Return, the First Signs of Chaos
The mountain gate's Lv5 spiritual effect made Li Yunjing's eyes burn with desire.
It increased the overall concentration of Spiritual Qi within the Luozhen Sect by 10%.
This effect was precisely what Li Yunjing urgently needed at the moment.
Although a Second-Rank Spirit Vein lay beneath Serene Valley,
and the Spiritual Qi it released was enough to support the cultivation of Li Yunjing and the other seven members of the Luozhen Sect,
the problem was that this applied only to their current situation.
Once Li Yunjing reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage,
and Mo Xuan and Shui Yao succeeded in reaching Foundation Establishment,
the Spiritual Qi produced by this Spirit Vein would no longer be enough to support their cultivation.
The higher a person's cultivation, the greater their need for Spiritual Qi.
The Spiritual Qi produced by a Spirit Vein was limited, after all.
Not to mention that the Spirit Vein beneath Serene Valley was only a low-tier second-grade Spirit Vein.
If they wanted to continue cultivating in Serene Valley,
there was only one way: increase the overall concentration of Spiritual Qi in the valley.
But that was difficult to accomplish.
Unless they could upgrade the low-tier second-grade Spirit Vein,
or find a new, higher-grade Spirit Vein to replace it.
Another option was to set up a colossal Spirit Gathering Formation.
But no matter which method they chose, it would be extremely difficult to carry out.
Only setting up a colossal Spirit Gathering Formation offered any hope.
As long as they had Spirit Stones, never mind a colossal Spirit Gathering Formation,
even a super-colossal Spirit Gathering Formation could be set up.
The problem was that the Luozhen Sect was currently very poor.
It simply lacked the capital.
Thus, Li Yunjing wanted very much to upgrade the mountain gate to Lv5 immediately.
"Build a Spirit Vein Pavilion. Another new building," Li Yunjing muttered to himself.
The Spirit Vein Pavilion was a building constructed by every sect or lineage that possessed its own Spirit Vein.
Its main purpose was to observe the Spirit Vein,
checking its course, current condition, and so on.
Spirit Veins could move.
They did not remain in one place forever.
And through the Spirit Vein Pavilion, one could determine how much longer a Spirit Vein would remain in a given place.
The Second-Rank Spirit Vein in Serene Valley
had appeared here a little over a hundred years ago.
At the time, the few remaining cultivators of the Luozhen Sect had come to Serene Valley and settled here.
From then on, Serene Valley had become the Luozhen Sect's new base.
Judging by the average length of time a Spirit Vein remained in one place,
the Second-Rank Spirit Vein in Serene Valley would remain here for quite a long time yet.
Even so, building a Spirit Vein Pavilion was necessary.
Li Yunjing planned to find Zhang Hongzhi and have him build the Spirit Vein Pavilion.
He could also entrust him with the new buildings, such as the talisman room, at the same time.
Li Yunjing should originally have gone to see Zhang Hongzhi three months ago.
Unfortunately, Zhang Hongzhi had taken on another project at the time.
With no other choice, Li Yunjing could only wait for Zhang Hongzhi to finish his previous project before coming to help him.
Now that three months had passed, according to their original agreement,
Zhang Hongzhi should have finished his previous project.
He would come to the Luozhen Sect within the next few days.
After lingering in front of the cultivation room for a while,
Li Yunjing was about to return to his cave abode.
Just then, Zhang Hanpeng came running over.
"Sect Master, Junior Brother Lü is back!"
Li Yunjing was surprised.
He hurriedly told Zhang Hanpeng to lead the way.
Before long, Li Yunjing saw Lü Hong gulping down first-grade spirit water.
"Ahh, that hits the spot! I spent three months in that godforsaken place and couldn't even get a drink of spirit water. Nothing like the Luozhen Sect!"
Lü Hong laughed heartily, delighted.
Beside him, the siblings Hu Ruizhu and Hu Ruiyang had stars in their eyes.
"Senior Brother Lü, tell us about what happened to you."
"Yeah, yeah! Was Seven Ingenuities Mountain fun?"
"The Sect Master is here."
Ge Shuyuan suddenly called out.
The four immediately stood up straight.
When they saw Li Yunjing, they all bowed.
"Greetings, Sect Master."
Li Yunjing nodded, his gaze on Lü Hong.
"Let's discuss it in detail at Luozhen Hall."
With that, Li Yunjing led Lü Hong to the Luozhen Sect.
After the two left, the remaining four relaxed.
"Ah, I really want to go out and have some fun."
Hu Ruiyang plopped down on the ground, tilted his head back, and shouted.
Hu Ruizhu nodded in agreement.
She had stayed in the Luozhen Sect for a long time and was getting a little tired of it.
Zhang Hanpeng now put on the air of an authoritative senior brother.
