I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

"Old Cheng, you're quite fast!"

He Zhenyue's voice came from not far behind him, with a hint of teasing. Before he finished speaking, his figure had already emerged from the gray-yellow mist and landed on the hill.

The moment the boot sole came into contact with the bone meal, a small patch of grayish-white dust was stirred up, like a ripple spreading across the surface of water.

Cheng Wanjun turned around and looked into the depths of the fog.

"Brother He, you're not slow either."

Further in from here lies the most central and slumbering area of ​​the secret realm.

The grayish-yellow fog became even thicker here, almost solidifying into a substance, like a viscous liquid slowly flowing in the air. With each breath, one could feel the damp, cold, rusty smell seeping into one's lungs.

Their field of vision was compressed to less than a hundred feet, and even their divine sense was suppressed by the evil aura, leaving them only able to rely on their senses and memories to determine their direction.

The three families agreed to meet on this hill and enter the slumbering area together to compete for the ultimate treasure, the Blood Jade Infant Marrow.

That spiritual item that can increase the probability of a Golden Core cultivator forming a Nascent Soul by 30% is something every Golden Core cultivator dreams of obtaining.

He Zhenyue landed, stood with his hands behind his back, and cast his gaze into the depths of the dormant area.

"We must obtain this Nascent Soul artifact."

Cheng Wanjun nodded, his gaze also fixed on the deep mist, a determined glint in his eyes.

"With so many people from the three of us mobilized this time, there shouldn't be any problems."

"That's right."

After saying this, the two remained silent for a moment.

But then the question arises: to whom does the spirit belong?

Although the three families had previously agreed that the item would belong to the Cheng family, and the Cheng family would compensate the other two families with a considerable amount of spirit stones.

It was all in black and white, with the spirit's mark and signature, and a middleman as a witness.

However, this matter concerns the formation of the Nascent Soul stage. Once it is achieved, it can break the existing order and make the family the first in Burning Bone City to have a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Having a Nascent Soul stage cultivator is the true mark of standing out in the Southern Region.

It is not a vassal, not a pawn, but an entity qualified to make its move on the chessboard, a force capable of influencing the course of events.

Spirit stones? What are spirit stones anyway?

The deterrent power of a Nascent Soul cultivator cannot be measured by spirit stones.

Therefore, the Cheng family was worried that the two families would go back on their word and eventually come to blows.

He Zhenyue was worried that if the Cheng family gave the items to them and they succeeded in achieving Nascent Soul stage, the Cheng family would turn their backs on them.

At that time, what kind of compensation? What will they compensate for?

With the Cheng family now possessing a Nascent Soul cultivator, the He and Liu families combined are no match for them; they're nothing more than fish on a chopping board.

The three parties form an alliance that appears unbreakable on the surface, but beneath the surface, each harbors its own agenda and undercurrents are swirling.

Everyone is calculating, everyone is planning their own escape route.

This is why both sides are silent at this moment.

A grayish-yellow mist flowed slowly around them, shrouding their figures in a hazy, indistinct manner.

He Zhenyue was the first to break the silence.

"By the way, our people should be fine dealing with that guy from the Lin family, right?"

To counter the Lin family's expansion, they came up with a trump card: to kill their patriarch, Lin Che!

Once he dies, the Lin family's momentum in Burning Bone City will crumble, and he will have to tuck his tail between his legs and obediently return to Chuyang City.

As for where to take action?

This must be the secret realm.

The allure of this place has attracted even these three families, so how could that small family from beyond the Great Wall not come?

Materials for forming the Golden Core and spiritual items for forming the Nascent Soul—which one isn't something the Lin family desperately needs?

They will definitely come; they will not miss it.

This is where Lin Che was buried.

Coming to his senses, Cheng Wanjun shook his head with a smile, a smile full of confidence, even tinged with a hint of disdain.

"How could there be a problem? According to our instructions, the first thing they did upon entering was to form teams before heading here. With at least three people per team, how could Lin Che possibly defeat them? What kind of trouble can a mere early-stage Golden Core cultivator cause?"

He Zhenyue frowned, gently stroking his chin with his fingers: "But according to our intelligence, Lin Che also has a Golden Core stage spirit beast."

Cheng Wanjun waved his hand dismissively.

"Would he dare to bring them out? Their base, Shattered Star Lake, needs Golden Core level combatants to stay behind."

Although Chuyang City is a remote place, it is a gathering place for demonic beasts, not to mention the rogue cultivators hiding in the shadows and other forces coveting the spiritual veins.

If he takes all the Golden Core spirit beasts with him, who will guard Shattered Star Lake? That third-tier spirit beast must have been left behind in the clan's territory.

He paused, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes:

"Moreover, even if he brought them, they would only be two early-stage Golden Core cultivators."

A three-person team, with one person holding off the spirit beast and the other two fighting two against one, will have no problem at all.

