The First Immortal of Destiny

The one scolding Shen Mo was the most advanced of the three cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm.

"Who am I?"

Shen Mo glanced at him disdainfully and said, "None of your damn business! Get Wu Dayong out here to see me."

The Liu and Wu Families had dominated Sishui City for many years, and most of their younger members had developed arrogant and conceited personalities. When had they ever encountered someone like Shen Mo, who was even more dismissive and domineering than they were? One by one, they grew so enraged that they started cursing aloud.

The Qi Gathering Layer IV cultivator from the Wu Family, his face etched with hostility, quickly drew a large blade and swung it at Shen Mo.

"You scum! Daring to rant in my Wu Family's presence? Watch me tear out your tongue!"

This person has likely cultivated lightness magic and some blade-based martial arts, Shen Mo thought. Once he uses them, his movements are as swift as an antelope, and his blade strikes as fiercely as a tiger, creating a somewhat intimidating aura. However, in my eyes, his martial arts and cultivation methods are insignificant. They're probably the most common low-grade profound level cultivation methods in the cultivation world, and he has barely cultivated them to the Senior level, the equivalent of 'Senior' on the status panel.

To prevent anyone from discerning his identity from his magic techniques and cultivation methods, Shen Mo didn't even draw the Demon Slaying Sword. Relying solely on his robust vitality, he threw a punch that connected with the dense blade energy.

BANG!

The blade energy, along with the silver-white broadsword in the cultivator's hand, shattered into pieces.

Before the Wu Family cultivator's expression could change, Shen Mo's figure flashed, appearing right in front of him. A fist as hard as forged steel struck him squarely in the face!

CRUNCH!

Like a hammer smashing into dough, the Wu Family cultivator's facial features immediately twisted and deformed. Then, teeth flew out, accompanied by a spray of blood!

THUD! THUD!

Shen Mo, his physique comparable to a demonic beast's, shifted slightly. He grabbed the Wu Family cultivator and slammed his head into the Qingshi floor tiles.

Of course, he hadn't delivered a killing blow! The lives of the Liu and Wu Family cultivators were to be spared for Chen Mengze as much as possible. This was so she could use their blood to cleanse the obsession in her heart, and their corpses to commemorate the souls of the Chen Family and her mother, Madame An.

Seeing Shen Mo's formidable vitality, the other Wu Family cultivators hastily retreated several dozen steps. Simultaneously, they took out magic artifacts, talismans, and similar items, hurling them all at Shen Mo! They often ventured into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts, so they knew how to deal with this burly man who was like a humanoid demonic beast before them. However, Shen Mo was stronger than any demonic beast they had ever encountered!

Relying only on lightness magic and his physical body, he withstood the assault of magic artifacts and talismans, charging straight into the midst of the Wu Family cultivators. Like a tiger among sheep!

With a raise of his hand, one cultivator flew back, spitting blood. With a swing of his palm, another's bones fractured and tendons snapped, sending them screaming to the ground in agony.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The interplay of fist energy, palm shadows, blade flashes, and the spirit light from talismans was extraordinarily intense.

Several times, Chen Mengze almost couldn't resist drawing her Flying Sword to join the fray and fight to her heart's content. However, remembering Shen Mo's instructions, she ultimately restrained herself.

Their purpose on this trip was to create the illusion of a pair of itinerant rogue cultivator Dao companions who had come to compete for Sishui City's cultivation resources! This was to put some pressure on both the Liu and Wu Families. The goal was to force them to recall all their elite disciples cultivating at Dasheng Mountain and Purple Bamboo Valley to deal with this crisis. However, it shouldn't be so severe as to give them a sense of impending doom, lest it alert the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of Dasheng Mountain and Purple Bamboo Valley.

In just a few breaths, the Wu Family's cultivators were all lying on the ground. Although no one was killed, they were all severely beaten and bleeding profusely.

At that moment, the Clan Leader of the Wu Family finally appeared. He strode briskly from the rear hall, a warm smile on his face as he greeted Shen Mo.

