After waiting on the mountain for a few hours, they indeed saw the black Demonic Qi slowly fade away, and everything outside the formation beca clear. A young Yu Family mber stepped forward and called out:
"Lu Kexing, hurry and go check!"
With a smile that wasn't quite a smile, Lu Kexing nodded his head, rode the wind outwards, and searched among the corpses on the ground for a while. Suddenly, he burst into elation, drew the sword at his waist, and chopped off the head of a corpse, laughing:
"Congratulations are in order! Congratulations are in order! Elders, Yu Mugao is dead!"
He raised a head in his left hand, lifting it high above his head as if it were a trophy, and shouted:
"The tyrannical and ruthless master is dead! There's no need for the nobles of the prefecture to submit themselves anymore! Great joy, Elders!"
Yu Chengyi's face instantly turned pale, and he sat down in a daze, only then belatedly realizing what had happened, but on the mountain, no one cared about him any longer; the people were both happy and worried as they shouted:
"Quickly bring the head forward!"
Then, soone else joyfully called out:
"Where is the Jade Seal? Where is the Foundation Establishnt Magic Artifact [Yanxia Mountain]?"
[Yanxia Mountain] was a Foundation Establishnt Magical Instrunt and already possessed a Spiritual Nature; unless it was a mber of the Yu Family's Direct Lineage, holding this seal was like carrying a heavy mountain; those Devil Cultivators were only at the Qi Cultivation level and surely couldn't take it away.
Lu Kexing hurriedly brought the head back to the mountain and handed it to the Elder, saying:
"[Yanxia Mountain] is too heavy for to lift; it's still down the mountain."
The Elder took the head with gray-white hair, looked at it carefully:
Yu Mugao had already passed his eightieth year, his hair grey and white. The eyes of the severed head were slightly open, the hair all bristling, and the Demonic Skill had left his complexion ashen, with blood oozing from the lips.
Those eyes were staring straight at the Elder's greedy and joyful gaze, scaring the old man into letting out a yelp and dropping Yu Mugao's head, his face turning deathly pale.
Behind him, soone else picked up the head, unwilling to believe that Yu Mugao was really dead, passing it around. The trembling Elder of the Yu Family said:
"Although this scoundrel was miserly and lacked grace, he was not adept in Spell Battles... his death was to be expected..."
"It's just that... this... Yu Muxian is still inside the clan, if he finds out... if he finds out... that we secretly removed the marks from the Array Plate... Lu Kexing! What should we do?"
It turned out that several Elders were actually brothers of Yu Xiaogui, who, fearing that his eldest son Yu Mugao would embark on a massacre within the family after his death, had employed many thods to secretly protect them.
Yu Mugao had long been aware of it, but feared that any rash actions might expose Yu Xiaogui's death, planning to fra and kill them one by one. This Elder was no simpleton either, pretending to be oblivious.
Unexpectedly encountering Devil Cultivators, everyone was rescued by Lu Kexing, and since Yu Mugao's sons were weak and indecisive, they indeed let him beco a disaster.
Lu Kexing shook his head and replied:
"Dying in a demonic disaster, Yu Muxian will not ask for a Clarity Talisman. As long as we all insist, there is great opportunity in this matter!"
The Yu Family Elder nodded silently, whispering:
"We will follow the Guest Elder's arrangents!"
Lu Kexing smiled and nodded. The old man turned back to look at the fearful faces behind him, and declared loudly:
"Yu Mugao is dead, all his perverse and destructive laws must be abolished, including land taxes, selection exams, collective punishnts, comrcial taxes... restore clan contributions, clan servants... revoke all of Yu Mugao's laws and restore the ancient clan system!"
The mbers of the Yu Family below instantly had faces full of joyful smiles, cheering loudly. Yu Mugao's head lay on the ground, his hair all wet, hanging down in strands, while above, the chorus of the crowd echoed:
"Remove the high villain, restore the clan system!"
The head, drained by Demonic Skill, turned gray and dull in color, resembling quite a bit the one in the Yu Family treasure vault that had been nitrate-treated and maintained with Spells for decades; An Jingming's, lying desolately in the rain.
...
Li Yuanping sat in the seat of honor. He was also approaching thirty years old, with streaks of white already appearing at his temples. Now, too lazy to dye them, he let it turn white naturally. Considering the lifespan of people in Da Li Mountain where white hair cos at thirty and life ends at fifty, Li Yuanping could also call himself an old man.
The Storage Bags left by the two Devil Cultivators were no ordinary items. Li Yuanping had sent soone to the market to exchange them for three Storage Bags of the Fetal Breathing Level, with over twenty Spirit Stones remaining, which were added to the treasury, making him feel much more comfortable.
The exchanged Storage Bags were given to the An Family brothers and Tian Clan's orphan, as a way of currying favor.
