The Fall of Lone Sword Mountain

It was a rainy day. Cold winter winds lashed against the young man Jian Bu's face. His lips were cracked, and his eyelashes had frozen, but his gaze remained unwavering. Before him lay the lifeless bodies of his clan members.

Jian Bu took a deep breath and began searching for survivors. He had been away on a training mission when disaster struck. As he sifted through the countless bodies, his heart clenched. His mind clung to the faint hope of not finding his family among the dead.

Suddenly, he stopped. His eyes widened, his sword slipped from his hand, and he let out an anguished roar. "Oh, heavens, why did you take my younger brother's life?" Before him was the mangled body of Jian Chen.

"Jian Bu, is that you?" a weak voice called out.

"Jian Chen, you're alive?" Jian Bu's face lit up with relief, but his smile quickly faded as he assessed his younger brother's injuries. Jian Chen's legs were missing, and his cultivation was crippled.

"Tell me who did this to you. Where is Xian'er?" Jian Bu demanded, his voice trembling with suppressed rage.

"Older brother, you must get revenge. This was all because of the young master of the Qu clan. He lusted after older sister, but she refused him. In his rage, he slaughtered the entire clan. I only survived because older sister begged him to spare me. She was taken away by him. Brother, you must save her!" Jian Chen's voice was filled with desperation.

Jian Bu's expression turned icy cold. He was a pragmatic young man. Now that he knew his brother was alive and his sister was likely safe for the time being, his mind began plotting revenge.

"Younger brother, we can't act rashly. It's good that you're alive. As long as the verdant hills remain, there will always be fire. Right now, our priority is to heal you. We need a flesh pill. As for your cultivation... older brother will find a way."

Jian Chen's face filled with panic. "But brother, elder sister is trapped in that Qu clan! She's in danger every second!"

Jian Bu placed a reassuring hand on his brother's shoulder. "You don't have to worry about that. Our sister has one of the 3000 Houtian Physiques—the Yin Moon Physique. People born with special physiques can't engage in intercourse until adulthood, or the physique will regress from innate to acquired. It would become only slightly better than a mortal physique, and the dual cultivation benefits would be lost. That young master likely wanted to advance his cultivation for the Qu clan's inheritance war, which will happen in two years. There's nothing to worry about."

Jian Chen calmed down and took a deep look at his brother. "Brother, you've always been someone we could rely on. I have hope now for elder sister. But most importantly, we should try to find any survivors. Our Jian clan may not be a Super-Clan, but we are a Local Overlord Clan with influence over 100 prefectures. Even if our branch clan was wiped out, there are still the other branches and the main clan."

Jian Bu nodded. He gave Jian Chen a Blood Revolution Pill to stabilize his injuries and then carried his younger brother on his back. "For the next three days, we will search for survivors. If we don't find any, they must have retreated to the nearest Jian branch clan in the Sunfire Prefecture. There's no need for us to go there, so we will head directly to the main clan and report. Even though the branch clans are still family, there's a lot of infighting. Those clan members would take a week to arrive. I came here a day late, and with the three days of searching, that leaves us four days. By then, we will have three days to disappear."

Three days passed quickly. The sun rose from the east, heralding a new day. Before Jian Bu stood a group of 80 people—the survivors from the thousands who once lived in the branch clan.

The group varied in strength. Jian Bu himself had reached the Qi Condensation 5th layer. His younger brother, a cultivation genius, had achieved the Qi Condensation 6th layer but was now crippled. Being a cultivation clan, everyone here, from young to old, possessed at least the Qi Condensation 1st layer. Among them were three elders at the Qi Condensation 7th layer, five at the 5th layer, a dozen at the 4th layer, thirty at the 3rd layer, and the rest below that.

While this seemed like a formidable force, not everyone was a combatant. The 5th-layer cultivators were the clan's top fighters, the 7th-layer were the elders, the 4th-layer were the geniuses, and the 3rd-layer were average martial artists. The rest were either too young, too old, or non-combatants with skills like alchemy or blacksmithing.

"It's time for us to leave," Jian Bu announced. "I've searched every crevice of Lone Sword Mountain. There are no survivors left. If they're still alive, they've already fled. It's time to depart!"

A young man with a long face shouted at Jian Bu, "Who put you in charge of us? You're just a junior, 16 years old. Someone like Elder Brother Jian Fan is more qualified to lead us, right, brother?"

Jian Bu turned his gaze to Jian Fan and replied calmly, "If Brother Jian Fan wants to lead, he's free to do so if he believes he's qualified. I won't stop him."

Jian Fan, a tall young man with a crafty look, was 19 years old and at the Qi Condensation 5th layer. "Brother Jian Bu, you jest. You're the Clan Leader's son, the most qualified for this role. I'll serve as your assistant if needed. I just hope all our clan members arrive safely at the main clan."

Jian Bu studied Jian Fan, thinking, 'This man can't be trusted. He might scheme against me.' He then said, "Since Brother Jian Fan has spoken, I'll continue leading the mission. Our clan elders will work in the shadows, protecting us. I represent their will as the leader of this expedition while they remain hidden. Since Brother Jian Fan expressed such heartfelt words for our clan members and Jian Du supports him, I'll put them in charge of protecting our young and elderly."

Jian Fan's expression quickly changed. He knew this was a difficult task, as many would prioritize the strong over the weak. He couldn't refuse, having fallen into Jian Bu's trap. "Well said, Brother Jian Bu. Thank you for giving me this honor," he said with a forced laugh.

Jian Chen watched all this with a smile on his face. Sitting atop a horse, he thought to himself, 'That's my older brother. He tamed those scheming bastards so easily.'