Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

"I need a hotel room. The quietest one in the backyard."

The shopkeeper's smile remained unchanged as he pulled a copper key from under the counter: "Number Three, VIP 3, five low-grade spirit stones per night, monthly subscriptions have discounts."

Li Xiaoyao paid the spirit stones, took the key, and headed towards the backyard. He pushed open the door to room number three in the Heavenly section; the interior was simply furnished, but had everything one would need.

He closed the door, set up a soundproof detection barrier in the room, and then took out the mission token from his pocket.

A new message appeared on the token, sent by True Lord Taiyue: "Entered the realm? Be careful."

Li Xiaoyao gave a brief reply and then put the token away.

Instead of rushing out to investigate, he sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly spread his divine sense.

Under the cover of the disguise system, his consciousness became extremely gentle, like a gentle breeze, silently sweeping across the entire Yongning City.

There are over three thousand cultivators in the city, about two hundred of whom are at the Foundation Establishment stage, and others at the Purple Mansion stage... Li Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow slightly.

In a mansion in the east of the city, there was an aura of the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm; in the underground of the auction house in the north of the city, there was another aura, even more obscure.

There were also three Purple Mansion level auras scattered throughout the city, one of which faintly carried the unique rule fluctuations of the Paradise.

Five Purple Palaces. A small border town actually has five Purple Palaces.

Li Xiaoyao withdrew his divine sense and pondered for a moment. It seemed that the waters of the Yuan Yang Great World were deeper than he had imagined.

---

In the following days, Li Xiaoyao did not rush to take action.

He spent his days wandering around the city, like any other newly arrived wandering cultivator, strolling through the markets, drinking tea, and listening to storytelling. Yongning City's markets were quite large, selling all sorts of strange and unusual things.

He bought a fragmented jade slip from an inconspicuous stall. It contained a chronicle of major events in the Yuan Yang Great World over the past century—though fragmented, it was enough for him to piece together the basic structure of this world.

The Yuan Yang Great World is divided into five regions and eighteen states. The Eastern Wilderness Region is the weakest region, and Yongning City is a small border town in the Eastern Wilderness Region.

The true core area is in Zhongzhou, where the strongest sect in the Yuanyang Great World, the "Yuanyang Sword Sect," is located. It is said that the sect leader has already reached the half-step Golden Core stage.

However, in recent years, various forces have begun to infiltrate the area.

The Samsara Paradise was the first to arrive, and they have built several strongholds in the Eastern Wilderness. The people of the Vegetable Garden are low-key, and it is said that they grow some extraordinary spiritual plants on the southern islands. The people of the Dragon and Tiger Paradise are the most domineering, and they have directly established a sect in the Central Continent, going against the Yuan Yang Sword Sect.

The Destroyer Alliance didn't send many people, but they were all lunatics who specialized in causing destruction.

The people of the Starry Sky Gods Kingdom are the most mysterious; no one has ever seen their true faces.

As for those "wild" transmigrators, they are scattered in various places, some of whom have already made a name for themselves, while others are still struggling at the bottom.

Li Xiaoyao memorized all of this intelligence.

Finally, on the fourth day, the opportunity came.

He met a young man in the market who called himself "Zhou Yuan".

The man looked to be in his early twenties, with a cultivation level of the seventh level of Qi Refining. He was wearing a slightly worn Taoist robe and had a somewhat shy smile.

He stood in front of a stall for a long time, wanting to buy an auxiliary material for refining Foundation Establishment Pills, but he couldn't come up with enough spirit stones.

Li Xiaoyao happened to be passing by and casually paid for his spirit stones.

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Zhou Yuan was extremely grateful and insisted on inviting him for tea.

Unable to refuse, Li Xiaoyao followed them to a small teahouse in the east of the city.

After a few rounds of tea, Zhou Yuan started talking. He was an orphan who grew up in Yongning City; his parents died in a monster horde.

He had only average talent, and it took him more than ten years to reach the seventh level of Qi Refining, with Foundation Establishment still a long way off.

"Senior, you're from outside, right?" Zhou Yuan suddenly lowered his voice.

