Chapter 491 – Destruction of the Yang Clan

A nameless domain.

A Noble Realm powerhouse was in the middle of fighting an origin beast in the mountains. Just when he was about to seal its throat with his sword, someone suddenly soared into the air and loudly shouted: “My lord! There’s good news—”

As soon as these words were uttered, that powerhouse was disturbed and his actions slightly paused. That origin beast immediately fled.

The powerhouse furrowed his brows: “What’s the matter?”

He still needed to cut out that origin pearl, and scrape together enough medicinal ingredients to refine the fifth batch of Ice Jade Illusion Pills.

The person who came kneeled on the ground with joy across his face: “Reporting to my lord, the Ice Jade Illusion Pill has appeared! Moreover, it’s a pill born with rose-tinted clouds, perfectly round and completely sealed. It’s the most suitable for the young miss!”

The powerhouse’s gaze was like lightning as he pulled the person up: “What did you say? Who has it, and how much does it cost?”

The messenger hurriedly said: “The price is very low. The Ice Jade Illusion Pill is a golden-level medicinal pill. Just catch a younger generation of the Yang Clan at the Immortal Realm or above, and you can go to the Dark Tower to exchange for this type of pill!”

The powerhouse was angered: “How is this possible? Don’t lie to me!”

The other’s voice was excited and eager: “This mission was issued by the Dark Tower. The Yang Clan offended someone, and that person took out hundreds of precious pills, wanting the Yang Clan to collapse!”

The powerhouse didn’t hesitate any longer. He grabbed the messenger with one hand, jumped onto a flying boat, and soared into the sky: “Quick! Tell me everything you know about this matter!”

For the sake of his little sister, who had been born with a congenital defect, he had been out adventuring for a dozen years and racking his brains to scrape together enough medicinal ingredients for a pill king. He wanted to ask this pill king to refine flawless pills for him. But now that there was a shortcut, why would he care about those origin beasts?

The messenger’s voice gradually became distant: “This kind of thing is too rare, and many people have taken action. The Yang Clan has already been destroyed, and no clan members remain inside the ancestral residence. My lord is far away, so we’re a little late. Now, you should go find the Yang Clan’s usual stomping grounds and look for younger generations out adventuring. Here are some maps…”

The back garden of a silver-ranked aristocratic family.

A strapping and majestic man was submerged in the middle of a pool of Thundering Water. As he practiced martial arts, thunder qi rose from his whole body like steam.

Someone barged inside: “Eldest brother, good news!”

The majestic man’s eyes burst forth with shining lights as he stared at the person in front of him: “Impertinent brat. What happened?”

The young man who barged in had a smile across his face: “The Dark Tower issued a mission. It has the Thunder Substitution Blood Pill that eldest brother urgently needs!”

The strapping man suddenly stood up: “This kind of pill has appeared?”

The young man proudly said: “The quality is perfectly round and completely sealed, and the pill has born rose-tinted clouds. All we have to do is capture the Celestial Realm disciples of some Yang Clan…”

The majestic man grabbed a changpao, and draped it over his body. In a low voice, he said: “We’ll go and find members of the Yang Clan. Tell me everything that happened!”

The young man started talking nonstop: “Heh. If I hadn’t gone outside to get some experience, I wouldn’t have found out about this mission…”

Inside a glacier.

After a remarkably beautiful woman turned around, a set of snow-white robes were already placed upon her body.

To the side, a charming young girl was helping her get dressed. She smilingly said: “Older sister, we can go and capture a Celestial Realm child of the Yang Clan. At that time, we can exchange it for a flawless Snow Dragon Pill. If we capture a few more, we can exchange them for a couple more pills. Then, older sister will be able to break through to the Noble Realm even faster…”

A desolate wasteland.

An old man wearing black robes waved his sleeve, and swept away the minion who came to report the news: “Very good. You have performed a meritorious service for passing along this information. From today onwards, your clan’s tithes will be reduced by twenty percent!”

Shortly after that, there was a peal of hearty laughter: “This old man’s beloved son can finally balance his yin and yang, and aim for the supreme path of martial arts!”

As mentioned previously, the Yang Clan’s collapse was incredibly swift. Fortunately, there were quite a few younger generations of the Yang Clan who were out adventuring. Most of them were caught off guard. When their training locations were targeted by others, they were quickly captured or killed.

However, this matter only extended to some disciples below the Celestial Realm. As for those at the Celestial Realm and above, several still escaped and attempted to conceal their identities.

