The Rise of a Family: Starting from Daily Intelligence - Chapter 394 (Patreon)

Chapter 394: Mutation, Heavenly Secrets Chessboard, Beyond Expectation

Fu Qingyun sprinted through the dense forest, wind howling past his ears as the roar of the three-eyed demon tiger behind him faded. He didn’t dare relax. This battlefield teemed with danger—one misstep meant death.

He quickly found a concealed tree hollow, slipped inside, held his breath, and listened. After confirming he was safe for the moment, he finally exhaled and lowered his gaze to the black bead housed in his wrist-string.

The radiance of the Golden Light Shield Talisman that Fu Qingqing had given him had thinned to a mere sheen; it wouldn’t last much longer.

That black bead was the only thing in the Life-and-Death Battlefield that could still keep him alive.

“One hour… I have to hold out.”

He murmured under his breath, eyes flashing with resolve. He knew he couldn’t crush the Star-Avoiding Pearl lightly, or he’d lose the right to advance. For his grandmother’s illness, no matter what, he had to grit his teeth and endure.

Just then, a faint rustling rose from deep in the woods—something was closing in. Heart tightening, Fu Qingyun stilled his breathing and peered out through the crack of the hollow.

Several broken corpse puppets shuffled out of the trees. Their bodies were pieced together from shattered bones, ghost-green flames flickering in their sockets. Their movements were stiff, yet steeped in killing intent. Their cultivation wasn’t high, but there were many of them; if he were surrounded, the consequences would be dire.

“I cannot be discovered!”

Fu Qingyun clenched the wrist-string.

But the more you fear something, the more it happens.

A guttural roar erupted.

The corpse puppets seemed able to scent human qi. In no time they found his trace and, with low snarls, surged at him like a black tide.

“Damn it!”

Fu Qingyun had long gathered herbs in the wild.

He’d been ambushed by red-tailed wolf packs before, but compared with the thousands of corpse puppets before him, those were nothing.

Now there was no escape.

Either crush the Star-Avoiding Pearl, or brace and fight.

A hum shivered the air.

At the critical moment, Fu Qingyun gritted his teeth and pushed the Golden Light Shield’s power to the limit, a weak light-curtain forming around him.

A claw slammed down. The light-curtain quivered, but did not shatter. Fu Qingyun loosened slightly inside—he knew the shield could hold for a little while yet. He swiftly drew a Fire-Thunder Talisman from his storage pouch.

“Go!”

He activated it. The talisman flared into a mass of blazing fire and swept toward the corpse puppets. When flame met bone, the collision burst into a violent wave of force; several corpse puppets were engulfed and reduced to ash.

“Not enough.”

“Far from enough!”

There were simply too many.

The fire destroyed some, but more kept pouring in.

Panic edged in. “At this rate, I’ll be ground down.”

At that instant—

Rip!

A corpse puppet’s claw suddenly pierced the shield and smashed into his chest. A lance of pain spread through him; blood spurted from his mouth as he was hurled back, smashing into a tree.

“Cough…” Struggling to prop himself up, he felt his spiritual power almost spent. The agony in his chest made breathing hard. The sea of corpse puppets surged over him, about to drown him in blackness.

“Am I… really going to fall here?” Unwillingness flared. He thought of his grandmother’s illness, of the hardships he had weathered. A steely light streaked through his eyes.

“To hell with it.”

Resolve hardened.

He ripped the bead from the wrist-string and, without hesitation, swallowed it.

Just touching it pushed one’s cultivation to the peak of Qi Refining. If he devoured and refined it, it had to have an even greater effect. So long as he could cure his grandmother, he didn’t fear nightmares; even hell wouldn’t make him flinch.

Boom!

The moment the bead reached his stomach, a scorching energy flooded out from his throat and rushed through his body, like countless vines crazing to life inside him. Strength poured into him; even the trauma in his chest seemed suppressed by that force.

“Aah—!” He couldn’t suppress a low snarl as he shot to his feet, a powerful ripple of spiritual power bursting from him. Green markings—vein-like with a vine’s texture—surged across his skin.

With a thunderous crack, countless thick vines erupted from his body and lashed outward, instantly ensnaring the corpse puppets around him. Barbs bristled on the vines; the bound puppets shrieked, then rapidly corroded into puddles of black sludge.

