Daily Intelligence: From Miner to Dao Ancestor of Alchemy and Talismans

Without hesitation, Xu Yuan immediately got up, changed into a pure black night outfit, covered his face with a mask, and affixed two concealment talismans to his body, completely hiding his Qi Refining Level 6 cultivation.

He also carefully concealed the exquisite Blade Talisman, Explosive Flame Talisman, and Thick Earth Talisman close to his body, and held the Wind Travel Talisman between his fingers, ensuring that he could respond immediately to any unexpected situation.

After doing all this, he did not go through the main gate of the market. Instead, under the cover of night, he climbed over the low wall on the west side of the market and followed the path in the mountain forest, heading silently straight for Black Wind Valley.

In the dead of night, only the chirping of insects and the sound of the wind could be heard in the mountains and forests. The moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, and it was so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face.

Xu Yuan's steps were extremely light, landing silently. His divine sense spread out throughout, and every rustle of grass within a hundred feet radius was clearly imprinted in his mind.

Black Wind Valley was originally a place where thieves and cultivators were entrenched. Even the guards of the market did not dare to venture deep into it on ordinary days, let alone at night.

Xu Yuan carefully placed each foot on the ground to ensure there were no traps or hidden sentries before placing his other foot down. It took him a full hour to finally reach the entrance to Black Wind Valley.

The valley entrance was filled with jagged rocks, a chilling wind blew, carrying a stench of blood, and traces of the camps left by the raiders were everywhere.

Xu Yuan held his breath, hid behind a boulder, and observed for about half an incense stick's time. After confirming that there were no guards or ambushes at the valley entrance, he crouched down and, following the clues in the intelligence, made his way to the pile of rocks on the far left of the valley entrance.

The location marked in the intelligence report was under a boulder shaped like an eagle's beak.

Xu Yuan gathered spiritual power at his fingertips, parted the rubble and weeds under the boulder, and sure enough, he found an iron box wrapped tightly in layers of oilcloth, without a trace of water seepage.

He picked up the iron box, weighed it in his hand, and did not open it immediately. Instead, he checked again to make sure there was nothing unusual around him before quietly leaving Black Wind Valley. He found a secluded cave outside the valley and lit a faint spiritual fire.

In the flickering firelight, Xu Yuan unwrapped the oilcloth and opened the iron box.

The contents inside were more complete than he had expected.

At the top was a yellowed piece of hemp paper, on which were clearly written the names of the remaining twelve Blood Fiend Sect agents, their hiding places in the market, the daily contact codes and times, and even each person's cultivation level and responsibilities.

Below is a stack of blueprints, detailing the complete plan for the surprise attack on Qingyafang three months later. It clearly outlines the timing of the attack, the city gate to enter, which force to seize the outer treasure vault, which force to besiege the Zhao family's main residence, and even the weakest points in the city's defenses.

Xu Yuan flipped through the pages one by one, his fingertips tightening slightly.

The meticulousness of this plan clearly indicates that it was not a spur-of-the-moment decision; the Blood Fiend Sect had been plotting to take over Qingyafang for far too long.

If he hadn't had the system's intelligence and obtained this deployment in advance, when the surprise attack came three months later, the entire Qingyafang would have been powerless to fight back and at the mercy of others.

Turning to the last page, there were sealed letters with sealing wax, signed by the Blood Fiend Sect Master and addressed to the Black Wind Stronghold Chief.

Xu Yuan opened the letter, his eyes scanning the handwriting, his pupils suddenly contracting. "The surprise attack originally planned for three months later has been moved up to ten days due to Zhang Kui's failure and the fear of complications. We will take advantage of the fact that the Zhao family has just purged its traitors, is in a state of panic, and its defenses are not yet fully in place, to catch the Zhao family off guard, take Qingya Fang in one fell swoop, and seize the ancient talisman seal."

Ten days later!

Originally, there were two full months of preparation time, but it was suddenly compressed into ten days!

Xu Yuan's hand holding the letter paused slightly, then regained its steady grip. He closed his eyes, quickly calculating his current trump cards in his mind.

He possesses a cultivation level of the sixth level of Qi Refining, a box full of exquisite offensive and defensive talismans, a complete collection of pill formulas, a superior pill furnace, a continuous supply of superior pills, and a complete list of Blood Fiend Sect's inside agents and surprise attack plans.

Even though the time was brought forward, he was not completely unprepared.

However, when his gaze fell on the last line of the secret letter, his expression darkened slightly, and the temperature of his fingertips instantly dropped.

The text read: "This surprise attack will be personally led by Elder Liu of our sect, who is in the early stage of Foundation Establishment and will be accompanied by twenty evil cultivators in the late stage of Qi Refining. We must succeed in one strike and there must be no mistakes."

Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

This was the first time in ten years that he had faced the threat of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. The Qi Refining stage and the Foundation Establishment stage were an insurmountable chasm on the path of cultivation. Even though he was now at the sixth level of Qi Refining and possessed many talismans, he was still like an ant in front of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The flickering spirit fire in the cave made the four characters "Early Foundation Establishment Stage" on the secret letter stand out starkly.

Xu Yuan's fingers tightened slowly around the letter, but he was flustered. He simply closed his eyes, engraved every word in the secret letter into his heart, and then raised his hand to bring the letter to the spirit fire, burning it to ashes.

The surprise attack ten days later was led by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

This was the first time in ten years since he transmigrated to this cultivation world that he had directly faced the threat of the Foundation Establishment stage.

He knew very well that there was an insurmountable gap between the Qi Refining stage and the Foundation Establishment stage. Even a cultivator at the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refining would be powerless against a cultivator at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, let alone someone who was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

Even if he has many high-quality talismans, ordinary first-tier talismans would hardly be able to cause substantial harm to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The only way to survive the surprise attack ten days from now, or even to take the initiative, is to upgrade your talisman system.

He needs a high-level offensive talisman inheritance that can injure Foundation Establishment cultivators, a concealment technique that can perfectly hide his aura and avoid detection by Foundation Establishment cultivators' divine sense, and a superior spirit brush that can increase the success rate of drawing talismans and amplify their power.

The wolf-hair brush in his hand was just an ordinary item he bought casually from a general store in the market. He was able to draw exquisite talismans entirely because of his exquisite control over spiritual power. However, if he wanted to draw a top-grade first-level talisman that could injure a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, it would be impossible without a suitable spiritual brush.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, carefully put away the list of inside agents and the surprise attack plan in the iron box, extinguished the spiritual fire, and quietly returned to the courtyard of Qingya Workshop under the cover of night.

Back in the courtyard, it was already dawn. He didn't rush to cultivate, nor did he make a fuss. Instead, he locked everything in a secret room, then sat cross-legged on the couch, closing his eyes to plan his response for ten days from now.

He had the list of inside agents and knew the details of the raid perfectly, but the biggest variable was Elder Liu, who was at the Foundation Establishment stage. Without a way to restrain him, even if he knew all the plans, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed under the nose of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The things he needed weren't unavailable in the regular shops of the market, but the top-grade spirit brush and the high-level talisman inheritance were all firmly held in the hands of the Zhao family. Forget buying them, even getting a glimpse of them was difficult. Even if he had a way to buy them, he would inevitably leave traces, exposing his strength—a major taboo in the path of survival.

The only chance is to wait for the system information to refresh.

This isn't a no-go, it's a recommendation for the treasure book "Daily Intelligence: From Miner to Daoist Ancestor of Alchemy and Talismans":