Three months later, the turmoil gradually subsided, and Fang Qingyuan was informed that he could leave the city.

Qi Yun Immortal City had been on edge for three months, but in the end, everyone returned to their old ways. Life went on as it always had, except for a mandatory period of mourning for the deceased Nascent Soul Cultivator.

This was handled in accordance with the Zhou Li, but such etiquette did not apply to an outsider like Fang Qingyuan.

Yinbao, once again laden with a large shipment of goods, set off on the return journey with the caravan. A trip that was expected to take just over half a month round-trip had been forcefully delayed by a full three months because of Gao Guangsheng’s death.

This did not give Fang Qingyuan a good impression of him. It was the same back then in Black River Square. After the Demon Cultivator Blood Saber ransacked Black River Square, this very Gao Guangsheng used the pretext of hunting down Demon Cultivators to torment Artifact Talisman City, making life miserable for everyone. In the end, the Demon Cultivator was never found, and most of the businesses in Black River Square fell into his hands.

To this day, not a single one of the Cultivators who used to make a living in the Black River Marketplace had a good word to say about him.

On the way back, Fang Qingyuan often found himself pondering. ’What kind of hatred could drive fellow sect members to kill one another, to be satisfied only by death, even at the cost of one’s own life?’

All sorts of rumors were flying around. Among the gossip Fang Qingyuan heard, one version had gained widespread acceptance among Cultivators.

The story went that Chu Zhen’s lifespan was nearing its end, while Gao Guangsheng still had several hundred years left to live. Chu Zhen worried that after his death, Gao Guangsheng would target the Chu Family, so he decided he might as well just take Gao Guangsheng with him.

To achieve this, Chu Zhen had gone so far as to use a Demonic Magical Artifact. A single Demon Saber had utterly annihilated Gao Guangsheng’s soul, and even his Nascent Soul hadn’t escaped.

Moreover, Fang Qingyuan heard that Chu Zhen had not acted alone. There were a total of seven Nascent Soul Cultivators present, and Chu Hongshang was among them.

Of course, this was all just whispered in private; no one dared to say it openly. The Qi Yun Sect would certainly never admit to such a thing.

With Divinity Transformation Cultivators rarely making an appearance, Late-stage Nascent Soul Cultivators were already the true upper echelon of the Qi Yun Sect. Obviously, the Qi Yun Sect didn’t want other sects to treat this scandal as a laughingstock.

The rest of the journey was uneventful. Fang Qingyuan followed the caravan smoothly to Nine Stars Square. Once he reached the White Mountain Territory, the inside story he heard became even clearer.

The people in Nine Stars Square were even more interested in the matter because it involved three major White Mountain powers.

They were the Spirit Wood Alliance, the Lianshui Alliance, and the Li Huo Alliance.

It turned out that Chu Zhen had gathered a total of seven Qi Yun Nascent Soul Cultivators. Among them was one Nascent Soul from the Spirit Medicine Pavilion, one from the Treasure Pavilion, and one from Qinan City.

Two more were even Nascent Soul Cultivators from the Vast Collection Pavilion. Add Chu Zhen and Chu Hongshang to the mix, and with such a powerful lineup, it was no surprise Gao Guangsheng died.

Oh, wait. According to the news from Nine Stars Square, the location where they surrounded and killed Gao Guangsheng was none other than Black River Square.

In that battle, thousands of White Mountain Loose Cultivators became eyewitnesses. Some even claimed to have seen projected images of the Nascent Soul Ancestors from the three alliances participating in the fight.

For Gao Guangsheng to have offended so many people at once, all of whom wanted him dead, was a skill in its own right.

Compared to the huge news of Gao Guangsheng’s death, the death of a Golden Core Cultivator became a trivial matter that no one paid any attention to.

Kuai Tong, the late-stage Golden Core Alliance Leader of the Artifact Talisman Alliance, had also died in that battle.

Years ago, using the chaos in Black River Square as a pretext, Gao Guangsheng had forced six Golden Core masters from the Artifact Talisman Alliance deep into White Mountain to hunt for the Blood Shadow Evil Cultivators. This left the once-powerful Artifact Talisman Alliance unable to deal with the Shandu Wei Family.

