Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

A cloud of dust rose from the wasteland, and three people emerged from it.

The leader was a middle-aged, plump man with a kind face, wearing a faded gray robe, with seventeen or eighteen large and small storage bags hanging from his waist, jingling as he walked.

Behind him were two lean men, clearly bodyguards, with cultivation levels of Grandmaster Seventh Heaven.

The fat man stood in front of the light screen without saying a word, and took out a grand chair, a teapot, and three teacups from his storage bag, arranging them neatly.

Then he poured three cups of tea, took one for himself, and sat down to drink it slowly.

Dongfang Weiwo opened his eyes.

"People from the Business Alliance."

Bai Yujing said, "The only neutral merchant guild on the Tianxuan Continent, not subject to any power. It's said that before the merger, each of the four fragments had its own merchant alliance; after the merger, they became the 'Tianxuan Merchant Alliance,' led by a fat man surnamed Shen."

"Let him in."

A crack appeared in the light curtain.

The fat man paused in his tea-serving hand, then grinned, downed the tea in one gulp, patted his belly, stood up, and walked into the light screen.

Two guards tried to follow, but he turned and glared at them: "Guard the tea, don't move."

The fat man walked into the light curtain alone, and his expression became more and more solemn as he went further in.

The concentration of spiritual energy is too high; even ordinary grandmasters can't stand steadily here.

He wiped his sweat as he walked to the green cliff, stopped three zhang away from Dongfang Weiwo, bowed and clasped his hands in greeting:

"Shen Wansan of the Tianxuan Merchant Alliance greets the Grand Dragon Leader of the Azure Dragon Society."

"President Shen has come in person. Is there something you need?"

Shen Wansan chuckled, took out a roll of silk from his sleeve, and unfolded it to reveal a geomantic map.

The Tianxuan Continent on the map was different from the ones he had seen elsewhere—it had many markings he had never seen before:

The path of the spiritual veins, the gradient of spiritual energy concentration, the markings of hidden caves, and even several restricted areas marked with red skulls.

"Please look at the Great Dragon Head."

Shen Wansan pointed to a location on the map—the very core of spiritual energy beneath the three of them—and said, "The land you occupy spans a thousand miles, and beneath it lies a branch of a main spiritual vein."

This branch extends seven hundred miles westward, passing right under the Blood Moon Demon Sect's mountain gate.

Extending eastward for six hundred li, it enters the territory of the Azure Dragon Society.

This spiritual vein was newly connected after the fusion of Tianxuan, essentially tying the Blood Moon Demon Sect and your current situation together.

Dongfang Weiwo looked at the picture without saying a word.

"Therefore, I have a request that I cannot make."

Shen Wansan put away the silk cloth and took out another roll—this roll was a contract, "Tianxuan Merchant Alliance wants to do a business deal."

We will provide manpower and resources to build a market town at the hub of this spiritual vein.

The market is managed by the Merchant Alliance, with 30% of the profits going to the Azure Dragon Society, 30% to the Blood Moon Demon Sect, and 40% to the Merchant Alliance.

The dragon head only needs to nod; we'll handle the rest.

Bai Yujing's brow furrowed. Building a market on the spiritual vein hub of a hostile force—this fat man has guts and a big appetite.

But Dongfang Weiwo's gaze fell on the last line of small print in the contract:

"On the day the market is completed, all those entering the market, regardless of their faction, shall not use force. Violators will be permanently banned from entering by the Tianxuan Merchant Alliance, and this will be publicly announced throughout the continent."

"You want to maintain neutrality."

Shen Wansan rubbed his hands and smiled:

"Great Dragon Head, please see this clearly. With the fusion of Tianxuan, the entire continent is crammed into one courtyard, and anyone could start a fight with anyone else."

But if there were a place where one could sit down, drink tea, chat, exchange information, and buy and sell intelligence—"

"The Blood Moon Demon Sect will not agree."

"hey-hey."

Shen Wansan smiled so much his eyes narrowed into slits. "So I came from the Dragon Head side first. Once you nodded and took your seal, I could then knock on that red door across the street."

You know that the Blood Moon Ancestor owes your father a life, but a life-or-death debt is a debt that can only be used once.

If my market town is established, there will be another path between you and the Blood Moon that doesn't require risking your life—"

Dongfang Weiwo glanced at him.

Shen Wansan swallowed back what he was about to say—his dark golden eyes were as calm as still water, but what lay beneath sent a chill down his spine.

"Give him the seal," Dongfang Weiwo said, turning to Bai Yujing.

Bai Yujing took out a dark blue jade pendant from his bosom and tossed it to Shen Wansan.

The fat man caught it with both hands, stuffed it into his pocket as if it were a priceless treasure, and then bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Great Dragon Head! The market will surely be completed within three months. At that time, we would greatly appreciate your presence—"

"President Shen."

Dongfang Weiwo interrupted him, "The market town can be built. But there's one condition—where are those 'forbidden zones' you mentioned earlier, those places marked in red on the map?"

Shen Wansan's smile froze for a moment.

He slowly straightened up, wiping his sweat, his voice lowering slightly:

"Great Dragon Head, you may not know this. After the fusion of Tianxuan, many... strange things have emerged all over the continent."

Some are ancient ruins, some are sealed places, and some—" He paused, "are places where space was crushed when the fragments collided. I spent a lot of money to hire seven array masters to conduct a thorough search before I could draw this geomantic map."

Those red skulls—I went down to three different places, and almost lost my life at each one.

He took a step closer and lowered his voice:

"The nearest restricted area to you is three thousand feet directly below this core of spiritual energy."

