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Chapter 49: Sudden Bad News
Lan Chang'an placed his hand on the surface of the eggshell, faintly sensing the heartbeat and subtle movements inside.
He confirmed that the Profound Water Turtle had entered the incubation stage.
For a period of time thereafter, he nourished the turtle egg daily with a bit of Evergreen mana, providing energy and sustenance.
Whenever he infused Evergreen mana, the life within the eggshell would send out affectionate and dependent spiritual waves.
Lan Chang'an believed that the hatched turtle, even without a spirit pet contract, would recognize him as its master.
Two months later.
With a "crack," the eggshell broke.
A miniature turtle, smaller than a baby's palm, adorably struggled to break out of the shell. Using all its strength, it first emerged with its head, then its body and limbs, finally crawling out of the eggshell.
After hatching, the little Profound Water Turtle, with its cute, clumsy eyes, looked around nervously, quickly locking onto Lan Chang'an.
Sensing the familiar aura, the baby turtle affectionately crawled over, rubbing against Lan Chang'an's wrist.
Lan Chang'an spread his hand, and the Profound Water Turtle climbed onto it, occupying only a third of his palm, continuously rubbing against his hand's aura, almost toppling over, looking extremely cute.
After the Profound Water Turtle hatched.
The Earth Burrowing Rat in Lan Chang'an's spirit pet pouch became restless and agitated.
Squeak, squeak!
The large Earth Burrowing Rat was released, staring at the Profound Water Turtle on Lan Chang'an's palm, a cold glint flashing in its eyes, baring its teeth.
The Profound Water Turtle was frightened and tried to crawl into Lan Chang'an's clothes.
Bang!
Lan Chang'an kicked the Earth Burrowing Rat, which squeaked in pain, its murderous intent receding, revealing a wronged expression.
"From now on, it is also your master. If you dare to have any ill intentions, I'll send you to the beast fighting arena..."
Lan Chang'an warned and then put the Earth Burrowing Rat back into the storage pouch.
Not to mention the difference between middle-grade bloodline and earth-grade bloodline. The Profound Water Turtle was personally nurtured and hatched by him, with much care and effort.
The Earth Burrowing Rat was merely a trophy obtained halfway through. Naturally, there was no comparison between the two.
Lan Chang'an fed the baby turtle some spiritual liquid and checked its physical condition.
In the jade slip given by Zhou Qingxuan, there was an illustrated guide of the Profound Water Turtle, including the baby turtle.
Lan Chang'an compared and found that the appearance was basically the same. However, the pattern on the turtle shell had slight differences.
Lan Chang'an's baby turtle had a slight leaf-like pattern on its shell, which was hard to notice unless looked at carefully.
The baby turtle was very small, and Lan Chang'an usually kept it in the spirit pet pouch, creating a moist environment inside.
This turtle was quite clingy; Lan Chang'an would take it out daily to interact and infuse it with a bit of Evergreen mana.
The Profound Water Turtle mainly had water attributes but also some wood attributes.
The one Lan Chang'an was raising could, within a few days of birth, spit out light green bubbles, accompanied by faint mana fluctuations.
...
In Bamboo Leaf Mountain Market Town.
Lan Chang'an's days remained largely unchanged.
Although he had an additional pet, the Profound Water Turtle was actually quite easy to raise. It was quiet and didn't cause trouble.
It didn't consume many resources, far less than normal earth-grade spirit beasts, with the only drawback being its slow growth.
In the blink of an eye, a year or two passed.
It had been five years since the auction. Lan Chang'an was now forty-three years old.
His cultivation had almost reached the peak of the sixth layer of Qi-Refining, needing another year or two to advance to the seventh layer. His appearance still looked around twenty, in his prime.
At this time, the baby Profound Water Turtle had grown to the size of an adult's palm, its mana fluctuations reaching the early stage of Qi-Refining.
Lan Chang'an felt that his Profound Water Turtle might be growing slightly faster than described in the jade slip.
...
After feeding the Profound Water Turtle, Lan Chang'an went to the shop's first floor.
"Young lady, you're back?" Mu Xiuyun, dressed in a green silk long dress, was at the shop counter checking talismans.
Two years ago, Mu Xiuyun had advanced to the ninth layer of Qi-Refining and had been frequently absent from the shop since then.
It was unclear if her family had matters to attend to or if she was planning her Foundation Establishment.
Fortunately, the shop's business was stable, not particularly good or bad, and the two apprentices had grown.
Mu Shan and Mu Ershun had become first-rank low-grade talisman masters, their low-grade talismans already profitable.
Among them, Mu Shan was adept at dealing with people and was considered the shop's second manager.
"Chang'an, this is a spirit pigeon message delivered by the market post." Mu Xiuyun elegantly moved her hair, gracefully and gently handing a letter to Lan Chang'an.
The envelope bore the mark of Jin Yun Valley, sent by Zhao Siyao.
In the cultivation world, fixed cultivation settlements, like major marketplaces, sects, and families, had postal services for exchanging letters.
The messages from the spirit pigeons were relatively fast.
Lan Chang'an used a specific method to break the restriction on the envelope and opened the letter.
A few years ago, Zhao Siyao went to Huanglong Immortal City near the Black Fog Mountain Range and occasionally kept in touch with Lan Chang'an.
Recently, Zhao Siyao had almost gathered the resources for the Foundation Establishment Pill and had returned to Jin Yun Valley.
"Chang'an, what's wrong?" Mu Xiuyun looked over with concern.
Lan Chang'an's face changed abruptly, his brows furrowing as he read the letter halfway.
