Song Qingming has been feeling uneasy these past few months because he picked up Liu Tianlong's storage bag. This time when he came to Qinghefang, in addition to purchasing the necessary materials and pills, he also wanted to inquire about Liu Tianlong's situation and see if he was really dead.
After all, he was still a young man in his early twenties, and his mentality was not as sophisticated as those experienced monks. The wealth he obtained inexplicably made him feel guilty from time to time. During the time when he walked out of the Floating Cloud Mountains, he was sometimes even afraid that he was in a dream, and when he woke up, he was back to the time when he had just left Qinghe County.
It was a pity that he still didn't get the answer he wanted from his fourth uncle. The Liu family's shop was closed abnormally again, which made him start to worry again. After having lunch in the afternoon, Song Qingming said goodbye to Song Changqiu and his wife, and left Qinghefang with a heavy heart.
In Qinghefang, in the Lu family compound, Lu Yuanfeng looked at the communication talisman he had just received in his hand, with a somewhat grim expression on his face as he paced alone in the courtyard.
Lu Yuanfeng is a foundation-building cultivator stationed in Qinghefang by the Xiaoyao Sect. He has been stationed in Qinghefang for nearly thirty years. Qinghefang has always been peaceful without any major mistakes. He did not expect to receive a message of accountability from the elders of the sect's General Affairs Hall today, which really made him feel unhappy.
Lu Yuanfeng's right hand flashed with a light, and he quickly cast a spell. A golden light instantly shot out from his hand and flew out of the yard. Not long after, an old-looking monk in white clothes quickly came into the yard.
When Lu Yuanfeng saw the person coming, he quickly said:
"Wencai, I just received news from our sect's Uncle Guangling that the Liu family of Jingyuan Mountain have been secretly mining the Five Elements Spiritual Fruit Trees within the sect's territory. Take a few people to the market and seal up the Liu family's shop first, and have the Liu family cultivators guard it first."
After hearing this, Yuan Wencai replied with embarrassment, "Master, the Liu family's shop in the market has been closed for almost half a month. I'm afraid the people have already left. Liu Tianlong has always been honest and decent, but this time he's really too bold. He actually dared to set his sights on the Five Elements Spiritual Fruit Tree. Isn't he courting death?"
"Forget it. It seems that Liu Tianlong has thought of it a long time ago. You arrange someone to inform the Huang family about this matter and ask them to send someone to accompany us to Jingyuan Mountain tomorrow." Lu Yuanfeng said indifferently with his hands behind his back.
"Master, I wonder how the sect plans to deal with the Liu family this time. Do I need to inform Fifth Junior Brother about this?"
"Liu Tianlong must die. Uncle Guangling has explained in the letter that all other cultivators of the Liu family will be sent to Huoyan Mountain to mine ore for 30 years. Don't tell Huo Lin about it for now. I will naturally protect those who need to be protected. Jingyuan Mountain will be temporarily under the management of the sect. We will see if the nearby families can take in some of the mortals under the rule of the Liu family, and the rest can be directly migrated to Qinghefang." There was some sadness in Lu Yuanfeng's tone, and then he waved his hand to signal Yuan Wencai to retreat.
Yuan Wencai was the first disciple Lu Yuanfeng accepted after he established his foundation. He has always been very loyal to his master and is deeply trusted by Lu Yuanfeng. He has been following him in garrisoning Qinghefang for nearly thirty years.
The reason why he asked this question was entirely because of his fifth junior brother Huo Lin. His Taoist partner happened to be a female cultivator from the Liu family. The two of them had always been in love. This time, if something happened to the Liu family, he was afraid that it would implicate the two of them. Seeing that his master Lu Yuanfeng had already made up his mind, Yuan Wencai walked out with peace of mind.
——
Qinghe County, Baoshifeng Dujia
In the Du family's meeting hall, Du Shaoying, the head of the Du family, looked at the several Du family elders in front of him with a look of anger on his face.
"Shaokang, tell me, what's going on with Yucheng? You all came back, why did he suddenly join the Xiaoyao Sect?" Du Shaoying asked with an unhappy look on his face, looking at Du Shaokang who was trembling in front of him.
Du Shaokang was unlucky. He was in charge of leading the team on this trip to the Floating Cloud Mountains. One of the cultivators of the Du family who died happened to be close to the clan leader Du Shaoying. When he returned, he was speechless when Du Shaoying asked him questions.
