58: Chapter 59 Joining Forces with the Luo Family

A golden cicada wing landed on Baili Mountain.

Baili Mountain remained gray and white, its slopes not particularly high, with sparse vegetation and large patches of fine, white, bare stones.

Jiang Yuhe stepped off the cicada wing, the wound on her abdomen still throbbing with pain.

The golden wing seemed to possess a spirit of its own; as soon as she landed, the golden light between its veins pulsed gently, then it shrank back to the size of a palm and transformed into a stream of light, heading toward Cangya Ridge.

At the foot of the mountain, Jiang Shoushan appeared.

He stepped out from the shadow of a white stone, his short blade half-drawn. Seeing it was Jiang Yuhe, his expression relaxed.

"Yuhe."

He looked her up and down, his gaze quickly falling on her abdomen.

"Are you injured?"

Jiang Yuhe shook her head.

"It's nothing major."

Jiang Shoushan didn't ask further and turned to lead her up the mountain.

Along the way, the hidden sentries on Baili Mountain had been withdrawn. People from the Chen Family and Sun Family peered from afar, and seeing Jiang Yuhe return safely, many breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Chengning was already waiting in the newly built wooden house.

The house was built in a mountain hollow that barely gathered Qi, surrounded by several small spirit fields where green sprouts had already emerged.

Jiang Chengning sat at a wooden table, his face still pale from a sleepless night, while Lin Suwen poured him tea.

After Jiang Yuhe entered, everyone's gaze fell upon her.

She sat down at the table and placed the Storage Pouch on it.

Jiang Yuhe began by recounting her trip, starting from when she entered the marketplace last night. She described how she sold the Medium Grade Grain Rain Spirit Resources and Spirit Rice, how she entered Canghu Pavilion, how she encountered the Tooth-Seeking Envoy, and how she met Young Master Gu Xingzhi at a tea stall.

When the High Grade Clear Qi technique appeared at the auction, she sold the Foundation Establishment method for Grain Rain combining with Pin Water to Young Master Gu Xingzhi in exchange for three hundred Spirit Stones.

At this point, the expressions of everyone in the room changed.

Lin Suwen couldn't help but ask: "You can sell a Foundation Establishment method?"

Jiang Yuhe replied calmly: "I only sold the path combining Grain Rain with Pin Water."

She looked at Jiang Chengning.

"Young Master Gu Xingzhi also cultivates Grain Rain, and there was a Foundation Establishment-level Pin Water Spirit Pill at the auction called the Mysterious Pin Origin-Returning Pill. That pill can increase the success rate of Pin Water Foundation Establishment, and Young Master Gu Xingzhi eventually bought it for eight hundred and fifty Spirit Stones."

Jiang Chengning quickly understood her intention.

"You deliberately gave this path away."

Jiang Yuhe nodded.

"The previous encounters with Pin Water Spirit Resources, Pin Water Magical Artifacts, and the Hidden Cloud Concealment Talisman all seemed like someone was guiding me toward the path of Grain Rain combining with Pin Water. Since the person behind the scenes wants this path, I let Young Master Gu Xingzhi walk it."

She continued:

"The Young Lord of the Gu Family is already a Grain Rain Cultivator, and he possesses the status of a noble Family and excellent Spirit Resources. Now, with the Mysterious Pin Origin-Returning Pill and the Breakthrough method, he is far more suitable to be that chess piece than I am."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Jiang Chengning nodded slowly.

"This move is risky, but it is the right one. If the person behind the scenes wants a Grain Rain and Pin Water Foundation Establishment, Young Master Gu Xingzhi is a much more conspicuous target than the Jiang Family. The Gu Clan has vast resources and is better equipped to withstand the pressure than we are."

Jiang Yuhe continued to talk about the pursuit by the Shen Clan.

The Hidden Cloud Concealment Talisman had exhausted its power during the escape and was destroyed. Shen Zhaowei's cultivation was the Frost Shadow, a combination of Winter Solstice and Clear Qi, with extremely powerful Sword Qi, and the tracking mark had been planted within the marketplace.

She and Young Master Gu Xingzhi joined forces to force back Shen Zhaowei, after which Young Master Gu Xingzhi took her to Cangya Ridge to seek help. The Saint Child of Cangya Ridge stepped in to hold the Shen Clan accountable, ultimately penalizing the Shen Clan with three years of marketplace revenue to be given to Cangya Ridge, and forcing the Shen Clan to pay compensation in the form of a High Grade Grain Rain Spirit Resource.

