While Lan Xinyi vented her emotions, clutching her younger brother, Li Ye casually stepped away and began collecting spoils from the corpses.
The Lan family cultivators had low cultivation levels to begin with, so naturally, their belongings held little interest for him.
Only Mo Lun had given him a pleasant surprise.
"Hmm… is this a formation token?!"
Li Ye's eyes lit up.
Now that all enemies here were eliminated, the remnants of the Lan family at Changcui Mountain already weakened from an earlier purge and this current massacre was likely few and far between.
Wang Shuangyan, at most, was at the sixth level of Qi Refining no threat to him whatsoever.
The only obstacle left was the mountain's protective formation.
But now, with this formation token in hand, he could bypass the formation entirely and infiltrate the mountain to deal with the rest of the enemies in one swift move!
"I thought I'd have to break my way in, but looks like things just got much easier…"
Just the thought of taking control of the entire mountain put him in a cheerful mood.
At this moment, Lan Xinyi had more or less cried out all her pent-up sorrow. Wiping her tear-streaked face, she tidied her slightly messy hair and walked over to Li Ye.
"Senior, did you find anything on Mo Lun?"
Her eyes were red, making her look like a helpless rabbit, but her face carried a faint glimmer of hope.
Li Ye acted as if he hadn't noticed, simply holding up the formation token and waving it in front of her.
"I found this on him. Now that Mo Lun is dead, the only one left managing the formation at Changcui Mountain is Wang Shuangyan. With this token, we can bypass the array entirely and go straight in to wipe out the remaining traitors in one stroke!"
"So convenient!"
Although Li Ye didn't mention the Yellowstone Seal, which made Lan Xinyi's heart sink a little, the news still brought visible joy to her face.
Her greatest worry had been that the enemy would hole up behind the mountain's defensive formation. Even with Li Ye's incredible abilities, there would be little he could do against the sheer power of the array, and it would turn into a drawn-out siege.
But now, that biggest concern has been resolved.
"How many cultivators does Wang Shuangyan still have under her command?" Li Ye suddenly asked.
Lan Xinyi paused to think. "The Lan family at Changcui Mountain never had more than thirty cultivators, and most of them were low-level…"
"After that purge by those two traitors, nearly ten were lost. Then another dozen or so have been dealt with by you just now… There probably aren't many left at this point."
As she said this, a flicker of realization crossed her face and she hurriedly added,
"But those people already betrayed the Lan family and became Wang Shuangyan's lapdogs they're no longer part of our clan. Senior, your righteous action has helped avenge us!"
Her words seemed carefully chosen as if afraid Li Ye might suspect she harbored resentment.
"So long as you're clear on that."
Li Ye didn't mind and asked thoughtfully, "So you're saying, apart from the formation, there's barely any resistance left on the mountain?"
"That should be the case," Lan Xinyi replied, her eyes brightening.
"No time to waste today, we take Changcui Mountain!"
Li Ye laughed heartily, swept his sleeve, and stepped onto his flying vessel, speeding off into the distance.
......
Changcui Mountain
Verdant grass stretched across the land, and blooming flowers clustered all around it was a scene of serene beauty.
"I wonder how my darling Mo Lang is doing with cleaning up those two little bastards…"
Lounging on a rocking chair, Wang Shuangyan wore nothing but a sheer gauzy robe. Her seductive figure peeked through the fabric, and her heavily made-up face, though frowning slightly, exuded a kind of sultry charm.
But then, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, instantly shattering that allure.
"Even with some mysterious high-stage cultivator backing them, there's no way they could be a match for Mo Lang…"
"Once those two pests are taken care of, Changcui Mountain will be ours alone. Even the other members of the alliance won't be able to interfere anymore!"
Just then, she sensed a disturbance in the formation a sign that someone had entered using a token.
"That must be Mo Lang returning!"
Delighted, Wang Shuangyan swayed her hips as she rose from the chair, heading out to greet him.
But the moment she looked up, her pupils shrank in shock.
It wasn't Mo Lun who had returned it was a strange flying vessel. Standing atop it was a tall man in a blue robe, looking down at her with icy eyes. In his hand was the very formation token that should have belonged to Mo Lun.
Behind him stood the Lan siblings, both glaring at her with a hatred that burned deep in their eyes.
This is bad!
Wang Shuangyan reacted instantly, reaching for the central formation token always hanging at her waist.
But suddenly, a sharp pain exploded in her hand it felt like a chunk of flesh had been bitten clean off! Her body jerked violently from the agony.
In the next instant, even more excruciating pain bloomed across her body, leaving her barely able to move. She collapsed to the ground with a scream, writhing uncontrollably in torment.
Only then did this once-alluring woman realize that, at some point, black insects had crawled onto her body gnawing at her flesh.
Her once-prized face, her pale and proud curves… were now riddled with bloody holes left by the swarming insects.
Even as her features were destroyed and she exploded with desperate strength to try and activate the formation token, she discovered in horror that it was gone the string bitten through and the token now clutched in the jaws of one of the insects, scuttling far away.
"No.. ahh.. don't hurt my face!"
Wang Shuangyan's screams rang out, first shrill, then weak, and finally… silence.
"Does this satisfy you both?"
Li Ye stood quietly, descending the flying vessel and landing beside Wang Shuangyan's now unrecognizable corpse. He turned to look at Lan Xinyi and Lan Ming.
Lan Xinyi's expression was complicated relief, sorrow, and confusion flickered across her face.
Even young Lan Ming, still just a child, no longer wore his usual innocent expression. Watching Wang Shuangyan die such a gruesome death, there was now a trace of satisfaction on his little face.
Lan Xinyi snapped out of it. Tears were already streaming down her cheeks again. She stepped forward and bowed deeply to Li Ye.
"Senior, this great kindness… I cannot thank you enough. From this day forward, my Lan family will share Changcui Mountain with you."
Lan Ming also knelt and gave several loud kowtows in gratitude.
Li Ye fell silent for a moment as he looked at the siblings.
With his current mastery of formations and the token in hand sneaking in undetected had been no challenge.
He could have easily ended Wang Shuangyan with a single strike.
But Lan Xinyi had requested otherwise. She asked him to use the Iron-Eating Gu to destroy Wang Shuangyan's face and let her die under the torment of a thousand bites.
He agreed.
And judging by the siblings' gratitude now, using a harsher method hadn't been a bad decision.
"Pull yourselves together. There are still loose ends to tie up on this mountain. Once everything's settled, you two can take your time to reflect."
"There might still be some loyal clansmen left maybe they're waiting for you to rescue them."
Li Ye's voice was calm. He reached out to take the central formation token from the Iron-Eating Gu, his gaze slightly wistful.
From this moment on, he finally had a territory of his own.
"Stone-Shifting Earth-Guarding Formation, huh… Let's see what it can do."
He muttered to himself, then sealed off the entire area forcing out every last remaining cultivator on the mountain.
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 130+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader