The Rise of a Family: Starting from Daily Intelligence - Chapter 378 (Patreon)

Chapter 378: Subjugation, Preparations, and Hongyu’s Whereabouts

Yinan Mountain.

Inside the council hall.

Ouyang Fei was discussing the mountain’s day-to-day guard duties with Fu Changlei and Yao Yao.

A shrill buzzing suddenly sounded.

Ouyang Fei flicked out a hand seal.

With a hum, Fu Yongyi’s voice came through: “Uncle Fei, I’ve discovered something near the White Tiger Tribe—inside Shadowcloud Valley. But there’s a late third-rank Scarlet-Flame Wolf guarding the place. Please send reinforcements.”

All three brightened at once.

Yao Yao said, a little excited, “Feels like Shitou ge found another lode. Grandpa Fei, why don’t I go with the Skull Demon Vine? How about it?”

If there really was a lode, it would need a formation master to veil it before mining could begin.

Besides, the Skull Demon Vine was at peak third rank, and with the two third-rank Corpse Puppets Fu Yongyi had taken along, it ought to be enough.

Ouyang Fei hesitated, then looked at Fu Changlei. “To be safe, Changlei, you go too.”

“Grandpa Fei, that would leave only you—one Purple Mansion—sitting in Yinan Mountain. Better to have Uncle Changlei remain here. I’ll go first. If it proves tricky, we can have Uncle Changlei join us then.”

Ouyang Fei shook his head.

Before leaving, the clan head had specifically told him to keep an eye on Fu Yongyi’s side. In all his years in the Fu Clan, the clan head never spoke without reason.

So Ouyang Fei did not change his mind. “Yinan Mountain has the Mountain-Guarding Array, and a peak third-rank Frost-Prison Ice Bear sits in town. Nothing will go wrong. Yao Yao, once you reach Shadowcloud Valley, safety comes first. If anything feels off, contact me. Understood?”

Yao Yao and Fu Changlei nodded.

The two left Yinan Mountain, concealed their auras, and when they were a good distance away, Yao Yao released the Four-Winged Scarlet Python. Compared to Fu Changsheng’s Azure Flood Dragon, the python evolved painfully slowly—it was still only at early third rank—but its speed was astonishing, not inferior to an ordinary early Golden Core cultivator.

They crossed a few low ridges, skimmed above the Tianlong River, and a dozen li farther on lay Shadowcloud Valley.

“Xiao Hong.”

From afar, Yao Yao saw the valley shrouded in yin miasma and had the Four-Winged Scarlet Python slow down.

The python descended at the valley’s edge. Yao Yao and Fu Changlei leapt from its back and scanned the surroundings warily. Yin energy pooled in the gorge, mist coiled everywhere, and a low growl echoed faintly from deep within.

As they steadied themselves, a tearing sound split the air behind them.

They turned to see Fu Yongyi arriving.

Yao Yao swept him with her spiritual sense and noticed the two third-rank Corpse Puppets were gone. Her face paled; she hurried forward. “Shitou ge, are you hurt?”

Fu Yongyi shook his head.

He cast a Soundproofing Spell, a light-screen doming over the three of them before he spoke. “I sensed the aura of a lode deep in the valley, but I didn’t have time to check what kind. The fog here blocks spiritual sense, and a Scarlet-Flame Wolf is on guard. It’s troublesome. Yao Yao, did you bring a formation?”

He clearly didn’t plan to fight the wolf head-on—better to set a trap and catch it like a turtle in a jar.

Yao Yao looked troubled. “Shadowcloud Valley is huge. Only a mid-sized formation could cover it. I do have one, but it’s defense-oriented. And to lay it down, we need to locate the spiritual vein and set the formation eye.”

She paused, then added, “Even with this Wind-and-Sand Grand Array in my hand, if I’m laying it alone it’ll take at least half a month.”

That was far too long.

Fu Changlei, listening at the side, suggested, “In that case, the three of us should head in first. With the Skull Demon Vine at peak third rank, even if we can’t beat it, we can still get out in one piece.”