Her account was brief, but it left everyone shocked.

Lin Suwen remained silent for a long time before saying: "These noble families today flip their faces faster than flipping a book."

Jiang Yuhe didn't respond, instead laying out the items from the Storage Pouch one by one.

A cyan-white Jade Slip, which was the High Grade Clear Qi technique, "Clear Blade Cleansing World Technique."

A Winter Solstice Medium Grade Spirit Resource, "Mysterious Frost Bone."

An Awakening of Insects Medium Grade Spirit Resource, "Hibernating Thunder Sand."

A High Grade Grain Rain Spirit Resource paid by the Shen Clan, "Ringing Ravine Rain Pearl."

And the remaining Spirit Stones.

"This Hibernating Thunder Sand is for Xingchuan to use when he breaks through to the Late Stage of Qi Refining in the future. The Mysterious Frost Bone is for Shoushan."

"The Ringing Ravine Rain Pearl is a High Grade Grain Rain Spirit Resource. We will keep it in the clan for now to support my cultivation later, or to serve as a Foundation for future Grain Rain Cultivators."

Once she finished, she noticed the expressions of the people in the room were not good.

Jiang Chengning looked at the Hibernating Thunder Sand on the table, remained silent for a moment, and said: "Xingchuan is missing."

Jiang Yuhe looked up.

"What do you mean he's missing?"

Jiang Chengning recounted the events of the support outside the forest last night.

After Jiang Yuhe left, he felt uneasy, so he took several members of the Jiang Family down the mountain and contacted the Luo Family to set up an array outside the forest to provide support.

Old Crow Chen, Chen Xiaoyan, Sun Changshui, and Sun Jingxiu all went, and the Luo Family also sent two Middle Stage Qi Refiners.

Originally, they were just guarding the essential path, waiting for Jiang Yuhe to return if there was no trouble outside the marketplace; if there was chaos, they would slowly scout into the forest.

However, when the sounds of fighting broke out in the night and the spiritual light became chaotic, Jiang Xingchuan worried that Jiang Yuhe had been forced to flee elsewhere and insisted on entering the forest to provide support.

Chen Xiaoyan followed him in. Shortly after the two entered the forest, there was no more news.

"I waited outside the forest for a night, and later led people to search by the lake. I only saw traces of fighting and bloodstains, but the trail ended there."

Jiang Chengning rubbed his temples.

"Fortunately, the character for Xingchuan in the family genealogy is still glowing, so I assume the two are not in immediate danger of death."

Jiang Yuhe didn't speak for a long time.

The disappearance of Jiang Xingchuan and Chen Xiaoyan might seem like the loss of only two Cultivators on the surface, but for the Jiang Family, it was a massive gap.

Jiang Xingchuan had already entered the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, and Chen Xiaoyan had just reached the third layer. If they were there, the Jiang Family still had some room to maneuver against surrounding Qi Refining families. With both missing, only she, a Late Stage Qi Refiner, was left to support Baili Mountain.

But she couldn't guard Baili Mountain every moment.

Jiang Yuhe closed her eyes, suppressed her emotions, and said: "I also have an agreement with Young Master Gu Xingzhi."

Jiang Chengning looked at her.

Jiang Yuhe said: "Before the Saint Child of Cangya Ridge left, he warned Young Master Gu Xingzhi that the Gu Clan and the Shen Clan must not kill each other within ten years, and they should even improve their relationship."

"I took advantage of this to propose to Young Master Gu Xingzhi that the Jiang Family would nominally submit to the Gu Clan and help them rally the Qi Refining families on both sides of the river."

Everyone in the room was stunned.

Jiang Chengning's eyes, however, lit up quickly.

Jiang Yuhe continued: "The Gu Clan of the East River and the Shen Clan of the West River neither dare to personally enter the fray easily, so they use these Qi Refining families to test each other."

"The Yao Family climbed up to the Gu Clan, swallowed two families in succession, and is now pressuring the Luo Family. If the Jiang Family can use the Gu Clan's name to rally these small families, it will not only provide the Gu Clan with an extra layer of buffer but also benefit the Jiang Family."

"Young Master Gu Xingzhi agreed."

Lin Suwen asked: "Does that mean from now on, the Jiang Family can rely on the Gu Clan's influence?"

Jiang Yuhe nodded.

"But the Gu Clan won't fight for us personally. Expansion must rely on the Jiang Family itself."

