The Immortal Clan begins with deductive intelligence.

Chapter 98 Weak

Hundred Beasts Peak.

The air was heavy in early summer, with thick clouds hanging low.

Thunder rumbled from the heavens, hidden and silent, suppressing all the birds and beasts on Hundred Beast Peak into hibernation.

Xu Xining sat on the bluestone millstone, his hands tightly gripping a paper crane whose spiritual light had been exhausted.

The few words inside were like a bolt from the blue.

"Black Wind Pass—that old dog Zhang has gone too far in bullying the Xu family!"

Xu Xining clenched his teeth.

He had spent several months fighting on Hundred Beasts Peak and had heard a lot about the battle situation on the front lines.

"No, we absolutely cannot let the clan leader go to his death like this!"

Xu Xining stood up, forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart.

Now that things have come to this, only one person can save the clan chief.

He suddenly stood up and headed straight for the cliffside cave.

Below the precipice, ancient pines stand tall, and crows fall silent.

"Junior brother Xu Xining has an extremely urgent matter and requests to see Senior Sister Xiao! I beg Senior Sister to have mercy and grant me a visit!"

Xu Xining knelt down and remained kneeling for a long time.

A moment later, the stone gate burst open.

Xiao Han, dressed in a plain brocade wide-sleeved fairy dress, sat upright behind the green jade table, holding a silk handkerchief in his hand, slowly wiping the Autumn Water Longsword that rested across his knees.

"Are you making such a racket outside like you've lost your parents, or do you think you've lived too long?"

Xu Xining crawled two steps on his knees, raised the bulging storage bag high above his head, and said in a slightly trembling voice, "Senior Sister, please understand! I dare not disturb your peaceful cultivation, but my family has suffered a great calamity! Someone has tampered with the conscription order and exiled my family patriarch to the deadly Black Wind Pass."

"Junior brother is willing to offer his entire fortune, only asking senior sister to lend a helping hand and mediate for my Xu family!"

Xiao Hanyi paused slightly as she wiped her sword.

She slowly raised her head, her slender phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and she coldly glanced at the kneeling boy.

"Black Wind Pass?"

She didn't take the storage bag; instead, she lightly tossed the silk handkerchief onto the table with a soft sneer.

"You think highly of me."

Xiao Hanyi rose from behind the jade table, stepped barefoot onto the bluestone, and slowly walked to stand three feet in front of Xu Xining.

"Black Wind Pass is the key point on the left wing of the Demon-Slaying Dike. Since the elder of the Xu family is on the conscription list and the warship has already left the port, this matter is settled."

Xu Xining held his breath, his forehead pressed against the cold bluestone floor: "Senior Sister, as a personal disciple of an elder, with such a esteemed status, is it possible that even the task of transferring a Qi Refining cultivator is—"

"Do you think the Demon-Slaying Embankment is a one-man show for the Green River Sword Sect?"

Xiao Hanyi raised her eyes, a hint of condescension in them.

"Once the war begins, each sect and faction will send a war supervisor to oversee the situation. Once the list is approved and submitted to the Military Affairs Office, even a Golden Core Elder will not be able to easily alter it."

"If he hadn't boarded the ship, and you had come looking for me, I could have found a pretext to intercept him. But now that he's halfway there, the decree has been issued, and the die is cast, if I were to forcibly intervene and disrupt the military system established by the various sects, would you bear the blame for this act of usurpation?"

Xu Xining lay on the ground, motionless for a long time.

He could naturally understand the implied meaning.

It's true that the rules of the Demon-Slaying Dike are strict, but if Xiao Hanyi is truly willing to swallow his pride and beg his master, there might still be room for maneuver.

Ultimately, it's just that his position as a pawn is far too weak to warrant the opponent violating military law.

The path of immortals is ruthless; once the benefits are exhausted, they disperse.

"Junior brother—I understand."

His hands, which were holding the storage bag, fell limply to his sides.

"The cultivation world is a dog-eat-dog world. You can't blame others for being ruthless; you can only blame your Xu family for being weak."

