Chapter 396: Return to Lingyun Peak, Someone Has Been Here
In the sky near Buqing Mountain, a spiritual ship was breaking through the air.
On the spiritual ship, most of the Ye Family members were present, their eyes filled with eagerness, spiritual light flickering within.
With the departure of the beast tide, the Ye Family naturally needed to reclaim Lingyun Peak.
This was something Ye Jingcheng, as the Patriarch, had to do, and it was an account to all Ye Family cultivators.
After all, Lingyun Peak still held a Tier Three Spiritual Vein, and the Ye Family had no other place with such a vein.
As for the beast tide that others worried about, the Ye Family had no such concerns.
Ye Jingcheng understood their own affairs; the first beast tide emerged from the Void Spirit Ridge due to the Ye Family's design, causing the Three-eyed Demon King to lose his offspring.
The second time was also because the Ye Family destroyed Wangyue Lake, and left wearing Kong Family's clothes in front of adversaries.
As for other times, beast tides emerging directly from the Void Spirit Ridge were rare.
Although the Earth Dragon Demon King missed three opportunities to act, Ye Jingcheng knew clearly that within the Taihang Mountain Range, some demon beasts were actually reared by the Ye Family.
They could capture information on beast tides at any time.
Furthermore, the Earth Dragon Demon King likely still had ties of sentiment with the Ye Family.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned that if a true master appeared in the Ye Family again, they could continue to challenge and tame him.
Ye Jingcheng shook his head, dispelling many thoughts.
No matter what, they were returning home now, and the clan's plan was finally realized.
They only needed to continue biding their time at Lingyun Peak, waiting for the family to become a Golden Core Clan, waiting for them to tame the Earth Dragon Demon King, and then the Ye Family would rejoin the ranks of Yan Kingdom's top Golden Core Clans.
Of course, Ye Jingcheng anticipated that even then, they would remain low-key, though not as passive as they were now.
Ye Jingcheng began to overlook from the spiritual ship, seeing turbid river water meandering eastward, with uneven peaks also coming into view.
"Beyond this mountain lies Lingyun Peak!" Ye Jingcheng announced.
The other Ye Family members gathered at the edge of the spiritual ship, among them a half-grown youth, the only one without cultivation.
Ye Jingcheng looked at these excited Ye Family members, his eyes filled with expectation.
At this moment, he finally understood the kind of light that those elder clan members had in their eyes when looking at them in the past.
"The mountains have lowered a lot, and the demon beasts seem to have not been cleared!" Ye Xingshui also remarked.
His eyes were full of disappointment and dejection.
After all, in major sects, the height of the mountains is closely related to a family's fortune.
When the mountains lower, many people believe that its fortune diminishes.
But in essence, it's because of damage to the spirit veins, similar to Cyan Willow Mountain.
Speaking of which, the overall situation in Taihang Commandery has become exceptionally subtle; according to the information from Supreme Taihao, the Kong Family would withdraw from Taihang Commandery, and many of Kong Family's industries in Taichang Market would likely be sold off.
The Jin Family's actions were not much different, seemingly in decline, trading for a newly advanced early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator at Cyan Willow Mountain, with combat power far inferior to Jin Zongliang.
At the same time, there were fewer Foundation Establishment cultivators, and the Patriarch was replaced from Jin Yutang to Jin Yucheng.
He was a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, though Ye Jingcheng anticipated Jin Yutang was merely replaced to go into seclusion to break through to Purple Mansion.
This time the issue wasn't a family branch problem, but rather the Jin Family Ancestor being deceived by the Kong Family Ancestor.
Simultaneously, the Xu Family's Tai Cang Mountain and the Chu Family's Xianyun Mountain were reportedly sold off, assigned to two longstanding Foundation Establishment families in Taichang Commandery.
The Jade Cloud Yuan Family and Ping Lake Wei Family.
They could be considered as filling the strength of Taihang Commandery once again.
But the appearance of four or five Purple Mansion Clans from before will definitely not return.
The future keynote of the entire Taihang Market is likely to be steady development.
Even the Jin Family is in such a state.
"It's alright, lower mountains are better, it's not like they can't rise again." Ye Jingcheng replied to Ye Xingshui with a smile.
The latter also immediately smiled.
Indeed, Ye Jingcheng had already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment, not far from Purple Mansion.
Moreover, he was a Spirit Body cultivator, receiving bonuses in breaking through realms.
"It seems there are still some demon beasts, just right for everyone to get some practice!" Ye Jingcheng suggested.
This time, he didn't make a move himself; his divine sense could see that the remaining demon beasts on Lingyun Peak weren't very strong.
So he allowed it as training for the Ye Family members.
He merely stayed at the outermost perimeter.
However, he finally used the Patriarch Token to transmit information to all Inner Hall personnel.
"Prohibiting the use of Beast Communication Pattern and Spirit Cultivation!" His words made many in the Ye Family tense up.
Yet Ye Jingcheng's gaze remained calm.
Not only would he refrain from using the Beast Communication Pattern, but for the next two months, he would be meticulously careful with the entire Lingyun Peak.
Of course, the best approach was still waiting for the Turtle Ancestor to return.
Ye Xingshui felt the Lingyun Peak before him seemed shorter and more damaged, but Ye Jingcheng felt it was somewhat complete.
When they left Lingyun Peak last time, it was clear that Kong Guxiang and Jin Chengyun had ascended Lingyun Peak, putting up resistance.
Kong Guxiang was dead, Jin Chengyun gravely injured, yet Lingyun Peak still looked this good, which Ye Jingcheng found abnormal.
Were it not for the fear of being overly cautious and seen through,
he would consider relocating the Clan Mountain.
