Yan Siyi's Invitation

"My Grandfather knows about this matter. My coming to Tu Yuan Market Town this time is at Grandfather behest. Since I entered the Dao, I have always stayed in the Hundred Spirits Sect and rarely go out. I have no practical combat experience, so my foundation is really too weak."

"This is why, even though my Grandfather found me a lot of second-tier spiritual items, I still couldn't break through to the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment in a short time by relying on those spiritual items."

"That's why my Grandfather had me come to this Tu Yuan Market Town with these fellow disciples. We would occasionally venture into the Serpent Dragon Lake area to hunt Demon Beast, and then consolidate our foundation through battle, seeking the opportunity to break through the Fourth Layer Foundation Establishment and enter the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment."

Knowing the relationship between Ling Pengyun and Yan Cang, Yan Siyi answered in detail.

"That's good. When you enter the Serpent Dragon Lake to slay the Demon Beast, please be extra careful to avoid any accidents that might cause Senior Yan worry."

Upon hearing this, Ling Pengyun's worries subsided, and he stopped interfering in the matter, offering a few words of advice.

After all, Yan Siyi's Grandfather, Yan Cang, had agreed to the matter.

In addition, Yan Siyi also said that the other four Hundred Spirits Sect cultivators around them were arranged by Yan Cang, and were obviously people that Yan Cang trusted.

Just then, a young man with a noble air standing next to Yan Siyi frowned slightly as he listened to Ling Pengyun's words, which sounded like an elder's admonition, and spoke up.

"Junior Sister Yan, may I ask who this fellow Daoist is?"

Beside Yan Siyi, another burly middle-aged man also showed a hint of hostility in his eyes because of Ling Pengyun's excessive concern for Yan Siyi.

However, when he saw the Daoist robe Ling Pengyun was wearing, the hostility in his eyes immediately disappeared, and he instead revealed a thoughtful expression.

When the severely injured young cultivator saw Ling Pengyun's Daoist robe, he also revealed the same look in the eyes of the middle-aged strong man.

Yan Siyi felt somewhat displeased when she saw that "Senior Apprentice Brother Li" had interrupted her conversation with Ling Pengyun.

However, since that "Senior Apprentice Brother Li" had a background no weaker than hers, and had helped her a lot during the process of entering Serpent Dragon Lake to kill Foundation Establishment Demon Beast, she introduced him to him in detail.

"Senior Apprentice Brother Li, this is my Grandfather's good friend named Ling Pengyun. He comes from the Lingxiao Ling Clan in Huai River County. He once improved a Fine Grade Spirit Rice called Autumn Cloud Spirit Rice. Such an achievement is rare even in the sect's Spirit Plant Hall."

"He is an absolute genius of Spirit Plant."

The fact that Ling Pengyun has recently improved and developed a superior Azure Cloud Spirit Rice is still unknown to the others.

Afterwards, she gave Ling Pengyun a brief introduction to the identities of Senior Apprentice Brother Li and his group.

Senior Apprentice Brother Li's full name is Li Chuan. He is the son of Li Fu, one of the two deputy Hall Master of the Hundred Spirits Sect's Hall of Affairs. His cultivation level is at the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, and he is also a First-Tier Superior-Grade Artifact Refiner.

The burly man was named Qin Shi. He was a Body Cultivator with a cultivation level in the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment. He was a disciple of Zhang Yan, who was quite familiar with Ling Pengyun. He was also an elder of the Hall of Affairs.

The severely injured young male cultivator, who possessed a somewhat refined air, was named Xue Chao. He was the son of Xue Yuan, one of the two deputy Hall Master of the Hundred Spirits Sect's Talisman Hall. His cultivation was at the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment, and he was also a second-tier Talisman Crafter.

Aside from Yan Siyi, the other female cultivator was Ye Yu, the daughter of Ye Mu, the deputy Hall Master of the Alchemy Hall of the Hundred Spirits Sect, whose cultivation level was also at the Early-Stage Foundation Establishment.

When Ling Pengyun learned the identity of the person accompanying Yan Siyi, he couldn't help but sigh to himself.

