Clan Cultivation: My Intelligence Updated Daily

Don't miss out on this exciting chapter: Chapter 152 Inspecting the Situation, Determined to Conceal the Truth (Full Text Available Now). Click to read.

Panshi Mountain.

This place is the heartland of the Zhang family, a major source of building materials. Recently, the family has been undertaking large-scale construction projects in various places, and many cultivators and mortals are now mining day and night, continuously supplying materials to various regions.

"Hurry up! If we miss the delivery time, the main hall of the Heavenly Craft Pavilion won't be built, and you'll all lose your heads!"

At the foot of the mountain, a dozen or so ordinary people surnamed Zhang were whipping the local people who were quarrying rocks.

As you can see, the moment the whip fell, a bloody welt was branded on the bodies of those ordinary people, but they dared not cry out and could only work even harder.

Due to the high intensity of work every day, many people collapsed and couldn't get up.

Many ordinary people were used to this and didn't even need a few Zhang family members to remind them. They went to handle it on their own and then returned to their posts to continue working.

"How many people have died today?"

The Zhang family cultivators, who were guarding the area in the distance, ate the spiritual fruit in their hands, looking at the fallen mortals without any pity in their eyes.

"Only five, and they're not all surnamed Zhang, right, Immortal Master?"

The foremen fanned him as they spoke with obsequious flattery:

"When doing this kind of heavy work, people are bound to die. We can compensate them with money afterward, but delaying the construction period is a big deal."

"That's right, but we should also be careful. If too many people die, it will be difficult to explain to the family's Chenyuan Hall."

"I understand."

The foremen nodded repeatedly, but when the immortal master in front of them suddenly put down the spiritual fruit in his hand and looked towards the horizon, they also looked in that direction.

Suddenly, two streaks of light appeared on the horizon and landed on the ground in just a few breaths, transforming into the figures of two young boys.

"Chieftain!"

Upon recognizing the newcomer, the cultivator immediately knelt down. Several others beside him also bowed their heads and knelt down. He respectfully said, "Zhang Xingyue greets the clan leader."

"Oh, it's Uncle Twenty-Nine. Get up."

"Chief, what brings you here today? Is it because the stone we delivered didn't meet the standards?" Zhang Xingyue glanced at the laborers in the distance and was slightly relieved to see that they were working with their heads down and not complaining.

"Just looking around since I have nothing else to do."

Zhang Lingyu gave a casual reply, but her gaze kept drifting towards the spot where the laborers' bodies had been buried. This terrified the man, who was now drenched in cold sweat.

"Did the chieftain see everything from the air? Or did he hear everything we said?"

Although Zhang Xingyue was only a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining, he was still aware of the power of Foundation Establishment. Even though the other party did not speak, his guilty conscience had already exposed that he had a problem.

"Uncle Twenty-Nine, what were they burying over there just now?"

Before Zhang Lingyu could speak, Zhang Lingtai, standing beside him, sneered and asked, "I thought there were five people buried inside just now?"

"Really? Nephew, you must have seen wrong..."

"Um?"

"Yes...yes, five mortals were buried. They were infected with the disease, and I was afraid they would spread it to other mortals, so I took it upon myself to bury them...Don't worry, clan leader, I will handle this properly."

Zhang Xingyue was so frightened that he almost fainted, while the several ordinary people surnamed Zhang beside him had already passed out from fright.

"Uncle Twenty-Nine, you handle this yourself. Go back to the clan's punishment department to accept your punishment later. Leave this to Lingtai." Zhang Lingyu glanced at the man, then looked at the mortals still quarrying stones and said:

"Aren't they allowed to rest?"

"Rest...yes...rest."

Zhang Xingyue immediately snapped out of his daze, scrambled to his feet, and shouted at Zhang Jiafan, who was still supervising the work:

"The chieftain has ordered that these mortals rest. You should quickly find some medicine, food, and water for them."

"Huh? For them?"

Several ordinary members of the Zhang family found it hard to believe that this thing was for them to use.

Isn't it just thrown away when it dies?

"A bunch of idiots!"

Zhang Xingyue cursed inwardly, stepped forward and kicked each of them, then immediately ran to his residence to fetch medicine and food, personally distributing them to the mortals.

Looking at the group of ordinary people with dazed eyes and covered in wounds, Zhang Lingtai sighed and said, "I wonder how many more places in our Zhang family are witnessing similar scenes."

"It will only be more, not less."

Zhang Lingyu said coldly:

"With such a large territory suddenly added to the family's territory, and the urgent need to build various industries, it is natural to require more manpower and resources. Mortals without spiritual apertures will naturally be the best labor force."

