Eternal Life by Daily Divination

「Seven days later.」

Mu Song’s funeral was held deep within Red Leaf Valley.

An autumn breeze rustled past, and countless withering red leaves drifted down onto his grave.

After the Mu Family’s Golden Core Ancestor died deep within the Black Dragon Mountain Range, Mu Song, a Fake Pill cultivator with little time left to live, had shouldered the burden of the faltering Mu Family, struggling to support it for decades.

If not for him, the Mu Family would have been annihilated long ago.

"Farewell, Ancestor."

Mu Chengsong and the others wore sorrowful expressions as they bade farewell to Mu Song.

Li Chang’an stood to one side, his heart heavy with complicated emotions, silently bidding farewell to the man who had been both a mentor and a friend.

In the days that followed, he cultivated on the Mu Family’s Tier Three Spirit Vein under the identity of Mu Yuanchen.

His cultivation progress was not impeded.

As for the Li Chang’an on Changqing Mountain, he was merely a Blood-Dripping Incarnation left behind as a diversion.

However, Li Chang’an still wanted to obtain a Tier Three Spirit Vein of his own.

「A month later.」

An invitation to a Core Formation Ceremony was delivered to the Mu Family.

Zhang Qingfeng would be holding his Core Formation Ceremony in two months, inviting all parties to the Zhang Clan Territory to celebrate.

Li Chang’an already knew this.

After all, he had been the one to arrange the date of the Core Formation Ceremony with Zhang Qingfeng while using his identity as Zhang Qingrong.

It suddenly occurred to him that his Mu Yuanchen identity had yet to hold a Core Formation Ceremony.

’If I hold one, I should be able to rake in quite a few gifts.’

’Then again, quite a few cultivators have reached Core Formation recently.’

’The Three Great Sects, the Xiao Family, the Jin Family, the Ou Family, and the Zhang Family all have new Golden Cores. The Core Formation Ceremonies will likely be held one after another, and everyone will have to exchange gifts.’

’I’ll have to give away a lot of gifts, too.’

Li Chang’an sighed to himself. He only wanted to receive things, not give them away.

As expected, invitations to Core Formation Ceremonies began arriving one after another over the next few days.

Against this backdrop, the entire Southern Domain took on a more celebratory atmosphere.

However, the good times did not last long.

「One month later.」

Li Chang’an suddenly learned a shocking piece of news.

’The Ou Family has been annihilated?’

He stared at the report in his hand, stunned.

The Ou Family was one of the Seven Great Clans. They had a thousand-year legacy, a profound foundation, and their Clan Territory was protected by a Tier Three Top Grade Grand Array.

Counting Ou Lingshan, they had a total of three Golden Core Ancestors.

Such strength was by no means weak in the entire Zhao Country Cultivation Immortality Realm.

And yet, they had been annihilated in a single night!

Soon, more details emerged.

"The Ou Family was suddenly attacked last night. Their clan’s protective Grand Array was breached, and over a dozen Golden Core Cultivators, led by Shi Hu Master from the Western Domain, stormed the Ou Clan Territory."

"The Ou Family’s ancestor, Ou Tianye, and the newly ascended Golden Core Cultivator, Ou Lingshan, managed to escape."

"Another Ou Family Golden Core Master died covering their retreat at the hands of Shi Hu Master."

"The Ou Clan Territory was slaughtered, leaving no one alive..."

"..."

The battle had been a horrific tragedy for the Ou Family.

The entire Ou Clan Territory was awash with blood and littered with corpses; the very sky was stained red by the aura of slaughter.

After accomplishing his goal, Shi Hu Master didn’t linger for a moment, leading the dozen-plus Western Domain Golden Core Masters back that very night.

By the time Li Chang’an and the other Southern Domain Golden Core Masters received the news, Shi Hu and his group had already returned to the lands of the Western Domain.

It was too late to even attempt an interception.

’For this battle, my controlled Black Snake Master heard absolutely nothing beforehand.’

Black Snake Master was a Middle Stage Golden Core Cultivator, so his standing in the Western Domain wasn’t low, yet he had been completely in the dark about this.

Li Chang’an immediately mobilized Black Snake Master to gather information.

He soon learned the details.

The dozen-plus Western Domain Golden Core Masters who participated in the battle had all been secretly summoned by Shi Hu Master, a group that included two Tier Three Top Grade Array Masters.

Before the battle, not a single one of the dozen-plus participants had leaked a word.

So much so that even the various factions in the Western Domain were shocked when the news broke.

Two Golden Core Masters from the Hundred Beasts Sect participated in the battle, but they hadn’t informed the other Masters of their sect or the Beast King. Even the Hundred Beasts Elder, the Sect Leader, had been kept in the dark.

Only after the news spread did the two of them return to the Hundred Beasts Sect to explain the situation.

These two cultivators, one with the Daoist title "Nine Spiders" and the other "Qian Yan," were both in the Early Stage of Golden Core.

Nine Spiders Master said, "Daoist Shi Hu wishes to annihilate the entire Southern Domain, but his previous progress was far too slow. He therefore summoned us for a desperate gambit, to strike a surprising blow and destroy the Ou Family."

Qian Yan Master added with some regret, "Unfortunately, although we killed all of the Ou Family’s mortals and ordinary cultivators, we let Ou Tianye and Ou Lingshan escape."

"If we attempt this sort of sneak attack a few more times, we can annihilate all the Golden Core Influences in the Southern Domain one by one..."

As they listened to the two speak, everyone else in the Hundred Beasts Sect’s secret chamber remained silent. The atmosphere was somber.

They had indeed won the battle.

But the means they used were dishonorable.

The Western Domain could launch sneak attacks, but so could the Southern Domain.

It was foreseeable that in the years to come, this war between the two domains would devolve into something extremely bloody and unscrupulous.

Take the two surviving Ou Family Golden Core Masters, for instance.

If those two were to retaliate at any cost, wantonly slaughtering the mortals of the Western Domain, every Golden Core Influence in the region would face a massive headache.

...

Meanwhile.

Li Chang’an had arrived at the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

Both Ou Tianye and Ou Lingshan were seriously injured and were now recuperating at the Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

The other Golden Core Influences of the Southern Domain had also sent representatives to discuss the annihilation of the Ou Family.

The expressions on the faces of clan ancestors like Mo Qingxue and Zhang Shengling were grim.

Had it been the Mo Family or the Zhang Family in last night’s battle, they would have been annihilated all the same.

Among the Seven Great Clans, perhaps only the Dan Valley Xiao Family, with its years of accumulated power, could have withstood the joint sneak attack from over a dozen Golden Core Cultivators from the Western Domain.

They all understood that the Ou Family had been targeted for one simple reason: they were the closest to the Western Domain.

If the Western Domain were to strike again, the next target would very likely be the Mo Family or the Zhang Family.