The Tide Turns

Mu Family Medicine Garden.

The next day, Lan Chang'an moved into the large courtyard Ge Alchemist had previously occupied.

This courtyard had originally belonged to the Medicine Garden Guardian, but Ge Yi had seized it due to his formerly lofty status.

Before Mu Renlong left, he had searched Ge Yi's courtyard, leaving behind nothing valuable.

Lan Chang'an moved in for the privacy and spaciousness.

It would make it easier for him to draw talismans and study alchemy.

As well as raise spirit pets.

Beneath the courtyard's basement was a hidden little tunnel, too narrow for an adult to pass through.

It was the Earth Rock Rat's exclusive passageway.

Over the next two days, reinforcements from the Mu Family arrived one after another.

Aside from mortal farmers and servants.

There were only six cultivators.

After looking them over, Lan Chang'an secretly shook his head and summed them up in eight words:

Old, weak, sickly, crippled; too many women, too few men.

There were four youths at the Qi Refining First and Second Layers, three of them little girls.

There was also an elderly woman at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, her eyes dim with age and her lifespan nearing its end, responsible for tending the medicinal herbs.

And one dark-skinned young man with a lame leg, leaning on a cane.

Oh, that lame young man was Li Ergou.

Two months ago, Li Ergou had broken his leg in a fall on the front lines. The family had granted him half a year to recuperate.

The Medicine Garden happened to be short-handed, so they transferred him here to recover.

"Brother Lu truly deserves to be called a martial hero! You actually joined forces with Eldest Miss and drove off that Qi Refining Seventh Layer traitor!"

After they met, Li Ergou marveled endlessly and pressed him for the details of that day.

The little girls in the Qi Refining Early-Stage looked at him with clear, admiring eyes, with a faint fire of gossip flickering beneath.

Joined forces and drove him off?

Lan Chang'an nodded. "Eldest Miss did most of the work. I merely held him back from the side."

The Mu Family's public account suited Lan Chang'an perfectly.

He had some guesses as to the specific reasons.

For one thing, they could not tell outsiders details such as the Mu Family's daughter falling unconscious.

That would easily stir up wild speculation and damage her reputation.

So they simply claimed that the two of them had joined forces to drive Ge Yi away.

Secondly, it could enhance the Mu Family daughter's reputation and earn her merit within the clan.

Since Mu Xiuyun's cultivation was higher and she was Eldest Miss, outsiders would naturally assume that she had been the main force behind Ge Yi's defeat.

"Oh, right, Brother Lu. These are letters from Zhao Siyao and Lin Yi."

Li Ergou handed over two letters.

Over the past year, while Lan Chang'an had been stationed at the Medicine Garden, letters from outside had been delivered to the clan grounds.

Letters between the major powers mainly relied on household servants, messengers, carrier pigeons, and the like.

The upper echelons of immortal sects had more advanced means of communication.

Lan Chang'an first read Lin Yi's two letters.

The first letter congratulated Lan Chang'an on becoming a First-Order Talisman Master.

It mentioned the conflict between the Mu Family and the Zheng Family, subtly indicating that Lin Yi did not think highly of the Mu Family's chances and warning Lan Chang'an to stay alert.

The second letter had been sent last month. Lin Yi said that he had established an organization in the mortal world called the "Hidden Immortal Pavilion."

This organization primarily served cultivators.

With a small number of rogue cultivators as its backbone, it recruited martial arts experts from the mortal world to gather intelligence and search for cultivation resources and treasures scattered among common folk.

In the future, Hidden Immortal Pavilion intended to do business with rogue cultivators, run errands for sect disciples, and build connections.

"Not a bad idea." Lan Chang'an pondered.

In the letter, Lin Yi invited Lan Chang'an to join and promised him the position of deputy pavilion master.

If Lan Chang'an declined, Lin Yi would not force the matter.

