Inside the Chaos Grotto-Heaven, the flow of time was slow.

Fang Hao sat cross-legged, his body wrapped in pure Chaos Qi, resembling a giant silkworm cocoon.

The injuries sustained at Heavenly Wolf Pass were healing at an astonishing speed under the dual nourishment of the Medicinal Pill and Chaos Qi.

The damaged Meridians not only recovered as before but became even wider and tougher, faintly shimmering with a trace of chaotic luster.

Only three days had passed in the outside world, but nearly a month had passed within the Grotto-Heaven.

Fang Hao suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of essence passing through them. His aura was harmonious and full; not only had his injuries fully recovered, but his cultivation had also progressed significantly, leaving him just one step away from the Great Perfection Foundation Establishment.

However, the joy of physical recovery was soon washed away by the cold reality.

The Gongming Family was like a maggot on the bone, repeatedly trying to put him to death.

The assassination at Heavenly Wolf Pass had left him narrowly escaping death.

This hatred was already irreconcilable.

"Borrow power from the Seventh Princes Mansion?" Fang Hao slowly shook his head, rejecting this idea.

He was only a Yellow Rank Guest Elder, and although he had talent in Formation, he had not performed any great merit sufficient for the Mansion to go to war with a Family possessing a Nascent Soul Cultivator for his sake.

The Mansion might apply pressure or conduct investigations, but they would never easily launch a war of extermination.

Relying on external forces was ultimately unstable and left him at the mercy of others.

His gaze gradually became as sharp as a knife, and a crazy and bold plan became clear in his mind.

He carefully recalled and analyzed the strength of the Gongming Family: one Early Nascent Soul Stage Old Ancestor who was in seclusion all year round and served as the Family’s anchor; there were originally five Golden Core Stage Elders, but after he killed Gong Mingliang, only four remained, among whom the Family head Gong Mingyao was at the Great Perfection of Golden Core Stage, and the other three were at the Middle Golden Core Stage and Early Golden Core Stage.

As for the Foundation Establishment disciples, although they were numerous, they were not worth worrying about in front of him and the golden puppet.

"And I have a golden puppet equivalent to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage! And I have the Chaos Grotto-Heaven as an absolute retreat!"

The comparison of strength was repeatedly deduced in his heart.

A frontal assault on the Family grounds was extremely risky, as the opponent relied on Formation and had the Old Ancestor sitting in command.

But what if he adopted assassination and sneak attacks to break them one by one?

A clear tactic gradually took shape: sneak into Black Rock City, use the concealment advantage of the Chaos Grotto-Heaven to find the isolated Golden Core Stage Elders of the Gongming Family, and kill them one by one with thunderous means!

Finally, concentrate his strength to confront that Nascent Soul Ancestor!

Even if he couldn’t kill the Old Ancestor, as long as he eliminated the remaining Golden Core Stage combat power, the Gongming Family would suffer heavy losses and have no power to pursue him in the short term!

And since he possessed the Chaos Grotto-Heaven, he could advance or retreat freely!

"The risk is extremely high, but... this is currently the only way to actively break the situation and solve it once and for all!"

Cold light surged in Fang Hao’s eyes.

The path of immortality was inherently about fighting against the heavens for one’s life; being timid and hesitant would only lead to being constantly eroded!

Since the Gongming Family had chosen to be irreconcilable, then... he would cut the weeds and eliminate the roots!

With his determination set, Fang Hao no longer hesitated at all.

He exited the Chaos Grotto-Heaven and returned to the stone house in the outpost camp.

Only three days had passed in the outside world, and everything in the camp was as usual.

He bade farewell to the garrison commander, stating that his injuries had healed and he needed to return to Tianqing City to report his mission.

The garrison commander did not keep him.

After leaving the camp for a hundred miles, Fang Hao found a desolate valley and brought out the spoils obtained from Gong Mingliang—the silver light shuttle.

