Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 529: Chapter 529 Mutual Restraint

However, even with a shield and a Golden Armor Charm, the middle-aged man couldn’t withstand Feng Jun’s casual strike.

The shield shattered in an instant, and the middle-aged man was sent flying backward. Before he hit the ground, his mouth was gushing blood, and the golden glow vanished in a flash.

Everyone could tell that this strike was truly meant to kill. The young man was so scared that his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, his body trembling uncontrollably.

“Nobody move!” the elder shouted, bowing towards Feng Jun with a pale face, “Sire, the boy is badly hurt. Can we wait for a moment?”

“His injuries are not severe,” Feng Jun spoke coldly, “I’ll give you twenty breaths.”

Twenty breaths later, the middle-aged man had swallowed some pills. Although his expression was extremely weary, it was clear he wouldn’t die anytime soon.

...

The two men mounted two horses and followed Feng Jun out of the yard — the other party was someone who would kill at the slightest disagreement, and they truly did not dare to feel any false hope.

It wasn’t until they had left that the young man in the yard spitefully said, “To take life so lightly… This is truly bullying too much.”

The others exchanged glances, unsure of what to say — after all, as an Innate Expert, the man could do as he pleased.

The Qian family’s methods against the Hu family weren’t exactly honorable either.

Feng Jun and his group had captured ten hostages in total. After some discussion, they decided to first interrogate these two from the Qian family.

Facing the two men, Shangguan Yunjin raised her hand and pointed. A water arrow shot towards a large tree, snapping the trunk, which was as thick as a bowl, in half.

She spoke coldly, “I’ll ask the questions, and you’ll answer them, understand?”

The old man and middle-aged man knelt with a thud, kowtowing nonstop and trembling as they replied, “We solemnly follow the Immortal’s decree.”

Initially, they thought that while Innate Experts were frightening, if their family really went all out, flashing gold and silver through the Su family, they could also attract an Innate Expert. The key was to see whether it was worth it or not.

But the moment this woman made her move, the two men no longer harbored any hope of luck: She was indeed an Immortal.

They couldn’t fathom what virtue or ability the Hu family had to be connected with an Immortal.

Shangguan Yunjin spoke indifferently, “Where is the Eastern Sub-rudder of the Wonderful Hand Pavilion? Think carefully before you answer.”

The Wonderful Hand Pavilion? Hearing this, both men were startled, and the elder hesitated before cautiously asking, “May I ask the Immortal…”

“Is it your place to ask questions?” Feng Jun frowned and raised his hand to form a spell.

Instantly, a flash of thunder crackled through the air, striking the old man on the forehead.

With a muffled grunt, the old man fell to the ground.

“Are you also an Immortal?” The middle-aged man looked at Feng Jun in shock and then began to kowtow incessantly, “The exact location of the Wonderful Hand Pavilion sub-rudder, I truly do not know. I only know it’s in Linqiu County… but my father knows it.”

By then, he had realized why the other party hadn’t allowed his son to take his father’s place — the location of the Wonderful Hand Pavilion sub-rudder was a topic not to be casually discussed among locals.

Shangguan Yunjin glanced at the old man lying on the ground and spoke faintly, “He’s not dead.”

She thought highly of Feng Jun’s use of the Falling Thunder Technique. Thunder Technique was never easy to master, but she could tell that Feng Jun’s control was extremely skillful; he had punished the man without causing too severe an injury.

She guessed the reason for Feng Jun not being harsher — the elderly likely knew much more than the middle-aged man.

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, then continued to kowtow, “Thank you, Immortal, for your mercy.”

He understood the concept — not killing a person was actually more difficult than killing them.

“Revival Pills can help him regain consciousness,” Feng Jun stated blandly, “We still have others to interrogate; I hope he doesn’t take too long to wake up.”

“I have brought Revival Pills,” the middle-aged man quickly said, his face showing immense relief — thankfully, he had a Storage Talisman with him.

Revival Pills were commonly carried by martial artists to invigorate the mind, help ward off illusions, and even prevent insect bites — somewhat similar to the Essential Balm or Cooling Oil in the Earth Realm.

Typically, lower-class martial artists carried Revival Powder, which was less effective than the pills but also less expensive and out of reach for the poor.

After using the Revival Pill, the old man soon came around and didn’t dare say much else. He honestly disclosed the address of the Wonderful Hand Pavilion sub-rudder.

Relying solely on the word of the Qian family was definitely not possible, so they interrogated the four families one by one, separately, ensuring they didn’t interfere with one another.

Among these four families, two knew only that the sub-rudder was in Linqiu County. Of the remaining two, one gave the same address as the old man had, while the other said the sub-rudder was within Yunzhou City.

Among the testimonies of the five families, four pointed to Linqiu, and the solitary exception piqued Feng Jun’s curiosity.

However, he quickly discovered the truth from “nearby people” — the two men claiming to be brothers actually didn’t share a last name, which was definitely suspicious.

Therefore, he let another family member recognize from a distance, only to be shocked to discover: it turns out this family member was an undercover operative of Wonderful Hand Pavilion.

Undercover operatives, of course, should be killed without mercy. Then Feng Jun arranged for the Qian father and son to guard the other six people, “We are heading to Wonderful Hand Pavilion to attend to some matters. If word leaks out, you know what will happen to the Qian Family, don’t you?”