At the end of the letter, Lin Yi earnestly requested that Lan Chang'an sell him a batch of Basic Talismans and First-Order Low-Grade Talismans at a fair price to facilitate Hidden Immortal Pavilion's early development.

Naturally, Lan Chang'an would not refuse.

Lin Yi had helped him before as well, such as gathering information on the Mu Family and introducing him to the Loose Cultivator Trade Fair.

Lan Chang'an replied, agreeing to provide Lin Yi with twenty Basic Talismans and ten First-Order Low-Grade Talismans in the first batch, priced at the wholesale purchase rate of Marketplace shops.

As for Hidden Immortal Pavilion, Lan Chang'an did not agree to join.

Maintaining a cooperative relationship was no problem.

It would give Lan Chang'an another channel through which to learn intelligence from the lower strata of the Cultivation World.

He then opened Zhao Siyao's letter.

In it, Zhao Siyao asked after Lan Chang'an's recent circumstances and mentioned her general situation in the sect.

Zhao Siyao also knew that he had become a Talisman Master and expressed her delight in the letter.

"Qi Refining Seventh Layer? Preparing to compete for Core Disciple status?"

Lan Chang'an caught a key piece of information.

Golden Cloud Valley's Core Disciples had to be under forty years old, and there were only thirty positions.

Most were formidable cultivators at the Qi Refining Eighth or Ninth Layer.

Zhao Siyao intended to try competing for one after reaching the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

At Golden Cloud Valley, the greatest advantage of being a Core Disciple was receiving priority access to Foundation Establishment Pills over Ordinary Disciples.

Lan Chang'an was not particularly optimistic about Zhao Siyao.

First, compared to Core Disciples, Zhao Siyao's aptitude did not stand out.

Core Disciples generally possessed Mid-Grade Spiritual Roots or better, with a small number having High-Grade Spiritual Roots.

Second, Zhao Siyao had no advantage in background. Although there had been cultivators among her ancestors, she did not come from a cultivation lineage.

She was not even as well situated as disciples whose parents were rogue cultivators.

In the Cultivation World, the phenomenon of "relying on one's father" was severe.

Without support from elder cultivators, one's starting resources would be far inferior.

Zhao Siyao's sole advantage was her outstanding beauty and temperament, making her rather prominent among female cultivators.

But such beautiful female disciples, if they did not attach themselves to disciples with backing or become subject to the unspoken rules of senior figures, could sometimes attract trouble instead.

In his reply to Zhao Siyao.

Lan Chang'an enclosed three Mid-Grade Talismans, including one premium-quality talisman.

These three talismans were more than enough to repay the ten Spirit Stones he had borrowed years ago.

By using talismans to repay the debt, he demonstrated his value to Zhao Siyao amid the exchange of favors.

Only an experienced First-Order Talisman Master could possibly produce a premium First-Order Mid-Grade Talisman, and even then, the chances were very low.

"With Zhao Siyao's intelligence, mentioning her bid for Core Disciple status in advance may mean she hopes I can lend her support later."

This letter might be laying the groundwork.

Should he lend Zhao Siyao some support?

Lan Chang'an felt that he could make an appropriate investment.

Because this was a low-risk, high-return investment.

At this stage, Zhao Siyao had yet to rise. This was precisely the time to offer charcoal in snow.

Once she became a Core Disciple, her hope of advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm would be far greater than that of ordinary cultivators.

Suppose Lan Chang'an lent 100 Spirit Stones, while Ergou and Lin Yi each lent fifty.

That would be two hundred Spirit Stones in total, no small sum for a Qi Refining Late-Stage cultivator, nearly equal to the value of a Mid-Grade Magical Artifact.

If Zhao Siyao succeeded in Foundation Establishment in the future, what would such a small amount of Spirit Stones amount to?

He could treat it as an advance congratulatory gift.

At that time, all three of them would have a Foundation Establishment Realm backer. When they sought Foundation Establishment themselves, they would also have an expert to look after them.

Even if Zhao Siyao failed at Foundation Establishment.

