The World Is Growing Unsettled!

Things had only just been peaceful for a few years.

Sure enough, the skies over White Cloud Commandery changed at the drop of a hat...

In late autumn that year, a message talisman flew out of White Cloud Temple and reached the major Foundation Establishment Lineages in every county of the commandery.

Its contents were brief: Elder Yun Du, acting head of White Cloud Temple, was entering a secluded retreat from that day forward to attempt a breakthrough to the Golden Core realm. During his retreat, the temple's affairs would be temporarily overseen by Second Elder Song He...

The White Cloud Minor Gathering, held once every five years, was consequently canceled.

Each Lineage need only pay its spirit tax on time and decide all other matters for itself.

When the message talisman reached the Sun Clan's council hall, Sun Bo'an was eating porridge.

After reading it, he set the talisman paper on the table and took another two spoonfuls before speaking slowly. "Kezheng, what do you think?"

Sun Kezheng sat across from him, his brows knotted together.

"Yun Du is trying to reach Golden Core... can he succeed?"

"Doubtful."

Sun Bo'an set down his bowl and calmly wiped the corner of his mouth. "It's true that Yun Du is at the Peak Foundation Establishment Late Stage, but his age is there for all to see."

"A Foundation Establishment cultivator lives two hundred and forty years, and the best age for Core Formation is before one hundred and eighty. Yun Du has been famous for a long time; he's at least two hundred."

"At most, he has another twenty or thirty years left to live..."

"The older he gets, the harder it is to achieve Core Formation. His foundation and potential are both on the decline. This retreat of his... eight times out of ten, he was forced into it."

"Forced?"

"The Supreme Purity Sect gave White Cloud Temple twenty years." Sun Bo'an held up his fingers to show the number. "Nearly three years have passed now, leaving seventeen."

"If they can't produce a Golden Core cultivator within seventeen years, White Cloud Temple will be pulled out by the roots."

"Yun Du has no choice but to gamble. He's treating a dead horse as though it were still alive."

Sun Kezheng fell silent for a moment. "But what if... he succeeds?"

"If he succeeds, White Cloud Temple will go on being its local emperor. We'll pay rent when we're supposed to and bow our heads when we're supposed to. Nothing will change."

"What if he fails?"

Sun Bo'an picked up his bowl of porridge and blew on it, a cold sneer on his face. "Then things will get lively!"

After news spread that the White Cloud Minor Gathering had been canceled, the cultivation forces in White Cloud Commandery's nine counties reacted in different ways.

On the surface, everyone was farming and cultivating obediently, but beneath it, a restless undercurrent began to spread.

The first to move was the Chen Clan of Hong'an County.

The Chen Clan's head, Chen Yu, was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, the one who had lost seventeen clansmen in the battle at Cangshi Valley. Chen Yu bore grudges and had a long reach. The clan had put down deep roots in northern White Cloud Commandery over three generations.

In less than half a month, the Chen Clan hosted a tea gathering, joining with two other Foundation Establishment forces to "make friends through literary pursuits."

They called it a gathering to taste tea and discuss the Dao, but in reality, they were forming a clique.

The three attending factions had six Foundation Establishment cultivators between them, plus two or three hundred minor Qi Refining cultivators. Once they banded together, they became the largest cultivation alliance in northern White Cloud Commandery...

Immediately afterward, the Zhao Clan and the Liu Clan in the south could no longer sit still either.

They followed the example, making frequent visits to one another in private.

By the twelfth lunar month, three invitations lay on Sun Bo'an's desk.

The first came from the Chen Clan. It was politely worded and invited the Sun Clan to a "New Year tea gathering."

The second came from the Zhao Clan, proposing that they "discuss jointly developing the old mine at Cangshi Valley."

The third was the most direct. It came from an independent Foundation Establishment cultivator named Han Qing, who got straight to the point in his letter: White Cloud Temple was a great building on the verge of collapse, and those who understood the times should make plans early. He was willing to form an alliance with the Sun Clan and plan their future together.

Sun Bo'an spread the three invitations out on the table and studied them for a long while. Then he folded them one by one and put them back in their envelopes...

"Send replies."

"For the first, say an elder of the Sun Clan is unwell, so it would be inconvenient to travel far. We'll meet another day. Remember to send a modest gift, so they don't think we lack manners."

"For the second, say the Sun Clan has no resources to spare for the old mine at Cangshi Valley at present. Thank the Zhao Clan for its kind offer, and say we can discuss it again if a suitable opportunity arises in the future."

"The third..."

Sun Bo'an paused, then tossed Han Qing's letter into the brazier.

"Don't reply."

