n their minds.Qin Shaoyang, holding the landscape painting, walked straight through the crowd and stopped in front of Ji Han. A faint smile played at his lips.Su Han looked at the calligraphy and pain...Chapter 491: Dare to Hit Me!

Hao Ren looked at her and vaguely remembered that she was the leader of one of the three small sects around here, Qingyin Sect. The kneeling person beside her should also be a disciple of Qingyin Sect.

Hao Ren lived in Mystic Peak, but to put it bluntly, he had seized a piece of spirit field that belonged to these three small sects collectively. However, because there was an "Yuan Ying stage ancestor" living here, the three sects did not dare to object and were even respectful towards Mystic Peak. Whatever materials Xie Yujia needed, Hao Ren would simply order it, and these three sects, especially Qingyin Sect, would try their best to find them.

During this period of time, Hao Ren had also observed these three sects. Compared to other sects in the Fifth Heavens, these three small sects were relatively more規矩 (rules-abiding) and quiet, each cultivating their own disciples. Although there would be some minor conflicts between these three sects, they never provoked external sects.

"What's going on" Thinking of this, Hao Ren looked at her and asked.

"It is like this……" The leader of Qingyin Sect respectfully faced Hao Ren. "Yesterday, Qiong Tong Sect, three hundred miles away, suddenly attacked our Qingyin Sect,搶走了 (snatched) the foundation-building pills and face-stabilizing pills bestowed by our ancestor. Our disciples from Qingyin Sect resisted with all their might, but even with assistance from Seven Stars Sect and Qionghua Sect, they were still no match for the experts of Qiong Tong Sect."

She looked at Hao Ren, noticing that his expression hadn't changed, and continued to say, "Wu Yan is a disciple of Qingyin Sect who just reached the Condensation Core stage but was beaten by those wicked people from Qiong Tong Sect, damaging her golden core. Liu Yan sincerely requests your aid to treat Wu Yan!"

While speaking, she bent down intending to kneel before Hao Ren.

Hao Ren looked very young, but the leader of Qingyin Sect did not dare to underestimate him. In the information she had received, there lived a high-ranking cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage in Medicine King Valley, along with at least one male disciple and two female disciples.

This youth seemed not too old and was not at a profound realm either, but he might be the primary disciple of this high-rank cultivator in this valley. The leader of Qingyin Sect could never afford to neglect him. After all, for these small sects, Yuan Ying stage cultivators were too mysterious. Even if this youth was merely a servant taking care of daily life for the Yuan Ying stage cultivator, they still couldn't provoke them.

"Has there been any casualties in your sect" Hao Ren asked with a cold face.

"Six disciples were killed and two severely injured," Liu Yan answered softly.

Hao Ren gave out a light snort, "Hmph..."

Liu Yan nervously looked at Hao Ren, not knowing what his chilly sound meant. Could it be... blaming their Qingyin Sect for disturbing the ancestor's cultivation over such trivial matters

Small sects in the Fifth Heavens were nothing but ants compared to a high-rank cultivator at the Yuan Ying stage; one could easily wipe out a small sect with just one finger.

If it weren't for the fact that this "high-rank cultivator" was quite good to Qingyin Sect and frequently bestowed them some medicinal pills, she would never dare to disturb a high-rank cultivator's cultivation over these few disciples' deaths and injuries.

"Are you lying" Hao Ren looked at Liu Yan again and asked.

Hearing Huo Ren say this, Liu Yan looked at him in horror and said, "Every word I speak is true! Liu Yan would never dare to deceive the Ancestor; please understand!"

The female disciple who was kneeling by the valley entrance with a heart-wrenching expression and dared not interrupt suddenly raised her head. She said, "If the Senior can help me take revenge on my sisters, Wu Yan is willing to become your furnace tripod (a sacrificial vessel) and assist you in advancing your cultivation level!"

The term 'furnace tripod' refers to a practice in dual-cultivation where a female cultivator sacrifices her own cultivation realm to enhance the male cultivator's strength. Generally speaking, becoming a furnace tripod means that this female cultivator's future is ruined.

"This is detoxification pills crushed to heal external injuries; these are qi replenishment pills which can recover your body; and these are foundation-establishing pills which can stabilize your realm," Huo Ren took out three medicinal pills and placed them in front of Liu Yan.

“Thank you, Senior, for the medicinal pills!” Liu Yan was moved to tears with gratitude. Only then did she finally release her pent-up anxiety from before.

The patriarch of the Nascent Soul realm is indeed a powerful existence; even the medicinal pills that his disciples offer are good fourth-grade pills!

“Here, I also have several qi replenishment pills for you to keep. You can give them to other injured disciples.” Huo Ren placed another few qi replenishment pills into Liu Yan’s hand.

The medicinal pills that Zhao Yujia gave him were the best of the lot; thus, all the medicinal pills he took out from his spatial ring were fourth-grade ones and there weren’t any third-grade ones at all.

Seeing how excited the leader of Qingyin Sect had become that she couldn't even speak anymore, Huo Ren looked toward the female cultivator kneeling on the ground and asked coolly, “Then where is Kungtong Sect located”

"It's five hundred miles west of our Qingyin Mountain in Yellow Dragon Mountain." Wu Yan raised her head and said resolutely.

“Mm.” Huo Ren nodded and entered the valley.

The woman, still kneeling outside the valley, looked at her sect with some confusion about what Huo Ren's intentions were.

However, after just a moment, Huo Ren came out of the valley again.

He wore a daoist robe that was most commonly seen in the Fifth Heaven and also had on shoes which were most common there. On his back hung a longsword while he held a flying sword in hand as well.

