The Liao family's mansion and the Northern Gang formally agreed upon a six-day deadline for a decisive battle, each side attacking the other's strongholds within Qing Prefecture. For the first three days, the Liao family took the offensive, instantly turning the Qinghong Inn into a prime target for the local gangs of Qingzhou City. The top masters from every major local gang converged around the Qinghong Inn, launching wave after wave of assaults.

But the members of the Northern Gang stood ready, guarding the Qinghong Inn, showing no signs of tension.

Ye Qin spent these three days confined to the small courtyard of the inn, wholly focused on condensing the Earth Fire. Apart from occasionally extending his divine sense to check for the presence of any cultivators nearby, he remained utterly unconcerned with the harassment from the mundane martial artists.

Over these days, under the influence of the Undying Fire, the more than ten wisps of Azure Earth Fire within the Fire Residence were continuously condensing, growing hotter and hotter. A faint wisp of blue flame now tipped the flames, bringing a surge of joy to Ye Qin.

It would only take a little longer for a wisp of intensely hot Blue Earth Fire to be born.

However, the vexing issue was the rapid consumption of the Fire Spirit Stones and Wood Spirit Stones in his possession; he was burning through at least four or five a day, which was proving insufficient. Even with the Treasure Gathering Gourd at hand, maintaining the process was difficult.

Ye Qin pondered for a moment, then took out every low-grade Gold Spirit Sword and Fire Spirit Blade from his storage pouch that he no longer needed. He handed them to Zhang Qiao, asking her to make a trip to Xian Yuan City to sell these items for him, hoping to exchange them for some low-grade Spirit Stones.

He was currently using Dharma Artifacts; these low-grade Spirit Artifacts had been acquired from the Spirit Mist Grand Canyon and the Myriad Desolation Ridge Cave, and were now of little use to him. Selling them for a few hundred low-grade Spirit Stones would be far more beneficial.

He dared not return to Xian Yuan City himself at the moment, so he had to ask Zhang Qiao to make the journey instead.

The three-day deadline agreed upon between the Northern Gang and the Liao family was quickly passing.

The Qinghong Inn endured several waves of attack but remained as solid as a mountain, showing no indication of being breached.

Old Master Liao even made a personal trip to the Qinghong Inn to assess the situation and supervise the battle. The thin layer of light barrier outside the Qinghong Inn was invisible to ordinary mortals; only cultivators could see it clearly.

But the clearer he saw it, the darker his expression grew.

His cultivation was too weak to discern exactly who was casting the spell protecting the Qinghong Inn. The vast light barrier enveloping the entire inn only filled him with a trace of dread. Such an ability, he suspected, was beyond the capability of ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivators.

Several Qingzhou City gang leaders, including Shen Li, hurried to complain to Old Lord Liao: "My Lord, the Qinghong Inn is proving too difficult to assault. The local gangs of Qingzhou City have thrown waves of masters at it in probing attacks, but not only have they failed to enter the Qinghong Inn, they haven't even managed to touch the perimeter before being repelled. We remain utterly ignorant of the true strength possessed by the Northern Gang."

"We still haven't figured out how many troops the Northern Gang has brought, nor their disposition. We dare not launch a full-scale attack rashly. If the general assault fails, our position will become extremely passive..."

Old Lord Liao paid them no mind. "Today is the final deadline. If we cannot break in, the South Side must be surrendered to the Northern Gang. Iron Palm Gang, Scarlet Blood Hall—your main headquarters are all in the south of the city. You must weigh the consequences yourselves."

Liao family's chief steward, Li Zhong, interjected, "My Lord, perhaps we should ask the Prefecture Office to send some yamen runners into the inn to investigate their background clearly? If the government steps in, the people from the Northern Gang might hesitate to resist."

Old Lord Liao pondered, "The yamen runners in Qingzhou are all soft-spined; they probably won't dare provoke these Northern Gang types. Go to the Garrison, summon an officer leading troops, and have them search the inn to ascertain the Northern Gang's strength."

"Yes, I will dispatch someone to the Garrison immediately!"

Li Zhong nodded quickly.

Half an hour later, five to six hundred soldiers clad in full armor, carrying halberds and sabers, surrounded the entire Qinghong Inn. These soldiers remained silent, swiftly forming small, murderous military formations outside the inn: shield-bearers and swordsmen in the front, spearmen and halberdiers in the middle, and crossbowmen in the rear. Their movements were brisk and practiced, clearly indicating they were well-trained elite troops. While such elite soldiers might not be masters of individual martial arts, once arrayed, they were far superior to ordinary Jianghu figures.

A middle-aged general in military uniform rode a tall steed, drawing up before the inn, and shouted loudly, demanding entry to the Qinghong Inn on the pretext that it harbored wanted bandits, requiring a thorough search.

"If they can't beat us, they resort to calling in government troops—using such despicable tactics."