“This place isn’t far from the White Tiger Tribe’s mountain gate. If they notice us laying an array and come out to attack, we’ll be caught between two fronts. Best to deal with the Scarlet-Flame Wolf first.”

Fu Changlei was the elder, and the strongest of the three.

Yao Yao and Fu Yongyi had no objections. Yao Yao slapped her storage pouch; with a flash of glow, an array disk hovered above their heads. She sent a hand seal into it, and the disk spun on its own, shedding red-white radiance that draped over them. It trembled once, and the next instant their auras and figures were completely hidden. “Go!”

Fu Yongyi led the way.

However, the sights within Shadowcloud Valley were entirely different from what he had seen before.

In other words, the valley held a natural Lost-Track Array.

Fu Yongyi halted, summoned the Treasure-Seeking Instrument into his palm, and sent a seal. The compass at its heart brightened again.

It pointed to the lode.

The lode’s position wouldn’t change.

So even with a confusing array, with the Treasure-Seeking Instrument to guide them—and Yao Yao, a formation master, along the way—they still managed, not without a few scares, to return to the place where Fu Yongyi had fought the Scarlet-Flame Wolf.

Two trenches, each dozens of zhang deep.

The Corpse Puppets, having lost their power source, lay within, motionless.

The mist here was thicker; spiritual sense could only reach ten zhang—far too short to find where the Scarlet-Flame Wolf hid. Fu Changlei quickly sent a voice transmission: “Yao Yao, did you bring your Marsh Array Diagram?”

Yao Yao nodded.

Seeing his gaze fall on the puppets, she instantly understood.

She slapped her pouch again. A palm-sized array diagram whooshed out. Midair, she sent in a seal; the diagram shone brilliantly, and the light rolled down. Wherever it fell on the boulders, stone melted into sucking mire.

Yao Yao withdrew her hand seal.

The mire returned to an uneven heap of rocks.

Fu Changlei looked at the two Corpse Puppets. “Yongyi, control the puppets and draw the Scarlet-Flame Wolf’s attention. I’ll work with Yao Yao to trigger the diagram. Once the wolf is trapped, we strike together.”

“Alright.”

Without hesitation, Fu Yongyi flicked his forefinger. Two gray lights shot out, accurately sinking into the puppets. Their bodies trembled; a violet glimmer lit at their hearts and raced through them. They stood again, jaws yawning as gouts of ghostfire sprayed forth. Wherever the ghostfire passed, the mist sizzled and burned away.

“Roar!”

A roar answered from the north.

An instant later, a crimson shadow burst from the fog—the Scarlet-Flame Wolf.

Massive, pelt blazing red, eyes fierce with killing light, it spewed scorching fire. Its speed was terrifying; in a blink it was on the puppets. One swipe of its claws sent a puppet flying.

The wolf was even stronger than they’d expected.

Gulping, Fu Changlei gathered a hand seal. Bing-Fire Divine Thunder condensed between his fingers, ready to unleash.

Yao Yao stared unblinkingly at the wolf.

The trap lay ten zhang ahead of it, but the beast seemed to sense something and stubbornly refused to step inside.

Bang, bang, bang— The two puppets were swatted into the air like sandbags.

“Roar!”

Taunted again and again, the Scarlet-Flame Wolf was furious.

A strange black light flashed through its narrow eyes. Where it passed, the three humans’ hiding place was laid bare.

“Do it!”

Fu Changlei’s heart tightened.

He had never imagined the wolf possessed a bloodline illusion-piercing art!

He flung out the Bing-Fire Divine Thunder at once.

Rumble— The divine thunder streaked like lightning.

It arrived in a heartbeat.

But just as it was about to strike, the wolf’s figure blurred—three identical Scarlet-Flame Wolves split out in a breath.

Boom! The thunder smashed one apart.

The other two stamped off the ground, leaping clean over the marsh-array zone and lunging straight for the trio. Before they even landed, their jaws gaped—scarlet flame breath washed out, and the entire space spiked in temperature. The surrounding fog vaporized in an instant.

The torrent of flame was about to crash down upon the three.

If it hit, they’d die where they stood!

