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

While the Yun family members were busy at the front mountain, Li Changsheng had already quietly returned to his quiet room.

The stone gate closed, and he sat cross-legged beside the Spirit Spring Well, his mind sinking into his sea of ​​consciousness.

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

The Book of Destiny shimmered with yellow light, and its deduced characters slowly emerged:

Deep within Wangniu Mountain in Anyang County lies an underground river, originally the place where the bandit leader "One-Eyed Dragon" recuperated from his injuries. This scoundrel was severely wounded during the bandit uprising and fled to this place, but succumbed to his wounds and died in the cave a few days ago. His belongings are still inside the cave.

However, the cave was soon discovered by the newly migrated members of the "Nangong Clan," who took away the treasures.

Li Changsheng's eyes narrowed.

Wangniu Mountain is about 300 li away from Qinglan Mountain, which is not too far.

The spoils of a bandit leader should not be wasted.

He stood up, pushed open the door, and went out.

...

...

Behind the mountain, in an underground river, Chiyu was sunbathing outside the aviary.

It is now at the late stage of the first tier, its feathers are crimson like flames, with faint golden light shimmering at the edges, and it has a certain majestic air about it, like a raptor. However, its severed leg has not yet grown back.

Upon seeing Li Changsheng arrive, it immediately stood up and hopped on one leg to greet him.

"Red Feather, come with me for a bit." Li Changsheng climbed onto its back.

With a flap of its crimson wings, it soared into the sky.

It was incredibly fast, even faster than the flying horse Xiaobai by a third. The wind whistled past, and it covered the three hundred miles in less than half an hour.

...

...

The Wangniu Mountain range is undulating and steep, with dense forests blocking out the sun.

Li Changsheng searched in the mountains for three days.

The divination said "below the dark river," so he searched along every possible river channel, from upstream to downstream, from the main stream to the tributaries, but he found nothing.

On the fourth day, he was planning to return to Qinglan Mountain to bring his younger sister, who was skilled in formations, to help him—

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

Two furtive figures flashed past deep into the dense forest ahead.

Li Changsheng's eyes narrowed, and he immediately concealed his presence, hiding behind an ancient tree. He gently patted Chi Yu, who understood and suppressed his aura to the point of being barely perceptible.

The two men were dressed in the robes of cultivators from the Great Zhou Dynasty, but their faces were remarkably similar to those of the Southern Barbarians from the Eastern Wilderness tribes—high noses, deep-set eyes, rugged features, and dark skin.

One male and one female.

The male cultivator was at the peak of Qi Refining, his aura steady, clearly having reached that peak many years ago. The female cultivator was at the late stage of Qi Refining, appearing to be around thirty years old, with a hint of arrogance in her eyes.

The male cultivators were completely obedient to the female cultivators, and even their words were accompanied by a fawning smile.

The two stopped in the woods and looked around warily.

"Nobody's here," the male cultivator said in a low voice.

Still uneasy, the female cultivator took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from her bosom and activated her spiritual power. The bronze mirror emitted specks of spiritual light and slowly swept across the surrounding mountains and forests.

Li Changsheng's heart tightened.

This is a detection artifact!

He immediately communicated with his sea of ​​consciousness—

"The ghost general vanishes without a trace."

The phantom of a peak-level first-tier ghost general silently emerged from the Hundred Ghost Banner, enveloping Li Changsheng and Chi Yu in a faint shadow. The spiritual light of the bronze mirror swept over them, but did not stir up any ripples.

The female cultivator put away the bronze mirror, finally relieved.

She took out a talisman that shimmered with a pale golden light from her bosom.

The talisman was drawn with fresh blood, and it faintly exuded an eerie aura.

The female cultivator bit her fingertip, dripping a drop of blood onto the talisman. The blood talisman suddenly lit up, transforming into a faint pillar of blood-red light that pointed towards a certain spot on the mountain wall.

"Walk."

