The Longevity Family: Starting from the Foundation Establishment Ancestor

The mountain wind howled, and the stench of blood filled the air.

Han Mu leaned weakly against the rock wall, the recording stone in his hand emitting a faint spiritual light. Elder Blood Fiend stared intently at the stone, his expression shifting constantly, the killing intent in his eyes almost tangible.

"You think you can threaten me with this?" Elder Blood Fiend's voice was icy. "Kill you, destroy the stone, who knows what might happen tonight?"

"Elder Blood Fiend is right," Han Mu said, "but do you think... I would only prepare one recording stone?"

With his left hand, he pulled out three more identical recording stones from his robes: "I have used the 'Distraction Technique' to set a self-destruct restriction on three of these four recording stones. As long as I die, or if you forcibly take them, the three stones will self-destruct simultaneously. As for the last one... it should already be with my men, on their way to Yellow Maple Valley."

This statement was only half true. Han Mu had indeed prepared several recording stones and set up restrictions beforehand, but the claim of "sending them to Yellow Maple Valley" was purely a bluff. At this moment, everyone in the Han family was trapped inside the formation, and it was impossible for anyone to leave.

But Elder Blood Fiend didn't know that.

His expression grew even more grim. The Divine Interference Technique is a common restrictive spell that can establish connections between multiple magical artifacts, ensuring that if one is destroyed, all are destroyed. If what Han Mu said was true, then he was indeed hesitant to act rashly.

"What do you want?" Elder Blood Fiend asked through gritted teeth.

"It's very simple." Han Mu "struggled" to straighten up. "First, you must retreat immediately and not attack Yanling Fortress again for three years. Second, compensate the Han, Li, and Zhang families for their losses in this battle, totaling ten thousand low-grade spirit stones. Third, hand over the antidote for the 'Bone-Corroding Poison'."

He pointed to the formation behind him—Li Yuanming and Zhang Xuanfeng's faces were dark, clearly indicating they had been poisoned in the battle just now.

"Dream on!" Wang Chan shouted sharply. "Elder Blood Fiend, don't believe him! He's at his last gasp, we..."

"Shut up!" Elder Blood Fiend glared at Wang Chan, then turned to Han Mu. "The first two points are negotiable, but the third is not. There is no cure for the Bone-Corroding Poison; only the unique technique of my Ghost Spirit Sect can suppress it."

"Then let's change it to teaching the method of suppression." Han Mu took a step back.

Elder Blood Fiend was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Han Mu, you do have some cleverness. But have you ever considered... that I could just kill you, then slaughter the Han family, and then go after the messenger? Yellow Maple Valley is five hundred miles from here; it would take a Qi Refining stage cultivator at least two hours to get there. Two hours... is enough time for me to do many things."

Han Mu's heart skipped a beat. This old fox was indeed not easy to fool.

But his expression remained calm: "Elder Blood Fiend can give it a try. But I can guarantee you won't be able to catch the messenger—because the messenger isn't a Qi Refining cultivator, but a 'Thousand-Mile Crane'."

The Thousand-Mile Crane is a first-tier spirit bird whose flight speed is comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, covering three thousand miles a day. Although this spirit bird is weak in combat, it is perfect for delivering messages.

Elder Blood Fiend's pupils contracted slightly. If it really was Thousand-Mile Crane, then they indeed couldn't catch up.

"And..." Han Mu added, "It wasn't just one crane that delivered the message. There was also a 'messenger bee,' which should already be over a hundred miles away. Which one are you going to chase?"

This is a complete lie. Both the Thousand-Mile Crane and the Messenger Bee are rare spirit beasts; the Han family simply cannot afford to raise them. But Han Mu is betting that Elder Blood Fiend wouldn't dare to gamble.

Sure enough, Elder Blood Fiend's face was so gloomy it could drip water.

The two faced off, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

After a long silence, Elder Blood Fiend finally spoke: "Ten thousand spirit stones is too much, five thousand."

"Eight thousand."

"Six thousand."

"Seven thousand, that's the bottom line." Han Mu coughed twice, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth again. "Any less, and it'll be a fight to the death."

Elder Blood Fiend stared at Han Mu for a long time, then suddenly waved his hand, and a storage bag flew towards Han Mu: "There are six thousand spirit stones inside, and the technique to suppress the Bone-Corroding Poison. The other thousand... use this to offset it."

He then tossed out another jade slip.

Han Mu caught it and probed the storage bag with his divine sense to confirm that the number of spirit stones was correct. He then examined the jade slip, which contained a body-refining technique called "Yin Sha Body Refining Technique". Although it was only a fragment, it was indeed a secret technique of the Ghost Spirit Sect, and its value far exceeded one thousand spirit stones.

"Okay." Han Mu nodded. "What about the three-year agreement..."

"I swear by my inner demons that within three years, the Ghost Spirit Sect and the Joyful Union Sect shall not launch an attack on Yanling Fortress," Elder Blood Fiend said coldly. "But if you leave the territory of Yanling Fortress, then don't blame us for being impolite."