Fu Yongyi stomped hard. Billowing power sank into the earth. With a thunderous rumble, tens of thousands of stones erupted skyward, fusing into a stone wall dozens of zhang high over their heads.

Boom! The flame breath hammered it.

Holes were seared through the wall at once.

That heartbeat of delay was enough.

Their figures flickered as they slipped aside, narrowly dodging the falling flames.

While moving, Fu Changlei cast out another Bing-Fire Divine Thunder.

At this distance, the wolf could not avoid it.

Awooo!

Another clone shattered under the blow.

Yao Yao’s expression chilled. She sent a seal into the array diagram; it hummed and turned into a ribbon of light, drifting down to land upon the wolf. A pulling force surged forth. The wolf’s body sank with a jerk and plunged into the marshy mire—its movements suddenly sluggish and stiff. “Awooo!”

The Scarlet-Flame Wolf had dominated Shadowcloud Valley for years; never had it imagined being bullied like this by three early Purple Mansion humans.

It roared, eyes turning blood-red. Its pelt bristled; it was about to unleash its most potent bloodline demonic technique—

Suddenly, agony lanced up from its feet.

It looked down.

From beneath, the Skull Demon Vine it had never noticed surged up with blinding speed. Roots whipped around it in a blur, snaking over every part of its body. They trembled once—and with a bang the wolf felt its essence blood being drawn out at a terrifying pace.

In a blink, it would be sucked into a dried husk.

“Awooo—”

Panic took it.

It had kept to itself in this valley, cultivating quietly. It had done no unforgivable evil. To die like this—unwilling!

Seeing this, Yao Yao felt a flash of pity. “Scarlet-Flame Wolf, I’ll give you one chance. Choose one of us to recognize as master—or die.”

“Awooo—”

The wolf had been ready to die rather than submit.

But as its demonic power was drained and death loomed, it bowed its head. Its gaze swept over the three and finally fixed on Fu Changlei. A wisp of life-soul shot from its brow toward him.

From the fight just now, only the Bing-Fire Divine Thunder could truly threaten it.

Of the three, Fu Changlei’s combat strength was highest.

Submission meant life and death bound together—so it chose the one with the greatest potential.

Chosen, Fu Changlei did not dally, fearing a change if he delayed—he formed the seals then and there and signed a spirit-pet contract with the Scarlet-Flame Wolf.

Watching, Fu Yongyi couldn’t help a twinge of envy. A late third-rank Scarlet-Flame Wolf—having such a pet, unless you ran into a Golden Core adept, you were safe enough. But such things were fate: sought but not forced.

Once the bond was sealed, Fu Changlei gave Yao Yao a small nod.

Only then did Yao Yao withdraw her hand seal. The diagram turned into a stream of light and flew back into her sleeve.

At the same time, the mire shifted back into jumbled rock.

Yao Yao crooked a finger.

The Skull Demon Vine’s roots withdrew from the wolf’s body and flowed back into the mother vine. Puffs of blood-mist sprayed from the wolf’s wounds; its body shook, then a green streak slipped free and vanished back underground.

“Awuu!”

The Scarlet-Flame Wolf collapsed, spent.

Fu Changlei stepped up and fed it a Yunling Fruit. His lips moved soundlessly; after a while he turned to Yao Yao and Fu Yongyi. “There’s only this one third-rank beast in Shadowcloud Valley. Yao Yao, you can safely survey the terrain and set up the Wind-Slaughter Array first.”

Fu Yongyi was itching to probe the lode, but haste would spoil the broth.

He nodded at once.

With the local tyrant of the valley to guide them, mapping the ground went far faster. In just a few days, they pinpointed the spiritual vein.

Meanwhile, underground in Shadowcloud Valley, a concealed Qiu-rock beetle flickered and slipped out of the gorge. It flew to a cave-residence in a distant peach grove and burst up in a spray of dust. Before it, a black-clad man sat cross-legged.

The beetle twitched its feelers, relaying information.

After a time, the man’s eyes snapped open. “Laying a formation?”

