After being reborn, the villain comes with a spoiler tag.

The three people on the ship, still shaken, were completely unaware that when the giant wave smashed the protective array and the icy water soaked everyone on board, a corner of space at the stern was strangely surrounded by the surging water, as if there was an invisible barrier there.

Out of their sight, Huo Yu calmly withdrew the protective aura surrounding him and Long Yucheng.

Just now, it was he who used his Nascent Soul stage aura to scare away the so-called Lake God.

"Senior brother, how long must such a massive demonic beast have been cultivating? Could it contain the legendary inner core that grants rapid advancement in cultivation if consumed?"

Long Yucheng stared intently at the ripples on the lake that were gradually receding into the distance, as if he would rush back and drag the lake god out to beat him up as soon as Huo Yu answered "yes".

Huo Yu didn't know where he had learned all this, but he finally understood why Long Yucheng had to disembowel and torture each guardian beast he killed. He explained with a touch of helplessness:

"The demon core inside a demon beast is no different from the golden core of a golden core cultivator. Unless one cultivates a special technique, one cannot absorb spiritual energy from it. Moreover, the demon beast in that lake has not yet condensed a demon core."

"What? A Foundation Establishment stage demon beast can be this big?"

Long Yucheng didn't have time to regret his "cultivation experience" being debunked. When he heard the last sentence, his eyes were filled with disbelief.

“Demon beasts can cultivate their demon core internally, or they can cultivate their bodies externally. The path of cultivating the demon core is like that of us cultivators, who are divided into Golden Core and Nascent Soul realms; but the path of cultivating the body has no such distinction.”

That monster just now clearly chose to cultivate its body, and it may have cultivated for nearly a thousand years to achieve such a colossal body.

Although it did not contain the inner core that Long Yucheng wanted, the body of the body-cultivating demon beast was itself a magical treasure.

Such colossal beasts, honed over countless years, possess scales, skin, claws, and teeth that are all top-quality forging materials; some even possess a certain mystical quality without requiring any refining.

But Huo Yu did not intend to tell Long Yucheng.

Moreover, after being frightened away by Huo Yu, this beast should not appear in front of the two of them again for a short period of time.

Before long, the small boat slowly reached the opposite shore.

During the latter half of the voyage, all three people on board remained silent, and the atmosphere was somewhat somber.

Upon arriving at her destination, Wang Yun quickly thanked the boatman and then hurriedly headed home.

The scholar-like man had intended to exchange a few more words with the fairy before parting, but he couldn't get a chance to speak. He could only watch her beautiful figure disappear into the distance before reluctantly leaving in another direction.

The boatman dismissed the two men, glanced at the damaged formation on the boat, and was immediately heartbroken, beating his chest and stamping his feet in despair:

"This job was a complete disaster, we really lost a lot of money!"

Huo Yu and Long Yucheng naturally followed the woman named Wang Yun.

Although the woman had obtained the flying sword of the person who had previously tried to kill her, perhaps because she was not yet proficient in the art of controlling objects, she did not choose to travel by sword. Instead, she affixed several speed talismans to her body and sped across the land.

After a full hour of brisk walking, the scenery along the way gradually changed from desolate reed marshes to a landscape of paddy fields and dirt roads.

This is clearly a small village inhabited by ordinary people, with dozens of earthen houses scattered in an orderly fashion beside a narrow but well-trodden dirt road.

Occasionally, when villagers see Wang Yun passing by like a god, they will stop what they were doing and respectfully call her "Fairy Yun".

Wang Yun simply smiled and nodded, her steps unwavering, passing through four or five such villages until a mountain range came into view.

This mountain is not high; it stands abruptly in the vast plain, out of place with the surrounding scenery, as if it had been moved here from elsewhere.

The mountain is surrounded by a protective array that blocks divine sense; from the outside, all that can be seen is a mountain shrouded in clouds and mist.

