Cultivation Begins with Daily Intelligence Reports

127: Black Wind Village Affairs”Rumble!” The sound of hooves was like muffled thunder, carrying an overbearing Evil Qi as it came charging straight towards them, the vibrations crushing the ground.

The crowd beneath the high platform, still shaken, had not yet recovered from the shock of their Family head, Lin Lingshan, crippling the Grand Elder, when a figure suddenly darted out from the edge of the crowd like a hyena that had smelled blood.

It was the Lin Family’s Third Elder, Lin Chengyuan!

His wrinkled old face suddenly smoothed out like a dried orange peel, and his cloudy old eyes shot out a gleam of barely concealed ecstasy intertwined with malice.

He was almost trotting as he passed the group of stunned clansmen beneath the high platform.

”The Lin Family respectfully welcomes the Fourth Leader of the Black Wind Stockade! Our humble abode is honored, truly honored!”

His voice was high and shrill, carrying a tremor of near-obsequious flattery as he bowed and cupped his hands from afar, his posture humble enough to touch the dirt.

This posture was ten times more humble than when he had welcomed the Liu Family just moments ago.

A few breaths later, a troop of men and horses rudely crashed into everyone’s field of vision.

The person in the lead was not riding an ordinary steed, but a demonic horse with a pitch-black body and eyes as red as fire. Its muscles were knotted, and its iron hooves sparked when they struck the hard earth, while the white gas snorted from its nostrils carried a hot, sulfurous stench.

Sitting upright on the horse’s back was a man who was completely different from the fierce bandit leader one might imagine—he was wearing an immaculate, snow-white long robe!

This striking white clothing appeared completely out of place and strangely eerie in a scene filled with flying dust and hidden murderous intent.

His features could be considered handsome, but between his brows hung an impenetrable gloom. His thin lips were pressed tightly together, and the corners of his mouth naturally curled into a trace of a mean-spirited arc.

Most eye-catching was the twelve-foot silver spear slung diagonally across his back, its shaft shimmering with a cold metallic luster.

It was none other than the Fourth Leader of the Black Wind Stockade, Gong Yunyu!

”Whoa...” Gong Yunyu pulled on the reins, and the demonic horse reared up, letting out a neigh that seemed to tear through the air before stamping down heavily!

Dust exploded, and an invisible, ferocious Evil Qi spread out like a tangible force, instantly overpowering the Liu Family’s formation.

”Black Wind Stockade business!”

Gong Yunyu’s gaze was like a viper’s tongue, coldly sweeping across every panicked face in the crowd. His voice was not loud, but it clearly drilled into everyone’s ears, carrying an unquestionable chilling intent:

”Everyone! Surrender immediately! Those who resist...” He paused, the trace of meanness at the corners of his mouth turning into a cruel smile. ”Will be killed without mercy!”

These three words were each like an ice pick, ruthlessly hammering into everyone’s hearts.

Behind him, dozens of fierce Bandit Cultivators grinned and fanned out, their Spiritual Pressure released and intertwined without restraint, like several cold iron nets covering the field.

Three of these auras were clearly at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer! The number of Cultivators at the Peak of the Qi Refining Sixth Layer exceeded two hands.

Added to the fact that Gong Yunyu himself was at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer, this force was far more powerful than the few men the Liu Family had brought. It was a complete crushing force.

Liu Chengcai’s heart sank to rock bottom! Because from the corner of his eye, he had already glimpsed at the back of the group—several bloodied Liu Family Cultivators, dragged like dead dogs by coarse ropes; they were the very clansmen responsible for guarding the flying boat.

A bone-chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head!

”F-Fourth Leader!” Liu Chengcai forcibly suppressed his surging fear, squeezing out a smile that was uglier than crying. His voice was dry and tight, carrying a tremor he himself hadn’t noticed, and he bowed deeply:

”I have long admired the Fourth Leader’s great reputation; it is like thunder to my ears! Seeing you today, it is indeed... well-deserved! I do not know why your honorable Stockade has come? Perhaps there is some misunderstanding...”

