Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

A thin mist, like gauze, enveloped the river.

Jiang Feng and Jiu You boarded an ordinary, unmarked ship and sailed slowly and steadily into the depths of Jinkou through the misty water vapor.

"Huh? That's strange!"

On a merchant ship laden with cargo, the chubby manager leaned against the railing, his face full of astonishment.

"Ahead lies the Song family's Qinglongjin Pass. Even familiar faces like us would be questioned three or five times in the past. This ship looks unfamiliar, without even a flag. How come all the checkpoints are open and no one is stopping us?"

A lean man next to him squinted and sized him up:

"Indeed! Look at that ship, its style is ordinary, and the wood is not precious. It's definitely not the vehicle of any noble sect. Has the Song family changed their ways today?"

On the dock, the disciples of those aristocratic families and sects who were unable to enter the core area also stopped and stared in disbelief:

"Hey, that's really weird, the ship just went straight in like that?"

"Could it be a distinguished guest invited by the Song family?"

"Come on, what kind of distinguished guest would ride on such a shabby boat? I bet something bad is going to happen..."

Whispers spread across both sides of the strait, and curious, doubtful, and even slightly uneasy gazes were all focused on that lone boat sailing upstream.

Yet no one dared to venture out their divine sense—

The ship appeared ordinary, yet it possessed a subtle, unsettling pressure, like a sleeping beast.

Jinkou Dragon Head.

A newly built, magnificent waterside pavilion stands like a dragon stretching its head, rising above the waves.

The eaves and brackets are shrouded in mist, their light subtly illuminating the scene. The air is thick with moisture and swirling with thin fog, adding to the ethereal atmosphere.

The atmosphere inside the waterside pavilion was solemn.

The representative of the Yuntian Sect, Yunyou, wore a spotless white robe with flowing clouds. His face was slender, and his eyes were like deep pools of ancient wells. The spiritual pressure of the late Foundation Establishment stage caused the spiritual energy around him to ripple slightly.

He picked up a jade pen, its tip gathering spiritual light, and steadily wrote the two characters "Cloud Wanderer" on the spiritual contract that floated in the air and flowed with runes.

With a stroke of the pen, the contract was completed, and a ray of clear light merged into it.

Wang Pan, the representative of the Wang family, was as tall and imposing as a mountain, with a bronze face and sharp features, exuding an aura of authority even without anger.

His voice, deep and resonant, echoed in the waterside pavilion: "Now that it has been agreed upon, my Wang family has no objection."

As soon as he finished speaking, a wisp of pure essence blood flowed from his fingertips. The blood bead merged into the contract, and immediately the earthy yellow light shone brightly, revealing its profound foundation.

Sitting upright in the main seat, Song Xuanhe's eyes flashed with a barely perceptible hint of smugness, but his face remained adorned with a gentle smile.

"Good! From this day forward, the Azure River Mining Alliance is officially established. May we all work together to explore this jade vein and jointly address the threat of the fog tide..."

Just then, a lone boat unexpectedly entered the river.

The bow of the boat pointed directly at the core platform of the waterside pavilion, cutting through the waves without slowing down!

"What kind of boat are you? How dare you be so ignorant of the rules!" A minor clan elder frowned and shouted.

As is customary, all participating vessels should be moored on the outer perimeter.

Before the words were even finished, the ship not only did not turn around, but accelerated, and it looked like it was about to crash into the platform that extended from the water pavilion onto the water!

If the collision were to occur, all the prominent figures present would inevitably end up in a sorry state.

"presumptuous!"

Song Xuanfeng, the third elder of the Song family, was so angry that his hair and beard bristled, and he had no choice but to take action.

He shouted and instantly teleported to the edge of the platform. As his sleeves billowed, a condensed, almost tangible, cyan spiritual energy bolt shot out, heading straight for the central hub of the ship!

"Who dares to run wild in Qinglongjin!"

Boom——!

Wood chips and scraps of wood flew like rain.

The entire ship disintegrated instantly under that immense force, turning into countless fragments that shot out in all directions.

However, three figures soared into the sky from the shattered wreckage and landed lightly on the waterside platform.

The leading scholar in the blue robe casually dusted off his sleeves, as if he were merely brushing away dust.

The young man beside him had sharp eyes, scanning the entire room.