We've both come from the early stages of the Golden Core realm, so we should understand that the gap between the early and middle stages of the Golden Core realm is not something a fighting beast can bridge.

He Zhenyue's brows relaxed, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Okay, that makes sense."

The two waited quietly for their tribesmen to arrive.

The wind on the hill grew stronger, causing the fog to churn and surge like waves on the sea, one after another, without end.

In the distance, the cries of the dead echoed intermittently, some low like the bellow of a bull, others sharp like the cry of an eagle, weaving together into an eerie symphony across the wasteland.

Time passed slowly as we waited.

……

Not far from the light sleep zone, on the plain.

The raging flames burned for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the crimson-gold flames shooting into the sky, turning the gray-yellow sky a golden red, as if a new sun had risen on the horizon.

The temperature at the center of the flames was so high that even the air was distorted. The bone dust on the ground was burned into a glassy state, gleaming brightly in the firelight and refracting a rainbow of colors.

As the last flame licked away at the three mangled bodies, the fire slowly receded, revealing the majestic figure within.

The Heavenly Sacred Sparrow folded its wings and slowly descended from the sky.

Its golden-red feathers shimmered in the firelight, especially the majestic golden phoenix crown on its head, which shimmered with a noble and ancient light in the firelight. Complex flame runes flashed by from time to time in its molten golden pupils.

Three mangled bodies lay scattered at her feet, charred black, making it impossible to distinguish between corpses and ashes.

Only two broken magical artifacts were scattered among the bone powder, proving that there were once three human cultivators here.

"Sparrow, well done." Lin Che's voice came from not far away.

He was bending down to pick up a storage bag from beside a mutilated body and casually put it into his sleeve.

The Heavenly Sacred Sparrow let out a clear and melodious cry, its voice carrying a hint of pride, as well as a touch of arrogance that seemed to say, "What's so great about this?"

She tilted her head and preened the feathers on her wings with her beak, her movements elegant and composed, as if the killing just now was merely an appetizer before the main course.

Lin Che smiled and touched the golden phoenix crown on her head.

"Which one is it?"

The Heavenly Sacred Sparrow tilted its head and thought for a moment, a serious look flashing in its molten golden pupils.

"With these three, it should be the seventh."

Lin Che nodded, his gaze fixed on the distant hills.

There, in the central region's nomadic area, a grayish-yellow mist swirls around the hills.

"There's still quite a bit to go."

He took out the jade pendant and glanced at it.

Those red dots are still moving; some are already close to the dormant zone, some are still lingering on the edge of the wandering zone, and a few have completely disappeared.

A slight smile appeared on his lips.

He did indeed leave the Hellfire Tiger at Shattered Star Lake this time.

That old fellow, along with Lin Xuanfeng's guards, protected the safety of Shattered Star Lake and Qingze.

He brought out all three Golden Core warriors: Ke Que'er, Ya Zi, and Qing Xuan Realm Spirit.

They thought that a group of three could easily defeat Lin Che, and that even a Golden Core cultivator with a spirit beast wouldn't be able to cause any trouble.

But what they didn't know was that those teams of three were facing more than just Lin Che.

There is also a Golden Core Dragon Beast with a fifth-tier top-grade bloodline, a fourth-tier top-grade Burning Heaven Sacred Sparrow, and a Azure Profound Realm Spirit that can locate itself in space and appear silently anywhere.

He didn't even need to lift a finger.

The Yaren Dragon Beast was responsible for overwhelming the enemy head-on, the Burning Sky Sacred Sparrow was responsible for remote blocking, and the Azure Profound Realm Spirit was responsible for locating and teleporting.

The three spirit beasts worked in perfect harmony, moving silently through the mist and erasing the Golden Core cultivators from the three families one by one from the map.

Lin Che only needed to follow the red dot on the jade tablet, and was responsible for cleaning up the battlefield and picking up storage bags.

This trip not only did not waste time or delay the search for the spirit creature, but the efficient hunting by the spirit beasts actually accelerated his speed.

For each set he solved, he would receive three storage bags containing all the spiritual items they had collected over the past few days.

He put away the jade token and communicated with the Yaren Dragon Beast through a soul contract.

"Yazi, how's it going on your end?"

After a moment of silence, a deep voice resounded in his heart, cold and hard with a metallic feel, like a blade cutting through iron and stone.

"Solved. Three of them. One was a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator from the Cheng family, and the other was an early-stage Golden Core cultivator. The one in the mid-stage Golden Core realm was quite fast; he used a teleportation technique and disappeared in a flash of blood. I marked him and chased him for fifty miles before catching up with him by a dry riverbed."

Lin Che nodded.

Yarenlong Beast is always efficient and decisive in its work, never dragging things out, and he doesn't need to worry about it.

"Where's Xiao Xuan?" he asked again.

