Clan Cultivation: Starting from Foundation Establishment on Mount Luoxia

The next day, Li Xiaoyao went on patrol again. The blood-red phantom was still following him, this time even closer, only two hundred miles away.

On the third day, we covered a hundred li.

On the fifth day, fifty li.

On the seventh day, the blood-red phantom suddenly disappeared, vanishing as if it had never existed.

Li Xiaoyao stood at the edge of the gravel belt, looking in the direction where the blood-red phantom had disappeared, and an ominous premonition welled up in his heart.

"It's not following me anymore?"

Elder Xuanwei remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "It's not that I'm not going to follow anymore. It's that I've seen enough."

"Have you seen enough?"

"In these seven days, it has confirmed that there are no high-level cultivators behind you."

Elder Xuanwei's tone carried a hint of coldness, "When it was following you, I kept my aura completely concealed, not revealing a trace. It... believed me."

Li Xiaoyao's heart sank: "What will it do next?"

"Show yourself," Elder Xuanwei said. "Your true form."

That night, Li Xiaoyao did not fall asleep.

He sat on the bed in the stone chamber, pushing the [Colorful Splendor] to its limit. Seventy-two rays of light flowed around him, like a woven suit of armor.

He knew that this armor was no match for the bloodthirsty demonic light of the Blood Eyes, but he needed it to buy himself a moment's time.

One breath is enough for Elder Xuanwei to make a move.

Footsteps came from outside the stone room, very light, yet exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

The footsteps stopped at his door, followed by three slow, deliberate knocks.

"Fellow Daoist Shangyuan, it's me." It was Zhenyue's voice.

Li Xiaoyao opened the door and saw Zhenyue dressed in black armor with a long sword hanging at his waist. His complexion was much better than a few days ago.

"Why aren't you in bed? What are you doing here?"

Zhenyue glanced at him, walked into the stone chamber, and closed the door: "I won't be able to sleep tonight either."

The two looked at each other and saw the same thing in each other's eyes.

It's coming.

Just after midnight, a deep rumble came from outside the fortress, the sound of the void being torn apart.

Li Xiaoyao rushed out of the stone chamber, leaped onto the city wall, and saw a dark red crack appear in the western void.

The gap widened, like an open eye revealing a thick, blood-red light within.

A figure emerged from the gap.

This time it wasn't an illusion, nor a clone. It was the Blood-Eyed One himself.

It was tall and robust, covered in dark red scales, with black blood seeping from the gaps in the scales.

Its fangs were exposed, its eyes were bloodshot, and its golden pupils stood out starkly against the crimson backdrop.

It had many wounds—the wound on its left shoulder was still bleeding, and there was a deep claw mark on its right rib, as if it had been torn apart by a member of its own kind.

It did not retreat.

It stood in the void, looking at the white-haired, green-robed figure on the city wall of Zhenxiguan, and grinned.

"Shangyuan".

It called his name, its voice hoarse like iron being sanded on sandpaper, "I've come to find you."

Li Xiaoyao stood on the city wall without saying a word.

His third supernatural power had been activated to its limit, his robes swirling around him, and the glow of the sunset illuminating his face.

"Do you know?"

Blood Eyes suddenly laughed, "I've been following you for seven days, and every day I've been confirming one thing—there are no high-level cultivators behind you."

The Immortal Sect wouldn't mobilize its Golden Core or higher-level forces for a mere mid-stage Purple Mansion cultivator.

It paused, its golden pupils shining brightly in the darkness: "So I came."

Li Xiaoyao remained silent. He knew that whether he spoke or not was unimportant.

The important question is—what is it waiting for? It has already appeared, so why isn't it rushing over? Why is it still standing in the void?

"It's waiting for a signal."

Elder Xuanwei's voice echoed in Li Xiaoyao's mind, "It is waiting for its accomplices."

Li Xiaoyao's heart skipped a beat: "Accomplices?"

"The wounds on its body were not inflicted by cultivators from the Immortal Sect, nor by pursuers from the Demon Kingdom."

Elder Xuanwei's tone was as gloomy as the sky before a storm, "It was attacked by its own companions. The Blood-Eyed Clan was hunting it down."

It fled to the border, not just to save its own life—it was paving the way for some power.

"open circuit?"

"It's creating chaos on the border between the Immortal Sect and the Cangmang Demon Kingdom to draw our attention. Once our forces are tied down, the power behind it will seize the opportunity to invade."

Elder Xuanwei paused, then said, "It didn't come alone. It was merely a pawn."

Looking at the wounded figure in the void, Li Xiaoyao suddenly understood: "So you didn't capture it to lure out the person behind it?"

"Yes." Elder Xuanwei's voice was very soft. "It is a chess piece, but not the only one."

If we catch it now, the people behind it will retreat and we'll never find them again. So we have to wait.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Once it thinks it's safe, that its forces are in place, and that we've taken the bait, then its backers will naturally reveal themselves."

Elder Xuanwei's voice carried a hint of coldness, "That will be the time to close the net."

On the city wall, Li Xiaoyao and Xuemou stared at each other.

A creature stood in the void, its body covered in scales and its fangs bared, like a wounded wild beast.

A figure stood on the city wall, white-haired and dressed in a green robe, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, like a stake driven into the border line.

Neither of them moved.

The dark red rift in the void continued to widen, its crimson light growing ever brighter. Deep within the rift, something seemed to be moving.

An older, colder, and more dangerous aura.

Li Xiaoyao clenched his fists. He wasn't afraid; he was waiting. Waiting for the "opportunity" Elder Xuanwei had mentioned.

"Soon."

Elder Xuanwei's voice echoed in his mind, "It is calling its master. The aura from the other side of the rift... is growing stronger."

As Li Xiaoyao sensed that aura, his heart sank.

That...that is...the Dao Embryo.

On the other side of the rift, there is a being at the Dao Embryo level, attempting to cross the barrier of the universe and descend into this world.

"Elder Xuanwei—"

"I sensed it."

Elder Xuanwei's voice was as calm as still water, "So wait a little longer. I'll make my move once its body has passed halfway through the crack."

Why?

"Because at that time, it couldn't run away even if it wanted to."