Led by Grand Elder Liu Qiusheng, the Liu Household's caravan soon descended Peach Blossom Mountain, passed through the villages and towns where the lineage's mortals lived, and began traveling among the steep mountain ridges.
Fortunately, although the mountain paths were rugged and difficult, everyone was a mid- or late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator. After casting the Lightness Technique, they were as light as swallows, able to cover hundreds of li in a day even along mountain trails.
The first day passed swiftly and without incident, as they were still within the lineage's territory!
From the second day onward, as they drew farther from Peach Blossom Mountain, the likelihood of encountering all manner of dangers grew, so they began to slow their pace.
To avoid ambushes by evil cultivators, Second Elder Liu Qiushui took two lineage cultivators ahead as a scouting party. Liu Changxu was one of them, and the other was his fifth elder brother, Liu Changshun.
Every year, after harvesting the spirit peaches, the lineage organized a caravan to take its various spiritual goods to the Purple Forest Market.
Yet this trade route had never been smooth sailing. On several occasions, the lineage's caravans had been wiped out to the last person along this road.
Aside from attacks by demonic beasts along the way, the greatest danger came from raids by evil cultivators. Most of these evil cultivators were rogue cultivators, though some were unscrupulous lineage cultivators in disguise.
Perhaps these evil cultivators were no different from ordinary rogue cultivators in their daily lives, but once they spotted their prey, they would call their friends and gather their companions to form a band and attack and rob their quarry.
Moreover, to keep their identities from being exposed, these evil cultivators would ruthlessly kill everyone to silence them, leaving not a soul alive.
These evil cultivators were particularly fond of targeting caravans from Qi Refinement lineages.
After all, most evil cultivators were rogue cultivators at Qi Refinement, while the caravans of Qi Refinement lineages were weak overall. With no Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding them, the chances of a successful raid were high, and the spoils were substantial once they succeeded.
Under Second Elder Liu Qiushui's lead, Liu Changxu and his fifth elder brother, Liu Changshun, soon pulled away from the lineage's caravan.
As they traveled, Second Elder Liu Qiushui instructed the two juniors on what they needed to watch out for when venturing into the world.
For instance, how to spot an ambush by evil cultivators, how to detect their scouts, and how to determine whether someone was an evil cultivator!
As an elder of the lineage, Second Elder Liu Qiushui wished he could impart every scrap of his experience to these two juniors.
They were, after all, the pillars that would one day hold up the lineage.
Both juniors were promising, especially Liu Changxu, who had a strong chance of reaching Foundation Establishment!
At this thought, Second Elder Liu Qiushui could not help sighing inwardly. Over the past hundred-odd years, the lineage has had no shortage of outstanding talents, but for one reason or another, they all perished too soon.
Only Liu Qiuju, the ninth of the Qiu generation, had become a Foundation Establishment cultivator. With her dual spiritual roots and considerable aptitude, and because she was a girl, she had been sent to the Azure Cloud Sect as a child. Although Liu Qiuju belonged to the Azure Cloud Sect, she had provided the lineage with a great deal of help after reaching Foundation Establishment. Without her assistance, the Liu Lineage's circumstances would have been even more difficult.
However, Liu Qiuju's help could only go so far. The Liu Lineage needed a Foundation Establishment cultivator of its own.
Hopefully, Liu Shihao will succeed in reaching Foundation Establishment this time!
As they traveled, Liu Changxu suddenly thought of Xiao Qing and released the spirit fox from the Spirit Beast Bag.
Xiao Qing was delighted to be let out. Though only lower-grade first-tier, the spirit fox was very swift and could easily keep pace with Liu Changxu.
Liu Changxu had released Xiao Qing because spirit foxes were naturally far more sensitive to danger than cultivators.
He hoped Xiao Qing could offer him some help. Besides, spirit foxes were quite good at sensing spiritual objects as well. Finding some spirit herbs or other spiritual treasures along the way would be welcome indeed!
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