Chapter 3854: Like Smoke Leaves the Pass

At the Wang family estate on Qinglian Island, Wang Yongqian sat in a secluded blue stone pavilion, holding a communication mirror with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Why would the Beast Heaven Sect, having a motive to hire assassins to attack Wang family cultivators, not participate themselves? The excuse that they dared not enter Nine Immortals Sect territory did not hold water. Even if they intended to deal with the Wang family, they should have targeted core family members. Why attack merchant teams when the merchant ships carried no rare cultivation resources? Putting himself in their shoes, Wang Yongqian, if he were a remnant of the Beast Heaven Sect, would never have acted this way. Even if he hired assassins, he would not have revealed his identity.

Wang Yongqian sensed something and cast a spell into the communication mirror. Wang Ruyan appeared on the mirror's surface.

"Yongqian, how are Qingshan and the others? Have they successfully cultivated into True Spirits?" Wang Ruyan asked. She had cultivated in seclusion for over ten thousand years and, with the help of Nine-Spirit Immortal Fruits and Sacred Spirit Immortal Apricots, had successfully cultivated into a True Spirit.

"Only Ancestor Qingshan, Ancestor Mengbin, Meng Li, Wang Lin, Ancestor Hongxue, and Wang Chan successfully cultivated into True Spirits; everyone else failed," Wang Yongqian reported. With twenty-six Nine-Spirit Immortal Fruits and twenty-six Sacred Spirit Immortal Apricots, seven people cultivating into True Spirits was quite good; it was entirely a matter of probability.

"That's not bad. With Qingshan cultivating into a True Spirit, Haoyang City will be more stable," Wang Ruyan said with a relieved smile.

"Ancestor, our family's merchant team was attacked. Ruixue and the others eliminated the invaders and soul-searched the enemies' Nascent Souls, discovering that Beast Heaven Sect cultivators had hired them to deal with us." Wang Yongqian recounted the details of Wang Ruixue and the others' encounter.

"Come to Qinglian Peak and report to me in person," Wang Ruyan instructed.

Wang Yongqian agreed, put away the communication mirror, and headed to Qinglian Peak. Wang Ruyan sat in a blue stone pavilion, an exquisite tea set laid out on the table.

Wang Yongqian provided a detailed report on the incident and the family's situation in recent years. Excluding spirit beasts like Wang Tunian and Wang Lin, the Wang family now boasted over fifty True Immortal cultivators, along with two True Immortal guest cultivators. The Wang family's rapid development was due to several factors: first, a large number of skilled professionals within the clan enabled them to earn immortal essence stones; second, they obtained many cultivation resources from the Beast Heaven Sect; and third, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan acquired significant resources from the Yunxuan Grotto-heaven. While forces like the Lan family, Zhenhai Palace, Li family, Ni family, Taiyi Palace, and the Spirit Race had all developed well, their True Immortal cultivator growth rate could not compare to the Wang family's. Many factors limited their development, with high-level enlightenment secret techniques being paramount, which they were constantly seeking.

"Beast Heaven Sect! Is there news about Beast Heaven Sect remnants?" Wang Ruyan asked.

"Ever since Beast Heaven Island was taken, Ye Ting and several other True Immortal cultivators disappeared without a trace and haven't shown up for tens of thousands of years. This merchant team attack feels strange; I'm concerned someone is using us as a pawn to target the Beast Heaven Sect," Wang Yongqian stated, expressing his thoughts.

Wang Ruyan gently tapped the table with her finger and said, "We'll observe how things develop. Tell the Dark Hall to keep an eye on the whereabouts of Beast Heaven Sect's True Immortal cultivators. They are indeed a hidden danger; we should find an opportunity to eliminate them."

"Yes, Ancestor. I've already informed Cui Yao to keep an eye out," Wang Yongqian replied.

"Are Chuanming and Mengshan in seclusion for cultivation?" Wang Ruyan asked casually.

"Not at all. They are keeping an eye on the descendants of the Li family. The Dark Hall is currently managed by Cui Yao, Xiu Kun, and a few others. The Li family descendants are hiding in Nine Immortals Market, so we can't do anything about them," Wang Yongqian explained.

"Li family descendants? Is that confirmed?" Wang Ruyan inquired.

