I just want to torture you to death, don't force me to beat you to death

Dongyu City.

A city in the eastern part of the Hundred Cities area.

Dongyu City's reputation in the Hundred Cities area is not outstanding because there are not many monks.

The peaks in the entire Dongyu City are only ten thousand feet high. Compared to other peaks in the Hundred City area, this height can only be regarded as a small mountain.

The higher the mountain, the more spiritual energy it has.

Because of this special reason in Dongyu City, although there are several monk families, the strongest ones are only in the early stage of the Golden Core.

Dongyu City is controlled by four major families, each of which has an early Jindan monk in charge. The southern area is controlled by the Jin family.

Jin family.

"What state is this person in?"

In the Jin family's stewardship hall, Jin Zhi'an, as the deacon, manages the personnel of the Jin family and is responsible for arranging the monks who come to join the Jin family.

"Middle stage of foundation building."

After listening to the disciple's report, Jin Zhi'an paused while holding the tea cup: "Please come quickly, forget it, I'll go see you in person."

In the middle stage of foundation building, it is worth meeting him in person.

In the front yard of Jin's house, Jin Zhi'an stepped into the yard and saw a young man. After feeling the aura on his body, there was a hint of joy in his eyes.

This person is not new to the middle stage of foundation building. Judging from this aura, he should have opened four spiritual springs. He is also considered a leader in the middle stage of foundation building.

"I'm Jin Zhi'an, the deacon of the Jin family. I wonder what fellow Taoists call him?"

"Ji Yang."

"It turns out to be Fellow Daoist Ji. I heard from the disciples in the clan that Fellow Daoist Ji is going to become the elder of our Jin family, Hakka?"

"Um."

Young men cherish words like gold, and Jin Zhi'an is not angry. There are many monks in the middle stage of foundation building who have eccentric temperaments.

"Do you know, Fellow Daoist Ji, the responsibilities you need to bear to become the elder of my Jin family's Keqing?"

"Every ten years, we must help the Jin family solve trouble at least once."

"Within ten years, our Jin family can ask fellow Taoists to take action once, and fellow daoists are not allowed to refuse, but they will not allow fellow daoists to take action against enemies whose realm is above that of fellow daoists. If we do not need fellow daoists to take action within these ten years, it will accumulate Until the next decade.”

Jin Zhi'an added, and when he saw the other person frowning, he continued: "Being the elder of my Jin family's Keqing, you will have three thousand spiritual stones every year, and you can also choose a place with abundant spiritual energy as a cave. In addition, If you like anything sold in my Jin family store, you can buy it at a 30% discount."

"good."

Hearing that the other party accepted this condition, Jin Zhi'an also had joy in his eyes. There is a high probability that this person will enter the late stage of foundation establishment. An elder Keqing in the late stage of foundation establishment is enough to greatly increase the strength of the Jin family.

Even though all four of them have Jindan ancestors, their lifespans are short, and most of the time they are in seclusion and will not participate in some territorial disputes.

The four families all know very well that once the ancestor takes action, it will be a decisive battle, a non-stop battle to annihilate the clan.

In this case, whichever family has the most foundation-building monks will have the upper hand. In the entire Dongyu City, there are only six late-stage foundation-building monks.

There is only one member of the Jin family and one member of the Chen family, and two members of the Wang family and two members of the Li family. Therefore, the Jin family and the Chen family were at a disadvantage in previous battles.

"Fellow Daoist Ji, if you want to become a guest elder, you still need to go through the final procedure. Fellow Daoist must take the oath of Taoism."

Hearing Jin Zhi'an's words, Chu Ning nodded. He would come to the Jin family to apply for the position of Elder Keqing, and he would already have a clear understanding of the situation of the four major families in Dongyu City.

The four major families in Dongyu City all recruit Keqing elders from outside. He controls his strength to the middle stage of foundation building because this strength is enough to attract the attention of the Jin family, but it will not be particularly conspicuous.

It is normal for the Jin family to ask the Keqing elders to swear a Taoist oath. Otherwise, who can guarantee whether these Keqing elders will be undercover agents planted by the other three families.

The content of Daoxin's oath is very simple, as long as you promise not to harm the Jin family or betray the Jin family.

The Jin family also knew that it was impossible to expect the elder Keqing to work hard and be loyal to the Jin family. We just had a cooperative relationship.

"Fellow Daoist Ji, this is the map of my Jin family. Fellow Daoist Ji can choose a place as a cave."

After officially becoming the elder of the Jin family's Keqing, Jin Zhi'an took out a jade slip. Chu Ning scanned it with his spiritual consciousness and quickly determined the location of the cave.

