"Shall we rope in the Zhuang family?"
Qian Nishang suddenly asked.
Although the Zhuang family did not have a Golden Core level expert, nor were they an ancient family with a thousand-year legacy, in terms of influence, they were still considered top-tier in the commandery city.
With the Zhuang family's assistance, even if it was just the strength of Zhuang Lindao's branch, their chances of victory would increase significantly.
Setting aside other benefits, their financial resources alone would be enough to support everyone's unrestrained spending.
Not to mention the Zhuang family's pervasive influence, which was almost ubiquitous. Once their support was secured, they would no longer have any shortcomings, at least in terms of intelligence.
Furthermore, Zhuang Lindao controlled quite a few third-realm experts, making them a force to be reckoned with.
However, Ji Yuan shook his head, neither directly refusing nor immediately agreeing.
It was true that he had a good relationship with Zhuang Lindao currently, and the latter's son was in the merchant guild of Mingxin Xuan.
But some matters could not be initiated by him.
Moreover, Zhuang Lindao had his own agenda, and no amount of persuasion could shake his resolve.
The only way was to let him see the potential profit and willingly invest.
However, achieving this was not easy.
One could not expect a master-disciple relationship alone to bind the Zhuang family.
If they could not demonstrate sufficient value and allow Zhuang Lindao to see substantial benefits, then the nominal master-disciple title and their current good relationship would have no effect whatsoever.
"However, before that, we need to stabilize our own position."
Ji Yuan mused.
The chaos had already begun, and at this stage, it was not yet overly intense.
But in the coming period, it could escalate into a full-blown conflict at any moment.
While other matters could be deferred, the attention currently focused on Mingxin Xuan needed to be dealt with first.
Even though Mingxin Xuan's influence had grown considerably over the past year, it was still a merchant guild. Even with good cooperative relationships with the Shanhe Gang and the Mingjian Division, it remained fundamentally a merchant guild.
Other sects and forces had disciples with a sense of belonging and responsibility because their roots were there, from which they could not leave or be severed.
But most of Mingxin Xuan's personnel were paid stipends, and in essence, their relationship was one of employment.
Under such circumstances, expecting these individuals to be extremely loyal was wishful thinking.
Perhaps paying a sufficient price could make them fight, but when facing certain death, no amount of wealth could compel them to sacrifice their lives.
Therefore, Mingxin Xuan inevitably became the target of many factions.
An entity possessing considerable wealth yet lacking sufficient power to protect itself.
In normal times, with the protection of rules and imperial laws, no one would dare to harbor malicious intentions openly. At most, they would engage in business competition.
But now that the chaos had begun and rules and laws were losing their effectiveness, no one would have any scruples.
Hence, their immediate task was to deter some people's intentions.
Whether it was to establish prestige or demonstrate their strength, the urgent priority was to make certain individuals abandon their petty schemes and refrain from having any ulterior motives.
"First, we need to eliminate forces with Golden Core cultivators."
Lin Yubai said excitedly, "Forces with insufficient strength are also out of the question. It's best to have powerful third-realm experts!"
As soon as the topic of combat arose, he became energized, eager to rush out and engage in a battle.
However, what Lin Yubai said was not entirely wrong. After hearing him, Cui Yinghong seemed to ignore his ramblings.
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Cui Yinghong shot him a look.
Lin Yubai, who was usually fearless as an elder of Tianjian Peak, immediately cowered.
He knew very well that even his master, though seemingly stern, would only scold him.
But this elder beside him could actually draw his sword and pierce him through at the slightest disagreement.
"Since we need to declare our allegiance, let's start with the forces under Wu Wei."
Elder Hong Tian pondered.
Currently, various forces within the commandery city, both overt and covert, were choosing sides.
Wu Wei, who had appeared to be isolated, had quickly gathered a number of supporters.
It was not hard to guess that most of these supporters were related to the Wangsheng Lou.
In fact, many of these forces might have been fostered by Wangsheng Lou, or were outright operatives of Wangsheng Lou.
"There's a problem. If we fight within the city, it's inevitable that civilians will be caught in the crossfire."
Shangguan Wuxiang frowned.
The battle between two third-realm experts could easily destroy an area of several miles. Given the population density of the commandery city, it was hard to imagine how many innocent civilians would die.
Even if they could steel their hearts and disregard the lives of ordinary people, the karma and sins created would still descend.
"Then we can destroy their industries outside the city. It would be even better if we could lure their experts out and ambush them!"
Lin Yubai sneered, speaking nonchalantly.
As a prodigy of the Jiuxuan Sect, he did not fear anyone of the same realm.
"Since we're going to do it, let's make a big splash."
Ji Yuan's eyes flickered, and he already had a plan in mind.
That night, several people quietly left the commandery city. With Ji Yuan's innate flying sword divine ability, their movements went completely undetected.
This time, besides Elder Hong Tian, who remained at Mingxin Xuan to guard it, Lin Yubai, Cui Yinghong, Shangguan Wuxiang, and Ji Yuan himself, a total of four people quietly departed the commandery city.
Currently, the commandery assistant Wu Wei had five most powerful forces under his command.
Two of these had Golden Core cultivators, while the remaining three each had at least six or seven third-realm experts.
Moreover, these were not ordinary third-realm cultivators; each possessed considerable combat strength.
Within the commandery city, they were considered quite powerful, ranking at least in the top twenty openly.
Their target this time was one of these forces, named the Shangling Sect.
This sect usually kept a low profile, appearing unremarkable.
Whether it was the experts within the sect or the industries they operated, nothing seemed particularly outstanding.
However, to be ranked in the top twenty, they could not be as ordinary as they appeared.
After all, as one of the two largest merchant guilds in Luoxia Commandery, even the Mingxin Xuan, at its peak and before the Li family's demise, could not break into the top twenty.
The Shangling Sect, which seemed unremarkable, could maintain this position for decades without change.
This alone was enough to demonstrate their strength.
Ji Yuan surmised that they were likely a force supported by Wangsheng Lou.
It was for this reason that they usually maintained a low profile, leading many to believe that their ranking was undeserved.
However, whether this was true or not was irrelevant to them.
From this day forward, even if the Shangling Sect was not crippled, they would suffer heavy losses, with few experts remaining.
Within a few days, the group arrived at a mountain range.
This was an industry of the Shangling Sect, a relatively valuable spirit ore vein.
According to intelligence from Mingxin Xuan, this mine provided them with considerable wealth annually.
It accounted for one-third of the Shangling Sect's total annual income.
Its importance was self-evident.
This mine was not only protected by several powerful formations but also had three third-realm cultivators stationed there permanently.
However, while the formations were strong, they posed no obstacle to Ji Yuan.
He unleashed his innate flying sword and silently created an opening in the formation.
Without alerting anyone, they appeared within the formation.
If discovered, even with their considerable strength, they would face immense risks.
Formations were not mere decorations; when fully activated, they could unleash unimaginable power.
Given the complexity of this formation, Ji Yuan estimated that if fully activated, even a peak third-realm cultivator would be severely injured, if not killed on the spot.
Whether they could escape alive would be uncertain.
Therefore, after entering the formation, they immediately dispersed, using special artifacts to locate the formation's foundation and core.
There were three ways to break a formation:
First, brute force, overwhelming the formation's limits.
Second, destroying the formation's foundation and core before it was fully activated.
Third, having a formation master skillfully break the formation.
The difficulty of the second method lay in silently infiltrating the formation without alerting the main operator.
Finding the foundation and core was not difficult; there were many methods in the world.
For instance, Mingxin Xuan's treasury alone contained over a dozen special artifacts that could locate the formation's foundation and core.
And with Ji Yuan's innate flying sword, infiltration would not be an issue.
Within the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, he had already located five formation foundations and planted a sword qi at each, ready to be activated at any moment.
At this moment, he suddenly sensed a divine sense sweep over.
Ji Yuan turned towards a mountain peak. If his senses were correct, the divine sense originated from the mountaintop.
That place was likely the core of the area, where the three third-realm cultivators lived.
With a thought, he took out a jade slip, on which Lin Yubai's voice appeared.
These communication jade slips could transmit within a certain range, with a maximum distance of one hundred li.
However, in this situation, it was sufficient.
Lin Yubai transmitted, informing that he had placed numerous hidden arrangements at over two-thirds of the formation foundations, which could be detonated at any time.
Following that, Ji Yuan ordered everyone to rendezvous at the place they had arrived from.
He then used his innate flying sword to silently breach the formation again, leading the three of them outside once more.
Since the goal was to establish prestige and deter other forces from making rash moves, the impact needed to be significant.
With this thought, the four of them appeared high in the sky and, without a word, rained down various spells onto the area below.