Seeing the Wei Family swallow the southern Luo Family whole, with both Wei Yuan and his Companion Beast achieving Core Formation, the balance of power was about to shift. At the immense cost of giving the Vast Collection Pavilion exclusive rights to all goods the Artifact Talisman Alliance sold north of the Death Swamp, Kuai Tong finally bribed Gao Guangsheng to allow him and his men to return to Artifact Talisman City.

In the battle of Celestial Attraction Mountain, he did the unexpected. He took the initiative to advance beyond Celestial Attraction Mountain and fought a bloody battle against the Shandu Wei Family, ultimately emerging victorious and reducing the Wei Family to ashes.

The Artifact Talisman Alliance’s strength was severely diminished in the pyrrhic victory, so he decisively brought in the Spirit Wood Alliance, the Lianshui Alliance, and the Li Huo Alliance, giving them a stake in Artifact Talisman City and thus thwarting the designs of any covetous parties.

With his various schemes, he could be considered a truly ruthless and decisive leader—one who knew when to go all-in and when to fold.

But even so, in a scheme at the Nascent Soul Level, Kuai Tong was unwittingly tricked by his three Golden Core allies. They induced him to personally appear and summon Gao Guangsheng, and he then died bewildered at the hands of Chu Zhen, ending his legendary life.

Gao Guangsheng’s death didn’t have much impact on White Mountain, but Kuai Tong’s death meant a major upheaval for the powers in Northern White Mountain.

Years ago, Kuai Tong and Qi Wushuang had a falling out and parted ways. Kuai Tong took Artifact Talisman City, while Qi Wushuang occupied Shandu.

Now that Kuai Tong had been betrayed by his own allies, the forces of Artifact Talisman City were swallowed up by the three branches of the Five Elements Alliance. It was said that Qi Wushuang was also appeased with some benefits.

Thinking of all this, an idea began to form in Fang Qingyuan’s mind. ’Is there a way for me to profit from this situation?’

Kuai Tong’s descendants, relatives, and the forces that depended on him for survival numbered, at the very least, several dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators, over a thousand at the Qi Cultivation stage, and several million mortals.

’Such a massive fortune... I don’t believe the three branches of the Five Elements Alliance can devour it all. Even the scraps would be more than enough for the current Qingyuan Sect to absorb.’

’Surely some of Kuai Tong’s followers would be unwilling to submit to the Five Elements Alliance that betrayed him. And they would have no common ground with Qi Wushuang either. They would rather become Loose Cultivators than serve another power like cattle.’

’I don’t need many of them—a dozen or so Cultivators would be enough for my Qingyuan Sect to handle. For such a small request, I don’t believe Qi Wushuang would refuse to give me, a former First Seat, some face.’

And so, after unloading his cargo at Nine Stars Square, Fang Qingyuan hurried back to his Qingyuan Sect.

Upon arriving at the sect, Fang Qingyuan saw that everything was in order. It seemed his presence or absence made little difference.

By now, the Spirit Fields had all been tilled and a season’s worth of Spirit Rice had been planted. Fang Qingyuan called over Mao Cheng and said:

"You, take a few men and come with me to Artifact Talisman City. I have some business to attend to."

Mao Cheng asked in surprise,

"What business, Sect Leader? I heard that place isn’t stable right now. The Great Zhou Academy has finished granting the titles and has already left. Now, thousands of outside Cultivators are green with envy, looking for trouble everywhere."

Hearing Mao Cheng’s warning, Fang Qingyuan was unconcerned.

"We are a sect that was officially granted its title. As long as we don’t stir up trouble, we have nothing to worry about. Compared to the consequence of being hunted worldwide by the Great Zhou Academy for attacking us, the other small powers in White Mountain are much more worthwhile targets."

Mao Cheng was convinced. He called over a few of the quicker-witted disciples to climb onto Yinbao’s back, though he was still trying to figure out the purpose of their trip.

After ordering the rest to stay behind and guard the sect—allowing no one to enter the main gate until he himself returned—Fang Qingyuan signaled for Yinbao to take flight and said to Mao Cheng,

"This time, I’m taking you all to do a good deed. We’re going to poach some talent from the Artifact Talisman Alliance. It’s a great act of charity, accumulating virtue and all that."

As Mao Cheng and the other disciples looked on in astonishment, Fang Qingyuan let out a hearty laugh and declared with gusto,

"Raise the banner of the Qingyuan Sect! Let’s move out!"