The cornered Eastern Giant Elephant had a thought and immediately made a decision.
He decisively lunged at Liu Zhi'ai, the closest person to him, intending to use her as a shield to make Wu Tao hesitate.
As for what others would say about bullying the weak, a true man bullying a girl, for a disciple of the Demonic Sect like him, it was merely a trifle, nothing significant.
Liu Zhi'ai's cultivation was low, only at the tenth layer of the Qi Refining stage. She only saw a blur before her eyes as Eastern Giant Elephant appeared in front of her, his massive palm reaching for the back of her neck.
However, as fast as Eastern Giant Elephant was, Wu Tao was faster. An afterimage flashed, and he instantly appeared beside Liu Zhi'ai.
Pale golden sword light flashed, the sword's hum like thunder, its speed faster than lightning.
"Opportunity!"
A sharp glint flashed in Wu Tao's eyes.
The next moment!
Eastern Giant Elephant was sent flying backward, his left arm cleanly severed by the sword.
...
"Kill!"
Within the next dozen moves, Wu Tao had decapitated Eastern Giant Elephant.
This was not surprising. After Eastern Giant Elephant lost an arm, the gap between them widened even further.
For Wu Tao, who was fighting with all his might, Eastern Giant Elephant had almost no ability to resist.
On the other side!
"Eastern Giant Elephant is dead!"
Sun Da Niu, the head of the Sun family, who had been smiling moments ago, was now filled with terror at this sight.
...
Wu Tao beckoned, his spiritual energy spreading. The storage bag at Eastern Giant Elephant's waist detached and was sucked towards him.
Without even looking, he put it into his own storage bag.
Then, he turned his head to look at Sun Da Niu, the head of the Sun family.
Sun Da Niu's face had turned ashen.
He couldn't help but flatter, "Esteemed Daoist, please forgive us. We, the Sun family, will leave immediately. I guarantee we will never trouble the Liu family again."
"As for this Eastern Giant Elephant, he deserved his death, and no one will seek revenge."
Wu Tao remained silent, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
After all, if weeds are not completely uprooted, they will grow back with the spring breeze. Leaving an enemy lurking in the shadows, constantly watching, would inevitably lead to problems.
It would be better to take this opportunity to eliminate all the cultivators in the Sun family who possessed combat strength, and then proceed to the Sun family manor to exterminate the entire clan.
Of course, this was merely a conflict between the Liu and Sun families.
As a stranger, if he could help, he would, and if not, he wouldn't dirty his hands.
Liu Da Sheng clearly had no intention of exterminating the Sun family.
He merely shouted, "Sun Da Niu, my Liu family has always minded our own business and has no intention of competing with your Sun family for control of Lin City. We meet each other often, why must it come to this?"
With a sigh, Liu Da Sheng looked at the terrified Sun Da Niu and his group, waved his hand, and said, "Forget it, forget it. You may leave."
"Yes, yes, yes!"
Sun Da Sheng's only thought now was to leave the Liu family. As for what happened next, that could be dealt with later.
He genuinely feared that Wu Tao might get carried away and eliminate them as well.
After the Sun family left, Wu Tao shook his head slightly, lamenting that Liu Da Sheng was not ruthless enough.
He wondered if Liu Da Sheng would regret this decision in the future.
...
"Esteemed Daoist, thank you for your help this time. On behalf of the Liu family, I, Liu Da Sheng, express our sincerest gratitude."
"If you ever need anything in the future, please come to the Liu family and find me. I will do my utmost to assist you."
After the Sun family departed, Liu Da Sheng immediately bowed to Wu Tao, cupping his fists. Not only had this person saved his daughter, but he had also helped the Liu family avoid a bloody battle, making him a great benefactor to the Liu family!
Wu Tao heard this and shook his head, saying, "It was nothing."
...
As evening approached, Liu Da Sheng instructed his servants to prepare a sumptuous banquet to entertain Wu Tao.
During the banquet, Liu Zhi'ai drank quite a bit, her cheeks flushed, and her gaze occasionally fell upon Wu Tao.
After a while, Liu Zhi'ai finally mustered her courage and, with a flushed face, approached Wu Tao's location.
A intoxicating fragrance wafted into Wu Tao's nostrils.
Liu Zhi'ai held out a wine cup to Wu Tao and said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Wu, for your many kindnesses. If you need anything in the future, please don't hesitate to ask."
Wu Tao heard this, waved his hand, and said indifferently, "It was nothing. I simply lent a hand when I saw injustice. There's no need for thanks."
Liu Zhi'ai felt a little awkward. As a woman, she would eventually need to get married.
Moreover, she had quite high standards and didn't fancy ordinary men.
Only men with power and status were her ideal dao companions.
Ideally, she would marry elite disciples of sects or direct descendants of prominent families.
Someone like Wu Tao, a prodigy, judging by his bearing and appearance, must have a certain background, possess abundant spirit stones and resources, and be strong in cultivation. He was the ideal marriage prospect for most young women.