"Those of high status, as expected, are not ordinary people who are close to the cultivators they associate with."

Aside from Yan Siyi, whom they had met a few times, any one of the other four was involved with the higher-ups of the Hundred Spirits Sect and was a worthy guest of the Ling Clan Foundation Establishment Family.

At the same time, he also subtly noticed that the relationship between Yan Siyi and her group of five was somewhat delicate.

The cultivator Li Chuan who had just questioned his identity, and the burly Body Cultivator Qin Shi, both had some interest in Yan Siyi.

Meanwhile, Xue Chao, the Talisman Crafter was seriously injured, had a bit of a crush on Ye Yu.

These behaviors are quite obvious and anyone with eyes can see them.

"According to what Fairy Yan just said, the other four were all arranged by Senior Yan."

"Thinking about it this way, it seems that Senior Yan's arrangement is also intended to find a husband for Fairy Yan."

"That fairy's father, Ye Yu, probably thought the same thing."

"And the people behind Qin Shi, Zhang Chuan, and Xue Chao are probably also aware of this matter."

Ling Pengyun made a guess to himself.

While Ling Pengyun was in a daze, Qin Shi, a burly Body Cultivator, and Xue Chao, Talisman Crafter, both had slight changes in expression after learning Ling Pengyun's identity.

Although this was their first meeting with Ling Pengyun, both of them, along with their backers, belonged to the faction of Spirit Talisman True Person of the Hundred Spirits Sect.

As a result, the two of them heard from their elders that Spirit Talisman True Person's daughter-in-law, Yang Siling, had a blood-related cousin named Ling Pengyun.

Qin Shi quickly cupped his hands to Ling Pengyun and said, "Ling Daoyou, I apologize for my rudeness. I once heard my master say that you live within the territory of Yuan Province, but I have been too busy with affairs to visit you. I hope you will not take offense."

Xue Chao followed, cupping his hands in greeting. "I, Xue Chao, had long heard from my father that Ling Daoyou was a person of exceptional talent. I never expected that Fellow Daoist would break through to such a realm at such a young age. I truly envy you."

Seeing Qin Shi and Xue Chao's proactive attempts to befriend him, Ling Pengyun roughly guessed why.

After all, when Yan Siyi introduced the two people's identities earlier, she also mentioned the identities of the people behind Qin Shi and Xue Chao.

The former was a disciple of Zhang Yan, the deputy Hall Master of the Hall of Affairs who had been on good terms with Ling Pengyun in his early years. Ling Pengyun knew that Zhang Yan was a member of the Spirit Talisman True Person faction.

The latter's father, Xue Yuan, the deputy Hall Master of the Hundred Spirits Sect Talisman Hall, was someone Ling Pengyun had met once at his nephew Wu Hong's Hundred Days Banquet. He also knew from his parents that his father was a member of the Spirit Talisman True Person faction.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, Fellow Daoist Xue, please don't make fun of me. I've long heard that Senior Zhang Yan has a disciple with extraordinary strength, and Senior Xue has an only son who is a genius at making talismans."

"I am deeply honored to meet you two fellow Daoists today."

After exchanging compliments with Qin Shi and Xue Chao, Ling Pengyun also bowed and greeted the Artifact Refiner Zhang Chuan and Ye Yu who were around Yan Siyi.

Zhang Chuan and Ye Yu, standing to the side, found it strange that Qin Shi and Xue Chao were so polite to Ling Pengyun, a Foundation Establishment Family Spirit Planter from a family with some talent.

They were well aware of Qin Shi and Xue Chao's identities. The former was very arrogant because of his profound cultivation, while the latter was aloof and rarely spoke. It was rare to see them lower their status like this today.

None of them were members of the Spirit Talisman True Person faction, and Ling Pengyun was only Yang Siling's cousin.

If you mention the name of Yang Siling's relative, the Peace Cloud Yang Clan, Zhang Chuan and Ye Yu would know it.

As for the Lingxiao Ling Clan, these high-ranking members of the Hundred Spirits Sect had never heard of them.