Unfortunately, the people in the beginning came quickly, but there weren’t many powerhouses who truly surpassed the large organizations. Later on, those who ought to have reacted finally made their moves. With the help of various secret techniques and mighty abilities, the fast-fleeing individuals at the Celestial Realm and above were all seized one by one.

As a result, things quickly went beyond Gu Zuo’s expectations. Following the first seven days, when Ying Yu came to check on the mission results, he discovered that the place was packed with people, and the skeletons of the dead piled up into mountains.

Moreover, there was a little setback.

After Gu Zuo heard about it, he didn’t have much to say. He only put on some black robes, and had Ying Yu bring him straight to the Dark Tower.

That beautiful woman, Third Lady Xie, was already waiting there with an anxious expression on her face.

Third Lady Xie was familiar with Ying Yu’s appearance. Once she saw Gu Zuo, who was being carried by Ying Yu, she hurriedly welcomed him: “Honored sir, you’re finally here. If you hadn’t come, this old woman wouldn’t have been able to hold on any longer.”

When she finished speaking, she led Gu Zuo to a small hall on the side. And within this small hall, both sides were completely filled with seated people.

After Gu Zuo entered the hall, he took a sweeping glance.

There were many figures at the Celestial Realm and above in this place, but by his side was only the Celestial Realm Ying Yu. According to logic, he should’ve been intimidated by their imposing auras. But for some unknown reason, he wasn’t scared in the least.

Under Third Lady Xie’s guidance, Gu Zuo sat down in the seat of honor. After that, he cupped his hands in greeting: “Ladies and gentlemen, I look forward to your advisement.”

When those people saw Gu Zuo sitting upon that high throne, their eyes flickered with traces of surprise. They recognized that this person’s voice was very young. He was probably twenty years old or so. Could it be that these medicinal pills were really as they thought, and that he obtained them through a fortuitous encounter? To willingly taking out such a fortuitous encounter was bold enough.

But no matter what they thought, since this black-robed person was the one who issued the mission, and they had some conflicting views after receiving this mission, they also had to find him to resolve things.

As a result, Third Lady Xie wore a bitter smile as she explained: “Honored sir, it’s still the problem of the quantity of medicinal pills.” She didn’t expect that there would be conflicts over the pills so quickly, “There are several mission takers who need the same type of pill. They arrived at the same time and their strengths are very similar, but they all want to be the first to obtain those pills…”

Originally, one could inform Gu Zuo if there was a shortage of medicinal pills, but the scarcity of some pills was a little higher. The other parties had big backgrounds and they didn’t want to wait for too long, so they wanted to see Gu Zuo.

Gu Zuo understood: “So it’s like this. Which types of medicinal pills are lacking? You can just say it.”

Third Lady Xie answered: “It’s mainly the Path Comprehending Pill, Martial Path Pill, Barrier Breaking Pill, and Heart Protecting Pill. Most have a beneficial effect on the cultivation of martial arts, and some can help to comprehend certain secret skills.”

Indeed. With regards to martial artists, unless there were special requirements, these all-purpose pills were more applicable.

Gu Zuo pondered for a short while, and understood. He nodded his head: “Since it’s like this, I will keep my word. I certainly won’t disappoint anyone who has completed the mission.” He paused, “Since I’m here, please step forward and hand over the mission targets. If there are no mistakes, I’ll do my best to satisfy the requests of the mission takers.”

Someone’s heart moved: “What does this honored sir mean?”

Gu Zuo said: “For any pills that are lacking, I can refine them on the spot. However, it’s true that my considerations weren’t thorough enough. As compensation… If there are other medicinal pills you need, you can tell me. If I know the pill prescription, and it’s below the earth rank, I can attempt to refine them. It’s just that the medicinal ingredients for those attempts will have to be taken care of by yourselves. While I can guarantee that I can produce the pills, I can’t ensure that they’ll be flawless.”

Once these words were uttered, everyone was taken aback.

Just a moment ago, it was guessed that he obtained them from a fortuitous encounter. But now, he said that he personally refined them?

And with such a young voice…

However, although Gu Zuo’s proposal that he could refine on the spot set off billowing waves in their hearts, it still piqued many of these people’s interests. It also raised their trust in him.

Some people had some vague ideas, but they restrained those thoughts for the time being — There were medicinal pills they needed refining, but whether or not these pills could be produced, they would need to watch a round of this pharmacist’s pill refining before saying anything else.

Following this, the crowd said: “Then, we’ll abide by this honored sir’s words!”

