Chapter 78: The Unknown Secret of Yan Family Fortress

Regarding the Yan Family's situation with the Ghost Spirit Sect, even if Yan Taibai knew it was because of him, he would not care.

Because this was the Yan Family Ancestor's choice; having chosen this path, one could blame no one.

Moreover, he had to make the Ghost Spirit Sect restless only to protect himself.

Only in this way would he and Yan Ruyan be safer.

Time flew by; Yan Taibai was thirteen years old and had successfully entered seclusion to break through to the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage.

Such a cultivation speed, while perhaps not world-shaking, was something few in the entire Yue Kingdom Cultivation World could match within a millennium.

After all, he had only been at the Foundation Establishment Stage for three or four years.

In three or four years, going from Foundation Establishment Early Stage to Foundation Establishment Mid-stage—if ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators lacked sufficient opportunity, it was normal for them to toil for twenty or thirty years, or even forty or fifty for those with limited aptitude and worse luck.

Yet Yan Taibai only used three or four years, which left Nangong Wan greatly surprised and happy.

But when Yan Taibai said he wanted to leave the Yanyue Sect to go out for experience, her exquisite and beautiful jade face showed not a hint of joy, and her tone even turned much colder.

"No. Do not think that just because so much time has passed and you have advanced to the Foundation Establishment Mid-stage that you can rest easy. The turmoil outside has absolutely not subsided. You had better continue to stay in your cave dwelling and cultivate! With your aptitude, advancing to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage will not consume too much time."

Nangong Wan advised him earnestly.

"Senior Sister, this younger brother really has matters that require leaving the sect, and, this younger brother will not alert anyone. Senior Sister may rest assured."

Yan Taibai guaranteed.

Seeing this, Nangong Wan sighed lightly and stopped trying to persuade him; she nodded her head slightly, her jade face showing a helpless expression as she said:

"Fine, suit yourself! I will not interfere further. But Yan'er absolutely cannot leave with you."

"That is only natural. Yan'er has yet to reach Foundation Establishment; how could I let her leave the sect with me?"

"Little Brother, this time I only want to go back to Yan Family Fortress to take a look."

Yan Taibai nodded in agreement.

"Yan Family Fortress, that is true. It is time for you to go back and see. After all, the Yan Family still has a few cultivators. It would not be bad for you to go back and offer some guidance."

Upon hearing this, Nangong Wan's expression cleared slightly as she said.

"Many thanks, Senior Sister. This younger brother takes his leave."

Yan Taibai stood up, cupped his hands, and left Nangong Wan's cave dwelling without any lingering attachment.

Then, after concealing his figure and appearance, he left the Yanyue Sect silently and headed toward Yan Family Fortress.

His trip to Yan Family Fortress this time was not out of nostalgia; he did not have deep feelings for Yan Family Fortress.

He only cared about a few people, but now only Yan Ruyan was by his side; the others were all gone.

And he had a purpose for returning to Yan Family Fortress, which was something Yan Ruyan had told him.

Clearly, this girl Yan Ruyan knew quite a lot.

Although it was obtained by eavesdropping, as for who it was from, it was naturally her parents.

These two were core members of Yan Family Fortress and knew of no small number of matters that were handled and resolved.

It was normal for Yan Ruyan to have heard it when she was young, but whether it was true or not still required Yan Taibai to go and check for himself.

If it were true, then he would have struck gold.

A small-scale Chijing Yunjin Mine; this material was in no way inferior to a Mysterious Gold Mine and was absolutely an excellent place to cultivate the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash".

And this Chijing Yunjin Mine was known only to a very small number of people in Yan Family Fortress; others had no idea. Constrained by their strength, Yan Family Fortress did not open it on a large scale; otherwise, the Seven Sects would inevitably come to demand a share.

Therefore, they only mined it quietly for a period of time before stopping and sealing it off, simply because it had attracted the attention of the Seven Sects.

And the person in charge of this matter was Yan Ruyan's father, the father-in-law whom Yan Taibai had saved.

As for the specific location, it was not close to Yan Family Fortress, but it was still in Lin Prefecture, within that small and unremarkable prefecture.

For Yan Taibai, there were not many things of the utmost importance.

The "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" absolutely ranked first, followed by completing the task of 【Slay Demons and Eliminate Devils】.

Because the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" was related to his strength, it was naturally the top priority; no other matter could surpass it.

Because in the cultivation world, the most important thing was strength; with sufficient strength, he could have whatever he wanted.

Without sufficient strength, many things could only be helplessly abandoned, or even watched as others obtained them.

Especially the affairs of Yan Family Fortress, which made him understand this point even more.

If his strength were sufficient and he became a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, then the entire Yan Family Fortress would be his, and there would be no need to sneakily rely on the Ghost Spirit Sect.

Nor would he be sneaking out of the Yanyue Sect as he was now, not daring to expose a single bit, lest he invite a fatal disaster.

Although he did not care about Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators—as long as they did not come in groups of thirty or fifty at once—a hundred or eighty posed little threat to him.

