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

Yun Jiuniang changed into a tight-fitting outfit, and her temperament changed drastically, as if she were a female general from a prestigious family.

Li Changsheng led his men forward and bowed respectfully.

"The entire Li family is deeply grateful for Miss Jiu's long journey."

Yun Jiuniang nodded slightly and followed him toward the inn on the mountaintop.

As she passed by the ten acres of red marrow rice field, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

As dusk fell, the golden-red waves of rice surged like the sea, the heavy ears of grain bending the stalks.

This is significantly better than the red marrow rice produced by the Yun family after many years of cultivation. The Li family has achieved such a high yield in its first year!

Yun Jiuniang was extremely surprised:

"Chief Li, what is the yield per mu?"

"About six hundred jin."

"Six hundred catties in the first year of clearing the land?" Yun Jiuniang tilted her head to look at him. "Ordinary newly cleared spiritual fields only yield three or four hundred catties per mu in the first crop. What method did you use in this field?"

Li Changsheng did not hide anything.

"The method of composting." He briefly explained the method of making spiritual fertilizer, which Li Chang'an had figured out, by mixing and fermenting Fire Cloud Chicken manure, Seven Star Grass residue, and decaying leaves.

Upon hearing this, Yun Jiuniang's eyes lit up.

"So, are you planning to sell your son's property, or keep it for yourselves?"

A smile appeared in Li Changsheng's eyes.

This was precisely why he personally invited the Yun family to his home:

"Selling a child. If Senior Yun is interested, the Li family is willing to exchange a spirit-testing platform for it using the method of composting."

"You certainly know how to name a price." Yun Jiuniang did not agree immediately. "I cannot make this decision on my own; I need to go back and ask the head of my household."

"Of course," Li Changsheng said.

...

...

a few days later.

The red marrow rice is cooked.

The heavy ears of rice bent the stalks.

This should have been the harvest season, a time that the Li family had been eagerly anticipating for a whole year.

But the atmosphere in the mountains was as tense as a fully drawn bowstring.

Yesterday evening, Xiaobai reported back:

There were traces of unfamiliar cultivators' activities in the northeast, due west, and southern foothills.

They were clearly the vanguard of the bandits.

"Clan Chief." Chen Wenyuan strode over, his expression solemn. "The twelve clansmen who have just entered the Qi cultivation stage have been transferred from the secret passage in the back mountain to the refuge cave as you instructed. Dry food, clean water, and medicine for their injuries have all been prepared."

"Where is Grandma?"

"Grandmother refuses to leave." Chen Wenyuan paused. "She said that she is at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, so there's no reason for her to hide. Right now, she's by the underground river in the back mountain, helping Chang'an reinforce the poultry coop."

After Grandmother absorbed the "Old but Vigorous" destiny seed, her energy and spirit grew stronger day by day, and her inherent strong will returned. She truly refused to retreat into the underground cave like an ordinary old woman.

"Send two more people to guard the back mountain," Li Changsheng said. "If anything changes, immediately escort Grandmother, Chang'an, and Changle to safety."

"Yes."

……

Two days later, in the early morning.

Before dawn, Li Changsheng sat alone in his quiet room.

"Today's divination result is 'open'."

The heavenly book surged with yellow light, and the deduced characters slowly emerged as if stained with fresh blood—

This scourge of bandits is no ordinary act of looting.

The seventy-two tribes of the Eastern Wilderness secretly formed an alliance, with Foundation Establishment cultivators as the backbone and Qi Refining cultivators as their wings, gathering more than a thousand people and dividing their forces into five routes to sweep through fifteen prefectures of Yunzhou.

On the surface, they were robbing grain, but in reality, they were attacking powerful families.

The Yun family, ranked ninth, was their primary target.

Li Changsheng's pupils suddenly contracted.

He suddenly stood up and pushed open the door to leave.

Li Changsheng walked quickly to the mountain inn where Yun Jiuniang was resting. He stopped, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.

"Enter."

He pushed open the door and entered. Yun Jiuniang was sitting cross-legged, meditating, her body radiating a faint spiritual light. Seeing his unusual expression, she opened her eyes:

"What is it?"

