The next day, morning!
When a young cultivator, distantly related to the Fan family, walked into what had become the Fan family's graveyard, the entire Weicheng city was in an uproar.
All the cultivators, like a surging tide, poured towards the Fan family estate.
Upon witnessing the tragic scene within the Fan family mansion, most of them gasped.
No one could have imagined that the Fan family, prominent for millions of years, would be annihilated overnight.
"Did you all go see? Tsk tsk, the Fan family, wiped out..."
Inside a restaurant called "Drunken Immortal Residence."
A group of cultivators gathered, discussing the massacre of the Fan family.
The words spoken by this cultivator were like stones tossed into calm waters, immediately stirring up immense waves!
News of the Fan family's annihilation had already spread throughout Weicheng.
"Who doesn't know what happened to the Fan family..."
"But to be wiped out overnight by a cultivator at the early Nascent Soul stage, it still feels somewhat unbelievable..."
...
"Yes, when I first heard the news, I thought others were joking."
"But after seeing the scene of carnage within the Fan family, I had no choice but to believe it."
Throughout Weicheng, not just in restaurants, but in every gathering place for cultivators, the same conversations were happening almost incessantly.
The Fan family, prominent for millions of years, being annihilated in a single day was a shocking piece of news that would be discussed for a long time, spreading rapidly throughout the entire Shuzhou Prefecture.
All cultivators speculated and wondered what terrifying power could completely wipe out a family as mighty as the Fan family overnight, even claiming the life of their early Nascent Soul stage ancestor.
Meanwhile, among the various noble families in Weicheng, there was more fear.
After all, such a tragedy, especially targeting the foremost noble family of Weicheng, meant that a formidable force was lurking within the city.
Moreover, this force harbored no goodwill towards the noble clans, and if they were carelessly annihilated, it was a prospect that even the high-ranking members of any noble family dared not contemplate.
For this very reason, many families who had resided in Weicheng for a considerable time were already planning to temporarily leave the city, at least to avoid the current storm.
No one wished to risk their lives by staying in a dangerous place for too long.
Just as the entire Weicheng city was thrown into chaos by the downfall of the Fan family.
Within Weicheng, at a secret post belonging to the Fan family, named Yongchang Inn.
A figure stood inside the inn, seemingly a man.
Before him stood two rows of people.
These individuals appeared to be greatly reverent towards the figure, bowing and scraping with the demeanor of servants.
If any other cultivators from Weicheng were present at this moment and saw the true faces of the two rows of people, they would have been extremely surprised.
For these two rows of people were none other than the managers of external surnames who had previously disappeared from the Fan family.
Manager Chen Laosan of the Fan family cast his gaze upon the figure in front, his face quickly creasing into a smile.
For just a moment ago, he had personally witnessed the demise of the Fan family, which had a legacy of millions of years!
It was at that moment that he had knelt, surrendering to that god of slaughter.
Recalling the events of the past few days, Chen Laosan's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.
The other managers, like Chen Laosan, were all aware of what had transpired in recent days, and they all sighed with emotion.
Especially when they considered their own fates, their feelings intensified.
They had been servants in the Fan family, and now they were still servants, with nothing changing except their master.
Becoming someone's servant, in the cultivation world, any normal cultivator would feel immense humiliation and resist.
However, Chen Laosan and the other managers were different; their dignity had long been eroded by reality.
If they had harbored any other thoughts before, after witnessing the fate of the Fan family, they had no choice but to suppress those thoughts deep within their hearts, daring not to reveal them in the slightest.
The source of their fear was not anyone else but the figure standing before them.
Their current master.
Chen Laosan and the other managers were naturally summoned here by Wu Tao.
The dozen or so of them had been sitting there for several hours, yet not a hint of impatience appeared on their faces.
Wu Tao clearly perceived the hidden thoughts of these dozen individuals, who were now considered his subordinates.
Chen Laosan and the other managers were the core personnel with whom Wu Tao would establish his own power and raise his banner.
A total of twelve people, two at the early Core Formation stage and ten at the late Foundation Establishment stage, these individuals gathered together could be considered a force.
Not to mention Wu Tao had four loyal disciples.
...
Looking at his subordinates, Wu Tao slowly spoke.