He was preparing his tribute for this ti, having heard that the person coming was Yu Su from Yuanwu Peak, a greedy and bold man. A substantial bribe was naturally indispensable, and he had to prepare well.
Li Yuanping silently wrote on, when a person ca up from below, offering a small letter.
"Family Head! A spy from the Yu Family has reported."
Li Yuanping glanced at it, then suddenly widened his eyes, unable to believe what he read, and exclaid in shock:
"Yu Mugao is dead?!"
"Is it true or false? What kind of conspiracy is this person playing at..."
He pondered for a while, feeling that under the current situation with the three families, there was no need to fake death, it would only cause unnecessary turmoil... after all, the agreent between the three families was in place, and the mbers of the Li family could not possibly take this opportunity to advance northward, it would be completely self-defeating.
It's just that the Yu Family's territories were vast, and they encountered more devil cultivators, so Yu Mugao's death was understandable.
"Go and investigate again."
He still was not at ease and sent another person down. After careful thought, he put down his pen rather relaxed and let out a muffled chuckle, joyfully saying to those around him:
"With one less hungry wolf by my side, we can finally sleep in peace!"
Li Yuanping held the small letter and waited for a mont, when Li Yuanjiao, dressed in black, descended into the courtyard on the wind, his presence already at the Qi Cultivation Eighth Layer. With his substantial accumulation, he had achieved a breakthrough in just a few days.
Li Yuanping stood up and walked down, smiling and saying:
"Brother, take a look at this!"
Li Yuanjiao nodded and took it, reading carefully. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling both joy and frustration, and lanted:
"That's too cheap for him! To die so easily."
The grudge of their brother, Li Yuanxiu, still simred in the hearts of Li Yuanjiao and his siblings, wishing they could personally slay the Yu Family father and son. However, Yu Xiaogui's life had been swiftly severed by Li Tongya's sword, and he had later passed away sitting in ditation, while Yu Mugao died in a magical calamity; that was so consolation.
Li Yuanping raised his head slightly and said in a low voice:
"When I count up our family's enemies, even though Yu Mugao was not as towering a figure as Ganixi, he was still a force to be reckoned with. Now he is dead, and his lifeti of good governance and clan regulations have beco nothing. With the Yu Family no longer able to compete with our family for supremacy, it is a stroke of fortune for our Li Family."
Li Yuanjiao laughed heartily and responded:
"The Yu Family stole the surna of Jiao to beco 'Yu', hosting banquets for the clans and forcing tributes in such pomp and circumstance. How splendid they were? Barely eighty years have passed and now their power is crumbling like mountains falling, and the last pillar has snapped."
"It's just that there's still a Yu Mujian out there, and we don't know if he's dead or where he might be. There's been no news at all."
The two brothers were in high spirits. Seeing this, Dou Yi, who was always quick to play the opportunist, hurried up and reported:
"Family Head! With Yu Mugao's death, the Elder Yu Xiaomian is supporting the Seventh Young Master, Yu Chengyi, to lead. The other peaks are occupied by the legitimate descendants of Yu Mugao, split into four factions, at a standoff."
Listening, Li Yuanping felt moved but could only say:
"It's just a pity that Yu Muxian established the oath of the three families, and we are not allowed to interfere with the affairs of the Yu Family or enter their territory. Otherwise, taking this opportunity to move north and annex a large part of the Yu Family would pose no problem."
"We can't directly annex them, but there's no problem in making so minor moves."
Li Yuanjiao agreed, and Li Yuanping took the letter handed up by Dou Yi, adding:
"A magical calamity has struck all over the Lake area. The Fei Clan has activated the 'Cloud Gathering Great Formation of the Southern Sky'. There are no Foundation Establishnt devil cultivators among them, so after besieging for a while without interest, they dispersed."
As the two brothers discussed, there was a burst of crying and shouting from the front hall, followed by two Fetal Breathing Cultivators rushing up. Young in appearance, their faces were tear-stained. They threw themselves to the ground with a thud, wailing:
"Please save our small clan, honorable main family!"
Among the East Bank clans that paid tribute to the Li Family, there were the Rui and Pu Families. These two people, young cultivators working in the Li Family's Spiritual Fields, knelt on the ground, begging pitifully and crying:
"Family Head, the East Bank is in a state of decay, with nurous Qi Cultivation and Fetal Breathing devil cultivators wreaking havoc. The spells for calling for help have already been raised one after another, only asking the main family to save our small clan..."
Li Yuanjiao glanced at his brother, and both were imdiately pleased. Their gaze first turned to a large and densely packed cluster of surnas on the map.
"The East Bank clans!"
'These Qi Cultivation and Fetal Breathing devil cultivators are all like fat sheep... and this is an opportunity to gather a host of Fetal Breathing clans, obtain their tributes, and kill two birds with one stone. How wonderful!'
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