Seeing that Zuo Mingxu was unmoved, Lin Taihe grew impatient and bluntly stated, "To tell you the truth, before I came here, Old Devil Zhang approached me."
"If you agree to take action, Old Devil Zhang is confident he can persuade his senior brother to join us and completely eliminate the Chen family threat."
"His senior brother, Old Devil Hong, is an inner disciple of the Demon Lair sect and has already reached the late Foundation Establishment stage."
"You've aligned yourself with demonic cultivators!"
Zuo Mingxu was visibly alarmed, his expression changing dramatically. Collaborating with demonic cultivators was a grave offense. If such actions were exposed, neither Daoist Jiang nor the Qingyang Sect would tolerate them.
"Shh." Lin Taihe motioned for silence, his face cold.
"If we don't speak of this, who will know?"
"Our collaboration with demonic cultivators is purely coincidental. Nothing more."
"Besides, I have no choice," he continued, with a sinister gleam in his eye. "If Chen Changxuan isn't dealt with, you may be able to hide in your family's protective formation, but will you continue to manage the family's affairs?"
"The lucrative Five Elements Essence trade from Feng County to Tianxu Mountain—will you simply give that up?"
Lin Taihe's words struck Zuo Mingxu like the final straw breaking the camel's back.
Zuo Mingxu wasn't acting solely for himself; he represented his entire cultivation family. Hiding indefinitely within the family's spiritual vein would render much of their business unmanageable.
If the family's trade halved, their income would vanish, and the family's operations—including his salary—would be unsustainable.
At this thought, Zuo Mingxu clenched his teeth and decisively said, "I agree."
"However, I know nothing about the involvement of demonic cultivators."
"Haha," Lin Taihe laughed heartily.
"Neither of us knows anything about demonic cultivators' involvement."
"After this, not only will we resolve a major enemy, but we'll also secure Five Elements Essence worth over 10,000 spirit stones. Why not?"
After Lin Taihe left, the two Zuo family Foundation Establishment cultivators flew back to their family estate with heavy hearts.
Zuo Zhouqi's expression was grim as he muttered, "If we knew this would happen, we wouldn't have fought for that Foundation Establishment Pill back then."
"This is my fault for being too hasty," Zuo Mingxu said bitterly.
"Who would've thought Chen Changxuan would have such luck, just happening to have a precious herb, allowing him to refine a pill and break through to the late Foundation Establishment stage a year before acquiring the pill?"
"Talking about it now is useless. Tomorrow, check the family treasury and allocate more spirit stones."
"In a few days, we'll visit Qingyang Market to purchase some magical tools and talismans for full preparation. I'll also bring our ancestral talisman. I refuse to believe we can't kill that old fox Chen Changxuan."
Zuo Mingxu spoke with determination, resolving to end the threat in one decisive battle.
Time flew by, and a few months later, the Chen family finally acquired enough Five Elements Essence. The quantity was so large that storage bags couldn't hold it all, forcing them to spend 200 spirit stones to rent ten Firecloud Horses from the Zhang family to transport the goods.
"Looks like everything is ready."
Atop Qingyuan Mountain, Elian toyed with a fist-sized orb while standing beside the old patriarch, calmly watching the clansmen load goods below.
Chen Changxuan withdrew his gaze, glanced at Elian, and asked with a slight smile, "How are those two magical tools coming along?"
"They're nearly ready," Elian replied, nodding as he examined the pale green orb in his hand.
The orb, refined from the inner core of a Green-Patterned Ape, was a second-tier mid-grade magical tool. When its offensive array was activated, it expanded to a size of ten feet, with a weight as heavy as ten thousand pounds, capable of smashing boulders ten feet wide.
Elian's expertise in spiritual planting and alchemy was almost as advanced as his other skills. The old patriarch, a second-tier high-grade formation master, wasn't as proficient in refining tools but was skilled enough to create a second-tier mid-grade artifact.
Over half a month, the patriarch incorporated a large amount of Green-Patterned Iron and refined it with abundant Five Elements Essence, creating a tool that could both attack and defend. It could generate a green light shield to block attacks, making it a versatile treasure. Elian named it the Green Ape Pearl and was particularly fond of it.
In addition, the old patriarch reforged Elian's Thousand-Year Crimson Iron Blade Embryo into a sword embryo.
Considering Elian's future plans to refine the Crimson Iron into the Fiery Void Sword, the patriarch avoided adding other materials or Five Elements Essence to maintain the iron's purity. Thus, the sword embryo remained a second-tier low-grade tool.
However, with his superior skill in formations, the patriarch inscribed new arrays, making the sword embryo's power far surpass its former self, reaching the pinnacle of second-tier low-grade tools.
With the speed advantage of flying swords over magical artifacts, this sword's effectiveness was likely on par with the Green Ape Pearl.
Elian was naturally thrilled with these two powerful tools. In addition to cultivating, he had spent most of his time refining them.
"Now that they're ready, I feel reassured," the old patriarch said with a sigh of relief. He then produced a small, ancient bell.
"Last night, I visited Pingyang City to retrieve the Nine Deflection Bell."
"Refine it a bit more. With this defensive artifact, your safety should be well secured."
Elian shook his head.
"The Green Ape Pearl is both offensive and defensive—it should suffice to keep me safe."
"But you don't have a defensive artifact. This tool would serve you better."
"Silly child," the old patriarch laughed heartily.
"You underestimate the power of a second-tier high-grade formation master."
"With the Blazing Fire Divine Flags in hand, the surging fire burns everything. Ordinary spells and magical tools would lose their power before reaching me. It's as good as a second-tier high-grade defensive artifact."
"While the Green Ape Pearl is versatile, the Nine Deflection Bell's defense is three times stronger."
Hearing this, Elian finally accepted the Nine Deflection Bell. With three second-tier tools in hand, he had fully compensated for his earlier lack of equipment and could now confidently face mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators.
"Patriarch, Elian, everything is ready," the Third Elder announced, arriving at the mountaintop.
Elian smiled and asked, "Uncle Qinghao, are the candidates for the Fiery Sun Heavenly Fire Flags set?"
"Yes," Chen Qinghao confirmed.
"This time, I, Qingyuan, Qingwan, Qingmu, Uncle Changming, and Nianyong will operate the flags."
The two exchanged a glance and nodded.
Among the six chosen, three had recently reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining in the past seven years.
...
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