Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 153 Shangqing Purple Cloud Qi

Shen Yuan arrived at the ancestral hall and lit three sticks of incense for the spirit tablets enshrined inside.

The only ancestor the Shen family could trace back to was his great-grandfather. Beyond that, their names were unknown, so there was no need to make offerings to them.

As wisps of smoke rose, Shen Yuan turned around, and the guards responsible for protecting the ancestral hall immediately came forward and bowed.

"Old Patriarch."

Shen Yuan nodded and said, "Go and summon the managers of all the major clans."

"Send someone else to the academy to invite Master Lu over."

Upon hearing this, the guard was taken aback at first, then quickly bowed and withdrew.

When the village leaders and their families heard that the long-absent patriarch of the Shen family had gone to the ancestral hall to summon them for a meeting, they were all alarmed, knowing that something big must have happened!

They didn't dare to delay and hurried up the mountain.

Inside the ancestral hall, Shen Yuan lowered his head, holding a teacup, and glanced at the few people standing in front of him who dared not speak.

"sit down."

He spoke slowly, and only then did the others cautiously try to sit down.

Before his bottom even touched the stool, Lu Zhiyuan, dressed in a moon-white scholar's robe, slowly arrived at the ancestral hall.

The group hurriedly stood up and bowed.

Shen Yuan put down his teacup, stood up, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "Master, please sit down."

Lu Zhiyuan nodded and sat down in the seat next to him.

"Over the years, I have witnessed your dedication to governing the villages under your jurisdiction."

Shen Yuan sat down, picked up the teacup in front of him again, and spoke calmly.

"It's all within our duties," said Chen Sanxing, the patriarch of the Chen family, who was already in his eighties and sat on the left. He quickly cupped his hands in greeting.

The others echoed their agreement.

Shen Yuan slightly raised his hand and said, "There's no need for that. Those who have made contributions should be rewarded, and those who have made mistakes should naturally be punished."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the people present changed drastically.

Each of them racked their brains to recall all the things their families had done, both openly and secretly, over the years.

It's unclear which of these things have already been discovered by the master, and which can still be denied.

Shen Yuan quietly observed the group, secretly memorizing their expressions.

"A country should have its laws, and a clan should also have its rules."

"My Shen family started from humble beginnings, and we know how difficult it is to start a business. Therefore, we should be more cautious and careful."

"I have called you all here today to announce an important matter."

Upon hearing this, the people below all held their breath and stared at him silently.

Taking a sip of tea, Shen Yuan continued, "From today onwards, I intend to establish the Clan Court."

"The Clan Court has the authority to supervise all clans to abide by clan rules, to restrain all cultivators and mortals of the Shen family, and to audit all affiliated clans."

"Master," Shen Yuan turned to Lu Zhiyuan and cupped his hands, saying, "I would like to ask you to condescend to temporarily serve as the first clan leader of the clan."

His words carried a hint of pleading.

The Shen family has very few capable people now.

The clan head's power is too great, and those who wield this power must be upright, incorruptible, and selfless.

After much thought, he couldn't think of a more suitable candidate than Lu Zhiyuan.

Lu Zhiyuan pondered for a moment and nodded slightly: "Since Brother Shen trusts me so much, then I will agree to this matter."

Having known the Shen family for decades, he was a witness to their rise to power.

This time, they only came to ask me for help because they knew that Shen Yuan might really have no one else to rely on.

"Thank you, Master."

After bowing, Shen Yuan looked at the people below and said, "From this day forward, the Clan Head will act on my behalf. All of you clan members, whether you are mortals or cultivators, will be treated equally if you violate the clan rules."

"Anyone who dares to disobey will be executed by the clan chief with the authority to report later."

"Go and explain this matter to the villagers under my jurisdiction. I do not wish to see you die under the clan rules in the future."

Shen Yuan waved.

The people present all stood up, bowed, and left.

Inside the ancestral hall, Shen Yuan looked at Lu Zhiyuan and cupped his hands again, saying, "I will have to trouble you more in the future, Master."

