Even though Ling Yun was perplexed, he had no regrets. That was because, according to Yamada, the large Japanese ninja families included Tokugawa, Shin, Yagyu, Edo, and Mitsui…
In order to understand the Tokugawa Clan's power distribution, asking Mitsui was obviously more useful than asking Yamada.
Ling Yun casually pulled out a Fire Talisman, burning Yamada's corpse into a crisp. Then, he got up and went into the next room.
Mitsui was born from one of the large families. Naturally, he was much more stubborn than Yamada. Even though he was already one of his prisoners, he refused to answer a single question posed by Ling Yun.
However, an immortal doctor like Ling Yun had many different methods to deal with someone like that. Soon, he pried Mitsui's mouth open and obtained the information he needed.
Throughout the interrogation, the pain Mitsui experienced made him feel like he was living in a nightmare in his cell. He regretted having ever come into this world.
"Mitsui-san, thank you for all your information. This information is very valuable to me. However, since you're about to die, let's not waste any energy on you. How about you give yours to me…"
Ling Yun used the vortex reversal on his energy center again. With his absorption power, he absorbed all of Mitsui's cultivation, turning it into his own Yin-Yang True Qi.
"Ah, let me release you from your suffering…"
Ling Yun's powers soared tremendously. Pointing at Mitsui, he released several gusts of wind straight toward Mitsui's brow. He killed him on the spot, then rewarded him with a Fire Talisman. In an instant, Mitsui turned to ash.
At this moment, Ling Yun heard a loud and hasty noise from Ling Yong, Ling Feng, and Ling Li. They wanted to enter but were stopped by Cui Lao.
"Looks like they are done with their baths…"
Ling Yun smiled and flew out of the room. With a flicker of his body, he exited the Ling Family's dungeon and appeared at the entrance.
"Look, I told you the fifth young master would be here soon, didn't I…"
Cui Lao couldn't hold Ling Yong and the others back any longer. Seeing Ling Yun step out of the dungeon, he was instantly elated.
"Fifth Brother…"
"Fifth Brother…"
Ling Yong, Ling Feng, and Ling Li saw that Ling Yun had really come out. In an instant, they let Cui Lao go and surrounded him.
"What's the matter?" Ling Yun asked the three people cheekily.
"Fifth Brother, what did you do to those three? Since you wanted to take care of them, why didn't you wait for us…" Ling Yong asked anxiously.
"Those three people were really tight-lipped. In a fit of rage, I sent all of them to meet Hades…"
Ling Yun lifted his hand casually as he rubbed his nose.
"Ah!"
"Erm…"
"That's way too fast, isn't it…"
Ling Yong, Ling Feng, and Ling Li were thoroughly stunned. Their jaws dropped fully.
"I'll go take a look and stab their corpses again to take revenge for our men of sacrifice!"
Ling Yong actually wanted to defile the corpses.
"They've all turned to ash. There isn't even a trace to be seen…"
Ling Yun laughed aloud as he flew out of the room and entered the eighth courtyard.
Ling Yong and the others stared at each other gloomily. They could only follow Ling Yun in a perplexed manner. Each one of them sighed, blaming Ling Yun for moving too fast.
"Cui Lao, our Ling Family's defenses are far too weak. We have to fortify them immediately. I need some materials…"
Ling Yun shut the dungeon doors tightly before speaking telepathically to Cui Lao.
"What do you need? Fifth Young Master, don't hesitate and simply say the word…" Cui Lao asked respectfully. He knew that Ling Yun was going to set up a strong formation.
Ling Yun gestured with his hands. "I need iron ingots that are as large as a football. I need at least a few hundred of those. Get me as many as you can!"
Cui Lao smiled and nodded. "Fifth Young Master, iron ingots aren't difficult to procure. It's just that you need to pre-order such a large amount of them…"
"It's decided. But you have to be fast! Get them as fast as you possibly can!"
The Ling Family's ancestral home had a total of nine courtyards. Ling Yun intended to set up many Illusory and Killing Formations. However, all he had now was money. Naturally, he wouldn't use rocks to set up his formations anymore. Instead, he was going to use iron ingots.
Xiantian Realm experts could shatter rocks with a single palm. However, iron ingots weren't so easily destroyed. In fact, they were much more suited for constructing formations.
Cui Lao nodded. Seeing that Ling Yong and the others had no intention of letting Ling Yun go, he quietly gave Ling Yun a greeting before he went to report back to Ling Lie.
Ling Yun took Ling Yong and the others to walk about the courtyard. He used his divine sense to detect that there were no other incoming enemies. So, he smiled and said to them, "Do you want to see me perform some magic?"
Currently, Ling Yong and the others already knew that the Healing Talismans they had in hand were from Ling Yun. Seeing that Ling Yun wanted to perform a magic trick now, all of their eyes began to glow heatedly with expectation.
"Of course we do!" the three brothers said unabashedly.
Ling Yun chuckled. With a flip of his body, he landed outside the walls of the Ling Family. This place had a thick layer of overgrowth.
The other three naturally chased after Ling Yun, entering the thick forest.
"Watch carefully!"
