Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

As soon as Hou Yucheng finished speaking, he kicked off against the saddle, catapulting his burly frame into the air by the recoil. He drew the large saber strapped to his waist, facing the fierce sun.

Clang...

In an instant, a flash of cold light passed through everyone's pupils simultaneously, leaving only the sound of the long sword emerging from its sheath by their ears.

The blade was so incisive and swift that nobody could follow it with their eyes.

Hou Yucheng's pupils contracted as he gripped the saber. His tiger's mouth tremored as he traced a half-moon arc through the air with lightning speed.

What are the characteristics of a wolf?

Ferocious, ruthless, venomous.

Tan Fei's Wolf Poison Palm could be said to perfectly embody these three traits. His thumbs and little fingers were pinched together while the other three fingers were bent fiercely, resembling two rows of venomous fangs during his attack.

With his Marrow Cleansing Realm's peak-level cultivation, the power of nine tigers converged between the three fingers of his palms, tearing through the air with a howl.

Watching the half-moon arc slashed by Hou Yucheng, Tan Fei's eyes flickered with wariness. Yet, remembering his own Wolf Poison Palm was a third-rate martial art, he convinced himself there was no way he could lose, and his expression hardened in resolve.

Tan Fei's fang-like palms created six streaks in the air, colliding fiercely with Hou Yucheng's saber edge...

Clang!

The collision between sword light and wolf claws ended, and Hou Yucheng returned to his horse's back with a leap, while Tan Fei remained frozen mid-air, his face plastered with horror and his pupils filled with disbelief!

"Pfft... Impossible... How could this be... My Wolf Poison Palm, defeated!"

Tan Fei's palms, both neatly severed, detached from the wrists, falling to the ground. As a practitioner at the Marrow Cleansing Realm, his copious vital energy turned into two columns of blood spurting from his wrists.

"Who told you a third-rate martial art could guarantee victory over me? My Fast Knife Technique is but a step away from the Transformative Realm. Your insignificant Wolf Poison Palm is no more than a clay chicken or pottery dog before me!"

After finishing his speech, a ferocious light flashed in Hou Yucheng's pupils. He yanked the reins and spurred his horse forward, aiming his saber at Tan Fei's neck to chop it off.

Tan Fei, with his hands cut off and his vital energy leaking away, retained only a tenth of his strength. Facing Hou Yucheng, he couldn't even muster the energy to open his mouth to shout for help and could only watch, eyes filled with terror, as the blade drew closer and closer.

"Hou Lao Er, stop!"

From behind Tan Fei, inside the Green Wolf Gang's mine, a desperate voice suddenly tried to halt the action, yet Hou Yucheng didn't even lift his head upon hearing it, let alone stop his attack.

The saber was too fast, slicing through Tan Fei's neck as if severing the head cleanly from the neck, bone and all.

Thud...

Blood sprayed half a meter high, and the watching members of the Green Wolf Gang simultaneously shuddered, turning their heads to look at Hou Yucheng with eyes full of fear and dread.

Hou Lao Er, with a single strike, had beheaded the Deputy Gang Leader Tan of the Green Wolf Gang!

The cultivation of Body-Opening Ten Layers Marrow-Cleansing Realm, which counted as one of the top twenty experts in Zhaoyang County. Hou Lao Er... was truly that powerful.

And yet, Hou Yucheng, as if he'd done something utterly trivial, lightly shook off the blood from his saber and then finally lifted his head to look at the man who came out from the mine, the one who had called for him to stop.

"Isn't this Ren Hu, the young master from the County Lord's family? I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around lately; turns out you've been at the Iron Mine."

"Hou Lao Er, I told you to stop, didn't you hear me?"

Ren Hu bore a resemblance to his father Ren Feng, with about seventy percent similarity, but being younger, he looked much more energetic than Ren Feng, even though at the moment his tone was heavy, and his face filled with anger, clearly upset by Hou Yucheng's recent disregard.

"Oh, perhaps Young Master Ren wasn't loud enough, I didn't quite catch that. You'll have to speak up next time, Young Master Ren."

