The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

The next morning, before dawn.

Han Mu stood atop Green Bamboo Peak, gazing towards Black Wind Ridge. The crimson pillar of light vanished before dawn, but the oppressive Yin energy did not diminish; instead, it became more pronounced as the sky brightened—a faint gray mist permeated the air, a manifestation of the materialized Yin energy.

"Father, the first batch of clansmen has already set off, escorted by Elder Mo and Senior Li Yuanming, heading to Qingfeng Valley." Han Changqing came up behind him, his voice hoarse, clearly having not slept all night. "The first level of the Refining Heart Tower is complete, and it can accommodate a hundred people. The remaining clansmen are entering the tower in batches to take refuge."

"Well done." Han Mu nodded. "You take the rest of the men and guard Green Bamboo Peak. If things go wrong, lead the men to evacuate immediately. Don't wait for me."

"Father, you need to..." Han Changqing's expression tightened.

"I need to go to Black Wind Ridge," Han Mu said calmly. "The formation is about to activate, and I must find out the details. If I can find a way to break the formation, perhaps I can save more people."

"It's too dangerous!" Han Changqing exclaimed anxiously. "That's a powerful formation set up by a Core Formation stage Ghost King. You're all alone..."

"I know what I'm doing," Han Mu interrupted him, taking out the Hundred Ghosts Soul Control Banner. "With this magical artifact, I'm safe. Besides, I'm just scouting, not fighting head-on."

Han Changqing knew he couldn't dissuade him, so he could only bow deeply and say, "Father, take care."

Han Mu said no more, mounted his sword, and transformed into a streak of azure light, flying towards Black Wind Ridge. He did not head directly to the core area, but instead circled around to the southeast, cutting in from the direction where the Yin energy was relatively weak.

Fifty miles from Black Wind Ridge, the gray fog had thickened to the point where visibility was less than ten feet. Han Mu took a Cleansing Pill and circulated the Pure Yang True Fire Technique, causing a faint golden halo to appear around him, isolating him from the gray fog. At the same time, he took out his Guest Elder Token and began recording the changes in the concentration of Yin energy along the way.

"The system monitors the concentration of Yin energy and environmental changes in real time."

[Monitoring in progress...]

Current location: 45 li southeast of Black Wind Ridge

[Yin energy concentration: 2.7% (increasing by 0.3% per hour)]

[Ambient temperature: 15 degrees Celsius lower than normal]

[Signs of life: None (ordinary living beings have died or escaped)]

[Warning: Array fluctuations detected ahead]

A formation fluctuated? Han Mu lowered his flight altitude, concealed his presence, and quietly approached. Ahead was a valley, with a faint black light flowing around its entrance, clearly indicating the presence of a formation. He hid behind a boulder and observed carefully.

Inside the valley, a dozen or so black-clad cultivators were busy carrying the carcasses of wild beasts and piling them on an altar in the center of the valley. The altar was hexagonal, with a black array flag stuck in each corner, its surface covered with strange runes.

"Hurry! The blood sacrifice for this node must be completed before noon!" a hoarse voice urged. The speaker was a one-eyed old man with a Foundation Establishment Level 5 cultivation. Judging from his attire, he was a steward of the Ghost Spirit Sect.

"Steward Wang, the blood essence of these wild beasts is not pure enough, so the effect will be reduced," a young cultivator said cautiously.

"We can't worry about that now!" the one-eyed old man sneered. "The Ghost King is in a hurry, so use these as a temporary measure. Once the grand formation is activated, there will be plenty of fresh human blood!"

Han Mu's eyes turned cold. It was indeed a blood sacrifice node. It seemed the Hundred Thousand Blood Fiend Array was composed of dozens, even hundreds, of such nodes, each requiring a blood sacrifice to activate. The node before him was still in the preparation stage and not yet complete.

"System, scan the altar structure and deduce the method of destruction."

[Scanning in progress...]