Although he had already issued a ban on cultivators bullying mortals, unfortunately, unless there was a large-scale case of mortal deaths, the family's criminal justice department would generally find it difficult to find relevant evidence unless they saw it in person.

"The only solution is for the family to increase patrols, and the corresponding systems need to be improved. Let's go back and discuss it with Second Grandfather."

Zhang Lingyu sighed silently. Today, he and Zhang Lingtai pretended to be inspecting various places. Before coming here, he had already looked at several places, hoping to happen to pass by this place and discover the spirit stone vein.

"They should be here soon."

He pretended to be inspecting the area and was about to tell Zhang Lingtai to leave when a shout came from a mine shaft:

"Come quick, everyone! I found a shiny stone that's still glowing!"

"A glowing stone, Chieftain, shall we go take a look?"

Zhang Lingtai, looking curious, called out to the cave entrance along with Zhang Lingyu. Several ordinary people in the distance wanted to join in the fun, but Zhang Xingyue stopped them:

"What are you doing! The clan chief told you to rest, so rest! Why are you joining in the fun!"

The man already looked unwell; if any mortal went to the clan leader and complained about him, he would be in deep trouble.

The two ventured deeper into the mine and saw a man holding up a spirit stone, dancing with joy and exclaiming:

"Look, aren't these glowing stones beautiful?"

"This is..."

Zhang Lingtai's expression changed drastically. How could he not understand what the other party was holding?

It is a spirit stone.

Spirit stones have been mined here.

Does that mean there's a spirit stone vein here?

"Chieftain..."

"I know."

Zhang Lingyu pretended to be excited, took the spirit stone from the mortal's hand, and immediately fed him a pill.

The Forget-Me-Not Pill: Once taken, this pill can make a person forget their recent memories.

Although it feels a bit unfair to this person, it's the safest option right now.

"Lingtai, go and set up an array to seal off the entire Rock Mountain. I will have this Foundation Establishment puppet assist you. No one is allowed to go out, including mortals!"

"I've come to inform the Grand Elder and the Supreme Grand Elder."

Zhang Lingyu looked serious. He had cared about the mundane world before because some people in his family were oppressing them and he needed to uphold justice for them. Now, his decisiveness in killing was to protect the interests and safety of his family from harm.

The two are not in conflict.

"Lingtai understands."

Zhang Lingtai understood the importance of the matter and immediately turned back to the ground. As he planted the array flags around the entire rocky mountain, the entire area was sealed off.

The ordinary people were completely unaware, but Zhang Xingyue understood what was happening, and his heart skipped a beat:

What terrible thing has happened?

As a cultivator from the family, how could he not know that a large formation had been set up throughout the entire Rock Mountain?

"Could it be that you've dug up some treasure?"

It should be noted that there is a first-grade high-level spiritual vein underground here, so it would not be surprising if some treasure were unearthed.

Zhang Xingyue was filled with curiosity and was about to head towards the cave entrance when Zhang Lingtai stopped him. The young man shook his head and said, "Uncle Twenty-Nine, the clan leader has ordered that no one is allowed to approach the cave entrance."

"Please keep a close eye on those mortals, Uncle. If they run into the great formation, it could be fatal."

"well."

The man shuddered and peered into the hole behind the other man. He saw that the entrance had been sealed off by magic. Although he was somewhat dissatisfied with the junior's words, he still did as he was told.

At his age, he understands what he should and shouldn't know.

He then turned and left, ordering all the ordinary people with the surname Zhang to gather the workers together and cover their view with black cloth to ensure they would not know anything about what was happening there.

"What's wrong? What's going on?"

"I reckon they've struck gold. Didn't you hear Li Sangou at the cave entrance say he found a shiny rock?"

More than a hundred ordinary people gathered together, chattering endlessly, which infuriated Zhang Xingyue, who shouted, "Shut up!"

"Just rest when we tell you to rest, and eat when we tell you to eat. Why all this nonsense!"

With this cultivator present, the mortals immediately quieted down. The man threw the whip aside, leaned back in his armchair, and began to close his eyes and rest.

In fact, he had guessed what Li Sangou had dug up earlier.

"Spirit Stone."

But he dared not say it aloud. If even a whisper of it were to escape, the clan would surely punish him, and that would mean losing his head.

Nearly two hours later, two streaks of light flew in from the sky, waited in front of the great formation for a while, and then landed at the foot of the mountain.

The two were Zhang Xingyao and Zhang Yuanhua.

