The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

By the end, Xinyangzi was in tears, tightly gripping Su Zinong's hand.

Su Zinong patted the back of his hand to show his understanding and said, "Sect Leader, there's no need to be too excited. This is just the beginning. If you continue to practice like this, you should see further improvement."

Huang Chenghe, unaware of what was happening, walked over from a distance with Danfeng and Zhaoxia.

Xinyangzi took out a yellow spirit stone from his pocket and forced it on Su Zinong, saying that he had to accept it no matter what.

Huang Chenghe, who was standing to the side, was so shocked that his eyes almost popped out of his head.

Su Zinong said, "Sect Leader, I only did a small favor. Why are you insisting on giving me such a valuable yellow spirit stone? I can accept it, but you must promise to give me an item in return."

"Alright, alright, as long as you're willing to accept this yellow spirit stone, I'll accept whatever you want to give me!" the sect leader said happily.

Su Zinong took the yellow spirit stone and put it in his pocket. He then took out a heavenly spirit stone from his pocket and handed it to Xinyangzi.

Xinyangzi was dumbfounded. He had given Su Zinong a yellow spirit stone, but Su Zinong had returned a heavenly spirit stone. Although the two spirit stones were slightly different, their effects were both extremely powerful. Wasn't this equivalent to Su Zinong not accepting his gift? But since he had already promised to accept it, he had no choice but to accept it.

A grand banquet was held at Chaoxia Mountain that day to thank Su Zinong, and Xinyangzi's disciples also came to express their gratitude.

The next day, Chaoxia Mountain sent a message to Su Zinong, saying that Baiyun Fort had launched a large-scale operation to search for Su Zinong throughout the martial arts world and pursue him to the bitter end at all costs.

Upon hearing this, Su Zinong said, "I'm afraid I have to leave. Although Chaoxia Mountain is not afraid of Baiyun Fortress, we can't let them gain another enemy for no reason."

"So what are your plans? Where are you going to hide? Do you want to go back to my Yellow River Manor?" Huang Chenghe asked anxiously.

"No, this time I've decided not to hide. I'm going to do something big and make a name for myself, so that no one will look down on me, a nobody cultivator. They're just a small aristocratic family, yet they dare to bully me!" Su Zinong said through gritted teeth.

"Don't be impulsive. Use your wits, not your strength," Huang Chenghe reminded him.

“I know, don’t you understand me? Usually when I’m with you, I’m the one giving you advice, now it’s your turn to give me advice. Just remember, you owe me two yellow spirit stones.” Su Zinong said with a smile, seemingly not flustered at all.

Su Zinong bid farewell to the people of Chaoxia Mountain and Huang Chenghe, who said he would stay there for a little longer.

Su Zinong put on a human skin mask and went down the mountain to the south, inquiring about Baiyun Fort.

Baiyun Fortress has split into five teams to hunt down Su Zinong. It is said that they have reached an agreement with Tianqi Mountain and Tianqing Mountain and are exchanging information. The entire Baiyun Fortress, regardless of cultivation level, has sworn an oath to eliminate Su Zinong, and has mobilized its entire force in a grand and ostentatious manner.

Su Zinong prepared the necessary weapons and supplies, steeled his resolve, and headed south.

For the past seven years, Su Zinong had been constantly bullied as a rogue cultivator. People from both sects and aristocratic families would come to bully him. Sometimes, even rogue cultivators with higher cultivation levels would bully him, who had lower cultivation levels.

However, when faced with such situations, Su Zinong would either endure it or run away; he never resisted.

At this moment, he was emotionally agitated and remembered the words of the old immortal in the sinkhole: to be a good person, one must also have the means of thunder and lightning!

This time, he decided not to tolerate it anymore.

Are good people easy to bully?

Regardless of whether he succeeds or not, he absolutely cannot do nothing and cannot allow others to bully him without any scruples or consequences.

Bai Fengjun was the one who drew his sword first. Su Zinong had no regrets about killing someone like him.

Five days later, Su Zinong arrived near Baiyun Fort in Baiyun City.

This place is almost an empty nest. Although there are some high-level cultivators inside, there is only one mid-stage six-star second fortress master and one peak four-star disciple. The rest are all one-star and two-star entry-level disciples.

So even at night, when Su Zinong was just two zhang away from those disciples, they were completely unaware.

Inside, a fat man and a thin man were talking.

The two had a lot to talk about, chatting about everything under the sun. After about fifteen minutes, they finally brought up Su Zinong.

"Are we really going to send the whole fortress out to kill that villain Su Zinong? Besides killing the eldest young master, what other bad things has he done?" the fat man asked.

"Oh dear, that man is utterly wicked. It's said he's associated with the Heavenly Demon Sect, attended their Eastern Conference, and even practiced a demonic art that absorbs people. Besides, he brazenly barged into the women's bathhouse in broad daylight, a disgrace to public morals, and he's been running around naked in the streets countless times. Furthermore, just for murdering our young master, Su Zinong deserves to die; he deserves to be wiped out by the entire White Cloud Fortress!" the skinny man said fiercely, as if the murdered man was his closest relative, or as if all the women in the bathhouse were his good friends.

“Oh, no wonder everyone in the fortress agrees with this,” the fat man said.

"Of course," the skinny man said. "The fortress lord said that anyone who has contributed to killing Su Zinong, regardless of who they are, will be greatly valued. They will be given cultivation techniques, silver, elixirs, treasures, spirit stones, and so on. Now, everyone in the fortress, even the cook, wants to grab a cleaver and rush out to kill Su Zinong."

"What we regret is that we two had to stay in White Cloud Fortress and couldn't contribute to this matter, wasting such a golden opportunity."

The fat man and the thin man sighed for a long time, seemingly forgetting that they were only at the second-level cultivation level, and that Su Zinong could defeat them with one hand.

Su Zinong was horrified. What irreconcilable hatred did these people have against him?

However, he still held back from making a move; it wasn't the right time yet, so he decided to wait.

There were five teams going out.

The weakest team is searching for Su Zinong's whereabouts near Baiyun Fort.

Su Zinong found the group in just three days. They were about 300 li north of Baiyun Fort at the time.

Su Zinong followed them for a while and discovered that the leader was a man at the early stage of the fifth star realm. Besides him, there were five other people, including one at the peak of the fourth star realm and four three-star disciples.

Su Zinong was dressed in simple clothes and wore a human skin mask, so they couldn't recognize him even if he stood right in front of them.

On this day, Team Five had a meal at a roadside restaurant in the small town.

After ordering food and receiving tea, the group of six chatted while waiting for their meal.

One of the men said, “Senior Brother, our team is really unlucky. Can we find that thief Su by searching around our Baiyun Fort? That man is so vicious and cunning, he must have already fled. Maybe he’s escaped to the far north of Mohai. How could he dare to appear within five hundred miles of our Baiyun Fort?”

The senior brother said, "Junior brother, don't talk nonsense. Our team is relatively weak, so it's safer for us to stay near Baiyun Fort. Besides, I have a strong feeling that Su Zinong is not far from us. If we encounter him, we must kill him to the death."

All team members shouted in unison: "We swear to destroy Su Zinong!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than, at the height of the crowd's excitement, an inconspicuous diner at the next table suddenly lunged forward and plunged a knife into the senior disciple's back, then leaped backward and vanished...