Lu Zhiyuan smiled slightly and shook his head, saying, "Since I'm idle anyway, it would be good if this old man could do something for Brother Shen."

"Brother Shen, is there any news about Anu?"

Upon hearing this question, Lu Zhiyuan's expression turned solemn.

Shen Yuan nodded slightly and recounted Shen Wenyan's affairs in Danzhou.

"Ugh!"

Lu Zhiyuan sighed deeply after hearing this.

From the very beginning, he could tell that his student was someone who was not content with mediocrity.

After the two embarked on their respective paths of literary cultivation, their paths gradually diverged.

Lu Zhiyuan also knew that, in the present situation, the two of them were no longer in a teacher-student relationship, but rather like friends who had a deep friendship despite their age difference.

"The world of cultivators offers great opportunities, but also many more dangers. I wonder if he can achieve anything in Danzhou..."

After hearing Lu Zhiyuan's words, Shen Yuan didn't say anything more.

He could only roughly determine that Shen Wenyan was not in mortal danger in Danzhou, but he did not know the specific circumstances.

……

Jinghe County, Jinghe Ward Market.

Since deciding to build Jinghe Market, the Shen family has mobilized over a thousand craftsmen, spent more than a year, and squandered countless sums of money to finally complete the market.

After the market was completed, Shen Wenxing invited Wei Qiuling and others.

The six people arrived at the market and, after a detailed tour, were very satisfied. They remarked that although the Jinghe Market was not as large as the Qishan Market, it looked much more exquisite.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it's up to you now," Jin Sheng said, looking at Li Heshan beside him.

As agreed upon at the time, after the market was built, Qiyun Valley would provide the array to hide the entire market and prevent mortals from accidentally entering it.

Li Heshan smiled and nodded, a flash of light in his hand, and he took out a set of array flags of different colors and an exquisite array plate that shimmered with fluorescence.

Sensing the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the array plate and array flags, everyone present was somewhat surprised.

"Could this be the Mirage of the Cloud Sea, one of the three great illusion arrays of Qiyun Valley?"

Luoxia Mountain had a good relationship with Qiyun Valley before, and Wei Qiuling had heard a lot about Qiyun Valley's formations.

Upon seeing the array plate and array flags, one could guess the name of the array.

Li Heshan nodded.

The black-robed Daoist nun beside her frowned slightly and said, "I've heard that the Mirage Array of Qiyun Valley is a high-level array that requires a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm to set up."

"Fellow Daoist Li, could it be..."

As soon as she finished speaking, a trace of divine aura slowly emanated from Li Heshan in front of her, and a faint spiritual light slowly emerged behind him.

This light seemed to have a life of its own, opening and closing and flickering.

“Fetal breathing…” Wei Qiuling murmured in astonishment upon seeing this scene.

The men in black were also stunned.

Li Heshan withdrew his divine aura and spiritual light and said with a wry smile, "When I last saw Junior Brother Shen break through to the Fetal Breathing Realm, perhaps it was because my temperament was not strong enough."

"After returning, he could not suppress his inner impulse and refined a wisp of Shangqing Purple Cloud Qi treasured by the sect, thus achieving immortality."

Upon hearing this, Wei Qiuling and the others all showed envy in their eyes.

While Shangqing Ziyun Qi may not be considered the absolute top-grade among the many innate spiritual energies, it is still of the upper-middle grade.

Although the resulting immortal embryo may not reach the level of a superior immortal embryo, it is still quite remarkable.

"The profound heritage of Qiyun Valley truly inspires our envy."

Wang Quan, the chief disciple of the One Qi Sect, spoke softly.

When Qiyun Valley was at its peak, it was a famous immortal sect in the entire Danzhou. Now, although it has fallen to a state similar to those other major immortal sects.

But their foundation is something that the major immortal sects cannot compare to.

Putting everything else aside, the sects behind these people simply couldn't produce this Shangqing Ziyun Qi.