The masters of the Twenty Northern Gangs were somewhat taken aback, muttering amongst themselves. They wouldn't dare clash with these government soldiers. Setting aside whether they could win, even if they could, they wouldn't dare strike. These were the official troops garrisoned within Qing Prefecture, backed by fifty thousand heavily armored elites in the barracks outside the city—no joke. No matter how tough the fists of the Jianghu gangs were, they wouldn't dare challenge these troops, or the consequences would be immediate, unrestrained extermination.

Zhang Rong, the leader of the Twenty Northern Gangs, seeing this, quickly instructed his subordinates to allow the general passage, forbidding any obstruction.

The middle-aged general dismounted with satisfaction and led a small contingent of guards into the inn.

Zhang Rong hurried forward, forcing a smile, "Esteemed General, I am Zhang Rong, leader of the Twenty Northern Gangs."

The middle-aged general waved a hand, cutting off Zhang Rong's words, and sneered arrogantly, "I don't care about your Northern Gang or Southern Gang. Bring out all your people for a routine inspection. Someone reported that this place is harboring bandits; I need to see if there are any bandits here." In reality, tracking down bandits was usually the job of local constables and yamen runners; it rarely required deploying official troops. However, having accepted coin from the Liao family, he needed to clear their slate. The Liao family had paid him a chest of gold and silver to investigate the situation inside the Qinghong Inn. Naturally, he would not refuse such easy money.

Zhang Rong hesitated. While ordinary gang members were fine, summoning the Chief Leaders to appear was going too far. Nevertheless, he commanded all the Northern Gang members to assemble and submit to the soldiers' inspection.

Seeing Zhang Rong comply so readily, the middle-aged general became bolder. "Are there any hidden occupants within this inn?"

Zhang Rong offered a wry smile. Everyone in the Qinghong Inn belonged to the Northern Gang, except for that mysterious small courtyard where the Chief Leaders could enter. But the problem was, even he couldn't get in, let alone know what was happening inside, much less anyone else.

"General, if you don't believe me, please inspect it yourself."

The middle-aged general wasted no more words, leading a large contingent of soldiers in a thorough search throughout the Qinghong Inn. When he arrived before the small courtyard, he inevitably met a "wall," being repelled by a gentle force.

The middle-aged general stood stunned.

"An Immortal?!"

He was a clansman of the Lu family stationed in the Southern Liang Kingdom, which was how he secured a minor officer post in the Qingzhou City garrison. Although not a core member of the Lu family, he had seen cultivators from the Lu family before and knew something of Immortals. The barrier that repelled people was similar to the defensive formations found in the Lu family's important strongholds.

Zhang Rong had been accompanying the general all along. When the general was similarly rebuffed at the courtyard entrance, he stopped... and said, "Esteemed General, this small courtyard is where the Chief Leaders of our Northern Gang reside. Do you truly intend to enter?"

The middle-aged general paused in surprise. "Your Northern Gang's Chief Leaders... are Immortals?"

Zhang Rong smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying.

The middle-aged general was shocked. As a secular member of the Lu family, he understood that mortal affairs should not interfere in disputes between Immortals; otherwise, if trouble arose, the family would not risk offending other Immortals to save an insignificant secular member like him.

"A misunderstanding, merely a misunderstanding. Withdraw the troops, withdraw!" The middle-aged general, breaking out in a cold sweat as if soaked in fire, roared at his subordinates. The soldiers currently searching the inn were bewildered but hastily gathered their ranks.

Seeing the general finally seeing sense, Zhang Rong slipped both hands into his sleeve, retrieved a heavy pouch, and pressed it into Deputy General Lu's hand, smiling, "This is indeed a misunderstanding. How could there be any bandits here? It must have been hard for the General to make this trip in such cold weather. Please, General, use this small token to buy some wine for your officers to warm themselves up."

Deputy General Lu, now fully aware of how to proceed gracefully, accepted the pouch with a beaming smile and quickly led the large body of troops away from the Qinghong Inn back toward the barracks outside the city.

"Lord Lu, what is the situation inside the inn?"

A servant from the Liao family mansion approached, bowing deferentially.

General Lu's heart surged with anger. He slapped the servant away, sending him stumbling, and cursed, "Damn it, you almost got your Lord Lu killed! Your Liao family has invited serious trouble, dragging me in as a scapegoat! Get lost!"

The servant clutched his reddened cheek, looking utterly bewildered. Didn't this Lord Lu just accept money from the Liao family? Why the sudden change in demeanor? Did he think the money wasn't enough? Full of grievances, the servant hurried back to report to Steward Li.

Even deploying troops failed to uncover the situation at the Qinghong Inn. As the evening of the third and final day arrived, the local Qingzhou gangs had no choice but to launch an all-out assault. By midnight, they had only managed to capture a few inconsequential small courtyards; most areas remained untouched. Especially one particular small courtyard, which they couldn't even approach, let alone capture.

According to Jianghu custom, the Liao family had effectively failed in this contest for strongholds.