"You haven't made a breakthrough in your cultivation, so why are you thinking about going out?"
Zhang Hanpeng kept a stern face.
Hu Ruizhu and Hu Ruiyang immediately ducked their heads.
"Senior Brother, Ruizhu and Ruiyang are still children. Don't be so serious."
Ge Shuyuan stepped in to smooth things over.
Zhang Hanpeng immediately deflated.
A helpless look flashed across his stern face.
"Junior Brother Ge, we're all still at Early Qi Refining, unlike Junior Brother Lü, who has already reached Mid-Stage Qi Refining.
If we were at Mid-Stage Qi Refining, I imagine the Sect Master wouldn't confine us to the Luozhen Sect.
So for now, we should focus on cultivating and strive to reach Mid-Stage Qi Refining as soon as possible."
"Senior Brother, if I reach Mid-Stage Qi Refining, how about you speak to the Sect Master and ask him to let me go out for a trip?"
Hu Ruiyang sprang to his feet and grabbed Zhang Hanpeng's hand, his eyes full of anticipation.
Zhang Hanpeng was amused when he heard that and laughed.
"If you really can reach Mid-Stage Qi Refining in a short time, I'll speak to the Sect Master for you."
"Good, it's a deal!" Hu Ruiyang immediately shouted in excitement.
Hu Ruizhu also came over and grabbed Zhang Hanpeng's hand. "Senior Brother, me too, me too!"
Zhang Hanpeng was helpless.
"As long as you do the same as Ruiyang, I can help you too."
Hu Ruizhu and Hu Ruiyang immediately cheered and jumped for joy, then went off hand in hand to cultivate.
Ge Shuyuan came over and lowered his voice.
"Senior Brother, you can't go back on your word."
Zhang Hanpeng glanced at him.
"Am I that kind of person? As long as Ruizhu and Ruiyang can do it, I'll definitely ask the Sect Master.
But can the two of them actually do it? I highly doubt it."
Zhang Hanpeng wasn't bragging.
When he cultivated around the Spirit Fields, his cultivation speed was far from slow.
Yet he was still a long way from Mid-Stage Qi Refining.
Hu Ruizhu and Hu Ruiyang had joined even later than Zhang Hanpeng.
Unlike Zhang Hanpeng, they couldn't use the Spirit Fields to help them cultivate,
and the cultivation room was occupied by the two elders.
Zhang Hanpeng didn't believe for a moment that the two could reach Mid-Stage Qi Refining in a short time.
Inside Luozhen Hall,
as soon as Lü Hong sat down, Li Yunjing asked,
"How are things on Seven Ingenuities Mountain?"
Lü Hong replied, "Very chaotic."
"From what this disciple learned over the past three months, the first signs of chaos have appeared on Seven Ingenuities Mountain. Quite a few rogue cultivators have disappeared for no apparent reason, with no bodies found.
This has led the rogue cultivators on Seven Ingenuities Mountain to start looking for new places to cultivate.
As for the few small lineages on the mountain, none of their people have disappeared at all, and they're thriving.
This has created tensions between the rogue cultivators and the small lineages on Seven Ingenuities Mountain.
There have been quite a few clashes between the two sides. A few days ago, the Zhao Household's eldest young master was even attacked by rogue cultivators and nearly died..."
Lü Hong first described the general situation on Seven Ingenuities Mountain.
Then he shared what he knew about the seven small lineages there.
Lü Hong had gathered all this information himself.
It included who belonged to each small lineage, who had the highest cultivation, and which young people showed potential, among other things.
The information was very detailed.
After Li Yunjing heard him out,
he made a simple assessment of the situation on Seven Ingenuities Mountain.
The seven small lineages on Seven Ingenuities Mountain were all weaklings.
As for Li Yunjing's concern-
that a young person of great talent and potential might suddenly appear, for example-
it was entirely unnecessary.
The six small lineages other than the Wang Household
were currently in a difficult position.
The first-grade Spirit Vein beneath Seven Ingenuities Mountain was showing signs of leaving.
This had caused the Spiritual Qi on the mountain to begin to wither.
The six small lineages already had many cultivators,
so as the Spiritual Qi withered, each cultivator could draw in less of it.
As a result, the number of new cultivators produced by the six small lineages had dwindled in recent years.
And they did not have a single talented younger member with potential.
Among the six small lineages, the best was the Zhao Household's eldest young master whom Lü Hong had just mentioned.
But even he had only a second-grade Root Bone.
And if he continued to stay on Seven Ingenuities Mountain, he could probably forget about reaching Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.
As for the chaos on Seven Ingenuities Mountain,
Li Yunjing did not particularly care.
He only needed to know that the six small lineages posed little threat.
In that case, there's nothing to worry about in protecting the Wang Household, Li Yunjing thought to himself...