Du Yucheng was a younger generation that the family did not value very much. Du Shaokang originally thought that he had died after being dragged into the pond. It was not until he came back that Du Shaokang found out that the soul mark he left on the family tree was still lit. Du Shaokang felt a little happy to know that he was still alive.
Until today, when he heard the news from the Du family cultivators in Xiaoyao Sect that Du Yucheng had joined the Xiaoyao Sect and became an inner disciple, Du Shaokang was shocked on the spot. He really didn't know whether Du Yucheng was crazy or the person in Xiaoyao Sect who recruited him was crazy.
Large sects like the Xiaoyao Sect have always been very strict in recruiting disciples. Generally, cultivators of common origin who want to join the sect have to start as lowly outer disciples. They recruit one or two hundred such disciples every year, and the competition is very fierce.
Only those who have a backer within the sect, or are recommended by the major vassal immortal cultivation families, can directly become inner disciples. However, the requirements are relatively high. One must be a cultivator with three spiritual roots or above, or a person with very talented immortal cultivation skills. Otherwise, becoming an outer sect disciple is not as comfortable as practicing in the family.
Du Yucheng's spiritual talent is not high, nor does he have any particularly powerful skills in cultivating immortals. It is unknown what the Xiaoyao Sect is interested in him. Du Shaokang thought hard for a long time, but still couldn't understand. Faced with Du Shaoying's questioning at this moment, he could only shrink his head and remain speechless.
Although the Du family gained a good harvest during this trip to the Floating Cloud Mountains, the inexplicable loss of two cultivators still had a great impact on the family. There were not many cultivators in the Du family to begin with, and now they have lost two young cultivators. It is no wonder that the clan leader Du Shaoying was so angry.
However, although they knew that Du Yucheng had joined the Xiaoyao Sect, they did not know the details. Du Yucheng has now become an inner disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect and has a chance to build a foundation. His status has changed drastically, and the people of the Du family don't know how to face him in the future.
At the Liu family in Jingyuan Mountain, Liu Tianlong was sitting on the hospital bed. Several elders of the Liu family were sitting in front of the bed, and everyone had a look of panic on their faces.
After a few months, although Liu Tianlong's injuries had recovered a lot, his face still had a look of desolation. The trip to the Floating Cloud Mountains seemed to have drained his energy and blood, turning him into a dying old man in an instant.
Liu Tianlong coughed lightly, sat up straight, and forced himself to ask a Liu family elder beside him, "Tianquan, have all the people in the market been evacuated?"
"Don't worry, clan leader. The shop in Qinghefang has been closed. Meng Cheng and his men retreated ten days ago, leaving only mortals guarding the shop," Liu Tianquan quickly replied to the respected clan leader.
Liu Tianlong has been the head of the Liu family for nearly forty years. When he took over as the head, the Liu family was still in decline. All the forces around the Liu family were eyeing this once foundation-building family. With his extraordinary courage and insight, Liu Tianlong quickly stabilized the family's decline and allowed the Liu family to slowly recover a lot of its vitality. Over the years, he has always been deeply loved by the clan members.
Liu Tianlong nodded and said, "A few days ago, Meng Chen sent a message from Xiaoyao Sect that someone offered a water spirit fruit tree to the Xiaoyao Sect and became an inner disciple of the Xiaoyao Sect. It should be the pearl we found this time. I'm afraid our trip to the Floating Cloud Mountains has been exposed."
"Could it be the people who were dragged into the pond by the black-feathered python that day? That person was really lucky. Not only did he not die, but he also found the location of the Water Spirit Fruit Tree. Alas..." Another elder of the Liu family sighed and said.
Liu Tianlong thought for a moment and said, "That should be it. I later sent people to investigate and found three people in total who were swept into the pond that day. Wu Ziyuan from the Wu family died in the pond, and Song Qingming from the Song family returned a month later. Only Du Yucheng from the Du family has disappeared and hasn't returned yet. He must be the one who went to Xiaoyao Sect. My storage bag must have fallen into his hands, which is why he guessed the location of the Shuiling Fruit Tree."
"Damn the Du family! They never thought that our Liu family would work hard for decades only to benefit from them in the end. If we had known this would happen, we might as well have just donated this Shuiling fruit tree to the Xiaoyao Sect." The Liu family elder's eyes grew redder as he spoke, and he hated the Du family deep down.
Liu Tianlong smiled bitterly. "Our failure today wasn't entirely our fault. Man proposes, God disposes. It's also just bad luck for our Liu family. I've already asked Meng Xin to leave Jingyuan Mountain. The family can't let her be a burden. From now on, she'll have to rely on herself."