With his subconscious, a Fire Talisman appeared in Ling Yun's hand. Tossing it onto a thick tree, he quietly activated it.
With an explosion, a bundle of blue flames enveloped that huge tree. It began burning viciously. Soon, it enveloped the entire tree, burning it into a crisp. With loud crunching sounds, the upper-half of the three collapsed to the ground. The large tree leaned heavily onto the tree next to it. As it fell, the broken branches and leaves scattered about as well.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Ling Yong exclaimed in shock!
"D*mn, what talisman is that? That's terrifying. If you use it to burn someone up…" Ling Li instantly realized why Ling Yun said that Mitsui and the others had vanished into thin air.
Ling Li's jaw dropped wide, he was shocked speechless.
Ling Yun chuckled. "The talismans you guys used before are called Healing Talismans. They're used for treating external injuries. No matter how heavy the injury is, as long as your limbs are still intact, it can definitely help you recover!"
After saying that, Ling Yun pointed at the burning branch before saying, "This is a Fire Talisman, and if you use it on a person, I can guarantee that it will burn them to ashes!"
With that, Ling Yun pulled out a bundle of Fire Talisman and split them into three stacks. He handed them out and said, "Understand that even though this thing is terrifying, it isn't all-encompassing. If an expert manages to toss it aside when you use it, it'll become completely useless…"
After giving them the Fire Talismans, Ling Yun took out Gold Talismans and Defense Talismans and taught them how to use them. Then, he reminded them not to use the talismans incorrectly.
Amidst a heated fight, if they suddenly slapped a Defense Talisman onto their enemy, that would definitely be terrifying.
"These talismans are for your own personal defense. You can only use them in a life-or-death situation. Do you all understand?"
Ling Yong, Ling Feng, and Ling Li were completely shocked. However, each of their faces revealed joy as they nodded like excited shrimps.
Ling Yong whined. "Damn, Fifth Brother, why didn't you come back earlier? If you were here, we would definitely have been able to burn those foreigners away!"
Ling Feng didn't forget to ask, "Fifth Brother, have you given these talismans to Grandpa, First Uncle, and Second Uncle as well?"
Ling Yun smiled gently. "Relax, I'll give them some. As long as I'm around, I'll ensure that our Ling Family never faces a situation like this again!"
"Go back now. I have something to report to Grandpa!"
With that, Ling Yun flew into the Ling Family's residence and headed towards Ling Lie's courtyard.
At this moment, there were already two men of sacrifice who were standing in front of Ling Lie's entrance. Seeing Ling Yun appear, they bowed immediately and said that they would inform Ling Lie of his presence.
However, Ling Lie's voice trailed from the house. "My grandson wants to meet me. What is there for you to report? Remember this, in the future, there is no place the fourth young master, Ling Yun, can't go!"
"Fourth Young Master, please!" The two men of sacrifice bowed immediately and invited Ling Yun in.
Ling Yun laughed aloud as he thought, It looks like Grandpa still acknowledges me as the fourth young master. Big Sister Ling Xiu's words weren't right…
Ling Yun entered Ling Lie's residence and found Ling Lie, Ling Zhen, Ling Yue, and Cui Lao there. The four of them smiled and stared at Ling Yun.
"Grandpa, I was a little too harsh just now. The three of them are already dead…" Ling Yun said this cheekily to Ling Lie. However, his expression looked like it was nothing.
Ling Lie laughed. "You're the one who captured them. So what if you kill them? Anyway, they would have died sooner or later. I definitely wouldn't have let them off easy!"
After a series of laughs, Ling Yun suddenly said seriously, "Grandpa, Chen Haizhen said that my father wasn't captured by the Chen Family. He said that my father didn't disappear because of them."
Ling Lie, Ling Zhen, and Ling Yue exchanged glances. Then, Ling Yue nodded and said, "That's probably not a lie. After they captured me, they didn't mention anything about Third Brother. From start to end, they didn't say a single word about that…"
Ling Lie glanced at Cui Lao. Then, he turned and asked Ling Zhen, "What do you think?"
Ling Zhen remained silent for a moment. He thought about it, then said, "Father, I think Third Brother's disappearance is probably much more complicated than Second Brother's matter. The mastermind behind this is probably much stronger than the Chen Family. They definitely have a larger motive in mind for this."
Ling Lie nodded and replied casually, "We can't rush this matter. Let's keep this matter under wraps for now. We'll stick to what I've been telling them. As for the others, we need to regroup and have a discussion to come up with a new plan!"
With that, Ling Lie stared curiously at Ling Yun. He smiled and said, "Yun Er, did you ask for all those iron ingots to set up formations?"
Ling Yun scratched his head and replied, "Grandpa, I think our defenses are far too weak. So, I thought of some defensive measures. Setting up formations is just part of it."
The strength of Ling Yun's formations was something everyone in the room had witnessed firsthand. Once they heard that Ling Yun was going to set up one for the Ling Family, they began chatting excitedly.
That was because, in the entirety of Beijing, other than China's most secretive Heavenly Team, only the Long Family and the Ye Family used formation arts to build their defenses!
Right now, the Ling Family was one of them!