[Altar Type: Blood Sacrifice Node (Six Yin Blood Fiend Array)]

[Core: The Blood Fiend Stone at the Array's Core]

[Method 1 for Destroying: Destroy the Blood Fiend Stone (Requires at least mid-Foundation Establishment level attack power)]

[Method 2 for Destruction: Destroy any three of the six array flags (the flags are protected, requiring early-stage Foundation Establishment attack power)]

[Method 3 for sabotage: Purify the altar with pure Yang power (requires cultivation of pure Yang techniques and a cultivation level no lower than that of the person setting up the formation)]

There are three methods. The first is the most direct, but it's too noisy and would alert all the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in Black Wind Ridge. The second is relatively covert, but it requires destroying three array flags simultaneously, which is quite difficult. The third is the safest, but Han Mu's Pure Yang True Fire Technique is only at the beginner level, and his Pure Yang True Fire is not yet strong enough.

After a moment's thought, Han Mu chose the second option. He took out the Hundred Ghosts Soul Control Banner, and with a thought, three ghosts at the first level of Foundation Establishment flew out of the banner. After he refined these ghosts, they were completely under his control, and because they were ghosts, they moved stealthily in the Yin Sha environment.

"Go, destroy the battle flags on the southeast, southwest, and northwest sides," Han Mu gave the order.

Three ghostly creatures silently drifted toward the altar. Being ghosts by nature, they thrived in the Yin energy, and with Han Mu concealing his presence with the Soul Control Banner, the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators in the valley were completely unaware.

The ghostly creature approached the array flag, extending its claws to grab the flagpole. But at that moment, the array flag suddenly glowed with black light, forming a protective shield that repelled the ghostly creature.

"Something's up!" the one-eyed old man shouted, scanning his surroundings with his divine sense.

They've been discovered! Han Mu acted decisively, controlling three ghostly creatures to launch a full-scale attack. Simultaneously, he soared onto his sword, heading straight for the Blood Fiend Stone in the center of the altar. Since stealth and sabotage wouldn't work, a direct assault would suffice!

"Enemy attack!" The Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators reacted and immediately summoned their magical artifacts. The one-eyed elder even summoned a black bone shield to block the Blood Fiend Stone.

Han Mu neither dodged nor evaded. With his left hand forming a hand seal, Pure Yang True Fire condensed in his palm, transforming into a golden pillar of fire that slammed towards the bone shield. Pure Yang True Fire is specifically designed to counter Yin and evil, and the bone shield cracked with a "crack." The remaining force of the fire pillar did not diminish, striking the Blood Fiend Stone.

boom!

The Blood Fiend Stone exploded, releasing a dense aura of blood fiendish energy. The altar trembled violently, all six array flags snapped simultaneously, and the entire node collapsed instantly.

"You're courting death!" The one-eyed old man's eyes widened in fury as he summoned a black flying sword, aiming it straight at Han Mu. At the same time, the other cultivators also swarmed in to attack.

Han Mu sneered, and with a flick of his Hundred Ghosts Soul Control Banner, thirty Foundation Establishment stage ghosts swarmed out, surrounding the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators. Although these ghosts were not as strong individually as they were in life, their sheer number and fearlessness quickly overwhelmed the Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

"The Hundred Ghosts Controlling Soul Banner? You're from the Ghost Spirit Sect?!" The one-eyed old man was both shocked and furious.

"You guessed wrong," Han Mu said calmly, manipulating the ghost to intensify its attack. He himself retreated on his sword, not intending to linger in battle. Destroying the nodes was merely a side effect; his main objective was to probe the core area.

"Trying to run?" The one-eyed old man gritted his teeth, took out a black talisman, and crushed it. The talisman transformed into a beam of black light, shot into the sky, and exploded in mid-air, forming a huge ghost face pattern.

A signal! He's calling for help!