Sun Kezheng watched the letter burn to ashes and said quietly, "I've heard that Han Qing is a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Rogue Cultivator with quite ruthless methods. He swallowed up two minor Qi Refining clans in the south."

"Won't we offend him if we don't reply?"

"Then let him take offense."

"That sort of man is desperate for quick gains. All he can think about is seizing territory amid the chaos. White Cloud Temple hasn't fallen yet, and he's already itching to jump out."

"If Yun Du succeeds in Core Formation, the first people he deals with will be this bunch scheming behind the scenes."

"If we get mixed up with him, wouldn't we be courting death?"

Sun Kezheng thought about it. That was indeed reasonable.

"Most importantly..." Sun Bo'an lowered his voice and jerked his chin toward the mountain behind them. "The old ancestor is still in seclusion."

"Until the old ancestor speaks, the Sun Clan has only one word to follow-steady!"

"Whoever tries to recruit us, we turn them down. Whoever comes to sound us out, we play dumb."

"We're just a small, law-abiding Lineage in Hongtian City. We tend our spirit fields, sell talismans and pills, and provoke no one."

From then on, the Sun Clan played the grandson.

In the days that followed, they kept an ever lower profile and refused to stick their necks out for anything.

The market opened as usual, and the spirit tax was paid as usual.

Even the clan's disciples dressed more plainly than before, each looking as though the clan had no grain, worse off than some Rogue Cultivators.

When they had money, they spent it quietly.

When visitors came, they saw them off politely.

But keeping a low profile did not mean doing nothing. Before Shi Jian entered seclusion, he had given Sun Bo'an a word of advice: "Make fewer friends and raise more fighters."

Sun Bo'an turned those words over several times. At the start of spring that year, he began recruiting Rogue Cultivators from outside as guest elders under the title of "Sun Clan guards."

The terms were not especially generous, but they were not bad either.

Five jin of spirit rice a month, a cave abode provided for cultivation, no indenture contract, and freedom to come and go. The only requirement was to follow orders.

The pay was neither too much nor too little, the work was neither too much nor too little, and their freedom was unrestricted.

The terms were lenient, and the selection was not strict, so quite a few people actually applied. After all, such good work was hard to find these days!

After the beast tide, a great many Rogue Cultivators had lost their hunting grounds and bases.

Some no longer even had a place to shelter. Though five jin of spirit rice a month was not much, food and lodging were covered, and being able to cultivate in peace was already quite good.

Three came in the first month.

Seven came in the second.

After half a year, the Sun Clan had gained twenty-one Rogue Cultivator guest elders, ranging in cultivation from the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. All of them were self-taught cultivators with no sect background...

Most, however, had fairly good reputations, and many had previously done business with the Sun Clan.

They were therefore considered reasonably reliable. These Rogue Cultivator guest elders did not normally go up the mountain; their daily task was simply to maintain order in the market...

Occasionally, they patrolled the area around Hongtian City to check whether the territory under their rule was peaceful.

One of them was worth mentioning.

His surname was Zhou, and his given name was Sun. He was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer Peak.

He practiced the saber, not the sword.

On the day he came, he carried an iron saber with a rolled edge on his back. His clothes were in tatters, and two fingers were missing from his left hand...

Sun Bo'an asked him, "You're at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. How did you end up like this?"

Zhou Sun planted his saber in the ground. "I offended someone I shouldn't have and was hunted for half a year. I gave up the fingers in exchange for my life."

"Where are you from?"

"The south."

"Who was hunting you?"

"Dead."

Sun Bo'an studied him for a long time, then handed him a cup of tea.

"Stay. Your monthly pay will be twenty jin of spirit rice and one bottle of Qi Condensing Powder. Patrol the outskirts for the Sun Clan, and there'll be extra rewards if you do well."

"You're not asking anything else?"

"No." Sun Bo'an looked away. "On the Sun Clan's turf, as long as you follow the rules, no one cares about your past."

Zhou Sun took the tea and, showing his forthright nature, drained it in one gulp.

Night fell.

Sun Bo'an walked alone to the entrance of the rear mountain and stood for a long time, gazing at the mountain gate sealed by the formation, his eyes full of anticipation.

Spiritual Qi churned within the formation, and faint, muffled beast roars came from its depths. It seemed... some kind of transformation was taking place.

Sun Bo'an pressed his palms together and murmured, "Old ancestor, the waters outside are being stirred ever muddier."

"Please... don't keep this junior waiting too long."

Deep in the rear mountain.

A storm of Spiritual Qi suddenly erupted inside the cave abode. Streaks of light like cracks were spreading across the surface of Shi Jian's enormous black body...

The barrier to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage within his body was gradually beginning to loosen.