A daily divination, from family tortoise shells to immortal clans.

An elderly man with white hair and beard, exuding an air of otherworldly wisdom, stood with his hands behind his back, surveying the audience with an extremely serious expression.

This person is Elder Chen Kaiji, with the eighth level of Qi Refining cultivation, the second strongest in the clan.

Several other elders were also standing nearby, looking at the disciples of the clan.

"Ahem!" Chen Kaiji cleared his throat, and his voice carried.

"The clan's spirit fields are about to dry up, and the meager spiritual energy gathered by the miniature spirit-gathering array is insufficient to support a bountiful harvest of spirit rice. The Yuanjian Sect will come to collect provisions and offerings in three months, and the clan will still need a considerable amount of spirit stones."

Starting today, a demon-hunting team will be established, with the Second Elder, Fifth Elder, and Seventh Elder each leading a team to go to the Stone Forest to hunt demons and earn spirit stones.

Those with questions can ask now; questions will not be accepted after the deadline.

After he finished speaking, the crowd began to whisper among themselves, quite shocked by the matter of hunting demons.

"Elder, if we, who are only at the early stage of Qi Refining, encounter a mid-level or higher first-tier demonic beast, wouldn't we just be throwing our lives away? Even though the elders are highly skilled, they can't protect all of us, can they?"

A young man asked loudly, and some disciples with lower cultivation levels nodded in agreement.

"You don't need to worry about this. The clan will provide you with a set of array flags, seven people per group, which is enough to resist ordinary mid-level first-tier demonic beasts."

If the demon beast is more powerful, the elders will intervene, but ultimately, not everyone can escape unharmed; in the end, you will have to rely on yourselves.

These words reassured many disciples, and Chen Qingmo's worried expression also lessened considerably.

Several more disciples then asked questions, all of which were answered by the Grand Elder.

A moment later, after the elder finished giving his instructions, everyone dispersed, but Chen Qingmo was stopped by Chen Qingyang.

"Qingmo, your fourth uncle passed away early, and you still have two children. This time, you will join my fifth uncle's team to hunt demons. Your eldest brother will take good care of you then."

Chen Qingmo nodded in agreement; he had already intended to join Uncle Wu's team.

Years ago, his grandfather, father, and fifth uncle Chen Kaixiang went to the Yuanhai Mountains to seek opportunities.

Unexpectedly, they encountered a high-level first-tier demonic beast, which injured them all.

Chen Qingmo's grandfather was equally powerful as the demon beast, so he held it back so that Chen Kaixiang could take his father and escape.

After the two fled, they waited for a long time before Chen Qingmo's grandfather returned, and they became worried. Once they could no longer detect the aura of the demonic beasts, they returned to the battlefield.

But only a mangled corpse and the severed limbs of two different monsters were left at the scene.

The two understood what was going on. After they left, another demonic beast appeared and together they killed Chen Qingmo's grandfather.

Chen Qingmo's father was consumed by anger at the time, which affected his mental state.

Not long after returning to his family, his injuries worsened and he passed away, leaving behind Chen Qingmo and his mother.

After this incident, Chen Kaixiang took extra care of Chen Qingmo and showed him great concern on a daily basis.

Upon realizing that Chen Qingmo lacked talent for cultivation, she found him a beautiful cultivator as a partner early on.

To Chen Kaixiang's surprise, after Chen Qingmo got married and had children, he found several opportunities and his cultivation level gradually caught up, and he was now on par with other cultivators of similar age in the family.

Chen Qingmo attributed this to his good fortune in marrying a wife and did not reveal the matter of the tortoise shell to anyone.

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.

Xinghe Village.

Chen Qingmo walked towards his home, and every now and then, villagers would greet him, which he would respond to with a smile.

Xinghe Village is located twenty miles northeast of Taixuan Mountain. It is usually inhabited by the families of cultivators, who take turns sending cultivators to oversee the village.

The remaining mortals lived in Xiyun Town, which was seventy miles away from Taixuan Mountain, and numbered about 15,000.

In the town, there are also low-level cultivators from other clans who marry into the Chen clan. If their offspring have spiritual roots when they grow up, they will be sent to Tai Xuan Mountain to cultivate.

Chen Qingmo's wife, Su Xue, was a rogue cultivator in the town, but Chen Qingmo was originally a cultivator within his clan, and his family lived in Xinghe Village.

