Chapter 658: Premonition

"Exactly, Ancestor, there's no need to worry. Senior Sun and Senior Mo have had a relationship with the Fu family for over a hundred years; they will surely arrive on time. Their rising status within the Demonic Flame Sect is inseparable from our strong support. Moreover, we've married off two of our most outstanding women as concubines to them; how could they possibly not come!" A thin-browed elder in a silk robe, standing next to the pale-faced middle-aged man, said respectfully.

"I'm not worried that our old friends, Senior Sun and Senior Mo, won't come. It's just that for some reason, the closer it gets to my birthday, the more uneasy I feel, as if something significant is about to happen. I'm truly concerned! Has our Fu family offended any powerful individuals or larger sects recently?" The Fu Family Ancestor twirled his long beard, a flicker of cold light in his eyes, his earlier smile completely gone.

Hearing this, everyone in the hall exchanged uneasy glances.

After a moment, the pale-faced man cautiously replied:

"Ancestor, as you know! Although our Fu family has prospered and grown powerful over the years, we've also offended countless families and smaller sects. However, the most hostile towards us are the Qin and Hu families. Could they be up to something?"

"It shouldn't be those two families!" The Fu Family Ancestor shook his head coldly. "Those two families could once contend with our Fu family, but now they have few high-level cultivators left. How could they stir up trouble?" However, after a frown, he hesitated and added:

"However, if those two families were to unite, or even combine with a few other hostile smaller factions, and launch a surprise attack during this occasion, it could indeed severely damage our Fu family. After all, years ago, to curry favor with the Demonic Flame Sect, our Fu family slaughtered many cultivators from those two families who strongly advocated resisting the demonic path. Now, the Qin and Hu families have been forced to abandon their foundations and hide in concealment. They harbor deep hatred for our Fu family. It's not impossible for them to do such a thing." The Fu Family Ancestor's face grew as dark as water.

"Then what does Ancestor mean?" the elder in the silk robe cautiously asked.

"Outwardly relaxed, but inwardly vigilant! Double the personnel at all guard posts. The fort's defensive array must be fully operational day and night, without a moment's pause. Especially for those unaffiliated cultivators with unknown identities, send more people to keep an eye on them." In an instant, the Fu Family Ancestor leaned his head back and closed his eyes, yet he issued a series of commands without any hesitation.

"Yes, your grandson will arrange it immediately!" The pale-faced middle-aged man acknowledged the order and promptly left.

The other junior members of the Fu family remaining in the side hall could tell the ancestor was in a bad mood. Each stood rooted to the spot, hardly daring to breathe.

"Tianyun, call your Third Uncle out. Tell him to put the Ironback Sacred Beast into the spirit beast bag and accompany me to the birthday celebration. Only he can command our Fu family's clan-protecting sacred beast!" The Fu Family Ancestor suddenly added.

"What? Ancestor, didn't you say previously that Third Uncle was in a critical period of cultivation and shouldn't be disturbed for this birthday?" The elder in the silk robe exclaimed in surprise.

"Hmph! What was before is before, and what is now is now. While we cultivators cannot truly achieve good fortune and avoid misfortune, or predict the future, sometimes inner premonitions are remarkably accurate. For caution's sake, we must be prepared. I'd rather be overly cautious than have our Fu family truly face a great catastrophe and suffer a disaster." The elder snorted coldly.

"Yes, I'll go call Third Uncle out of seclusion immediately." Seeing that the Fu Family Ancestor was about to get angry, the elder in the silk robe was startled and meekly agreed, then also left.

The Fu Family Ancestor was still not satisfied. Only after giving several more commands did he finally feel at ease.

He believed that with so many contingencies prepared, any potential trouble could be dealt with.

Outside, on an open hillside, a considerable number of rogue cultivators had gathered, numbering twenty to thirty.

They pointed at the purple mist, whispering amongst themselves about something.

Han Li, alone, mingled among these cultivators, silently observing his surroundings, appearing like a typical solitary rogue cultivator.

That there could be so many Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators in Yuanwu Nation truly surprised Han Li. Those who came to celebrate the Fu Family Ancestor's birthday must only be a small fraction of them.

In the past, in Yue Nation, apart from the Seven Sects, it was rare for rogue cultivators to achieve Foundation Establishment. Although Yuanwu Nation was larger than Yue Nation, he didn't expect such a vast difference.

Now, just over a century later, this situation had emerged, giving Han Li a profound sense of the world's transformations. He was secretly quite astonished by this.