After all, there are at least dozens of the Foundation Establishment Family within the territory of the Hundred Spirits Sect, so it's normal that they haven't heard of the Ling Clan.

To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, Zhang Chuan, knowing that Ling Pengyun, a friend of Yan Cang, the head of the Spirit Plant Hall of the Hundred Spirits Sect, had another identity, put aside his hostility towards Ling Pengyun and returned the greeting with a cupped-hand salute.

Ye Yu is the same.

The group wasn't familiar with each other, and Ling Pengyun had important matters to attend to, so he bowed and took his leave.

"Gentlemen, I have some important matters to attend to, so I will not chat with you any longer. If we meet again another day, I will certainly have a good chat with you all."

Just as Ling Pengyun was about to leave, Yan Siyi glanced at Xue Chao, who was seriously injured from hunting the Demon Beast, frowned slightly, hesitated a bit, and called out to Ling Pengyun.

"Ling Daoyou, I would like to ask you for a favor this time. Is that possible?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Shi and the others roughly guessed what Yan Siyi wanted to ask, and all turned their gazes toward Ling Pengyun.

Upon hearing this, Ling Pengyun, who was about to leave, frowned, mindful of his friendship with Yan Siyi's Grandfather Yan Cang, and the fact that he had entrusted Yan Cang to help find the seeds of Ren Water Blue Cloud Grass last year.

He didn't refuse directly, but instead asked.

"Please speak, fairy."

Yan Siyi looked around and saw that there were people coming and going on the main road. She pointed to the nearest teahouse and said.

"Fellow Daoist, this is not the place to talk. Would you please go to a quiet room in that teahouse to converse?"

"Okay." Ling Pengyun nodded slightly in agreement.

Afterwards, Yan Siyi led everyone into the nearest teahouse.

Led by a waiter, we entered a private room in the teahouse.

After entering the private room, Ling Pengyun asked in confusion.

"Fairy Yan, this place is deserted. May I ask what brings you here?"

"Recently, Senior Apprentice Brother Li and I discovered a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment Black Armor Turtle Demon in a secluded small lake within the territory of Serpent Dragon Lake. Although Senior Apprentice Brother Li, Senior Brother Qin, and I are not highly cultivated, we each have our own methods."

"With our combined efforts, killing that Late-Stage Foundation Establishment turtle demon will be no problem at all."

"But to our surprise, just as we were about to kill the turtle demon, two more turtle demons at the Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment and dozens of turtle demons at the Qi Training Stage suddenly emerged from the small lake where the turtle demon was located."

"We had no choice but to retreat."

"The reason I want to ask Ling Daoyou for help this time is because of this matter. I plan to invite you to join us in slaying those three Foundation Establishment Realm turtle demons."

Ling Pengyun frowned upon hearing this.

With reservations in mind, he asked the question.

"Fairy Yan, if I may ask something I shouldn't, as far as I know, there are quite a few Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Hundred Spirits Sect stationed in this Tu Yuan Market Town. Given the identities of you five fellow Daoists, inviting those Foundation Establishment Cultivator to assist in hunting demons shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Yan Siyi said helplessly, "I won't hide it from you, fellow Daoist. Five months ago, after the triennial auction in Tu Yuan Market Town ended, the Spirit Array True Person Old Ancestor Mo, who was stationed in this Tu Yuan Market Town, led nearly 70% of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator stationed in Tu Yuan Market Town away and returned to his sect."

"This has resulted in the number of Foundation Establishment Cultivator of my Hundred Spirits Sect in Tu Yuan Market Town being pitifully small."

"A few days ago, we used our identities to invite the few remaining Foundation Establishment Cultivator in the market."

"But those Foundation Establishment disciples dared not leave their posts without permission, lest the Tu Yuan Market Town, which already had few Foundation Establishment Cultivator stationed there, suffer an accident while they were away, leading to the market being destroyed."

"We are not familiar with some of the independent Foundation Establishment cultivators or family Foundation Establishment cultivators within the market, and we cannot trust them."

"Furthermore, the three-headed Black Armor Turtle Demon is rare, and the materials on its body are of great use to me and Senior Apprentice Brother Li, so we are unwilling to give up so easily."