However, as she had traveled, she found that Wu Tao was impervious to both soft and hard approaches, showing no interest in her at all.
Liu Zhi'ai looked straight at Wu Tao with an expression of utmost gentleness, tinged with admiration and respect.
Liu Da Sheng, as the head of the Liu family, was experienced and meticulous. As Liu Zhi'ai's father, he could easily understand her actions.
Yet, at this moment, he still shook his head inwardly.
In the cultivation world, cultivators of higher realms and ordinary cultivators would have little in common and would find it difficult to form a marital bond.
In his opinion, his daughter, being a Qi Refining stage cultivator, would, barring any surprises, essentially remain at the Foundation Establishment stage for her entire life and would not achieve much greater development.
As for prodigies who had reached Wu Tao's level, their greatest pursuit in life was the path of immortality and seeking the Dao, with everything else being secondary.
Even if they had certain needs as they aged, they would typically seek a woman of similar standing, rarely choosing someone inferior to them.
Putting himself in their shoes, his daughter would also not be interested in an ordinary person.
If Wu Tao were to know Liu Da Sheng's thoughts at this moment, he would probably nod in agreement.
Indeed, for him, no matter how beautiful Liu Zhi'ai was, she was merely a friend with whom he had some acquaintance, and she would have no bearing on his future.
...
In a secluded corner of the banquet, the young man named Zheng Wu Qi watched everything with a detached expression.
A flicker of jealousy and hatred crossed his eyes.
However, due to his own limitations in strength, he could only watch helplessly.
"Wu Qi, don't be impatient. He and we are from different worlds. He will leave here sooner or later."
Zheng Shui Dong's injuries had mostly healed over the past few days.
He sat next to Zheng Wu Qi, offering comfort.
Zheng Wu Qi nodded bitterly. He was now a cultivator at the eleventh layer of Qi Refining, and with diligent effort, becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator was not a problem.
However, compared to Wu Tao, the difference was too vast. So vast that he didn't dare to harbor any petty thoughts from beginning to end.
Fortunately, he also understood that the outside world was vast and magnificent, and prodigies like Wu Tao would not linger in such a small place.
As long as he cultivated diligently, he could marry the woman he loved.
The next day.
Early morning.
Wu Tao bid farewell to the members of the Liu family and left Lin City.
...
The night was deep, pitch black, and the scenery was invisible.
Seated by the campfire, Wu Tao was cultivating.
It had been six days since he left Lin City. During this time, Wu Tao had been traveling every day, only stopping to rest tonight.
He was temporarily resting in this hilly area.
"Right, I haven't properly examined Eastern Giant Elephant's storage bag yet."
With some free time, Wu Tao took out the storage bag that originally belonged to Eastern Giant Elephant.
Although Eastern Giant Elephant was a cultivator in the late stage of Foundation Establishment and an elite inner disciple of the Demonic Heavenly Sect, the wealth in his storage bag was not substantial. It contained only over a thousand spirit stones and some very ordinary Demonic Dao magic artifacts.
However, besides these, there were many precious spiritual pills specifically for assisting in body cultivation.
...
This hilly terrain was extremely strange.
Not only was the environment abnormally humid, but there were also all sorts of unusual phenomena. Colorful mists rose slowly from the ground from time to time, obscuring everything within three hundred zhang at low altitudes.
Even when Wu Tao scanned the surroundings with his divine sense, he could not see clearly.
To avoid being ambushed by troublesome demonic beasts emerging from the mist, which would delay his progress.
This time, Wu Tao did not fly high in the sky with great fanfare but chose a more prudent method of traveling on foot.
However, the vastness of this strange hilly terrain far exceeded Wu Tao's imagination!
He had initially thought that with the aid of movement spells, he would be out of this hilly area in at most seven or eight days. To his surprise, after more than ten days, there was still no sign of its edge.
This made Wu Tao greatly surprised and he couldn't help but become more cautious.
While traveling, although he was not flying with his artifact,
He still encountered several waves of troublesome demonic beasts. There were enormous beasts with snake heads and turtle bodies, as well as snow-bodied, red-eyed demonic birds that exhaled mist.
...
Although these demonic beasts caused Wu Tao some minor trouble, they were all reduced to ashes under his single sword.
After continuing to travel in the hilly terrain for a few more days, the mist below gradually thinned, and it finally seemed to be reaching the edge of this hilly region.
...
This made Wu Tao's spirits lift. He immediately urged his spiritual power, and his speed greatly increased. With a few flashes, he arrived at a towering stone peak.
The giant stone peak was majestic and imposing, entirely gray-brown.
For reasons unknown, it lacked vegetation, was bare, and appeared yellowish, with no trace of green.
(New book is being updated, seeking collections, recommendation tickets, and forwards. Please give more. Thank you friends, your support is my motivation!)