"Ninth Miss," Li Changsheng said without beating around the bush, "the protective array of Qinglan Mountain is only a low-grade first-level formation. If it encounters a peak Qi Refining cultivator, it will be useless. Does Ninth Miss possess any higher-level formations?"

Yun Jiuniang raised an eyebrow slightly.

He raised his hand and made a gesture.

A set of array diagrams flew out from the storage bracelet and hovered between the two.

"I don't have a ready-made mountain-protecting formation."

"However, there is a second-tier low-grade array diagram called the 'Four Symbols Array.' If the array is set up according to the diagram, it is enough to cover the entire Qinglan Mountain. It can trap early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators; even mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators can be held back for a while."

She paused, her tone softening:

"But this is my private property, and I will not give it away for nothing."

Li Changsheng took out a neatly bound book from his bosom and presented it with both hands.

"This is the Li family's method of composting fertilizer, which has been compiled into a book."

"The proportions of spirit bird droppings, spirit plant residues, and decaying leaves, along with the methods for adjusting temperature and humidity throughout the four seasons, are all recorded here. This method will benefit future generations and the cultivation of spirit plants. When Miss Jiu inquired about the price earlier, the Li family offered a spirit-testing platform."

Yun Jiuniang took the letter but did not read it.

"The price has changed now?" she asked with a half-smile.

"Yes." Li Changsheng looked directly at her. "The Li family is willing to exchange this book for the set of second-tier array diagrams in Miss Jiu's possession."

"The method of composting," Yun Jiuniang said slowly, "has not been verified."

"If this method fails," Li Changsheng said, "the Li family is willing to use the proceeds from the sale of the red marrow rice to replenish the array diagram's spirit stones."

Yun Jiuniang looked up at him.

A minor clan leader at the fourth level of Qi Refining stood before her, his back straight and his gaze calm. He was betting everything on the Li family's hopes for the year.

"Clan Chief Li, you certainly have a lot of guts. Tell your little girl to come over here."

……

Li Changle arrived very quickly.

When she heard that Yun Jiuniang was going to teach her how to control a second-tier formation, her face tensed up, but her eyes shone with an astonishing light.

Yun Jiuniang didn't waste any words.

She handed the jade slip to Li Changle, and after she had read it briefly, she led her to the mountain gate and began to explain the placement of the first array flag—where the spiritual pivot node was, where the core of the array was, how to use spiritual power to draw the earth's spiritual energy into the array base, and how to fine-tune the flow of the array according to the changes of the four seasons...

Li Changle learned it in no time.

Yun Jiuniang was quite surprised, and a thought arose in her mind—

My older sister is right.

That day in the market's scattered stalls, she was merely following her elder sister's orders to help the Li family out of a predicament. She thought her elder sister's instruction to befriend Li Changsheng was simply to gain another vassal for the eldest branch of the family, in order to counterbalance the second branch in the future.

In retrospect, it seems that her eldest sister's decision to have her personally come to the Li family to oversee things was not a spur-of-the-moment thing.

The young tree of the Li family has taken root deeper than she expected, and its branches have spread further than she thought.

If this young man can truly lead the Li family to the ninth rank...

For the eldest branch of the Yun family, this was not just adding another vassal, but a great achievement worthy of being recorded in the family history.

……

Sunrise and sunset, two days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the morning of the third day, the Four Symbols Formation was finally set up.

A pale blue spiritual light rose from the mountain gate, like a giant bowl turned upside down, enveloping the entire Qinglan Mountain. The light was as clear as autumn water, far superior to the rudimentary first-order formation of the past.

Just then—

The jade token at Yun Jiuniang's waist suddenly emitted a dazzling red light.

The red light, like blood, flickered rapidly, causing the token itself to tremble violently.

This is the highest-level emergency summons from the Yun family.

It should never be opened lightly except in a life-or-death situation.

Yun Jiuniang looked down at the token, her expression instantly turning extremely indifferent.

She put away the token and turned to look at Li Changsheng.

"Something has happened in the Yun family." She spoke quickly but logically, "The Four Symbols Formation has been set up, and Chang Le has mastered most of its control methods. This formation is more than enough to trap those in the early Foundation Establishment stage, and even if the attackers are in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, it will be enough to hold out until our Yun family's reinforcements arrive."