Shortly after, Xu Chuan flew back holding a black spike.
Xu Mingxian examined it carefully, "So this was Daoist Chongxu's trump card. A premium-grade magical artifact. No wonder he was so arrogant in the cave dwelling. If Father and you hadn't come, I really would have been in danger this time."
"As long as you understand," Xu Chuan said indifferently.
"Fortunately Father was perceptive and understood what my hasty round trip meant."
"Your big brother also figured it out. He's been very worried about you these past days, coming to me several times to ask about your situation."
"Thank you for coming to my aid, Big Brother." Xu Mingxian cupped his fists.
"You and I are blood brothers. There's no need to be so formal." Xu Mingwei pressed down on his fists, indicating he needn't be so ceremonial.
"What did you find?" Xu Chuan asked again.
"Two jade boxes containing thousand-year spiritual herbs. Big Brother and I don't recognize them. Forty or fifty spirit stones, several immortal cultivation techniques: the Earth-Shaking Formula, the Golden Radiance Formula, the Wood Spirit Formula, and the Azure Wave Formula. Together with the Heavenly Flame Art our Xu family already has, we now have a complete set of five elemental attributes.
"Additionally, four middle-grade magical artifacts, three offensive and one defensive, plus a low-grade defensive magical artifact. Unfortunately, that turtle-patterned magical artifact is already shattered beyond repair, otherwise I could have tried to mend it."
"Blame me for that." Xu Mingwei touched his nose.
"Is there more?" Xu Chuan asked again.
"There's also a Breath Concealment Technique. Earlier, Daoist Chongxu appeared before me at early seventh layer of Qi Refining, and I completely failed to see through it. Truly exquisite."
"Excellent." Xu Chuan finally showed a smile, "From now on, all members of our Xu family who enter the Dao through martial arts must learn this technique. This way they won't need to stay hidden for years and can directly conceal their cultivation to appear at the second or third layer before others."
"The immortal cultivation world already has techniques for entering the Dao. It's just that those at innate perfection who transition to the immortal path only start at the first layer of Qi Refining. Add my pill Dao assistance for breaking through to the second or third layer, and it would seem plausible."
"Father speaks truly. Your child also had this concern before, wondering how future generations of the Xu family would conceal themselves when dealing with others once we become a Qi Refining family."
Xu Chuan nodded slightly.
"Father, there's also a token in Chongxu's storage bag. Please take a look."
Xu Chuan accepted the token. On its front was carved the character for "Three," while on the back were the characters for "Rogue Cultivator."
"The Third Elder of the Imperial City's Rogue Cultivator Alliance?"
Xu Chuan's brows furrowed slightly, "No wonder a rogue cultivator could produce a premium-grade magical artifact and high-grade talismans. If he was the Third Elder of the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, that's not so strange."
"What kind of force is the Rogue Cultivator Alliance?" Xu Mingwei asked in surprise.
Xu Mingxian explained, "A third-rank power in Great Wei, with a mid-stage Foundation Establishment Alliance Master presiding over it. They've recruited numerous rogue cultivators. In terms of strength alone, they're far more powerful than the two Foundation Establishment families of our Yuehu Commandery combined."
Xu Chuan tossed the token onto Daoist Chongxu's body, along with his storage bag. Then he activated the Phoenix Furnace. As its lid lifted, a large quantity of departing fire flames poured out.
They incinerated his corpse, token, and storage bag until nothing remained.
"A pity about that entry-level storage bag."
Of the three, Daoist Chongxu, Zhang Yanzhi, and Jinhu, only Chongxu's storage bag was entry-level. Zhang Yanzhi and Jinhu both had low-grade storage bags.
"Oh right, there are still some formation texts in the cave dwelling. I'll go get them. Father, Big Brother, wait for me."
Xu Mingxian remembered something and immediately returned to the cave dwelling.
He not only took the texts but also dug out the third-rank white jade circular platform, because the platform itself was inscribed with exquisite spirit-gathering formations.
Additionally, he brought out Zhang Yanzhi and Jinhu's corpses to be incinerated as well.
Only after seeing the three bodies completely reduced to ashes did Xu Chuan and his sons set off to return to Qingjiang Dongxi.
