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At the border of Baishi and Qinghe, the Yang Family’s northern mine.

“Please… spare me…”

Crack!

Before the bandit leader could finish his words, Yang Linghu had already twisted his neck.

Looking at the corpses scattered around him, he wiped the blood off his clothes and calmly turned to leave.

This was the fifth bandit group he had dealt with in recent days.

These unfortunate souls were greedy, thinking they could seize the mineral resources here as a base, but they never expected that a cultivator at the second level of Gathering Qi was hiding in this remote mine.

By the time they realized Yang Linghu was not an ordinary person, it was already too late to escape.

When Yang Linghu returned to the mine, the family soldiers guarding it stood at attention and saluted.

“Welcome, Master Linghu!”

Yang Linghu nodded and returned to his residence.

Upon entering the room, he sat on the mat to review the day’s events.

During the more than a year he had spent guarding the mine alone, he had gradually developed this habit.

He knew he did not have a clever mind like Lingqing, so he needed to think things through carefully to avoid mistakes.

After going through what had happened today in his mind, Yang Linghu slowly opened his eyes.

“The leader had opened all eleven energy channels and was on the verge of condensing his Qi Palace.”

Yang Linghu thought, “Lingqing mentioned in her previous letter that this area would be a hotspot for bandits. I must not act impulsively and need to be cautious.”

He got up and walked to the window, looking at the dark clouds in the sky, sensing a bad premonition in his heart.

“Wait, something doesn’t feel right.”

A sudden flashback occurred in Yang Linghu’s mind. He pulled out a map and marked the traces of the five bandit groups on it.

At first glance, he immediately noticed the commonality in their movement patterns.

They initially entered from the east, and though their directions varied afterward, they all turned south after heading north, essentially heading towards the mine.

It seemed as if someone was guiding them!

Yang Linghu spread the map wide and studied it closely, his fingertip tracing north before stopping at a specific location.

Sanglu Valley!

Yang Linghu suddenly realized that the Zhang Family must be involved in this.

Realizing this, he quickly changed his mind.

“Come here.”

“At your service, Master! What are your orders?”

A captain of the family soldiers, dressed in vine armor, stepped into the room.

“Relay my orders: Starting today, cease all mining activities. Within three days, return all stored resources and laborers back home.”

Yang Linghu instructed, “After they leave, you should take the family soldiers back.”

“Ah! Master, are you going to stay here alone?”

The captain of the family soldiers exclaimed in shock, “This is not acceptable! Master Lingqing specifically advised us…”

Yang Linghu raised his hand to signal him to stop and turned to hand over a written message.

“This is my written message. Master Lingqing will understand after seeing it. From now on, dealing with the bandit groups is beyond what you can handle. It is not worth losing your lives here after your family worked so hard to raise you.”

“This…”

The captain opened his mouth but ultimately agreed and immediately began organizing the miners to move the stored ore.

Meanwhile, to the north of the mine, not far from Sanglu Valley, a bandit group was occupying a nearby hill and had built a stronghold.

Inside the stronghold gathered more than a hundred people, feasting on food and drink—items they had stolen through burning, killing, and plundering, unaware of how many innocent people had suffered along the way.

“Master Zhang, thanks to you, my brothers and I are finally standing firm, I toast you!”

In the center of the stronghold’s camp, a burly man with a goatee raised a wine jar to toast Zhang Chen.

He was the leader of this bandit group.

Beside him sat two individuals, one dressed in white with a delicate appearance, and the other, a scarred-faced man.

These two were the goateed man’s sworn brothers and were also the second and third in command of the bandit group.

Seeing their brother toasting, the two immediately followed suit.

“Master Zhang, you are our benefactor, I toast you!”

“I join too!”

“Hahaha, well said, well said!”

Zhang Chen was in high spirits, downing three large cups of wine, which made the three men cheer enthusiastically.

“Master Zhang has a big capacity!”

“Such generosity, your future is limitless!”

After the round of drinking, Zhang Chen put down his cup and got to business.

“Liao Feng, I am doing you three brothers a favor, but it comes with risks. Make sure you handle that matter well.”

Zhang Chen said slowly, “You must deal with this properly.”

“Of course! Rest assured, Master Zhang. This matter has been in preparation for days; we are just waiting to close the net.”

The leader Liao Feng readily agreed.

“Great! With your word, I feel at ease. Now, let’s drink!”

To understand why Zhang Chen mixed with these bandits, we must go back to the time when the war between the two nations had just begun.

After failing to seize the mineral resources more than a year ago, Zhang Chen kept this incident in mind, always thinking of how to reclaim it.

However, since Zhang Tianqi and others focused their attention on the cave in Sanglu Valley, he had to put that thought aside for the time being.

When the war broke out between the two nations, bandit activity began to appear and worsened. The mayor of Qinghe Town sought help from the Zhang Family, hoping they could assist in clearing the bandits.

At that time, the Zhang Family had some insights into the cave’s restrictions, and since Zhang Tianqi and others were unwilling to withdraw, it happened that Zhang Chen had a breakthrough in his realm and reached the second level of Gathering Qi.

Zhang Tianqi wanted to use this opportunity to train Zhang Chen, so he handed over the task of assisting in the extermination of the bandits to him and even gave him a protective treasure from the family.

With this treasure, he could deal with even third-level Gathering Qi cultivators.

Initially, Zhang Chen took the bandit extermination seriously, but after a few days, his hidden ulterior motives began to stir.

“Currently, bandits are rampant across the land. The Yang Family is not like my family’s Sanglu Valley with a geographical advantage; they must also be in distress.”

“The mine is far from the Yang Family, and that old man Yang Guanfeng certainly won’t leave home to guard this distant mine. It should still be that Yang Family kid at the first level of Gathering Qi watching over it.”

With this thought, he devised a plan.

“How about we create a diversion to draw the bandits over there and then pick a few strong bandits, give them some benefits, let them take out the people at the mine along with the Yang Family kid, and kill two birds with one stone!”

“Haha, this way, it would be clear that the Yang Family is incompetent, unable to defend their home against the bandits, ultimately suffering losses. Who could they blame?”

“Then I can step in later, clear out the bandits here, and rightfully take over the mine!”

With this plan, he immediately began to act, first pushing some powerful bandits south and then enticing Liao Feng and his brothers to camp near Sanglu Valley, providing them with plenty of supplies.

Liao Feng was originally a squad leader in a prince’s army from the East Wilderness Dynasty, entering the path through martial prowess and possessing the second level of Gathering Qi. His two sworn brothers were both at the first level of Gathering Qi.

Among the bandits, their strength was formidable, having built their group through a trail of blood and conquest.

“Hmph, once I reclaim this mine, you will see clearly who can represent the future of the Zhang Family!” Zhang Chen thought with hope as he drained his wine.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep