I Can See Your Combat Power

South Ridge Beast Valley, Cao Family

Despite the dwindling population due to the side effects of the Corpse Evil Technique, the Cao Family still held a seat among the nine powerful families, demonstrating their significance.

However, after Xu Lao Ying’s statement, a strange perception swept through Xiling: as long as one learns the Exorcism Technique, they can defeat the martial artists of the Cao Family and seize their resources.

Simple-minded warriors arranged this equation and dreamt of taking their place.

After all, the head of the three main warriors of the Cao Family, General Sha, was easily decapitated, leading people to believe that the Cao Family is essentially a worthless noble house with a great reputation.

A large number of martial artists began learning techniques with exorcism powers, leading to a sharp increase in the price of techniques imbued with exorcism spiritual power.

They, considering themselves masters of divine power, began to gather in groups, challenging the forces controlled by the Cao Family.

The Cao Family, already immersed in the grief of Cao Yi’s death, exposed their fangs in the face of these trifling challenges.

During those days, severed limbs flew in the sky, and the eerie power of Corpse Evil transformed the martial artists challenging the Cao Family into greenish- gray corpses.

Everyone then realized that even against the white light of their exorcism spiritual power, their swords couldn’t break through the body protected by Corpse Evil. It made them doubt if they had bought a fake secret manuscript.

Top figures from the Cao Family did not even need to appear; the younger generation alone completely slaughtered the challengers. After eliminating these scattered forces, the Cao Family regained its prestigious reputation.

The power of exorcism restraining the power of Corpse Evil was not a remarkable secret. Xu Lao Ying’s victory was due to his exceptional skill in swordsmanship. Even without the exorcism spiritual power, he could have killed Cao Yi with any other technique.

To put it simply, water-based techniques often restrain fire-based techniques. Does that mean that those practicing fire-based techniques can only get beaten when facing water-based techniques? The answer actually lies in personal achievement.

Most martial artists didn’t understand this point. They merely observed how Xu Lao Ying easily chopped off Cao Yi’s head and thought they could do the same, thus losing their lives in vain.

Although the Cao Family was strong, the drawbacks of the Corpse Evil Technique still troubled them. Low fertility was just one issue, more severe was the short lifespan of the Cao Family members. Even those who survived the Fierce Realm rarely lived past 150 years. The main reason for this was that the Corpse Evil Technique required the absorption of Corpse Evil to refine the body, accompanied by Corpse Poison.

Even if the Corpse Evil Technique could filter out ninety-nine percent of the poison, the remaining poison would accumulate in the Cao Family practitioners’ bodies over time. In order to solve this problem, the Cao Family sought renowned doctors until they met Sun Jinfang. This old doctor who had been practicing medicine for fifty years formulated a secret prescription that solved the hidden problem of the Corpse Evil Technique for the Cao Family after several hundred years. Therefore, the Cao Family respected Sun Jinfang greatly. Even the current head of the Cao Family, Cao Xiong, treated him as a guest of honor.

As one of the earliest powerful families to ally with the Mi Clan, the Cao Family moved to the cemetery next to the Beast Valley in South Ridge. This was similar to the style of the Cao Family in Xiling, where they kept to themselves, rarely interacting with other families, focusing only on strengthening their family. However, a recent visit by a guest brought both joy and worry to Cao Xiong. Guiding his guest to the chief seat in the reception room and sitting lower down himself, Cao Xiong humbly said to his visitor, “Cao has seen Master Sun. What brings Master Sun here today? ”

Sun Jinfang sighed, stood up, and bowed deeply. “Please, Cao Clan Leader, save the people of Xiling!”

“What is the Master doing? Please get up quickly.” Cao Xiong rushed to help Sun Jinfang up and said, “I am well aware of Master’s wish. But as of today, the Cao family is now related to the Mi Family. We have to go by Mi Family’s decision. Even if we want to help the people of Xiling, we don’t have the ability.”

Although very polite, Sun Jinfang could clearly hear the rejection in Cao Xiong’s words. Normally, he would never impose his will on others. But the tragic state of Red Cloud Mountain was beyond description.

A calamity had resulted in a food shortage. Some prepared civilians could barely make ends meet, but those who had already eaten their prepared food, including the old, weak, women, and children, were in a very miserable state. Widows becoming prostitutes just for a peck of rice was already viewed as the better situation. Many children separated from their families on Red Cloud Mountain had become a piece of meat in others’ pots.

Dead fish and shrimp were scooped up from the river and put into their mouths before they could be cooked, as they feared others would snatch them away. During this critical period of scarcity, an epidemic broke out.

It spread from one, to ten, to a hundred. Apart from some trained warriors, thousands of people had already contracted the epidemic and been quarantined together. He came to the Cao Family not only to seek help from Cao Xiong but also to ask for some medicinal herbs to at least suppress the spread of the disease.

Therefore, even though he felt sorry a thousand times over, Sun Jinfang still said to Cao Xiong, “I understand that Clan Leader Cao is now tied up, but with hundreds of people dying on Red Cloud Mountain every day, I implore Clan Leader Cao to be compassionate and offer some spiritual medicine and treasure grass to help them through this epidemic.”

Every object in the world has its strengths and weaknesses. The Cao Family’s Corpse Evil Technique had various disadvantages but also a unique advantage that others could not reach: It could foster spiritual grass with Corpse Evil. Thanks to this unique benefit, the Cao family could always be self-sufficient, making them a strong rich family in Xiling. With only a thousand spiritual medicines, this epidemic could be stopped, and considering his gratitude towards the Cao Family, Cao Xiong should not be stingy.

Although using gratitude to ask for favors was not in the character of a doctor, he had no other choice now.

Listening to Sun Jinfang, from food to spiritual grass, Cao Xiong could only sigh, and said, “Master Sun, it’s not that I cannot give out a thousand spiritual grasses. Even considering that Master had relieved my family’s suffering from Corpse Poison, even if it were ten thousand, I wouldn’t blink an eye. But… Looking at Cao Xiong struggling to find the right words, Sun Jinfang’s heart missed a beat. He had thought that asking for spiritual medicine would be a sure thing without any twists and turns. But with the epidemic ready to spread, if he waited a few more days and it spread to tens of thousands, a thousand spiritual medicines wouldn’t be able to solve the problem. Therefore, no matter how difficult, he needed to get the spiritual grass from the Cao Family: “Clan Leader Cao, whatever the difficulties, please tell straight if it’s not possible. I won’t bother you further.”

Every second now was incredibly precious. If Clan Leader Cao could not provide the spiritual medicine, he would have to find another way; he could absolutely not delay.

Seeing Sun Jinfang’s posture, Cao Xiong could only sigh and say, “Young Master Shen already knew that Master Sun would come to the Cao Family. He asked me to tell you that if Master Sun was willing to join the Mi Family, ten million kilograms of new grain and ten thousand spiritual grasses will be offered immediately. If Master Sun isn’t willing to join the Mi Family just yet, he has prepared one hundred thousand kilograms of food and a hundred spiritual grasses as a gift, and awaits Master Sun’s good news in the South Ridge Beast Valley.”