Gu Zuo said: “By all means.”

Right after that, there was someone wearing black robes. Upright and unafraid, a man with what seemed like lightning in his eyes stood up. He stepped forward with large strides, and said: “I need more Thunder Substitution Blood Pills. Is it possible for this honored sir?”

Gu Zuo thought about it: “This pill isn’t hard to refine, and I also have the medicinal ingredients. How many younger generations of the Yang Clan did you bring?”

The man in front was a Celestial Realm powerhouse. The qi emissions across his body surged greatly. Compared to Ying Yu, he was even more powerful — Though he wasn’t considered a true prodigy-level personage, he was infinitesimally close to a prodigy.

This was just his rough judgement.

The brilliance in the man’s eyes flashed repeatedly: “Great! Take a look!”

Having said that, his hand made a tossing motion.

Suddenly, five human heads tumbled on the ground.

The appearances of these five heads were somewhat similar. In addition, their facial features shared some resemblance with Yang Hu.

Gu Zuo only felt a bloody stench rushing towards his face. These human heads had almost rolled to his feet — Was this an attempt at scaring him or something?

But none of that was important. The important thing was that the loss of these five people could definitely cause Yang Hu’s heart to ache. The possibility of forcing him out was even bigger!

Gu Zuo said: “Then, I will refine for you first.”

After that, he casually flung his hand, and an extremely large pill furnace appeared in front of him. Immediately following which, he reached out and made a grabbing motion. There were many medicinal ingredients in his hand. Every type flickered with shining lights and robust qi emissions.

Gu Zuo performed a hand seal, and tossed these ingredients into the pill furnace. Every single move seemed to contain profound mysteries. And the purple-colored flame below the furnace blossomed with faint rays of light. It was extremely spirited.

The people below watched with rapt attention.

Although they were martial artists and couldn’t make sense of how a pharmacist refined medicinal pills, they could record this scene with their own abilities. Once they went back, they could show this to the pharmacists supported by their own organizations. At that time, if they could comprehend some things, it would be incredibly beneficial!

After a little more than two hours, the pill furnace rolled with thunder and flashed with lightning. Like a river, a streak of purple light flowed across the air. Then, a wisp of medicinal power soared up like a long dragon. There was the chime of pill sounds, and the pill fragrance was dense as smoke. After that, the furnace lid opened wide!

Gu Zuo reached out, and three pills entered the palm of his hand.

Of these three pills, one was prismatic and two were flawless.

As far as Gu Zuo was concerned, this kind of achievement was relatively normal for a first-time refinement, but when everyone below witnessed this, they were incomparably shocked.

With such light touches and understated strokes, it seemed that he didn’t expend a great deal of effort. Yet, he refined those three pills just like that?

Gu Zuo displayed the three medicinal pills: “Unfortunately, there is only one prismatic pill. Three more to go. Please wait a moment.”

In fact, this man was the only one who exchanged for this type of medicinal pill. It was just that he wanted to exchange for five pills, so there wasn’t enough.

That man naturally gave a clear and boisterous laugh: “Okay!”

Subsequently, Gu Zuo spent four hours altogether. Each batch was faster than the next. After refining two more furnaces of medicinal pills, three pills were refined with each batch. The first had one prismatic pill, and the second had two prismatic pills. In addition, there was a total of three flawless pills.

When added together, he refined three batches, and produced four prismatic pills and five flawless pills!

Gu Zuo directly threw the four prismatic pills to the man. Meanwhile, he put away the flawless pills.

Upon seeing this, the man suddenly said: “Honored sir, are the other flawless pills for sale?”

Gu Zuo glanced at him, and replied: “If you give me three batches of the main ingredient, I can give you four pills.”

That man made a decision right away: “Sure!”

After that, he rummaged through his inter-spatial tool, threw out several boxes, and happily took away the four flawless pills.

These Thunder Substitution Blood Pills were enough to raise his constitution by quite a few levels. Driven forward by the medicinal power, he could learn some martial disciplines even faster and derive even stronger ultimate skills!

The success of this man caused the others to flare with passion.

This profound-level pharmacist really was capable enough!

Hence, following a period of clashing glares and imposing auras, the next person stepped forward.

This time around, the one who came needed the Martial Path Pill. As it turned out, the Martial Path Pill was too popular. It had already been take away and was out stock. As as result, this person stayed behind.

It was even easier for Gu Zuo to refine the Martial Path Pill. Before long, flawless pills were produced.