"This is it."

"Montenegro?"

When Jin Zhi'an saw the place chosen by Chu Ning, there was a look of surprise in his eyes. Although this place was rich in spiritual energy, it was not far from the Chen family's territory. Normally the elders of Keqing would not choose such a place.

There are currently eleven guest elders in the Jin family. The caves chosen are all in the rear area of ​​the Jin family because they are very safe and can practice with peace of mind.

Jin Zhi'an personally took Chu Ning to Montenegro and gave Chu Ning a jade medal with the identity of a guest elder.

Black Mountain is not just a mountain peak, but also includes hundreds of miles around the foot of the mountain. These areas all belong to Chu Ning.

In the entire area at the foot of Black Mountain, there are many small monk families, most of whom are in the Qi Condensation stage, and there are no foundation-building monks at all.

Chu Ning chose Black Mountain as his cave, so he could collect spiritual stones from the small families at the foot of the mountain. This was what Jin Zhi'an told him before he left.

The spiritual stones handed over by these small families amount to one or two thousand a year, which can be regarded as extra income for the elders of the guest family.

But Chu Ning doesn't like this. He came to the Jin family to be a guest elder and chose the Black Mountain area because of Feng Lianghong's record in the jade slips.

According to Feng Lianghong's records in the jade slips, there is a secret realm in the Black Mountain area, but this secret realm is only opened every twenty years. There are countless monk souls in it. His five glazed balls filled with souls are in that secret realm. collected in.

Calculating the time, there are still fifteen years until the next secret realm is opened.

It took three days for Chu Ning to scan every place in the Black Mountain area, and finally found the entrance to the secret realm recorded by Feng Lianghong.

But now the entrance is just an extremely ordinary valley. If he hadn't seen Feng Lianghong's jade slips, Chu Ning would not have believed that this was the entrance to a secret realm.

While Chu Ning was scanning the Black Mountain area, the other three major families in Dongyu City were also discussing his appearance.

Among them, the Chen family is especially concerned because the Black Mountain area borders on their Chen family's territory.

"Tell Elder Zhang about this situation."

The elder of the Chen family spoke slowly. This elder Zhang is the guest elder of their Chen family. He is also in the middle stage of foundation building. The area he chose happens to be bordering the Black Mountain.

In the past, because there were no foundation-building monks in the Black Mountain area of ​​the Jin family, Elder Zhang often asked his subordinates to rob the Black Mountain area, because those who suffered were not the Jin family, but some small families living in this area. The Jin family It’s also turning a blind eye.

…

…

Three days later, Chu Ning finished inspecting the territory and was about to retreat to study the Qingling Crystal bought at the Golden Elixir Fair. However, his spiritual consciousness sensed several figures appearing at the foot of the mountain.

A thought came to my mind.

Chu Ning appeared at the foot of the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, there were more than a dozen old men standing there with somewhat uneasy expressions.

These old men were all powerful people in nearby towns or families. After learning that an elder from the Jin family had settled in Montenegro, these old men secretly contacted and made a decision together before arriving.

"What's the matter with you?"

The appearance of Chu Ning's figure shocked the bodies of these old men. When they heard Chu Ning speak, one of them immediately said: "Elder Ji, we are a family of monks from the Black Mountain area. We are here to pay homage to the elder."

"I am very happy to hear that Elder Ji has settled in Montenegro. This is our sincere wish."

The old man took out a storage bag and handed it to Chu Ning respectfully.

There are two thousand spiritual stones in this storage bag, which were collected together by their fifteen families.

"I'm determined."

Chu Ning reached out and took it. Two thousand spirit stones were not too much for him, but if he didn't accept them, these families would feel uneasy.

Do as the Romans do, and if you don't accept it, others will not only not praise you for your high moral integrity, but will only think that you have a bigger conspiracy.

The slightly relieved expressions of these old men at this moment also verified Chu Ning's judgment.

If they really don't accept it, these fifteen people may be upset in their hearts. Are they not giving enough spiritual stones? Elder Ji is not very satisfied?

This thing is protection money. Chu Ning is very experienced in collecting protection fees. After all, he started his career in Daliang Dynasty by collecting protection fees.

It's just that it was collected from ordinary people at first, but now it is collected from the heads of monks.

As for whether these families would deceive him and give him less protection money, Chu Ning believed that these families still lacked the courage.

He is in the middle stage of foundation building, and even among the entire Jin family, he is the fourth master.

"Elder Ji, do you have any instructions?"

"As usual, don't bother me if you have nothing to do."

