Establishing a Clan in the Eastern Wilderness: A Daily Divination, Cultivating Longevity in a Grotto

The mountain wind, carrying thick fog, swept over the dense forests surrounding Qinglan Mountain like a tide.

This is the first real fog since the beginning of autumn.

A burly, bearded man carrying a broadsword emerged from the mist, his aura radiating spiritual energy that clearly indicated he was at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"Fellow Daoists, there's no need to hide anymore, come out."

The two Cheng family spies frowned.

The leader was nearly forty years old and at the third level of Qi Refining, while the other was younger but also at the third level of Qi Refining.

"Rain of Blades!" The leader of the Cheng family, upon recognizing the newcomer, paled and instinctively took a half-step back. "You... what are you doing here?"

"I accepted bribes from your Cheng family, so naturally I'm here to 'assist' you. Otherwise? Do you really think I'd want to waste my time in this godforsaken, desolate mountain?"

Kuang Daoyu suddenly stopped laughing, his eyes turning sinister:

"You've been lying in wait for so long, has that little brat from the Li family shown his face yet? No, right? They're hiding in the mountains refining pills and raising horses, while you've been waiting here like idiots—waiting for the autumn harvest, waiting for the bandits to come, waiting for your Miss Cheng to gain a foothold in the Yun family?"

The two Cheng family cultivators turned pale and speechless when questioned.

"Wait? Wait my ass." Kuang Daoyu sneered. "If the Li family won't come out, then we'll find a way to make them come out."

His gaze swept past the two men, fixed on the distant outline of a mortal town faintly visible in the mist. His voice softened, yet grew even colder:

"The Li family was granted a fiefdom by the imperial court, and governs four towns and eighteen villages, with at least ten thousand ordinary people. They have a responsibility to protect these ants, right?"

The pupils of the Cheng family leader suddenly contracted:

"You—you intend to attack mortals? A blizzard! That's a grave taboo of the imperial court! If the Suppressing World Division discovers this—"

"Found out?" Mad Blade Rain interrupted him, a half-smile on his face. "Who said I was going to do it myself?"

He raised his right arm.

From his sleeve, a reddish-brown snake, about three feet long, slowly swam out, coiling around his forearm and hissing. The snake had a triangular head, cold vertical pupils, and its scales shimmered with spiritual light—it was clearly a first-stage, early-stage Red Scaled Snake, just one step away from the middle stage.

"My little darling has been hungry for so long."

Kuang Daoyu stroked the snake's head, his tone even carrying a hint of gentleness:

"If it accidentally sneaks into some town and snatches a few ordinary people for a meal, what does it have to do with me? It's only natural for snakes to eat people."

He looked up and fixed his gaze on the two members of the Cheng family, his smile deepening.

"With people missing from the Li family's territory, how could they not leave the mountain to investigate? Once they leave that broken formation, are they afraid they won't find an opportunity to strike?"

The two Cheng family cultivators looked at each other, their throats bobbing, unable to utter a single word of dissent.

Kuang Daoyu ignored them and whispered to the Crimson Scale Serpent:

"Go to that town to the east and bring back a few children first."

The snake hissed and slid down his arm, winding its way into the thick fog.

The leader of the Cheng family opened his mouth, but ultimately did not stop them.

Although Kuang Daoyu's methods were insidious, they were clearly effective. They had been guarding this hellish place for a year, hoping to return to their clan's mountain as soon as possible.

...

...

High in the fog, Li Changle, riding on a flying horse, took in the entire scene.

"Brother!" She tugged at Li Changsheng's sleeve forcefully, clearly anxious.

Li Changsheng remained silent.

His gaze remained fixed on the red-scaled snake.

The snake was moving at an extremely fast speed, having already swum more than twenty zhang (approximately 33 meters) and was rapidly approaching the nearest town.

"Xiao Bai," he said softly.

Little White, being intelligent, needed no words. It slightly folded its wings and silently swooped down. Its wind manipulation technique had now reached a state of perfection, and it flew through the air without disturbing the mist in the slightest.