Upon hearing Hou Yucheng's nonchalant dismissive tone, Ren Hu's face turned flush with surging blood, his vital energy roiling within him. His fists were clenched so tightly that his fingernails almost dug into his palms, indicating he was on the verge of taking action.

Hou Yucheng's pupils flickered, resting his right hand lightly on his saber scabbard.

Ren Hu's cultivation was comparable to his own, but he had a father who was a County Lord, and certainly had trained in third-rate martial arts too. He could not afford to be careless.

"Since the deed is done, I'll let bygones be bygones. Take your men and get out of here, fast!"

Hou Yucheng, ready for Ren Hu to make a move, never expected the latter to unclench his fists and speak those words.

Hou Yucheng looked stunned, then exchanged a glance with Hou Fei by his side as they both revealed a meaningful expression.

"Young Master Ren might not be aware, but Tan Fei wagered with me just before he died. He said that if he lost, he'd give me this month's production of Iron Ingots from the Green Wolf Gang. Now that I've won, those Iron Ingots..."

Hou Yucheng was blatantly lying with his eyes open, causing Ren Hu's neck muscles to bulge in anger. After calming himself briefly, he replied in a low tone, "Do you think I didn't hear earlier? When did you two wager?"

At that moment, Hou Fei promptly joined in to support him, "I personally witnessed the wager between our Second Elder and Deputy Gang Leader Tan just now. Even if Young Master Ren is the County Honorable's son, he can't ignore the truth like this!"

Upon finishing, Hou Fei gestured with his eyes to the people of the Kui Sector behind him.

"That's right, we saw it too."

"I also witnessed it; it's true!"

"Tan Fei did say, if he lost, all this month's Iron Ingots would go to the Second Elder. We heard it with our own ears."

"Young Master Ren, you can't go back on your word now..."

...

The people of the Hou Clan joined in chorus, and Ren Hu could no longer contain his anger. Pointing at the members of the Green Wolf Gang behind him, he said to Hou Yucheng, "Having your own people back you up counts for what evidence? Have the guts to ask them if they saw Tan Fei fighting the bet."

At once, a crowd of Green Wolf Gang members surged forward, ready to answer, but when Hou Yucheng suddenly coughed, everyone turned to look at the cold light in his pupils. They shivered and revealed a hint of fear on their faces, choosing to remain silent.

To answer that they had seen it would be to offend Ren Hu, while to say they hadn't, considering Hou Lao Er's temper, they might as well go offend Ren Hu—so the group decided to simply keep quiet…

Hou Yucheng, seeing this scene unfold, finally showed a satisfied look and regarded Ren Hu with a domineering air, his tone tinged with a hint of probing, "May I ask if Young Master Ren acknowledges this contest?"

Ren Hu looked at Hou Yucheng furiously, his teeth almost shattering. After more than a dozen breaths, he finally suppressed the rage in his heart, turned back, jumped at a member of the Green Wolf Gang, and roared, "Since you all saw Tan Fei losing the bet, then go fetch the Iron Ingots and hand them over to them, now!"

Hou Yucheng, hearing this, immediately exchanged a glance with Hou Fei, and the expressions in both their eyes became resolute.

With the death of Tan Fei, the key figure of the Green Wolf Gang's mine, and Ren Hu's concession, the Iron Ingots were soon brought out. In total, they filled a horse cart with about fifteen hundred pieces.

Hou Yucheng also acted decisively, taking the Iron Ingots and instructing Hou Fei to arrange for someone to haul them, then left the place without looking back, heading toward the direction of the county town.

When they had moved away from the Green Wolf Gang's mining area, Hou Fei approached Hou Yucheng.

"Second Elder, what's Ren Hu doing holed up here? There's something wrong with this mine site!" he whispered.

"I know, let's go back and report to Big Brother first and not startle the snake," he replied.

The group sped toward the county town. The clinking sounds of Iron Ingots colliding in the horse cart brought joy to the people's hearts.

......