The loss of a few Spirit Stones would not hurt Lan Chang'an at all, given his current wealth.

And besides, as long as she did not die from failing Foundation Establishment, the Spirit Stones she borrowed... would still have to be repaid.

Once the Medicine Garden's manpower had been replenished.

Lan Chang'an instructed the Mu Family girls on how to patrol and keep watch, as well as how to operate the formation.

These Qi Refining Early-Stage girls had only recently shed their status as Immortal Seedlings and understood very little.

Lan Chang'an often had to teach them hand by hand.

Fortunately, in this life, Lan Chang'an cultivated the Longevity Cultivation Art and had a comparatively calm temperament, so he did not lose his temper.

"Have you heard? The family head returned, and the marriage alliance with the Maple Leaf Huang Family fell through!"

"Fell through? What happened?"

During a break, three Mu Family girls chatted about gossip.

"Originally, our Mu Family wanted to marry Eldest Miss to Huang Yu, the Huang Family's young master, to foster cooperation between the two families. But the Huang Family made outrageous demands. They actually refused to grant Eldest Miss the status of principal wife, offering her at most the position of equal wife."

"How outrageous! Eldest Miss is so exceptional, and she is even a Talisman Master... The Huang Family has no sincerity at all."

"Ah, the Huang Family has three Foundation Establishment cultivators in one clan, and their young master has a High-Grade Spiritual Root. They truly have the capital to be arrogant."

Lan Chang'an's senses were keen, and he caught snippets of the girls' gossip.

He had come from a cultivation aristocratic family in his Previous Life, so he understood the Huang Family's actions instead.

He even vaguely guessed at the Huang Family's scheme...

But there was no helping it. The Maple Leaf Huang Family was far stronger, while the Mu Family was presently in danger and at a disadvantage.

The two sides stood on completely unequal footing.

The surrounding cultivation families watched coldly as the Mu Family and Zheng Family fought.

The scales of victory were tilting toward the Zheng Family.

However, ten days later.

A startling piece of news arrived.

Zheng Yuanhua, an elder of the Zheng Family, had died under mysterious circumstances!

Zheng Yuanhua was at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and one of the Zheng Family's foremost Qi Refining Realm experts.

The entire Mu Family celebrated with raised hands, seemingly certain of the news's authenticity.

The Mu Family also had informants within the Zheng Family, though their status was not high.

A clan elder like Zheng Yuanhua would often have a Soul Tablet within the family.

Once he died outside, the family would immediately know.

Lan Chang'an suspected that this news had been delayed to some extent.

"How did Zheng Yuanhua die? I heard they did not even find his body?"

Lan Chang'an was puzzled.

The Beast Taming Token and Flying Boat in his Storage Bag had both come from this man, so he paid particular attention to him.

By Lan Chang'an's judgment, without two or three cultivators of the same rank joining forces, or someone in the Foundation Establishment Realm taking action, it would have been difficult to kill Zheng Yuanhua at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.

Defeating someone and killing someone were two entirely different concepts.

With one death, the situation reversed!

The Mu Family became forceful in the frontline Mine Area.

Though the Mu Family's young and able cultivators were inferior to the Zheng Family's.

They now possessed a clear advantage in high-end elder-level combat strength.

Zheng Yuanhua's status was equivalent to Mu Renlong's in the Mu Family. One could well imagine the significance.

Not long afterward, news came from the front lines.

The Zheng Ancestor and the Mu Family Old Ancestor reopened negotiations and reached an agreement.

Both sides ceased hostilities.

The Zheng Family made concessions, agreeing to jointly oversee and evenly divide the Associated Mine of Violet Heart Copper.

That day, Lan Chang'an stood atop a mountain peak, gazing toward Moon Heart Island at the center of Jade Moon Lake.

"She has returned."

From afar, he sensed the return of that Mu Family Old Ancestor's aura.

This confirmed the news from the front lines.

The dispute between the two great cultivation families appeared to be drawing to a close.