Master, let me go!"
Bao Xinxuan was completely flustered.
But it was too late.
Xu Ning raised his hand as true qi surged in his palm. He didn't even use his attribute power.
Bang!
Xu Ning slapped Bao Xinxuan's head.
Bao Xinxuan stopped talking.
His head tilted to the side. He was dead.
"One is taken care of."
As long as he dealt with Bao Qiuhua, the feud between Xu Ning and the Bao family would be resolved.
Xu Ning sighed as he watched Bao Xinxuan die in his hands.
A year ago, he thought that he was a high and mighty void realm martial artist, but now he couldn't even withstand a single blow from him.
Because he had been making rapid progress, Xu Ning subconsciously ignored how far he had got.
Now that he looked back, he was happy that he had reached his current realm.
Xu Ning put on the mask again.
He didn't deal with Bao Xinxuan's body. He just left.
He didn't even use his attribute power just now, and with only his true qi as the cause of death, no one would suspect him.
Bao Weijing had told him before that Bao Xinxuan had made enemies everywhere.
His death would most likely be regarded as revenge from his past enemies.
At this time.
Bao Weijing had just killed a mid level mortal realm demon beast.
However, although the mission was completed, he was still uneasy.
An assassination attempt by a clan elder made him worried.
But fortunately, after thinking about Senior Tao, he felt more at ease.
Bao Weijing went to the place where the family members gathered.
Several guards were stationed there.
Everyone was quite surprised to see Bao Weijing walking over with the organs of the demon beast.
Bao Weijing's efficiency was beyond expectations.
After Bao Weijing returned, the family members who went to hunt demon beasts also returned one after another.
Among them, some people brought back the spoils of war and completed the trial with smiles on their faces.
Some were dejected and injured.
"Where did the family elder go? Why hasn't he come yet?"
An hour had passed, the descendants of the family clan, whether successful or not, had all returned.
Due to there being not many powerful demon beasts in the mountains and with the guards coming in time, although some of these young descendants were injured, no one died.
However, after they gathered together, they discovered that the leader of this mission, Elder Bao Xinxuan, had disappeared.
"Let's go and find the family elder."
The guard leader noticed that Bao Xinxuan did not appear, so he called three guards to search together.
Seeing this, Bao Weijing's heart was beating fast.
He didn't know what happened between Senior Tao and Bao Xinxuan.
However, Bao Weijing suddenly heard a voice.
"Bao Xinxuan is dead. Madam Quan is behind this."
Afterwards, the voice disappeared.
"What?!"
Bao Weijing instantly realized that it was a message from Senior Tao.
'Elder Bao Xinxuan is dead. Sure enough, Senior Tao is a master even among void realm martial artists!'
Bao Weijing was relieved, but soon after, a dark look appeared in his eyes. "Madam Quan… So it was Madam Quan who wanted to take my life!"
"All these years, she has been deliberately making things difficult for me. She didn't want me to live comfortably at all. Now it seems that not only does she want to make my life difficult, but she also wants to kill me. When my mother passed away, she was a big suspect. Now it seems that she really did have a hand in this…
The hatred in Bao Weijing's heart continued to grow. "Madam Quan… once my strength and status improve, I must kill her and avenge my mother!"
In the mountains.
Several guards found Bao Xinxuan's body.
"The family elder was killed!"
The guard leader and several guards looked at each other.
Everyone's face was full of disbelief and fear.
Bao Xinxuan was a void realm martial artist!
"Quick, take the corpse of the family elder, return to the clan and report this matter!"
The guard leader made a prompt decision.
"Yes!"
The guards quickly responded.
…
Bao family mansion.
Inside an underground dungeon.
This place was extremely dark, with only a few weak wall lamps swaying.
Wei Changqing, Wei Binglin, and Wei Zicheng were imprisoned in three adjacent cells.
They were wearing special shackles, causing their internal qi to be sealed.
Although they were wearing relatively clean clothes, their faces were pale and haggard. They looked like they were short of blood.
There was deep despair on their faces. There was no hope at all.
