Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

Li Xiaoyao stayed in the dilapidated temple for three days.

Over three days, he waited until the three layers of seals in the middle of the jade box naturally dissolved.

He still couldn't understand the runes on the innermost three layers, but he no longer needed to—the jade box opened by itself.

Inside lay a bronze key, about the length of a thumb, its surface rusted and unremarkable.

There was an ancient seal character engraved on the key handle. After a long time of deciphering it, he recognized it as the character "归" (guī, meaning "return").

Return.

Where to go?

He put the key away and spent another day processing the jade slip that Zhu had given him. The map was very detailed, but the more detailed it was, the more uneasy he felt.

How could a random transmigrator obtain this level of intelligence?

The troop deployment in the Paradise of Reincarnation, the location of the strongholds of the Starry Sky Gods Kingdom, the distribution of spiritual plants in the Vegetable Garden...

This information is not something a transmigrator with a "broken system" could obtain.

Unless he's lying. Or someone is helping him.

Li Xiaoyao didn't dwell on it for long. Regardless of the candle's origin, he had the key and knew the location of the ruins. That was enough.

As for what Candle wants—we'll talk about that later.

On the morning of the fifth day, he left the dilapidated temple and headed towards the Cangwu Mountains.

The Cangwu Mountains stretch for thousands of miles at the border of the Eastern Wilderness and the Central Plains, shrouded in clouds and mist year-round. When Li Xiaoyao arrived, it was during the annual rainy season.

The mountain road was muddy and difficult to traverse, so he simply abandoned his disguise, unleashed his mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivation, and flew low above the clouds.

The entrance to the ruins is below a cliff.

The cliff is thousands of feet high, covered with vines, and a waterfall cascades down from the top, its roar like thunder.

The map Zhu gave showed a hidden cave entrance, behind a waterfall, completely hidden by the curtain of water.

Li Xiaoyao landed in front of the waterfall and was about to go in when he suddenly stopped.

A person was standing at the foot of the waterfall.

Mo Yan.

He still had that same smiling look, standing by the pool with his hands behind his back, his Taoist robe half-soaked by the mist, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Fellow Daoist, what a coincidence." He raised his head and cupped his hands in greeting to Li Xiaoyao.

Li Xiaoyao looked at him without saying a word.

Mo Yan wasn't embarrassed at all, and continued, "I knew you could get the key, fellow Daoist. Those three places were fake, but you still found the real one. You're truly capable."

"The information you provided is false?"

"Not entirely false," Mo Yan said with a smile. "The ancient well in the north of the city is indeed guarded by the Paradise of Reincarnation, but there's nothing at the bottom of that well."

I sent you to investigate those three places simply to test your abilities. I never expected you to find a different route and enter through the underground river.

Li Xiaoyao's heart sank slightly. He knew about the Dark River too?

"Fellow Daoist, don't be nervous." Mo Yan waved his hand. "What I know, the people of the Samsara Paradise also know. They tried the Dark River path, and they failed there."

"The fact that you survived means you possess something they lack." He paused, his gaze falling on Li Xiaoyao as if re-evaluating him. "Or perhaps, someone helped you."

Li Xiaoyao remained silent.

Mo Yan didn't press further, but simply smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, rest assured, I'm not here to steal the key. I just wanted to remind you of something—"

He pointed to the cave behind the waterfall: "This place is known to the people of the Samsara Paradise, the people of the Starry Sky Gods Kingdom, and the people of the Dragon Tiger Paradise."

"You can go in with the key; they won't stop you. But when you come out..." He shrugged, "that's hard to say."

Are you threatening me?

"It's not a threat, it's a piece of advice."

Mo Yan's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Fellow Daoist, you come from outside and may not be familiar with the rules here. The game of the Yuan Yang Great World has been going on for many years."

All factions are waiting for a trigger—someone to open the ruins, that trigger.

He turned and walked towards the edge of the mountain. After a few steps, he turned back and said, "By the way, fellow Daoist, you'd better stay away from that young man with the golden eyes. He's more complicated than you think."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

Li Xiaoyao stood there, watching Mo Yan's figure disappear into the mountain mist.

How much of what he said was true, and how much was false?

do not know.

But one thing is certain—he absolutely must visit this site.

He turned, walked through the waterfall, and disappeared into the cave.

The cave was very deep, and it became narrower the further in you went. After walking for about half an hour, the space suddenly opened up ahead.

A huge underground space appeared before us, with a high dome and stalactites like a forest.

In the center of the space stood a bronze door, ten zhang high and five zhang wide, its surface covered with runes—exactly the same as those on the jade box.

There was a groove in the middle of the door, shaped exactly like the bronze key.

Li Xiaoyao inserted the key into the groove.

The bronze door trembled violently, and runes lit up one by one, spreading from the door frame to the center of the door.

The moment the last rune lit up, a golden light shone through the crack in the door—not a spiritual light, but the unique light of the primordial immortal path, a light that blends nature and destiny.

The door opened.

Behind the door is a passageway, with murals carved on the stone walls on both sides.

Li Xiaoyao glanced at the painting quickly; it depicted the life of a cultivator—entering the Dao in his youth, attaining enlightenment in middle age, and passing away peacefully in his later years.

In the last painting, the monk sits cross-legged on a high platform with a bead in front of him and a fish kneeling below.

fish.

It was exactly the same as the one he had seen in the underground river.

Li Xiaoyao withdrew his gaze and continued walking forward. At the end of the passageway was a circular stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber was a stone platform, on which sat a bead the size of a fist—exactly the same as the one the candle had given him. Beside the bead lay a roll of animal hide.

He walked over and first picked up the animal hide and unfolded it.

Several lines of text were written on it in ancient seal script:

"My path is not solitary; there are successors. Whoever can open this door will be my successor. All that I have learned in my life is contained in this pearl. There is a spirit within the pearl that can distinguish truth from falsehood. If it is not of the original form, touching it will surely cause harm."

Li Xiaoyao stared at the words for a moment in silence. "Those who are not of the primordial body will be injured upon touching it." He was not a cultivator of the primordial immortal path; touching this bead would be tantamount to suicide.

Just then, footsteps sounded behind them.

He didn't turn around. The footsteps were light and unhurried, stopping three feet behind him.

"You've arrived," Li Xiaoyao said.

"I've come," Candle's voice came from behind, calm as still water. "I said I only want one thing."

"This bead?"

"right."

Li Xiaoyao turned around and looked at the candle. His golden eyes shone brightly in the light of the stone chamber, reflecting the bead on the stone platform as if it were reflecting a ball of fire.

"Aren't you going to take it yourself?"

Zhu was silent for a moment: "I can't take it."

Why?

"Because I am not the original body."

The candle's voice was very soft: "In the primordial state, nature is destiny, and destiny is nature. I have cultivated the Dao of this world for hundreds of years, and nature is no longer nature, and destiny is no longer destiny."

This bead doesn't recognize people, it recognizes the Dao. My Dao is no longer its Dao.

Li Xiaoyao looked at him and suddenly asked, "Who exactly are you?"