Dongting Immortal Clan

The inner fire within Chen Xiaohu's dantian was incredibly vigorous, and his magical power flowed like fire feathers, lotus leaves, and lamplight, illuminating his entire body, making him shine like crystal.

The spiritual energy on Purple Furnace Mountain was many times richer than that on White Fish Mouth. With each breath, he could feel the spiritual energy flowing into his body, making his meridians more resilient and his magical power more refined.

After shedding his wooden form, his body resembled a parched field, desperately absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy without ever stopping.

Every few days, Li Ziyan would test the contents of the jade slips on his wooden shelf, which were either cultivation notes, medical books and alchemical texts, or geographical information about mountains and rivers.

After spending some time together, Chen Xiaohu discovered that although her master was aloof, she was not a capricious person. As long as she did the tasks and homework assigned by her, she could arrange the rest of her time as she pleased.

His days were filled with contentment, one by one.

I get up at 5 a.m. every day, practice for an hour, and then go to the alchemy room to familiarize myself with the alchemical fire for two hours.

In the afternoon, he would learn to identify herbs, prepare prescriptions, and control the heat.

He went back to his room to continue practicing his skills in the evening, and didn't go to sleep until midnight.

And so, spring and autumn came and went, and three years passed in the blink of an eye.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Chen family has undergone tremendous changes in the past three years, a truly earth-shattering transformation.

Nowadays, the Chen family is showing signs of becoming landlords. The land under Old Zhang's name has been handed over to Chen Chuansheng to manage and rented out to tenant farmers in the village.

Chen Changhe and Chen Dajiang, on the other hand, were busy with other matters.

Since learning archery, Chen Dajiang often went up the mountain to hunt. He could sell the animal pelts for money and keep the meat for his family to eat.

They rarely go to the lake these days.

With the money saved by his adoptive father and his own family, Chen Changhe started a fishmonger business, collecting the aquatic products caught by fishermen around Baiyukou and selling them in Qingxi Town.

To this end, the Chen family also set up a shop in town, which was taken care of by Chen Changhe's wife, Zhang Xiulan.

On the surface, Chen Changhe is doing business.

In reality, he wanted to collect the spirit clams from the lake to fund his cultivation.

Over the past three years, he has gradually collected some Azure Water Clams. He entrusted Shen Congyun to send some to Zhou Yan in the city as a tribute, while Chen Changhe kept the rest for his elder brother and himself to use in their cultivation.

Now that both Chen brothers are married and their family is becoming more well-off, they have some spare money and have renovated their old house. The mud walls and thatched roof have been replaced with blue bricks and gray tiles. In addition to the three main rooms, there are now two courtyards on the east and west sides.

Chen Changhe lived in the west wing, and Chen Dajiang lived in the east wing. The courtyard was paved with bluestone slabs, and the courtyard walls were painted snow-white.

The villagers would always take a second look whenever they passed by.

Some people envied, some were jealous, and some made sarcastic remarks.

They thought the Chen family was lucky to have become in-laws with Old Zhang, to have him as their godfather, and to have acquired his wealth. They only regretted that they couldn't also have a good father.

……

The backyard of the Chen family's old house.

A burly, lame old man was teasing a little girl in a red coat.

The little girl was only two or three years old, and could barely walk steadily. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, and her skin was fair and rosy, just like a porcelain doll.

"Little Nianci~"

The old man had a rattle in his hand, which he gently shook, making a "da da da" sound. The little girl reached out to grab it, which made the old man laugh heartily.

"Yes, yes..."

The little girl couldn't catch the rattle drum, so she frowned, pouted, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Don't cry, don't cry, Grandpa will give it to you."

Upon seeing this, the old man immediately handed over the rattle drum. The little girl grabbed the rattle drum, her tears stopped instantly, and she revealed a childlike smile.

"Godfather!"

Suddenly, a strong voice came from outside the courtyard gate.

The old man picked up the little girl, turned to look at the newcomer, and chuckled:

"Jiro."

"Your lightness technique is getting more and more proficient; I can't even hear your footsteps anymore."

The person who came was Chen Changhe, the second son of the Chen family.

He is 22 years old this year. Because of his martial arts training, he has become more robust and muscular than he was three years ago, and he no longer looks like the skinny boy he once was.

