Qingfeng Town was the nearest town outside Qingfeng Valley.

  The town's main business revolved around Qingfeng Sect.

  They not only purchased exotic herbs from Qingfeng Sect's medicine fields but also provided for the sect's food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.

  Qingfeng Sect's inner disciples came from noble families, accustomed to a life of luxury since childhood. They could not endure too austere an existence.

  This supply relationship gave birth to a derived economic relationship, similar to snack stalls and stationery shops outside a school gate.

  Although Qingfeng Town could make good money, it actually came with risks.

  No one knew if they would be implicated when a storm hit the Qingfeng Sect.

  When Lin Lin arrived on his flying sword, he saw quite a few inner disciples out enjoying themselves.

  Perhaps feeling embarrassed to meet in such a place, those inner disciples scattered to the sides.

  Lin Lin was short on time and had no interest in those idle rich young men.

  He was here to meet a guest today.

  That was the head of the hunter gang, Fifth Master Jin.

  In the cultivation world, demon beasts ran rampant.

  In theory, immortals should step forward to protect the people.

  But the reality was, immortals only hunted prey that was valuable to themselves.

  Over time, valuable monsters were nearly hunted to extinction by these selfish immortals.

  Worthless monsters, however, multiplied unchecked, plaguing the villages.

  That was when hunter gangs had to step in.

  They would collect commissions and help villages and towns fend off beast invasions.

  These hunters were mostly Qi Refining disciples from various sects, or rogue cultivators.

  It was a common job for low-level cultivators.

  And also an exceptionally dangerous one.

  Fifth Master Jin had eight children. Five cultivated and joined the hunters. Now only he remained.

  In this era of rampant beasts, the difficulty of survival was clear.

  Wearing a leather vest, with only a few silver hairs left on his head, Fifth Master Jin was tending to the Madness Wolves in their cages. Seeing Lin Lin, he stepped forward and greeted him. "Master Lin, here so early?"

  "Yes, came to inspect the goods and discuss future order plans."

  After the initial order for five Madness Wolves and five Blue Jade Spiders, Lin Lin had placed five additional orders for Madness Wolves, each still for five wolves.

  This delighted Fifth Master Jin, who now regarded Lin Lin as a money god.

  After all, the hunter business Fifth Master Jin usually did was piecemeal and scattered.

  Today, the east village needed someone to catch a Madness Wolf eating their chickens and sheep. Tomorrow, go to an old residence in town to deal with a Blue Jade Spider.

  Little pay, and lots of trouble.

  It was rare to meet a big client like Lin Lin, ordering so many Madness Wolves at once – a high-quality client with lots of money and few demands.

  Fifth Master Jin called to his underlings to bring a table and chairs.

  "Hey, you lot, what are you standing around for? Go to the restaurant next door, buy some good wine and dishes, and bring them here to welcome Master Lin."

  Lin Lin cupped his hands in thanks.

  "Sorry to put you to expense, Fifth Master Jin."

  "Not at all, not at all. Without your patronage, our little business would be eating nothing but the northwest wind."

  Lin Lin did not stand on ceremony. He sat down and started chatting.

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  "Recently, I have learned a lot about demon beasts from you, Fifth Master Jin. Thanks to the beasts you caught, I have gradually grasped some basics."

  "However, there are some old matters I hope you can enlighten me on."

  Fifth Master Jin was around eighty years old. Thanks to his Qi Refining cultivation, he was still relatively hale and hearty.

  Having traveled far and wide, he had seen quite a bit.

  He indeed knew a lot about the cultivation world. "Don't worry, Master Lin. Whatever you ask, I will tell you all I know without reservation."

  "Good. What I want to ask about is the Blood Servant Sect from back in the day."

  As soon as he said this, Fifth Master Jin's face turned pale.

  But he was an old hand after all. He had seen and heard much. He did not care much about past taboos anymore. "Sigh. If anyone else asked about this, this old head would definitely not utter a single word. But since it is you asking, Master Lin, so be it."

  The underlings laid out the wine and dishes. The old head took a half gulp of wine and,借助 the buzz, began to recount the past.

  The story went back to the main sect of cultivation, Baiyue City.

  Cultivation sects were divided into main sects and branch sects.

  Sects like Qingfeng Sect, and the Spirit Sword Sect Liu Yueyan was to marry, were branch sects.

  They were all theoretically under the control of Baiyue City.

  The reason they were willing to submit to Baiyue City's management was that only Baiyue City had the Foundation Establishment Pills, Dustfall Pills, and Heavenfall Pills needed to break through realms.

  Also, with Nascent Soul elders presiding over Baiyue City, its position was basically unshakable.

  But just over a hundred years ago, an event of some significance occurred in Baiyue City.

  A genius boy named Long Mingyu from the cultivator clan, the Long family, reached Foundation Establishment at twelve.