Only after Wang Yun took out a token engraved with the words "King of Taihu Lake" did the formation separate on its own, revealing the straight blue stone steps leading to the top of the mountain.

Watching Wang Yun step onto the bluestone steps, Huo Yu easily led Long Yucheng through the formation without attracting any attention.

The moment you step into the formation, the scene before you instantly becomes completely different from the outside world.

This mountain is majestic, with craggy rocks and swirling clouds and mist, resembling a fairyland. Ancient trees reach for the sky, lush bamboo grows in abundance, clear springs gurgle, birds sing and flowers bloom, creating a vibrant and lively scene.

At the top of the mountain, the ancient buildings are scattered in a well-organized manner, with pavilions, towers, flying eaves and upturned corners, carved beams and painted rafters, showing the ingenuity of the craftsmen.

Above the mountain gate, a huge stele stands prominently, engraved with four powerful characters:

The Wang family of Taihu Lake.

Moreover, the spiritual energy of this mountain is so abundant that it is worlds apart from that of the outside world, and it should not exist in this spiritually barren place at all.

Looking at the extraordinary scene before him, Long Yucheng couldn't help but be awestruck by the Wang family's extravagant spending.

"Senior brother, this mountain rises abruptly from the ground, and its spiritual energy is unusually concentrated compared to its surroundings. It was clearly moved from elsewhere. This is not the style of a small family. How come the Wang family is in such a state of decline?"

Before stepping into that mysterious formation, Huo Yu had already thoroughly understood the true nature of the Wang family.

On this mountain, there are very few cultivators, less than a hundred, and the most advanced among them is only at the late Foundation Establishment stage.

Aside from this person, there were two others in the early Foundation Establishment stage, and the rest were all Qi Refining stage cultivators, with almost half of them at the first or second level of Qi Refining.

"It has some foundation, but no successors."

Huo Yu succinctly pointed out the crux of the Wang family's problems.

For cultivation families like these, rise and fall, honor and disgrace, depend entirely on the most powerful cultivator in the family. Once the pillar of the family falls, it will cause the entire family to be turned upside down and fall into turmoil.

The Wang family now lacks a strong enough leader to support the family, and its descendants are also suffering from a talent shortage and a lack of successors, which is why they are left to guard the sacred mountain and have fallen to this state.

As the two were talking, Wang Yun had already reached the top of the mountain without any hindrance and went straight into one of the buildings.

The room has a refined, scholarly feel to it, with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones neatly arranged on the table, and ink and brush paintings hanging on both sides.

There was only one middle-aged man in the room. He was concentrating on writing and lost in thought. But after Wang Yun stepped into the formation of the mountain, he seemed to sense something, slowly put down his pen, and got up to walk to the window.

As soon as Wang Yun stepped into the room, the middle-aged man spoke gently:

"Yun'er, you're back."

Hearing her uncle's familiar and steady voice, all the hardships and grievances Wang Yun had endured on her journey surged into her heart like a tidal wave. Her eyes reddened, and she called out to her uncle. Then, remembering the reason for her return home, she said urgently:

"Uncle, Lin Yuanzhi said that the Lin family also sent gifts to the Shi family, and the rent will increase by 10% this year."

The middle-aged man didn't seem surprised; he simply looked at his niece's reddened eyes and asked gently:

"Yun'er, have you suffered any injustices on your journey?"

Faced with the concerned inquiries of her close relatives and elders, Wang Yun finally couldn't hold back her tears and recounted her experiences of being assassinated by men in black and the appearance of the lake god when crossing the lake. She also took out the items she had obtained from the men in black.

The middle-aged man took the storage bag and flying sword, his expression growing increasingly solemn as Wang Yun recounted the story.

When he heard that the lake god had retreated without doing anything, his shock reached its peak. He quickly interrupted Wang Yun's narration, turned around, bowed his head in reverence towards the center of the room, and said loudly:

"Thank you for your help so many times, senior! We are just juniors in the clan and we have caused you trouble."