Driving Wolves and Chasing Tigers
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Watching as Su Shan was taken away by several people, Song Wen couldn't help but smile.
What an unexpected delight!
For the Su family, Su Shan had such deep grievances and hatred; he couldn't let him die so easily.
Six tiny insect-like creatures crawled out from Song Wen's mouth, silently following along.
The mountain gate was quite close to the Su family's town, less than twenty miles away, just circling a small part around the foot of Qingping Mountain.
When Su Shan and the others reached a grove of trees, several escorting personnel suddenly collapsed.
The chains binding Su Shan snapped unexpectedly.
This sudden turn of events left Su Shan momentarily bewildered, but he quickly realized that he was being aided and had been rescued.
Su Shan hurriedly ran toward the dense forest nearby.
Suddenly, a voice echoed in his mind.
"Flee to the west."
Su Shan abruptly stopped; he was heading south.
In an instant, he felt his body relax, and the restraints within him were lifted.
Before his eyes, a gray object fell from the sky and landed at his feet—it was a storage bag.
"Who are you? Why are you helping me?"
The voice did not answer, only urged him on.
"If you don't leave soon, the pursuers will arrive. There are things you need in the storage bag. If you want to uncover the truth about your wife and child's death, go to the cliff on the side of the Mushroom Field near Qingping Mountain; there is a massive cave there, and you might find traces of your wife and child."
Upon hearing this, Su Shan's expression turned sorrowful.
He had already prepared himself for the unfortunate fate of his wife and child.
He called out loudly, "Senior, do you know anything about my wife and child's death?"
"I don't know your wife and child. What I just said was merely my speculation. Hurry and leave; if you don't, it will be too late."
Su Shan looked around but saw no one.
He picked up the storage bag, gritted his teeth, turned, and ran westward.
After he left, Song Wen's figure suddenly appeared, recalling the six sacred insects, collecting several bodies, and disappearing without a trace.
...
On the west side of Qingping Mountain, over a hundred miles away, lay the Blood Crystal Mine!
Du Ruoyun looked at the newly constructed courtyard and felt quite proud and pleased.
The Du family had occupied this vein for half a month.
She had thought that the Su family would launch a major attack to reclaim the mine.
Unexpectedly, in the past half month, the Su family had shown no signs of movement, seemingly planning to give up the Blood Crystal Mine.
Initially, when she proposed to seize the Blood Crystal vein, many foundation-building elders in the clan opposed it, believing that the Su family was an established Golden Core family and should not be provoked lightly.
In her capacity as the family head, she insisted on attacking the Blood Crystal vein, which allowed the Du family to take ownership and gain their own second-tier mine, significantly enhancing their cultivation resources.
They just needed to wait for the mundane ships sent by the Du family to return with the mine slaves, and the mining could officially commence.
Suddenly,
A black figure dashed toward them from a distance, instantly alerting Du Ruoyun.
She leaped into the air and stood suspended in midair.
At the same time, below in the courtyard, seventeen or eighteen figures appeared.
These individuals were all foundation-building cultivators.
Apart from a few foundation-building cultivators stationed in the clan, nearly all the foundation-building cultivators of the Du family were present here.
She wouldn't repeat the mistakes of the Su family; since they had occupied the mine, they must do everything to fortify their defenses.
Not only did she mobilize the majority of the Du family's foundation-building cultivators to guard this location, but she also spent a considerable sum to set up a third-tier defensive formation around the courtyard.
Even if a Golden Core cultivator came, the formation could hold for a while.
That would be enough to allow the ancestral elders of the Du family to arrive for rescue.
As the black figure drew within several miles of the mine, it stopped advancing.
The black figure waved a hand, and a letter flew out, swiftly landing in front of Du Ruoyun.
Du Ruoyun's expression became serious as she realized she couldn't see through the other party's cultivation.
She didn't reach out to take the letter that floated toward her; instead, she used her spiritual power to keep it hovering several dozen meters away.