  At just sixteen, he obtained a Dustfall Pill in Baiyue City and was preparing to break through to Core Formation.

  Baiyue City had always had five Nascent Soul elders who had controlled the city for nearly a thousand years.

  At that time, cultivators in Baiyue City all believed that if nothing unexpected happened, this Long Mingyu would become the sixth Nascent Soul elder in Baiyue City.

  Who would have thought, if nothing unexpected was supposed to happen, then the unexpected would occur.

  Long Mingyu actually went into a demonic deviation during his breakthrough.

  Fortunately, he timely sealed his meridians, saving his life.

  But after this incident, Long Mingyu's meridians were exhausted, and his cultivation progress plummeted.

  At this point, Fifth Master Jin lowered his voice and whispered.

  "As I see it, it was those five Nascent Soul elders who caused it. They were jealous of Long Mingyu's talent, afraid he would come to share their cultivation resources."

  Lin Lin also recognized this possibility. "Yes, seizing someone's cultivation resources is like killing their parents. In the cultivation world, it's only first come, first served, and固化 of cultivation levels. There's no such thing as those who cultivated first guiding those who came later."

  "Well said, Master Lin. Isn't that the truth?"

  Fifth Master Jin drank half a cup of wine, ate a couple of mouthfuls of braised meat, and continued his story.

  After suffering such a blow, Long Mingyu went a bit crazy, often talking nonsense.

  The nonsense he talked was particularly interesting.

  For example, he would say cultivation was fake, a scam, and everyone should not be fooled.

  So-called achieving immortality and ascending wasn't ascending to immortality, but an irreversible path to doom.

  All kinds of crazy talk became mealtime gossip among the cultivators of Baiyue City.

  No one imagined that Long Mingyu had been so affected by his failed breakthrough that he would say such mad things.

  The Long family was, after all, a prominent cultivation clan. They certainly could not allow such absurdity.

  So the Long family simply exiled Long Mingyu to a孤岛 overseas, leaving him to fend for himself.

  Of course, saying "fend for himself" was just talk. The Long family had not actually given up on Long Mingyu.

  Even if he could not become a Nascent Soul elder with exhausted meridians, becoming a Core Formation cultivator would still be excellent.

  And on that孤岛, teeming with demon beasts, it could正是 temper his will.

  And so, the crazy Long Mingyu was abandoned on Windrest Island, surrounded by sea and swarming with beasts.

  During this period, several experts of the Long family died in battles against demon clans, and their influence waned considerably.

  With no choice, the Long family searched everywhere for experts to bolster their clan.

  And they quickly thought of one person: Long Mingyu, still on Windrest Island.

  They figured that even if Long Mingyu's power had not increased, he was still at least a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  Plus, constantly battling beasts, his skill in demon eradication should be decent.

  So Long Mingyu's eldest sister sent someone to bring him back home.

  By the time Long Mingyu returned to Baiyue City, fifteen years had passed since he left home.

  "Fifteen years. Only when they were short on fighters did they remember they had a弟弟 at home. That elder sister was pretty rotten." Even Lin Lin could not help but find the Long family's cold selfishness ridiculous.

  "Heh, isn't that right? The Long family should have been on guard then. A scion abandoned for fifteen years, returning just like that – how could it not be suspicious?"

  Now, when Long Mingyu returned to the Long family, he did indeed bring them much comfort.

  Because by this time, Long Mingyu's cultivation had reached the mid Core Formation stage.

  No one questioned how Long Mingyu had achieved such a realm.

  In the worldview of cultivators, such events could be summed up as fortuitous encounters.

  Anyway, in the cultivation world, strength was everything. No one dared casually question the powerful.

  By this point in the story, Fifth Master Jin had already finished one small jar of wine. He called for his attendant to bring a second. "The Long family's abacus clicked away nicely, but they never expected three things to happen that would make them regret it endlessly."

  "First, cultivators in Baiyue City started disappearing one after another. The highest-ranking victim was even a Core Formation cultivator."

  "Second, Long Mingyu destroyed the materials for refining Foundation Establishment Pills and Dustfall Pills."

  "Third, Long Mingyu eloped with his elder sister's daughter, his own twelve-year-old niece, and established the Blood Servant Sect, which would later chill the cultivation world to the bone."

  "The reason the Blood Servant Sect chilled cultivators to the bone was that they used cultivators' core nuclei as cultivation materials. Cult members acted cruelly. They were an out-and-out demon cult."

  Several years later, Baiyue City spared no effort and wiped out the Blood Servant Sect.

  Baiyue City suffered heavy losses. The whereabouts of its five elders were unknown.

  Long Mingyu died. His niece committed suicide on the spot, following him in death.

  This bloody war in the cultivation world finally came to an end.