**It was a rainy day.** Cold winter winds lashed against the young man Jian Bu's face. His lips were cracked, and his eyelashes had frozen, but his gaze remained unmoved. Before him lay the lifeless bodies of his clan members.
Jian Bu took a deep breath and began searching for survivors. He had been away on a training mission when the disaster struck. As he sifted through the countless bodies, his heart clenched. His mind clung to the hope of not seeing his family members among them.
Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes widened, his sword dropped, and he let out a anguished roar. "Oh, heavens, why did you take my younger brother's life?" Before him was the mangled body of Jian Chen.
"Jian Bu, is that you?"
"Jian Chen, you're still alive?"
Jian Bu's face lit up with a smile, but it quickly faded as he assessed his younger brother's injuries. His legs were missing, and his cultivation was crippled.
"Tell me who did this to you. Where is Xian'er?"
"Older brother, you must get revenge. This was all because of the young master of the Qu clan. He lusted after older sister, but she refused him. In his rage, he slaughtered the entire clan. I only survived because older sister begged him to let me live. She was taken away by him. Brother, you must save her!"
Jian Bu's expression turned cold, icy cold. He was a smart young man. After realizing his brother was still alive and his sister was likely safe for now, his mind began plotting revenge.
"Younger brother, we can't be rash. It's good you're alive. There will always be fire as long as the verdant hills remain. Right now, our goal is to get you healed. We need a flesh pill. As for your cultivation... older brother will find a way."
Jian Chen's expression filled with panic. "But brother, elder sister is trapped in that Qu clan! She's in danger every second!"
Jian Bu looked at his younger brother and said, "You don't have to worry about that. Our sister has one of the 3000 Houtian Physiques, the Yin Moon physique. People born with special physiques can't have intercourse until adulthood, otherwise the physique will regress from innate to acquired. It will only be slightly better than a mortal physique, and the dual cultivation benefits will be lost. That young master most likely wanted to advance in cultivation for the Qu clan inheritance war that will happen in 2 years. There's nothing to worry about."
Jian Chen quickly calmed down and took a deep look at his brother. "Brother, you're always someone we could rely on. I have hope now for elder sister. But now, most importantly, we should try to find any survivors. Our Jian clan is not a Super-Clan, but we are a Local Overlord Clan with influence over 100 prefectures. Even if our branch clan was killed, there are still the other branches and the main clan."
Jian Bu nodded. He gave Jian Chen a Blood Revolution Pill to quickly heal his injuries and then carried his younger brother on his back. "For the next three days, we will try to look for survivors. If we don't find any, they must've retreated to the nearest Jian branch clan in the Sunfire prefecture. There's no need for us to go there, so we will go directly to the main clan and report. Even though the branch clans are still family, there's a lot of infighting going on in our clan. Those clan members would take 1 week to arrive there. I came here a day late, with the three other days, there will be 4 days total. By then, we will have 3 days of space to disappear."
**Quickly, three days passed.** The sun rose from the east, heralding a new day. Before Jian Bu stood a group of 80 people, the survivors from the thousands who once lived in the branch clan.
This group varied in strength. Jian Bu himself had reached the Qi Condensation 5th layer. His younger brother, a cultivation genius, had achieved the Qi Condensation 6th layer but was now crippled. Being a cultivation clan, everyone here, from young to old, possessed at least the Qi Condensation 1st layer. There were 3 super warriors at the Qi Condensation 7th layer, 5 at the 5th layer, a dozen at the 4th layer, 30 at the 3rd layer, and the rest below that.
While this seemed like a formidable force, not everyone was a combatant. The 5th-layer cultivators were our clan's top fighters, the 7th-layer were our elders, the 4th-layer were our geniuses, and the 3rd-layer were average martial artists. The rest were young, old, or non-combatants. Although some couldn't fight, they possessed skills like alchemy or blacksmithing.
"It's time for us to leave," Jian Bu announced. "I've searched every crevice of Lone Sword Mountain. There are no survivors left. If they're still alive, they've already left. It's time to depart!"
A young man with a long face shouted at Jian Bu, "Who put you in charge of us? You're just a junior, 16 years old. Someone like Elder Brother Jian Fan is more qualified to lead us, right, brother?"
Jian Bu turned his gaze to Jian Fan and replied, "If Brother Jian Fan wants to lead, he's free to do so if he believes he's qualified. I won't stop him."
Jian Fan, a tall young man with a crafty look, was 19 years old and at the Qi Condensation 5th layer. "Brother Jian Bu, you jest. You're the Clan Leader's son, the most qualified for this role. I'll serve as your assistant if needed. I just hope all our clan members arrive safely at the main clan."
Jian Bu studied Jian Fan, thinking, 'This man can't be trusted. He might scheme against me.' He then said, "Since Brother Jian Fan has spoken, I'll continue leading the mission. Our clan elders will work in the shadows, protecting us. I represent their will as the leader of this expedition while they remain hidden. Since Brother Jian Fan expressed such heartfelt words for our clan members and Jian Du supports him, I'll put them in charge of protecting our young and elderly."
Jian Fan's expression quickly changed. He knew this was a difficult task, as many people would attack the weak to save the strong. He couldn't refuse, having fallen into Jian Bu's trap. "Well said, Brother Jian Bu. Thank you for giving me this honor," he said with a laugh.
Jian Chen watched all this with a large smile on his face. Sitting atop a horse, he thought to himself, 'That's my older brother. He tamed those scheming bastards so easily.'