Why did Lingyu suddenly call us to Rock Mountain, and in such a hurry?

Zhang Xingyao was filled with doubt as he looked at the miners gathered together. A sense of foreboding washed over him.

"Why don't you just take a look and see?"

The old man immediately spotted Zhang Lingtai, who was guarding the entrance to the cave, and quickly stepped forward to ask:

"Lingtai, where's Lingyu? What happened here that made you call us so urgently?"

"Elder, Grand Elder, and Clan Chief are inside. You'll see when you go in." Zhang Lingtai shook his head, revealing nothing, and simply made way for them to enter.

The two casually wiped away the restriction on the cave entrance, and as soon as they entered, they sensed a very rich spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"This is..."

Zhang Xingyao was somewhat surprised. Such rich spiritual energy was definitely not something found in Panshi Mountain; it was at least comparable to Qingya Mountain. So he tried calling out, "Lingyu, are you inside?"

"I am deep inside. Please come in quickly, for there is something extraordinary inside."

"Something extraordinary?"

The two thought they had discovered some rare treasure, but when they went inside, they found that although there was no light source in the dark mine, the entire mine was very bright, as if it were filled with luminous pearls.

Upon reaching the depths, a young man appeared, smiling at him, while behind and beneath his feet lay countless densely packed, azure crystals.

"It's actually a spirit stone!"

How could the two of them be unfamiliar with this thing?

"So this is the surprise Lingyu was talking about!"

Zhang Yuanhua trembled with excitement, his voice hoarse as he said, "Spirit Jade, could this be a spirit stone...?"

"Just as you guessed, Grandpa, there's a spirit stone vein here!"

The boy laughed:

"I just surveyed it, and it's a small spirit stone vein, capable of producing at least 300,000 spirit stones, enough for us to mine for over ten years!"

"Truly, God has blessed the Zhang family! Haha!"

Zhang Xingyao and the old man were moved to tears, their breaths rapid, as they asked, "Lingyu, tell me quickly, how did you find this place?"

"It's like this..." Zhang Lingyu then recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

"What a coincidence!"

After hearing the explanation, Zhang Xingyao was both amused and exasperated. He never expected that a small inspection would lead to such a good thing. It was truly a matter of fate.

"Elders, to prevent the news from leaking out, I have covered the entire Rock Mountain with a large array, and no one has left."

Zhang Lingyu said seriously, "We need to think of a way to mine spirit stones without being discovered."

"Yes, Lingyu is right."

The old man was very pleased with his swift actions and said in a hoarse voice:

"This matter must not be leaked, otherwise this spirit stone mine will no longer be ours. Luckily you happened to be here, otherwise it would be hard to say."

Indeed, when the two learned that there was a spirit stone mine underground, their first reaction was to keep it a secret and not let the news get out.

Seeing that the boy did a flawless job, I felt much more at ease.

"As for how to secretly mine, I agree with Lingyu's method: set up the fourth-order array obtained from Black Tiger Mountain here, and then select a group of trustworthy clansmen to secretly mine."

"That's a good idea, but we still need someone to stay here and oversee things. How about I do it?"

Zhang Xingyao pondered for a moment before speaking:

"Spirit stone mines are different from others. Fortunately, this is the heartland of our Zhang family, and there are no other families around. Otherwise, it would really be a bit troublesome."

After all, Mount Panshi is a first-grade high-level spiritual mountain. The sudden deployment of a large array there would definitely arouse suspicion.

"I agree with Xingyao's plan. Someone must be stationed here, but they can't stay hidden from outsiders for too long. I think we should have Xinghao and Yuanyi take turns stationing here after they come out of the pass."

Zhang Yuanhua suggested, "And what about those ordinary people outside? I think we could..."

Whether those ordinary people knew it was a spirit stone or not, the moment they heard the words "shiny stone," they knew they couldn't keep it.

"How about this, each of them take some memory-forgetting herbs to make them forget what happened these past few days. Anyway, we still have plenty at home."

After pondering for a moment, Zhang Lingyu said:

"Uncle Twenty-Nine outside has probably guessed what's going on. I think we should give him a Forgetfulness Pill and then send him back to the Qingya Mountain Punishment Division to be kept under guard."

"Xingyue?"

Zhang Xingyao had just learned of what his cousin had done to mortals. He had initially wanted to persuade the boy not to be punished further, but then he thought that since the clan forbade the mistreatment of mortals, then the boy should accept the punishment. So he said:

"In that case, let's do as Lingyu says."

......

......