"Just now, before we returned to the market, we went to look for that three-headed turtle demon again, but unfortunately we were not strong enough, and Senior Brother Xue was injured as a result."

"If we hadn't met you today, we would probably have had to give up. However, with your help as a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, we might have a chance to kill those three Foundation Establishment turtle demons."

"If you agree, after we have destroyed those three Foundation Establishment Turtle Demons, we can give you a Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment Black Armor Turtle Demon Inner Core."

Upon hearing this, Ling Pengyun found it strange that Spirit Array True Person had brought most of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator stationed at Tu Yuan Market Town back to the Hundred Spirits Sect.

Tu Yuan Market Town is the closest place in the Hundred Spirits Sect's territory to Serpent Dragon Lake, and it is also the front line for the Hundred Spirits Sect to resist the Demon Beast of Serpent Dragon Lake.

Although the Demon Beast Uprising has passed, the Demon Beast in the Serpent Dragon Lake area still occasionally cause minor disturbances.

Once this Tu Yuan Market Town, which is equipped with Third Rank Array Formation, falls and is swept away by Demon Beast, it will be difficult to find another market in the entire Hundred Spirits Sect territory to form a defensive line.

At that time, it is likely that at least half of them will be occupied by Demon Beast.

As one of the three Golden Core Old Ancestor of the Hundred Spirits Sect Spirit Array True Person, Master Lingzhen would not normally allow Tu Yuan Market Town to be in such danger.

Lost in thought, Ling Pengyun suddenly recalled his last trip to the Hundred Spirits Sect, where he learned from his cousin Yang Siling that the Hundred Spirits Sect's guardian spirit tree, the Evergreen Spirit Tree, was only a few years away from successfully producing a three-hundred-year-old Evergreen Spirit Fruit that could assist a Foundation Establishment Completion cultivator in breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

Furthermore, Spirit Array True Person has a poor relationship with the other two Golden Core Old Ancestor of the Hundred Spirits Sect. However, the three-hundred-year-old Evergreen Spirit Fruit that the Evergreen Spirit Tree is about to nurture will fall into the hands of Old Ancestor Mo's grandson.

Thinking about it this way, the reason why Old Ancestor Mo, the Spirit Array True Person, led a large number of Foundation Establishment Cultivator back to the Hundred Spirits Sect became clear.

"It seems that Old Ancestor Mo brought a large number of Foundation Establishment Cultivator stationed in Tu Yuan Market Town back to the Hundred Spirits Sect to protect his grandson and obtain the three-hundred-year-old Evergreen Spirit Fruit that is about to ripen, so as to prevent the other two Golden Core Old Ancestor of the Hundred Spirits Sect from snatching the three-hundred-year-old Evergreen Spirit Fruit."

"In that case, Fairy Yan, Qin Shi, and the others were sent by their elders to travel hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Hundred Spirits Sect to this place. I'm afraid their elders didn't just want to arrange for them to become Daoist couples."

"Most likely, it's also to keep Fairy Yan and the others away from the Hundred Spirits Sect, which is about to descend into chaos, so that they can be preserved."

"This omen suggests that the Hundred Spirits Sect is about to fall into chaos." Ling Pengyun pondered for a moment, his doubts resolved, and he frowned.

The Hundred Spirits Sect is the upper sect of the Ling Clan. If something happens to the Hundred Spirits Sect, how can the Ling Clan, as an affiliated force of the Hundred Spirits Sect, fare any better?

However, Yan Siyi's concerns about inviting him to slay the demon immediately disappeared.

A single Middle-Stage Foundation Establishment demon Demon Beast is worth seven or eight hundred Spirit Stone, which is quite a lot.

Qin Shi and his group all came from extraordinary backgrounds and seemed extremely confident. Moreover, they fought the three Foundation Establishment Turtle Demons twice, yet only one of them was injured, clearly indicating that they each possessed some powerful abilities.

In addition, Ling Pengyun had some connection with Yan Siyi's Grandfather, Yan Cang, so he agreed.

"Alright, I agree to this, but only this once."