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

Fallen?!

This was the first time a very ominous divination had appeared on the tortoise shell. Chen Qingmo looked at the blood-red characters and felt somewhat horrified.

Previously, the divination in Linyuan County indicated that the person would be seriously injured. Now, upon entering Annan Prefecture for the first time, the danger has become so great.

This shuttle cannot be used lightly; in fact, it must be disguised.

After a moment's thought, he finally decided to travel on foot.

The next day.

As dawn broke, Chen Qingmo left the inn and headed towards An'nan Prefecture.

He changed into a black outfit and wore a straw hat, looking no different from most of the people around him.

Most cultivators choose to come here for training. Annan Prefecture is not under the jurisdiction of sects or families, and there are many opportunities waiting to be discovered.

Chen Qingmo mingled in the crowd, traveling at a leisurely pace.

He had traveled more than ten miles into Annam province, and the atmosphere around him had clearly changed.

The sky, which was bright in Dongze County, seemed gray and hazy here. The cultivators were wary of each other and kept a considerable distance between them.

"Whoosh!"

A whooshing sound came from above, and Chen Qingmo saw a cultivator speeding along on a flying magical artifact.

Seeing how ostentatious the other party was, he wanted to know what would happen next.

He quickened his pace, following the man at a distance.

However, not long after, several cultivators with blood-red ribbons tied to their right arms suddenly appeared and launched an attack.

The person piloting the flying magical artifact was caught off guard, and their spiritual power went out of control, causing them to plummet.

His face was grim, and he pleaded, "Fellow Daoists, I don't need this flying artifact anymore. You can have it. Just let me go."

The leader smiled slightly: "Fellow Daoist, don't you even know the rules of the Blood Heaven Gang?"

"In our territory, you, a mere Qi Refining Stage 7 cultivator, dare to use a flying artifact? Considering this is your first offense, hand over everything you have to our gang, and you may live."

Upon hearing this, the rogue cultivator became enraged: "Don't push your luck! Taking all my possessions is no different from killing me!"

Before he could finish speaking, he didn't bother to put away his magical artifact and turned to flee.

The leader's face turned cold, and his tone became indifferent: "Catch up and kill them directly, no need to hold back."

He then turned to look at Chen Qingmo and the others.

"Fellow Daoists, as long as you abide by the rules of my Blood Heaven Gang, my gang will not do anything to you. Otherwise, unless you break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, you can expect to be hunted down by my gang."

Having said that, he went after the fleeing man.

Chen Qingmo was new to the area and was unfamiliar with the power structure of An'nan Prefecture.

We hadn't gathered much useful intelligence in Dongze County before, so we needed to find a place to investigate further.

Several hours later, he arrived at a place called Hongfengfang.

There are many stalls at the entrance of Hongfengfang, which specialize in selling information maps and similar items.

He spent three spirit stones to buy a portion, and then headed into the market.

"A map and intelligence report of Annam, one spirit stone per copy!"

Having only explored a third of the market, Chen Qingmo heard hawkers' cries again, and a hint of regret rose on his face: "I've lost money!"

The entrance price is three times higher than here; it's probably a rip-off for outsiders like them.

He shook his head slightly and found a secluded spot to open the map.

Annam Province is generally divided into four major regions: the Blood Sky Gang in the east, the Flying Cloud Society in the west, the Northern Wilderness Society in the north, and the Barbarian Army in the south.

Among the four major forces, the Yuman Army is an army dispatched by the Qi Kingdom to resist the barbarians, and many independent cultivators also join it.

The remaining three are all self-organized groups formed by independent cultivators, and their leaders are all Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Within the Blood Sky Gang's territory, those who haven't reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining are not allowed to fly using magical artifacts.

But when faced with a life-or-death crisis, cultivators don't care about so many rules; as long as they aren't detected by the Blood Heaven Gang, they're fine.

In fact, the Blood Sky Gang doesn't have that many informants within Annan Prefecture. Most of those who survive here are shrewd and have broken the rules before.

