice left was to become an independent cultivator.