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

Yun Jiuniang lowered her eyes: "Four Foundation Establishment cultivators died in battle, and one was seriously injured."

Li Changsheng's heart skipped a beat: "Then the Grand Elder and the Eldest Miss..."

Yun Jiuniang's fingers tightened slightly as she said, "Eldest sister is unharmed, but the First Elder is seriously injured and has already announced that he is in seclusion. Second Elder..." She paused, "...is completely unharmed."

The situation is bad!

The balance of power between the two factions, the First Elder and the Second Elder, which were originally evenly matched, has quietly shifted after this battle.

Although the Cheng family woman was only a concubine of the Second Elder.

But that was in front of the prime minister's gate.

Alexander!

Yun Jiuniang felt the atmosphere was heavy and changed the subject.

She took out a jade seal from a family specializing in alchemy and placed it on the table:

"Your Li family has killed thirty-seven bandits this time, including two at the peak of Qi Refining, seven at the late stage of Qi Refining, and the rest at the mid-stage or below of Qi Refining."

"According to the regulations of the imperial court, one can be awarded six hundred merits."

"If your Li family wants to be promoted to a ninth-rank family in the future, you need to accumulate 10,000 family merit points."

This six hundred is a good start.

This aristocratic family's jade seal was a special gift from the imperial court, and it is itself a second-tier magic artifact.

"If your Li family ever advances to the ninth rank, the imperial seal will also be upgraded, and it will be able to suppress the clan's fortune."

Second-tier magical artifact!

This is a pleasant surprise.

This can be considered a reward from the imperial court for his efforts in suppressing bandits.

Li Changsheng put the jade seal into his bosom.

"Clan Chief Li," Yun Jiuniang continued, "there is something I need to remind you—the Li family has made a great haul this time, with the wealth of the thirty-seven bandits amounting to at least a thousand spirit stones. In Anyang County, quite a few people are already eyeing you."

Li Changsheng's gaze narrowed slightly.

Every husband is not guilty, and he is guilty of his crime.

He nodded: "Thank you for the reminder, Miss Jiu."

Seeing that he was not flustered, Yun Jiuniang realized that he had a plan in mind.

The eldest sister really has a good eye for people.

Li Changsheng brought up another important matter, saying solemnly, "Ninth Miss, the Li family has another request."

"explain."

"A spirit-testing platform," Li Changsheng said. "The Li family is willing to use the red marrow rice we captured as payment to ask the Yun family to help build a spirit-testing platform."

It turned out to be the case.

By building a spirit-measuring platform, they can turn unclean things into cash and also deter others from coveting them.

Kill two birds with one stone.

He's quite farsighted.

Yun Jiuniang nodded:

"Yes, it's possible. The Spirit Testing Platform costs about two thousand spirit stones to build, plus the array master's fee, totaling around three thousand. However, building the Spirit Testing Platform requires a second-tier array master and will take at least two to three years."

Li Changsheng took out a storage bag from his bosom and placed it on the table.

"The red marrow rice here is worth about 3,600 spirit stones on the market," he said. "3,000 will be used for the construction of the spirit testing platform, and the remaining 600..." He looked at Yun Jiu Niang, "Please help me send more people to speed up the process."

Yun Jiuniang was slightly taken aback.

Three thousand six hundred spirit stones.

That was most of what the Li family had seized.

She looked at the young clan leader before her with a hint of admiration in her eyes.

"Okay." She put away the storage bag. "I promise you, within six months, the Li family will have its own spirit testing platform."

Li Changsheng cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, Miss Jiu."

Yun Jiuniang got up, preparing to leave. Reaching the door, she suddenly stopped and turned back to look at him.

"Let me add something."

"You should find a way to upgrade the spiritual vein of Qinglan Mountain," Yun Jiuniang said. "It's only a first-grade low-level one right now, which is barely enough to support the daily cultivation of the clansmen. But the daily operation of the Four Symbols Formation requires spirit stones as its source. If we keep doing this, we'll run out of resources. As the number of clansmen increases, the spiritual energy of the spiritual vein will only become more and more insufficient."

She paused, then added, "Most importantly—if the Li family wants to advance to a ninth-rank family, their clan mountain's spiritual vein must advance to the second rank. This is a tough hurdle that no one can bypass."

Li Changsheng nodded.

Second-order spiritual vein.

That's the threshold of a ninth-rank aristocratic family.

He solemnly cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you for your guidance, Miss Jiu."

Yun Jiuniang nodded, said no more, and rode away on a crane.

...

...

The next morning, a whooshing sound came from the horizon.

Twelve streaks of light descended from the clouds, led by an elderly man with white hair and beard, followed by eleven people, all dressed as array masters, their auras solid and powerful.

Li Changsheng had already led his clansmen to wait respectfully outside the mountain gate:

"Junior Li Changsheng greets Senior Yun and fellow Daoists."

The old man simply hummed in response, his gaze sweeping across the contours of Qinglan Mountain as he muttered to himself, seemingly lost in thought. The eleven array masters behind him, clearly accustomed to the old man's temperament, nodded to Li Changsheng and followed him into the mountain.

"The location of the spirit-testing platform must be aligned with a spiritual vein node." The old man said without turning his head, "Let me take a look first."

Li Changsheng quickly followed.

The old man walked all the way to the front of the mountain and stopped in front of a flat open space. He closed his eyes, made hand seals, and the spiritual energy around him spread out like ripples, resonating with the spiritual energy of the earth's veins.

After a moment, he opened his eyes and pointed to his feet: "Right here."

Li Changsheng looked at the open space—the front of the mountain offered a wide view, and it was neither too far nor too close to the Spirit Spring Well, making it a good place to build a surveying platform.

"Thank you, senior," he said, bowing.

The old man waved his hand, signaling the eleven array masters to begin measuring the land and surveying the earth's veins.

Li Changle, who had already broken through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, was staring wide-eyed at the busy figures of the array masters, his little face full of excitement.

"Brother?" she asked softly.

"Go and learn from them," Li Changsheng said in a low voice. "Don't bother them, just observe and memorize."

Li Changle's eyes lit up, he nodded vigorously, and jogged after him.

The old man caught a glimpse of the little girl out of the corner of his eye, his brows furrowed slightly, and he was about to shoo her away when he saw Li Changle already squatting behind a formation master, quietly watching the other man manipulate the formation plate without uttering a sound, being very obedient.

He frowned but didn't say anything.

Li Changle was engrossed in watching.

She memorized every step the array masters took in setting up the spirit-measuring platform, from surveying the earth vein nodes, laying the array base, and adjusting the spirit pivot, to the advanced array plate manipulation techniques she had never seen before. Occasionally, an array master, seeing how obedient she was, would whisper a word or two of guidance, which she treasured and nodded repeatedly.

The old man had somehow appeared behind her.

"Can you understand it?" he suddenly asked.

Li Changle was startled. Turning around and seeing that it was an old man, he quickly stood up and honestly said, "I understand some things, but not all of them."

"What don't you understand?"

Li Changle paused for a moment, then pointed to the newly buried array base: "Why are there three array base spirit stones instead of two? I thought that the array base of the spirit testing platform only needed to be aligned with the earth vein nodes, and two spirit stones would be enough to fix it in place..."

A strange light flashed in the old man's eyes.

He paused for a moment, then actually spoke up to explain: "Ordinary spirit-measuring platforms only need two, but the earth's veins here tend to run eastward. If only two are used, the foundation of the array will shift over time. Only three, forming a triangle, can ensure long-term stability."

Li Changle suddenly realized, nodded repeatedly, and asked a few more questions.

The old man answered each question.

His gaze toward the little girl unconsciously became more serious.