On the contrary, the border areas of An'nan Prefecture are close to Dongze County, and most of the people who come here are treasure hunters with low cultivation levels. If they go too far, the Blood Heaven Gang will seize all the cultivators' possessions, and if they resist, they will die.

Chen Qingmo then understood why there was such an ominous omen. He had the token and map of the Three Yuan Forbidden Land in his storage bag, and he certainly couldn't hand them over.

Fortunately, the tortoise shell gave him a warning in advance, and he escaped unharmed.

Chen Qingmo continued reading and found that the three major gangs were basically the same, except for the Yuman Army.

Because the Yuman Army had to defend against barbarian invasions, they conducted very strict checks on people entering and leaving the area, fearing that those with ill intentions might collude with the barbarians.

This has happened before; some cultivators who felt hopeless about breaking through would sell military intelligence to barbarians in exchange for resources.

That time, the Qi state suffered severe losses of its border territory, and it took hundreds of years to barely regain it.

Since then, the Imperial Barbarian Army has taken the investigation seriously, which has led to ordinary rogue cultivators rarely going there.

Chen Qingmo doesn't plan to go there for the time being. The three major gangs are relatively free, and every now and then someone will gather cultivators to go there to seek opportunities.

He has been stuck at the seventh level of Qi Refining for a long time, and now the most important thing is to break through his cultivation level.

After learning about the major forces, he had a general plan in mind.

Continuing deeper into the market, Chen Qingmo saw a large group of people gathered together.

He went closer and saw that it was a caravan recruiting guards.

"Anyone below the late stage of Qi Refining should stay away from this."

A monk who looked like a merchant shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, many of the onlookers dispersed.

"Fellow Daoist, where is your caravan headed?"

Just as Chen Qingmo was about to ask about this, a rugged-looking middle-aged man spoke first.

"Fellow Daoist, we are heading to Black Mountain City. The caravan will cover all food and lodging expenses for the more than 1,000 li journey. Upon arrival, we will give you fifty spirit stones as a reward."

"I see your cultivation is quite high, fellow Daoist. How about I give you an extra twenty spirit stones if you join the caravan?"

The merchant-turned-cultivator could sense that this burly man was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, so he immediately increased the stakes and invited him to join his group.

The burly man chuckled a few times: "Then thank you very much, fellow Daoist. My name is Li Mang."

"Fellow Daoist Li, I am Jia Buliao, the manager of the caravan."

"Haha, the name 'Manager Jia' sounds like someone who sells genuine goods."

After Li Mang finished speaking, he went to the caravan to wait for orders.

After hearing this, Chen Qingmo also prepared to join the caravan.

Black Mountain City is often the site of treasure hunts, and heading there was part of his plan.

He stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked, "Manager Jia, my name is Chen Bai. May I join the caravan?"

Jia Buliao glanced at him a few times, then smiled broadly: "Fellow Daoist Chen, you are so young yet you have already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. The caravan is most pleased to welcome you."

"But one thing is for sure, Fellow Daoist Chen's reward will not include the extra twenty spirit stones."

Chen Qingmo hadn't been thinking about this matter; his real purpose was to go to Black Mountain City along the way.

"Manager Jia is joking. My cultivation is inferior to Fellow Daoist Li Mang, so how could I presume to value myself?"

Jia Buliao smiled and nodded: "Then Fellow Daoist Chen can wait in the caravan. I'll gather some more men."

Chen Qingmo walked to the side of the caravan and stood near Li Mang.

"Fellow Daoist Chen, please take good care of me."

Li Mang nodded to him.

Chen Qingmo returned the courtesy and had a good impression of this rugged man.

Jia Buliao's caravan then recruited several more people, including two at the eighth level of Qi Refining and some at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Li Mang was the most powerful among them, and Jia Buliao himself was at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Apart from the servants, the entire caravan was extremely strong.

"Fellow Daoists, it is getting late. Let's rest for the night at Hongfengfang and set off early tomorrow morning."

"Don't worry, the caravan will cover the expenses tonight, but four people will need to take turns on night watch."

Fearing that some cultivators might complain, Jia Buliao quickly added a sentence.

Everyone nodded, and the two left behind to follow Jia Buliao to rest.