"Uncle, can we get out alive?"
Wei Binglin said.
His voice was weak.
Ever since they were brought here, they had to get their blood taken every few days.
Although they had plenty of food and medicinal materials, this still greatly damaged their bodies.
"I don't know…"
Wei Changqing's tone was hopeless. "I just hope that the family can find us…"
In fact, Wei Changqing and the other two didn't know where they were taken to.
"Uncle…"
Wei Zicheng was no longer energetic. "Recently, the frequency and the quantity of blood extraction have increased. I suspect…"
Wei Zicheng didn't continue, but they all knew very well that their days were coming to an end.
"Every day counts."
Wei Changqing didn't have the mood to encourage the two. "Compared to the guards and Xu Ning, we might be in a better situation."
The three were silent again.
Although the three of them were captured, they still had some use, but in their opinion, Xu Ning might have already encountered an accident.
'Can I still see the sun?'
Wei Zicheng stared at the candlelight on the wall.
Bao Mansion.
"It was a one-shot kill. The opponent is much stronger than Bao Xinxuan."
After Bao Qiuhua checked Bao Xinxuan's body, her face was pale.
She didn't expect that Bao Xinxuan would be killed on a trip outside.
"The opponent should be a qualitative change realm martial artist."
Bao Qiuhua inferred.
"No."
Fang Jie was also there.
He also checked and gave an opinion. "The person who killed him is far stronger than a qualitative change realm martial artist, at least in the attribute realm, or even… the common seal realm."
"This…"
Bao Qiuhua had a terrible look on her face when she heard the words. "Bao Xinxuan caused trouble before and made enemies everywhere, but I didn't expect him to provoke an expert of this level…"
If the other party was a warrior in the common seal realm, then even with the Yuelan Sect behind them, they would still face a huge threat.
Bao Qiuhua felt helpless.
Because they were backed by the Yuelan Sect, many people in the family were quite arrogant.
It was the same for Bao Ruyuan. After he entered the Yuelan Sect, in order to warn him, Elder Gujuan even changed his name.
He hoped that Bao Ruyuan could speak and act cautiously.
But unexpectedly, Bao Ruyuan and Bao Xinxian passed away.
The two of them were important figures in the family.
Accidents happening to these two were a major blow to their entire family.
"Common seal realm…"
While Bao Qiuhua was feeling bitter, Fang Jie frowned.
"Disciple-Nephew Fang Jie, what are you…"
Bao Qiuhua noticed the thoughtful look in Fang Jie's eyes.
"I was thinking about the common seal realm martial artist who appeared near the Bao family mansion."
Fang Jie's tone was suspicious.
"Are you saying that the one who did this is that common seal martial artist?"
Bao Qiuhua's heart skipped a beat.
At the time, she only felt that the common seal realm martial artist was just passing by, but now it seemed that the person was trying to scout their family out in advance.
Moreover, he was going to mess with the entire Bao family.
"It's just a possibility."
Fang Jie responded.
He was relatively calm, after all, this had nothing to do with him.
Fang Jie was ready to leave the Bao family.
Bao Qiuhua's heart was heavy.
She knew very well that if Fang Jie left the Bao family, then she would be the strongest person in the family.
However, as an attribute realm martial artist, she was definitely not a match for a martial artist in the common seal realm.
Whether it was Bao Xinxuan who provoked him, or the Bao family who unintentionally provoked him, he was now a huge threat to the Bao family.
If they didn't find out who the person was, the Bao family would be in great danger.
Bao Qiuhua felt a strong sense of unease.
"Disciple-Nephew Fang Jie, the Bao family is in a crisis, so I hope you can stay for a while."
Bao Qiuhua said.
"Auntie-Master Bao, it's not that I don't want to, but I do have important matters to attend to. I have been here long enough."
Fang Jie would not take the initiative to help them.
After seeing Fang Jie's nonchalant attitude, Bao Qiuhua gritted her teeth and said, "If Martial Nephew Fang Jie is willing to help me catch the person who plotted against the Bao family, I will give you a big gift!"
