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

"Fellow Daoist Chen, did you come to Black Mountain City to join the treasure-hunting team?"

Instead of answering directly, Jia Buliao asked a question in return.

Chen Qingmo nodded, without hiding anything.

Most cultivators who come here are here for this reason; those in the Qi Refining stage have a higher survival rate if they travel in groups.

"That Black Mountain Token can be of great help to you. You can find out its specific function by showing the token at the Black Mountain Pavilion."

"Mr. Jia has some urgent business to attend to, so he won't stay any longer."

Jia Buliao smiled mysteriously, letting Chen Qingmo find out for himself.

"Black Mountain Pavilion?"

Chen Qingmo muttered to himself, but suddenly felt some unusual movement in the tortoise shell in his sea of ​​consciousness. He tried to sense it carefully but found nothing unusual.

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.

Outside the Yuanjian Sect, in the Small Medicine Valley.

Chen Weisheng, with blood at the corner of his mouth, was fleeing at top speed.

He held the long sword that Xu Jun had given him, and the area between his thumb and forefinger was cracked from the impact.

The black panther, with a pair of jet-black horns on its head, was hot on its heels; it was a mid-level first-tier demon beast, the Bull-Horned Panther.

During his time at the Yuanjian Sect, Chen Weisheng had already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, a speed far faster than when he was at Taixuan Mountain.

He had come out on a sect mission, thinking he only needed to gather some medicinal herbs.

Unexpectedly, a bull-horned leopard suddenly appeared in the small herb valley and attacked him when he was relaxed after gathering herbs.

Caught off guard, Chen Weisheng was struck hard, and only managed to escape thanks to the Surging Wave Sword Technique taught by his master.

"Pooh!"

He spat lightly, expelling the blood from his mouth.

The bull-horned leopard is extremely fast, and its two horns are hard and sharp. Just a graze on its body will cut off a piece of flesh. With his current cultivation level, he would have a hard time dealing with it.

The first overlapping wave of the Surging Wave Sword Technique can slow down the enemy's movements. Whenever the Bull Horned Leopard is about to get close to Chen Weisheng, he uses this move to create distance.

After repeated back and forth, the bull leopard gradually lost patience.

After chasing for nearly half an hour, the horned leopard finally stopped. It glanced at Chen Weisheng, who was still running away, and returned to the vicinity of Xiaoyao Valley.

"Hiss—ha—"

Chen Weisheng clutched his stomach, panting heavily from exhaustion.

With most of his spiritual energy depleted, if the bull-horned leopard continued its pursuit, he would truly perish here.

He swallowed a healing pill, sat cross-legged, and began to practice breathing exercises to recover.

"How could a demonic beast appear in Little Medicine Valley? Could it be...?"

Chen Weisheng recalled that the reward for this mission was unusually high, quite different from usual, and guessed that someone had deliberately lured the monsters.

After all, the sect had just inspected several nearby medicinal fields, and failing to report it would certainly result in punishment.

He usually takes on the most of these kinds of tasks, and anyone with ulterior motives could easily find out his whereabouts with a simple investigation.

Seeing that his spiritual power had recovered considerably, he did not linger and continued his journey back to the sect.

"Ah, the human heart is unpredictable."

Chen Weisheng sneered inwardly. The Yuanjian Sect was not bad, but it was not immune to the presence of parasites.

He wasn't making baseless accusations; he had witnessed and even experienced them firsthand.

Shortly after Chen Weisheng left, a figure appeared.

This person had just driven away the bull leopard so as not to leave any evidence against him.

"A century-old feud cannot be so easily severed. The Chen family will have to pay back what they owe us sooner or later."

……

After returning to the sect, Chen Weisheng first delivered the spiritual herbs required for the mission, and then headed to his cave dwelling.

"Wei Sheng, are you injured?"

On the way, Qin Wangyue noticed that he was weak and asked him with concern.

"Sister Wangyue, I encountered a demonic beast on my way, and I'm slightly injured."

Chen Weisheng grinned.

Although the two were not on the same peak, they maintained close contact.

In particular, Qin Wangyue has already begun to show her talent for immortality, and many fellow disciples from various sects are very envious of Chen Weisheng.

"Yes, be more careful in the future."

Qin Wangyue gently patted his head.