The Black Wind Stockade was notorious and incredibly ruthless; his Liu Family would absolutely not dare to provoke them.

”Misunderstanding?” Gong Yunyu seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world and suddenly interrupted him, his voice suddenly rising, sharp and grating.

He looked down at the bowing Liu Chengcai, his eyes filled with mockery and cruelty, as if looking at a dying bug.

”You want to talk to me about a misunderstanding? Heh!” He sneered and suddenly raised his hand to point at Lin Lingshan and the Lin Family members, his voice like rolling thunder, making people’s eardrums buzz.

”The Lin Family! They are the sworn enemies of my Black Wind Stockade! It is a feud to the death! Your Liu Family dares to openly form an alliance with the Lin Family? Do you take my Black Wind Stockade for dead men? Are you trampling the face of the Stockade Leader himself under your feet? You tell me—does this fucking count as a misunderstanding?”

”T-this...” Liu Chengcai was completely stunned, his mouth wide open, his mind blank, leaving only a ”buzzing” echo.

The Lin Family? Sworn enemies? Just based on this small, dilapidated Family that couldn’t even scrape together a Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivator? What could they possibly use to be enemies of the Black Wind Stockade? On what grounds? This was simply absurd to the extreme!

But these words were roared from the mouth of the Black Wind Stockade’s Fourth Leader, carrying monstrous murderous intent, leaving him no choice but to believe it. A huge sense of fear and cold instantly swallowed him.

The Lin Family members were even more petrified, the expressions on everyone’s faces frozen, falling instantly from the relief of surviving a disaster into despair as deep as a bottomless abyss.

Sworn enemies? This label, when slammed down, was heavier than Mount Tai! What virtue or ability did their Lin Family have? They weren’t even worthy of carrying the shoes for the Black Wind Stockade! This was clearly just an excuse!

Thinking of the Black Wind Stockade’s previous heinous deeds, fear like cold vines instantly tightened around everyone’s hearts, and a sense of suffocation spread.

Lin Lingshan only felt a surge of blood rush to his head, which he forcibly suppressed, his face turning terrifyingly livid.

His gaze was fixed tightly on Gong Yunyu and the three Cultivators behind him who were emitting terrifying Late Stage Qi Refining fluctuations, finally landing on Lin Chengyuan’s obsequious and malicious old face.

An unprecedented heaviness and cold murderous intent intertwined in his chest. It’s over! With this formation, the Lin Family probably cannot escape this calamity today!

”Fourth Leader, please see clearly!” Lin Lingshan forcibly suppressed his boiling anger, his voice trying to remain steady, yet still carrying an uncontrollable tremor. The veins on his hands, which were cupped in a salute, were bulging:

”My Lin Family has taken root here, always keeping to ourselves, only seeking to be fed and clothed, never actively stirring up trouble, let alone being enemies with a behemoth like your honorable Stockade! This matter...”

He took a deep breath: ”There must be a huge misunderstanding! I ask the Fourth Leader to investigate the truth, do not listen to the slander of villains, and let those close to you feel pain while enemies rejoice!”

”Misunderstanding? Listen to the slander of villains?” Gong Yunyu seemed to have heard something extremely ridiculous, his sneer filled with disdain. His gaze was like a poisoned hook, firmly locked onto Lin Chengyuan, who had been bowing all along, the smile on his face becoming increasingly obsequious.

”Fellow Daoist Lin Chengyuan!” Gong Yunyu’s voice suddenly rose, like a thunderclap: ”You come and tell them, tell everyone. Is this really a misunderstanding? Did I, Gong Yunyu, wrong their Lin Family?”

Lin Chengyuan shuddered, the obsequious and fawning smile on his face instantly turning into ”righteous indignation.” He suddenly straightened his body and cleared his throat, his voice loud and grating. It carried a nauseating, tragic indignation, as if he had finally waited for this moment:

”Reporting to the Fourth Leader! It is absolutely true! There is not the slightest misunderstanding!”