Clan Rise: Starting as a Grandfather

Back then, Yue Hongyi was not the Sect Leader of Star Moon Sect, nor was he an Innate Martial Artist; he was just in charge of managing affairs within the Star Moon Sect.

He had met Ling Bufu before, but that was over fifty years ago.

He remembered Ling Bufu because of Ling Bo.

Ling Bo had no feud with Star Moon Sect; in fact, the Star Moon Sect had even traded many Treasure Medicines to Ling Bo, which could be considered as helping both Ling Bo and Ling Bufu.

Thinking of these, Yue Hongyi managed a smile, "Please help me, Brother Ling. I will surely repay you generously once I recover!"

"Generous repayment? What can you give me?" Ling Bufu asked with a smile.

Yue Hongyi frowned, but still weakly said, "Anything, as long as you want it, I will do my best to give it to you!"

Ling Bufu nodded, "Alright, I want your vital energy!"

"You!" Yue Hongyi looked at him in shock and disbelief.

Ling Bufu held down his hands and approached with a smile, "Since we know each other, I will grant you a quick end today, don't worry, you won't die too quickly!"

Saying this, he fiercely bit into Yue Hongyi's carotid artery, blood gushed out, and he swallowed it greedily.

Yue Hongyi's eyes widened in disbelief.

"You've cultivated evil techniques!"

By this time, Ling Bufu's eyes had turned blood red, and he looked at the aged Yue Hongyi with a mix of mockery in his gaze.

Yue Hongyi felt his blood continuously draining away, and his vital force diminishing, feeling weak, fearful, and panicked.

He wanted to beg for mercy, to curse, to resist, but the weakness in his limbs only left him sinking into the fear of death.

Ling Bufu swallowed Yue Hongyi's blood voraciously, consuming not just the blood but also Yue Hongyi's Innate True Qi.

Spirit Continuation Blood Refining Skill refines blood but also the True Qi.

It essentially turns someone else's vital blood into his own.

An Innate Martial Artist's vital energy was like a Ten-Complete Great Replenishing Pill to Ling Bufu.

In just a moment, Yue Hongyi's vital energy was completely drained, and his already aged body now looked like a dried corpse.

In contrast, Ling Bufu appeared rosy-cheeked and with jet-black hair, seemingly rejuvenated by decades.

"Hahaha~~"

Ling Bufu laughed heartily, for him Yue Hongyi was akin to a great opportunity.

Absorbing Yue Hongyi's vital energy, his cultivation would advance further.

"Minions, the rest is your reward to enjoy!"

Hearing this, the group of black-robed martial artists exclaimed joyfully, "Thank you Mr. Xie for the reward!"

The next moment, a group of martial artists eagerly indulged in the feast before them.

These individuals were followers of the Divine Sun Sect, and they all practiced the Spirit Continuation Blood Refining Skill.

Regrettably, Yang Zhenshan didn't know that a group of Divine Sun Sect followers was hidden here; otherwise, he would definitely come and eradicate these scums.

...

On the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month.

Yang Zhenshan took the Da Fu Ship of Jin Hai Guard to Star Moon Island.

He stood on the dock, looking at the green hills in the eastern part of the island, then at the town outside the dock, and the endless paddy fields.

"This is a good place indeed!"

Star Moon Island is truly a good place, with mountains, water, good fields, and a small town.

With the conditions of Star Moon Island, it could be completely self-sufficient with ten thousand residents.

The only thing not quite satisfactory was the thick scent of blood permeating the island at the moment.

"Marquis, has everything on the island been handled? Have all who needed to be killed been killed, and all who needed to be buried been buried?" Luo Jingsong stepped forward to report.

Deng Yuehe, Wang Mingjian, and Li Chengzhang stood behind him, very respectfully.

Outside the dock, there were many people; they were clanspeople from the Lv family, the Wang family, and the Li family, roughly three to four thousand in total.

Most of them are members of the Wang family and the Li family, and the Lv family, which is the family of Deng Yuehe's husband, other than a few of Deng Yuehe's descendants, only has about a hundred trusted followers.

Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded and said to Deng Yuehe and the two others, "I'll give you three days to prepare. After three days, you all must relocate to Da Rong. No problem, right?"

"No problem!" Deng Yuehe and the others quickly replied.