A moment later, a clear, cool voice came, unhurried and unhurried.

"One, from the He family, early stage of Golden Core, I'm picking up his storage bag."

"Okay! We'll head over there to meet up. Those three should be getting impatient."

"understood."

Lin Che patted the head of the Burning Heaven Sacred Sparrow.

"I'm gone."

With a flap of her wings, golden-red flames surged from her feathers, enveloping her entire body and transforming into a golden-red streak of light that soared into the sky and disappeared into the grayish-yellow mist.

Wherever it passed, the mist hissed as it was scorched by the flames, leaving a long, smoky trail, like a wound torn open in the sky.

……

On the hill, the fog swirls and billows.

Cheng Wanjun stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the distance, watching one clansman after another emerge from the mist and gradually gather on the hill.

His fingers clenched and unclenched gently inside his sleeve, clenched and unclenched again.

He Zhenyue stood beside him, his brows furrowed, his gaze searching back and forth in the mist, but he still couldn't see any more figures.

"Only nine came," He Zhenyue said in a low voice, so low that only Cheng Wanjun could hear him. "Including the three of us, that makes twelve. Where are the others?"

Cheng Wanjun did not answer.

His gaze remained fixed on the depths of the fog, but the fog churned and there was nothing but the sound of the wind.

Something's not right.

Including the three of them, the three families brought a total of twenty-six Golden Core cultivators with them on this trip.

Everyone has their own tasks, their own routes, and their own time.

According to the agreement, they should have arrived at least half an hour ago.

The Golden Core cultivators from other factions have arrived near the hill one after another, standing in their respective corners, some talking in hushed tones, some resting with their eyes closed, and some have even begun to discuss plans to join forces.

Logically speaking, even if it took them some time to form a team, they should have arrived by now.

"Has Liu Zhengyun not arrived yet?" Cheng Wanjun asked, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tension.

"Not yet." He Zhenyue shook his head, his gaze fixed on the depths of the mist, where it was empty and devoid of anything. "But it should be soon. He's always been a slowpoke, never in a hurry to do anything."

He Zhenyue sounded relaxed, but his fingers were clenched so tightly in his sleeves that they turned white.

"Wait a little longer," Cheng Wanjun said.

No more figures emerged from the fog.

The time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed, and the mist is still churning, but there is no one in the mist.

People began to whisper among themselves, their eyes darting towards Cheng Wanjun and He Zhenyue with suspicion and unease.

As time passed, the silence on the hill grew heavier.

No one spoke; only the sound of the wind and the low growls of the dead echoed across the wasteland.

Some people started frequently checking their communication jade talismans, some paced back and forth, and some simply closed their eyes and pretended to be cultivating.

Half an hour passed.

There were still only twelve people on the hill.

The swirling fog swallowed all sound, leaving only the wind and the low growls of the dead echoing across the wasteland, deep and distant, like some kind of ominous premonition.

Occasionally, a few souls would rise from the skeletons in the distance, their crimson eyes glancing toward the hill before slowly sinking back into the ground, as if confirming something.

Cheng Wanjun's expression began to turn sour.

He took out a communication jade talisman, probed it with his divine sense, and sent messages to several clansmen who had not yet arrived.

The jade talisman lit up, its spiritual light flashed, and the message was sent out, then vanished without a trace.

There was no reply, no response.

He sent several more messages to different people using different methods of communication: jade talismans, spirit insects, and even a precious Thousand-Mile Transmission Talisman.

There was still no response.

His fingers began to tremble slightly, and an inexplicable unease spread through his heart.

He turned around and glanced at the twelve Golden Core cultivators on the hill.

The Cheng family, the He family, and the Liu family—everyone wore expressions of varying degrees of anxiety and confusion.

Some people had their heads down, some were staring into the depths of the fog, and some had already begun frantically inputting spiritual power into their communication jade talismans, but there was still no response.

"Old Cheng?" He Zhenyue's voice rose a few decibels, this time with obvious anxiety.

Cheng Wanjun took a deep breath, suppressing his unease, and his voice returned to normal. But beneath that normalcy, there was a tremor that even he himself didn't notice.

"It's alright," he said, turning his gaze back to the mist. "They might still be on their way, delayed by wandering spirits or something else. Let's wait a little longer."

His tone sounded like he was comforting He Zhenyue, but he knew that these words were more for his own comfort.

Because the Cheng family has deployed most of its Golden Core cultivators to create this Nascent Soul artifact, any loss would undoubtedly have devastating consequences for the Cheng family!

On the hill, twelve Golden Core cultivators stood or sat, some talking in hushed tones, some resting with their eyes closed, and some wiping their magical artifacts. The atmosphere was as somber as the calm before a storm.

No one knew that in the desolate wilderness deep within the mist, in those corners no one wanted to go, their kin who had not yet arrived would never come...