Sweat, Zhao Zizi took their shoes as well. As Huo Ren walked out of the valley, he thought to himself.

Young disciple Wu Yan and Qingyin Sect's sect master Liu Yan were both looking at Hao Ren in astonishment.

"I don't know that place. Lead the way." The flying sword in Hao Ren’s hand suddenly seemed to have its own will, circling around his feet to support him.

Wu Yan was stunned for a moment before nodding firmly, "Alright!"

"Come on board!" said Hao Ren to Wu Yan.

Wu Yan cautiously boarded Hao Ren’s flying sword. The quality of this flying sword wasn’t bad; even Zhen Cunming would turn his nose up at it, but it was enough for Hao Ren to use as a disguise.

Zhao Ranzi’s spoils weren't entirely without use either.

Whish…

A beam of white light shot up. With Wu Yan aboard, Hao Ren flashed away to over a kilometer away.

Liu Yan watched in surprise as Hao Ren disappeared into the distance, not expecting this youth to be so formidable.

Within the Fifth Heavenly Layer, there were large and small sects scattered everywhere like stars. There were thousands or hundreds of them—no one even among their sect masters knew for sure—and these sects were roughly divided into first-rate, second-rate, third-rate, and fourth-rate ones.

The first-rate sects within the Fifth Heavenly Layer were definitely affiliated with sixth-layer sects, such as Bai Sha Sect being one of Tianshan Sect’s affiliated branches.

Second-rate sects depended on first-rate sects, having an indirect relationship with sixth-layer sects. Of course, these second-rate sects had some strength of their own.

The third-rate sects were those that had nothing to do with the sixth-layer sects and frequently fought each other, sometimes killing one another.

The fourth-rate sects were like Qingyin Sect—small sects occupying small mountain ranges with limited numbers of disciples. If Qingyin Sect united with Qionghua Sect and Qixing Sect, they could barely be considered a third-rate sect.

Kongtong Sect, the aggressor in this raid on Qingyin Sect, was one of the second-rate sects within the Fifth Heavenly Layer. When they were still on land, Kongtong Sect was similar to Tianshan Sect—a major cultivation sect. However, due to their successive sect masters not striving for progress, their sect gradually declined. Then during a massive war that swept across both land and sea hundreds of years ago, most of their high-level cultivators died off; they didn't have the strength to enter the Sixth Heavenly Layer, so they remained in the Fifth Heavenly Layer as first-rate sects but slowly fell into second-rate status. They relied on their forebears' legacies to bully surrounding third- and fourth-rate sects.

Wu Yan was the most outstanding of Qingyin Sect's current generation of disciples. Right before Kongtong Sect came to snatch Foundation Establishment cultivators, she had just used a Foundation Establishment Pill bestowed by Medicine King Valley to break through to the Core Formation realm.

The Foundation Establishment Pill has a remarkable effect on Qi Refining cultivators attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, and it also has some effectiveness for Foundation Establishers aiming to breakthrough to the Core Formation stage. Since Qingyin Sect received the medicinal pills from Xie Yujia, their strength greatly increased, with several more Foundation Establishment-stage cultivators suddenly appearing.

Wu Yan even became the second Core Formation-stage cultivator after the sect leader, which made the Qingyin Sect extremely excited. However, such news, when transmitted to the ears of QiongTong Sect five hundred miles away, incited their desire to snatch it for themselves.

"Forehead, have any of your Qingyin disciples been injured" Hao Ren asked as he flew towards the west.

"Reporting to Senior, a few months ago it was my senior sister Ye Su who went into the nearby mountains to collect medicinal herbs for our ancestor and got hurt by another sect. Fortunately, she managed to stabilize her cultivation境界thanks to our ancestor's rescue," Wu Yan respectfully replied.

"What about this time when QiongTong Sect attacked How was it" Hao Ren asked.

"Reporting to Senior, the disciple who got severely injured alongside me during this attack is my senior sister," Wu Yan said.

Hao Ren remained silent, nodding slightly.

In the fifth-layer cultivation sects, the law of the jungle prevails; even female cultivators have to face brutal competition.

"Actually..." Wu Yan paused for a few seconds before continuing. "Our Qingyin disciples being injured isn't just this once or twice. Sometimes when the injuries aren't too severe, we dare not trouble our ancestor to help."

Hao Ren nodded again, maintaining his silence.

Qingyin Sect was most proactive in collecting spiritual herbs for Xie Yujia, but such actions inevitably led to territorial conflicts with nearby sects.

Xie Yujia disliked conflict and thus only provided compensation when her disciples got injured while gathering herbs. She didn't intend to support Qingyin Sect.

Furthermore, the Qingyin Sect did not expect the Core Formation-stage ancestor or their disciples in the valley to seek justice for them. They were already immensely grateful for receiving medicinal pills from the ancestor.

Riding on her flying sword and observing Hao Ren's expression, Wu Yan didn't dare say anything else.

What she didn't know was that despite his cold exterior, Hao Ren harbored considerable fury inside. The Qingyin Sect comprised mostly female cultivators who tended to be rather low-key; even when gathering herbs, they did so outdoors. However, the repeated violent attacks from nearby sects that left them severely injured were excessive.

Especially this time, QiongTong Sect acted like bandits, severely injuring two disciples and killing six others in Qingyin Sect! If not for the fierce resistance of Qingyin Sect and the immediate support from Seven Stars Sect and Qionghua Sect, the losses would have been even more severe.ad: "You idiot! That day, Xie Yujia almost cried.""What When" Hao Ren was startled.“That day during class. Did you think she wasn’t saying anything because of what She was holding back from crying!” M...