"Auntie-Master Bao, it's not that I don't want to, but…"
Fang Jie didn't care.
In his opinion, what the Bao family could offer would definitely not tempt him.
However, before Fang Jie could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Bao Qiuhua.
"A dao seal stone tablet!"
Bao Qiuhua's words made Fang Jie stop talking.
"Dao seal stone tablet?!"
Even Fang Jie looked surprised. "Auntie Bao, don't lie to me, do you really have a dao seal?"
Although Fang Jie had seen Elder Gujuan's dao seal, it did not belong to him.
A dao seal stone tablet was a rare treasure, even for Fang Jie.
"Yes."
Bao Qiuhua's heart ached, but she still said, "However, the seal stone tablet has a bloodline seal, and it is currently in the state of being unsealed. However, in at most a month, the seal stone tablet will be unsealed."
"This dao seal stone tablet has the same attribute as both you and me—the wind attribute. I hope that after this dao seal stone tablet is unsealed, I can observe it for three months, then I'll hand it to you. However, the prerequisite is that you must capture that common seal realm martial artist."
Bao Qiuhua continued to perfect her idea.
Fang Jie was intrigued.
If it weren't for the fact that Bao Qiuhua and Elder Gujuan were from the same sect and were old friends, Fang Jie would have wanted to kill and snatch the dao seal stone tablet.
"Okay, I agree."
Fang Jie was also greedy.
"In this case, let's discuss the details of dealing with the evil person."
Seeing that Fang Jie had agreed to the deal, Bao Qiuhua felt relieved.
Inside the Bao family mansion.
Bao Xinxian, Bao Weijing's father, returned home drunk after drinking at the brothel.
"My husband drank so much wine again."
When Mrs. Quan saw Bao Xinxian come back, she quickly served him a bowl of clear soup.
Madam Quan was in a good mood.
In her opinion, Bao Weijing had already been killed.
Although she paid the price of ten Pure Source Pills, it was worth it to have a peace of mind in the future.
"Oh…"
Bao Xinxian took the bowl of clear soup and drank it in one gulp. Soon after, his consciousness became much clearer.
"Madam, you have to pay more attention to Weijing. Although you are not his biological mother, you are still his mother in name. Don't be too mean…"
Bao Xinxian had been trying to reconnect his relationship with Bao Weijing.
"Yes, Husband."
Mrs. Quan smiled. "When he comes back from the trial, I will visit him."
"He is already back."
Bao Xinxian said, "When I entered the house just now, I heard that the group already came back, but Elder Bao Xinxuan seems to have been killed by his enemies."
Thump!
When Madam Quan heard this, the empty bowl in her hand fell to the ground.
"Madam, madam?"
When Bao Xinxian saw that Madam Quan was stunned, he quickly called out.
But Madam Quan did not move, she was like a stone.
…
Another half a month went by.
Bao Weijing was in his courtyard, practicing wholeheartedly.
Now, Bao Weijing had moved out of the small courtyard, had his own villa, and had a servant.
This was partly because of Bao Xinxian's help, and partly because the family valued Bao Weijing.
Bao Weijing had advanced to the mortal realm eighth stage.
Bao Weijing's rapid advancement even attracted the attention of Clan Head Bao Shihui.
Bao Shihui even suspected that Bao Weijing had consumed a Stimulating Pill, causing him to overdraw his potential to gain the attention of the higher-ups in the family.
However, after checking Bao Weijing, Bao Shihui found that there were no signs of over-exhaustion in Bao Weijing's body.
This discovery made Bao Shihui very happy. In his opinion, Bao Weijing must have been suddenly enlightened.
In the Bao family's history, there were also some pillars of the family who performed averagely in the beginning, but later on, they suddenly exploded and grew rapidly.
In Bao Shihui's opinion, his grandson Bao Weijing was like this.
Because of this, Bao Shihui even took the initiative to improve Bao Weijing's status and let him participate in the family meeting as an elite descenda
descendant.
Among the grandsons, only three to five people had this kind of treatment.
