Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

The next morning, Li Xiaoyao appeared in front of the fortress gate on time.

Zhen Yue was already standing there, dressed in black armor with a long sword hanging at his waist.

He glanced at Li Xiaoyao, nodded, and then took the lead in stepping out of the fortress and flying into the depths of the void.

Li Xiaoyao followed.

The two flew north along the border, one after the other.

In the void, the border is an invisible wall of laws. The Immortal Sect and the Vast Demon Kingdom use this wall as their boundary, and neither can cross it.

But the wall of laws is not impenetrable; there are always gaps. The demon patrols infiltrated through these gaps, firing a shot and then moving on to a new location.

Zhen Yue carried Li Xiaoyao for a whole day, flying from the gravel belt in the north to the Netherfire Sea in the south, without encountering any demons along the way.

He pointed out several locations where demons frequently appeared to Li Xiaoyao, and taught him how to identify their tracks.

The traces of demonic power, the demonic aura drifting in the void, and the disrupted spatial fluctuations.

"These things can't be learned from books," Zhen Yue said, pointing to the void ahead. "They can only be learned through experience."

Li Xiaoyao wrote them down one by one.

On the third day, they set off again.

This time, just as Li Xiaoyao flew to the edge of the gravel belt, his patrol token suddenly vibrated slightly.

He looked down and saw a light flashing rapidly on the token—it was a distress signal.

"There's an attack to the south." Zhen Yue sensed it too, his face darkening. "Let's go!"

The two changed direction and flew south at full speed.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the scene. In the void, a patrol boat of a celestial sect was shattered, and its wreckage floated in the air.

Three corpses were scattered around the wreckage. They were all Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and their bodies showed obvious signs of demonic energy erosion.

Zhen Yue crouched down to examine the wound, his expression growing increasingly grim: "It's the Blood Wolf Clan's doing. There are traces of wolf fangs tearing at the wound, and the demonic energy carries the stench of blood."

Li Xiaoyao spread his divine sense and sensed for a moment: "They went southwest and have been traveling for less than an hour."

Zhenyue stood up, looked southwest, and remained silent for a moment.

"Pursue them. But don't go too deep. The Blood Wolf Clan's territory is in Blood River Valley; beyond that lies their domain."

The two continued their pursuit. After about an hour, a dark red halo appeared in the void ahead—that was the edge of Blood River Valley.

The valley was filled with a strong demonic aura, and divine sense was weakened layer by layer as it probed in.

Zhenyue stopped in his tracks: "We can't go any further. If we go any further, we'll be in their territory."

Li Xiaoyao stared at the dark red halo and remained silent for a moment.

"I'll go in and take a look."

Zhen Yue frowned: "Are you crazy?"

"If we don't go deeper, we'll remain on the edge." Li Xiaoyao looked at him. "They killed people from the Immortal Sect; we can't just let it go like this. I'll go in and investigate, and if there's anything, I'll come back out."

Zhen Yue stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded: "One hour. If he doesn't come out within one hour, I will report to the Immortal Sect."

Li Xiaoyao nodded, and with a flash, disappeared into the dark red halo.

Blood River Valley.

The demonic aura was so dense it was almost tangible, slightly suppressing the flow of spiritual energy. Li Xiaoyao concealed his presence and glided silently along the strip of gravel in the void.

He dared not spread his divine sense too far, for fear of being detected by the powerful demons, so he only covered a hundred feet around him.

After flying for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he saw a small, floating mountain ahead.

A crude stone hall stood on the mountain, and several wolf-headed, human-bodied demons stood in front of it, all exuding the aura of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Li Xiaoyao ignored them and continued deeper into the cave.

After flying for a while longer, he suddenly stopped.

A corpse floats in the void ahead.

He was wearing the standard Taoist robes of a Celestial Sect Inspector, with a large hole in his chest from which his heart had been removed. His body was shriveled, and it was unknown how long he had been dead.

Li Xiaoyao approached and examined the corpse's waist—there hung a patrol token with the character "Zhou" engraved on the back.

Qingzhu Zhenren.

He found it.

