Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Yangjiazhuang is bustling with activity now.

Eight hundred green-skinned zombies are hunting living people in the streets and alleys.

Having escaped the horde of zombies, Yan Wenjiu and his group are now chasing after Yang Tianqing in the direction he fled.

Inside the ancestral hall, since Zhou Qingfeng had accepted the Yang family's offer of allegiance, he decisively made the fastest response based on the current situation: first eliminate the external enemy, then quell the corpse problem.

The newly appointed patriarch, Yang Tianqing, immediately organized most of the elite members of the Yang family who were at the Fiend Realm, totaling twenty Fiend Realm cultivators. This was the foundation that the Yang family had accumulated over hundreds of years.

It may seem like a small number, but in reality, it's quite a lot. How many of the new members of the clan can reach the Food Demon Realm after being trained from scratch? And after reaching the Food Demon Realm, they die violently within two or three years, or even two or three hundred years.

The most basic requirement to reach the Poisonous Realm is to have 500,000 coins of magical power.

This is a number that would make most cultivators despair.

Not to mention the ritual of sacrifice and the five poisonous hearts required for advancement.

Therefore, 99% of cultivators stop here.

The Yang family, a small but powerful family, could easily concentrate all its resources on one person and send a cultivator at the Devouring Fiend Realm to the Devouring Poison Realm. However, there are both advantages and disadvantages to doing so.

The advantage is that concentrated resources can enable individuals to grow rapidly, especially in training or skill improvement, which helps to create top talents in a short period of time.

A powerful individual can become a symbol of a family or group, enhancing the overall prestige and status, creating a deterrent effect on the outside world, and gaining an advantage in competition.

In times of emergency or crisis, such as fighting against external enemies or handling special events, having one or more exceptionally capable members can be a key turning point in protecting the family's safety.

Furthermore, successful cases can inspire other members, serving as role models to demonstrate the path to effort and success. Although resources are limited, they provide the motivation to pursue excellence.

The downside is that the concentration of resources can lead to imbalances within the family, causing dissatisfaction among smaller families due to losses, which may trigger internal strife and weaken overall cohesion.

After all, sacrificing the development opportunities of most members would seriously affect the overall growth of the family's strength and the cultivation of future talents, which is not conducive to long-term stable development.

Moreover, over-reliance on a few strong individuals may reduce the family's overall ability to withstand risks, and if that strong individual encounters misfortune, the family may fall into difficulties.

If the individuals nurtured with concentrated resources fail to achieve the expected results, or if problems arise along the way, the family's investment will be difficult to recoup, resulting in a huge waste of resources.

The Yang family, seeking development in the relatively stable environment of Jianta, would not consider pouring all of the family's resources into one person, but would instead focus on a long-term, stable, and diversified development strategy.

Yang Tianqing cupped his hands and said, "Including myself, there are a total of twenty-one experts at the Devouring Fiend Realm. They are at the commander's command."

Zhou Qingfeng said, "Okay, having these people to help is enough."

Yang Tianqing took out three array talismans and handed them over: "Commander, these are array talismans. With them by your side, you can avoid interference and suppression from the clan's great array, and we can move freely within Yang Family Village."

Seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng reached out and took it, then handed it to the old cripple: "Mr. Liao, I'll trouble you to take action later."

"I don't need the array talisman." The old cripple politely declined, as it was merely a demon-level array clan formation that couldn't interfere with or suppress him at all. The array talisman was useless to him, and he might as well leave it for someone else who needed it.

He smiled slightly: "Fourth Brother, I have already accompanied you out. It is only a matter of lifting a finger to defeat the enemy. However, please remember that you owe me another favor tonight."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng smiled and said, "It seems Mr. Liao is planning to make me repay a big favor in the future."

The old cripple leaned on his cane with one hand, smiling without saying a word.

Seeing this, Zhou Qingfeng didn't continue the topic of repaying the favor, and handed the array talisman to the gravedigger.

The gravedigger looked at the array talisman but did not take it. He said calmly, "Fourth Young Master, I will not get too involved in your affairs. The more you know, the faster you will die. I am only hired to examine the corpse. Other matters are none of my concern."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Qingfeng gave a soft "hmm," not caring much about what the gravedigger Daoist said. After all, having another cultivator at the Devouring Fiend Realm as a helper wouldn't make much difference, so he casually tossed the two extra array talismans back to Yang Tianqing.

"Let's go, find these infiltrated enemies first, then we'll deal with these zombies later."

The ancestral hall gates opened again, and a group of people filed out under Zhou Qingfeng's leadership. They were all experts at the Food Fiend Realm, and there was even an unfathomable old cripple in charge.

The group took to the air and surveyed the entire Yangjiazhuang village from their vantage point. They then discovered a group of furtive people silently and rapidly advancing towards the ancestral hall.

At the same time that Zhou Qingfeng spotted the enemy, the enemy also looked up and spotted them.

Once Yan Wenjiu realized that their whereabouts had been exposed, he decided to stop hiding and, along with Gu Daozhao and the others, leaped onto the roof.

Zhou Qingfeng immediately led his men to attack the enemy, looking down at them from their high vantage point.

The two sides immediately faced off.

Zhou Qingfeng stood with his hands behind his back in the air, and said calmly, "Gu Daozhao, it's been a long time. You're still alive."

Gu Daozhao faced Zhou Qingfeng and bowed with his fists clasped: "Thanks to you, I'm at least half alive."

Zhou Qingfeng said calmly, "Hate me?"

Gu Daozhao said firmly, "I hate it."

Zhou Qingfeng asked in a calm tone, "Are you looking for revenge?"

Gu Daozhao nodded, then shook his head: "Yes and no."

Yan Wenjiu then spoke up: "Gu Daozhao, don't forget why you're here. Stop talking nonsense and kill him!"

Gu Daozhao glanced sideways, unmoved, and instead led his nineteen brothers to leap onto another rooftop, quickly distancing themselves from Yan Wenjiu. It was clear that he wanted to draw a line and betray them at the last minute.

“Zhou Silang, this man is called Faceless. He concealed his identity and painstakingly bailed us out and led us to kill you, but I only want to start a new life with my brothers.”

"When he saw that we did not comply, he used threats and inducements to force us to come and kill you."

“I had no choice but to come, but I know that even if I kill you, he won’t let us live.”

"So rather than believing that he will give us a way out, I believe more that you will give us a way out."

Yan Wenjiu was dressed in a black robe and wore a mask, so no one could see his expression. However, his tone revealed his anger: "Gu Daozhao, you ungrateful wretch!"

“He killed Huangfu Yunzheng, killed your master, and imprisoned you and your brothers for ten years, subjecting you to inhuman torture. It was me, it was me who saved you, it was me who rescued you.”

"You've actually betrayed me, turned against me in the face of battle, and joined your enemy to deal with your benefactor! You're worse than an animal, you dog! I'd rather save a dog than save you!"

These words made Ah Jie and Ah Hu feel guilty.

However, Gu Daozhao coldly replied, "Say what you will."

Then Gu Daozhao faced Zhou Qingfeng and said sincerely, "Zhou Silang, if you are willing to pretend you didn't see us, we are willing to kill Wumian with you."

Zhou Qingfeng watched the two sides bickering with great interest, feeling as if he were watching a grand show. Upon hearing Gu Daozhao's words, he said calmly, "Interesting. You don't believe your benefactor, but you believe your enemy. You're quite unique."