274: Fallen Flower Valley

Tong Fenglai’s heart pounded wildly. The immense crisis Long Yuan described instantly pressed down on him like a mountain, making him feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, he knew the best course of action now was to cling tightly to Long Yuan, this reliable lifeline, or else the Tong Family would likely face disaster soon, just like other families. He asked, "Elder Long, what is the best thing for us to do now?"

Long Yuan pondered, "If you trust me, then speed up preparations for retreat and evacuation during this period. On one hand, scout out and cultivate potential Spiritual Power Seeds within your Family. On the other hand, monitor all changes in information. If things look wrong, contact me immediately. Perhaps I can offer you a path of retreat!"

"This... Thank you, Elder Long! This old man will certainly follow Elder Long's instructions upon returning. I hope Elder Long will not forget my Tong Family when the time comes. As long as there is a path of retreat, the Tong Family is willing to pay any price!" Tong Fenglai stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Senior, there is no need for such formality. Whether the retreat I mentioned succeeds may still require your help during the process. How about this: if you can help me find more Alchemy and Artifact Refining scrap materials, as well as any scrap materials containing high energy that you can find, then the path of retreat you seek will be more secure!" Long Yuan said.

"Oh? Elder Long means you only want scrap materials? Wouldn't other high-energy items be better?" Tong Fenglai asked curiously.

"I only want scrap! Also, including the corpses of dead Strange Beasts, and broken weapons and artifacts are fine. But good items are inherently useful and their cost is too high, making them unsuitable for recycling, so I won't take them," Long Yuan said.

"This old man understands! No problem! I will definitely mobilize all the Family members to help Elder Long search for scrap materials. But there seems to be one issue: if there's too much scrap, transporting and moving it will be quite troublesome, especially since our manpower might be severely insufficient if we spread out to search..."

"Don't worry about that. You just need to find the scrap and concentrate it appropriately, or simply provide me with the location information of the scrap, and I will go collect it myself. Note that this operation must absolutely not be leaked to ordinary people or outsiders, especially regarding any potential Spiritual Power Seeds. Otherwise, it will definitely arouse their suspicion and might invite trouble."

"Good!!!" Tong Fenglai nodded heavily in agreement. For him, the condition Long Yuan gave was actually not difficult, just a little strange. But if doing this one thing could potentially secure a guaranteed path of retreat for the Tong Family in the future, why wouldn't he do it? This was far better than panicking and grasping at straws later. Furthermore, he knew Long Yuan's true identity. Rather than trusting unreliable Spiritual Power Seeds, it was better to bind himself to Long Yuan starting now, work for him, and gain his trust and a path of retreat later... When Qi Huaiyi heard this, he quickly asked, "Long Yuan, what about my Qi Family? Should we operate the same way as the Tong Family?"

"Yes! But you must also keep it strictly confidential. Operate in secret. If there is any possibility of the operation being exposed, you must immediately find a way to cover it up. Absolutely do not let other factions know this information, including the Great Ming government!" Long Yuan said.

"Oh? We have to guard against the government too?" Qi Huaiyi was startled.

"That's right! My path of retreat is not the government's path; it is starting anew! What you must understand is that with the arrival of the Lingqi Era, all current factions, including the government, are incredibly fragile. They are like clay Bodhisattvas crossing the river—unable to save themselves. We can only rely on ourselves, so this must absolutely not be known to the government or any other faction!" Long Yuan emphasized.

"I see! I will personally explain this to the Old Ancestor!" Qi Huaiyi quickly replied.

"Alright, now please, Senior Tong, take me to see Falling Flower Valley in Shanyang County. I want to learn more about the Spiritual Power situation there..." Long Yuan said.

"This old man was just about to suggest that. Let's go immediately!"

The four first left the Nanming Clubhouse, rode Monoceros Horses to Nanming Airport, and quickly flew in the direction of Shanyang County... In less than half a day, they arrived at Shanyang Airport. The four switched back to Monoceros Horses and entered Shanyang City. They galloped all the way, reaching the boundary of Falling Flower Valley about an hour later.

"Wow..." Long Yuan was immediately stunned by the lush vegetation upon arriving. At the mouth of the valley, towering trees and flourishing flowers extended from the treetops down to the ground. Everywhere he looked was an ocean of colorful flowers: red, yellow, orange, green, cyan, blue, purple... Tong Xueqin saw Long Yuan's amazed expression and giggled, "Falling Flower Valley doesn't have much of anything else, but it certainly has the most flowers. I used to run here often to play when I was little!"

Long Yuan nodded and mused, "I truly sense a dense Spiritual Qi aura here!"

"There really is Spiritual Qi?!" The three were shocked. They didn't feel anything, though they could sense Profound Qi.

"Yes! Look!" Long Yuan raised his right hand. A cyan-wood colored Qi mass slowly emerged in his palm. The three could sense that Long Yuan was surrounded by an external high-energy airflow, and as the intensity of the airflow increased, the Cyan-Wood Qi Mass in his palm grew larger and denser!

Tong Fenglai and Qi Huaiyi's senses were sharper. They realized that the energy level of this Qi mass was simply incomparable to a Profound Qi mass; this was clearly a brand new type of gaseous energy to them!

"Watch closely!" Long Yuan waved his hand, and the mass of gas whooshed toward a distant patch of woods. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom—several violent explosions rang out. Several trees as thick as water barrels fell and snapped in the blast, scattering everywhere. An astonishing explosion scene unfolded... "Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree! Ree—" The four Monoceros Horses were severely startled by the blast wave, neighing continuously... "My Heavens!!!" The three widened their eyes, simply unable to believe that such a small Qi mass could cause such a powerful explosive effect!

Based on Tong Fenglai and Qi Huaiyi's understanding, even if a Martial Commander tried to condense such a high-energy Qi mass and achieve this kind of explosive effect, it would probably be impossible; achieving half the effect would be considered excellent!

But Long Yuan could casually form such a high-energy Qi mass to kill enemies just by clenching his hand. This combat power was terrifying. Instantly, the looks the two men directed at Long Yuan became incredibly complex... If they had been half-believing before, they were now completely convinced of Long Yuan's power. There was no helping it; this was the rule of the Martial Dao World: the strong prey on the weak, the powerful are respected, and strength is the easiest thing to make people submit.