Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments-Chapter 69 - 67: Azure Flame Sect’s Dark Hall: Pruning Operation
The Nanhu Su Family.
Su Wanqing went to ask the old master of the Su Family, Su Ruihe, "Ancestor, how long does it usually take to break through from the ninth level of Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment?"
Su Ruihe was lying on a lounge chair in the garden, the warm spring sun falling on his graying hair.
Hearing the question from his most beloved granddaughter, he smiled indulgently. "That depends on their status. If it’s an ordinary Loose Cultivator, eight to ten years would be considered quite fast."
"If it were my precious Wanqing, it would only take a year."
But Su Wanqing didn’t look happy at all to hear this. Her lovely brows furrowed immediately. "How could it be that fast? Isn’t Foundation Establishment supposed to be very difficult?"
’If he’s really going at this pace, won’t Xiao Chen reach Foundation Establishment soon?’
’Once he reaches Foundation Establishment, he’ll start taking on duties in the sect. Won’t that mean he can’t help me compete for the Chief Disciple position anymore?’
Su Ruihe chuckled. "What’s this? You’re not happy about cultivating faster?"
"That’s not it." Su Wanqing shook her head and pressed on, "Ancestor, if there was an Inner Sect Disciple with a low-grade Wood Spirit Root, would his Foundation Establishment be a bit slower?"
Su Ruihe didn’t answer directly, instead explaining patiently, "Foundation Establishment itself is really just breaking through a bottleneck."
"As long as you’re properly prepared, the process itself doesn’t even take a full day."
"The difficult parts are obtaining a Foundation Establishment Pill and learning the Secret Techniques that aid the process. Neither is a simple matter."
Su Wanqing thought for a moment. "What if none of those are an issue?"
Su Ruihe grew a little curious. "Oh? And which disciple is so impressive?"
"A low-grade Wood Spirit Root under thirty who can still get support in the form of a Foundation Establishment Pill... which family’s young talent is he from? The Chen Family or the Jiang Family?"
Su Wanqing shook her head. "Neither. But he’ll definitely get a Foundation Establishment Pill."
Su Ruihe sat up from his chair. "You’re talking about that Xiao Chen who’s been in the spotlight recently, aren’t you?"
Su Wanqing was stunned. "Ancestor, you know him!"
Su Ruihe didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Do you really think your ancestor has gone senile? A year to break through from the first to the ninth level of Qi Refining, and he’s about to become a newly advanced Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"Your grandfather came and told me about a character like that just yesterday. Chen Tianyang really took on a good disciple. In a year at most, the Chen Family will have another source of support."
"Sigh. The younger generation is truly formidable."
...
A similar scene was unfolding at the same time in the Plain Liu Family, the Beast Taming Song Family, and several other small, surrounding families.
Even within the Azure Flame Sect, a secret message bearing Xiao Chen’s name was delivered into the hands of Lu Wuqiang, an Elder of the Dark Hall.
"Idiots! You’re all fucking idiots!"
Lu Wuqiang flew into a rage. "Twenty-two years old, confirmed to be at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Are our inside men all fucking dead?!"
"Why don’t you just wait until after he reaches Foundation Establishment to report back?"
The messenger below explained, trembling, "This person was originally just a Servant Disciple, so he wasn’t on the monitoring list to begin with."
"Have your brains all been fucking chewed on by pigs?"
The flesh on Lu Wuqiang’s face twitched with anger. "The list, the list! All you know how to do is follow the list! What the hell do I need you for, then!"
"What were you doing when he joined the Outer Sect? Where was the corresponding intel when he joined the Inner Sect?"
The messenger scrambled to explain, "Elder, the personnel originally in charge of watching the Second Division had already planned an operation against Xiao Chen. But we don’t know why it didn’t succeed."
"Our people also suddenly lost contact."
"By the time we bribed a new informant, before we even had a chance to act, that Xiao Chen had already joined the Inner Sect."
Lu Wuqiang strode down and grabbed him by the collar. "Then why was there no report? A Cultivator not from the Five Great Clans joining the Inner Sect—who gave you permission to conceal that?"
The messenger stammered, "Elder, I..."
Lu Wuqiang’s face turned cold. He let go and even straightened the man’s collar. "So, you can’t seem to remember?"
The messenger dropped to his knees with a THUD. "Elder, the captain said Xiao Chen definitely had a secret. He wouldn’t let me report it and even gave me one hundred Spirit Stones."
"Elder, I was wrong! I know I was wrong!"
Lu Wuqiang’s tone was calm. "Where is he now? What’s the exact situation with Xiao Chen?"
The messenger kept his head down and held up an envelope. "The captain... he disappeared yesterday afternoon. And... and he took all our Spirit Stones and Talismans."
"All the information related to Xiao Chen... it’s... it’s all in here."
Lu Wuqiang took the letter but didn’t look at it immediately. Instead, he leaned down and whispered in the messenger’s ear, "You’ve been to your captain’s house before, haven’t you?"
The messenger’s eyes flew wide. "Y-Yes, once."
"Good." Lu Wuqiang straightened up, satisfied. "Then you will be the one to bring me his wife’s head."
"I only want the head. You can do what you want with the body. Deal with it however you please, sound good?"
"Hm? Cat got your tongue? Are you not happy?"
The messenger first shook his head frantically, then nodded just as frantically. "No, no, no, I’m happy. I’m very happy."
"Then what are you waiting for? Go!"
Watching the messenger flee in a panic, Lu Wuqiang unhurriedly opened the envelope and began to carefully read the information on Xiao Chen.
This information came from a bribed Inner Sect Disciple.
However, this disciple was not qualified to participate in the Flame Pool Secret Realm.
Therefore, while the file mentioned Xiao Chen’s Cultivation, it contained no further details.
Lu Wuqiang thought for a moment, then summoned an attendant and handed him the letter. "Notify the Tian Family’s Three Brothers. Tell them to take care of Xiao Chen. Make it clean and quick."
"Wait."
"Tell them not to be stingy with their Talismans and not to think about holding back. For this operation, I’m authorizing them to use that trump card. Make sure it’s foolproof."
With insufficient information, Lu Wuqiang decided he had to strike fast and strike hard.
On the surface, the Tian Family’s Three Brothers were merely wandering Loose Cultivators.
But in reality, they were triplet Death Warriors whom Lu Wuqiang had taken in as children and secretly trained.
Not only was each of them at the ninth level of Qi Refining, but they all possessed rare Anomalous Spirit Roots—three different ones, in fact: Ice, Lightning, and Wind.
Lu Wuqiang had even gone out of his way to find a Combined Attack Formation for them.
This allowed the three brothers’ strength to far exceed that of ordinary ninth-level Qi Refining cultivators.
Furthermore, to ensure they had unrivaled Combat Power at their level,
Lu Wuqiang had even obtained a Demon Technique from the Luotian Sect to serve as another one of their trump cards.
He had forged them into the sharpest blade in the entire Dark Hall.
As an Elder of the Azure Flame Sect, Lu Wuqiang was a person of interest to the Li Huo Sect and couldn’t act directly.
That was why he had dispatched the Dark Hall’s strongest combatants and specifically instructed them that they were permitted to reveal the Demon Technique.
This was all to prevent Xiao Chen from getting lucky, escaping death, and becoming a threat in the future.
He was confident that with the Tian Family’s Three Brothers acting together,
as long as Xiao Chen dared to leave the Li Huo Sect, his death was all but certain.
