This was the fourth lottery. The first three were the Wind Blade Technique, the Fire Cloud Chicken, and the Invisibility Robe. Fu Changsheng eagerly watched the panel, wondering what he would draw this time.
Then, he saw yellow light surging.
The Clan Contribution Points on the panel suddenly decreased by fifty.
Immediately after,
he felt something had appeared in his sleeve.
Taking it out to have a look,
it turned out to be a pitch-black box.
Opening the box,
a palm-sized flag appeared before his eyes.
Then,
a stream of information flowed into his Sea of Divine Sense:
[Tier One Low-Grade Hundred Ghosts Banner, upgradeable by sacrifically refining the Soul Wood for a hundred years; upgrade potential has no upper limit.]
Hundred Ghosts Banner?!
Fu Changsheng held it in his palm.
After the sacrificial refinement,
he waved his right hand,
and a chilly wind rose with ghostly wails echoing.
However, since there were no ghost souls in the banner yet, it had no offensive power.
This was his first Magical Artifact. Satisfied, Fu Changsheng tucked it into his bosom, then turned his gaze to the panel. He still had some Clan Contribution Points left, so he immediately said,
"Redeem intelligence."
Buzz!
The yellow light on the panel surged.
Immediately after,
lines of text appeared before his eyes:
[1: The couple from Daxi Village, Landlord Fu and his wife, have been unable to sleep at night in recent years. Every night they hear their deceased daughter-in-law crying in their ears. Several times when getting up to use the restroom at night, they saw their daughter-in-law, Autumn Cicada, with eyes full of blood, torturing them to the brink of death. Yet, they have not sought help from the family, seemingly hiding an unspeakable secret. The female ghost Autumn Cicada is the Tier Five Ghost Queen from three hundred years later.]
Tier Five Ghost Queen.
That is equivalent to Nascent Soul cultivation.
Fu Changsheng's eyes lit up.
His Hundred Ghosts Banner was just right for this, so he must rush to subdue the ghost before anyone else does.
But when he read the second piece of intelligence, his brows furrowed:
[2: Li Wentai attributed the root cause of his severed arm to Liu Cangtou. He secretly hired a Tribulation Cultivator at a high price. The two started a massacre at the Liu Family. Liu Cangtou, protecting his daughter, fled south and will pass by the Changliu River in half an hour.]
Li Wentai, that beast, is truly vile!
Fu Changsheng thought of how Liu Cangtou had stood up for him in the Marketplace. After pondering for a while, he decided to head to the Changliu River to see if he could rescue them. If not, there was nothing he could do.
He immediately opened the door and left.
Donning the Invisibility Robe and affixing a Rapid Movement Talisman, he quickly descended from Luofeng Mountain, arriving at the Changliu River in less than half an hour.
Once there,
he indeed saw an elderly and a young person running toward him from the south.
Focusing his gaze,
the blood-covered old man was indeed Liu Cangtou from the Marketplace:
"Fellow Daoist Liu,"
Fu Changsheng said as he revealed his presence by removing the Invisibility Robe.
Liu Cangtou turned his head, and seeing it was Fu Changsheng, he was momentarily stunned, but a glimmer of hope rose in his eyes. Taking advantage of his daughter Liu Runzhi's distraction, he knocked her unconscious with a palm and cupped his hands towards Fu Changsheng, saying,
"Fellow Daoist Fu, please take my daughter away. I will forever be grateful for your immense kindness!"
As he spoke, Liu Cangtou pushed his daughter Liu Runzhi to Fu Changsheng's side and urgently said,
"Quickly leave. Li Wentai, that beast, is accompanied by a Tribulation Cultivator at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer. They are almost here. I will delay them. You must leave, now!!"
Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer?!
And a Tribulation Cultivator who cares more for wealth than life.
Fu Changsheng felt a chill in his heart. He immediately covered himself and Liu Runzhi with the Invisibility Robe and, without any further delay, affixed several Rapid Movement Talismans to himself, rushing back to Clan Mountain without looking back.
Just moments after he left,
he heard fierce combat sounds erupt behind him.