Jiang Chengning tapped his fingers on the table.

He had originally harbored this thought as well.

Baili Mountain had been hidden for nearly five years. If the Jiang Family kept shrinking in the mountains farming, not competing with neighbors, and not reaching out, it would only arouse suspicion.

Such a waste mountain where others couldn't stay, yet the Jiang Family could stay and live long and securely—even a fool would know there was a problem inside.

The best cover is to take the initiative. Let others think it is because they have climbed up to the Gu Clan and obtained resources by annexing small families.

The Jiang Family must expand.

It was just that Jiang Yuhe had thought more decisively.

First, cannibalize the weakest Luo Family, then gradually crush the Yao Family.

But now that Jiang Xingchuan was missing, the Jiang Family's middle-tier combat power was cut off. If Jiang Yuhe left the mountain, even one or two Middle Stage Qi Refiners could risk the slaughter of Baili Mountain.

Jiang Chengning said slowly: "Swallowing the Luo Family directly is too risky."

Jiang Yuhe said: "That's why we will unite with the Luo Family first."

"The Luo Family is being pressured by the Yao Family to the point of suffocation and is in dire need of external aid."

"We will first join forces with the Luo Family to attack the Yao Family. Once the Yao Family is suppressed, the Luo Family will inevitably be severely weakened. At that time, we will turn around and swallow the Luo Family."

The room was quiet again.

Looking at it from the perspective of reputation, this was extremely dirty.

But from the perspective of the Jiang Family's interests, this might be a very suitable path at the moment.

In Family land disputes, there are no clean hands.

Jiang Chengning finally nodded.

"Feasible."

After he finished speaking, he added: "There is one more thing. I have been slowly nurturing a mouthful of Grain Rain Qi with those two Low Grade Grain Rain Spirit Resources."

"Xingshi and Yutao can only choose one to cultivate Grain Rain. We should prepare early for what Qi the other person will cultivate."

Jiang Yuhe thought for a moment and said: "Yutao can cultivate Rain Water."

Jiang Chengning looked at her.

Jiang Yuhe said: "Chen Xiaoyan and Sun Jingxiu are both Rain Water Qi. If Yutao also cultivates Rain Water, when we receive the official genealogy recording, the family genealogy might be able to write down a Rain Water Foundation Establishment method. In this way, the Sun Family and Chen Family will also have a glimmer of hope for Foundation Establishment."

She paused.

"As the head Family, the Jiang Family holds such vital resources, and the relationship between the three families will only become more stable."

Jiang Chengning pondered for a moment and nodded: "Not bad. It is better to maintain relationships through the Great Dao than through mere favors. If the Chen and Sun families know that following the Jiang Family offers hope for Foundation Establishment, they will not be easily swayed."

Jiang Yuhe said:

"Since that is the case, there is no time to lose. I will go to the Luo Family now to discuss the joint attack on the Yao Family, and on the way, I will go to the marketplace to purchase Rain Water Spirit Resources to prepare for Yutao to draw in Qi."

Jiang Chengning raised his hand to stop her.

"And Shoushan."

Jiang Shoushan had been standing on the side and was slightly stunned when he heard this.

Jiang Chengning looked at the Mysterious Frost Bone on the table.

"The family genealogy should soon be able to recover to the second recording. Xingshi is fourteen now. If he enters the Dao at sixteen and cultivates to the third layer Perfection, he will be about nineteen. In five years, the family genealogy should be sufficiently restored to record Xingshi."

"But we cannot just wait for Xingshi right now."

Jiang Chengning's voice deepened.

"With Xingchuan gone, the Jiang Family's middle-tier combat power is empty. Shoushan is already at the Peak of the third layer. If he can receive the recording and break through the realm, he can at least make up for half of the gap."

He looked at Jiang Yuhe.

"Originally, I wanted to reserve the next recording for Xingchuan. But now, time waits for no one."

"Yuhe, when you go to the marketplace, besides the Rain Water Spirit Resources, buy two Winter Solstice Spirit Resources. If the family genealogy can truly recover, we will record Shoushan first."

This was not a question of favoritism, but that the Jiang Family could not afford to lack a second person capable of holding the fort.

She put away the Spirit Resources and Spirit Stones on the table, put back the items that should remain in the clan, and then stood up.

"I understand."

She walked to the door and looked back at everyone.

"Baili Mountain can no longer just hide."

"It is time to step out."