This flying boat was extremely fast and relatively low-key, making it perfect for long-distance raids.

He set the course, and the silver light shuttle turned into a faint silver beam, silently merging into the clouds and speeding towards the direction of Black Rock City in his memory.

Inside the flying boat, Fang Hao closed his eyes to rest, but his mind reflected the entire plan like a clear mirror.

First, he needed to sneak into Black Rock City and find out the whereabouts and patterns of the four Golden Core Stage Elders of the Gongming Family.

The best time to act was at night, or when they left the Family’s important grounds and were relatively isolated.

Several days later, the familiar, rough outline of Black Rock City, built of huge black rocks, appeared in the distance.

Compared to the prosperity of Tianqing City, Black Rock City had more of a frontier’s murderous and oppressive atmosphere.

Fang Hao landed in a dense forest dozens of miles away from the city and put away the flying boat.

He operated the Ethereal Art and the art of disguise and breath concealment learned from the Myriad Manifestations Heavenly Scripture, changing his appearance to that of a sallow-faced middle-aged Loose Cultivator with an aura of only the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, and hid conspicuous items like the yitian sword deep inside his storage ring.

Afterwards, he walked towards Black Rock City.

After paying the entrance fee, he successfully mixed into the city.

The city was still noisy, but Fang Hao keenly felt that the atmosphere in the city was more tense than half a year ago, with significantly more patrolling Gongming Family disciples scanning passersby with vigilant eyes.

Obviously, the death of Gong Mingliang and the failure of the assassination at Heavenly Wolf Pass had caused the Gongming Family to strengthen their guard.

Fang Hao remained calm, found a medium-sized inn in the city to stay in, and asked for a quiet room.

He did not act immediately; instead, during the day, he lingered in teahouses, taverns, and markets like an ordinary Loose Cultivator, secretly collecting information; at night, he relied on his superb concealment skills to quietly investigate the situation on the outskirts of the Gongming Family’s grounds.

Through three days of observation and probing, Fang Hao had roughly figured out the situation.

The Gongming Family grounds were located in the north of the city, occupying a vast area, and were covered by a powerful Formation.

Among the four Golden Core Stage Elders, the Family head Gong Mingyao sat in the Family most of the time; one Middle Golden Core Stage Elder was responsible for the Family’s market business and was stationed at the largest "Mingyu Building" in the city center; another Early Golden Core Stage Elder was responsible for city defense and patrols; the last Middle Golden Core Stage Elder had a more erratic itinerary, seemingly responsible for external affairs, and was often not in the city.

"Start from the periphery..." Fang Hao locked his first target onto the Middle Golden Core Stage Elder responsible for the market business and stationed at Mingyu Building—Gong Minghui.

That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high.

Fang Hao left the inn silently, sneaking near Mingyu Building like a ghost.

Mingyu Building was the most important asset of the Gongming Family, nine stories high, brightly lit, and even in the middle of the night, there were Cultivators coming and going.

But the top floor belonged to the Elder’s place of meditation, and it was heavily guarded.

Fang Hao lurked in the shadows of the street corner opposite, operating the Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to carefully observe the defensive Formation of Mingyu Building and the aura on the top floor.

The defensive Formation was not bad, but it was not impregnable.

There was only one Middle Golden Core Stage aura on the top floor, which was Gong Minghui.

"Right now!" A cold light flashed in Fang Hao’s eyes.

He did not force his way in; instead, he made hand seals, and several hidden Formation talismans were silently shot into the Void Realm around Mingyu Building, temporarily interfering with a tiny node of the Formation and creating a short energy fluctuation gap.

At the same time, with a thought, his figure instantly disappeared from the shadows and entered the Chaos Grotto-Heaven!

The next moment, he directly positioned himself from the Chaos Grotto-Heaven to a visual blind spot outside the window of Gong Minghui’s meditation room on the top floor of Mingyu Building, and suddenly appeared!

Gong Minghui was meditating in the quiet room when he suddenly felt an imperceptible fluctuation in the space outside the window, and a warning sign arose!

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw a figure emerging from the Void Realm, and a terrifying pressure that made his heart palpitate instantly enveloped the entire quiet room!

"nascent soul puppet?!" Gong Minghui was terrified, and he had no time to react at all!

Under Fang Hao’s command, the golden puppet delivered a thunderous blow the moment it appeared!

The huge forging hammer, carrying the power to tear through the Void Realm, ignored the defensive Restriction of the quiet room and smashed down fiercely!

"No!!!" Gong Minghui only had time to let out a short exclamation; his protective spiritual light shattered like bubbles, and his entire body, along with the quiet room, was smashed into powder by this hammer!

Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering!

Having succeeded in one blow, Fang Hao did not stop, instantly retracting the golden puppet, and he himself escaped into the Chaos Grotto-Heaven again, disappearing without a trace!

The whole process took no more than a breath!

When the guards downstairs noticed the abnormal energy fluctuation on the top floor and rushed up, they only saw a mess and the smell of blood, and the murderer was long gone!

"Elder Hui!!" The guards were terrified, and the entire Mingyu Building was in Chaos!

And Fang Hao had long since returned to the inn room through the Chaos Grotto-Heaven, as if he had never left.

His face was calm, but his heart was filled with murderous intent.

The first target, cleared!

In the following days, Black Rock City was on high alert.

A Golden Core Stage Elder of the Gongming Family was mysteriously assassinated under heavy guard, leaving no corpse, and the murderer left no trace, which plunged the entire Family into huge panic and anger.

The Family’s guard was raised to the highest level.

But Fang Hao was extremely patient; he waited quietly like the most cunning hunter.

Seven days later, the Early Golden Core Stage Elder Gong Mingli, who was responsible for city defense, met the same fate in a remote alley while personally leading a patrol at night.

The golden puppet appeared suddenly, killing with one blow, and then Fang Hao and the golden puppet disappeared together.

Two consecutive Golden Core Stage Elders fell, and the method of death was exactly the same: both were instantly killed by terrifying Nascent Soul level power!

The Gongming Family completely exploded!

The Family head Gong Mingyao was furious, but he couldn’t even find the shadow of the enemy.

He didn’t even dare to leave the Family grounds easily, fearing it was a trick to lure the tiger away from the mountain.

Panic spread within the Gongming Family.

The third Middle Golden Core Stage Elder, Gong Mingyuan, who was responsible for external affairs and originally had an erratic itinerary, was now so scared that he hid directly in the core area of the Family grounds and dared not go out.

Fang Hao’s assassination plan achieved amazing results.

He was like an invisible god of death, silently harvesting the high-end combat power of the Gongming Family.

He was not in a hurry to deal with Gong Mingyao, but turned his target to those elite disciples of the Family at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

Also at night, using the elusiveness of the Chaos Grotto-Heaven, combined with the absolute power of the golden puppet, he successively eliminated several backbone members of the Gongming Family at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage.

The entire Gongming Family was in danger, shrouded in a terrifying shadow.

They even began to suspect whether they had offended some terrifying force possessing a Nascent Soul Cultivator.

The time was gradually ripening.

The Nascent Soul Ancestor of the Gongming Family had been alarmed and came out of seclusion to sit in the Family grounds.

The Family grounds’ Formation was fully activated, and the guard was extremely strict.

But Fang Hao knew that the final showdown was inevitable.

He needed to create an opportunity, an opportunity that would allow the golden puppet to confront the Gong Ming Old Ancestor head-on, while he himself could profit from it.

He cast his gaze towards the powerful defensive Formation of the Gongming Family grounds.

Perhaps, could he disintegrate it from within?

A battle of slaying the ancestor against a Nascent Soul Cultivator was about to quietly begin in this frontier city.

Fang Hao’s fire of revenge had already burned into a prairie fire.