Standing amid the vines, Fu Qingyun felt the power surging ceaselessly inside him and was struck with horror.

He couldn’t find any trace of the bead.

It seemed to have fused completely with him.

“What do I do?”

If he couldn’t retract these vines, wouldn’t he become a monster?

…

Spirit-Bee Boots flared beneath Fu Qinggu’s feet; his whole body blurred into afterimages as he shot southwest like an arrow. Even so, a pack of vicious demon beasts still chased, their roars deafening as if to tear him apart at any moment. His chest heaved violently, spiritual power nearly spent; cracks spidered over the sword in his hand—it wouldn’t last.

“Damn, why so many beasts?”

Fu Qinggu growled through clenched teeth, a flash of anxiety in his eyes. He had thought his strength enough to take the ancient battlefield’s trial in stride, but the danger exceeded anything he imagined.

Just then, a massive beast pounced—a wolf-like fiend with three tails, fangs bared, scales of pitch-black armor: a fierce Three-Tailed Demon Wolf.

Fu Qinggu swung his sword up to block, but the instant blade met claw, the sword exploded into shards. The impact blasted him off his feet; he crashed to the ground, blood spraying from his lips.

“Cough, cough…” He struggled up, chest screaming. Fear of retreat had already sprouted in his eyes. He still had a card or two to save his life, but if the second trial was this hard, how much worse would the third be?

“Withdraw!”

He had never cared for a top-ten ranking. Only a guttersnipe like Fu Qingyun would fight to the death for it. With the ancient battlefield this deadly, a mere mid-stage Qi Refining brat like Fu Qingyun had probably long since fed the crows.

He felt he had held out long enough.

Surely—

Qingqing would look at him with new respect, seeing how hard he’d tried.

Most important of all—

He couldn’t die here.

Thinking thus, Fu Qinggu crushed the Star-Avoiding Pearl in his hand without hesitation.

With a crisp crack, brilliant light burst from his palm and enveloped him. His body lightened, as if some great force were hauling him upward, and the world whirled away into a blur.

The moment the beasts lunged, his figure vanished in the glow.

When he opened his eyes again, he had already been teleported out of the ancient battlefield and stood upon the arena. Around him, dozens of disciples who had likewise crushed their Star-Avoiding Pearls appeared, faces full of regret and unwillingness—forced to give up the competition.

In the crowd, he didn’t see Fu Qingyun.

“That brat…”

So he’d gone to the Yellow Springs after all! They were of the same clan—he shouldn’t have felt delight. Yet the corner of his mouth couldn’t help lifting. With that eyesore gone, he and Qingqing could proceed unhindered.

Time ticked by.

More and more people were sent out—over two-thirds of those who entered.

Fu Qinggu’s mood improved by the moment.

An hour later, Fu Changli’s voice rang out again.

“The second trial is over.”

Just then, commotion stirred at the ancient battlefield’s entrance. One after another, figures walked out. Only thirty-six had advanced to the third trial. Fu Qinggu was counting heads when the last person emerged—

His body jolted; he froze on the spot.

Not only had Fu Qingyun not died, he had passed the second trial—and even walked out without so much as a scratch.

“H-how is that possible?” Fu Qinggu murmured, jealousy and fury roiling through him. He clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, but he felt no pain.

Sensing Fu Qinggu’s stare, Fu Qingyun turned, glanced over, and said mildly, “It seems the ancient battlefield truly is perilous. Even you, Brother Qinggu, famed ‘Many-Treasures Boy,’ couldn’t hold out to the end.”

No matter how you heard it, that stung.

Fury exploded in Fu Qinggu; he nearly ascended and attained Buddhahood on the spot—twice. The guttersnipe had cleared the second trial and grown arrogant, even daring to taunt him first. Before, he wouldn’t have dared let out a fart in front of him.

He gave a cold snort, forced a laugh, and turned away. To bicker with such rabble would be beneath his status.

It was just luck. He refused to believe that wretch could pass the third trial.

On the arena, Fu Changli flicked a hand seal onto the barrier. “Those eliminated, leave the field.”

As Fu Qinggu rose to go, Fu Qingyun’s voice sounded behind him.

“By the way, Brother Qinggu, please pass a message to Manager Qingqing for me. My thanks for the Golden Light Shield Talisman she gifted me—it let me escape a calamity.”

