Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 148 The storm is coming
On the other side of the depression, Shen Chongming and his three companions were slowly approaching, following the tracks left by the wolf pack on the snow.

"Young clan leader, we cannot go any further."

Of the four, Zhao Tuan spoke in a deep voice.

Shen Chongming stopped in his tracks, frowned, and looked around hesitantly.

"You Ran, what do you think?"

He turned around and looked at Chen Youran behind him.

"I will listen to the young clan leader."

“But… Brother Tuan is right, it’s too deep here, there’s danger.”

Upon hearing this, Shi Miao leaned over and said, "We haven't encountered any monsters along the way, and we've wasted so much time. It would be so embarrassing if we went back empty-handed."

Zhao Tuan squinted at him and asked, "Is life more important or face?"

"If anything happens to the young patriarch, will the entire Shi family pay with their lives?"

Zhao Tuan didn't care about saving face.

Of the four, only he and Shen Chongming were Qi Refining cultivators, and both were only at the first level of Qi Refining.

They were currently a hundred or two miles away from the hunting grounds. If they were to encounter danger so deep, he felt that he would not regret dying, but Shen Chongming was the young patriarch of the Shen family. If anything happened to him, even if the three of them died, it would be considered as failing to protect their master.

Moreover, three of the four are immortal seedlings with spiritual roots, which is extremely important to the Shen family.

Training is not about sending people to their deaths. Of the four, losing any one of them, besides himself, would be a heavy blow!

"Brother Tuan, don't be angry."

Shen Chongming smiled and comforted him.

He knew that Zhao Tuan was concerned about his safety.

But after tracking for so long, they hadn't even caught a glimpse of their prey, which left them somewhat disappointed.

"Ow—!"

As the four hesitated, a low howl of a wolf suddenly rang out from the forest ahead!
Upon hearing the sound, Shi Miao, who was nearby, immediately used both hands and feet to climb up the thick ancient tree next to him and look in the direction of the wolf howling.

Using the height of the ancient tree, he could vaguely see more than ten people on the other side of the mountain valley in the distance, including a huge moon-white wolf.

"Young clan leader, someone's here!"

"More than ten!"

He slid down the ancient tree in a hurry and spoke with a solemn expression.

Upon hearing this, Shen Chongming frowned slightly.

The four of them are now close to the very center of Hidden Dragon Mountain.

People from Yunshui Town certainly wouldn't come here.

And this person who suddenly appeared...

"They must be barbarians," Zhao Tuan said in a deep voice. "Young clan leader, we must leave immediately!"

Over the years, Huang Qingzhou led many martial artists from Yunshui Town in several clashes with the barbarians in the direction of Longpan Mountain in order to seize territory in Hidden Dragon Mountain.

Shen Yuan had given the order to take a tough stance when dealing with the barbarians.

As a result, there were several clashes, and both sides suffered casualties.

Fortunately, Hundred Beasts Mountain doesn't seem to want to make enemies with the Shen family, so it has slightly restrained the various tribes of the Western Wilderness and tacitly accepted the boundary line drawn by the Shen family.

"Brother Tuan, please wait a moment."

Shen Chongming hesitated for a moment, then reached out and summoned a gentle breeze, which floated lightly to the ancient tree that Shi Miao had just climbed, and looked into the distance.

In the mountain valley, the Western Wilderness Barbarians, led by the disciple of Hundred Beasts Mountain, were heading towards the wolf pack.

Before the crowd, the giant, moon-white wolf stood like a noble king. As it approached, the wolves in the valley all prostrated themselves on the ground, showing their submission.

The giant moon-white wolf arrived before the pack of hundreds of gray wolves, looking down at the three demon wolves that had transformed into monsters. The two sides then engaged in a special exchange.

A moment later, the Moon White Giant Wolf returned to the disciple of Hundred Beasts Mountain.

Their foreheads touched, and within a few breaths, the disciple from Hundred Beasts Mountain seemed to have obtained the answer he wanted.

His expression shifted, he paused and pondered for a moment, then slowly walked out of the depression.

"grown ups."