"From today onwards, you are all disciples of the Ascension Sect. As such, the industries and forces you currently control are no longer necessary. They will all be integrated into my Ascension Sect."
"Weicheng will be ruled by our Ascension Sect from now on."
...
Wu Tao spoke these words in an incredibly calm, yet undeniably overbearing tone that anyone could discern.
Chen Laosan and the other managers, who had been waiting for hours, never expected that such words would come from Wu Tao's mouth.
Chen Laosan, the first to react, without any hesitation, immediately countered, "Sect Master, absolutely not!"
"Sect Master, for us to integrate our respective industries and forces into the Ascension Sect is not a problem..."
"But we cannot be so overt, nor can we directly declare our rule over Weicheng."
...
"What is the reason?"
A cold voice emanated from Wu Tao.
Suppressing his unease and fear, Chen Laosan, with unprecedented speed, stated his reasons for objection, afraid that if he spoke too late, Wu Tao might directly kill him.
"Reporting to the Sect Master, while the Fan family was the true ruler of Weicheng, it does not mean that after you annihilated them, you can solely dominate Weicheng..."
"In the Purple Prefecture's cultivation world, it is ultimately the noble clans that hold sway. The destruction of a third-tier family will undoubtedly arouse the vigilance and unease of all the noble clans..."
"If the Sect Master were to rule Weicheng as the founder of a sect at this juncture, it would inevitably draw the backlash of all the noble clans in the entire Purple Prefecture's cultivation world..."
"At that time, even if the Sect Master's cultivation is profound, they will..."
Chen Laosan did not finish his sentence, but Wu Tao already fully understood his meaning.
...
"According to you, by destroying the Fan family, I have already offended all the noble clans in the Purple Prefecture..."
Although Wu Tao's methods were decisive and overbearing, he was not a fool.
Upon learning that he had inadvertently broken a very important unwritten rule of the Purple Prefecture's cultivation world, his brow furrowed.
While Wu Tao was confident, he was not so arrogant as to contend with all the noble clans in the Purple Prefecture.
In fact, Chen Laosan and the other managers also felt bitter. They did not naturally wish to follow Wu Tao...
Although Wu Tao's cultivation and strength were formidable, he was ultimately a rootless individual, and in their eyes, he could not achieve much.
However, to ensure their own survival, they had no choice but to board Wu Tao's ship, and once aboard, it was difficult to disembark.
Currently, they had no room for choice; their fates were already sealed. Bound to Wu Tao's ship, if he fared well, they too could benefit.
If Wu Tao perished, their fate would be no better.
If nothing else, with the Fan family, the rulers of Weicheng, annihilated, at least someone from the Zhuge family, the prefect of Shuzhou, would come to investigate.
If the Zhuge family could not resolve the matter, they could directly report it to the lord of the Chu domain, requesting the Chu family to send someone to handle it.
Chen Laosan, who had long wanted to say these words, took this opportunity to pour them all out.
According to his presumed plan, after telling Wu Tao this, the master would likely choose to lie low, leave Shuzhou, and develop in other prefectures.
After all, the influence of the noble clans was something all cultivators in the Purple Prefecture's cultivation world understood implicitly.
However, if Chen Laosan knew Wu Tao's true background, his thoughts might change considerably.
Wu Tao was not a native cultivator of the Purple Prefecture's cultivation world. Having traversed several cultivation realms, he possessed numerous secrets and many trump cards.
Furthermore, he had just broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, a time when ambition surges. His thoughts naturally differed from ordinary people.
He utterly disdained the rules and iron laws valued by the native cultivators of the Purple Prefecture's cultivation world.
His prior choice to use "fishing enforcement" was to peacefully take over the Fan family's industries and territories after their destruction.
This was because many cultivators in the Nine Provinces cultivation world enjoyed playing such games.
After hearing Chen Laosan's words, Wu Tao fell into deep thought, clearly weighing the pros and cons.
"The rules of the noble clans... the rules of the noble clans..."
"Must I abandon this place and find another to develop?"
Wu Tao began to ponder countermeasures, various methods arising in his mind.
Suddenly, receiving this news had completely disrupted his plans, leaving him somewhat unprepared.