"Friend, you've traveled a long way; why say nothing? What is the purpose of delivering this letter?" Du Ruoyun asked.
The black figure was, of course, Song Wen. He had come to inform the Du family and to facilitate their destruction of Su Qian's longevity plans.
Song Wen did not speak but communicated through thought.
"Madam Du, I mean no harm. I have come to assist the Du family in seizing the opportunity to eliminate the great enemy that is the Su family."
Du Ruoyun replied, "Friend, you have no connection to my Du family, yet you speak of assisting us in destroying the Su family; this is indeed hard to believe. Moreover, Su Qian is nearing the end of his lifespan; the Du family only needs to wait a few months, and the Su family will naturally no longer pose a threat to us."
Song Wen said, "I have enmity with the Su family. Helping the Du family to eliminate the Su family is also helping myself."
Du Ruoyun smiled slightly, seeming to initially accept what Song Wen said. She gently brushed aside her hair, exuding a mature woman's charm.
"Friend, do tell what clever plan you have to destroy the Su family."
Song Wen said, "If the Du family wishes to wait for Su Qian to exhaust his lifespan and perish, that is rather naive. As I know, Su Qian is currently preparing a longevity technique; once completed, it could extend his life by a full cycle of years."
Du Ruoyun's pretty face showed disdain.
In the cultivation world, although various bizarre longevity methods were rumored, they were generally baseless tales, unworthy of belief.
There were indeed legends of ancient cultivators who could extend their lives, but the time was too distant, and no one knew the truth.
Du Ruoyun responded, "Your words are quite absurd. The talk of longevity is nothing but hearsay."
Seeing her disbelief, Song Wen patiently explained, "I believe you should know that the Su family has been capturing rogue cultivators practicing the 'Longevity Technique.'"
Du Ruoyun frowned slightly, "I know about the Su family's capture of rogue cultivators, but whether those rogues are all practicing the 'Longevity Technique,' I am unclear."
Song Wen replied, "All those rogue cultivators are indeed practicing the 'Longevity Technique,' and their cultivation levels are mostly in the late stages of Qi Refinement, all of them in their prime. The Du family only needs to send someone to investigate to find out if this is true."
Seeing the seriousness with which Song Wen spoke, Du Ruoyun changed her earlier skepticism and asked seriously, "What does capturing the rogue cultivators practicing the 'Longevity Technique' have to do with extending life?"
Song Wen said, "I'm not entirely sure how the longevity technique works. I only know that Su Qian has laid down a formation called the 'Devouring Soul Formation'; this formation can siphon the lifeforce of others and restore a decaying body."
"The Su family has already gathered the thousand cultivators practicing the 'Longevity Technique' needed for Su Qian's longevity; they will soon activate the method."
"The letter contains detailed information regarding this matter. Whether to take action against Su Qian's longevity plan is entirely up to the Du family's discretion. I have said all that I needed to; I take my leave."
With that, Song Wen mounted his sword and turned to leave.
Only after Song Wen's figure vanished on the horizon did Du Ruoyun slowly withdraw her gaze.
She probed the letter with her spiritual sense several times to ensure there were no issues before finally taking the letter into her hands.
She descended, landing in the courtyard, and said to a Du family cultivator, "Send someone to investigate whether the rogue cultivators recently captured by the Su family are all practitioners of the 'Longevity Technique.'"
Just now, her conversation with Song Wen had been entirely through thought communication; no one else knew the contents of their dialogue.
After instructing her clansmen to strengthen the defenses of the Blood Crystal Mine, she flew back to the Du family's base.
This matter involved Golden Core cultivators, so whether the Du family would participate had to be decided by the Golden Core ancestors of the Du family.
Moreover, if this matter were true, it would not only pertain to the struggle for cultivation resources; who wouldn't want to obtain a method for extending life?
(End of the Chapter)
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