The last middle-aged man, who looked like a drowned rat, had a pale face and wished he could bury his head in his chest, desperately trying to minimize his presence.

"Is this how the Song family treats its guests?"

Jiuyou's voice was a half-smile, not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.

Jiang Feng stepped forward, ignoring the various gazes around him, his voice icy and chilling:

"Song Xuanhe! Where is my father, Jiang Tianzhan?"

Song Xuanfeng's face darkened, and he stepped between Jiang Feng and the family head, coldly saying:

"Are you from the Jiang family of Fangyou City? What does your father's whereabouts have to do with my Song family?"

Your Jiang family failed to respond to the alliance on time; the deadline has passed, and the jade mining rights are naturally no longer yours. Could it be that you harbor resentment and have come to cause trouble?

"Humph!"

Jiang Feng laughed in extreme anger.

"My father personally went to Qinglongjin a month ago to discuss the franchise with your Song family, and has not been heard from since!"

The location of the last spiritual energy fluctuation from the communication jade talisman was right here in Qinglongjin! Do you dare say you didn't know?

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar!

"Jiang Tianzhan? Is that the third son of the Jiang family?"

"Disappeared? And still within the Song family's territory..."

"This Jiang family brat has quite the nerve, daring to question the Song family head to his face!"

At this moment, Jiu You and Jiang Feng did not conceal their faces, and sharp-eyed people immediately recognized them.

"It's...it's him! The scholar in blue robes from the Black Miasma Forest three years ago!"

"He fought two Core Formation stage cultivators from the Nine Netherworld?! Wasn't he wanted by the Heavenly Underworld Palace? How dare he show his face here!"

"No wonder he's so arrogant! Could that young man beside him be Jiang Feng, the Jiang family brat he's rumored to be protecting?"

Whispers spread like wildfire, and a mixture of surprise, apprehension, and curiosity lingered around the two of them.

Just then, a clear but deliberately high-pitched female voice rang out: "Jiang Feng!"

From the Lan family's procession, a woman dressed in a pale yellow dress and with a bright and beautiful face stepped out from the crowd.

Although she was only at the Qi Refining stage, she was not intimidated by the pressure from the Foundation Establishment stage.

“Your Jiang family is just a Qi Refining family. I understand that you are anxious about your uncle’s disappearance.”

But this is no reason for you to be so presumptuous in front of the senior members of the Song family and the fellow Daoists of the Mining Alliance!

"Hurry up and kneel down to apologize... For the sake of our past relationship, perhaps my Lan family can plead for you!"

Jiang Feng's cold gaze swept over them, and it turned out to be Lan Yu, his childhood sweetheart who had later fallen into the arms of the Song family's sons.

His eyes held neither sorrow nor joy, only a faint hint of mockery:

"Lan Yu, it's been a long time. Did you think that by climbing up a high branch, you could turn a pheasant into a phoenix?"

Not only have they forgotten the friendship of old friends, but even the tone of their voice has become so... nauseating?

Lan Yu's face flushed red as she was publicly exposed, especially in front of Jiang Feng, who was now a Foundation Establishment cultivator with an extraordinary demeanor. She shrieked:

"Jiang Feng! Don't push your luck! You two think you can shake the alliance formed by so many senior experts present today?"

"Noisy!"

Jiang Feng coldly rebuked, and his eyes suddenly blazed with golden light, the power of his Golden Eyes of Truth piercing out like two invisible swords!

"When a Foundation Establishment cultivator is speaking, who gives you the right to interrupt!"

Lan Yu felt a sharp pain in her eyes and her soul was shaken. She screamed in surprise, staggered backward, and fell to the ground, her face pale.

If Jiang Feng hadn't held back, that one glance would have taken her life.

The Lan family patriarch's expression shifted. Looking at the young man he once looked down upon, now a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he felt a mix of emotions—regret, but mostly a weighing of options.

Although this child is exceptionally talented, he has become too deeply entangled with the evil star Jiuyou and offended the Tianming Palace. Now, he is openly provoking the Song family alliance, which is simply courting his own destruction!

He stepped in front of his daughter to shield her, and shouted sternly:

"Jiang Feng! Cease your arrogance! Your actions have undoubtedly pushed your Jiang family to the brink of annihilation! Surrender now!"