Two days later, at the Border City Lord's Manor.
“I owe the five of you a great debt of gratitude,” Zhou Fei said. “Thanks to your help, I was able to completely eliminate the Spirit Snake Gang and purge Border City.”
“Once the sect sends someone to take over the position of City Lord tomorrow, I will take you to the Zhou Manor in Conghe City to use the Shocking Thunder Platform.”
Over the past two days, Zhou Fei had followed his previous plan and selected several gang members to serve as guards for the City Lord's Manor. That morning, in the city center, he had publicly beheaded Wu Chao and his confidants as an example to all.
The mission to purge Border City was complete, and Zhou Fei had immediately sent a message to the sect to inform them of the matter.
From then on, the defense and construction of Border City would be handled by disciples whose hopes of advancing their cultivation were slim.
As an inner sect disciple at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, Zhou Fei naturally wouldn't waste his time in this spirit-energy-starved Border City, where reaching Foundation Establishment would be extremely difficult.
With the death of Wu Chao and his lackeys, Gu Ningyun and her group had fulfilled their part of the contract. Now, it was time for Zhou Fei to make good on his own promises.
Hearing Zhou Fei's suggestion, however, Gu Ningyun did not agree.
“Since we've just arrived in Cangzhou, we plan to explore on our own first.
“How about you send us a message once you've confirmed the time for the Shocking Thunder Platform?”
She had already discussed this with her four companions.
Considering everything that had happened, especially the assassination attempt by the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the second branch, Gu Ningyun knew the Zhou Manor was bound to be a complete mess.
If they followed Zhou Fei there blindly, there was no telling how many annoying situations they would encounter.
It was better to act independently for a while and explore Conghe City.
They could wait until Zhou Fei had settled his family affairs and ensured no one would bother them before going to use the Shocking Thunder Platform.
As a man with a mind as sharp as a needle, Zhou Fei understood her meaning as soon as she spoke.
He gave a helpless smile. “I was inconsiderate.”
“The Ten Directions Sect forbids its disciples from killing one another. The Zhou family is an affiliate of the sect, and since our family members have all joined the Ten Directions Sect, we are naturally under the jurisdiction of its rules.”
“My brother and I have gathered evidence over the years regarding how they framed me and sent me to Border City. This time, the second branch sent Zhou Yu to assassinate me, and he was caught red-handed.”
“Once I report this evidence, the second branch will no longer be able to challenge the Main Branch. At that time, I will message you all to come to the Zhou Manor and use the Shocking Thunder Platform.”
Gu Ningyun nodded. “Roughly how long will it take? We need to plan our itinerary.”
“Half a month at most.”
“Then we shall wait for your good news.”
Conghe City was also within the territory of the Ten Directions Sect and was not too far from Border City. It would take only three days to reach by foot using movement techniques.
After bidding farewell to Zhou Fei, Gu Ningyun and her group set off toward Conghe City.
Conghe City was also a place where immortals and mortals lived together, though cultivators were far more numerous than mortals.
Upon entering the city, they found a rental office and leased a small courtyard.
The courtyard was equipped with a mysterious-rank defense array and had eight rooms, which was more than enough for the five of them.
Tempering the body with heavenly thunder was no small matter. To ensure their safety and achieve the best results, a cultivator needed to rest beforehand, bringing both their mind and body to their peak state.
With twelve days left until they could use the Shocking Thunder Platform, Gu Ningyun and the others simply stayed in the courtyard to absorb the gains from their recent trials.
They spent their time meditating and cultivating, preparing themselves for the upcoming thunder tempering.
While Gu Ningyun and the others were peacefully cultivating in their courtyard, the Zhou Manor was indeed in a state of chaos—far more severe than the 'complete mess' she had joked about.
As it turned out, once Zhou Yu went missing, the second branch of the Zhou family realized the assassination had failed.
Knowing that Zhou Fei had purged Border City and held evidence of their previous framing and the recent assassination attempt, the second branch knew they would be in trouble if the Ten Directions Sect found out.
To protect his hold on the family head's authority, Zhou Fei's second uncle personally set out to assassinate Zhou Fei on his way back to the Ten Directions Sect.
The second uncle was a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, so Zhou Fei, at the twelfth level of Qi Refining, was naturally no match for him.
However, Zhou Fei, having plotted in Border City for so many years, had already accounted for this.
After signing the contract with Gu Ningyun's group and deciding to wipe out the Spirit Snake Gang, he had sent a message to his older brother, an early-stage Golden Core cultivator, asking him to meet him at Border City.
Although the second uncle was in the middle stage of the Golden Core stage, he was obsessed with power.
Since becoming the acting family head, he had been busy purging the original staff of the Zhou Manor and replacing them with his own people from the second branch.
To seize complete control while the Main Branch's family head was in secluded meditation to heal, he had stayed within the manor for years, never venturing out for experience.
Even his mid-stage Golden Core cultivation had been forced up through the use of pills.
Zhou Fei's brother, on the other hand, had spent years traveling and gaining experience. With his solid early-stage Golden Core cultivation, he was more than a match for a hollow, superficial mid-stage cultivator.
However, the brother was also protecting a burden like Zhou Fei.
The gap between the early and middle stages of the Golden Core stage was still significant. He could only barely hold his own in a fight; protecting a Qi Refining disciple at the same time was nearly impossible.
To keep Zhou Fei safe, the battle naturally turned into a desperate escape.
But Zhou Fei was not the type to take such a loss lying down.
Years ago, the second branch had framed him while his brother was in seclusion breaking through to the Golden Core stage and while he was still young and helpless. That had been a harsh lesson.
This time, as soon as they returned to the Ten Directions Sect, he and his brother went straight to the Enforcement Hall.
Since the case involved a Golden Core disciple like Zhou Fei's brother, it had to be presided over by a Nascent Soul Elder.
A Nascent Soul cultivator was not someone the second branch of the Zhou family could bribe.
Thus, the upright and incorruptible Nascent Soul Elder took the recording stone handed over by Zhou Fei's brother and watched the scene of the second uncle chasing the two of them like a mad dog.
In the recording, the two brothers used every means at their disposal to escape with their lives, barely managing to lose the second uncle before returning to the sect.
The Nascent Soul Elder was furious. With a single palm strike, he shattered the stone table in the hall, turning even the tea set upon it into fine powder.
Striking while the iron was hot, Zhou Fei added fuel to the fire by handing over another recording stone.
This one showed the scene of Zhou Yu attempting to assassinate him with poisoned darts.
However, the recording only captured Zhou Yu, the darts, a suddenly appearing water shield talisman, and the target, Zhou Fei; it did not show Gu Ningyun or her companions.
Zhou Fei's brother lamented at the perfect moment, “Elder, please see the truth! This Zhou Yu is an inner sect Foundation Establishment disciple and my second uncle's confidant.”
“If not for a kind-hearted passerby in Border City who stepped in to help, my only brother would have died in this absurd assassination!”
Both brothers were inner sect disciples with high-grade dual spirit roots, and the elder brother, Zhou Mao, had already reached the Golden Core stage, becoming a vital part of the Ten Directions Sect's strength.
Even Zhou Fei's current skeletal age was only twenty-two.
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