Kong Fanchen finished speaking, his eyes revealing a chilling light.
He wouldn't have personally taken action unless it was to ensure a hundred percent chance of obtaining the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art from True Person Baosheng; it was too beneath him.
However, the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art on True Person Baosheng was indeed extraordinary, and its acquisition would benefit the entire Kong family.
At the very least, from then on, the Kong family would possess a powerful inheritance.
Kong Fanchen activated his Confucian literary energy, using the treasure artifact Spirit Chasing Book as a guide, to continuously track True Person Baosheng.
"Go, that direction, follow me!"
Sensing the tremor of the Spirit Chasing Book, Kong Fanchen looked in one direction and led over a dozen Kong family disciples to pursue.
As a high-ranking member of the Kong family, one of the Four Great Families, Kong Fanchen's keen interest in True Person Baosheng, a mere Nascent Soul stage cultivator, was entirely due to the extraordinary nature of the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art.
True Person Baosheng was originally an ordinary rogue cultivator. He later independently created the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art and, in just a few centuries, reached the Nascent Soul stage.
This was already a remarkable miracle.
Consider Wu Tao's background; although extremely ordinary.
He was an outer disciple of a top great sect and had a powerful backing.
In any case, he was incomparably stronger than a rogue cultivator.
What is a rogue cultivator? In the cultivation world, they are the most miserable cultivators.
The plight of rogue cultivators, when truly examined, might only be slightly better than ordinary demonic beasts.
Cultivators coveted the bodies and inner cores of ordinary demonic beasts, but for rogue cultivators, most cultivators did not covet their bodies and souls, except for demonic cultivators.
Most rogue cultivators lacked background, connections, and had ordinary aptitude.
Unwilling to live a mediocre life, they relied on limited resources for arduous cultivation, but most people remained mediocre their entire lives.
Rogue cultivators practiced the worst cultivation methods, used the worst magical artifacts, and even their cultivation techniques were the most dilapidated. Under such circumstances, anyone who could successfully rise was undoubtedly an exceptional prodigy capable of stirring up a storm.
True Person Baosheng was such a figure, who once rode the wind and leaped over the dragon gate, a supreme figure among rogue cultivators!
And the reason he could rise from a penniless rogue cultivator, achieving what many scions of noble families could not, becoming a high and mighty Nascent Soul cultivator, was entirely due to the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art he created!
The Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art was a wondrous secret technique that could purify and strengthen magical artifacts and treasures to a certain extent.
It was precisely because of this that True Person Baosheng could rapidly accumulate vast wealth and successfully rise.
Of course, fortune can also be a disaster, and disaster cannot be avoided.
What was originally True Person Baosheng's secret technique for his rise ultimately led to his death.
Three days later.
In a study resembling a Confucian structure, Kong Fanchen sat on his seat with a smile.
At this moment, he looked with a half-smile at the grandfather and grandson kneeling on the ground.
"True Person Baosheng, since you grandfather and grandson have fallen into my hands, do not struggle further. I offer you two paths, choose one yourself."
"The first path: hand over the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, and I will spare your grandson's life."
"The second path: you may keep the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, and I, respecting your reputation, will arrange a good shared tomb for you and your grandson."
"True Person Baosheng, you can choose now, but think carefully, for this not only concerns your life but also your grandson's life."
Kong Fanchen spoke with a slight warning from his seat.
True Person Baosheng, kneeling on the ground with blood staining his clothes, looked at his somewhat timid grandson beside him and sighed helplessly.
Then, he shifted his gaze back to Kong Fanchen, who was seated at the head. Feeling the faint killing intent emanating from him, he remained silent for a long time before finally speaking, "I will give you the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, but can you truly let my grandson live?"
Upon hearing this, Kong Fanchen suppressed the joy surging in his heart and maintained a calm tone as much as possible. "No problem, our Kong family is not so base as to not spare a child."
Hearing Kong Fanchen's words, True Person Baosheng couldn't help but let out a cold laugh. What kind of people are your Kong family? Others may not know, but I do.
Seeing True Person Baosheng's silence, Kong Fanchen perceived a will that was steadfast and unafraid of death!
Such a steadfast will was a Dao heart that every strong person must possess.
Without a firm will, without a Dao heart that was unified and impervious to all laws, no matter how extraordinary one's talent or how much of a child of destiny one was, it would ultimately be a fleeting illusion, a dream.
Kong Fanchen's expression remained unchanged, but he sighed inwardly.
If he hadn't captured both True Person Baosheng and his grandson this time, with True Person Baosheng's Dao heart alone, no matter what Kong Fanchen said or did, he would never have obtained the inheritance of the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art from him.