Li Xiaoyao put the corpse into his storage ring and was about to leave when he suddenly sensed three auras approaching him from three directions. Each of them was at the early stage of the Purple Mansion realm.

He stopped, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The three auras drew closer and closer, finally stopping a hundred feet in front of him.

Three wolf-headed, human-bodied demon kings, clad in blood-red armor and wielding various weapons, surrounded him.

"People from the Immortal Sect?"

The demon king in the lead grinned, revealing his gleaming white fangs. "You've got guts, daring to come in alone."

Li Xiaoyao looked at them without moving.

Another demon king licked his lips: "Kill him, and offer his heart to the king."

The third demon king could no longer contain himself and pounced first.

Li Xiaoyao raised his hand.

【彩华谌】.

A radiant robe of light surged from his body and covered him. The demon king's claws gripped the robe as if they were slippery glass, leaving not even a mark.

It paused for a moment, and was about to retreat when a burst of light swept across its robes—the weapon in its hand instantly dimmed, like a piece of scrap metal, and slipped from its grasp.

"What—"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xiaoyao slapped it on the chest.

As the rosy light surged in, the demon king's protective demonic aura was torn apart like paper. Its body flew backward, crashing into the gravel, and blood gushed out.

The other two demon kings' expressions changed drastically, and they turned and fled.

Li Xiaoyao didn't give chase. He watched the two fleeing figures and shook his head.

He turned and flew out of Blood River Valley.

An hour later, he returned to Zhenyue's side and took Qingzhu Zhenren's body out of his storage ring.

Zhenyue stared at the corpse in silence for a long time.

"Let's go," he said. "Let's go back."

The two flew towards Zhenxiguan, one after the other.

Behind them, the dark red aura of Blood River Valley gradually faded away.

......

The body of Qingzhu Zhenren was placed in the Martyrs' Shrine in Zhenxiguan.

It's called a shrine to martyrs, but it's actually just a small stone chamber with names carved all over the walls—names of immortal cultivators who perished while patrolling the border.

Li Xiaoyao stood at the door, looking at the names, from the earliest to the present, densely packed, numbering no less than several hundred.

The last name is "Zhou Qingzhu," newly carved, the handwriting still very fresh.

Zhenyue stood behind him without saying a word.

"How many people did the Blood Wolf Tribe kill along the border?"

Zhen Yue was silent for a moment: "In the past hundred years, seven inspectors have died at the hands of the Blood Wolf Tribe. There are even more Foundation Establishment cultivators. I can't remember them all."

"The Immortal Sect doesn't care?"

"How should we manage this?" Zhen Yue's voice was calm. "The treaty is there: those above the Golden Core stage cannot make a move. In battles between those at the Purple Mansion stage, it's up to each individual's ability."

All the Immortal Sect can do is keep sending people to take turns. You kill one of me, I kill one of you. Let's see who gives up first.

Li Xiaoyao turned around and looked at Zhen Yue: "Then the Blood Wolf Tribe couldn't hold out?"

Zhen Yue shook his head: "The Blood Wolf Tribe is only a medium-sized tribe in the Cangmang Demon Kingdom, with no less than ten Purple Mansion Realm experts in the tribe. The death of a few minor demon kings is nothing to them."

However, the Immortal Sect has set up patrol officers along the border, so if they want to launch a large-scale invasion, they will have to pay a price.

This is a game of strategy—no one wants to break off relations, but no one will back down.

Li Xiaoyao nodded and didn't ask any more questions.

Back in the stone chamber, he placed the patrol token on the table and stared at it for a long time.

The faint dots of light on the token were still there—those were the locations of the other patrolmen, scattered throughout the border.

Some are in the gravel belt to the north, some in the sea of ​​ghostly fire to the south, and some in even more distant, unknown areas.

They are all like him.

Having accepted this mission, I arrived in this godforsaken place, facing the ever-present threat of demons and battles that could cost me my life at any moment.

Some came for good deeds, some for training, and some were assigned by their sects and had no choice but to come.

Li Xiaoyao put the token away and sat down cross-legged.

We will continue our patrols tomorrow.