This wasn't because he was overly cautious, but rather he felt that with so many Purple Mansion Golden Cores appearing in Taihang Commandery, if no one goes to visit Lingyun Peak, Tai Cang Mountain, and Xianyun Mountain, Ye Jingcheng would find it hard to believe.
Leaving something behind would also be quite normal.
And letting clan members go up to hunt demon beasts was also his intention for making this battle as fierce as possible. If something unusual happens, he can discover it in time.
He even released the Peach Wood Demon. For the latter, its sensitivity to spiritual power is sharper, making it perfect for checking the clan mountain thoroughly.
This time, the leaders are Ye Xingshui, Ye Xingqun, and Ye Xinghan, while Foundation Establishment cultivators Ye Jingli and Ye Jingyong stayed behind to assist with migrating the mortals.
This time, mortals are not only migrating near Buqing Mountain but also to various villages, towns, and cities previously belonging to the Ye Family.
In just a few decades, no one would know the Ye Family once migrated a batch of mortals.
And as for clearing the clan mountain Lingyun Peak, even Ye Jinghu and Ye Jingting showed extraordinary excitement.
"Jing Hu, pay attention to controlling the situation. There's a concealed long-tailed snake ahead of you!"
"Jing Ting, be more precise with spirit talismans. Don't let this battle result in a loss. This isn't a fight for life and death."
…
At this moment, Ye Jingcheng's attention is mostly on the young clan members of the Ye Family, like how the Ye Family Elders used to teach him beast hunting techniques.
He patiently transmitted instructions, as real combat is forever the best path to gaining experience and the only way.
It's a pity that Ye Haiyi, the former Grand Elder for beast hunting, is also helping migrate the mortals.
He originally wanted Ye Haiyi to return with them, but didn't expect the latter to be so persistent.
Ye Jingcheng was helpless.
And in this clearance of demon beasts, the late-stage Qi Cultivation members and remaining clan elders performed excellently.
This allowed Ye Jingcheng to witness many excellent spirit beasts of the Ye Family.
Such as Ye Jingyun's Purple Fire Celestial Ox, Fire-Devouring Sparrow, Ye Xingshui's Golden Rhinoceros, Ye Xingqun's Celestial Wood Monkey, Ye Xingqun's Five Poison Bee and Black Wood Ant.
Soon, the battle concluded, and Ye Jingcheng ascended Lingyun Peak to arrange the Mountain Protection Array and array formations again.
These mountain protection arrays from Ye Haicheng's storage ring were left in several sets.
Finished with this, Ye Jingcheng went on to Lingyun Mountain to arrange the Spirit Beast Valley, the Ancestral Hall, the Ye Family's Lingyun Sea, and the Assembly Hall.
As for exploration, Ye Jingcheng didn't conduct any, as searching immediately upon return would seem too guilty.
Returning to his courtyard, Ye Jingcheng found it wrecked beyond recognition; even the spirit field suffered damages, with many Black Cloud Flowers and Spring Tea destroyed.
Although the Ye Family took many things in advance, they still attended to details well.
Ye Jingcheng went straight to the Apricot Tree, which he had transplanted from Ye Haiyun's courtyard. Now was the season when apricot fruits mature.
However, the apricot fruits were gone, clearly plucked and eaten by some demon beasts.
But when his gaze fell upon the fork of the Apricot Tree, his eyes involuntarily changed.
Someone had been here!
The Ye Family had a habit of leaving marks in caves; if there was any discrepancy, it meant someone had been there.
More importantly, Ye Jingcheng had left three Five Poison Bees in his courtyard,
All stationed above the Apricot Tree, but none of the bees perched at the specified branches as instructed unless there was a cultivator entering the courtyard.
This meant all three Five Poison Bees were slain by a cultivator.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have vanished.
Someone had come to his courtyard, but he didn't believe it was the Kong Family Ancestor or the Jin Family Ancestor.
Ye Jingcheng scoffed coldly, and upon entering the courtyard, he simply continued with alchemy.
But this time, the alchemy attempt ended in failure, even causing an explosion that wrecked the entire room.
Ye Jingcheng took action to construct a new courtyard again.
Once the courtyard was built, Ye Jingcheng extracted the clan token once again, this time informing all cultivators with Beast Communication Patterns not to use them for cultivation nor communicate with new spirit beasts anytime soon.
After completing these tasks, Ye Jingcheng instructed Ye Xingshui to evaluate the solidity of the Ye Family's various structures and push for rebuilding them one by one.
With these tasks finished, Ye Jingcheng rested in his courtyard, commencing his cultivation quietly, still refraining from visiting Lingyun Lake.
Yet, before him, a spirit shadow of a wood demon already descended underground.
Numerous spirit root tendrils rampaged through Lingyun Peak.
Once encountering mysterious spirit light marks, they promptly consumed them.
Given the Peach Wood Demon's ability to penetrate various arrays, it was a simple task.
Ten days quickly passed, and Ye Family's Lingyun Peak regained its usual tranquility as if nothing had changed, except that Ye Family members became more industrious.
In the distance, a spiritual ship emerged again, accompanied by numerous cultivators, precisely Ye Jingli and Ye Jingyong.
While migrating mortals, they simultaneously brought along recently discovered immortal seedlings.
This time, surprisingly, there are fifteen immortal seedlings.
Keep in mind, the Ye Family had moved tens of thousands of mortals to the East Sea Mini World even as the beast tide claimed many lives.
Nevertheless, it was an immensely heartening development for the entire Ye Family.
Additionally, Ye Jingyong approached Ye Jingcheng, grinning brightly.
Ye Jingcheng was slightly confused.
Ye Jingli chimes in:
"Patriarch, second brother has beaten you to it; Ye Qingwen has detected his spirit root, and it's even a Water and Earth Dual Spirit Root!"
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