Beyond its four main streets, Zhaoyang County also had a large civilian gathering area protected by a power called Happy Forest.

In fact, Happy Forest was not originally a power.

In the martial world, the power to which you belong is like a business card. Whether it's your signature Martial Arts or any other identifiers, in many cases, they serve as a lifesaver.

For this reason, martial artists in the martial world, no matter how powerful, would always join a power. Over thousands of years, this has become a consensus among the people.

Still, there were always some martial artists in this world who valued freedom over constraints and were not keen on joining any power. This was true everywhere, including in Zhaoyang County.

More than ten years ago, during the tripartite stand-off period in Zhaoyang County, there was a group of martial artists who did not wish to join any of the three powers.

They thought they could stand on their own in Zhaoyang County based solely on their individual might.

As it turned out, they were naively optimistic.

Practicing Martial Arts requires money, and the livelihood of ordinary people could not sustain them.

Yet, to undertake the business of a martial artist meant inevitable confrontation, and these individuals, alone and vulnerable, faced the likes of the Green Wolf Gang, Flying Eagle Sect, and Hou Clan—fates foreseeable even though these three were considered second-tier powers.

The three powers' dominance cut off their means of livelihood, so this group turned to the job of taking money to solve people's problems, in plain terms—assassination.

This was big business and inevitably led to conflicts with the other three powers since those driven to pay for assassination were likely martial artists themselves.

As time passed, they inevitably clashed with the three powers, and so Gao Cheng—known as Elder Sister Gao—stepped forward.

Together with fifty-seven wandering martial artists, she established Happy Forest and managed to create a small power that stood shoulder to shoulder with the other three, not only monopolizing the entire assassination business in Zhaoyang County but also expanding it to two other counties. At the same time, they got involved in the iron and medicinal business of Nanling Mountain.

After nearly twenty years of development, Happy Forest now had the support of two Tenth Level Body Opening warriors, Gao Cheng and Gao Hu, with over eighty warriors under their command, making their presence no small matter.

"Master of the Hou Family, this way please!"

At the street corner of the civilian area, a martial artist of the fifth level of body refinement with an expressionless face led Hou Yuxiao through the streets and alleys, taking countless turns until they arrived at an ordinary residence, extending his hand to invite Hou Yuxiao inside.

As soon as they approached, Hou Yuxiao felt the temperature around them drop significantly. Following the man into the residence, his body hair bristled slightly more.

This residence appeared to be a small courtyard home for a family of five from the outside, but upon entering, a whole different world was revealed inside.

First was the space—it was a lot larger inside than the exterior suggested.

At least seven or eight courtyards were connected, featuring a huge training ground. On the weapon racks were daggers, short swords, silver needles, Thin Edges, and soft swords—small but deadly weapons.

There weren't many people in the courtyard, about twenty or so, with both men and women among them. All of them had expressionless faces, and even when they saw a stranger like Hou Yuxiao enter, their eyes did not waver, remaining so calm it sent shivers down the spine!

Looking at those twenty or so fifth-level cultivator assassins, Hou Yuxiao's eyes were full of admiration and even a hint of pleasure…

The one leading him brought Hou Yuxiao to the door of a low house at the very back and gently pushed it open before saying,

"Our Elder Sister Gao is waiting inside. Master of the Hou Family, please come in!"

Hou Yuxiao nodded and walked in slowly. Once he was fully inside, the fifth-level martial artist gently closed the door behind them, his expressionless face finally showing a trace of puzzlement.

Inside the low house, two lean middle-aged men stood in the shadows seeing Hou Yuxiao enter slowly, excitement flashed across their otherwise unfazed faces.

The one on the left, who had previously made an implacable stand against Hou Yuxiao at Shengxin Residence, was none other than Gao Cheng—Elder Sister Gao—a different figure now without a trace of her previously hostile demeanor. She, along with her brother Gao Hu beside her, rushed forward and knelt down eagerly.

"Gao Cheng greets the Family Head!"

"Gao Hu greets the Family Head!"

......