"Deal." Han Mu put away the storage bag and jade slip.

Elder Blood Fiend gave Han Mu a deep look, then turned around and said, "Let's go."

"Elder!" Wang Chan cried out in dissatisfaction.

"Go!" Elder Blood Fiend shouted, transforming into a beam of blood-red light that shot into the sky.

Wang Chan glared at Han Mu and then left. Dong Xuan'er and the other two Foundation Establishment elders were dissatisfied, but they dared not disobey Elder Xue Sha's orders and hurriedly retreated with the remaining dozen or so Qi Refining disciples.

Only after all the demonic cultivators disappeared into the sky did Han Mu cough up a mouthful of blood, his body swaying precariously.

"Father!" "Grandfather!"

Han Changqing and Han Yunge rushed out of the formation and helped Han Mu up.

"I'm fine." Han Mu waved his hand, wiping away the blood. "Let's go back into the formation first."

Back inside the formation, Han Mu immediately sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing. The negotiation just now seemed easy, but it was actually extremely dangerous. He had been holding on tightly, and if he showed any weakness, Elder Blood Fiend would definitely not hesitate to kill him.

Half an hour later, Han Mu slowly opened his eyes. His face was still pale, but his breathing was much more stable.

"System, retrieve the current status."

[Host: Han Mu]

[Realm: Foundation Establishment Level 7 (True) / Foundation Establishment Level 1 (Surface)]

[Status: Spiritual energy depleted by 85%, meridians moderately damaged (expected recovery in seven days)]

[Warning: Forcibly suppressing injuries may damage the foundation.]

Han Mu's heart sank. This injury was more serious than expected and required treatment as soon as possible.

"Father, these spirit stones..." Han Changqing held the storage bag, somewhat at a loss. Six thousand low-grade spirit stones were a huge sum of money for the Han family at present.

"Keep this and use it to rebuild the family," Han Mu said. "The Li and Zhang families will each receive five hundred spirit stones as compensation. The rest will be used to repair the formation, buy pills, and train the younger generation."

"Yes." Han Changqing nodded.

"Yun Ge, take that 'Yin Sha Body Refining Technique' and study it. See if you can improve it into a cultivation method suitable for us." Han Mu then took out the jade slip. "Remember, demonic cultivation methods often have hidden dangers and should not be practiced directly."

"Granddaughter understands." Han Yunge took the jade slip.

"Take the technique for suppressing the bone-corroding poison to Li Yuanming and Zhang Xuanfeng." Han Mu looked at the two men who were healing not far away. "Tell them that the Han family keeps its word. From now on, the three major families of Yanling Fort will be united and overcome difficulties together."

"yes!"

Having made these arrangements, Han Mu got up and headed towards his cave. He needed to heal his injuries as soon as possible, and at the same time, he needed to carefully plan his future development.

This battle, while forcing back the demonic path, also completely exposed the Han family's true strength and weaknesses. Elder Blood Fiend retreated not out of fear of Han Mu, but out of concern for the Seven Great Sects. But what about three years from now?

Three years is neither a long nor a short time.

Han Mu must ensure that the Han family has the power to truly protect itself within these three years. This requires at least three Foundation Establishment cultivators, doubling the number of Qi Refining cultivators, upgrading the formations, and achieving self-sufficiency in pills and magical artifacts.

"System, bring up the progress of the family development task."

[Family Development Tasks]

【Requirement 1: The number of cultivators in the family must exceed 100 (currently 23/100)】

[Requirement 2: Have three Foundation Establishment stage members (currently 1/3)]

[Time Limit: 3 years (2 years and 8 months remaining)]

[Reward: Five Elements Elixir Condensation Recipe x1, Special Building "Heart Refining Tower"]

The number of cultivators is manageable; we can recruit a large number of mortal disciples with spiritual roots. The key issue is Foundation Establishment cultivators…

Han Mu's gaze fell on Han Yunge outside the cave. With dual spiritual roots of wood and fire, and outstanding talent in alchemy, he could potentially reach Foundation Establishment within three years if given sufficient resources.

But one more is still missing.

"It seems it's time to make a trip to Jiayuan City," Han Mu muttered to himself.

He remembered that in the original story, Doctor Mo should be running a clinic in Jiayuan City at this moment, and his cultivation level was at the tenth level of Qi Refining. If he could subdue this person, his medical skills and experience would greatly benefit the development of his family. Moreover, the tenth level of Qi Refining was only one step away from Foundation Establishment, and with the assistance of Foundation Establishment Pills, the chances of success would be quite high.

However, this cannot be rushed; we must wait until the injury has healed before discussing it further.

Han Mu sat down cross-legged, took out the last bottle of healing pills, and began to seclude himself to heal his injuries.

Outside the cave, the morning sun was just rising.

After a night of bloody fighting, Yanling Fort finally ushered in a brief period of peace.

But everyone knew that this calm was just the prelude to a storm.

The three-year agreement has begun its countdown.