A Reputation Shakes the Land; An Omen

Chapter 661: A Reputation Shakes the Land; An Omen

"Exactly, Patriarch, there's no need to worry. Senior Sun and Senior Mo have been friends with our Fu family for over a hundred years; they will certainly arrive on time. Their current high status in the Blazing Flame Sect is inseparable from our family's substantial support. Besides, we married our two most outstanding clan daughters to them as concubines—how could they possibly be so rude as to not come?" Beside the middle-aged man, an old man with slender eyebrows and a brocade robe added with the same deference.

"It's not that I'm worried about Old Friends Sun and Mo not coming. It's that, for some reason, the closer the birthday celebration gets, the more uneasy I feel, as if some great event is about to happen. I'm truly concerned. Has our Fu family recently offended any formidable characters or other major sects?" The Fu Family Patriarch stroked his long beard, a cold light flickering in his eyes as his previous smile vanished completely.

Hearing this, the people in the hall couldn't help but exchange glances.

After a long moment, the pale-faced man cautiously replied:

"Patriarch, you know as well as we do! In recent years, although our Fu family has been prosperous and powerful, the number of clans and small sects we have offended is also countless. But the ones who hate us the most are still the 'Qin Family' and the 'Hu Family.' Could those two families be up to something?"

"It shouldn't be those two. They used to be able to rival our Fu family, but now they have few high-level cultivators left. How could they have the strength to stir up trouble?" The Fu Family Patriarch shook his head coldly. But after a frown, he added hesitantly, "However, if they were to join forces, or ally with a few other small enemy sects, and launch a surprise attack on this occasion, they could indeed cripple our Fu family. After all, back when we were currying favor with the Blazing Flame Sect, our family killed quite a few cultivators from those two families who were leading the resistance against the demonic path. Now, forced to abandon their ancestral lands and go into hiding, the Qin and Hu families harbor a deep hatred for us. They are fully capable of such a thing." His face had become as gloomy as water.

"Then what is the Patriarch's intention?" the brocade-robed old man asked cautiously.

"Keep a calm exterior, but tighten the interior. Double the number of guards at all posts compared to before. The grand protective formation of the fortress must be fully operational day and night—not allowed to stop for a moment. Especially target those rogue cultivators of unknown origin; assign more people to watch them." The Fu Family Patriarch closed his eyes, leaning his head back, but his mouth issued a series of commands without any disorder.

"Yes, your grandson will go and arrange it immediately!" After hearing this, the pale-faced man immediately acknowledged the order and went out.

The few remaining Fu juniors in the side hall could see that the Patriarch was in a bad mood at the moment, and each of them stood rooted to the spot, not daring to breathe too loudly.

"Tianyun, go call your Third Uncle out. Tell him to put the Ironback Sacred Beast into a spirit beast pouch and accompany me to the birthday celebration. Only he can command our family's guardian sacred beast!" the Fu Family Patriarch suddenly added.

"What? Patriarch, you said earlier that Third Uncle is at a critical point in his cultivation and that we shouldn't disturb him for this birthday," the brocade-robed old man said, unable to help but exclaim.

"Hmph! That was then, this is now. As cultivators, while we cannot truly avoid misfortune or predict the future, some of these heart-felt omens from time to time are indeed uncannily accurate. For the sake of caution, we must be prepared. I would rather be overly cautious than have our Fu family truly encounter a great calamity and have it be too late." The old man let out a cold snort.

"Yes, I will go and ask Third Uncle to emerge from seclusion." Seeing that the Fu Family Patriarch seemed to be getting angry, the brocade-robed old man was startled and, mumbling his agreement, also went out.

The Fu Family Patriarch was still not satisfied. After issuing several more commands, he finally felt a bit more at ease. In his mind, with all these backup plans in place, they should be able to handle any situation that arose.

...

Three days later, on an empty slope outside the purple mist of Purple Dao Mountain, quite a few rogue cultivators had gathered, as many as twenty or thirty. They were pointing at the purple mist and discussing something in low voices.

Han Li was also alone among this group of cultivators, silently observing the surrounding situation, just like a common, aloof rogue cultivator.

That the Yuanwu Kingdom actually had this many Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators was a bit unexpected for Han Li. Those who had come to celebrate the Fu Family Patriarch's birthday were certainly only a small portion of them.