…
At the same time.
Imperial City, Southern District.
The Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
A cultivator guarding the life lamps saw the Third Elder's life lamp extinguish and immediately reported the matter to the Grand Elder.
"Track them through the token and storage bag. Both have secret techniques on them that can trace their whereabouts."
"Yes, Grand Elder."
But a moment later.
"Grand Elder, the Third Elder's token and storage bag have both been destroyed. The secret techniques have already failed."
The Rogue Cultivator Alliance's Grand Elder's expression turned grim. In his heart, he very much wanted to curse at whichever rogue cultivator or family's scion was this cautious.
It was normal for the token to be destroyed, but an entry-level storage bag worth eighty spirit stones, just discarded like that?
But with Rogue Cultivator Alliance disciples present, he had to maintain the Grand Elder's dignity.
After a short while, he sighed softly, "Go ask the disciples in the alliance if anyone knows the Third Elder's whereabouts recently."
Several hours later.
"Grand Elder, a disciple says they once happened to see the Third Elder walking with two non-alliance rogue cultivators in the pill workshop district. No one else has heard anything."
"This Elder understands. Let this matter rest here. I'll tell the Alliance Master when he emerges from seclusion."
"Yes, Grand Elder."
After the person left, the Grand Elder sighed softly, "Third Brother was trying to play the pig to eat the tiger again, but unfortunately this time he encountered a tough opponent."
"However, Third Brother himself was at peak Qi Refining, had a breath-concealing secret technique, and that Shadowless Spike was not only a premium-grade magical artifact but also ideal for ambushes. Even against another peak Qi Refining cultivator, a single moment of carelessness could result in being directly assassinated.
"What kind of tough opponent did he encounter to end up dead?"
After a pause, he murmured in a low voice, "Third Brother, oh Third Brother, it's not that the alliance won't avenge you. It's just that they were too careful. Even if we wanted to, there's nowhere to look."
If they could pinpoint the location of his death, they might be able to investigate the surrounding area and potentially find the culprit.
As things stood, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance was powerless.
…
After Xu Chuan and the others returned, he had multiple copies of the Breath Concealment Technique transcribed.
Xu Chuan himself, Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingxian, and Xu Deling all found time to begin cultivating it. When cultivated to great completion, it could conceal three levels of cultivation.
As for Wu Tao and Shen Qingyi, their aptitude was average, and their cultivation speed was already not fast, so they proceeded at their own pace.
Zhang Wanqing had recently become engrossed in pill refinement. Though she had true spiritual root aptitude, her cultivation speed was also not particularly fast.
The thousand-year spiritual herbs were placed in Xu Chuan's care.
Those jade boxes were also excellent treasures, capable of sealing in spiritual energy to prevent dissipation. Otherwise, over several hundred years, even thousand-year spiritual herbs would decay.
The Qi Refining stage cultivation techniques were stored in the family ancestral hall, becoming part of the family's heritage.
The middle-grade magical artifacts along with the premium-grade Shadowless Spike were all in Xu Chuan's storage bag, ready to be bestowed upon family disciples in the future.
Xu Mingxian had his eye on that Shadowless Spike and came to Xu Chuan once to ask for it but upon hearing it was planned for Xu Mingxuan in the future, he dropped the matter and instead devoted himself to studying the formation texts and receiving the formation inheritance from the green jade slip.
The formation knowledge in the jade slip was more comprehensive than he had imagined. There were restriction formations for blocking divine sense and divine consciousness, soul restrictions, breath-concealing formations, and even the long-lost Star Array.
The first two weren't uncommon; it was just that second-rank and above divine consciousness-blocking restrictions were relatively precious.
Breath-concealing formations were also rare, seldom heard of.
If one mastered them, one could refine breath-concealing jade pendants. These were common in ancient times, but nowadays few understood this formation technique.
As for the Star Array, it had long been lost.
Legend had it that it could gather starlight and convert it to spiritual energy, improving a blessed land, possessing creation-like effects.
However, its array materials required Star Origin Stones, which were extremely difficult to find nowadays.