Han Li didn't know that before the righteous and demonic paths went to war, most Foundation Establishment Pills were in the hands of major and minor sects and families, making it naturally difficult for rogue cultivators to achieve Foundation Establishment.

However, with the turmoil that began a century ago, many sects and families were embroiled in it. Incidents of entire clans being wiped out, their legacies severed, and their lines extinguished, became extremely frequent.

As a result, a large number of Foundation Establishment Pills circulated during the chaos.

While most were acquired by other sects and cultivation families, a considerable portion also fell into the hands of fortunate rogue cultivators.

This led to a sharp increase in the number of Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators in various nations over the past century, forming a considerable force. There were even some rogue cultivators who, by fortunate coincidence, seized the opportunity to form Golden Cores.

However, both the righteous and demonic paths, as well as the Heavenly Dao Alliance, adopted a strategy of absorbing these rogue cultivators if possible, and suppressing them if not. Although the number of high-level rogue cultivators surged, they could never coalesce into a cohesive force, thus failing to become a significant power.

As Han Li was pondering this, suddenly seven or eight streaks of red light shot forth from the sky. After the light subsided, a group of male and female cultivators dressed in fiery red robes appeared.

Leading them were two Core Formation cultivators: one with a face full of white pockmarks and a gourd at his waist, the other with an ordinary appearance but piercing cold eyes. Beside each of them nestled a beautiful female cultivator, and behind them followed four Foundation Establishment cultivators who appeared to be disciples.

"It's people from the Demonic Flame Sect," someone whispered, causing a stir among the rogue cultivators on the hillside.

"Those are Protector Sun and Protector Mo of the Demonic Flame Sect, who are in charge of external affairs. The two female cultivators beside them are the renowned 'Fu Family Twin Beauties,' rumored to have become concubines to these two seniors," a more knowledgeable rogue cultivator quietly told his companion in an even lower voice, as if afraid of being overheard by the Demonic Flame Sect cultivators.

With Han Li's divine sense, these words were naturally heard clearly. He couldn't help but glance at the two Core Formation cultivators from the Demonic Flame Sect. His gaze then swept over the female cultivators at their sides.

Indeed, they were two exceptionally charming women.

The Demonic Flame Sect cultivators paid no attention to the rogue cultivators. One of the Demonic Flame Sect disciples walked directly to the mist, raised his hand, and sent a communication talisman flying into it, then quietly returned behind the two Core Formation cultivators.

A moment later, the purple mist churned, and a passage opened on its own.

Several Fu family welcoming disciples emerged with respectful expressions.

Han Li took the opportunity to glance deeply at those Fu family disciples before expressionlessly retracting his gaze.

At this point, the group of Demonic Flame Sect cultivators entered the purple mist, and the mist closed once more.

Over the next one or two hours, more late arrivals—emissaries from other families and cultivators from smaller sects—arrived successively at the hillside and were likewise admitted by the Fu family members.

After a considerable wait, a middle-aged steward with a face full of apologies finally emerged from the purple mist.

"It is truly our Fu family's discourtesy to have kept you fellow daoists waiting for so long. This is not because the Fu family intends to discriminate against anyone, but rather because Fu Family Fort has limited space, and accommodating too many cultivators at once is difficult. That is why we can only invite you fellow daoists into the fort on the day of the birthday celebration itself. However, please rest assured! All fellow daoists who sincerely wish to congratulate our ancestor will be treated equally within the fort. The banquet has already been prepared in the main hall, so please follow behind and enter the fort together."

This steward was very eloquent, and with just a few words, he managed to dissipate most of the rogue cultivators' dissatisfaction.

So, after exchanging glances, these rogue cultivators, without saying much, followed the middle-aged steward into the mist.

Han Li walked calmly at the very end of the crowd, but after a short while, he imperceptibly vanished.

Neither the cultivators walking ahead nor the Fu family disciples responsible for monitoring the grand array detected any abnormality, as if he had never entered at all.

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Fu family stood within a magnificent hall, smiling and greeting the guests who had arrived earlier, ensuring that everyone felt deeply satisfied and not neglected.

There were two to three hundred guests in total; some had arrived that day, while others had been at Fu Family Fort for four or five days already.

Now that the day of the Fu Family Ancestor's birthday celebration had arrived, these individuals naturally gathered together, quietly awaiting his appearance.

Given the Fu family's soaring prestige in Yuanwu Nation, members of smaller families and rogue cultivators naturally offered continuous praise.

Even emissaries from slightly larger families and cultivators from smaller sects were all smiling, engaging in conversation with the Fu family cultivators.