Manager Qingqing?!

At that, rage surged past Fu Qinggu’s control.

Everyone in Hundred Herbs Hall knew that “Manager Qingqing” was his exclusive form of address for Qingqing. A guttersnipe like Fu Qingyun dared offend rank and reach up?

And more—

Qingqing had bestowed a mid-second-tier talisman on that wretch!

When had those two progressed that far?!

Fu Qinggu whirled around and stared hard at Fu Qingyun. “Don’t worry. I’ll deliver your last words.”

After leaving the barrier—

He had barely gone a few steps when Fu Qingqing came hurrying up. “Qinggu, where’s Qingyun? Didn’t he come out with you?”

The concern on her face wasn’t feigned.

Normally, Fu Qinggu was the most eager to ingratiate himself with Fu Qingqing, but he didn’t want to say a word to her now. In the end, he rumbled, “Qingyun advanced to the third trial.”

“What?” Fu Qingqing thought she’d misheard and asked again.

Fu Qinggu refused to repeat himself.

A nearby disciple from Pill Hall said with genuine admiration, “Elder Qing, your Hundred Herbs Hall has produced a fine seedling. Qingyun advanced to the third trial almost without a scratch.”

At that, even Fu Yongdan was stunned.

With Fu Qingyun’s mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, she had thought he wouldn’t clear the first trial. Never had she imagined he’d storm through two and reach the finals.

Be it fortune or otherwise, it meant the boy had immense potential for growth.

Fu Yongdan quickly turned to her daughter. “Qingqing, what’s the story with this Fu Qingyun? Tell me everything.”

Fu Qinggu hadn’t gone far, and hearing even Fu Yongdan drawn to that brat, he almost ground his silver teeth to powder. In that moment, a vicious thought took root—he could only hope that guttersnipe died in the third trial!

With a low hum, the last of the eliminated left.

The arena barrier sealed again.

Fu Changli’s gaze swept the seventy-two remaining. A hint of approval showed in his eyes as he spoke loud and clear, “The third trial will simulate the ‘Heavenly Secrets Chessboard’ battlefield used in the seventh-rank clans’ grand competition. It will test your strategic layout and resource contesting.”

“You will be teleported onto the ‘Starfall Chessboard,’ a grid a hundred li across. The ground holds seventy-two star-array bases, each corresponding to an ancient constellation. The Greedy Wolf Array accelerates spiritual power recovery; the Army-Breaking Array amplifies killing force.”

“Your task is to find, among three hundred and sixty ‘Star-Core Shards’ floating in the sky, the nine that can combine into a ‘Heavenly Secrets Star Key.’ Activate the central Stargate and you will be transmitted out. Your rankings will be set by how quickly you activate the Stargate—the shorter the time, the higher your place.”

“In addition—”

“Every half hour, the chessboard will shrink its boundary. Any disciple outside the safe zone will be eliminated. Slaying beasts or unraveling star arrays may grant a ‘Star-Track Compass’ that briefly predicts the next safe zone.”

“Do you understand the rules?”

“Yes, Supreme Elder!”

The crowd answered as one.

Seeing this, Fu Changli barked a low command. His hands flew in seals as spiritual power poured madly into a bronze mirror. The mirror stretched into a towering pillar of light that speared the heavens, then fanned out into a vast starry dome.

“Rise, Abyssal Weakwater Mirror!”

At his shout, the world swayed.

In the next instant, they stood within an independent space.

Fu Qingyun looked up.

The stars of the vault slowly moved—as if guided by invisible hands. Their light gathered and mapped itself upon the ground, forming a colossal chessboard. Lines crisscrossed; every square glittered with a different starlight, as though each corresponded to the power of some ancient constellation.

He swept his surroundings. The other disciples had scattered, searching for star-core shards and star-array bases. By tacit agreement, no one turned on his clansmen—time was short, and it was better spent assembling the Star Key than squabbling.

“I need to find a star-array base that can boost me first!”

Otherwise, if he met an enemy, how could he keep himself safe, let alone collect shards?

“The Greedy Wolf Array restores qi faster; the Army-Breaking Array sharpens slaughter…” he muttered, eyes skimming the board. Soon, he locked on a base pulsing with green light—the Greedy Wolf Array.

His figure blurred.

He sprinted toward it.