Chen Changhe now has sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, slightly sunken cheeks, and a high, hooked nose. In addition, his management of affairs of all sizes over the past few years has made him look rather cold and aloof, and somewhat unapproachable.

"Daddy, hug me."

When the little girl saw who it was, she immediately showed her baby teeth and wobbled towards Chen Changhe.

Chen Changhe picked up his daughter and a rare smile appeared on his face.

This is his daughter with Zhang Xiulan, named Zhang Nianci.

Chen Chuansheng had promised Old Zhang that the first child born to the Chen family would take his surname, Zhang.

Coincidentally, Chen Dajiang and Chen Changhe got married one after the other. Zhang Xiulan became pregnant first and was related to Old Zhang by blood. The child in front of us is Zhang Nianci.

After Xiao Nianci was born, Old Zhang was overjoyed and told everyone he met that he now had a granddaughter.

The five deficiencies and three lacks have completely disappeared at this moment.

"There's something I'd like to discuss with my godfather."

Holding his daughter, Chen Changhe spoke in a rather serious tone.

Seeing this, Old Zhang understood and nodded slightly, saying:

"Let's talk inside."

……

After handing Nianci over to her mother Zhang Xiulan, the two of them, along with Chen Chuansheng, went to the main room.

Da Jiang's wife, Wang Guifang, quickly poured tea for the three of them, then quietly closed the door and left.

"Jiro."

"What makes you so cautious?"

Seeing Chen Changhe's solemn expression, Old Zhang asked with great curiosity.

Chen Changhe took a sip of tea, cleared his throat, and slowly said:

"It's a good thing, but it also hides danger."

He frowned slightly, put down his teacup, and said:

"Half a month ago, I cultivated thirty-eight strands of magical power. Now that I've emerged from seclusion, I've shed my mortal body and entered the second realm of the Spiritual Treasury..."

"You've removed the wooden frame?"

Upon hearing this, Old Zhang looked slightly surprised, but then a broad smile appeared on his face.

"Yes."

Chen Changhe nodded slightly, but didn't look relaxed. Old Zhang found it strange and asked:

"What exactly happened?"

"I need to sort out my thoughts on this matter further."

Chen Changhe drank three more bowls of tea, took a few deep breaths to calm himself, and looked at the two elders, saying slowly and deliberately:

"Last night, late at night, I took advantage of the darkness to explore the entire area around Baiyukou, performing spirit-detecting techniques as I went..."

"It would have been better if I hadn't looked, because what I saw gave me a shock."

"In Zhoujia Village, a fierce and malevolent aura has gathered for some time. I only glanced at it from afar, but it made my scalp tingle."

"There are some spirit fields around here, but unfortunately the spiritual energy has been almost completely lost. I used the Qi Observation Technique to take another look... the direction in which the spiritual energy is flowing is Zhou Family Village."

Upon hearing this, both Old Zhang and Chen Chuansheng frowned deeply. The former, in particular, felt as if his hair had stood on end the moment he heard the spiritual energy, and his whole body went numb.

"Are you sure what's in Zhoujia Village is a spirit demon?" Old Zhang asked.

Chen Changhe nodded and said very seriously:

"It can't be wrong."

"I have now developed a spiritual consciousness and am very sensitive to all kinds of energies."

"I suspect there's something hidden in Zhoujia Village..."

At this point, Chen Changhe's eyes turned cold and fierce.

He originally intended to develop gradually and slowly gain control of the surrounding forces, but he never expected that he would discover something extraordinary hidden beside him as soon as he broke through.

On the side of the couch, how can you allow others to sleep soundly.

In particular, the origin of this thing is unknown, making it impossible for him to understand.

"Since there is spiritual energy gathering within Zhoujia Village, why has Shen Congyun never noticed it?"

Suddenly, Old Zhang noticed a problem.

Shen Congyun has already reached the third level of the Spiritual Treasury Realm. Logically speaking, if Chen Changhe can detect a spiritual evil spirit, he shouldn't be unable to detect it.

Chen Changhe looked at Old Zhang with a gloomy expression and said in a cold tone:

"Or, this evil spirit appeared after Shen Congyun came last time."

"Or...?"

"He knew perfectly well, but he never told us..."

"If it were the former, that would be fine."

"If it's the latter..."

Chen Changhe looked at the two elders, and all three of them felt a chill run down their spines.