Immortality Through Array Formations

Chapter 356 - 354: Raiding the House_1

The An Family donated several hundred thousand Spirit Stones, which, through Mo Hua’s hands, were sent to the Taoist Court. They were piled up in the storerooms of the Taoist Court, saved for when the Large Formation was constructed, to be uniformly dispatched and used.

As a result, the An Family received the gratitude of Elder Yu, as well as that of the Taoist Court and the Taoist soldiers Court, along with Mo Hua’s personal favor.

But still, the Spirit Stones were not enough.

With a furrowed brow, Mo Hua looked at the Jade Slip of the Large Formation, calculating the required number of Spirit Stones, and discovered that there was still a shortfall of several hundred thousand Spirit Stones. He couldn’t help but wonder:

Does a normal Large Formation really require so many Spirit Stones?

Mo Hua had an excellent memory; he remembered Mr. Zhuang saying that if all the Spirit Stones from a small-scale Spiritual mine were used, it could probably build a small-scale Large Formation.

That was under the premise that one did not account for the Craftsmen’s wages or the consumption of Spirit Stones when the Large Formation was operational.

Yet now, so many Spirit Stones, equivalent to several small-scale Spiritual mines, and the budget was still insufficient.

Was this really a first-grade, ten-pattern Large Formation?

"Mr. Zhuang wouldn’t have deceived me, would he..."

Mo Hua muttered to himself in his heart.

However, at this point, it was pointless to think about this.

On the contrary, the higher the grade of the Large Formation, the stronger its power naturally was, and the more confident he could be in hunting down Feng Xi.

Now, Mo Hua actually hoped that the grade of the Large Formation could be even higher.

After all, he had already learned it.

The biggest problem now was how to solve the shortfall of several hundred thousand Spirit Stones.

After some thought, Mo Hua went to find Leader Yang of the Taoist soldiers Court and said:

"Uncle Yang, there aren’t enough Spirit Stones."

Leader Yang sighed and said with some helplessness:

"All the Spirit Stones that could be gathered have been gathered. The Qian Family has also delivered their Spirit Stones, the An Family has donated theirs, and the Loose Cultivators who could donate have done so as well. The Taoist Court has applied for some, but it won’t be much..."

Leader Yang went on calculating, then suddenly looked up, saw Mo Hua’s composed expression without a trace of urgency, and curiously asked:

"Do you already have an idea?"

Mo Hua smiled.

Leader Yang was a bit startled, "You really have an idea? We’re talking about several hundred thousand Spirit Stones."

Mo Hua didn’t beat around the bush and whispered to Leader Yang:

"We could raid a household..."

"Raid a household?" Leader Yang was startled, "The Qian Family has already turned in their Spirit Stones, raiding them again wouldn’t be very nice."

"It’s not the Qian Family."

Leader Yang thought for a moment, then, with a hint of wariness in his eyes when he looked at Mo Hua, he said:

"It can’t be the An Family...they have donated a lot, but they certainly have kept some at home too. If we search, there might still be something to scrape together, but..."

But that’s the way of trickery followed by violence, like eating without saving any leftovers, leaving no room for maneuver.

This method was just too ruthless.

Leader Yang looked at Mo Hua, a chill forming in his heart, not expecting Mo Hua to be so callous.

Mo Hua said, speechless, "What are you thinking? How could we possibly raid the An Family..."

Leader Yang let out a sigh of relief.

Exactly, Mo Hua wasn’t that kind of person.

"Then who are you thinking of raiding?" Leader Yang asked curiously.

Mo Hua fished out a standard-looking Jade Pendant from his Storage Bag, finely crafted and clearly valuable at a glance.

Leader Yang was somewhat astonished, "A Clan Jade Pendant?"

Mo Hua nodded, then flipped the Jade Pendant over. On the front of the Jade Pendant was engraved the character "Kong."

The Kong Family...

Leader Yang thought for a bit, then, not understanding, asked, "Is there a Kong Family in Tongxian City too?"

"It’s not Tongxian City, it’s the Kong Family from Qingxuan City."

Mo Hua’s expression became somewhat serious, his gaze narrowed, and a hint of coldness appeared in his eyes.

Seeing Mo Hua’s expression, Leader Yang whispered, "Did they offend you?"

Mo Hua shook his head, "It’s not that they offended me...it’s that they’ve done too many bad deeds."

Mo Hua told Leader Yang about the deeds of the Kong Family in Qingxuan City, including how they bribed officials in Qingxuan City’s Taoist Court, colluded with others, hired assassins, and what happened to Ji Qingbai’s family...

Leader Yang was an upright person; upon hearing this, he became furious, "Outrageous!"

Then Leader Yang became puzzled again, "But this Jade Pendant..."

Mo Hua explained, "This Jade Pendant belonged to Kong Sheng. Kong Sheng was a legitimate descendant of the Kong Family, a ne’er-do-well, not a good sort..."

"I infiltrated Black Mountain Stronghold to gather information and discovered Kong Sheng was also inside, with a good relationship with the Evil Cultivators, suggesting the Kong Family’s collusion with Black Mountain Stronghold!"

The Evil Cultivators kept Kong Sheng in a separate room and even delivered him food, clearly indicating their relationship was indeed good.

Kong Sheng wanted to deal with the Evil Cultivators to exchange for his life; saying there was collusion is not an exaggeration.

Mo Hua fabricated convincingly.

"Then how did this Jade Pendant end up in your hands?" Leader Yang asked further.

"I picked it up!"

Leader Yang looked at Mo Hua with suspicion, "Picked it up?"