After Chu Ning left these words, the figure disappeared on the spot. After Chu Ning left, the expression of the old man present was obviously much more relaxed.

"As expected of Senior Foundation Architect, he puts too much pressure on me."

"I have also met my senior in the middle stage of foundation building, Third Master Jin of the Jin family, but the pressure he put on me was not as strong as that of Elder Ji."

"That's of course. Mr. Jin broke through to the middle stage of foundation construction five years ago. Elder Ji is said to have been in the middle stage of foundation construction for at least thirty years."

"Everyone, we have also met Elder Ji. Then according to the previous plan, we will give Elder Ji two thousand spiritual stones every year."

"I have no objection."

"My Zhao family also agrees."

…

These old men spoke one after another. Two thousand spirit stones were not too few. If it was the early stage of foundation building, they would only hand over a thousand spirit stones a year. After all, in addition to paying tribute to the elder Keqing, they also had to make offerings to the Jin family.

Jin family.

"We collect two thousand spirit stones every year and don't interfere in the overt and secret struggles of those small families."

Jin Zhi'an was sitting on a chair, with a thoughtful look in his eyes. In front of him, an old man was standing respectfully. If Chu Ning was there, he would have recognized that this old man was one of the fifteen old men from before.

"It seems that there is nothing wrong with Elder Ji. You can go down first."

After swatting away the old man, Jin Zhi'an's expression became much more relaxed. This fellow Daoist Ji chose Black Mountain, which inevitably made him think too much. After all, it was not a good place chosen by the Keqing Elder Council.

At first, he doubted whether Elder Ji had other purposes in choosing Black Mountain, or was involved with a small family in the dark area, but judging from the current situation, it seemed that he was overthinking.

…

…

Three years have passed in a blink of an eye.

In the Black Mountain Cave Mansion, Chu Ning stared at the puppet in front of him.

In the past three years, he put Qingling Crystal and other refining materials into the puppet, and re-refined the puppet with earth fire.

At this moment, in addition to red fluorescence, there are also several rays of cyan light circulating around the puppet. These cyan rays are absorbed by the puppet little by little. Each time one is absorbed, the aura of the puppet becomes stronger.

When the last ray of cyan light was absorbed, the puppet opened its eyes, and red light burst out from the eyes, directly piercing the cave wall, leaving a crack ten feet deep.

A satisfied smile appeared on Chu Ning's face. The promotion to the middle stage of Golden Core was successful.

After successfully improving the realm of one puppet, Chu Ning continued to improve the second puppet.

…

…

Chu Ning was refining the puppet, and at this moment, a battle broke out in the Black Mountain area.

There are not only fifteen monk families in the Black Mountain area. The entire Black Mountain area is as big as the Liang Dynasty. The fifteen old men who went to the Black Mountain area were only the fifteen most powerful families, and there were also some smaller families. .

The structure of Dongyu City is that the four major families fight with each other, but no one can swallow the other. The next-level families below are also fighting with each other, and then smaller families are also fighting.

Big fish, small fish, shrimp...

People at different levels are fighting, because the territory is so big and the resources are so many. If you want to make your family stronger, you must fight.

The competition for resources among the monks at the bottom is so cruel.

"Senior Ji, please save my family!"

At the foot of Black Mountain, two women were kneeling at the foot of the mountain and begging.

The two women had delicate looks, and there was hope in their eyes, but there was no response from the mountain.

Seeing this, the woman in purple clothes on the left bit her silver teeth and started to walk towards the mountain. However, before she reached ten feet, there was a flash of light under her feet and she was bounced down the mountain.

"Senior Ji, my sister and I are willing to serve Senior for the rest of our lives, as long as Senior can save my family."

In the cave on the top of the mountain, Chu Ning clearly saw the two women, but even if the woman said that she was willing to sacrifice herself, his expression did not change at all.

He is not a eunuch, he likes women, and the two women are not bad in appearance, but they are not enough to make his heart flutter.

The Li family where these two women belong is one of the fifteen large families in the Black Mountain area. This time, it was jointly attacked by the other three families.

The Li family is in danger of being exterminated. The plight of the two women seems a bit pitiful, but the fact that the Li family has been able to reach this point has also destroyed many small families.

Big fish eating small fish does not mean that the small fish are innocent, because many shrimps also entered the belly of the small fish.

Indeed, as long as he said a word, the three families would not dare to besiege the Li family again, and the Li family would be able to survive.

If the Li family's reputation in the Black Mountain area was better, he would really accept the deal, but based on his understanding of the dark area, the Li family used to massacre small families.

Those who kill will always be killed.

He will not get involved in this matter.