Looking at True Person Baosheng and his grandson kneeling before him, Kong Fanchen couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.
In terms of strength, he was naturally far superior to True Person Baosheng; he could defeat True Person Baosheng with one hand.
But he knew clearly that if they were placed at the same starting line, he would be far inferior to True Person Baosheng.
In the past, others had coveted the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art from True Person Baosheng, but none had succeeded.
True Person Baosheng, relying on the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, had woven a vast network of connections for himself.
Navigating skillfully, he became a welcomed guest of the major families, and no one dared to plot against him.
Even the Kong family at the time had to be wary of True Person Baosheng, who possessed such a formidable network of connections.
Unfortunately, after the turmoil caused by Wu Tao and Ye Yu, the situation in the Purple Province cultivation world was completely shattered.
The Liu Imperial Clan and the Four Great Families settled all accounts, and the network of connections True Person Baosheng had painstakingly built naturally disappeared.
It could be said that Wu Tao and Ye Yu, by doing this, though they themselves did not suffer major consequences, caused great calamity to others.
It could be said that if one were to assign blame, Wu Tao and Ye Yu were the first and second greatest sinners in the Purple Province cultivation world since this epoch.
Countless people suffered ruin and slaughter, their bones piling up like mountains, because of Wu Tao and Ye Yu.
Of course, before undertaking this, Wu Tao had not considered this aspect, but even if he had known, he would not have regretted it.
To save one life or to save ten thousand lives, how to choose was a difficult decision in the eyes of others.
But in Wu Tao's eyes, let alone ten thousand people, even a hundred thousand or a million, what did it matter?
...
True Person Baosheng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said word by word, "I can give you the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, but you must swear a Dao Demon Oath to protect my grandson's safety for his entire life!"
Upon hearing True Person Baosheng's words, Kong Fanchen was about to casually dismiss them, but seeing True Person Baosheng's deathly serious expression, his words changed before they were even spoken.
"Alright, I promise you. As long as you give me the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art, I will guarantee your grandson's safety for his entire life. I swear by the Dao Demon Oath."
...
Hearing Kong Fanchen's words, True Person Baosheng breathed a sigh of relief. He transmitted the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art to Kong Fanchen via soul projection.
He cast a doting glance at his grandson and resolutely chose to end his own life, unwilling to endure further humiliation from these contemptible individuals.
Looking at his grandfather, who had fallen to the ground and was no longer breathing, Bao Ling'er hugged his corpse and wailed.
Kong Fanchen, who had just obtained the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art and was in a great mood, coupled with the Dao Demon Oath, treated Bao Ling'er with remarkable cordiality.
"Bao Ling'er, your grandfather True Person Baosheng has passed away. Serve as a book boy under my command. I will certainly not mistreat you. You may go down now!" Kong Fanchen said gently.
Bao Ling'er sensibly wiped away her tears, bowed on the ground, and quickly said, "Bao Ling'er thanks Master, and wishes to serve Master with all my heart!"
As soon as she stepped out of the door, a cold glint flashed across Bao Ling'er's face!
It was so fast that no one noticed the fleeting murderous intent.
His parents killed, his grandfather dead by his own hand – this hatred was too profound to be washed away by all the waters in the world.
He could never forget the scenes before his parents and grandfather died.
He did not yet possess any power for revenge, and could only live under the protection of his enemies, enduring humiliation and swallowing his pride.
This period of bearing humiliation and lying low, of difficult dormancy, was all for his eventual successful rise. He deeply remembered a saying his grandfather had once told him.
For an eagle to become the ruler of the sky, it must be tempered by wind and rain before it can soar above the nine heavens.
And he firmly believed that as long as he worked hard, with his talent and the considerable wealth his grandfather had secretly left in a certain place, he would surely have his day to make the Kong family pay their blood debt.
...
Looking at the arrogant and overbearing Kong family disciples around him, Bao Ling'er lowered his head, appearing submissive.
In the study, Kong Fanchen laughed heartily, clearly overjoyed.
The Heavenly Treasure Sacred Art was indeed an extremely special secret technique that could bring him immense benefits, even offering him the possibility of further advancement.
Similar scenes were unfolding in various corners of the Purple Province continent.
At this moment, cultivators possessing wondrous secret techniques or peculiar treasures seemed to have all become prey, hunted down by the joint efforts of the Liu Imperial Clan and the Four Great Families.
Of course, many more factions, seemingly wisely, chose to join the Liu Imperial Clan and the Four Great Families, willingly becoming their pawns in exchange for a sliver of survival.