It seemed Shadowcloud Valley matched his predictions—likely a lode of some kind.

He slapped his pouch; light flashed, and a spirit mirror appeared in his palm. He sent in a hand seal. The mirror floated, light rippling across its face until a blurry silhouette appeared. After a moment, the features sharpened.

The black-clad man rose and cupped his hands. “Reporting to the chieftain.”

“The Fu Clan seems to have found a lode in Shadowcloud Valley, but we don’t yet know what kind. They’re preparing to lay a formation. Shall we act?”

The figure in the mirror hesitated.

After a while, a calm voice said, “Continue observing. If it’s a rare lode, report at once. If it’s ordinary, ignore it.”

“Yes, Chieftain!”

The light faded from the mirror.

The black-clad man beckoned and put it away.

In Shadowcloud Valley, low clouds pressed down as if they’d fall at any moment. A killing chill suffused the air.

Yao Yao hovered in midair.

Array flags whistled around her in the wind.

She inhaled, then her hands flew, fingers tracing arcane paths. As she moved, flags streamed out one after another, dropping in perfect order into Tianqian, Disha, Kunlun, and other positions.

Hand seals poured into the flags.

Hum— Runes on the flags lit one by one with a dim blue glow. They wriggled like living things, linking to the sigils carved into the formation eye on the ground. Lines darted across the earth, weaving into a complex formation diagram.

“Rise, winds!”

Yao Yao barked softly.

A seal sank into the formation dais.

Boom— In the next instant, wind roared through the valley, howling in from every direction like countless blades in flight. They weren’t chaotic; guided by Yao Yao’s will, they knitted into a towering wind-wall. Like a dragon, it coiled around the formation, shrouding the whole of Shadowcloud Valley.

At the side, Fu Changlei’s eyes brightened slightly.

He cultivated the Complete Explanations of the Dao of Talismans to a high level; taken to the extreme, talismans could also be used to lay arrays. He had studied the Dao of Formations as well.

But compared to Yao Yao’s fluid mastery, he could only gape in admiration. Lately, as he’d advanced the fourth layer of the Great Derivation Technique, studying formations had become much easier.

All thanks to the clan head continually filling in that sacred technique.

To him, it was almost equal to a heaven-rank cultivation art.

While he pondered, Yao Yao’s voice rang out again. “Array—complete!”

By now, the Wind-Slaughter Array blanketed the valley. The wind-wall spun ceaselessly, forming a colossal vortex. Within it, wind-blades poured down like rain. Any enemy that tried to force its way in would be shredded to pieces.

Yao Yao withdrew her hands and dropped to the ground. As she landed, she swayed slightly.

For someone at her cultivation, setting a mid-sized defensive formation alone in so short a time was obviously taxing.

“Yao Yao, you’ve worked hard.”

Seeing this, Fu Changlei made up his mind. Once they saw the clan head, he would ask the clan head to talk to Yao Yao—she needed to put more of her focus back on her own cultivation. Otherwise, no matter how strong her arrays were, if she couldn’t protect herself, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

Yao Yao said, “Shitou ge, you two can start probing the lode. Xiao Hong will help me stand guard. With the Wind-Slaughter Array here too, nothing should go wrong.”

“Right.”

Fu Changlei didn’t dawdle.

They were, after all, right under the White Tiger Tribe’s nose—this needed to be done quickly.

Fu Yongyi had been itching to move. With the order given, he set off at once, Treasure-Seeking Instrument in hand, taking the lead. At Yao Yao’s instruction, the Skull Demon Vine slid along underground, keeping pace.

Hum— They headed north several hundred zhang.

The Treasure-Seeking Instrument blazed—its pointer aimed straight at the Scarlet-Flame Wolf’s den. Fu Yongyi grinned. “Uncle Changlei, what a coincidence.”

Fu Changlei found it unsurprising.

If not for the wolf standing guard, the lode would likely have been found long ago by the White Tiger Tribe. Moreover, in their communication just now, the wolf had told him:

Hundreds of years ago, it had been a lone wolf abandoned to the north. In a winter of heavy snows with no food to be found, it slipped underground to hibernate—and swallowed something unknown. Only then did it evolve from an ordinary wolf into a Scarlet-Flame Wolf, and step by step cultivate to late third rank.