Han Mu's expression changed slightly. He no longer held back and activated the Soul Control Banner at full power. Thirty ghosts attacked frantically, instantly tearing three Qi Refining stage cultivators to shreds. The one-eyed old man was also entangled by two Foundation Establishment stage three ghosts, struggling to defend himself.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Mu soared into the sky on his sword, flying rapidly towards the core of Black Wind Ridge. He had only traveled less than ten miles when he sensed several powerful auras approaching from the core area, the weakest being at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment and the strongest even reaching the seventh level of Foundation Establishment.

"As expected, there was an ambush." ​​Han Mu's heart tightened, and he did his best to conceal his aura while changing direction, heading northeast. He didn't return the way he came, as that would make it easy for him to be intercepted.

After circling around, Han Mu arrived at the north side of Black Wind Ridge. The Yin energy here was much denser, reaching 4.2%, enough to keep an ordinary Qi Refining stage cultivator from escaping for more than an incense stick's time. However, correspondingly, there were far fewer guards from the Ghost Spirit Sect—even Ghost Path cultivators needed to be wary of such dense Yin energy.

Han Mu landed on a cliff, took out the Guest Elder Token, and recorded the process and data of destroying the node. At the same time, he looked towards the core area, where the black mist was the thickest, and a huge black hole could be vaguely seen, which was the sealing place of the Yin Sha Ghost King.

"System, scan the array structure in the core area."

[Scanning in progress...]

[WARNING: The concentration of Yin energy in the core area is too high, reducing scanning accuracy]

[Large-scale complex formations detected: Ten Thousand Blood Fiend Formation (core), Nine Yin Gathering Fiend Formation (auxiliary), Spirit Sealing and Soul Suppressing Formation (damaged)]

[Formation Status: 85% complete, core area has extremely high defense level]

[Detected Core Formation stage life fluctuations: 1 (Yin Sha Ghost King, mid-Core Formation stage)]

85% completion, even higher than expected. Han Mu's heart sank. At this rate, there's no need to wait until the full moon; it might be finished tomorrow.

They had to find a way to destroy the core. But with his current strength, forcing his way in would be suicide. Even if he revealed his full power, he couldn't defeat a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, let alone with the support of the grand formation.

As he pondered, the sounds of fighting suddenly came from afar. Han Mu concealed his aura and quietly approached. He saw two groups locked in combat; one group consisted of cultivators from the Ghost Spirit Sect, and the other...

It was that group of seven! Han Mu's eyes narrowed. It was the same group he had spotted on the outskirts. Now, only five of them remained, three of them wounded, surrounded and in dire straits by more than ten Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators.

"Hand over the 'Formation-Breaking Talisman,' and I'll spare your lives!" The leader of the Ghost Spirit Sect was a middle-aged man in a red robe, with a Foundation Establishment level six cultivation. He wielded a blood-red longsword, and his swordsmanship was ruthless.

"Don't even think about it!" An elderly man in blue robes gritted his teeth as he spoke from the group of seven. "This formation-breaking talisman was earned with our lives; how could we give it to you!"

A formation-breaking talisman? Han Mu's heart skipped a beat. Could this group be here to destroy the great formation? Judging from their attire, they didn't seem to be from the seven major sects, but rather like rogue cultivators or some small sect.

"System, scan that old man in blue."

[Scanning in progress...]

[Target: Unknown rogue cultivator]

[Cultivation Level: Foundation Establishment Level 4]

[Status: Severe injury (30% blood loss, fractured left arm)]

【Items carried: Tier 3 'Formation Breaking Talisman' x1 (can destroy formation nodes of Tier 3 and below)】

As expected, there was a formation-breaking talisman! A glint flashed in Han Mu's eyes. This formation-breaking talisman was a threat to the Ghost Spirit Sect, but for him, it might be an opportunity.

"Since you won't hand it over, then die!" The middle-aged man in the red robe grinned maliciously, and his blood-red longsword transformed into countless sword shadows, enveloping the old man in green.

Seeing that the old man in blue was about to die, Han Mu made a move.