He activated his last Rapid Movement Talisman. Upon reaching Clan Mountain, he closed the Array, finally letting out a sigh of relief.
With his current cultivation, facing a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Tribulation Cultivator with extensive combat experience, there was no path but death.
His fourth sister was feeding a young wolf cub. Seeing Fu Changsheng return with a beautiful female cultivator, she was surprised and said,
"Patriarch, this is....."
After Fu Changsheng explained the situation,
his fourth sister Fu Changli's eyes immediately reddened:
"That Li Wentai is worse than a beast, and Sister Runzhi is too pitiful."
Comparing it to their own clan's near-extinction,
she felt an even greater sympathy for Liu Runzhi.
After a while,
Liu Runzhi awoke with a soft moan.
After scanning the surroundings cautiously, she suddenly remembered something and urgently said,
"Fellow Daoist Fu, where is my father? Where is my father?"
Liu Cangtou was already gravely injured and had no chance of surviving against a Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer Tribulation Cultivator. Fu Changsheng sighed, "Miss Liu, please accept my condolences."
Liu Runzhi's body went limp, collapsing into Fu Changli's arms, her eyes vacant.
Fu Changsheng contemplated for a while and then said,
"Miss Liu, the dead cannot be brought back to life. More importantly, you are still alive, and as long as you live, there is hope. If you wish for your father and family to rest in peace, grow strong. The river runs east for ten years and west for ten years. One day, you will be able to avenge them with your own hands!"
Liu Runzhi was not weak and had already reached the Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer. In an Independent Cultivator Clan, to have achieved this at such a young age demonstrated a promising talent for cultivation.
Fu Changli, standing by, also tried to console her.
After a long while,
Liu Runzhi stood up and bowed deeply to Fu Changsheng:
"Fellow Daoist Fu, I would surely be dead by now if not for you. It is inappropriate to ask anything after being saved, but.... I implore you, if one day you become powerful enough to surpass the Li Family, to seek justice for us and cleanse the Li Family with bloodshed. Before that day, I, Liu Runzhi, am at your service!"
By saying this, she implied wanting to join the Fu Family.
Beside her, Fu Changli looked eagerly at Fu Changsheng, clearly hoping Liu Runzhi would join the Fu Family, too.
However, Fu Changsheng did not immediately agree.
Li Guiming's earlier betrayal was still a fresh lesson:
"Miss Liu, I understand your sincerity, but you were not born in the Fu Family nor grew up here, as with Li Guiming....."
"Fellow Daoist Fu, I am willing to offer a strand of my Life Soul as proof of my loyalty!"
Liu Runzhi abruptly raised her head.
Without hesitation, she pointed to her forehead.
Suddenly,
a strand of her Life Soul seeped out from between her brows, drifting toward Fu Changsheng.
She knew.
Trying to wash the Li Family away with blood by her strength alone was undoubtedly a pipe dream. But with the Shangguan Family supporting the Fu Family, achieving enough power to one day surpass the Li Family was a definite outcome.
"Very well, since Miss Liu is so decisive, I, as the Patriarch of the Fu Family, welcome you to join us!"
Fu Changsheng was not one to waver.
He immediately took Liu Runzhi's Life Soul into his forehead.
During this process,
he instantly sensed that with a single thought, he could control Liu Runzhi's life and death:
"Runzhi, you are injured. For now, focus on healing while you remain in Clan Mountain. We can discuss the future when the time comes. How does that sound?!"
"Yes, Patriarch."
Liu Runzhi replied as she took a box from her bosom.
Opening the box, it revealed yellowed books:
"Patriarch, these are the journals left by my ancestors that I hastily grabbed during our escape. Many of them concern the Talisman Making Technique. If you find them useful, please feel free to take them."
Fu Changsheng felt a wave of joy.
He had been troubled by the lack of a refining method for Tier One Middle-Grade Talismans, and these books came at just the right time.
Meanwhile,
a familiar voice echoed in his mind:
"Ding."
"You have successfully recruited a Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation family vassal for the family and have been awarded twenty Contribution Points."