The members of the gangs under the Liao family retreated dejectedly; they had no choice but to retreat.

After midnight, the Chief Leader of the Northern Gang led a large contingent of men away from the Qinghong Inn to attack the Liao family mansion. They needed to reinforce the Liao family residence to prevent it from being taken over by the Northern Gang. If the Liao residence fell, the gangs of Qingzhou City would have no face left and would only have the option to surrender.

However, the Northern Gang's attempt to storm the Liao residence was also not smooth.

Inside the Liao family mansion, a small restrictive formation had recently been added.

This restrictive formation was peculiar; once activated, a misty azure light enveloped the entire mansion. Anyone entering immediately lost their sense of direction, as if stepping into a vast, arid desert. Only those with immense willpower could traverse this desert sea and emerge alive from within the formation. Those whose resolve was slightly weaker, in their despair at being unable to escape the desert, would only perish trapped inside the formation.

More than ten top-tier masters from the Northern Gang charged in; only three or five managed to get out.

This strange formation was impenetrable to martial artists.

Zhang Zhe personally made an attempt to break through, and nearly became trapped within the formation himself; he could not breach the Liao mansion either. Helpless, Zhang Zhe finally requested Ye Qin's assistance, asking if he could break this restrictive formation protecting the Liao residence.

Ye Qin arrived outside the Liao residence and examined the faint, misty azure formation. As a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator using the Spiritual Sight technique, he could only vaguely discern a cyan banner-like Dharma Artifact within the azure mist, emitting a dazzling blue light.

Ye Qin’s heart stirred.

Using a Dharma Artifact as the formation flag yields power far beyond the ordinary. This banner artifact was vastly superior to the Spirit Artifact formation disks he currently possessed.

However, this Dharma Artifact could only display sufficient power when wielded by a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Liao family certainly did not have a Foundation Establishment cultivator now. They could only use Spirit Stones to activate the formation, meaning the power displayed was extremely weak, likely less than a tenth of its original strength.

Even at one-tenth power, it was enough to block him outside the formation.

Over the years, Ye Qin had witnessed many defensive and illusionary formations, but he had never seen one emitting such an azure mist. He was unwilling to risk his life on a formation whose power he could not clearly ascertain. Losing his own life over it was not worth it.

Ye Qin pondered for a moment, then turned back to Zhang Zhe and the others, saying, "The Liao family in Qingzhou City has a history spanning at least several millennia; it is not surprising that they possess such a peculiar formation. Otherwise, the Liao family would likely have been completely wiped out long ago."

Zhang Zhe nodded. "Very well. Since the cultivators of the Liao family are hiding within the mansion and refusing to come out, let's leave them for now. Even if we cannot take the Liao residence, the Northern Gang has won at least half of the territorial contest in this fight. I will now take our men to subdue the major gangs in the southern district of Qingzhou City."

The Northern Gang launched a massive offensive. In just three days, the headquarters of the major and minor gangs controlled by the Liao family in South Qingzhou City buckled under the pressure from the Northern Gang and surrendered one after another. Circumstances dictate superiority; in the Jianghu, the strong rule. Since the Liao residence could not protect them, they had no choice but to turn and pledge allegiance to the Northern Gang.

"Iron Palm Gang, Leader Shen Li, surrenders to the Chief Leader of the Northern Gang with all his forces." "Scarlet Blood Alliance, Leader Sun You, surrenders to the Chief Leader of the Northern Gang with all his forces." "Great Wind Society, Master Zhu Changtian, surrenders to the Chief Leader of the Northern Gang with all his forces."

More than half of the local Qingzhou gangs previously controlled by the Liao family defected within a few days, and the entire landscape of Qingzhou City was drastically altered. Almost every gang, large or small, was shaken by the Northern Gang's might. Even the small vendors and ruffians on the street knew that the political climate in Qingzhou City had shifted. The Liao family was no longer the sole authority, and the Northern Gang was rising powerfully within the city. The Liao family's influence had been nearly halved. Given time, it seemed unlikely that the Northern Gang would fail to take over all of Qingzhou City.

This dramatic shift in Qingzhou's gang hierarchy was confined only to the Jianghu circles of Qingzhou City, having little impact on the ordinary populace. This transition of gang power was tightly restricted to the two strongholds—the Qinghong Inn and the Liao residence—and did not spread widely. The casualties between the gangs were surprisingly few, and no innocent people were harmed. Even the Qingzhou Prefecture government did not intervene.

The New Year festival was fast approaching, and Qingzhou City grew increasingly lively. The Immortal Dao Confrontation Assembly, jointly organized by the Qingyun Temple, Twin Dragon Monastery, Pure Nunnery, Dalong Temple, and over ten other once-flourishing Daoist temples and monasteries in Qingzhou City, was scheduled to take place, attracting hundreds of thousands of onlookers from within and outside the city. Beneath the grandeur of this major event, the territorial dispute between the Northern Gang and the Liao family largely went unnoticed.