Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Early in the morning, sunlight filtered through the blinds, scattering across the bed.

Zhang Fan had an arm over his forehead, eyes open, staring at the ceiling.

The flashes of light that appeared in the Primordial Spirit Inner Scenery last night seemed branded into his mind, flickering incessantly, impossible to dispel.

As his realm improved and his cultivation grew ever stronger, his Primordial Spirit was constantly transforming. Even though he had not yet achieved Divine Fusion, he could always recall some things, remember fragments and glimpses.

”Jiang Lai...”

Zhang Fan murmured softly, memories of meeting Jiang Lai shimmering through his mind.

Their encounter on Zhenwu Mountain was no coincidence—their ties went back as far as a decade ago, beneath Dragon Tiger Mountain, when a crimson moon hung in the sky.

That night, much had happened: factions gathered from all directions, powerful figures vying against each other.

That night, the previous Human Xiao, Zhang Fan’s own mother Li Linglong, died at the foot of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

That night, Zhang Fan and Li Changgeng faced off for the first time—both young and gifted, both dragons among men—and eventually both were left grievously wounded.

That night, Zhang Fan underwent the Great Night of Darkness tribulation and mastered the Divine Splitting Technique.

That night, Zhang Lingzong withdrew whole from Dragon Tiger Mountain, bringing with him a young girl.

That girl was Jiang Lai.

She was even more mysterious than Zhang Fan had expected. By a twist of fate, it seemed her story could be traced back much farther; she was deeply, peculiarly connected to many people and things in this world.

At this moment, a strange feeling welled up in Zhang Fan’s heart.

Zhang Lingzong had hidden many things from him—about the Dragon Tiger Zhang Family, about Jiang Lai... and perhaps, about himself.

”Daddy’s daddy is a demon, daddy’s mommy is a demon...”

Right at that moment, a hurried ringtone jolted Zhang Fan from his thoughts.

”Rabbit!?”

Zhang Fan glanced at the incoming call display and picked up—he’d saved Lin Jianyue’s name as Rabbit.

”Hello...”

”Did you see all that commotion in Yujing City last night?”

Lin Jianyue’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

”I saw it,” Zhang Fan replied blandly.

How could he not have seen it? In all of Yujing City, there was probably no one with a clearer view than him.

”Any news?” Lin Jianyue asked.

”None. Do you have any?” Zhang Fan countered.

He didn’t know how Lin Jianyue had been subdued by Zhao Jie Xuan, but given that she was the Rabbit, one of the Thirteen Zodiacs, their alliance was only temporary in Zhang Fan’s eyes—he could not afford to be careless.

”I heard that the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance was sealed off by Deserted Mountain early this morning,” Lin Jianyue said after a slight pause.

”You’re pretty well informed,” Zhang Fan remarked meaningfully.

It seemed Lin Jianyue had her own informants inside the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance.

Sui Chunsheng said that last time, because of Fang Changying and Jiang Li, those two Wuwei Demons, the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance had already been purged once. Now it seemed the purge wasn’t thorough—there were still fish that slipped through the net.

That much showed how deeply the Wuwei Sect had infiltrated the Daoist Sect.

”What are you trying to say?” Lin Jianyue replied coolly.

”So it was your Vice Sect Leader who stirred all this up? He can’t seriously be about to break free, can he?” Zhang Fan said, his tone sinking low.

After last night’s incident, he had completely lost any goodwill toward the Observatory Master of the Perfect View.

Maybe the other person just wanted to probe the limits of his missing father’s tolerance through him, but threatening Zhang Fan’s life was stepping on his last nerve.

This grudge was now set in stone.

”I don’t know,” Lin Jianyue replied ambiguously. Who knew how much truth or falsehood was in her words?

After all, she was in Yujing City representing the Wuwei Sect, all for the sake of the Observatory Master of the Perfect View.

”Try to keep a low profile lately—don’t act rashly,” Zhang Fan cautioned.

After such a ruckus last night, Yujing City was bound to become even more lively, drawing in all sorts, a very mix of dragons and snakes.

At a time like this, someone with the Rabbit’s sensitive background needed to be especially discreet.

After all, she’d already gotten entangled with Zhang Fan in Yujing City and even shown her face at the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance. If anything went wrong, even the Yellow River couldn’t wash off Zhang Fan’s involvement.

”I understand.”

Lin Jianyue, of course, grasped the potential consequences. Not having gotten any useful information from Zhang Fan, she quickly hung up.

”Ding...”

At that moment, a new message popped up; Zhang Fan opened it and his eyes instantly brightened.

”Eight hundred thousand has arrived!”

”Good, this Black Rat really is more useful alive than dead,” Zhang Fan grinned.

Bai Buran had said that Black Rat had a background in the secular world—being able to casually bring out eight hundred thousand meant he had some assets. He could be kept around and squeezed for more over time.

Of course, what Zhang Fan valued most was still Black Rat’s strength.

A Great Demon of this level was a master no matter where you put him—a world apart from Little Demons like Shi Shougong and Su Shiyu.

Ever since Zhang Fan awakened his Primordial Spirit and descended Zhenwu Mountain, his social circle had changed dramatically.

He now had friends like Jiang Hu, Wen He, Yu Fu, and Jiang Lai at his side, and elders like the Nine-Fingered Talisman Demon Liu Fusheng and Yin Mountain Ghost King Xiong Sanqi behind him.

Additionally, his relations with the Yin Mountain Xiong Family and Baidou Wang Family were also very close.

Especially Xiong Ba and Wang Xuangang—these two were trusted friends of Zhang Fan, and each had been tacitly acknowledged as heirs to their respective great families.

As for his trusted aides, there were the Liu Xingtui and Liu Xingyu brothers on the surface, and in secret, Little Demons like Shi Shougong and Su Shiyu, all thoroughly tempered by trials.

Besides that, he also kept decent contacts with the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance—he had connections in both the black and white sides of Yujing City.