Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

East of Yongning City, Zhao Family Ancestral Hall.

The Zhao family is an old and established family in Yongning City. Their ancestors once produced a member of the Purple Mansion. Although they have declined in status, they still have some influence in the city.

The ancestral hall was built in the most prosperous area in the east of the city. It had three courtyards, with blue bricks and gray tiles. It looked grand, but in reality, it was mostly empty.

Li Xiaoyao circled the ancestral hall but didn't approach it. The sensing stone remained cold in his arms, showing no reaction.

The key isn't here.

He turned and walked towards the outside of the city.

The abandoned mine is located 30 li northeast of Yongning City. It was left over from the mining of spirit stones a hundred years ago.

After the mineral vein was depleted, the entrance to the cave was sealed off. Now it is overgrown with weeds, and the path is nowhere to be found.

Li Xiaoyao stood outside the mine for a moment, then probed in with his divine sense.

The cave was pitch black, with water deep inside and the aura of some low-level demonic beasts, the strongest of which was no more than second-tier.

The sensor stone remained cold.

Neither place has it.

Is the key in the ancient well in the north of the city?

Li Xiaoyao didn't rush back to find Mo Yan, but instead took a stroll around the area near the mine.

This place is remote and sparsely populated; if he were a member of the Paradise of Reincarnation, he would also consider such a place a top priority.

As he was thinking, he suddenly felt something and looked up in the direction of the mine.

A person was standing at the entrance of the cave.

A black cloak, a pale face, and golden eyes.

That young man.

He smiled at Li Xiaoyao: "We meet again."

Li Xiaoyao stood still, without moving.

The young man jumped down from the cave entrance, dusted himself off, and said, "Don't be nervous, I'm not here to cause trouble."

He walked over to Li Xiaoyao, looked up at the sky, and said, "It's going to rain soon."

Li Xiaoyao looked at him: "Are you following me?"

"It wasn't stalking. I just found you interesting."

The young man turned his head, his golden pupils shining brightly in the twilight. "A mere rogue cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining dares to take on Mo Yan's job. He's got some nerve."

Li Xiaoyao's heart stirred slightly, but he remained outwardly calm: "You know Mo Yan?"

"I know him. He approached me, trying to recruit me. I refused." The young man shrugged. "I don't like him. Too calculating."

"So you like me?"

The young man laughed: "At least you're not as fake as him."

Li Xiaoyao was silent for a moment: "You came here also for the ruins?"

The young man didn't answer, only staring in the direction of the mine. After a long while, he finally spoke: "You've come to the wrong place. The key isn't in Yongning City."

Li Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow.

"The people from the Paradise of Reincarnation have been searching for almost a year, turning Yongning City upside down. If the key were really here, they would have found it long ago."

The young man turned to look at Li Xiaoyao. "The sensing stone that Mo Yan sold you is real. But the information he gave you is fake."

Li Xiaoyao remained silent.

"The ancient well in the north of the city, the Zhao family ancestral hall, and the abandoned mine—these three places have been searched countless times by the people of the Reincarnation Paradise. There are no keys."

The young man paused for a moment, then said, "The real key is beneath Yongning City."

"under?"

"Yongning City has been built for three hundred years, and the things underground are much older than those above ground."

The young man squatted down, picked up a stone, and drew a simple outline of a city on the ground. "Three hundred years ago, this was the ruins of an ancient city. When the city was built, the foundation wasn't completely dug, and there's still a layer underneath."

Looking at the rough outline on the ground, Li Xiaoyao suddenly understood: "An ancient well?"

"clever."

The young man stood up, threw the stone away, and said, "That ancient well in the north of the city isn't an ordinary well. It was the water source for the ancient city back then, and the bottom of the well connects to an underground river. The key is beneath that river."

Li Xiaoyao remained silent for a long time before asking, "Why are you telling me all this?"

The young man looked at him, his golden pupils reflecting the last rays of light on the horizon: "Because I don't want Paradise to get what's in the ruins."

"You're a time traveler too?"

The young man smiled but did not answer.

He pulled a dusty, gray stone from his pocket and tossed it to Li Xiaoyao.

Li Xiaoyao caught it—it was a sensing stone.

But it was smaller and brighter than the one in his hand. The surface of the stone slab had a faint shimmering light, and it was warm to the touch.

"This is the sensor stone that's really close to the key," the young man said. "Take it and go to the ancient well. The key is a hundred feet underwater, sealed and pressed down. With your skills, you should be able to unlock it."

Li Xiaoyao looked at the stone fragment in his hand, then at him: "Who exactly are you?"

The young man didn't answer, turning and walking into the twilight. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped, saying without turning back, "By the way, the people from the Paradise of Reincarnation are guarding the ancient well in the north of the city. Six fourth-tier beings and one fifth-tier being there. Be careful."

After saying that, he disappeared into the twilight.

Li Xiaoyao stood still, looking at the stone fragment in his hand.

Warm and glowing.

The key is here.

But the information came from that young man with golden eyes. How much of his word can be trusted?

Li Xiaoyao carefully put away the stone fragment and turned to walk towards Yongning City.

Whether it's true or not, I have to go and see.

As dusk settled, the last glimmer of light on the horizon faded away.

Dark as ink.

The ancient well north of Yongning City looks like a tightly closed eye under the moonlight.

The wellhead was covered by three bluestone slabs, and the gaps were covered with moss.

The words "Yongning" are engraved on the well curb, but the characters have been worn away by time.

Li Xiaoyao did not approach.

He crouched on the roof of an abandoned building thirty feet away, his breath completely suppressed, like a lifeless stone.

The disguise system erased the last trace of his spiritual light. Now, even if someone scanned him with their divine sense, they would only see a pile of broken bricks and tiles.

The people of the Paradise of Reincarnation guarded the well.

Six fourth-order and one fifth-order.

The fourth rank corresponds to Foundation Establishment, and the fifth rank corresponds to Purple Mansion.

Li Xiaoyao's gaze slowly swept over the edge of the well.

The distribution of the six fourth-order units is quite orderly—two are directly in front of the wellhead, two are on the left and right sides, and two are at a high point behind.

Their positions are hexagonal, echoing each other, so that no matter which direction they approach from, they will be spotted by at least three people at the same time.

The fifth-order one is not in the open.

Li Xiaoyao closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. His divine sense seeped out from the cracks in the roof tiles and slowly spread along the ground.

Ten feet below the wellhead, a wisp of energy lingered in a hollow in the well wall, like a lurking spider.

Fifth Rank. Early Stage of Purple Mansion.

The people of the Paradise of Reincarnation concentrate their power at the well's opening, but their real killing move lies within the well.

If someone breaks through the outer defenses and rushes into the well, they will run headfirst into that fifth-tier enemy.

Li Xiaoyao opened his eyes, already having made up his mind. Forcing his way in wouldn't work. Even if he revealed his true cultivation level, fighting seven opponents alone would be suicide.

Moreover, once action is taken, the Starry Sky Kingdom, the Vegetable Garden Paradise, and the Dragon and Tiger Paradise in the city will all be mobilized.

At that point, it won't be a question of getting the key; it will be a question of how to leave alive.

We have to wait. Wait for them to relax, wait for them to switch positions, wait for them to show weaknesses.