"Fellow Daoist, please quell your anger! I am unaware how my Wu Family might have offended you to provoke such wrath," he said. "I, Wu Dayong, wish to apologize to you first!"

Wu Dayong, who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, seemed quite genial and amiable. Yet, who could imagine that twenty years ago, wearing a similar congenial expression, he had chatted and laughed with the Patriarch of the Chen Family, only to turn around and, in the blink of an eye, join forces with the Liu Family to eradicate the entire Chen Family!

"You are Wu Dayong, the Clan Leader of the Wu Family?" Shen Mo wiped the blood from his hand onto Wu Dayong's exquisite robes, his expression utterly defiant.

"I am Zhang Tieshan, a rogue cultivator from Zhong State, and this is my Dao companion, Dream Fairy!

"We were traveling through this region and, upon seeing the beautiful scenery of Sishui City, decided we wished to settle here and establish a family.

"Currently, we lack the necessary foundation. Therefore, we've come to discuss matters with Clan Leader Wu.

"We were wondering if your Wu Family could cede forty percent of your Sishui City business interests to us, husband and wife!"

Wu Dayong's facial muscle twitched. He used a cleansing magic technique to remove the bloodstains from his clothes. He was boiling with rage! This rogue cultivator calling himself Zhang Tieshan actually wants to establish a family in Sishui City... And he even wants to seize our Wu Family's foundation from our hands! This is utterly outrageous! However, after witnessing 'Zhang Tieshan's' strength, he secretly acknowledged he wasn't confident of defeating this person.

After a moment of silence, Wu Dayong chuckled. "Fellow Daoist Zhang, are you aware of the saying, 'even a strong dragon cannot crush a local snake'?"

"I don't care about your dragons or snakes!" Shen Mo scoffed, turning and heading out of the mansion.

"If you don't hand over forty percent of your assets, your Wu Family can forget about having peaceful days ahead.

"I still need to pay a visit to the Liu Family, so I don't have time to dally with you! I'll give you three days to consider.

"I will return in three days!

"If, by then, you're still unwilling to part with your nest egg, you can just keep it to take to your grave.

"Meng'er, let's go!"

Chen Mengze responded softly, then followed Shen Mo out of the Wu's mansion. Wu Dayong was left standing alone in the main hall, his expression shifting between pale and livid as he surveyed the wounded littering the ground.

「…」

After Shen Mo and Chen Mengze left the Wu's mansion, they headed towards the Liu Family's estate.

The Clan Leader of the Liu Family, Liu Dingjiang, had received a message from Wu Dayong in advance. He had led dozens of Liu Family cultivators and laid numerous traps within the mansion.

However, their fate was no better than the Wu Family's!

The Liu Family cultivators were all either severely injured or crippled. Liu Dingjiang, a cultivator at the eighth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm, also had his head grabbed by Shen Mo and repeatedly smashed against the ground.

SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

The sturdy, jade-smooth Qingshi floor was smashed, sending stone chips flying everywhere.

The other wounded Liu Family cultivators dared not look at Liu Dingjiang's miserable state, deeply afraid that he would fly into a rage out of humiliation and secretly hold a grudge against those clansmen who had witnessed his disgrace.

"Liu Yu, is it? Dasheng Mountain, you say? Do you really think I, Zhang Tieshan, am easily frightened? If that powerful son of yours wants to come, let him! We'll see whose head is harder—his, or my fist!"

Just as with the Wu Family, Shen Mo still demanded forty percent of their business interests. If he had asked for less, he was somewhat concerned that the Liu and Wu Families, intimidated by his fearsome might, would agree immediately. Asking for too much wouldn't be good either. It might make them ruthless enough to spend heavily on hiring Spirit Sea Realm experts from Dasheng Mountain or Purple Bamboo Valley to deal with him. Forty percent was not too much, not too little—just right! It would make both the Liu and Wu Families feel the pain, but not enough to drive them to a desperate, mutually destructive fight. The most likely outcome was that they would recall the elite disciples cultivating in the immortal sects... to besiege and kill "Zhang Tieshan" and "Dream Fairy"—these two "dragons crossing the river"!