But he did not believe that the Ghost Spirit Sect or other forces would specifically engage in the brain-dead behavior of "delivering food" to him.

Once they realized that Foundation Establishment cultivators could not deal with him, they would inevitably send Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

By then, it would be quite difficult for him to retreat unscathed.

It was almost impossible to advance to the Golden Core Stage in a short time.

Therefore, if he wanted to increase his strength to the maximum extent, he could only convert the True Essence Magic Power in his dantian into "Geng Metal True Qi".

This did not mean the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" had been successfully cultivated; it could only be said that the foundation had just been laid, and only then could he truly cultivate the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" and completely "refine all kinds of metal materials and Spirit Stones without restriction".

Being limited to Metal-attribute Intermediate Spirit Stones previously meant that the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" had not yet been truly cultivated.

It was just that Yan Taibai was a little worried about whether this vein of Chijing Yunjin could allow him to convert all the True Essence Magic Power in his dantian into "Geng Metal True Qi".

If the conversion were completely successful, then he would have the confidence even when facing ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

Of course, this was limited to ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivators, that is, those at the Golden Core Initial Stage or Golden Core Mid-stage.

If it were his master, Qiong Laoguai, he could at most retreat unscathed; his chances of winning were not high.

However, to find this Chijing Yunjin, he must first return to Yan Family Fortress, because Yan Ruyan did not know the specific location, so he still needed to find clues himself.

Although Yan Family Fortress was currently managed by people from the Yanyue Sect, Yan Taibai had requested that they not easily enter the fortress to disturb the lives of the people inside, which was roughly equivalent to being gatekeepers.

Regarding this request, Yan Taibai's words did not have much effect, but the words of Nangong Wan, Nishang Xianzi, Wu Shishu, and his master Qiong Laoguai were much more useful.

Almost no one dared to defy this, because once exposed, the consequences were simply not something an ordinary Yanyue Sect disciple could bear.

Moreover, everyone knew that before the Yan Family Fortress was abandoned, everything of value had been taken away in one go, leaving behind such a mess to be looked after by Yan Taibai.

Under these circumstances, no one would be idle enough to risk searching for anything in the Yan Family Fortress.

If it were not for the other mines, medicine gardens, and properties of the Yan Family, Yan Taibai would not want to bother with it at all.

……

Although these Spirit Stone mines, medicine gardens, and shops were temporarily managed by the Yanyue Sect, Yan Taibai and Yan Ruyan could still obtain a portion of them.

Once their strength and realm improved, they could just take them back twofold.

The most important thing now was still to improve his strength and transform the True Essence Magic Power in his dantian into "Geng Metal True Qi".

Therefore, after entering the Yan Family Fortress, Yan Taibai did not alert anyone and, following what Yan Ruyan had said, arrived at a little-known secret room in the Flying Cloud Pavilion of the Yan Family Fortress.

Yan Taibai possessed the tokens for all the formations and Restrictions within the Yan Family Fortress, while the responsible Yanyue Sect disciples did not; at most, they could only mobilize a portion of them.

Places like the Flying Cloud Pavilion were forbidden to enter.

This was also one of Yan Taibai's conditions; for this, he had specifically asked his master, Qiong Laoguai, for help.

Otherwise, relying solely on his status would have been far from enough.

Because he was currently only a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator, even if his status was special, his say in the Yanyue Sect was basically gone due to the Yan Family Fortress.

Even if he had any, it was at most out of respect for the Great Elder of the Masked Moon Sect, Qiong Laoguai, and Nangong Wan, that others would give him some face because they were unwilling to offend or provoke those few.

Regarding this, Yan Taibai was also helpless.

However, he did not really care about these matters to begin with.

As long as his strength and realm were sufficient, these would all be his.

Naturally, this was not the first time Yan Taibai had come to the Flying Cloud Pavilion of the Yan Family Fortress.

After all, he was once a person in charge of the Yan Family Fortress, although in most cases he was only responsible for listening and understanding the situation of the Yan Family Fortress.

But his status was self-evident, and therefore, he was quite familiar with the Flying Cloud Pavilion.

Although he had not entered the Flying Cloud Pavilion for a long time, the furnishings and layout of the Flying Cloud Pavilion were the same as ever, without a speck of dust.

This was the benefit of having formations and Restrictions set up.

As for the secret room in Yan Ruyan's words, Yan Taibai also found it quickly.

Inside were displayed many Jade Slips; it was unknown whether they were left behind on purpose or if there was no time to take them away.

And the contents of these Jade Slips were all important events and information that had occurred in the Yan Family Fortress.

Therefore, Yan Taibai examined them quite patiently.

Before long, a Jade Slip left for him by Mr. Xuan Ye caught his attention.

"Mr. really calculated everything without omission; he is worthy of being the strategist of the Yan Family!"

After reading the contents of the Jade Slip, Yan Taibai had to sigh at the brilliance of Mr. Xuan Ye.