Thirty zhang - twenty zhang - ten zhang -

Li Changsheng leaped off his horse and landed as silently as a cat.

He raised his hand, and a streak of green light flew out from his sleeve—it was the Green Edge Sword.

A flash of sword light.

Swift as lightning.

Before the red-scaled serpent could even turn its head, it was pinned to the gnarled roots of an old tree by a sword. The serpent's body convulsed violently, its tail tip slapping against the withered leaves, and after a few breaths, it finally went limp and lay still.

"Chang Le, we can set up the formation now. It's in that grove of withered trees ahead."

Li Changle nodded vigorously and pulled out three palm-sized array plates from her bosom. These were small illusion arrays she had painstakingly crafted over three sleepless nights, using up all the array materials she had brought back from the market. Although they were simplified versions, they were more than enough to trap a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator for a quarter of an hour.

……

at the same time.

As Kuang Daoyu was plotting how to force the Li family to come out of seclusion, his expression suddenly changed drastically—he suddenly felt extreme weakness and pain in his connection with the Crimson Scale Serpent.

"Oops!"

He turned around abruptly and dashed off towards where the spirit pet was.

The two members of the Cheng family were taken aback by this sudden turn of events. They exchanged a glance, one of them stayed behind while the other gritted his teeth and followed.

Thick fog swirled through the forest.

Following the lingering trace of divine soul, Kuang Daoyu rushed dozens of feet and immediately spotted the gnarled old tree.

The red-scaled serpent was pierced seven inches by a sword and pinned to its gnarled root, barely clinging to life.

"Who—! Who is it!" Kuang Daoyu's eyes were bloodshot.

He had raised this snake for ten years, and it had saved him from death countless times. Now, it had been killed right under his nose!

He was angry, but his mind remained calm.

The one who could kill the Crimson Scale Serpent so quickly and silently was no ordinary person.

Kuang Daoyu instinctively patted his waist, and the pitch-black banner embroidered with pale white skulls flew out and hung above his head, accompanied by a sudden gust of cold wind.

And in that very instant—

The surrounding fog seemed to come alive, suddenly escalating! The fog was no longer ordinary water vapor, but carried some mysterious, flowing trajectory, completely sealing off all paths in all directions. Kuang Daoyu turned around, but could no longer see the Cheng family cultivator, nor even hear his footsteps.

"Illusion array..." Kuang Daoyu's heart sank, and he immediately steadied himself.

He pushed the Hundred Ghosts Banner to its limit, and three illusory skull figures burst out from the banner, circling around him. The eerie wind howled, creating a clear space within a three-foot radius.

However, before he could discover the flaw in the formation—

The wind overhead suddenly changed!

A snow-white figure swooped down from the mist at an astonishing speed, its four hooves trailing visible blue wind patterns as it traversed the air!

Pegasus!

Kuang Daoyu's pupils contracted sharply, and he instinctively sent a skeleton to meet him.

The skeleton opened its empty mouth and spewed out a cloud of black smoke.

The flying horse nimbly flipped and turned, its four hooves pounding in the air, changing direction mid-air. At the same time, it lowered its neck and opened its mouth to unleash a cyan wind blade half the height of a person!

The wind blade cleaved through the black smoke, its momentum still lingering, striking a phantom skeleton. The skeleton emitted a silent shriek and shattered into black mist.

"Beast!" Kuang Daoyu gritted his teeth, activating his protective magic artifact—a small bronze cauldron suspended in front of his chest, with a pale yellow light shield hanging down—while his other hand reached into his robes and pulled out a talisman with golden patterns.

Mid-grade Tier 1 Formation Breaking Talisman!

He was reluctant to use it. It was his most treasured life-saving item. But at this moment, the ghost banner couldn't suppress the flying horse, and the illusion array had trapped him. If he didn't break free soon, his chances of survival would be slim!

The talisman was struck onto the light shield.

Golden ripples spread out with a roar!

The mist within a ten-zhang radius churned wildly as if torn apart by a fierce wind, and the foundation of the illusion array hummed under the strain. Li Changle, hiding behind that green rock, her face flushed, desperately maintained the last shred of stability of the array.