The person who shouted first was quickly killed by the Yang family disciples.
...
Yang Ye walked slowly in front of everyone, hands behind his back, and said domineeringly.
"I originally didn't intend to unify Tianshui County with absolute military force..."
"Because I knew that countless people would oppose me, both openly and in secret."
"I thought my schemes and methods might reduce these opposing voices and unite all the cultivators in Tianshui County."
"But you repeatedly refused to repent, wasting my goodwill!"
"Why couldn't you die peacefully within my scheme?"
"This time, the entire Tianshui County will be drenched in blood, and its bones will pile up into mountains!"
"And my Yang family can take this opportunity to turn Tianshui County into our fiefdom and help our family return to being a fourth-rank family."
"No one can stop me. Those who obey me will prosper, and those who defy me will perish!"
...
Facing the favorable situation, Yang Ye no longer hid his ambition.
"Power is the ultimate truth. I have already broken through to the Core Formation stage and become the first cultivator in Tianshui County to reach this realm!"
"Why did you insist on defying my goodwill?"
"Wouldn't it be better to be killed by the Ten Branches Bandit Group?"
...
At this point, Yang Ye finally revealed his true face. His voice thundered, and his astonishing spiritual power swept across all directions!
Xue Tielong, who had rich combat experience and hadn't eaten a bite, wielded his spear and charged at Yang Ye.
He was sent flying, spitting blood, several hundred meters away, by a single punch from Yang Ye.
The top-grade magical artifacts cast by Qi Yu were also easily shattered by Yang Ye's natal magical treasure, the Azure Gang Divine Axe.
Yang Ye, having revealed his true strength, was indeed as he had claimed, already in an invincible position...
The faces of more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators turned ashen, revealing expressions of shock and anger.
At this moment, Yang Ye was truly like an invincible god, with no one in the arena his match!
Just as Yang Ye defeated everyone and was basking in his triumph, Wu Tao raised his hand, and the Chuxi Sword instantly turned into a stream of light and shot out.
When Yang Ye felt the terrifying spiritual energy within the Chuxi Sword, his face, previously filled with arrogance, showed fear for the first time.
He slapped his storage bag and took out a treasured family artifact of the Yang family, the Qian Tian Yi Qi Cover.
The azure aura protected his entire body, and Yang Ye actually managed to block the Chuxi Sword's sharpness!
Sensing something was wrong, Yang Ye spat out a flying dagger magical treasure. Empowered by spiritual energy, it emitted a dazzling gray glow and shot towards Wu Tao!
"Ash Flying Dagger..."
The Xin brothers' eyes widened when they saw this magical treasure.
They roared with all their might, "It was you... you destroyed my Xin family, wasn't it?"
"You beast, you are the leader of the Ten Branches Bandit Group, the mastermind behind everything..."
Upon hearing this, Yang Ye's brow furrowed slightly. He then unleashed several spells, attacking the Xin brothers.
Wu Tao, who had only used ten percent of his strength, sneered and then unleashed fifty percent. The Chuxi Sword glowed with five-colored light, and its soaring sword energy pierced the sky!
The Chuxi Sword clashed with the Ash Flying Dagger. In the next second, the flying dagger was pierced through and, with a mournful cry, fell to the ground, turning into a pile of scrap metal.
Seeing this, Yang Ye's expression became ashen, and he turned to flee without a word!
"Trying to escape!"
The sword energy around the Chuxi Sword shifted, transforming into strands of sword silk. It arrived later but struck first, trapping Yang Ye within.
Meanwhile.
"Activate!"
Sensing danger, the numerous Yang family disciples took out their formation tokens and activated the Yang Family Fortress's protective array.
"Rumble!"
Dense mist appeared, and countless spiritual lights surged out, transforming into terrifying array restrictions.
In an instant, the array turned into a five-colored light curtain, surrounding Wu Tao and the others!
Wu Tao's smile grew wider as he punched directly at the great array.
"Clang!"
His fist transformed into a small golden mountain and pressed down fiercely, surrounded by Buddhist chants, clearly a Buddhist divine ability.
The protective array, which had just been activated, couldn't even last for the time it takes to burn a stick of incense before Wu Tao broke a large hole in it.
Immediately after, Wu Tao raised his right hand, and a ball of Extreme Yang True Fire appeared out of thin air, hovering in the sky.
"Run!"
"Run..."
After their protective array was so easily broken, the Yang family disciples finally realized the gravity of the situation and desperately tried to escape.
However, Wu Tao, who had experience in exterminating entire clans, would not give them such an opportunity.
"Bang bang bang bang bang bang—!"