— For the type of medicinal pill like the Martial Path Pill, prismatic ones didn’t exist.

After that, the two flawless Martial Path Pills in stock were exchanged by two other mission takers who needed the same pill.

People came over and made their requests one by one. Gu Zuo met their needs completely. And after he continuously refined medicine for three days and three nights, Gu Zuo didn’t show any signs of psychic power depletion or internal qi exhaustion…

Although it was said that a characteristic of pharmacists allowed their internal qi to last for a relatively long time, it truly wasn’t easy to persevere like Gu Zuo.

Eventually, all of the mission takers who needed pills within the scope of what was written on the silken cloth got what they wanted.

At this time, a young lady with a pretty appearance stepped forward. She gritted her gleaming teeth, and placed the head of a Yang Clan younger generation on the ground: “I want a Meridian Intermittence Pill… Can it be done?”

Gu Zuo looked at her: “I can.”

The young lady’s eyes shined: “Does this honored sir have the pill prescription?”

Gu Zuo nodded his head: “I have it.”

Following that, Gu Zuo didn’t waste time chattering. He summoned his pill furnace, and swiftly refined a batch of golden-level Meridian Intermittence Pills. Speaking of which, something like the Meridian Intermittence Pill wasn’t considered too rare. In fact, it was simpler than those previous medicinal pills. Even the number of pills produced was five pills per furnace.

Gu Zuo had never refined it before. This time, three flawless pills and two grade eleven pills were produced. He tossed one of the flawless pills to the young lady. Among the four remaining pills, he kept the two flawless ones for himself. As for the two grade eleven pills, he said to everyone: “I don’t keep any flawed products in my hands. Does anyone want these two grade eleven Meridian Intermittence Pills?”

Off to the side, Third Lady Xie gasped in amazement when she saw this. After watching the results of Gu Zuo’s series of refinements with her own eyes, her admiration for him was indescribable. Naturally, she had the idea of befriending Gu Zuo to the best of her abilities. At once, she smiled and said: “If no one wants it, I wonder if my Dark Tower can accept it?”

Even if she couldn’t befriend him, it was rare to see a grade eleven Meridian Intermittence Pill. Ah, they absolutely needed it!

However, if Third Lady Xie could have such thoughts, the other people below could naturally think the same way.

After witnessing Gu Zuo’s skills, almost no one wanted to leave early. Having heard what Gu Zuo said, they also became interested in the grade eleven pills. They spoke in quick succession:

“I want it!”

“I want it, too!”

Gu Zuo said: “For those who have the pill’s main ingredient, two batches for one pill.”

After some calculations by those people, only one person happened to have enough. The remaining pill was naturally taken by the resource-rich Dark Tower.

The subsequent matters didn’t need to be mentioned. The remaining ones who didn’t exchange for medicinal pils, and the people who captured or killed a few more Yang Clan members, also relied on their head counts for Gu Zuo to refine some pills.

What was outside their expectations was that Gu Zuo knew almost all of the prescriptions of the pills they needed. Moreover, he could actually refine all of them. As for the prescriptions he knew about, the majority of what he refined were flawless pills. Except for an extremely small number of profound-level pills whose degree of difficulty was rather high, only some grade ten and eleven pills appeared. However, within every furnace, there would be at least one flawless pill without exception.

It was to the point that there was only one pill prescription Gu Zuo didn’t seem to know about. Once he heard the name of this prescription, he realized that it was a type of self-created medicinal pill that was recently invented. After a short period of analysis, he directly refined grade ten pills, which left the person who possessed the prescription wild with joy!

With such a level of medicine refinement, who could still say that he was no good?

Apart from an insufficient spiritual path realm, which prevented him from refining earth and heaven-level pills, it could be said that this was the number one pharmacist in the world when it came to the refinement and scholarly knowledge of profound-level pills and below!

Of course, such words could only be “spoken” in one’s mind.

If it was said aloud, this previously obscure and low-profile pharmacist wouldn’t necessarily be happy, but other powerful pharmacists would definitely be upset.

Another day passed in this way before Gu Zuo finally took care of everyone’s affairs.

For those that didn’t reach the flawless product grade, the pills were exchanged in the form of medicinal ingredients, and were either given to the present mission takers or the Dark Tower. And from Gu Zuo’s actions of not wanting anything but ingredients, everyone couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration — Only someone who refined medicine so wholeheartedly could have such achievements.

Shortly thereafter, when these people glanced at a corner of the hall, looks of pity couldn’t help appearing in their gazes.