The formations in the inheritance were complex, with no shortage of composite high-level formations and ancient formations. Comprehending them was extremely difficult, and Xu Mingxian had no idea when he could fully comprehend them all.
Of course, he himself was also full of fighting spirit.
The higher his formation attainments, the greater his hope of walking the path of battle formations in the future.
The only regret was that this inheritance jade slip only contained formations below the third rank.
After the inheritance ended, the jade slip shattered directly.
For the following period, he remained in seclusion, devoted to his research.
Even with talent, one still needed personal diligence to achieve anything.
The third-rank white jade circular platform that Xu Mingxian brought back was installed in a newly constructed quiet chamber, where everyone could take turns meditating.
Sitting cross-legged upon it, cultivation was indeed somewhat faster than usual. However, Xu Chuan, Xu Mingwei, and Xu Mingxian didn't need to use it since they were all at either the eighth or ninth layer of Qi Refining.
Due to spiritual energy concentration issues, the white jade platform's effect was minimal for them.
Therefore, they yielded it to juniors like Xu Deling and Wu Tao.
Time passed like a white colt flashing by a crack, and in the blink of an eye, three months had gone.
The Xu family peacefully celebrated another year-end sacrifice. However, the major martial families in Yuehu Commandery city were filled with worry.
Yang Family Ancestral Residence.
"It seems the conflict between the Su family and the Zhou family can no longer be avoided. Tell me, how should we choose?" Yang Wenfeng surveyed everyone in the hall.
All important figures of the Yang family were present at this moment including Yang Zhao.
His martial talent was average, stuck at the innate perfection realm like many elders.
"Have you all become mute?"
His brows drew together like two swords clashing, his authority heavy, pressing down upon the entire hall until the atmosphere became exceptionally stifling.
"Yang Yan, you have the finest aptitude among the immortal cultivators our Yang family has nurtured, and also the highest cultivation. Speak your thoughts."
Yang Yan, wearing a crimson-gold wide-sleeved robe and in his forties, had miscellaneous spiritual root aptitude. His cultivation was at peak sixth layer of Qi Refining, stuck at the bottleneck for several years now.
This was the result of the Yang family's full efforts in cultivation.
Otherwise, for a rogue cultivator of this age and aptitude, fifth layer of Qi Refining would be the maximum.
There were three others, but their aptitude was only pseudo spiritual root.
One was older than Yang Yan, one was about the same age, and one had just turned twenty.
"Old Family Head, in my opinion, we shouldn't get involved. If it's unavoidable, we should choose whoever is most advantageous to our Yang family. Currently, this young nephew is stuck at peak sixth layer of Qi Refining.
"If we could obtain a Barrier Breaking Pill, this young nephew is confident of breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining."
Yang Wenfeng nodded slightly, "I'll consider your suggestion. What about the rest of you?"
The Grand Elder said, "This old man's suggestion is the same as Yang Yan's."
Several other elders then chimed in agreement.
Opinions varied throughout the hall.
After a while, "Yang Zhao, what about you? What are your thoughts?"
Everyone turned to look in the direction of the voice.
They saw Yang Zhao with his head bowed in silence. After a moment, he raised his head and said, "We absolutely must not get involved, unless our Yang family has the foundation and strength to do so."
The Seventh Elder said angrily, "Could it be you haven't heard that some of our Yang family disciples have mysteriously died recently? This is the consequence of refusing the Su family last time.
"Must your own child die before you can empathize?!"
"No, Seventh Elder," Yang Zhao said. "When family disciples die without cause, Yang Zhao naturally empathizes. But if our Yang family currently had the foundation of a top-tier fifth-rank martial family, with multiple grandmasters at the perfection realm, I wouldn't speak this way.
"Rashly getting involved in a war between top immortal cultivation families brings our Yang family harm without benefit."
The Second Elder stroked his beard thoughtfully, "But this isn't about whether our Yang family is willing. The Su family is pressuring us. I imagine the Zhou family will come calling soon as well."
"But our Yang family isn't some ordinary lower third-rank minor clan. Even if we wanted to deal with an eighth or ninth-rank family, we couldn't go too far and slaughter their entire clan overnight, could we?"