But in all its centuries in the valley, it had never again found any heaven-and-earth treasure capable of furthering its evolution.

For that…

It had swallowed many strange things just to try.

“Hold up, Yongyi.”

Seeing Fu Yongyi about to enter the cave, Fu Changlei stopped him at once and had the Scarlet-Flame Wolf—padding doggedly behind them—go in first.

The wolf gave a low growl and strode into the tunnel.

In the dim passage, its frame looked even larger, its red pelt glimmering like fire in the wan light.

Fu Changlei and Fu Yongyi followed.

The cave wasn’t wide at first, but the deeper they went, the more it opened up. The walls were carved with odd striations, as if corroded by some power, and a faintly eerie aura seeped from them.

“Uncle Changlei, to the west!”

The Treasure-Seeking Instrument in Fu Yongyi’s hand shone brighter than ever, the pointer fixed on a patch of sooty-black rock to the west.

The wall looked ordinary.

But spiritual sense couldn’t penetrate it—clearly there was more to it.

Lightning flickered at Fu Changlei’s fingertips. With a boom, a Bing-Fire Divine Thunder slammed into the wall. The whole cave quaked; stones rattled down. The black rockface only quivered, unmarred.

“Uncle Changlei, I’m guessing this is a barrier.”

Fu Yongyi had seen the like more than once.

Fu Changlei stepped up and flipped his palm. An array disk appeared. A ray of light welled from it and fell upon the wall. Runes dotted its surface—but they quickly sank away. Thoughtful, he said, “If this were a natural lode, there wouldn’t be a barrier.”

He didn’t strike again.

He took a step back. “Let’s have Yao Yao take a look. See what kind of barrier this is.”

Yao Yao was still recovering her power.

That meant they could only wait.

Fu Yongyi hesitated, then nodded. “Alright. Uncle Changlei, I’ll scout around the area.”

Fu Yongyi left. Waiting in the den, Fu Changlei first set a simple warding formation in the Scarlet-Flame Wolf’s lair.

…

Fu Changsheng had left Yinan Mountain and traveled without pause, taking a little over ten days to cross the Eastern Wasteland’s border.

On the way—

A crisp, mechanical chime sounded in his mind. “Ding.”

“Your clansman Fu Changlei has acquired a late third-rank Scarlet-Flame Wolf. You gain 1,000 family contribution points.”

At once, the number on his panel changed to forty-three thousand, seven hundred and forty.

Fu Changsheng blinked. “Where did that Scarlet-Flame Wolf come from?”

He hesitated, then focused his will on the panel. “Redeem intelligence.”

Hum— The panel trembled.

Golden characters surged, and lines of text unfolded:

【1: In the Ten Thousand Dragons Abyss, the True Dragon imprisoned there is rallying its followers to collect anything related to dragons to help it break free.】

True Dragon?

Fu Changsheng’s heart jolted.

So there was still a True Dragon in the Southern Heaven Continent.

In a flash, he thought of the curled remnant of a yellow dragon soul lodged in the Azure Flood Dragon’s body—and tensed. “Looks like I need to deal with that immediately.”

Otherwise, if the True Dragon’s people took notice, it would be trouble.

According to the intel, with Hundred-Bell Flowers one could refine Drunken Dragon Pills and extract the yellow dragon soul from the Azure Flood Dragon. Even if he couldn’t resolve it outright, he could imprison it in the Five Elements Space—for in that space, he need fear no one.

But—

Those Hundred-Bell Flowers were in a coffin in the White Tiger Tribe’s cemetery.

And the White Tiger Tribe was currently closed to the outside.

“This… will be tricky.”

【2: In the Cangling Realm, after your father saved Qiu Shiniang, he relocated to Myriad Flowers Valley. Qiu Shiniang has a gift for cultivating spirit plants. With your father’s alchemy, the once-ignored valley has slowly become a haven for nearby rogue cultivators seeking pills and medicine.】

【3: Shangguan Hongyu was accidentally transmitted to the South Sea’s Turtle Immortal Island and imprisoned by the ten-thousand-year Black Tortoise there, who is making her raise the half-demon child it finally sired with a human.】

“Hongyu!”