Mo Hua nodded, "Evil cultivators killed Kong Sheng and used his body to feed pigs, I just picked it up along the way..."

Leader Yang pondered, "Since Kong Sheng colluded with Black Mountain Stronghold, how could he be killed by evil cultivators and fed to pigs?"

"Evil cultivators act with no rhyme or reason, they love to kill their own kind; infighting wouldn’t be out of the question...", Mo Hua concocted an excuse.

Leader Yang, however, found it quite plausible.

If evil cultivators acted according to common sense, would they still be called evil cultivators?

"Alright, then..."

Leader Yang knew that Mo Hua was definitely hiding something from him, that he had not spoken the whole truth about some details.

But he didn’t mind.

With this jade pendant, it’s proven that Kong Sheng was indeed in the Black Mountain Stronghold, so the Kong Family couldn’t be disconnected from this.

Later, he would go to Qingxuan City to investigate, list the crimes of the Kong Family, and then he could dispatch the Taoist soldiers to raid their estate directly. If anyone resisted, they would march in and suppress them by force.

Such local powers were not typically interfered with by the Taoist soldiers Court, but now, faced with great disaster, their actions could afford to be less by-the-book.

As long as the justification was sound on the surface, evidence and official documents could be supplemented afterward.

Leader Yang weighed the jade pendant in his hand and nodded.

Then he seemed to think of something and looked at Mo Hua strangely,

"You’ve hidden this jade pendant for so long, have you been thinking of framing the Kong Family?"

Previously the timing hadn’t been right, and the jade pendant wouldn’t have been of much use, but now at a critical juncture, it just happened to be suitable for making the cut.

Mo Hua earnestly said,

"This is called ’Heaven’s net is vast; though it is loose, nothing slips through.’ The Kong Family violated the laws of the Taoist Court, and their home was raided by the Taoist soldiers Court. It’s all logical and reasonable, what does it have to do with me? I did nothing..."

Mo Hua pushed away all connection cleanly.

Leader Yang was startled, then shook his head helplessly, lamenting in his heart,

Mo Hua, this kid, is so clever and skillful in scheming. Hopefully, he doesn’t stray onto the wrong path and fall into the demon path in the future; otherwise, the trouble would be immense.

"It seems I must find a way to have him join the Yang Family. The Yang Family has an upright tradition, which, with time, would surely prevent Mo Hua from making a misstep."

Leader Yang’s thoughts circled back to this idea as always...

The following matters required no involvement from Mo Hua.

Leader Yang personally led the Taoist soldiers to Qingxuan City and raided the Kong Family’s estate, but the outcome surprised Mo Hua.

Not only was the Kong Family’s estate ransacked, but the entire household was exterminated.

According to Leader Yang, they had only surrounded the Kong Family to question their crimes, but unexpectedly, a disciple of the Kong Family took the initiative, attacked the Taoist soldiers brazenly,

and even some other Kong Family disciples were inciting them.

Whereas another part of the Kong Family disciples, realizing the implications, had already turned deathly pale and fled as if they were fleeing for their lives.

The Taoist soldiers are a symbol of the Taoist Court’s authority.

Attacking Taoist soldiers unprovoked is akin to defying the Taoist Court.

Leader Yang, his face as grim as water, did not show any mercy. With a command, his Taoist soldiers, like a long dragon, immediately started to execute the Kong Family’s cultivators.

The Kong Family only had two at the Foundation Establishment Initial Stage, and having become complacent after years of bullying, their combat skills were rusty. Naturally, they were no match for Leader Yang and his subordinated Taoist soldiers.

One of the Foundation Building Elders of the Kong Family did not last a few exchanges before Leader Yang thrust his spear through his chest, kicked him down to the ground, leaving him gasping at death’s door.

The Kong Family Master, knowing he was not a match, made a decisive move and fled immediately.

The other Kong Family disciples disintegrated in an instant.

Although the Taoist soldiers were few in number and capable of defeating the Kong Family disciples, they could not keep them captive and had to let them scatter and flee.

But unexpectedly, there was another turn of events.

The scattered cultivators of Qingxuan City had deep grudges against the Kong Family.

They had suffered under the Kong Family’s oppression for many years, with nowhere to appeal and having shed many tears.

But with the Kong Family’s two Foundation Building cultivators at the helm, they were no match and helpless.

But now, with both Foundation Builders of the Kong Family defeated by the Taoist soldiers, one dead and another fugitive,

centuries of pent-up grievances, along with boundless fury, poured out all at once.

The scattered cultivators of Qingxuan City began with eyes bloodshot, slaughtering the cultivators of the Kong Family.

Any cultivator of the Kong Family wearing their clothes, once they fled the premises, would be caught by scattered cultivators who would then hold them down; other scattered cultivators would rush up and hack them to death one by one.

The Kong Family Master might have escaped, but the scattered cultivators blocked him.

Being a Foundation Building cultivator, he was not afraid of these Qi Refinement scattered cultivators; these scattered cultivators seemed not to fear death, pressing forward relentlessly like the tide.

Many scattered cultivators didn’t even use Taoist skills but relied on sheer bravado, rushing fearlessly to the Kong Family Master, trying to rip a piece of flesh from him or using their lives to hold him back, preventing his escape.

The Kong Family Master killed one, then another came, killed one more, and another threw themselves at him. After killing more than a dozen...it did not instill fear in the scattered cultivators, but instead ignited their bloodlust and hatred even more.

The scattered cultivators, desperate, intertwined with various angry curses:

"Give back my son’s life!"

"My parents died at the hands of this beast!"

"Kong Family, you old dogs, you deserve to die! Even if I die, I will eat your flesh and drink your blood!"

...