Of course, the truth was not that Bao Weijing was a late-bloomer.
Bao Weijing's rapid progress was all due to Xu Ning's pills.
However, Xu Ning's pill refinement technique was extremely advanced, allowing the pills he refined to have almost no side effects, which gave Bao Shihui the illusion that Bao Weijing was a late-bloomer.
"Phew…"
Bao Weijing breathed a sigh of relief and stopped.
Bao Weijing was full of energy, and his eyes were bright.
"With Senior Tao's help, my strength has improved rapidly, and my family status has also risen steadily. Now, some people in the family have taken the initiative to approach me, expressing their wish to help me compete for the spot as the successor of the family head."
Bao Shihui had said before that the next family head might not appear in the next generation, but might also appear in the next generation.
Bao Weijing's continuous improvement and outstanding performance made some people look expectantly at him.
"If I can become the head of the family, then it will be easy to deal with Madam Quan."
Bao Weijing was full of pride.
"Young Master, there are a few young ladies and gentlemen in the family who want to invite you to a lunch party."
A servant came up and reported to Bao Weijing respectfully.
"I refuse."
Bao Weijing refused.
These people all saw his rise in status in the family and wanted to pull strings.
Normally, Bao Weijing would have responded.
But not today, he planned to go to the Drunken Spring Pavilion to see Senior Tao.
When he participated in the family meeting yesterday, Bao Weijing had learned some high-level information that he didn't know before.
Bao Weijing felt that this information might interest Senior Tao.
Afterwards, Bao Weijing left the mansion.
After confirming that no one was following him, Bao Weijing rushed to the Drunken Spring Pavilion.
In a room of the Drunken Spring Pavilion.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Six cyan pills jumped out of the furnace in front of Xu Ning.
"Youth Regaining Vitality Pill, done!"
Xu Ning smiled and put away the six pills.
Over the past few days, Xu Ning had been working hard.
He had looted some resources near the Crystal Building, exchanged for a lot of raw materials, and refined many pills.
Over the past month, Xu Ning had filled up his reserves of 1,000 units to nearly 10,000 units.
In addition, Xu Ning also refined some practical pills. He even just refined a Youth Regaining Vitality Pill.
This Youth Regaining Vitality Pill was specially made for his brother-in-law Tao Yunchuan.
Because Tao Yunchuan was not a warrior, and his old injuries had happened a long time ago, the quality of the pill needed to heal his old injuries was very high.
Xu Ning had only recently found the raw materials for the Youth Regaining Vitality Pill and refined it.
When he rescued the Wei family member and returned to the Tao Village, he would give this pill for his brother-in-law to ingest.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
There was a knock on the door.
Xu Ning immediately sensed that Bao Weijing was here.
Xu Ning put away the furnace and put on his mask.
"Come in."
Xu Ning said to the door.
Immediately after, the door opened and Bao Weijing walked in.
After closing the door, he bowed respectfully to Xu Ning.
"Greetings, Senior Tao!"
The higher his status in the family, the more respectful he was to Xu Ning.
In his opinion, everything he had received was a gift from Xu Ning. Since he was able to give him this position, he could easily take everything away.
Moreover, Bao Weijing was sincerely grateful to Xu Ning.
In addition to these aids, Xu Ning had also saved his life twice.
"Intention realm?"
Xu Ning noticed that Bao Weijing's strength had improved once again.
Although this had a lot to do with his pills, it also showed that Bao Weijing was quite talented.
If he was placed in the Yuelan Sect, he would at least be an inner sect elite.
"It's all thanks to Senior Tao's pills that I can make such progress."
Bao Weijing was humble.
"Senior Tao…"
Bao Weijing took a step forward. "Recently, my strength has improved rapidly, so I have been valued by the Family Head, which has raised my status in the family. Now, I am qualified to participate in the discussion of the family's decision-making hierarchy. There are also many people who secretly want to help me obtain the position of the family head."
"Oh?"
This went smoother than Xu Ning imagined.
Xu Ning helped Bao Weijing in the beginning because he wanted to help him become a senior member of the Bao family, infiltrating the Bao family.