The spiritual vein bends as it passes through there, and the array master says there's something underneath. As for what it is—"

"Have you checked?"

Shen Wansan smiled bitterly: "I investigated. I sent three grandmasters down, and two came back. They've gone mad. All they can mutter is one word—"

"What word?"

"……'Door'."

When Shen Wansan said this word, a very slight vibration suddenly came from outside the light screen.

The three of them turned their heads at the same time—there was another person on the wasteland at some point.

The person stood with their back to the light screen, wearing an old, dirty raincoat whose original color was no longer discernible, and a straw hat, obscuring their face.

He was carrying a black bamboo pole in his right hand, with a faded little banner hanging from the end of the pole, on which was written a single character.

predict.

Shen Wansan's face turned pale instantly, his knees buckled and he almost knelt down, blurting out:

"The Old Man of Heavenly Secrets—!"

The man in the straw raincoat didn't turn around. He raised his black bamboo pole and tapped it against the light screen.

With just a gentle tap, ripples spread across the dark golden spiritual energy screen, like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, spreading out in concentric circles.

Dongfang Weiwo felt the spiritual vein beneath his feet suddenly throb, and the Demon-Sealing Bloodline resonated in response, causing the entire light curtain to hum incessantly.

Then the man in the straw raincoat spoke. His voice was hoarse and dry, like withered leaves scraping against a stone surface:

"Little one, the thing under the ground where you're sitting is about to wake up."

Dongfang Weiwo stood up.

The cloth strips wrapped around the longsword at his waist moved without wind, and dark golden blood surged through his meridians. For the first time, the heavy, oppressive aura deep within his dantian was released without reservation.

The man in the straw raincoat finally turned halfway to the side.

The half of his face beneath the straw hat was withered and thin, with only his left eye still shining, its pupil reflecting the starry sky.

"The bloodline of the Demon Sealer," he said. "You look just like your father."

"Senior, do you recognize my father?"

"I recognize it."

The man in the straw raincoat put away the black bamboo pole. "Your father consulted the old Taoist priest years ago, asking about you. The priest told him:"

"This child will surely cause great disaster within thirty years, but fortune and misfortune are intertwined, and you can't control it."

He laughed heartily after hearing this, paid the divination fee, and left. That was the most expensive divination fee the old Taoist priest had ever received in his life—it had cost him half his life.

The wasteland was so quiet that only a faint tremor emanated from the depths of the spiritual vein.

"Senior, have you come today to seek another divination?"

The man in the straw raincoat slowly shook his head. "This old Taoist has come to settle a debt. Your father traded half his life for a divination, and this old Taoist owes him half his life. Now that he's dead, the debt falls on your shoulders."

He turned around. His old straw raincoat gleamed with an eerie silver light in the moonlight, and the star-like eye beneath his bamboo hat stared directly at Dongfang Weiwo:

"Three days later, a crack will appear in the ground beneath your feet."

The door below will open halfway. Something will come out—three things, each one enough to give you a run for your money. The old Taoist will only give you one sentence; remember it.

Dongfang Weiwo pressed down on the sword hilt.

The man in the straw raincoat spoke each word clearly:

"Don't kill anything that comes out of the gate. If you kill the first one, the second one will cost ten times as much. If you kill the second one, you won't be able to handle the third. Admit what you can, take what you can, negotiate what you can. If you really can't reach an agreement—"

He paused, and the star-shaped eye dimmed for a moment.

"If we really can't reach an agreement, then lead him to the doorstep of that old man in the red shirt on the west side. He owes your father a life; it's time to pay it back."

Having said that, the man in the straw raincoat turned around, picked up his black bamboo pole, and left. Under the moonlight, the old man in the straw raincoat took a hundred feet in one step, and disappeared into the edge of the wasteland after three steps. Only the word "door" still echoed inside and outside the light screen.

Shen Wansan slumped in his armchair, spilling water from the teapot all over his robe. He remained stunned for a long time before snapping out of it, trembling as he packed his things and headed out.

Just before exiting the light curtain, he glanced back at Dongfang Weiwo, his lips moved several times, but in the end he only managed to squeeze out one sentence:

"Great Dragon Head... take care."

The light curtain closed.

The moonlight fell once more upon the green cliffs. Dongfang Weiwo stood atop the cliffs, looking down at the ground beneath his feet. Three thousand feet below, the spiritual vein took a detour. It avoided something.

"Young master."

Bai Yujing walked to his side, his knuckles white as he gripped the sword. "Three days later?"

Dongfang Weiwo remained silent for a while. Then he took out the geomantic map left by Shen Wansan from his bosom, unfolded it, and his gaze fell on the red skull marked directly below the spiritual energy core.

Next to the skull was a line of extremely small characters, which he hadn't noticed when Shen Wansan was there.

The moonlight shone on it, making the writing clear—

"Suspected ancient seal, the internal pressure exceeds that of a mid-stage Celestial Being. It is advised to detour. Do not dig."

Dongfang Weiwo stared for a long time, then suddenly laughed.

"Three days."

He put away the geomantic map, turned to face the area deep within the light screen where the spiritual energy was most concentrated, and sat down cross-legged. "That's enough."

Deep within his Qi Sea, his dark golden bloodline resonated with the core of the entire spiritual energy field, forcibly drawing in strands of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth into his meridians, where it was tempered, fused, and compressed.

The key to sealing the demonic bloodline is unlocking the shackles that have been locked within him for over twenty years, one by one.

Three days.

He wanted to see the world more clearly within three days.