He had calculated all possibilities and arranged sufficient backup plans. It also allowed him to get news of his "aunt" De Hua and Yan Yun.

"Dongyu Country"!

This was a country that, like the Yue Country and Yuanwu Country, belonged to the neutral nations.

As early as when the Yan Family Ancestor told everyone about the relationship between the Yan Family and the Ghost Spirit Sect, Mr. Xuan Ye had already transferred many branches of the Yan Family clan out; Dongyu Country was just one of them.

This made Yan Taibai have to sigh at Mr. Xuan Ye's calculations without omission, and he also understood that Mr. Xuan Ye must have calculated what the Yan Family Ancestor's choice would be, which was why he left behind so many backup plans.

This was to prevent the Yan Family bloodline from completely disappearing from the Immortal Realm.

Of course, there were also words of apology for the Yan Family Ancestor in the Jade Slip, as well as a batch of cultivation resources left for Yan Taibai and Yan Ruyan, worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones.

He hoped that Yan Taibai could forgive the Yan Family and protect the mortals of the Yan Family Fortress as much as possible.

Besides this, there was also what to do if the industries and mines left by the Yan Family were seized.

The scandals of which families in the Yanyue Sect, and countless things like that.

It gave Yan Taibai leverage over various families, but this thing was a double-edged sword; if used poorly, it could instead invite a fatal disaster.

Besides this, there was the Chijing Yunjin Mine that Yan Taibai cared about most, which was also among them. In addition to this mine, there was also a low-tier Spirit Stone mine with Metal and Earth attributes, as well as other mines and ruins that the Seven Sects of Yue Kingdom and various clans had not discovered or mined.

This made Yan Taibai have to suspect that the Ghost Spirit Sect's original choice of the Yue Country had no small connection to this intelligence from Mr. Xuan Ye.

As for how Mr. Xuan Ye knew about and found these mines and ruins, it was unknown.

But regardless, this intelligence, which could be considered a distribution map of the mines of the entire Yue Country, increased Yan Taibai's confidence in cultivating the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" by quite a bit.

Without being polite, this was a treasure map of mines left behind by Mr. Xuan Ye.

Moreover, it was clearly left specifically for Yan Taibai; this favor could not be considered light.

Although Mr. Xuan Ye did not know he was cultivating the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash", he was clear about what this mine map meant to a cultivation family.

And he also left Yan Taibai many means to deal with the Yanyue Sect, and even the Seven Sects and various cultivation families, detailed in every aspect, having thought of almost every possibility.

This made Yan Taibai have to be curious about who Mr. Xuan Ye actually was to be so brilliant.

However, the most urgent thing now was to use the Metal Attribute Spirit Stone mine and metal materials in these mines to cultivate the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash".

As long as the "White Emperor Golden Emperor Slash" was cultivated to success, then basically the means and strategies left by Mr. Xuan Ye could only be used as a reference.

Strength was the most important thing.

As long as his strength was sufficient, he would not fear the Seven Sects of Yue Kingdom and various cultivation families at all.

"The first target will be this Metal-Earth attribute Spirit Stone mine. It happens to be not far from the Chijing Yunjin Mine; could it be because of this reason that the Metal-Earth Spirit Stone mine was formed?"

Yan Taibai thought in his heart.

After all, most Spirit Stone mines in various countries had the most Fire and Earth attributes, followed by Water and Wood, while Metal attributes were the rarest.

Now that he had these two mines, Yan Taibai was more confident in transforming the True Essence Magic Power in his body into "Geng Metal True Qi"; even if he could not succeed, there were other mines.

It was not a big problem!

Once he thought of this, Yan Taibai no longer delayed time and left the Yan Family Fortress silently again, but he still checked the situation of the Yan Family Fortress.

Unlike in the past, if the Mortals within Yan Family Fortress wish to leave, they may do so at any time, and the disciples of the Yanyue Sect will not interfere.

Given the current situation of Yan Family Fortress, quite a few Mortals have chosen to leave.

Even though they lack for neither food nor clothing while staying in Yan Family Fortress, the impending disaster that could descend at any moment remains a sharp sword hanging over their heads, naturally causing them immense worry.

Consequently, only one-third of the Mortals remain in Yan Family Fortress today; these people are not unwilling to leave, but most have nowhere else to go, while the rest are the true members of the Yan Family who are unwilling to leave.

They possess the bloodline of the Yan Family and also believe that the Yan Family will sooner or later restore its former glory.

There is another portion related to the cultivators; these Yan Family descendants are absolutely forbidden from leaving Yan Family Fortress, and with no shortage of Spirit Stones for cultivation, plus the fact that the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth in the Yan Family is quite good, they naturally have no desire to leave.

It can be said that they are the most carefree group of people in the entire Yan Family Fortress, living in absolute ease, needing only to stay honestly in Yan Family Fortress to cultivate.

Seeing that there was nothing major happening in Yan Family Fortress, Yan Taibai felt at ease and left.

(End of this chapter)