"There's no concrete evidence yet. Chuanming said one of them used the unique divine ability 'Soul Annihilation Finger' from the 'Heavenly Soul Tome.' They've been investigating, but there's no actual evidence yet, only that the targets include at least two True Immortal cultivators," Wang Yongqian stated.

Wang Ruyan nodded, trusting Chuanming's competence.

Wang Yongqian took out his communication mirror, cast a spell, and Cui Yao appeared on the mirror's surface, her expression serious, as if she had made a major discovery.

"Family Head, the merchant ships of the Zhang and Meng families were attacked and suffered heavy losses. The Ice-Yuan Race and the Heaven-Dawn Sect fought fiercely; it's said that core members of the Ice-Yuan Race died at the hands of Heaven-Dawn Sect cultivators, and the Heaven-Dawn Sect claims the Ice-Yuan Race is blaming them unfairly," Cui Yao reported.

"Any other news?" Wang Yongqian asked.

"Fairy Xuewei of the Bright Moon Alliance went out on business, and her whereabouts are unknown. The Bright Moon Alliance sent many cultivators to search, but they haven't found her yet," Cui Yao reported truthfully.

"I understand. Report any other important news immediately," Wang Yongqian instructed.

Cui Yao agreed and cut the connection.

"What a coincidence, so many things happening at once. If you say it's a coincidence, I don't believe it," Wang Ruyan scoffed.

"Ancestor, do you mean that these incidents were orchestrated by a certain power?" Wang Yongqian asked, puzzled.

"Most likely the Nine Immortals Sect. If it were a coincidence, it would be too much of a coincidence," Wang Ruyan replied. If multiple subsidiary forces of the Nine Immortals Sect suffered incidents, and the culprits all pointed to the Bright Moon Alliance, then the Nine Immortals Sect intervening to deal with the Bright Moon Alliance would be fully justified.

"Nine Immortals Sect! Do they want to start a war?" Wang Yongqian frowned.

"It's highly possible. Spread the word that our family's merchant team was attacked by evil cultivators, losing five True Immortals, and these evil cultivators were hired by the Beast Heaven Sect. Also, that True Immortal cultivators from the Bright Moon Alliance are suspected of appearing in Nine Immortals Sect territory. Regardless of whether the Nine Immortals Sect orchestrated this, we should add fuel to the fire and seize the opportunity to deal with the Changyuan Race." Wang Ruyan instructed.

As the number of True Immortal cultivators in the family increased, the Wang family's financial pressure grew. If they could use this opportunity to acquire more cultivation resources, especially first-order immortal mines, it would alleviate the family's financial strain.

"Yes, Ancestor," Wang Yongqian agreed and departed.

About half a month later, multiple subsidiary forces of the Nine Immortals Sect claimed to have been harassed by forces affiliated with the Bright Moon Alliance, suffering heavy losses. They all reported to the Nine Immortals Sect, requesting that the sect intervene on their behalf.

On Cangyun Island, at the main headquarters of Cangyun Palace, countless perilous mountains and strange peaks dotted the island, with ancient trees reaching the sky and jagged rocks. Within a red valley surrounded by mountains on three sides, a red mist enveloped the area. A man's booming laughter, echoing through the heavens, emanated from the valley, spreading across half of Cangyun Island.

Passing through the red mist, one could see a sprawling estate with pavilions, towers, long corridors, and waterside pavilions. Chen Yao emerged from a red pavilion, looking excited. With the help of Sacred Spirit Immortal Apricots and other cultivation resources, he had successfully cultivated into a True Spirit.

He took out a red-glowing communication mirror, cast a spell, and Chen Guang appeared on the mirror's surface. Chen Yao asked, "Big Brother, have you and Second Brother cultivated into True Spirits?"

Chen Guang nodded, "We haven't been able to cultivate into True Spirits. Have you?"

"Yes, I just came out of seclusion," Chen Yao replied truthfully, a wide smile on his face.

"That's good. With six Sacred Spirit Immortal Apricots, it's quite good that at least one person cultivated into a True Spirit," Chen Guang said, overjoyed.

"It's a pity Xu Yuqian snatched the other Sacred Spirit Immortal Apricots, otherwise our Cangyun Palace would have more humanoid True Spirits," Chen Yao concluded, a murderous look on his face.

"We'll put this debt aside for now; once we advance to the Golden Immortal stage, we'll settle accounts with her," Chen Guang stated.

After a brief chat, Chen Yao put away the communication mirror and left his residence.