Chapter 55 - 54: Turmoil in Jingyue

Chapter 55: Chapter 54: Turmoil in Jingyue

It was June. What should have been a season of blazing summer heat was instead shattered by sudden claps of thunder. Torrential rain poured down, rolling off the bluestone tiles and flooding the grounds of the ancestral hall.

Patriarch Yun Xiaotian and five Elders stood in the downpour. The Gang Qi radiating from their bodies vaporized the raindrops before they could even touch them. Their expressions were solemn, their hands clenched into fists. With slight tension in their eyes, they stared intently at the rear hall.

"Bufan is about to attempt Foundation Establishment!" Yun Xiaotian shouted softly. "Array Formation."

In the next instant, the five Elders scattered. Holding Array Discs, they flew toward five different directions on Huxing Island.

RUMBLE!

A startling thunderclap exploded through the heavy rain. Five Heaven-Reaching Light Pillars erupted into the sky, abruptly forming a massive vortex. It madly absorbed the Spiritual Qi within a hundred Fang Yuan, sending it surging toward the ancestral hall. For a moment, all the Cultivators on Huxing Island looked up at the family’s ancestral hall. Their eyes were filled with anticipation as they silently prayed for Yun Bufan.

Number Thirty-Two, Fumin Residence.

Yu Daniu and his wife felt the Spiritual Qi draining from their home. They hurriedly stepped outside to check, only to see five hundred-foot Spiritual Qi vortexes towering over Huxing Island.

"Cousin Bufan is about to attempt Foundation Establishment," Yun Huizhen said. She was a woman of the Yun Family’s Direct Lineage. Being worldly and experienced, she saw through the profundity of those five vortexes at a single glance.

"Foundation Establishment? Wasn’t it scheduled for the end of the year?" Yu Daniu asked in confusion.

"That must have been a deliberate smokescreen released by the family to throw people off," she explained. "Do you see those five hundred-foot Spiritual Qi vortexes?

"That is our family’s inherited Tier Two High-Grade Spirit Gathering Array Disc. It is only brought out when someone in the family is attempting Foundation Establishment."

Yun Huizhen drew her Magic Sword and looked at him. "Daniu, let’s go to the ancestral hall and act as Guardians for Cousin Bufan."

At this moment, all the members of the Yun Family on Huxing Island stepped out of their homes. They consciously made their way to the ancestral hall to act as Guardians for Yun Bufan.

The Senior Fishermen and Farmers, as well as the Honored Guest Elders in the Inner Waters, all looked toward Huxing Island. The Spiritual Qi in the area had been instantly drained dry, and they all knew exactly why. Their hearts leaped into their throats, everyone hoping that Yun Bufan would succeed in his Foundation Establishment. Only then could they continue living safely under the Yun Family’s protection. After all, in the vast Celestial South Domain, it would be extremely difficult to find another patron as good as the Yun Family.

"Did he start early?" Chen Jianghe muttered, stepping out to stand at the bow of his boat. Even from dozens of miles away, he could see the vortex formed by the Heaven-Reaching Light Pillars. "I hope Yun Bufan succeeds in his Foundation Establishment. That way, I can also stay safe with the Yun Family for another dozen years and accumulate my own foundation."

If only for his own benefit, he still had to pray for Yun Bufan. Deep down, Chen Jianghe was somewhat envious of Yun Bufan’s Foundation Establishment. This was the Talent of a Three-Element True Spirit Root, an Innate Immortal Seed. Yun Bufan was only three years older than him, yet he was already attempting Foundation Establishment before the age of thirty-five. To say he wasn’t envious would be a lie. However, he wasn’t jealous. As long as he was given enough time, he could also attempt Foundation Establishment.

RUMBLE!

Lightning flashed and thunder roared. The torrential rain showed no signs of stopping.

A halo of light suddenly illuminated the sky above the Yun Family’s ancestral hall, devouring the gathered Spiritual Qi like a primordial beast. This meant that Yun Bufan had officially begun his attempt at Foundation Establishment.

SWISH SWISH!

Just then, Hundred Feet Flying Ships flew in from the distance. They pierced through the dark clouds and headed straight for Huxing Island, causing the torrential downpour to come to a sudden halt. A moment later, these Flying Ships hovered above the Inner Waters. Terrifying auras spilled out one after another, bearing down on Yun Bufan, who was attempting Foundation Establishment on Huxing Island.