Xu Ning thought this process would take longer, so he didn't expect this to happen so soon.
"Well done."
Xu Ning praised Bao Weijing.
Although it was just a short sentence, Bao Weijing seemed very happy.
"Senior Tao, when I participated in the family meeting yesterday, I received some news."
Bao Weijing said, "The Family Head, family elders, and Fang Jie of the Yuelan Sect had participated in this meeting."
"I learned that Bao Ruyuan, the elite disciple of the family and the core disciple of the Yuelan Sect, is dead. Fang Jie came here to deliver the news. Moreover, before Fang Jie returns to the Yuelan Sect, he will take some outstanding disciples of the family clan and let them enter the Yuelan Sect as outer and inner disciples."
Xu Ning's expression did not change, but after hearing the latter half of the sentence, he said, "You are quite talented. If you can enter the Yuelan Sect, you are more than qualified to be an inner disciple."
"I don't plan to enter the Yuelan Sect, I just want to be at your beck and call."
Bao Weijing said respectfully.
Xu Ning smiled.
Bao Weijing said, "In addition, there is one more thing that is related to you."
"The death of Elder Bao Xinxuan made Elder Bao Qiuhua feel threatened. She felt that someone was targeting the Bao family, so she persuaded Fang Jie to stay and help find the person who killed Bao Xinxuan, then get rid of him."
Bao Weijing looked up at Xu Ning with a look of concern in his eyes: "Senior Tao, Fang Jie's strength is said to be at the void realm eighth stage, you must be careful."
Bao Weijing was curious.
Even though Grand Elder Bao Qiuhua was a void realm sixth stage, she didn't dare to face Xu Ning, who had killed Bao Xinxuan, and had to rely on the help of the stronger Fang Jie.
This made Bao Weijing question Xu Ning's strength again.
Prior to this, Bao Weijing had thought that Xu Ning was a void realm fourth stage martial artist, but now it seemed that Xu Ning was a terrifying existence in the void realm seventh stage or even eighth stage.
'She deduced my true strength just from my attack on Bao Xinxuan. This should have been discovered by Fang Jie.'
When Xu Ning attacked, he only used his true qi, but Fang Jie still guessed it.
'Bao Qiuhua must have paid a huge price to persuade Fang Jie to help her. If I'm not wrong, it should be that dao seal.'
Xu Ning sorted out his thoughts.
"Do they have any plans to deal with me?"
Xu Ning asked.
"Yes."
After seeing Xu Ning remain so calm after hearing that there was an enemy in the void realm eighth stage, Bao Weijing was certain that Senior Tao was a high-level void realm martial artist.
"Bao Qiuhua has inferred that your goal is the entire Bao family, so they plan to use the important members of the Bao family as bait to lure you out."
Bao Weijing continued to speak in detail, "In five days, the family will send the Family Head, several void realm elders, and the elites of the younger generation to go out together. Before that, this news will spread to deliberately bait you. They believe that this will make you have the urge to destroy the core of the Bao family."
"In the meantime, Fang Jie will follow them in secret. And when you appear, he will attack you."
Xu Ning nodded. This plan was reasonable.
"Will Bao Qiuhua participate in the operation?"
Xu Ning asked.
"She won't participate, instead she will stay in the Bao family mansion."
Bao Weijing was certain. "She seems to have something important to do, but she didn't tell us the specifics."
"Is that so…"
After understanding everything, Xu Ning started to think deeply about it.
"Well done."
Xu Ning said, "I have a plan for what to do next."
"These are the pills I recently prepared for you."
Xu Ning threw out a bunch of porcelain bottles, and inside were pills that he had recently refined for Bao Weijing.
"Senior Tao, there's really no need…"
Bao Weijing was a little flattered. "I haven't finished the pills you gave me before…"
"It's okay. You can just increase the dosage, this will speed up your cultivation."
Xu Ning didn't expect Bao Weijing's status to rise so quickly.
The more this was the case, the more Bao Weijing needed strength to support himself.