A massive beast burst from the side with a roar, blocking his path.

“A three-tailed demon tiger!”

Fu Qingyun’s heart tightened. A second-tier early-stage beast—thick-skinned, tough-fleshed, and versed in two bloodline spells. With his mid-stage Qi Refining, one exchange could see him fall.

“I can only use the black bead’s power.”

He didn’t hesitate. He decisively urged the residual power of the unrefined black bead coursing through his meridians.

Boom!

A shudder ran through him.

Green vine-marks raced over his skin.

Swish, swish, swish!

Vines shot from his body like lightning, lashing around the onrushing demon tiger and binding it up in an instant, tight as a rice dumpling.

The barbs pierced its hide. The tiger’s shriek tore the air, but before it could cast a bloodline spell, its body corroded away, slumping into black sludge.

“Whew.”

He reached the array base without further mishap.

Fu Qingyun immediately activated the Greedy Wolf Array. Spiritual power began to surge back through him, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“A good start!”

“Next, I need to gather star-core shards as fast as possible.”

He looked to the sky, where three hundred and sixty shards floated, each glowing faintly.

But he didn’t know—

Every time he tapped the black bead’s energy, it subtly changed him. With each refinement, his mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation had truly climbed to the peak of Qi Refining.

He assumed it was only temporary.

Focused on victory, he had no mind to notice.

He stamped the ground and vaulted upward, timing his leap to snatch a shard as it swept overhead. It was icy to the touch, as if brimming with the power of the stars.

“Auspicious beginning!”

He grinned and started to slip it into his pouch.

Just then—

A buzz rippled through him. The energy within suddenly rioted. His vision went black, and in the next blink he was dragged into a boundless ocean, sea on all sides.

“What’s happening?!”

Here, he couldn’t sense anything outside.

By rights, the first trial had been an illusion array.

There shouldn’t be another now.

“Could it be…”

Cold sweat beaded his back. Instinctively, he thought of the black bead he had swallowed. This uncanny event must be tied to it.

“No.”

“I have to get out!”

Illusion or whatever it was, he couldn’t stay here. His grandmother needed him to save her. His little sister was still young—without her big brother, how could she fend off those thugs?

At this moment—

Fu Qingyun, who had sat there as if meditating, suddenly opened his eyes. Unlike before, his aura now carried a clear trace of wicked charm between the brows.

Watching the chessboard’s edge begin to contract, an invisible barrier slowly pushing toward the center, he tittered, “How fun, how fun!”

There wasn’t a hint of competitive tension in his tone—only the curiosity of someone discovering a new toy.

Yet after a casual glance, he simply sat again. His hands moved in seals; inside, the remnant black bead power was rapidly refined. The bottleneck that stymies countless Qi Refining disciples crumpled before him.

A faint drip sounded.

In his dantian, true qi condensed into a single drop of spirit liquid.

Time slid by.

The spirit liquid thickened, and before long, all his true qi had become a small pool. At the same time, his spiritual sense was born and extended outward.

“This will be easy.”

Spiritual sense unfurled.

That was something only a Foundation Establishment cultivator could do.

Clearly—

In this short span, Fu Qingyun had already broken through to Foundation Establishment. From here, collecting star-core shards was trivial. In less than ten breaths, he had assembled a Heavenly Secrets Star Key. When the key slid into the Stargate, a hum sounded, and a suction burst from the gate.

“I can go out!”

Joy lit him.

But in the next instant, struggle twisted his face. The wicked aura vanished, and he returned to his honest, steady self.

Boom!

Fu Qingyun opened his eyes.

He was already on the arena, with Fu Yongjing beside him. “Did I… fail to advance?!”

Then he heard Fu Yongjing’s voice of congratulations.

“Qingyun, congratulations on taking second place in the clan competition!”

“Second place?!”

He… he had succeeded.

But just now he had clearly been in a boundless ocean without collecting a single shard—how could he be second?

He quickly lowered his head to hide the shock in his eyes and forced his voice steady. “Congratulations to the Ninth Young Master on taking first.”

Up above the arena barrier—

As Fu Qingyun advanced, the banner hanging midair lit with a new line:

“Fu Qingyun, Second Place!”

Fu Qinggu, who had been watching for the fun of it, thought his eyes were lying. He rubbed them again and again, but the three characters “Fu Qingyun” never changed.