Seeing the third item, Fu Changsheng’s emotions surged. Since the last intel update said Hongyu had been sent to the South Sea, there’d been no further word.

With the system upgrade, her news had finally surfaced again.

Seeing that Hongyu was at least alive, he let out a small breath.

“A turtle and a human can have a child?”

Fu Changsheng frowned.

Right then, he couldn’t wait to speed to the South Sea.

But to get there, he had to take the Tianyin Tribe first.

From all the intelligence he’d gathered, only the Tianyin Tribe’s secret land had a teleportation array to the South Sea.

The problem—

The Tianyin Tribe had two Golden Core adepts.

To break them now was a pipe dream. “I need to raise my strength fast and break through to Golden Core.”

If worst came to worst, he could push the Azure Flood Dragon and Skull Demon Vine and the others to the fourth rank first.

Once calm again, he read on:

【4: The Seventh Commandery Prince dotes too much on Ningning’s twin sons, arousing the Princess Consort’s jealousy and fear. With the prince watching, she doesn’t dare touch the boys, so she vents her anger on their birth mother, Ningning, using faultless pretexts to torment her. Ningning is living in misery. On this journey, the other child, Jian’er, didn’t accompany you because he refuses to leave Ningning’s side and remains to watch over her in the prince’s residence.】

“What?”

He hadn’t even finished the line before anger flared up in Fu Changsheng.

Ningning was being bullied—and her husband acted like a corpse?

And the Princess Consort—there was no way the Seventh Commandery Prince didn’t know. Clearly, whether Ningning suffered or not didn’t matter to him. “Ningning, that child…”

Back in Jingzhou, she had always hid her woes and only reported good news.

The caravans Fu Yongshang ran between Jingzhou and the commandery had sent no word either—likely the prince’s residence had smothered it all.

Fu Changsheng could not stand his daughter suffering.

With a son-in-law like that, even if he inherited the title one day, he’d only be a useless fool. “And Fange’er—how could he say nothing of this?”

Fange’er had moved into the prince’s residence.

Fu Changsheng drew a deep breath.

He had a feeling the waters there were deeper than he’d thought.

He decided that once he reached the Fu fief, he would send a message to Mei Zhen to handle it. He couldn’t tell Qingru—distant water could not put out a near fire, and Qingru’s top priority right now was cultivating the Purple Spirit Mortal-Shed Technique.

【5: After learning that Cao Xianger is out of favor with the Realm-Pacification Division’s myriarchate in Jingzhou and frequently has her achievements stolen and is harassed, the Cao Clan has used its connections to transfer her out of Jingzhou. She has returned home to await a new appointment. With Cao Xianger gone and no one to shield her from Myriarch Li’s pressure, Fu Molan has become an eyesore. Myriarch Li has now assigned Fu Molan to the Extreme West to infiltrate Autumn Moon Nunnery as a spy.】

Myriarch Li!

Fu Changsheng’s brow creased.

Back in Jingzhou they had cooperated to teach Myriarch Li a lesson. Apparently the man bore no grudge—on the surface. He had, however, kept the score. Now that Cao Xianger was gone and Fu Molan had no backing, he immediately sent her on the most dangerous mission. “Autumn Moon Nunnery…”

If he recalled correctly, Rui ge’er had also been sent to the Extreme West and was later seized by the nuns of Autumn Moon and had his memories washed away. “I need to contact Molan—see if we can get Rui ge’er out.”

【6:】

Thanks for reading—this chapter had a nice mix of tension and payoffs (welcome to the team, Scarlet-Flame Wolf!). If you’re enjoying the ride, I’d be incredibly grateful if you’d consider supporting the translation on Patreon; every pledge keeps me going and helps me release more chapters for you. And if you have a moment, please drop a rating or quick review on NovelUpdates—those little boosts help new readers find the story.

Next Chapter >