Now that the Star Moon Sect has been annihilated, they are like fish on the chopping block under Yang Zhenshan. They have entrusted the lives of their entire clan to Yang Zhenshan.

"Alright, go and prepare then!" Yang Zhenshan said.

The three of them left, along with their clan members, and soon only the Tenglong Advanced Guard soldiers remained on the dock.

After they had left, Yang Zhenshan, accompanied by Yu Tonghai and Luo Jingsong, walked towards the town beyond the docks.

Star Moon City couldn't really be considered a fortified city, as it lacked city walls. However, it contained the main hall of the Star Moon Sect, and it was the most populous area on Star Moon Island.

Its scale was roughly comparable to a county town in Da Rong, with a permanent population of about ten thousand people.

Most of the buildings in the city were made of wood, with many mansions and small courtyards, as well as tea houses and taverns.

Yang Zhenshan observed this small city as he walked.

"How much money and grain do we have?" he casually asked.

"We have not completed the tally yet. We have taken control over the main hall's storeroom and many large estates' storages. However, there are still many villages on the island, and our soldiers are currently transporting the money and grain from these villages," Yu Tonghai replied.

Yang Zhenshan stopped walking, thought for a while, and then asked, "How many granaries are there in the city?"

"Three," Yu Tonghai answered.

Yang Zhenshan slightly nodded and said, "Leave one granary when we depart."

The Star Moon Sect had a lot of stored grain because Star Moon Island had a population of nearly fifty thousand people and could not be self-sufficient, thus they needed to buy a large amount of food from the outside world. In order not to be reliant on others for food, they would store a large quantity of grain.

"Yes!" Yu Tonghai didn't ask why and simply agreed.

"What other valuables are there on the island?" Yang Zhenshan asked.

"There is a medicinal field at the foot of that mountain, covering about ten or so acres, which contains quite a few Treasure Medicines," Yu Tonghai said.

The Star Moon Sect had chosen this island as the location of their main hall for a reason. The land capable of growing Treasure Medicines might not be a blessed land, but it was certainly no ordinary farmland.

"Leave the medicinal field as is; don't let anyone touch it! Before leaving, leave three hundred soldiers to help guard it for a while!"

"You should also stay here with the guard!"

Yang Zhenshan looked at Luo Jingsong.

"Yes!" Both men replied.

Star Moon Island was a good place, not too far nor too close to Da Rong. It was likely that Da Rong wouldn't occupy it, for a simple reason: there was no need.

Yang Zhenshan somewhat wanted to claim it for himself, thinking of it as a fallback for the Yang family.

The Yang family probably wouldn't be able to stay in Da Rong for long.

It wasn't that he didn't want to stay in Da Rong, but rather that Da Rong couldn't accommodate the Yang family.

Currently, the Yang family had several powerful experts, Yu Qingyi, Yang Mingcheng, Wu Zhan, Wu Zheng, Luo Jingsong, five Half-step Innate Martial Artists, and more than ten martial artists at the Postnatal Ninth Layer.

In another ten or so years, Yu Qingyi and Yang Mingcheng should probably become Innate Martial Artists.

By that time, with six or seven Innate Martial Artists in the Yang family, could Emperor Yanping still sleep peacefully?

Before, Yang Zhenshan felt the Yang family was too weak to protect themselves; later, he had to worry about the Yang family being too strong, which could lead to the Emperor's wariness.

Once the Emperor became wary of the Yang family, Da Rong would surely no longer be able to accommodate the Yang family.

So, to be prepared for all eventualities, Yang Zhenshan planned to use this place as a retreat for the Yang family.

"Let's go, let's check out the wealth of the Star Moon Sect!"

Subsequently, the three of them arrived at the storerooms of the Star Moon Sect, which included many different types: the medicinal materials storeroom, the weapons storeroom, the treasures storeroom, and the silver storeroom, among others.

The weapons storeroom was basically empty, and the medicinal materials storeroom was rather bare, but there was still quite a lot in the treasures storeroom and the silver storeroom.

The treasures storeroom contained a variety of items, including gemstones, ores, precious medicinal herbs, along with many other rare and odd items, including even a Spirit Fruit.

As for the silver storeroom, it held approximately two million taels of silver. The Star Moon Sect was rather short on silver, otherwise, they wouldn't have supported the Seven Stars Hall in accumulating wealth in Da Rong.