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

Half an hour later, the three of them turned into an abandoned inn in the western corner of the market.

This inn was mostly destroyed in an earthquake more than a decade ago. Overgrown with weeds, the broken walls were filled with withered branches and fallen leaves, and it was eerily quiet. Even beggars would not dare to set foot here. No one would have guessed that this was actually the core stronghold of the Blood Fiend Sect in the market.

Xu Yuan did not follow them inside. Instead, he nimbly climbed onto the roof of the inn, lay down in the gap between the tiles, and sent a thin strand of his divine sense down through the gap.

In an instant, all the noises in the inn's lobby reached his ears clearly.

There were more than twenty cultivators standing in the hall, each with a sinister aura and an indelible stench of blood on their bodies. The lowest cultivation level among them was the sixth level of Qi Refining, and most of them were in the late stage of Qi Refining. The leader was a middle-aged man in a black robe with a bronze mask on his face. His aura was like a cold pool, unfathomable. He was clearly a cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining!

Xu Yuan's fingertips paused slightly. He held his breath and activated the concealment talisman. He was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, only one step away from Foundation Establishment. If he was not careful, his opponent would notice.

In the main hall, a scout who had just returned, one of the people who had been keeping watch on Xu Yuan's courtyard, was bowing and reporting to the man in black robes: "Master, we have been watching that rogue cultivator surnamed Xu for a day. He stays at home all day, and there are only faint spiritual energy fluctuations in the courtyard. He looks like an ordinary Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator, nothing unusual."

The man in the black robe let out a sinister laugh, his voice hoarse: "Deputy Captain Zhang Kui specifically instructed that this kid is very strange and has ruined our plans several times. Keep a close eye on him. When we make our move in five days, the first thing we should do is eliminate him to prevent future troubles."

"yes!"

Xu Yuan lay prone on the roof, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Sure enough, Zhang Kui had already leaked his information to the Blood Fiend Sect. Even if he did nothing, they would not let him go during the surprise attack five days later.

For the next half hour, Xu Yuan slowed his breathing to a minimum, listening intently to every word of the Blood Fiend Sect's plans and memorizing them firmly.

Five days later, at midnight, the operation officially began, with each step meticulously planned and executed, completely outmaneuvering the Zhao family's countermeasures.

First, the twelve spies within the market will simultaneously detonate the eight pre-buried blood sacrifice array eyes, creating large-scale chaos and distracting the Zhao family. At the same time, they will use the array eye blueprints to precisely blast open the three weak points of the protective array, creating a breach to enter the city.

Then, the two hundred cultivators from Black Wind Stronghold launched a full-scale attack from the main gate of the market, attracting the main guard of the Zhao family and even forcing out the Foundation Establishment ancestor of the Zhao family to fight to the death and hold back the core combat force of the enemy.

Secondly, the elite cultivators of the Blood Fiend Sect sneaked in through the blasted side gate, splitting into two groups. One group held off the remaining guards, while the other group, led by the ninth-level Qi Refining leader, bypassed the main battlefield and headed straight for the Zhao Family Ancestral Hall, the weakest point in the defense, to seize the core target—the Ancient Talisman Seal.

The most crucial step involves Elder Liu, a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Blood Fiend Sect, personally intervening to restrain the Zhao family's Foundation Establishment ancestor, who has been in seclusion for many years. This prevents him from being distracted and completely cuts off the Zhao family's strongest support, ensuring that no one can stop the plan to seize the talisman seal.

The entire plan was meticulous and ruthless, aimed entirely at destroying Qingyafang in one fell swoop and seizing the talisman. Once executed according to the plan, Qingyafang would have no chance of holding on.

After everyone in the lobby dispersed to prepare for their operation five days later, the inn became completely quiet. Only then did Xu Yuan silently slide down from the roof, using the cover of night to circle most of the market, changing his disguise several times along the way.

After repeatedly confirming that there were no followers behind him, he returned to his small courtyard.

After closing the door and activating the highest level of restrictions, Xu Yuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down at the table, took out paper and pen, and wrote down every detail of the Blood Fiend Sect's deployment, the location of the Blood Sacrifice Array Eye, and the hiding places of the inside agents. He did not sign his name, leave any fingerprints or spiritual energy traces, and could not find any clues related to him.

He had calculated that once this intelligence reached Zhao Qiuyue, the Zhao family would inevitably adjust their defenses in advance, lay an ambush at the key point of the formation, and fight the Blood Fiend Sect to the death.

Zhao Jiading drew all the firepower from the front, allowing him to find an opportunity to intercept the ancient talisman seal amidst the chaos, and even reap the benefits.

After writing the letter, he changed into an inconspicuous servant's uniform, disguised himself again, and quietly placed the letter behind the threshold of Li Qinghe's residence.

Li Qinghe now holds great power in the guard team and has a past grudge against Zhang Kui. If he obtains this intelligence that could kill Zhang Kui and also bring him great merit, he will definitely hand it over to Zhao Qiuyue immediately without any delay.

By the time he finished, dawn was breaking. Xu Yuan returned to the courtyard and, without resting, sat cross-legged on the couch. He took out a flawless, round, top-grade spirit-replenishing pill from his storage bag and swallowed it.

The pill melted instantly upon entering his mouth, its medicinal power, several times purer than a top-grade spirit-replenishing pill, surged into his dantian along his meridians. The top-grade spirit stones he had previously intercepted and obtained from the calamity were also placed beside him according to the location of the spirit-gathering array. The array was activated at full power, and the rich spiritual energy surged into his body like a tide.

He had already cultivated the True Understanding of Fire Control to the third level, and his control over spiritual power had reached a subtle level. He precisely guided the surging medicinal power, repeatedly flushing and widening his meridians, and condensing the spiritual power in his dantian.

Under the continuous erosion of massive amounts of medicinal power, the barrier of the seventh level of Qi Refining gradually became more and more stable, and the spiritual power became more and more abundant and solid.

A night passes in the blink of an eye.

As the first rays of morning light streamed into the room through the window paper, Xu Yuan slowly opened his eyes. His spiritual energy circulated rapidly throughout his body, then steadily returned to his dantian without any stagnation.

Qi Refining Stage 7 Completed! Only one step away from Stage 8!

The surge in spiritual power further enhanced his control over the talisman brush.

Previously, it took ten attempts to successfully draw a top-grade Rock-Splitting Talisman. Now, with a superior-grade spirit brush and microscopic spiritual power control, I can draw it consistently with a success rate exceeding 50%.

Over the next three days, the surprise attack five days later drew ever closer.

The atmosphere in Qingyafang was extremely oppressive. The Zhao family's guards patrolled more and more frequently, all the shops on the street were closed, and the rogue cultivators either stayed indoors or crowded at the city gate, clamoring to leave the city, but they were all stopped by the guards. Everyone was in danger and lived in constant fear.

Xu Yuan's courtyard remained quiet, with only the ever-burning spiritual fire in the alchemy furnace and the constant rustling sound of the talisman brush tracing the talisman paper.

He secluded himself at home, focusing all his efforts on drawing talismans and refining pills, turning all the massive amounts of materials he had previously intercepted into his own trump cards.

In three days, he drew over a hundred exquisite talismans, including more than thirty exquisite rock-cracking talismans and thick earth talismans, five top-grade rock-cracking talismans with doubled power, and three second-tier illusion array talismans that could trap a Foundation Establishment cultivator for three breaths. He kept these close to his body as his trump card to protect himself against Foundation Establishment cultivators.

The latest chapter is packed with exciting plot twists! Come check it out!