"What should we do with this wolf demon?"

Some barbarian tribesmen respectfully cupped their hands in greeting.

"Keep one, the rest are yours."

The disciple from Hundred Beasts Mountain spoke calmly, without turning around.

Upon hearing this, more than a dozen barbarian tribesmen were overjoyed. They immediately drew their curved swords from behind them and, with swift strokes, killed the two wolf demons on the spot.

They skillfully collected the wolf demon's blood, extracted the demon essence pills, and then carried the wolf demon's corpse on their shoulders and took it away.

From beginning to end, the three-headed wolf demon and the other gray wolves present did not dare to put up a single resistance.

The surviving wolf demon's eyes flashed with fear. After letting out a few low, mournful howls, it drooped its tail and chased after the giant moon-white wolf.

Shen Chongming summoned a gentle breeze and slowly landed back on the ground, his expression somewhat strange.

"Young patriarch."

Zhao Tuan came up to him.

"That person can control a giant, moon-white wolf; he must be the immortal from Hundred Beasts Mountain that Father mentioned."

"What are the immortals from the Immortal Sect doing here in Hidden Dragon Mountain with the barbarians from the Western Wilderness?"

Shen Chongming looked puzzled, unable to understand the matter.

"Let's go back."

With the presence of Western Wilderness barbarians and disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain in this area, Shen Chongming knew he couldn't stay any longer.

The four men decisively gave up and prepared to look for other prey.

The three-day hunting competition ended quickly. Shen Chongming and his three companions wasted some time tracking the wolf demon, and perhaps due to some bad luck, they only managed to hunt down two demonic beasts at around the second level of Qi Refining and a few ordinary wild animals.

However, the four of them were only there for training, and their hunting results wouldn't be counted in the competition, so it didn't really matter.

After tallying the prey and awarding prizes, everyone dispersed.

The four of them approached Shen Wenxing.

"Father, we encountered a strange thing in the mountains."

After thinking for a moment, Shen Chongming decided to tell the story of how he encountered the disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain while tracking the wolf pack.

Shen Wenxing's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "Father understands. You may all return to your cultivation."

The following evening, Huang Qingzhou returned from the mountains.

He has now reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining. He fights against the Western Wilderness Barbarians in the mountains and is occasionally attacked by demonic beasts. He is nearly seventy years old, but his body has a bit more murderous aura and his spirit is stronger than usual.

"Father-in-law, did you return in such a hurry because of something urgent?"

In a side room of the manor, the father-in-law and son-in-law sat facing each other, and Shen Wenxing served him a cup of tea.

Huang Qingzhou took the teacup and said, "Early this morning, a disciple from Hundred Beasts Mountain came to me, saying that a disciple of the sect had gone missing and that he wanted to cross our defenses to enter the mountain to search for him."

"I did not agree, but their attitude was very firm."

"I came here to hear your opinion."

"I don't think they're lying. If they insist on not giving in, I'm afraid a conflict will break out."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wenxing gently stroked the teacup in his hand, frowning in deep thought.

"The other day during the hunting competition, Chongming and his group tracked a pack of wolves and went deep into the southeast of Longpan Mountain, where they encountered a disciple of Hundred Beasts Mountain leading more than ten members of the Western Wilderness Barbarians."

"According to Chongming's description, that group of people were indeed looking for something."

"Should we let him in to search?" Huang Qingzhou asked, putting down his teacup.

Shen Wenxing hesitated.

Hundred Beasts Mountain has always been domineering. This time, instead of forcibly breaking in, they sent people to negotiate, which can be considered as giving face to the Shen family.

If we keep refusing, a conflict might actually break out.

However, if we allow them to enter, there is a strange little pine tree on Longpan Mountain that can generate innate Yi wood essence.

Although the small pine tree was protected by an array, he couldn't guarantee that Hundred Beasts Mountain wouldn't have any special methods to detect anything amiss.

Of course, these are just the surface reasons.

He now has two deeper concerns.

First, is this move by Hundred Beasts Mountain a test?
If this is a test, what if the Shen family compromises and the other party takes advantage of the situation, making other, more excessive demands and actions?

