Published: March 2, 2025
Chapter 198: Getting Close to the Yan Family
Liu Yu originally belonged to the Outer Court faction, but his interactions with them had not been smooth, largely relying on Geng Yuanzhang to connect the dots.
After Geng Yuanzhang's death, these connections were significantly severed, and Liu Yu did not receive the attention he deserved.
Because he hid his true strength, in the eyes of others, Liu Yu was merely a newly established foundation cultivator, naturally not garnering the attention of the higher-ups in the Outer Court faction.
Every situation has its pros and cons.
Due to the lack of attention and resources invested in Liu Yu, he was essentially left to fend for himself, so he was not tasked with the arduous duty of supporting the front lines.
"Since the Outer Court faction doesn't value me, why not get closer to the family and foster a relationship with the Yan family?"
Liu Yu thought to himself. The saying "a good bird chooses the tree it nests in" was one he understood well, and he wasn't a narrow-minded person.
Aside from having a slightly better relationship with the deceased Geng Yuanzhang, he had no deep ties with the Outer Court faction and had not received any help from them, so there was no talk of closeness.
In contrast, by becoming friends with Yan Qun'er and Yan Hongyu from the Yan family, he received substantial help, which allowed him to take on tasks like managing the Bing Liu Spiritual Herb Garden and eradicating the Huang family, providing him with real benefits.
Liu Yu had always aligned himself with interests, and since befriending the Yan family was most beneficial for him, why seek distant relationships?
If he had the Yan family helping him speak with the sect's higher-ups during his cultivation, it could also help him avoid many troubles.
Having made up his mind, he set the goal of cultivating a good relationship with the Yan family as a secondary focus beside his training.
Time flowed quietly, and the commotion of the duel of magic on the mountains above and below gradually diminished until it completely disappeared after an hour.
The city guard gathered here in succession, placing the storage bags and magical artifacts they had acquired on a "small mound," and no one dared to hide anything.
Their spiritual armors and weapons, including long spears and bows, were all uniformly issued by the Yuan Yang Sect, requiring no expenditure of their own spiritual stones, and their monthly pay was significantly better than that of the outer sect disciples, only slightly worse than that of the inner sect disciples.
Thus, the Yuan Yang Sect maintained strict military discipline, without room for violation; even minor infractions were treated seriously, and a slightly heavier offense could result in losing one's cultivation, while more severe punishments could include being whipped to death.
As a result, very few in the city guard dared to risk grave consequences by hoarding war spoils or disobeying the sect's orders.
Counting their leader Yue Liang, there had been a hundred city guards present, but only ninety-four remained alive.
Six had lost their lives to counterattacks from Huang family cultivators, four were seriously injured, and ten sustained minor injuries.
The deceased would be collected, and their corpses, belongings, and compensations would be given to their families.
If there were no relatives, or if the relatives were mortals, their assets would be reclaimed by the sect, with the understanding that the sect would ensure their mundane relatives would enjoy wealth and comfort for three generations in return.
"Reporting to Master Yan, all the Huang family cultivators near Tianyong Mountain have been eliminated."
"However, I failed in my management; three of my subordinates escaped from the Huang family cultivators, two of them in the mid stage of qi refinement and one in the late stage."
"I've dispatched a small team to continue the pursuit; please punish me for my failure!"
Yue Liang, having removed his spiritual armor, deeply bowed and respectfully reported the situation.