If he were merely an Innate Expert, the Qian father and son might have considered taking a gamble, letting Wonderful Hand Pavilion cause some trouble for the other party, but faced with the legendary Immortal, the Qian Family really didn’t dare take that risk—they knew if an order was given to kill their entire family, it would be carried out without hesitation.

Not only did they not dare to gamble, but they also had to pray for the success of the other party—alright, with two Immortals taking action, it seemed impossible for them not to succeed.

However, in the end, the old man mustered up the courage to ask, “Immortal, how should we deal with the Hu Family then?”

What he had been worrying about was the conflict between the Qian and Hu families.

As for the death of Hu Yuandao, it truly had nothing to do with the Qian Family. It was the new Magistrate who wanted to clean up the Hu Family, striking at their backbone and incidentally killing the most capable eldest and third in the Hu lineage.

With the Hu Family’s power greatly diminished, the Sage of the Prefecture couldn’t continue to chase them down aggressively, otherwise, it would provoke strong dissatisfaction amongst other clans in Yunzhou City.

It was at this moment that the Qian Family made their move.

The Qian clan was not small, boasting more than 4,000 members. Those living outside Yunzhou City accounted for only a portion—if the whole clan were here, summoning thirty martial masters would be no problem.

The influence of the Qian Family in the area was much greater than the sparsely populated Hu Family. It was only because Hu Yuandao had extensive connections and had made quite a name for himself, as well as accumulated some wealth, that they were even comparable.

Taking advantage of the instability within the Hu Family, the Qian Family proposed marrying their daughter to Sixth Master Hu, making it clear that they were willing to be the Hu Family’s support—should outsiders dare to harm the Hu Family, the Qian Family would not stand by idly.

In fact, the Qian Family had other connections with the newly arrived Sage of the Prefecture, who also felt that the purpose of suppressing the Hu Family had been achieved—the Hu Family was no longer a threat to his governance.

With the Qian Family stepping in and the Sage of the Prefecture withdrawing his hand, the Hu Family was granted a chance to catch their breath. However, how could the Qian Family’s daughter be married off for nothing? The Qian Family’s goal was the Hu Family’s assets.

Therefore, more misfortunes befell the Hu Family, and though it was purportedly the Sixth Master who was in charge, it was actually the wife of the Sixth Master who held the reins.

If it weren’t for today’s unexpected incident, the Hu Family would have been eventually devoured by the Qian Family.

But now, with Cultivators coming under the pretense of standing up for the Hu Family, it was a truly terrifying development.

Although the Qian Family now understood that the real objective was Wonderful Hand Pavilion, they had also committed quite a few unscrupulous acts, and they really… feared being held accountable.

So the Qian Family had to make sure to ask, how should they face the Hu Family?

The matter of annexing assets, that was something they dared not think about anymore—just state the amount we should spit out.

Speaking of this, Shangguan Yunjin could not make a decision for Feng Jun, and could only glance at him.

Feng Jun lit a cigarette and while puffing smoke nonchalantly, he said indifferently, “How you deal with the Hu Family is none of my concern. I am not friends with the Hu Family, just a friend of a friend of theirs. Of course, those who can be my friend… you understand.”

Shangguan Yunjin, however, knew who Feng Jun was seeking information from—after all, the common language among Cultivators was much more extensive than between Cultivators and Mortals.

She sneered coldly, “Tongcheng Su Family… So that’s your backer, isn’t it? Heh.”

The Su Family belonged to the Family Alliance, as did the Chen Family, but the Yuntai Chen Family was one that no one in the Family Alliance wished to provoke.

After saying this, the three of them turned and left.

The Qian father and son looked at each other, and after a long while, the old man slapped his thigh, “Damn, we still have to help them guard these six people…”

“Isn’t that expected?” the middle-aged man frowned strangely at him, “You are a High-Rank Martial Master, and I’m at the Intermediate Level. It shouldn’t be a problem to watch over six people… If we don’t keep an eye on them, and the Immortal encounters some trouble at Wonderful Hand Pavilion, all of our families could be wiped out.”

Despite Feng Jun and his companions being so secretive, that was because they wanted to gain something from Wonderful Hand Pavilion. Otherwise, just by revealing Shangguan Yunjin’s identity as someone from Wuyou Platform, exterminating these families wouldn’t need any justification.

Offend an Immortal—clan extermination!

“Guarding them is not the issue,” the old man said with a worried look, “but the key problem is, by doing this, we have utterly offended Wonderful Hand Pavilion… How unjust is this? These two Immortals are playing a bit too dirty.”

Indeed, this was precisely why Feng Jun needed the Qian Family to help watch the others. He wasn’t afraid that the Qian Family would try any tricks—if there were any problems, I would indeed kill your whole family.

If there were no issues, Wonderful Hand Pavilion would consider exterminating your family!

Yes, he was never a magnanimous man. Chen Junsheng’s friends were indeed not his friends, but when he rushed over and saw the Hu Family in crisis, he was quite displeased—meddling is your business, but don’t interfere with mine.

So, he didn’t mind giving the Qian Family a little push along the way. Look after my hostages for me.

Guard them poorly, and I’ll happily exterminate your family myself—though even without me, those two from Wuyou Platform won’t spare you either.

Guard them well? Heh… you better hope that Wonderful Hand Pavilion remains unaware of my abductions today.

While the Qian father and son were privately lamenting, Feng Jun and his companions had already rushed towards Linqiu County.