Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

Two more months later.

After arriving at the front lines and sending a reply letter, Niu Dazhuang received no further messages.

Wu Fan couldn't help but feel a little worried, and at the same time, he was curious about the situation on the front lines of the Bai and Deng families.

However, as an outsider, Wu Fan could not find out much information. In addition, almost all the Bai family members who worked in Baidan Hall had been transferred back to the front line, leaving only some externally hired personnel behind.

Even if there are a few members of the Bai family's management, such as the eldest daughter Bai Ruanyu, he is ultimately an outsider cultivator and cannot directly inquire about the core of the family's war information.

Worrying was useless, so Wu Fan could only calm down and return to his room to meditate and cultivate.

A few days later, due to the transfer of many members of the Bai family to Baidan Hall, there was a severe shortage of manpower. Wu Fan took the initiative to help out at Baidan Hall, handling miscellaneous tasks such as the inspection of medicinal materials.

It was precisely because of this that he heard many bits of gossip circulating in the market.

"Have you heard? The Bai family's third elder was severely injured on the front lines and lost an arm. It's said that the Deng family's second elder was responsible for it!"

One of the cultivators responsible for transporting the medicinal herbs lowered his voice and spoke to his companion beside him, his tone full of fear.

"Oh? It's that serious?"

His companion stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief. "Has the conflict between the two families escalated to this point? Even experts at the late stage of Qi Refining are now fighting to the death!"

"I've heard something even more shocking!"

Another cultivator leaned closer, lowering his voice even further, "The Bai family patriarch has long been critically injured and unlikely to survive. That's why the Deng family is so eager to launch their attack—they want to crush the Bai family completely before it becomes leaderless!"

Hearing these whispers, Wu Fan's heart sank slightly.

Plans can't keep up with changes. He originally thought that even if there were frictions between the Bai and Deng families, it wouldn't escalate to this point so quickly. He didn't expect it to have become so serious that even the family elders had started a life-or-death struggle.

However, a hint of doubt arose in Wu Fan's mind.

Why is the Deng family in such a hurry?

Even though the Bai family patriarch was seriously injured, the Bai family's foundation remained intact, and the number of Qi Refining cultivators in the family was not much less than that of the Deng family. The two families were almost evenly matched.

If the Deng family manages to win by sheer luck, they will likely suffer heavy losses on both sides, leaving them severely weakened. Wouldn't that just benefit the other forces in Qingxi County?

It's important to know that Qingxi County has more than just the Bai and Deng families who have established their foundations.

Just as Wu Fan was pondering to himself, a cultivator dressed in a light blue outfit with a "Hyacinth" token hanging from his waist strode into the Hundred Pills Hall and walked straight toward Wu Fan: "Alchemist Wu, there is a letter for you."

Wu Fan snapped out of his thoughts, took the letter, thanked the sender, and then turned and went back to his room.

Upon opening the envelope, familiar handwriting came into view; it was sent by my second uncle, Wu Yuanshan.

The letter was brief, saying that he learned of Wu Fan's achievements from Wu Xiaowan and felt very gratified. He also apologized, saying that he had been narrow-minded before and should not have interfered with Wu Fan's decisions. He said that he would fully support Wu Fan's choices in the future and would no longer interfere.

The second half of the text concerned the situation of the Bai family. The second uncle solemnly reminded Wu Fan that Yunxi Market had become a place of trouble and danger, and that he should go to his residence to avoid the storm and make plans after the situation stabilized.

After reading the letter, Wu Fan felt a warmth in his heart.

But after a moment's thought, he picked up his pen and wrote a reply, politely declining his second uncle's offer.

If his second uncle Wu Yuanshan's residence is truly safe, Wu Fan wouldn't mind going there to lay low for a while.

But he knew in his heart that Yunxi Market was already in a state of panic. The struggle between the Bai and Deng families had spread to the market. His second uncle's residence was not far from the outskirts of the market. If the market really had a big problem, his second uncle would probably not be able to escape unscathed.

After all, Yunxi Market has a first-grade high-level array protecting its inner perimeter, and there are also cultivators from the Bai family on duty inside the market. In addition, there are many independent cultivators and personnel from various families gathered inside the market. If there is any danger, everyone can join forces to resist.

In contrast, my second uncle's residence was just an ordinary cultivator's house, without even a proper protective formation, making it far less safe than the inner perimeter of the market.

In the days that followed, Wu Fan continued to help out at the Hundred Pill Hall while seizing every opportunity to cultivate diligently, and at the same time, he continued to refine the several techniques he had mastered.

News from the front lines continued to reach Yunxi Market, and most of it was unfavorable to the Bai family.

News such as "The Bai family has lost another late-stage Qi Refining cultivator on the front lines, along with more than ten young clansmen who died in battle" and "One of the Bai family's medicinal gardens was breached by the Deng family, and all the spiritual herbs in the garden were looted" can be heard almost every day.

Hearing this bad news, Wu Fan's worry for Niu Dazhuang grew stronger.

Niu Dazhuang was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and his situation would likely be extremely dangerous on the front lines where life and death were at stake.

"It seems the Deng family is truly desperate, so eager to force out the Bai family patriarch?"

Wu Fan pondered to himself, "Aren't they afraid that the Bai family's patriarch might be pushed to the limit and forcefully attack despite his injuries, resulting in his death along with the Deng family's Foundation Establishment patriarch? The Deng family currently only has one Foundation Establishment cultivator. If it really comes down to a one-for-one exchange, the Deng family will fall to the Qi Refining family, which would be a huge loss for them."

He couldn't understand where the Deng family got the confidence to act this way, unless... the Deng family had other forces backing them, or they had some kind of trump card that could crush the Bai family.

"Boom! Thud—!!!"

Just as Wu Fan was racking his brains trying to figure it out, a deafening roar suddenly rang out, with a long trailing sound, coming from the depths of the market.

The immense impact even seemed to cause his room, the Hundred Pill Hall, to shake violently.

Wu Fan felt a chill run down his spine and immediately got up and rushed to the window, pushing it open to look in the direction from which the sound came.

At the end of the most bustling long street in Yunxi Market, which is also the entrance to the inner perimeter of the market, streaks of crimson flames fell wildly like meteorites, blasting the stone archway and stone statues at the entrance to pieces, sending rocks flying and filling the air with smoke and dust.

Immediately afterwards, a crimson fire serpent tens of meters long roared into the crowd. Wherever it passed, the shops and inns outside the inner perimeter of the market were set ablaze, and raging flames shot into the sky, illuminating half the sky red.

Fortunately, the inner perimeter of the market was shrouded in a light blue, semi-transparent light shield, which was a protective barrier after the formation was activated.

The flames and attacks landed on the light shield, only causing ripples, and were temporarily unable to break through the inner area.

Wu Fan squinted and looked into the distance by the firelight. He saw dozens of cultivators dressed in black and wearing ferocious masks rushing into the outer perimeter of the market like evil spirits. They were brandishing all kinds of magical treasures and artifacts, hacking and slashing at the cultivators in the market and robbing the shops of their valuables.

Many independent cultivators and shop assistants were caught off guard and instantly fell into pools of blood. Screams, curses, and the clash of magical artifacts mingled together, creating a chaotic scene.