The Extreme Yang True Fire in the sky split into small fireballs, forming a cross-shaped net that shot towards the Yang family disciples in all directions.
The entire Yang Family Fortress instantly turned into a sea of fire, with exquisite furniture and precious items burning.
However, even more shocking were the Yang family disciples who, struck by the Extreme Yang True Fire, turned into fireballs, emitting pained wails before becoming charred corpses.
In some situations, cultivators were no better than mortals, equally fragile.
"Wuwuwu..."
"Ahhhhhh..."
Qi Yu, Xue Tielong, and other elders showed little emotional reaction to this scene.
They were merely marveling at Wu Tao's hidden depth and pondering his purpose in coming to Yang Family Fortress.
...
Zhang Heng, Sima Nan, and other younger individuals didn't think much of it. They only showed expressions of compassion upon seeing the Yang family disciples struggling frantically before their deaths.
The women, on the other hand, displayed expressions of disgust and fear.
"Damn it, who the hell are you?"
Yang Ye was furious and shocked by this scene.
At this moment, he mobilized all the spiritual energy within his body, trying to break through the surrounding sword silk.
Judging by the posture of this strange cultivator, if he didn't do something, his Yang family might be exterminated today.
However, this was his final struggle before death.
The sword silk formed by the sharp sword energy began to contract violently, and Yang Ye's protective azure aura shattered like a soap bubble.
At this moment, the look of shock and anger on his face had not yet faded before it turned into fear!
Just as Yang Ye was about to speak, Wu Tao's right hand clenched, and the sword silk instantly tightened.
With a scream, Yang Ye's body first tore apart, and then his soul was utterly annihilated.
"No matter how you endured, how cunning you were, how much of a warlord you were, you had to die when you met me..."
Wu Tao sighed, grabbed Yang Ye's storage bag, and after a thorough search, found a large amount of resources, as well as a technique for creating artificial spiritual roots.
"This technique for creating artificial spiritual roots was obtained by Yang Ye when he killed a spirit planter, but he kept it a secret."
Yang Ye's aptitude and character were both excellent, and he later cultivated to the Core Formation stage and became the head of the Yang family.
The major events that had occurred in Tianshui County in recent years all had his involvement.
As the head of the Yang family, Yang Ye was a qualified and responsible patriarch who revitalized the family.
The reason he painstakingly created the Ten Branches Bandit Group was, on one hand, to obtain resources, and on the other hand, to eliminate other families and forces in Tianshui County.
It was not simply a matter of having a Core Formation cultivator for a fifth-rank family to be promoted to a fourth-rank family.
A Core Formation cultivator was merely the most basic requirement for promotion to a fourth-rank family.
In addition, one must control a county as their base, and gain recognition at the Grand Ceremony in Chang'an, the capital of the Jin Kingdom, before being promoted to a fourth-rank family.
Yang Ye's use of the Ten Branches Bandit Group's name to act was because aristocratic families generally had unwritten rules.
One of the most basic ones was that no matter how great the animosity between aristocratic families, they could not exterminate each other.
Of course, there were many ways to circumvent these rules.
The method Yang Ye used was one of them.
Yang Ye's original plan was to use the name of the Ten Branches Bandit Group to destroy the other families and forces in Tianshui County, then appear as their savior, and finally destroy the Ten Branches Bandit Group, thereby winning the hearts and minds of the people of Tianshui County.
After a few more years, he would then announce his breakthrough to the Core Formation stage and his intention to turn Tianshui County into his fiefdom, thus achieving his goal without shedding a drop of blood.
After connecting all the dots, Wu Tao stroked his chin and felt something was amiss.
"If I hadn't intervened, Yang Ye would have had a good chance of achieving his goal!"
At this moment, Zhang Heng finally stepped forward, declared his identity as the County Magistrate of Tianshui County, and also implied his relationship with Wu Tao.
Based on these two reasons, although Zhang Heng's cultivation was not the highest, he controlled the situation at Yang Family Fortress after Yang Ye's death.
Under Zhang Heng's command, the guests who should have been at the banquet hall paid a small price and eliminated the remaining Yang family members who had not yet escaped.
With their personal safety fully guaranteed and the situation completely under their control, these high-ranking officials of Tianshui County who had miraculously survived immediately dealt with and retaliated against the Yang family.
In their eyes, this was a prime opportunity to strike while the iron was hot. Eliminating the Yang family not only avenged them but also brought other benefits.
After resolving the issue with the Yang family, these officials shamelessly approached Wu Tao, flattering him and introducing themselves.
These high-ranking officials understood long-term investment, and befriending someone like Wu Tao, who was a veritable golden thigh, was an opportunity not to be missed. However, such opportunities were not for everyone and required qualifications.
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