He looked solemn and remained silent for a long time.
"Lin Yi... gravely injured and dead?"
Mu Xiuyun took the letter, her expression shocked, her delicate fingers trembling lightly.
"What! Uncle Lin is dead?"
Not far away, Mu Ershun, busy with work, heard the conversation and exclaimed in shock. 𝘧𝘳ℯ𝓮𝘸𝓮𝑏𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓁.𝘤ℴ𝘮
Lin Yi was his father's friend.
For twenty years, he had visited the Mu family many times, including during the auction in the market town.
The last meeting was five years ago.
At that time, Uncle Lin had asked his proud son, Lin Lu, to interact more with Mu Ershun.
Unexpectedly, today, this bad news came suddenly.
Mu Xiuyun put down the letter and said softly, "Chang'an, are you going to visit?"
"Yes."
Lan Chang'an nodded, considering the friendship of over twenty years.
As a talisman master, he frequently traded with Lin Yi's Hidden Immortal Pavilion, and they had a box full of exchanged letters.
Zhao Siyao was heading to Hengshui Prefecture.
Regarding Lin Yi's cause of death.
The letter described that Lin Yi led cultivators from the Hidden Immortal Pavilion to assist Jin Yun Valley disciples in encircling a wanted evil cultivator. Initially, it seemed like a sure victory, but they encountered an ambush.
In the end, although they repelled the evil cultivator, Lin Yi was severely injured and beyond saving. By the time he was sent back to Hengshui Prefecture, he had already died from his injuries.
...
"Let's find Changqing first."
Lan Chang'an rode on Mu Xiuyun's flying boat, and the two set off together.
In the past ten years, it was Lan Chang'an's first time leaving the market town.
"Wow! The sun must be rising from the west. That turtle talisman master is actually going out?"
Familiar cultivators in the marketplace, seeing Lan Chang'an leaving, couldn't help but be amazed.
Nowadays, the vicinity of Bamboo Leaf Mountain is relatively stable, with few marauding cultivators causing trouble.
The evil-faced flying eagle of the past was now just a rumor, long gone.
Even if it appeared.
With Lan Chang'an's body refining attainments, the Earth Burrowing Rat's peak first-rank strength, even without using talisman trump cards, he was confident in handling it. Not to mention, he had Mu Xiuyun, a ninth-layer Qi-Refining cultivator, with him.
The flying boat was fast, reaching the Mu family residence at Feiyue Lake in less than a day.
After ten years away.
Seeing the sparkling, jade-like Feiyue Lake, Lan Chang'an felt a sense of familiarity.
Feiyue Manor and the surrounding spiritual fields and herb gardens had changed significantly.
The number of family cultivators had noticeably increased, with many young faces.
The flying boat landed at Li Ergou's courtyard.
"Lin Yi is dead? The young marquis is dead?"
Hearing the bad news, Li Ergou's round face trembled slightly, stunned for a long time.
Perhaps his most vivid memory of Lin Yi was still that young marquis exuding royal authority twenty years ago, commanding respect.
Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou agreed to go to Hengshui Prefecture to pay their respects.
"Chang'an, I'll go with you." Mu Xiuyun said softly.
"No need, you are now a senior member of the Mu family with important duties to attend to." Lan Chang'an shook his head.
He knew Mu Xiuyun was busy, traveling between the family and the shop, and planning her Foundation Establishment. Moreover, Mu Xiuyun had no personal relationship with Lin Yi.
Mu Xiuyun's gentle eyes darkened slightly, and she softly replied, "Then I'll lend you the flying boat."
...
A few days later.
The flying boat arrived at a valley a hundred miles south of Hengshui City.
This was the Hidden Immortal Pavilion's base, concealed by an illusion array. Lin Yi's last wish was to be buried here.
Landing in the valley.
Lan Chang'an saw five or six cultivators sitting in a corner of the valley.
There was a tomb there with a tombstone.
Zhao Siyao, dressed in white, sat beside a slightly dark-skinned young man and waved to them.
"Uncle Lan, Uncle Li."
Lin Lu knelt before the tombstone, his eyes bloodshot, his face haggard and sorrowful.
Li Ergou stared blankly at the name on the tombstone. Suddenly, he broke down and wailed. This made Lin Lu, kneeling beside him, start sobbing as well.
Lan Chang'an was slightly surprised. Although Li Ergou had known Lin Yi for a long time, their relationship wasn't particularly close.
When they first met, Lin Yi had somewhat looked down on Li Ergou.
Li Ergou was very afraid of that young marquis. Later, they became friends, letting bygones be bygones, with no secrets between them.
Zhao Siyao and a few cultivators came over to console Li Ergou.
"Big brother, Lin Yi was smarter and more capable than me, creating a cultivation force single-handedly and enjoying great glory. I can't compare to him!" Li Ergou said, wiping his tears.
"On this long road of cultivation, how many more steps can we take than him? Eventually, we will all..." Lin Yi's death had severely shaken Li Ergou's Dao heart.
Lin Yi was the first but not the last!
The path ahead seemed dark.
This pessimistic mood even affected Zhao Siyao and a few cultivators, making the atmosphere heavy.
Lan Chang'an lit an incense stick and bowed to the tombstone.
He broke the silence.
"You are right, we cannot see the end of the immortal path. Each step may lead to our downfall. But with each step, we see sights never seen before, which makes the immortal destiny of our life worthwhile. If you can't succeed in this life, there's always the next one!
"I don't seek eternity in the Great Dao, I only wish that the immortal way remains evergreen."