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

hum!

Yellow light surged.

The Book of Destiny trembled violently.

Followed by.

The Heavenly Book suddenly vanished from Li Changsheng's mind.

"What's going on?!"

The Heavenly Book was his greatest asset; if anything were to go wrong...

"what?"

The next moment, he found himself in an unfamiliar space.

The space is not large, only a few feet in circumference.

Beneath my feet was a path paved with bluestone slabs, and above my head was a hazy void, with no sky, no sun or moon, only chaos.

In the center of the space, a lone thatched hut stands.

The thatched hut was extremely simple, with mottled earthen walls and a sparse thatched roof, looking like a dilapidated house that could collapse at any moment. In front of the hut was a small courtyard, where several clumps of unknown wild grasses grew, swaying gently in the windless air.

Li Changsheng composed himself and pushed open the door to enter.

The interior furnishings were even simpler—a low table, a cushion, and an altar.

On the offering table, the Book of Destiny lay quietly, its pages gleaming with a faint golden light, just as before.

"Thankfully, the Heavenly Book is still here!"

After regaining my senses.

He immediately understood.

This should be the inner space of the Book of Destiny.

He tried to scan the outside world with his mind and indeed "saw" himself sitting cross-legged next to the statue of a god in the main hall of the dilapidated temple, his eyes slightly closed, his breathing even, his physical body meditating and regulating his breath. His younger sister Li Changle and his elder brother-in-law Chen Wenyuan sat on either side, while Du Liuniang sat alone in the corner. All four of them were quietly waiting for dawn.

Only thought can enter this space.

Li Changsheng circled the thatched hut, reaching out to touch the low table. It felt real, yet he couldn't pick it up. He then tried to retrieve items from his storage bag, but nothing came of it. This place seemed only capable of holding thoughts, unable to store any physical objects.

He was somewhat disappointed, but not in a hurry.

Since the Heavenly Book opened up this space, it must have its purpose; he just hasn't found the way to do it yet.

He sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes, and focused on meditating.

Time passed second by second.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he opened his eyes and saw that the sky was already turning a pale white. Li Changle was rubbing his eyes as he got up from the ground, muttering softly:

"It's dawn..."

With a thought, Li Changsheng withdrew from that space.

The next instant, he returned to his own body.

Then he froze.

Having spent an entire night without sleep, sitting motionless in the thatched hut for an unknown amount of time, he felt not the slightest bit tired, but rather full of energy, his mind clear and lucid, even his senses sharper than usual. He could even clearly "hear" the sound of the night dew sliding off the grass outside the courtyard wall.

This thatched hut...has the effect of tempering one's spiritual senses!

Li Changsheng's heart pounded wildly.

The three major hurdles of foundation building are: Qi and blood, magical power, and spiritual consciousness.

Qi and blood can be sustained, and magical power can be cultivated, but spiritual consciousness is the most difficult to condense.

Countless cultivators have been stuck at the peak of Qi Refining for decades because they have been unable to condense their divine sense. If this thatched hut can truly help him refine his divine sense, then the day he condenses it will be just around the corner!

He suppressed his excitement and habitually communicated with the celestial scripture—

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

The celestial book shimmered with yellow light, and the deduced characters slowly emerged:

[Statues and Relics]

Although the statue in this temple is damaged, a belt is hidden in its base. This belt is an item from the upper realm.

"The Upper Realm?"

Is it the legendary spirit realm, or perhaps the immortal realm?

Or is it...?

The Tiannan Continent where he is currently located is just a low-level small world among many interfaces.

"Brother, it's almost time. Let's take the statue down the mountain..."

Li Changsheng gathered his thoughts, stood up, and walked to the statue.

He didn't act immediately, but instead had Chen Wenyuan set up the offering table, take out incense, candles, and sacred fruits, and respectfully place them on it. Then he lit three incense sticks and bowed deeply to the statue of the deity.

"My Lord," he said in a steady voice, "last night we were saved thanks to your protection. This temple is abandoned and its incense has been cut off. It is a disservice for you to remain here. I humbly request that you move to Qinglan Mountain and be worshipped by the Li family for generations. I earnestly hope that you will grant my request."

He inserted the incense into the incense burner, stepped back three times, and bowed three times.

Li Changle and Chen Wenyuan also bowed down. Du Liuniang stood to the side, hesitated for a moment, and then also bowed to the statue.

The ceremony is over.

Li Changsheng stepped forward, circulated his spiritual energy, and supported the base of the statue with both hands, uttering a low shout: "Rise!"

The statue remained completely still.

He applied even more force, but the statue remained firmly in place, as if it had taken root. Li Changsheng frowned slightly, examined it carefully, and discovered that the base of the statue was perfectly fitted to the ground, forming a seamless whole, as if it had grown out of the ground.

"Brother, let me help you!" Li Changle ran over, bracing her hands against the other side of the statue, her face flushed red. Chen Wenyuan also stepped forward to help, and with the three of them working together, the statue finally swayed slightly.

"rise!"

boom--

The moment the statue's base separated from the ground, the entire dilapidated temple trembled slightly. Li Changsheng dared not be negligent; he activated his spiritual power and stored the statue in his storage bag.

The dust has settled.

Where the statue once stood, a shallow recess was now visible. Inside the recess was only a tattered, gray cloth, wrinkled and unremarkable.

Li Changle leaned closer for a look and said disappointedly, "It's just a tattered piece of cloth..."

Li Changsheng reached out and picked up the tattered cloth. It felt light and rough to the touch, no different from ordinary coarse cloth. But he knew the divination wouldn't lie. This unremarkable tattered cloth, being an item from the upper realm, was naturally extraordinary.

He carefully tucked the rag into his pocket and turned to look at the crowd.

"Go down the mountain."

...

Down the mountain.

Manager Zhou sat cross-legged on the high platform, idly playing with the wine gourd in his hand. He was by nature a lively person, and having waited all night down the mountain to host the first round of the competition, he was already bored out of his mind.

As dawn approached and the people on the mountain were about to descend, he rolled his eyes and smiled:

"Since we have nothing better to do, how about we make a bet? Guess which family will come out on top?"

Yun Qilang, sitting to his right, felt a little impatient upon hearing this.

Is there even a need to guess?

It must be the Nangong family.

With three Qi Refining Peak experts from the Nangong family ascending the mountain, what can the other four small families in Qinglan County use to compare with them?

He was about to say something perfunctory when Yun Jiuniang had already taken over the conversation with a smile.

"Senior Zhou, what a refined taste you have." Her voice was clear and melodious, with a hint of playfulness. "Ninth Sister would also like to join in the fun, but I don't have anything good on hand. I wonder if Senior Zhou would be willing to use your wine gourd as a wager?"

Manager Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter:

"You little rascal, you have a sharp eye! My wine gourd may not be a treasure, but the first-grade spirit wine it brews is of much better quality than that made by ordinary methods."

After Steward Zhou established his foundation, the first-tier spirit wine was no longer of much use, making this gourd somewhat of a liability. Yun Jiuniang was quite adept at striking a balance.

Steward Zhou casually placed the wine gourd on the table:

"Very well, I'll use it as the wager."

Yun Qilang's eyes lit up.

For a family of such high-level alchemy, this gourd could be a family heirloom. He was worried about what to use to propose marriage to the Yu family. If he could get this gourd, he would have a better chance of taking the Yu family's girl as a concubine.