The two chatted for a while longer before parting ways when Qin Wangyue remembered she had to go to the Pill Pavilion.

Back in his cave, Chen Weisheng activated a magic array to prevent any disturbance.

While evading the bull horn leopard's pursuit, he used the Overlapping Waves sword technique multiple times, and now he feels he has made some progress.

He activated his sword technique, and a pale blue light emanated from his body, like ripples on water.

If his previous sword techniques were ripples in the water, then now those ripples have transformed into layers of waves, which, with continuous accumulation, will eventually become endless waves like the ocean.

"I wonder how my parents and younger siblings are doing now."

Having been at Yuanjian Sect for nearly two years, he knew nothing about the current situation at home.

Thinking of this, he immediately took out paper and pen to write a letter.

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.

Stone wall desert, Black Mountain City.

Chen Qingmo is currently in the Black Mountain Pavilion, where he has finally learned the function of the Black Mountain Token.

This item was made by the Lord of Black Mountain City. The holder of the token can inquire about a lot of information in Black Mountain Pavilion, such as some secret realms or treasure troves.

However, all of these opportunities are for those at the Qi Refining stage; all information regarding those at the Foundation Establishment stage requires the Black Mountain Pavilion to consult the City Lord.

Chen Qingmo, on the other hand, used the token to learn a secret about Black Mountain.

More than a hundred miles northwest of Black Mountain City lies a place called the Wind-Eroded Forest, where fierce winds blow so fiercely they can even injure Foundation Establishment cultivators.

However, the strength of the gale is reduced by 99% every two days around the new moon and the last day of the lunar month.

Some people have obtained elixirs from it and directly broke through from the eighth to the ninth level of Qi Refining.

These are all the publicly available information; Black Mountain Pavilion also possesses secrets unknown to most cultivators.

The real treasure is the white chalcedony in the wind-eroded forest; the medicinal herbs only have their miraculous effects after absorbing the white chalcedony.

This is the conclusion reached by the Black Mountain Pavilion after many explorations. They have obtained many spiritual medicines from them, but none of them can help people break through.

It wasn't until someone accidentally obtained white chalcedony that they discovered it was the true breakthrough material.

However, this item is hard to find and only works for those at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. Therefore, Black Mountain Pavilion gave this information as a secret to Qi Refining cultivators who possessed the token.

Chen Qingmo was somewhat excited upon hearing the news.

"Fellow Daoist Ma, besides me, are there any other cultivators heading to the Wind-Eroded Forest?"

He looked at a steward inside the Black Mountain Pavilion, a man named Ma Xi.

"Fellow Daoist Chen Bai, if I were to leak this information, would my Black Mountain Pavilion still be able to continue operating?"

Ma Xi glanced at it and rubbed his fingertips together.

Chen Qingmo understood instantly and immediately took out ten spirit stones and secretly stuffed them into Ma Xi's hand.

Seeing that he was sensible, Ma Xi created a soundproof barrier and whispered, "Besides you, there is another Qi Refining Level 8 cultivator and two Qi Refining Level 7 cultivators."

"Fellow Daoist Chen Bai, please don't even think about teaming up with others. It's better that you don't have such a treasure. But if you did get it, how would you divide it among yourselves?"

Ma Xi accepted the spirit stone, but to ease his conscience, he offered another word of advice.

Black Mountain Pavilion is in the business of selling information; as long as you have enough spirit stones, there's nothing they can't reveal.

They would pay to buy most of the intelligence; nobody doesn't want to earn spirit stones, so intelligence would naturally come to them.

Over the years, they have monopolized news within a radius of hundreds of miles.

Moreover, with the Black Mountain City Lord backing them up, no one dares to do anything to them.

Of course, they have no say in the private transactions between cultivators.

Chen Qingmo nodded slightly; he understood the matter as well.

While there are indeed many upright cultivators, most rogue cultivators only care about themselves.

What's the point of teaming up for treasure hunting? In the end, it all comes down to whether you have a conscience or not.

For Qi Refining cultivators like them, such a treasure that could directly break through their cultivation level would truly drive them to a frenzy of killing.

Chen Qingmo understood the principle that ruining someone's future is tantamount to taking their life.

With some time still to go before the new moon and the last moon, he prepared to refine some talismans.