Sensing the envious glances in their eyes, Li Heshan's face showed a bitter expression.

“It’s not that I’m being pretentious, it’s just that the heritage left by our ancestors is becoming less and less once it’s used up.”

"This is the only piece of innate spiritual energy of medium grade or above that my Qiyun Valley possesses."

"After Li reached the Qi Refining Perfection Realm, he originally thought that he could rely on his own luck to find a good source of innate spiritual energy, so as not to waste the sect's resources."

"Unfortunately, my fortune is too shallow. For more than ten years, I have not even seen low-grade innate spiritual energy, let alone high-grade spiritual energy. In the end, I still have to use this Shangqing Ziyun Qi."

The group was deeply moved after hearing this.

A sect's growth and strength depend on the continuous contributions and accumulation of generations of predecessors.

If future generations of disciples squander the sect's resources and continuously deplete its foundation, the sect will inevitably decline.

Qiyun Valley is a good example.

When his fame resounded throughout Danzhou, the patriarch of the Qingluo Sword Sect was still just an unknown rogue cultivator.

However, the Qingluo Sword Sect is now renowned in Danzhou, while Qiyun Valley has declined to the point where it can only compete for food with these lower-grade immortal sects in Qishan.

"Hehe... Let's not talk about this anymore."

"Let me set up this formation first."

Seemingly unwilling to discuss the sect's embarrassing affairs in front of others, Li Heshan slowly opened his mouth and began to mobilize his spiritual power to set up an array.

This Cloud Sea Mirage Illusion Array is hailed as one of the three great illusion arrays of Qiyun Valley, so it is naturally not comparable to ordinary arrays.

The array plate and array flags in Li Heshan's hands were actually prepared in advance by Yun Zhongzi, the head of Qiyun Valley.

Otherwise, even if Li Heshan had reached the Fetal Breathing Realm, he would never have been able to set it up.

With the array flags and array plates in hand, the rest is not so difficult.

Guided by spiritual power, the array flags flew to various parts of the market, and then Li Heshan placed the array plate into a three-story building in the market.

After doing all this, he activated it by channeling his spiritual power.

In an instant, the market town, which resembled a small town, slowly faded into the void and disappeared.

Seeing this, Shen Wenxing felt a pang of envy.

This formation is really useful.

If the Shen family were to master this kind of formation, they might be able to protect the entire Jinliu Village and even Yunshui Town with formations, turning it into a paradise for immortals.

After the formation was fully activated, Wei Qiuling looked at Jin Sheng and said, "Fellow Daoist Jin, it will be up to our sects to protect the safety of the market and maintain order."

"Qiu Ling suggests that our four sects take turns sending experts at the Nascent Soul Realm to oversee the market, with each sect contributing for ten years. How about that?"

Jin Sheng, the Xuan Shui Sect's Xuan Yi Dao Gu, and Wang Quan of the Yi Qi Sect nodded slightly after hearing this.

The Yangnao Land has now produced a freak like Shen Wen'an. Although the cultivation speed of other forces and families is not as terrifying as Shen Wen'an's, there are already quite a few cultivators at the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining.

After all, before the arrival of the Immortal Sect, there were already quite a few Qi Refining Level 5 cultivators in this Yangnao Land who were known as the Innate Realm.

To maintain order in the market, there must be an absolute strongman to deter those people.

It is indeed necessary to send out a powerful expert at the Nascent Soul stage.

Seeing that Wei Qiuling did not mention the Shen family, Shen Wenxing was happy to have some peace and quiet.

Shen Wen'an is indeed a powerful expert in the Fetal Breathing Realm, but it would be best if he could remain hidden.

"Therefore, each of you may now choose a fixed shop."

"We will discuss whether to rent or sell the remaining shops later."

The group each selected a shop in a prime location in the market, left behind flags and seals representing their sects, and then departed.

Shen Wenxing also selected one, ordered his men to hang up the Shen family flag, and then prepared to go home to see if there was anything worth selling.

(End of this chapter)