"Then I'll accept it…"
Although this was not the first time he had received pills from Xu Ning, Bao Weijing was still very happy.
He knew very well that the pills given by Xu Ning were of extremely high quality.
There were almost no side effects, and its effect was no worse than those medicinal pills that consumed potential.
"Go back and strive to advance to the spirit realm as soon as possible. I will also find a way to help you obtain the status of the family heir."
Xu Ning made a promise.
"Yes."
Bao Weijing left.
'This Bao Weijing is quite useful…'
Xu Ning thought, 'Since Bao Qiuhua wants to use bait to make me appear, then I will do the opposite. Not only will I not attack the core of the family, but I will go directly to the Bao family mansions.'
'Fang Jie is not there, so it will not be difficult to deal with Bao Qiuhua and rescue the Wei family members.'
Xu Ning knew that he was about to achieve his goal in the Crystal Mansion.
…
Five days later.
The news that the core members of the Bao family had gone out to visit other big families had spread, and soon they left the Crystal Mansion Prefecture.
Xu Ning didn't fall for it, instead he took advantage of the night and went to the Bao family mansion.
'Sure enough, Fang Jie and the core members of the Bao family are no longer in the mansion, even Bao Weijing has left.'
Xu Ning carefully searched around the Bao family mansion. At this moment, he had already sensed Bao Qiuhua's location.
'Is she in a secret room or an underground dungeon? Moreover, there are three familiar auras next to her… It's the Wei family members!'
Xu Ning's eyes lit up, then he quickly rushed over.
At this time.
Inside the underground dungeon.
Wei Changqing, Wei Binglin, and Wei Zicheng were taken to a secret room.
They were then tied to shelves.
The three of them looked pale and exhausted.
They had experienced this many times before.
Every time this happened, they would lose a lot of blood.
Ta! Ta! Ta!
Soft footsteps approached.
A skinny old woman with a dark expression walked in.
She walked into the secret room with a stone tablet on her shoulder.
It was Bao Qiuhua.
After seeing Bao Qiuhua walk in, Wei Changqing and the other two were surprised.
When they had blood taken in the past, it was always done by guards, but this time an old woman came.
And they knew this old woman.
This was because she was the one who abducted the three of them and placed them in such a hopeless environment.
"It's you!"
After recognizing Bao Qiuhua, Wei Changqing's pupils shrunk.
"Senior, can you let us live?"
Wei Changqing quickly begged.
The guards he came into contact with before were all minor characters. They only drew blood from them step by step.
But this old woman was definitely the decision maker. If he could make her agree to let the three of them go, then there was still hope.
"Senior, we are descendants of the Wei family in State Feiyun. If you are willing to let us go back, the family behind us will definitely give you enough treasures as repayment!"
Wei Changqing quickly said.
"Heh…"
Bao Qiuhua's smile was eerie. "What is more precious than a dao seal?"
"Dao seal?"
Although this was not the first time they had heard this term, Wei Changqing and the others were still confused.
They didn't know what a dao seal was.
"Senior, you don't have to let me go, even if you just let my nephew and niece go…"
Wei Changqing still wanted to speak, but Bao Qiuhua pointed her finger and injected three strands of true qi into the bodies of the three people. They suddenly felt their bodies soften, inhibiting them from speaking.
"Stop struggling…"
Bao Qiuhua's voice was hoarse. "Don't worry, after this, your pain will be over."
Wei Changqing, Wei Binglin, and Wei Zicheng looked confused at first before an expression full of fear appeared on their faces.
They understood what Bao Qiuhua meant—this was the last time they would extract their blood.
After this, they would lose their lives.
Wei Changqing and the other two were in pain, but Bao Qiuhua was in a good mood.
After today, the dao seal would be completely unsealed.
Although it would not be hers in the future, she had enough time to observe it.
After observing, she, who had been stuck in the attribute realm for a long time, would have the opportunity to advance to the common seal realm.
"The dao seal is about to be unsealed!"
Bao Qiuhua's fingertips were sharp, her eyes full of murderous intent.