In this corner of the hall, at least twenty-something Yang Clan younger generations were haphazardly tied up. They were the ones who had been captured alive. To prevent them from shouting obscenities, not only was their strength blocked, but their mouths were sealed, too.

This pharmacist’s personal character was magnanimous, and it could be said that his standards were superb. How did the Yang Clan offend him?

But they were tactful, and none of them voiced this question.

Afterwards, that strapping and majestic man who took out five heads spoke invitingly: “Thundering Woods Domain, the third son of the Lei Family. I, Lei Pengfei, would like to invite this honored sir to be our guest. Would thou be wiling to do me this honor?”

Gu Zuo shook his head: “I have an enemy. If he isn’t killed, I’ll never be able to release the hatred in my heart. But I’m also waiting for someone. If he doesn’t return, I’ll never entertain any other thoughts.”

Lei Pengfei, a descendant of a large household, wouldn’t hold a grudge because he failed to issue an invitation. He straightforwardly said: “I welcome this honored sir at any time. If thou is ever interested in coming over, just bring this token.”

After he finished speaking, he threw a purple-colored token, turned around, and departed.

Gu Zuo put the token away.

In the hall, some of the others copied Lei Pengfei and gave Gu Zuo tokens of recognition. Meanwhile, some only expressed goodwill before gradually taking their leave.

At this moment, Gu Zuo looked at Third Lady Xie.

Third Lady Xie wore an intimate smile: “Does this honored sir have any orders?”

Gu Zuo spoke in a low voice: “Firstly, I’ll issue another mission. If anyone can obtain information on the Royal Realm powerhouse Yang Hu, I’ll bestow medicinal pills. Secondly, I’m making an announcement to the world. Tell Yang Hu that his descendants are all in my hands. If he doesn’t show himself, I’ll have the Yang Clan surname stricken from the Central Continent’s records!”

He didn’t believe that this wretched Yang Hu would still refuse to step forward!

And so long as he showed himself…

Then, he would be handed over to the Blood Transformation Palace Master.

Gu Zuo didn’t say anything to the Yang Clan younger generations in the corner. He also didn’t react when he saw their resentful expressions. No one enjoyed being loathed by others, but… So long as he thought about Yang Hu’s face, and recalled his big brother whose life or death remained uncertain, he didn’t have any sympathetic feelings at all.

Soon after, Gu Zuo asked the Dark Tower’s people to lock up these Yang Clan descendants, and to temporarily hold them for him: “Young Lady Xie, if the Dark Tower is willing to do this for me, I will take out fifty Martial Path Pills and bestow them to the Dark Tower once this matter is dealt with. If the Dark Tower can bring out enough medicinal ingredients, I’ll also be willing to refine another thirty batches of pills, which will similarly be gifted to the Dark Tower… Naturally, the Dark Tower must ensure that these Yang Clan younger generations don’t escape.”

Of course, Third Lady Xie didn’t hesitate in the least: “This honored sir doesn’t need to worry. Just entrust these people to my Dark Tower. I guarantee that when this honored sir has need of them, there won’t be a single one missing!”

This business deal was in the bag! It was practically a small capital and huge profit!

Gu Zuo nodded: “Then, I’ll rest assured. My thanks to the Dark Tower for the trouble.”

After giving these instructions, he took Ying Yu’s arm again, and was brought away. Utilizing the innate abilities of the shadow cat race, Ying Yu swiftly departed.

The new mission and announcement were made public to the world. Within the Dark Tower of an iron-ranked city, someone quickly read that announcement sheet from a secluded corner. A look of venomous hatred was revealed in those eyes.

This was definitely the work of Ten Ultimates Sect! Ah, they really spent a huge sum of wealth. In order to force him out, they were willing to take out so many medicinal pills!

This person was precisely Yang Hu.

After escaping with his clone on that day, Yang Hu quickly fled. He didn’t dare to stay near his original location at all.

This clone was achieved through his painstaking efforts, and large quantities of resources were used to feed the clone’s strength. Now, it happened to become his life-saving tool.

It was only a pity that the clone’s strength was at the Ascendant Realm. Once he showed himself, even if his comprehensions were still present, his realm wasn’t good enough. In the face of the colossal Ten Ultimates Sect, he wouldn’t be able to withstand a single blow.

Originally, he hid himself tenaciously. But in the end, he found out about the enormous crisis his Yang Clan suffered in the following days.

His clan members, his descendants, all of them unexpectedly…

T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.

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