Upon entering his own courtyard, Chen Qingmo saw Su Xue sitting at a stone table teaching her eldest son, Chen Weisheng, to read and write, while his mother held his younger son, Chen Weilan, humming a nursery rhyme.

"Mother, Xue'er, I'm back."

He called out, took his youngest son from his mother's arms, and sat down to play with him.

The little one giggled and laughed, creating a joyful atmosphere at home.

"My husband, I am pregnant."

After her youngest son calmed down, Su Xue spoke softly to Chen Qingmo.

A blush rose on her face; although she was already a mother, she couldn't help but feel a little shy about talking about such a thing.

A month ago, Su Xue experienced some vomiting and nausea, so she went to the village doctor for a diagnosis and was confirmed to have the condition after taking her pulse.

Chen Qingmo first showed a happy expression, then whispered softly to his wife:

"Xue'er, thank you for your hard work."

The clan allows cultivators to return home for a few days every three months, and Chen Qingmo usually does.

Three months ago, he returned to Xinghe Village and, in high spirits, spent several nights with Su Xue, never expecting that she would become pregnant again.

Su Xue nestled against Chen Qingmo's shoulder, her tone tinged with resentment:

"I wonder how many days my husband will stay at home this time. We only see each other a few times a year."

Chen Qingmo's mother watched the two of them with a smile. Since her son got married and had children, the house has become much more lively and is no longer as quiet as before.

"Xue'er, just stay for one night. Tomorrow I must return to Tai Xuan Mountain. There are still matters to attend to in the clan."

Chen Qingmo's voice carried a hint of apology.

Su Xue quickly stood up, and finally sighed, deciding not to ask in front of her mother so as not to worry her.

Although Su Xue is not a cultivator with the surname Chen, she can also go to Tai Xuan Mountain to cultivate because she has become a Daoist couple with Chen Qingmo.

However, she was not very talented, possessing a mixed spiritual root of five elements, and never went to the mountain cave again after giving birth to her child.

However, Chen Qingmo often left a few spirit stones for his wife to cultivate with whenever he returned home, and now Su Xue's cultivation has also broken through to the second level of Qi Refining.

Chen Qingmo paused for a moment, then handed the child to his mother and took out some rice and meat from the bundle beside him.

"Today I'll cook some spirit rice and eat some demon beast meat."

After he finished speaking, Chen Weisheng, who was standing to the side, shouted with joy.

"Yay! Let's eat meat! Let's eat meat!"

The others chuckled upon hearing this, while Chen Qingmo headed towards the kitchen.

After dinner, Chen's mother was watching the two children play in the yard, while Su Xue inside the house stared at Chen Qingmo with a worried expression.

"Many people from Mount Taixuan have returned to Xinghe Village today. Has something happened?"

Su Xue saw a number of cultivators during the day that far exceeded those she had seen before, and they all had a worried look on their faces. She had a guess in her mind, so she asked them about it.

Chen Qingmo briefly explained the situation, but did not mention that the spirit fields were depleted. He only said that the Yuanjian Sect was frequently collecting offerings, and the clan's offerings were somewhat insufficient, so they needed to hunt demonic beasts.

The matter of the spirit field is of great importance. If this matter is accidentally revealed to Xiyun Town, there is no guarantee that the other Qi Refining families will not harbor any disloyal intentions.

Su Xue nodded after listening, and then chatted with Chen Qingmo about other things until late at night.

The next day.

Chen Qingmo got up early, placed a few spirit stones on the table, and quietly left home.

Su Xue had also opened her eyes. After getting out of bed, she watched his departing figure and murmured to herself:

"My lord, please be careful in everything you do."

……

Chen Qingmo sped at full speed and returned to Tai Xuan Mountain in just 15 minutes.

He first went to the deacon's hall to collect some supplies, and then headed towards the meeting point at the foot of the mountain.

Once everyone had gathered, the elders each led a team to set off to hunt demons.

After half a month, only a few people from the three teams suffered minor injuries, and they have all recovered to a considerable extent after taking healing pills.

In order to hone the disciples' skills, the elders initially only sought out low-level first-tier demonic beasts for the disciples to hunt on their own.

Once the low-level monsters were no longer a threat, the team began hunting first-tier mid-level monsters.

That day, Chen Qingmo returned to his cave to cultivate, and at midnight, as usual, he glanced at the divination results.

He had thought it would be a neutral hexagram like the ones from a few days ago, but the pale gold characters in his mind's eye surprised him.