Li Xiaoyao remained calm: "How so?"

"Many outsiders have come to Yongning City in recent years. They speak and act differently from us, and they dress strangely. People in the city avoid them."

Zhou Yuan looked around. "Senior, although you look ordinary, your aura is extraordinary. I guess you're from out of town too?"

Li Xiaoyao smiled, neither denying nor admitting it.

Zhou Yuan didn't press further, but simply sighed, "With more people coming from outside, life in the city has become difficult. A few days ago, people from the Reincarnation Paradise got into a conflict with a local family and killed several of their members. Even the city lord didn't dare to intervene."

"The Paradise of Reincarnation?" Li Xiaoyao feigned curiosity.

Zhou Yuan nodded and lowered his voice, saying, "There aren't many of them, but they're all very strong. The one in charge is said to have already reached the Purple Mansion stage. They seem to be looking for something, digging everywhere."

Li Xiaoyao's heart skipped a beat: "Looking for what?"

"I don't know." Zhou Yuan shook his head. "Some say they're looking for an ancient ruin, others say they're looking for some kind of treasure. Anyway, they've been running around the Eastern Wilderness since last year."

The two chatted for a while longer, then Li Xiaoyao paid for the tea and got up to take his leave.

Before leaving, he secretly left a divine mark on Zhou Yuan.

Although this young man has a low cultivation level, he grew up in Yongning City and is well-informed, making him a good informant.

Li Xiaoyao leaned against the window, watching the sky gradually darken outside.

The city of Yongning is even more lively at night than during the day. Lanterns along the streets light up the entire street.

Several players from the Paradise of Reincarnation walked past the street corner, laughing as they headed towards the mansion in the east of the city.

In the inn room, Li Xiaoyao sat cross-legged on the bed, with the mission token spread out in front of him.

No response.

He had tried three times: injecting spiritual energy, calling upon divine sense, and connecting with the laws—but nothing came of it.

The token was as cold as an ordinary stone, without even the faintest glow.

The connection with the Immortal Sect has been severed.

Li Xiaoyao put the token back into his pocket, not surprised at all.

Before he came, True Lord Taiyue had said that the Yuanyang Great World was outside the jurisdiction of the Immortal Sect, and communication across the universe was already difficult. Moreover, he had to hide his identity and could not set up a communication array in a big way.

For the next year, he had to rely on himself.

Li Xiaoyao closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, going over the mission objectives in his mind again.

His task wasn't to find out what the people in the Paradise of Reincarnation were digging for; that was their own business. His mission was—

First, we need to understand the distribution and strength of the various forces in the Yuanyang Great World.

Second, assess the threat level of each faction to the universe.

Third, investigate whether there is any conspiracy targeting the Immortal Sect.

Fourth, mark the origins of all time travelers and systems.

As for what the Reincarnation Paradise is looking for, what the Vegetable Garden is growing, and what grudge the Dragon Tiger Paradise has with the local sects—this is intelligence, not a mission.

It would be best if you could figure it out easily, but it doesn't matter if you can't.

He opened his eyes, got up, and walked to the window.

The night in Yongning City was still bustling. The players from the Paradise of Reincarnation had long since gone, but the shadows of other forces could still be seen on the streets—several people in drab gray cloaks turned the corner at the alley entrance, their steps synchronized, as if they had been trained.

Their cloaks had no markings, but Li Xiaoyao noticed that one of them had a golden ear of wheat embroidered on his cuff.

A vegetable-growing paradise.

These people were much more low-key than those in the Paradise of Reincarnation, and they didn't cause any trouble. Once they entered the city, they went straight to the herbal medicine shop in the south, bought a large number of spiritual plant seeds, and then left in a hurry.

Li Xiaoyao withdrew his gaze and did not follow. The people of the Vegetable Garden were famous for planting and cultivating spiritual plants; they bought land to farm wherever they went, posing little threat.

However, the aura of the Purple Mansion in the underground of the North City Auction House caught his attention.

Were they local monks or outsiders?

He decided to go to the auction house tomorrow.