Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

The Canglan Boat sailed smoothly through the vast emptiness, with boundless darkness and the occasional glimmer of starlight outside the window.

A sixty-day voyage is neither long nor short.

For cultivators of the Purple Mansion, this was a rare period of leisure.

Inside the cabin, the three sat around a table.

Xiao Xiting was still wearing that bamboo hat, with his green bamboo cane resting on his lap, slowly sipping the spiritual tea prepared by Shuyu.

This tea is called "Han Tan Wu Ya" (Cold Pool Mist Bud), and it is picked from the cold pool deep in the world guarded by Shu Yu Town. It has a refreshing taste and a long aftertaste.

Even a seasoned veteran like him, who was used to seeing the finest things, couldn't resist having a few more drinks.

"Fellow Daoist Shuyu, this tea is truly excellent."

Xiao Xiting put down his teacup and gave a compliment.

Shuyu nodded slightly in thanks.

She was usually a woman of few words, but now that they were in the same boat and had gone through life and death together, she spoke more than usual.

"Senior Xiting, you flatter me. This tea comes from the Cold Sea Realm that I guard, and its production is extremely limited, only three ounces a year."

If you like it, senior, I will give you two taels of silver after this trip.

Xiao Xiting laughed heartily: "Then this old man will not stand on ceremony."

Li Xiaoyao sat to the side, playing with the storage artifact of the molten mountain in his hand—the contents of which had long been emptied, leaving only an empty shell.

He brought plenty of elixirs and talismans with him on this trip, and his three spiritual artifacts were also thoroughly nurtured, ready to enter the secret realm.

"Fellow Daoist Shuyu," he began, "is there any distinctive feature of the entrance to that void spiritual cave?"

After a moment of contemplation, Shuyu raised her hand and conjured a blurry projection in front of her.

That was a diagram of the entrance she deduced based on fragments of ancient books and her own exploration.

A distorted, grayish-white vortex, with eerie blue light flowing along its edges, surrounded by dense void turbulence.

According to ancient records, the entrance to the Void Spirit Cave discovered by Xuanming Zhenjun was extremely unstable, with a brief opening period of about 30 days occurring only once every 300 years.

If you miss this window, the entrance will disappear into the depths of the turbulent currents, becoming impossible to find.

She paused, then continued, "I have calculated that the next opening period will be in forty-three days."

Our journey takes sixty days, and after we arrive, we'll have a seven-day buffer period, which is plenty of time to locate the exact position.

Xiao Xiting stroked his beard and nodded: "A once-in-three-hundred-years opportunity... this is indeed rare."

Li Xiaoyao suddenly frowned.

"Fellow Daoist Shuyu, does your ancient text record whether anyone has ever entered again after True Monarch Xuanming entered?"

Shuyu was taken aback, then shook her head: "There shouldn't be."

The entrance to that spiritual cave is extremely difficult to find. If it weren't for the fortuitous encounter with that fragmented jade slip, I would have had no way of knowing about it.

"That would be strange."

Li Xiaoyao stared at the projection, "If no one has entered for eight thousand years, why does the entrance still maintain the pattern of opening once every three hundred years?"

This is clearly due to some kind of formation being maintained, which is why such a stable cycle exists.

A glint of light flashed in Xiao Xiting's eyes.

"What does Friend Shangyuan mean?"

"Or perhaps, True Lord Xuanming wasn't completely trapped back then, but left some kind of backup plan inside, allowing the entrance to open periodically, waiting for those who come after him."

Li Xiaoyao slowly said, "Want one..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was already clear.

Or perhaps there's something else inside that spiritual cave.

Shuyu's expression changed slightly. After a moment of silence, she slowly said, "What you say is absolutely right, fellow Daoist."

"I was only thinking about the opportunity before, and I overlooked this aspect."

Xiao Xiting laughed.

"It's good to have a backup plan."

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "If it were truly a completely sealed, unchanging, and lifeless secret realm that has remained unchanged for eight thousand years, it would raise suspicions."

If there's a backup plan, it means there's something inside; and if there's something inside, then it's worth the trip.

He looked at the two of them, his gaze calm:

"In all my years of life, I have seen too many examples of seemingly hopeless situations turning into great opportunities."

The key is that the three of us travel together, trust each other, remain calm in the face of adversity, and act according to the situation.

"If there is real danger, we can retreat. Patience is the least of our worries among cultivators of the Purple Mansion realm."

Li Xiaoyao and Shuyu exchanged a glance and nodded simultaneously.

-

The journey is halfway through, and everything is going smoothly.

On this day, Li Xiaoyao was nurturing the [Flowing Scenery] Pearl in the cabin when he suddenly felt the ship shake slightly.

The vibration was extremely slight; if he hadn't constantly projected his divine sense, he would have hardly noticed it.

He immediately got up, pushed open the door, and went out.

Outside the cabin, Xiao Xiting and Shuyu had also come out. The three of them exchanged a glance and looked out the porthole at the same time.

The once peaceful void is now showing signs of abnormality.

In the distance, a hazy, foggy area was slowly spreading towards this side.

The fog was thin, exuding an eerie sense of deathly stillness; wherever it passed, even the starlight seemed to dim.