Another point he thought of was when the Longpanshan Martial Arts School was first established, his third brother Shen Wen'an killed four disciples of the Hundred Beasts Mountain in that area.

Although three or four years have passed, the bodies of those people have probably turned into skeletons.

However, the methods of immortals are unpredictable, and no one can guarantee that Hundred Beasts Mountain does not have a secret technique similar to the "Radiant Shadows" of Sunset Mountain, so as to find the remains of the four people, discover some clues, and deduce that the four people died at the hands of Shen Wen'an.

How to decide?

Shen Wenxing slowly stood up and paced back and forth.

At that moment, he had an urge to go to the backyard to ask his father, Shen Yuan.

But remembering his father's previous teachings, he held back.

"Pros and cons..."

He murmured softly, pondered for a moment, then turned and said, "This matter cannot be compromised."

"I would like to trouble my father-in-law to go back and tell the disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain that my Shen family has been guarding that place for many years and has never seen any disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain come here."

He already figured it out.

Compromise carries a greater risk than refusing to let the other party come looking for you.

The Shen family has always been very tough on border issues over the years, and this refusal is consistent with their previous approach.

"What if they force their way in?" Huang Qingzhou asked gravely.

He is currently only at the third level of Qi Refining, and the group of martial artists under his command from various villages in Yunshui Town are all at the Body Tempering stage.

They could hold their own against the Western Wilderness Barbarians, but if the disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain were to make a move, their strength would be insufficient.

"Don't worry, father-in-law, I have other plans."

Shen Wenxing spoke confidently.

Seeing this, Huang Qingzhou didn't ask any further questions.

"Alright, I'll head back now."

After seeing Huang Qingzhou off, Shen Wenxing sighed heavily, left the manor, hesitated for a moment before entering the Blackwater Pavilion.

On the first floor of the Blackwater Pavilion, Shen Yuan was meditating cross-legged when he heard a noise and slowly opened his eyes.

Shen Wenxing cupped his hands in greeting.

"Father, I would like to ask Wen'an to stay at the Longpanshan Martial Arts School for a few days."

Hearing that there was no hint of asking for instructions in his tone, Shen Yuan nodded slightly: "Go and talk to him yourself."

Shen Wenxing nodded, and just as he was about to go upstairs, Shen Wen'an came down from upstairs.

"Big brother, father."

Shen Wenxing looked at him and said, "Bai Shou Shan is probably going to make a move soon. I'd like you to go to Long Pan Shan Martial Arts School to oversee things for a few days."

Shen Wen'an nodded.

"Wen'an, what is your current level of cultivation?" Shen Wenxing asked curiously.

"It's enough." Shen Wen'an rarely made a joke.

Upon hearing this, Shen Wenxing's expression turned strange.

"Father, we're leaving."

The two brothers bowed to Shen Yuan and then left Blackwater Pavilion.

Longpanshan Martial Arts School.

After the martial arts school was completed, all the disciples from Yunshui Town who came to learn martial arts came here.

The two brothers, Huang Qi and Huang Qi, were in charge of the martial arts school.

Two years ago, Huang Lin, one of the Huang brothers, finally entered the first level of Qi Refining after arduous cultivation. Although he was already two minor realms behind his elder brother Huang Qi, he was still considered a Qi Refining cultivator.

After arriving here, Shen Wen'an handed a cyan jade tablet containing Tai Xuan sword energy to Huang Lin, asking him to deliver it to Huang Qingzhou in the mountains.

He said that if the disciples of Hundred Beasts Mountain made a move and he couldn't withstand it, he should crush the jade token and he would rush there immediately.

Huang Lin nodded and left the martial arts school, while Shen Wen'an flashed into the air as a sword beam.

The platform on the hundred-foot-high pillar, which he carved out with a single sword stroke years ago, has become mottled and worn after years of wind and rain erosion.

Shen Wen'an picked a satisfactory spot, waved his hand to unleash a sword beam that scraped away the rotten rocks, and sat down cross-legged.

(End of this chapter)