"If you are truly determined, then live well on this Hundred Beasts Peak and strive to climb higher. When you become a great figure who can control the life and death of others, you will naturally be able to avenge the blood debt of your clan leader who died at Black Wind Pass."

"Go back now. If there's a next time, and you only come knocking with important business, don't blame me for not showing any mercy."

The stone gate slammed shut with a loud crash.

Boom!

Thunder roared across the sky.

The torrential rain poured down, pounding against the treetops and rocks with a crackling sound.

Xu Xining let the rain soak through his green robe.

He had recently broken through to the second level of Qi Refining and thought that he had already gained a firm foothold in the outer sect by being clever and resourceful.

But when the time came, the clan leader was tricked and sent to his death, and he couldn't even get a single meaningful word out of him.

The rain intensified, and the water flowed down the bluestone steps in a meandering manner.

After a while, Xu Xining finally stood up, supporting himself on his knees, mud dripping down his trouser legs.

There is no basis for immortality; it is all about struggle.

The little bit of luck they once had from relying on the protection of their elders was completely extinguished at this moment.

"A big shot—"

He chewed those three words over and over, the panic in his eyes gradually fading away, leaving only resilience and ruthlessness.

The sky was dark at the Black Wind Pass camp.

The north wind, carrying the lingering stench of blood, made the flags in the camp flutter in the wind.

Xu Changqing slumped down in the cramped military tent, a dark longbow lying across his lap.

This is a standard ritual implement issued by the Quartermaster Department. The bow arm is made of black buffalo horn combined with refined steel, and the string is like an old vine. It feels quite substantial in the hand.

It is heavy.

He gripped the bow with his left hand and placed his right hand on the string. Without any apparent movement, the exceptionally strong bowstring was slowly drawn to its full length.

Having undergone the tempering of the "Five Organs Forging Soup," his body was already as strong as a dragon, and drawing such a powerful bow was effortless for him.

Xu Changqing slightly closed his right eye and, through the gap in the curtain, sensed a dead tree stump standing a hundred paces away.

Loosen your fingers.

With a "hum," the bowstring vibrated, emitting a low, muffled sound that stirred up a faint ripple of air.

Although no arrow was drawn, the sharp gust of wind struck the withered tree stump with perfect accuracy, leaving a shallow white mark.

Xu Changqing placed the longbow on the table, a strange glint flashing in his eyes.

He had rarely touched a bow and arrow in both his past and present lives, and he thought he would be unfamiliar with it. However, when he drew the bow and aimed, his six senses were clear and his muscles exerted just the right amount of force, giving him a sense of perfect ease.

On the table was a black wooden waist plaque with the four characters "City Wall Defense Assistance" engraved on it.

Xu Changqing ran his fingertips along the edge of the wooden sign, his gaze slightly darkening.

This was the task he was assigned.

Although the city walls were protected by a defensive array, offering a much better chance of survival than those below, he felt little joy.

There was no other reason than that the city walls were heavily guarded, with a hundred men per team, and their advances and retreats were all subject to the orders of the supervising officer.

Any transgression would be a capital offense of violating military law and desertion in the face of battle.

Under the watchful eyes of so many, he was like a bird in a cage. Even though he possessed the ability to see the heavens and avoid misfortune, and to predict opportunities, he was still constrained and unable to use his abilities.

If one cannot acquire cultivation resources, then one's journey to this deadly place will have been in vain.

"The best place to go is still the scout camp."

Xu Changqing secretly made his own plans.

Scouts patrolled outside the main formation, venturing deep into enemy territory to investigate the movements of the monsters.

To others, it was a perilous job with a slim chance of survival, a business that could cost them their lives, but to him, it meant the sky's the limit.

As long as they escape the sight of the army formation, guided by the Heavenly Mirror, they can avoid the massive demon tides and quietly make their fortune on the edge of the battlefield.

The relics of those fallen cultivators and the essence and bones of high-level demonic beasts are all unclaimed treasures.

Unfortunately, the position of scout can only be filled by fierce soldiers and daredevils; one must have real military achievements to be transferred.

As a newly recruited family cultivator, he was new to the place and had not yet accomplished anything, so he was naturally eager to do so.

"Well, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it and see how things go."