Following the guidance of the blood talisman, the two arrived at a seemingly ordinary mountain wall. The female cultivator cast a spell, and a protective array of light lit up, with ripples appearing.

The two of them flashed through the gap.

Li Changsheng quickly followed.

Beyond that cave entrance was a winding natural passageway leading downwards.

After walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the view suddenly opened up – it turned out to be an underground river.

The river was dark and flowed silently.

The couple continued along the edge of the underground river, and finally climbed onto a hidden stone platform at the end of the river.

On the stone platform, there is a simple stone chamber.

Li Changsheng, hidden in the shadows, saw the scene inside the half-open stone chamber through the stone door—

An elderly man with white hair sat cross-legged on a stone bed, his eyes closed and his breath gone.

He has been dead for several days.

"father--!"

Upon seeing the old man, the woman's arrogance vanished instantly. She knelt before the stone bed and burst into tears.

The man stood behind her, his face also showing grief, and gently comforted her, "Ayao, please accept my condolences... Your father-in-law..."

As he tried to persuade her, he slowly stepped forward, seemingly to support the woman's shoulder.

Just as he approached the woman's back—

A fierce glint suddenly flashed in his eyes!

A jet-black short sword slid out from his sleeve, silently piercing the woman's back!

The woman turned around abruptly, her eyes filled with disbelief.

"you……!"

Years ago, when this heartless man was being chased and on the verge of death, she was the one who saved him! Over the years, she has given most of the resources her father bestowed upon her to this heartless man!

She never expected this.

This spineless coward who had been meek and subservient to her for decades dared to kill her!

The woman fell to the ground.

Don't rest your eyes!

The sorrow on the man's face had turned into a cold smile.

"Ah Yao," his voice was eerily calm, "Don't blame me. Your father is dead. How can you, a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, protect those things? Rather than letting others benefit, it's better to let me benefit. After all... we are Daoist partners."

The man made sure the other person was no longer breathing before he lowered his guard.

With a wave of his hand.

The man took the old man's storage bag into his hand, glanced inside, and then his face lit up with ecstatic joy:

"Haha, not bad, not bad, this old geezer really did it..."

He was only halfway through his sentence.

The man felt a chill in his chest, looked down, and saw that a ghostly claw had pierced through his flesh without him noticing.

"Yes……"

The man collapsed to the ground and died.

He died without ever knowing who killed him.

……

Li Changsheng slowly emerged from the shadows.

The ghost general hovered above the male and female corpses, the blood-red ghost fire in its eye sockets flickering slightly, as if waiting for a command.

"Swallow it," Li Changsheng said calmly.

The ghost general opened its hollow jaw and let out a silent shriek. Two translucent souls were forcibly pulled from the male and female corpses—the souls twisted and struggled, their faces contorted in rage, desperately trying to escape, but they could not escape the ghost general's pull.

The ghost swallowed it whole.

Its body trembled slightly, and the will-o'-the-wisps in its eye sockets brightened even more.

Li Changsheng's thoughts sank into his sea of ​​consciousness, and at that moment, a line of text appeared in the Heavenly Book:

[The ghost general devoured a peak-level Qi Refining soul, increasing his cultivation progress.]

[Currently: Peak Tier 1 (10/100)]

There's still a long way to go before reaching the second stage.

However, the souls of those at the peak of Qi Refining are highly nourishing; consuming a few more will bring a breakthrough within reach.

Li Changsheng withdrew his gaze, bent down, and put the three storage bags into his robes.

He glanced at the three corpses, then waved his hand and put them into his storage bag.

A bunch of bandits, they deserve to die!

Take this body back to Chang'an to be composted.

The head can be sent to the Zhenshi Division to exchange for merit points from the imperial court.

A line of text appeared in the celestial book:

[Acquired three heads of barbarians from the Eastern Wilderness, and gained 100 Imperial Merit Points]

Current time: 700/10000