Back in the Yue Kingdom of yesteryear, aside from the Seven Sects, it was rare to find a rogue cultivator who could establish a Foundation. Although the Yuanwu Kingdom was larger than Yue, it probably shouldn't have been that much different.

To see this situation emerge just over a hundred years later gave Han Li a sense of the changing times. He found it quite remarkable.

Han Li didn't know that before the great war between the righteous and demonic paths, most of the Foundation Establishment Pills were in the hands of large and small sects and families, making it naturally difficult for rogue cultivators to establish a Foundation.

But with the outbreak of the turmoil a hundred years ago, many sects and families were drawn into it. The destruction of clans and the severing of heritages and bloodlines became extremely frequent.

As a result, a large number of Foundation Establishment Pills also circulated amidst the chaos.

Although most were obtained by other sects and cultivating families, a considerable portion fell into the hands of rogue cultivators who happened to be in the right place at the right time.

This caused the number of Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators in various countries to skyrocket over the past century, forming a force of no small size. There were even those who, by a stroke of luck, took this opportunity to form a Core.

However, regardless of whether it was the righteous path, the demonic path, or the Heavenly Alliance, their strategy towards these rogue cultivators was to absorb them if possible, and suppress them if not. This caused the number of high-level rogue cultivators to surge, but they were never able to coalesce into a cohesive force, preventing them from becoming a real threat.

While Han Li was pondering this, seven or eight beams of red light suddenly shot over from the horizon. The light converged, revealing a group of male and female cultivators dressed in fiery red robes.

Leading them were two Core Formation cultivators. One had a face full of white pockmarks and a gourd hanging at his waist; the other was ordinary-looking, but his eyes held a chilling light. By their sides, each leaned against a beautiful female cultivator. Behind them followed four disciples, who seemed to be at the Foundation Establishment stage.

"It's the Blazing Flame Sect." At the sight of these people, a stir went through the rogue cultivators on the slope, and someone muttered in a low voice.

"That's Protector Sun and Protector Mo of the Blazing Flame Sect, who are in charge of external affairs. The two female cultivators beside them are the famous Twin Beauties of the Fu family. I've heard they've been given to those two seniors as concubines," a more knowledgeable rogue cultivator whispered to his companion beside him, as if afraid the Blazing Flame Sect cultivators might hear.

With his spiritual sense, Han Li naturally heard these words clearly. His gaze couldn't help but sweep over the two Blazing Flame Sect Core Formation cultivators twice. Then, his eyes glanced over the female cultivators at their side.

They were indeed two exceptionally charming women.

The Blazing Flame Sect cultivators acted as if the rogue cultivators didn't exist. One of the Blazing Flame Sect disciples walked to the mist without a word, raised his hand, and sent a sound transmission talisman flying into the fog. After that, he obediently returned to behind the two Core Formation cultivators.

Soon after, the purple mist billowed and churned, splitting open to form a passage. A few Fu family hospitality disciples greeted them with respectful expressions.

Taking this opportunity, Han Li took a deep look at the Fu family disciples before withdrawing his gaze with an expressionless face.

Then, the group of Blazing Flame Sect cultivators entered the purple mist, which closed again.

Over the next hour or two, some late-arriving messengers from other families and cultivators from some small and medium-sized sects arrived at the slope one after another. They were similarly received by the Fu family and led inside.

After waiting for a while longer, a middle-aged steward with an apologetic face finally emerged from the purple mist.

"Keeping all you fellow Daoists waiting so long is truly our Fu family's failing. This is not because the Fu family means to discriminate against you all. The Fu Family Fort has limited space, and it would indeed be difficult to arrange things if too many cultivators entered at once. So we could only invite you all into the fort on the very day of the birthday. However, please rest assured! As long as you are sincere well-wishers who have come to celebrate our Patriarch's birthday, you will all be treated equally within the fort. The banquet has long been prepared in the main hall. Please follow me and enter the fort together."

This steward was very eloquent, and his few words dispelled most of the rogue cultivators' dissatisfaction.

So, after exchanging glances, the rogue cultivators said nothing more and followed the middle-aged steward into the mist.

Han Li, with a calm expression, walked at the very back of the crowd, but after a short while, he unremarkably vanished.

Neither the cultivators walking ahead nor the Fu family disciples responsible for monitoring the formation noticed anything unusual. It was as if he had never entered in the first place.