"A junior of my clan is attempting Foundation Establishment, yet I have troubled all you fellow Daoists to come here and act as Guardians. I am truly overwhelmed by this unmerited favor!"

A resonant voice boomed from Huxing Island. Immediately after, a hoary-bearded elder flew out. Wielding a Top-Level Spiritual Artifact Flying Sword, his cloudy eyes radiated a chilling, piercing light as he glared fixedly at the four Flying Ships. This hoary-bearded elder was precisely the Foundation Establishment Ancestor of the Yun Family. His face was covered in crisscrossing wrinkles, and combined with the dense Death Qi radiating from him, no one dared to meet his gaze.

"You three, I told you this old ghost was fine! All that talk about him being heavily injured and near death was just a rumor spread by the Yun Family to ensure Yun Bufan’s smooth Foundation Establishment." On a Flying Ship bearing the character ’Bai’, an imposing and muscular middle-aged man pointed at the Yun Family Ancestor and spoke to the Foundation Establishment Ancestors on the other ships.

"Once Yun Bufan succeeds in his Foundation Establishment, the Yun Family will have two Foundation Establishment Ancestors. When that happens, the balance of power in our Eastern Domain of Celestial South will be broken. I ask you fellow Daoists to join me in slaying this old ghost first!" The Bai Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor let out a loud shout and summoned his Top-Level Spiritual Artifact, looking ready to charge out of the Flying Ship and fight the Yun Family Ancestor to the death.

However, upon seeing absolutely no movement from the other Flying Ships, he very naturally retracted his artifact and steadied his stance. He simply stared at Huxing Island as if nothing had just happened.

What a joke. Who would dare attack the Yun Family Ancestor at a time like this?

Although ninety percent of what the Bai Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor said was true, and the Yun Family Ancestor was indeed feigning a severe injury, who would actually dare to make a move? Especially with him radiating such dense Death Qi. Even if he were heavily injured, he might still be able to drag a Foundation Establishment Ancestor down with him. If he was just faking it, a desperate fight to the death could at least severely injure two of them.

"They’re not going to fight." Chen Jianghe felt a surge of joy. Naturally, he was happy to see this outcome, as it meant he could at least witness the rise of a new Foundation Establishment Ancestor.

But in the next moment, as a voice rang out, Chen Jianghe’s expression changed drastically. Without any hesitation, he dove straight into the lake, swimming down to the bottom at top speed.

"Old Thief Yun, you wiped out thirty-two members of my Lan family! Today, I will make you pay in blood!"

At this moment, even deep at the bottom of the lake, Chen Jianghe could feel a scorching, body-searing heat. Faintly, he could see several giant Fire Dragons flying across the lake’s surface, accompanied by repeated curses and agonizing screams.

Boats were capsizing! He saw the boats of Senior Fishermen and Farmers and Honored Guest Elders being scorched by the Fire Dragons on the surface. He could vaguely make out someone trying to fly away, only to be viciously smashed back into the lake by a Lock Chain, dyeing the water with blood.

"Little Black, dig into the mud, quickly!"

In this situation, Chen Jianghe was in no mood to watch the spectacle. He immediately ordered Little Black to rapidly dig into the sand and gravel at the lake bottom, and he joined in as well.

Little Black didn’t need Chen Jianghe’s urging. The moment he felt the terrifying fluctuations of aura, he had already begun digging a hole like crazy. In just a few short breaths, he dug ten meters deep. Still feeling it wasn’t safe enough, Little Black continued to burrow further down.

Watching Little Black’s strenuous efforts, Chen Jianghe was somewhat stunned. This turtle seemed to value its life even more than he did. If Chen Jianghe hadn’t stayed closely pressed against Little Black, the turtle’s tactic of using Magical Power to sweep the sand over the hole as it dug would have long since buried and abandoned him on the lake floor.

At a depth of thirty meters beneath the lake bed, Little Black finally deemed it safe and stopped digging. Retracting his head and four limbs into his Turtle Shell, he even cast the Divine Technique, ’Petrification.’

Chen Jianghe twitched his mouth. Steeling his resolve, he channeled his Magical Power into his hands, pushed aside the rocky sand, and squeezed himself underneath Little Black.

"Two-Legged Beast, what are you doing?"