After hearing Lu Mingfang's words, Li Tian and Zhang Yuhe fell into deep thought.
As the eldest senior brother of the Daosheng Sect, Li Tian was also learning about the origin of the sect for the first time.
It turned out that there was a higher sect in the Immortal Realm, but something had recently happened, and contact with them had been lost.
Seeing the two remain silent, Lu Mingfang smiled and said,"You don't have to worry too much. Maybe there's just something wrong with the communication formation. Once the upper sect in the Immortal Realm repairs it, we'll be able to get back in touch."
After saying this, Lu Mingfang encouraged them further."You two are cultivation geniuses rarely seen even in a billion years. With your talents, one day you will surely survive the great heavenly tribulation and ascend to the Immortal Realm."
Li Tian clenched his fists secretly, his expression determined.
Zhang Yuhe, however, remained indifferent.
He was not worried about overcoming the tribulation and ascending to heaven.With his extraordinary aptitude and talent, if even he could not cultivate to the Mahayana stage and survive the great calamity, then there was little hope for anyone else.
Moreover, there were precedents of Taoist monks successfully ascending, so he was confident he could do it too.
How did the saying go?
If others can do it, I can definitely do it too.
When applied to Zhang Yuhe, there was absolutely no doubt about this statement.
Half an hour later, the vortex in the sky began to slowly close.
During this time, the influx of demons had never ceased.
Zhang Yuhe, exhausted from maintaining the sword formation, breathed a deep sigh of relief when he saw the passage finally sealing.
After a while, the vortex disappeared completely, and the sky above Jingkong City cleared once again.
The evil energy that had shrouded the city quickly dissipated.
"Alright, this matter is concluded. Let's go back," Lu Mingfang said.
He then suddenly stretched out his hand and slapped in the direction of Jingkong City.
Boom—
As the slap descended, smoke and dust billowed into the sky.
When the smoke finally cleared, Zhang Yuhe looked down and was stunned.
Jingkong City had completely vanished, leaving no trace behind—only a bottomless pit in the shape of a giant palm print remained.
From the center of the pit, a spring had begun to gush out.
"Fuck, this Elder Lu is terrifying," Zhang Yuhe thought in shock.
So this was the true strength of the Daosheng Sect's elder?
It was truly overwhelming.
The horned demon from earlier probably wouldn't have survived even a single slap.
After delivering the devastating blow, Lu Mingfang turned to Zhang Yuhe, his expression calm.
"After you return, have someone thoroughly investigate all the forces involved in this matter. Anyone implicated, regardless of who they are, must be eradicated."
Zhang Yuhe stiffened, then respectfully replied,"Yes."
After giving his order, Lu Mingfang took Li Tian and turned into a stream of light, disappearing into the distance.
They no longer needed to travel to Yunzhong Mansion to use the teleportation array; since they were at the border, it would be much quicker to go to Tiangong Mansion next door and teleport from there to the provincial capital.
Clearly, Lu Mingfang and Li Tian would no longer be involved in the aftermath.
That responsibility now fell to Zhang Yuhe.
As the garrison commander here, it was his duty.
Watching them disappear, Zhang Yuhe wasted no time. He turned into a stream of light and flew toward Yunzhong City.
…
Somewhere deep within Yufantian, in a hidden place, a woman resembling Mingyue Fei sat quietly atop a training platform.
Her face was pale as she mumbled to herself,"We failed again and lost another incarnation. It seems we need to be more cautious in the future."
After murmuring these words, she closed her eyes and began cultivating once more.
…
Zhang Yuhe exerted his full strength, employing the Tianhuang Flying Immortal Technique to rush toward Yunzhong City.
Half an hour later, he turned into a beam of light and soared into the city.
Upon entering, Zhang Yuhe took out his jade identity card and tossed it into the air.
Simultaneously, he pinched a spell seal, and the jade token quickly expanded, emitting dazzling light.
[Yunzhong Prefecture Garrison Commander] — six large golden characters hung in the air.
The writing blazed brightly against the sky, visible to everyone in the city.
At the same time, a blue light curtain slowly rose from the city's outskirts, enveloping all of Yunzhong City.
It was the city's defensive formation.
Once activated, it isolated the city entirely from the outside world.
Zhang Yuhe had fully activated all the city's defensive formations.
Witnessing the sudden activation of the formation, countless cultivators poured into the streets, staring upward in bewilderment.
"Why did the city's defensive formation activate? Is there a demon attack?"
"I don't know. I didn't hear any alarms before."
"Who's that young man? How can he fly freely in the city?"
"Are you blind? That's the new garrison commander!"
…
Hovering above the city, Zhang Yuhe swept his gaze across the gathered crowd and announced loudly,"It has been discovered that Fengxin Tower is the Demon God Cult's secret base in Yunzhong City. Furthermore, the He and Li families have been colluding with the Demon God Cult, engaging in activities that violate the will of heaven."
"By order of the Daosheng Sect, all those involved will be exterminated."
As his voice echoed through the city, nine flying swords shot toward the He family mansion.
The swords quickly linked into a large formation, unleashing boundless sword energy.
"Master, we are innocent! I'm just a servant—I didn't know anything about collusion with the Demon God Cult!"
"My Lord, I swear I had no idea! Please investigate thoroughly!"
…
As the sword light engulfed their estate, countless members of the He family cried out for mercy.
But Zhang Yuhe remained unmoved.
It was too late for mercy.
Regardless of whether they knew or not, they had benefited from the He family's ill-gotten gains and would now share its fate.
Zhang Yuhe made a series of hand seals, and the sword light swept across the He family mansion.
In an instant, the buildings turned to dust.The cultivators within were reduced to ashes.
Most of the He family cultivators remaining in Yunzhong City were weak, with only one Nascent Soul stage cultivator among them.
The high-level cultivators had already perished earlier in Jingkong City.
After annihilating the He family, Zhang Yuhe swiftly eradicated the Li family as well.
As for Fengxin Tower, he only glanced at it—finding it abandoned—and decided to leave the detailed investigation to others.
After witnessing Zhang Yuhe's thunderous eradication of the He and Li families, who had ruled Yunzhong Prefecture for tens of thousands of years, the entire city fell into a deathly silence.
No one dared utter a word.
Zhang Yuhe gazed over the city.
He knew there were still members of the He and Li families hiding among the populace, and even more scattered throughout Yunzhong Prefecture.
After all, the two families had been entrenched for tens of thousands of years, controlling numerous towns beyond Yunzhong City.
However, as the garrison commander, it was not his job to hunt them down personally.
He commanded a region, not an office of constables.
There was no need for him to exhaust himself searching for every traitor.
He simply needed to issue orders, and others would naturally handle the rest.
Standing mid-air, Zhang Yuhe shouted,"Qian Weiguang! Sun Pengcheng! Step forward!"
Two figures quickly rushed to him, trembling with fear.
"Qian Weiguang greets the garrison commander."
"Sun Pengcheng greets the garrison commander."
Zhang Yuhe cast a cold glance at them and said indifferently,"Fengxin Tower is the Demon God Cult's base. The He and Li families colluded with the Demon God Cult. Were you aware of this?"
Hearing this, the two men's legs nearly gave out.
They stammered in unison,"Your Excellency, we had no idea!"
Having just witnessed Zhang Yuhe's merciless methods, they were truly terrified.
If he decided to treat them the same way, labeling them as conspirators, their families would soon share the fate of the He and Li clans—erased from history in the blink of an eye.