His face turned as dark as ink.

“H-how… how is this possible?!”

Fu Qingyun was only mid-stage Qi Refining. How could he be top ten—let alone second?!

This had to be a mistake.

He wasn’t alone. Even Fu Qingqing could hardly believe it. She sent a quiet transmission to Fu Yongdan. “Mother, did something go wrong with the third trial?”

It wasn’t that she looked down on Fu Qingyun.

But everyone who reached the third trial was an old hand at the peak of Qi Refining—many from the Formation Hall and Talisman Hall besides, which made this round even more favorable to them.

Fu Yongdan’s eyes, however, gleamed with delight. She patted Fu Qingqing’s hand. “Qingqing, when Qingyun comes out, find a way to take him as your disciple!”

Plainly, the boy was the dark horse of the competition.

Barring accident, not only Purple Mansion—even condensing a Golden Core one day wasn’t impossible. She had thought her daughter too soft-hearted before, but now it seemed fortune had played the right hand. Hundred Herbs Hall had a genius on its hands—and at such a tender stage—they had to build this bond well.

Her admiration and excitement were unhidden.

Beside her, Fu Qinggu felt a sweet tang rise in his throat.

That guttersnipe had soared on the back of this competition; he might well ride over his head in the days to come!

If only he had—

Regret came too late.

…

At the Lotus Pond, Fu Changsheng felt his late-stage Purple Mansion cultivation fully stabilized. With a thought, he exited the system’s Training Room.

At that moment, a string of mechanical chimes sounded in his mind.

“Ding.”

“Your son, Fu Yongjing, has successfully broken through to Foundation Establishment. You gain 100 family contribution points.”

“Your clansman, Fu Qingyun, has successfully broken through to Foundation Establishment. You gain 100 family contribution points.”

“…”

After deducting several months of Training Room fees, his panel of contribution points settled at ten thousand.

Yet after digesting that information, Fu Changsheng paused.

“Yongjing broke through to Foundation Establishment?”

If he remembered right, Yongjing hadn’t even attempted the three steps of Foundation Establishment. How could he have climbed to Foundation Establishment in only a few months?

“Looks like I should return to Yunshan Commandery.”

By the schedule for constructing the teleportation array, it should be about ready. He also needed to take it to Huizhou Prefecture—their new fief—which he had yet to visit. Most importantly, he had to bring Hundred-Bell Flowers to Meizhen so she could refine the Drunken Dragon Pill before the clans’ grand competition.

Otherwise, the azure flood dragon could only remain trapped in the Five Elements Space.

Leaving the secret room, Ouyang Fei—busy with affairs in the council hall—sensed something, shock crossing his face. “That’s all for today. Dismissed.”

Without waiting for the baffled stewards, he flashed from the hall to the front of Fu Changsheng’s courtyard.

The gate stood open.

Under the ningsang tree in the yard, Fu Changsheng brewed tea, clearly awaiting him.

“Patriarch… you… you’ve broken through to late-stage Purple Mansion?”

Before he shut himself away, the patriarch had been at the sixth level of Purple Mansion. In only a few months, he had already stepped into the late stage—unbelievable.

After all—

The higher one climbed, the harder each step. Between Purple Mansion Six and Seven, there lay a chasm. Crossing it brought a qualitative leap in strength. More importantly, at that level one could begin preparing to condense a core.

That was countless people’s dream.

“Uncle Fei, please sit.”

Fu Changsheng pointed to the seat opposite and briefly mentioned how he had chanced upon a Blue Shadow Sacred Fruit from a Purple Mansion cultivator’s storage pouch in the Skywolf Tribe.

Ouyang Fei nodded in sudden understanding.

Even so, to refine the medicinal power completely, then break through and stabilize in mere months—others would call it defying heaven.

Toward the patriarch far younger than himself, Ouyang Fei felt only rising respect.

With such talent, even among upper-grade clans, the patriarch would be a phoenix feather among crows.

Fu Changsheng handed him a cup of tea. “Uncle Fei, how did the spirit-treasure affair in Gloomcloud Valley end? Did Senior Luo come to harm?”

“Reporting to Patriarch, that acquired-grade spirit treasure is said to have slipped into the void. Senior Luo only lost a set of Weakwater Heaven-Sealing Arrays and suffered no other harm, but—”

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