"Void Death Mist".

Xiao Xiting said in a deep voice, "I have seen this before. It is the waste gas released after a large number of plane remnants rot. Although it is not fatal to Purple Mansion cultivators, if you are exposed to it too much, it will corrode spiritual artifacts and pollute your magic power."

Without saying a word, Shuyu raised her hand and made a hand seal.

Blue light flowed around the Canglan Boat, and a solid water curtain instantly opened, completely enveloping the entire flying boat.

The deathly mist drifted slowly in, making a faint hissing sound when it touched the water curtain shield, but it couldn't penetrate even a little.

"Go around it."

Shuyu immediately took control of the flying boat and changed its course.

However, the area covered by the dead fog was far greater than expected, and it took the Canglan Boat two whole days to completely escape that area.

"That's not quite right."

Li Xiaoyao stared at the receding gray fog outside the window, his brows furrowed. "The density and extent of this dead fog don't seem to have formed naturally."

Xiao Xiting stroked his beard and pondered, "You mean...?"

Before the words were even finished, the Canglan Boat trembled again!

This time, the tremor was far greater than before; the entire airship was shaking violently, as if it had been struck hard by something.

Shuyu's expression changed slightly, and she quickly formed hand seals, instantly thickening the water curtain shield by 30%.

At the same time, the airship's detection array was operating at full capacity, sweeping in all directions.

Three breaths later, the detection results appeared.

"this……"

Shuyu's pupils contracted slightly.

On the projection, about a hundred miles behind the Canglan Boat, a huge, pitch-black shadow was slowly moving.

The shadow stretched for thousands of feet, its shape indistinct, like a living darkness, devouring everything in its path—including the void and deathly mist.

"Void Devourer".

Xiao Xiting's voice was low and solemn, "Fourth-grade low-level, equivalent to the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm."

This thing has thick hide and is extremely difficult to kill; once it gets involved, it won't stop until it's dead.

Li Xiaoyao stared at the shadowy figure, the [Flowing Scenery] Bead from his sleeve already slipping into his palm.

"Is it targeting us?"

Shuyu shook her head: "Not necessarily."

The Void Devouring Beast lives by devouring energy, and the spiritual light of the Azure Boat is indeed a piece of fat meat for it.

But it's busy devouring the death fog right now and can't worry about us for the time being.

"Then let's leave while it's too busy to pay attention to anything else."

Xiao Xiting made a decisive decision.

Without saying a word, Shuyu's Canglan Boat shone brightly with blue light, its speed increased by 30%, and it transformed into a streak of light, speeding towards the predetermined direction.

Behind them, the enormous shadow slowly turned its "head," seemingly glancing at the flying boat, but ultimately did not pursue it, continuing to bury itself in devouring the deathly mist.

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

"A fourth-tier Devouring Beast..."

Li Xiaoyao murmured, "This place is more dangerous than I expected."

Xiao Xiting suddenly laughed.

"Young friend Shangyuan, do you know where the Void Devouring Beast likes to stay the most?"

Li Xiaoyao was taken aback, then realized: "A place with abundant energy?"

"good."

Xiao Xiting stroked his beard. "The Devouring Beasts live by devouring energy. The areas where they appear often mean that there is a huge energy source nearby."

And the energy source that allowed a fourth-tier Devouring Beast to linger for thousands of years…”

He looked at Shuyu.

A glint flashed in Shuyu's eyes.

"Void Spirit Cave".

……

The rest of the voyage proceeded without incident.

Forty-three days later, the Canglan Boat slowly slowed down and hovered in what appeared to be an empty void.

This place is about three thousand miles away from the area where the Void Devouring Beast is entrenched.

Although it wasn't far, the beasts' movement speed was enough for them to react.

"arrive."

Shuyu stared at the probe projection in front of her, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement.

She raised her hand, and a beam of azure light shot out from her fingertips, outlining a complex and mysterious rune in the void.

The runes slowly rotated and merged into the void.

Three breaths.

Five breaths.

Ten breaths.

suddenly--

"Buzz!"

The once empty void suddenly began to ripple.

In the center of the ripples, a distorted grayish-white vortex slowly split open.

An eerie blue light flowed along the edges, exactly as depicted in Shuyu's projection.

The Void Spirit Cave, entrance.

The once-in-three-hundred-years beginning of this era is happening right now.

Li Xiaoyao took a deep breath, and the rosy film formed by the [Qixia Robe] thickened by three points. The [Liujing] Pearl was hidden in his sleeve, ready to be released, and the [Niexia Shoes] shimmered with light.

Xiao Xiting remained as calm and collected as ever, but the hand gripping the bamboo cane was a little tighter than usual.

Shuyu gave the magical artifacts and talismans one last check before looking up at the two of them.

"Fellow Daoists, are you ready?"

Li Xiaoyao nodded.

Xiao Xiting smiled slightly.

"Walk."

Three streaks of light shot out from the Canglan Boat, transforming into three streams of light—blue, cyan, and rosy—and hurtling toward the center of the gray-white vortex!

Behind them, the vortex slowly closed, and the void returned to calm.