The Rise of a Family: Starting from Daily Intelligence - Chapter 415 (Patreon)

Chapter 415: Nine Yin Sacred Water, Power Unleashed, Nether River Ferry

Yao Yao was a Healing Spirit Body to begin with, so she recovered from injuries far faster than most. Seeing that she had eased up considerably, Fu Changsheng finally said, “This isn’t a place to linger. Let’s move.”

Once they left the stone forest, the deeper they went, the lower the temperature fell. Even with the Nine Suns Red Lotus Flame for protection, the three of them still had to run their techniques to resist the cold. After they walked several li, a white expanse opened before them. Yao Yao froze. “Father, isn’t this an icefield? Where would a cold spring come from?”

Fu Changsheng glanced at the topographic map of Nine Nether Valley in his hand, then at the chain of rolling ice mountains ahead, and his brows drew tight.

Clearly, something had changed in Nine Nether Valley.

“Yao Yao, find us a spot and lay a formation to block the chill first. We’ll talk after.”

Having to constantly channel power to ward off the cold meant that if a powerful enemy appeared, they’d be weak at a critical moment—never a good thing.

Yao Yao answered at once.

After a sweep with her spiritual sense, she chose a low glacier to the northwest. With a flick of her sleeve, ranks of formation flags screamed out. As one incantation after another sank in, a resonant hum sounded, and pillars of light speared upward, converging in midair to form a massive oval barrier that fell upside-down over them.

Crick-crack, crick-crack.

Icy chill washed over the barrier.

Runes lit up across the light screen, constantly repairing it, over and over.

Yao Yao gathered her hand seals. “Father, we can put away the different fire.”

“Mm.”

Once the Nine Suns Red Lotus Flame was dismissed, the cold still pressed in, but it was within tolerable bounds.

Fu Changsheng swept his spiritual sense across the glacier and found no trace of any cold spring. He turned and signaled to Yongwei to see if she could sense the aura of Heaven Yin Grass. As a Wood-Spirit Physique, she was far more sensitive to heaven-and-earth treasures.

Fu Yongwei closed her eyes, formed seals with both hands, and moved her lips.

In the next instant—

Hum!

The air around her body quivered slightly.

Then waves of qi howled out, spreading across the entire icefield.

In that moment, Fu Changsheng felt as if Yongwei had merged with heaven and earth, like a mother of the land. If Yongwei could keep evolving this Wood-Spirit Physique in the future, she would clearly do great things.

A full cup of tea later, Fu Yongwei’s face had turned ghostly pale, beads of sweat standing out across her brow.

Seeing this, Fu Changsheng was about to tell her to stop and rest for a bit when her eyes suddenly snapped open. She gave a wan smile. “Father, three hundred zhang to the southwest—I can sense an extremely pure, immense Yin aura.”

Found it!

Fu Changsheng’s eyes lit up. “Yongwei, rest first. Yao Yao, open the formation and let me out.”

Yao Yao looked worried, but under Fu Changsheng’s insistence, she sent a seal into the formation. The barrier rippled with waves of light and, with a buzz, a blast of cold tore straight through.

Fu Changsheng blurred and vanished.

Nine Suns Red Lotus Flame coiled around him. With two people no longer inside it, the fiery light covering him grew much thicker, and he no longer needed to actively circulate his technique to resist the cold. Three hundred zhang passed in a blink.

He dropped his spiritual sense where Yongwei had pointed, but sensed nothing.

He hesitated.

Then he pressed his index and middle fingers together and opened his Clear-Sight Eyes. The scene changed at once. Less than ten zhang beneath his feet, a surge of abundant Yin spiritual power was rocketing upward—but a complex sealing script had clamped it down into a cold spring.

He ended the technique.

The odd vision withdrew.

With a flick of his finger, a wisp of Nine Suns Red Lotus Flame drifted down onto the spring.

At first nothing happened.

After a moment—

Boom!

The icefield around the spring collapsed with a roar.

Then a round cold spring ten zhang across emerged. Torrential Yin spiritual energy surged into the sky. A sweep of spiritual sense told him the spring was only a hundred zhang deep. Three stalks of Profound Yin Grass grew within—assistants for opening the Niwan Palace—but they weren’t the Heaven Yin Grass he needed.

“So I really do have to cross some Yin Bridge?”

Fu Changsheng felt a pang of disappointment.

Even so, he formed a seal and used the Five Spirits Conveyance Technique to harvest all the Profound Yin Grass.

With these, the clan would be able to produce a few more half-step Purple Mansion cultivators in time.

At the same moment, a familiar mechanical chime sounded in his mind.

“Ding.”

“You have added three stalks of Profound Yin Grass to your clan, earning 600 family contribution points.”

His panel tally jumped to 2,700.

Rather than wander aimlessly, it would be better to exchange for some intelligence. He also wanted to know what had happened in Nine Nether Valley. He focused his intent on the sea of consciousness panel. “Exchange intelligence.”

Hum!

The panel trembled.

Waves of yellow light surged.

Lines of text surfaced one after another:

[1: Your Ghost Servant Qiu Chan seeks to form a Golden Core and requires Nine Yin Sacred Water as an aid. The quality of the Nine Yin Sacred Water will determine the grade of the Golden Core.]

Nine Yin Sacred Water?

He had never heard of such a Golden Core treasure.

But having a target was better than groping in the dark. He quietly took note of this heavenly water. If they couldn’t find it in the Kunlun Minor World, their Yunshan Commandery fief still had an unopened secret realm—perhaps it could be found there.

If the clan produced a single Golden Core combatant, they could directly advance to a sixth-rank aristocratic clan and firmly establish themselves in Wuzhou.

In a sense, they would finally have true standing in the Great Zhou.

[2: Your son Fu Yongrong has already begun secluded cultivation in the Yunshan Commandery fief’s secret realm, making a push for Golden Core.]

Rong ge’er was already attempting a Golden Core breakthrough?

Fu Changsheng blinked.

By the timing, Rong ge’er had been in that secret realm for decades. With his symbiotic spirit beast and the realm’s many resources, it made sense upon reflection.

Even so, to force a Golden Core breakthrough without any external protection… Fu Changsheng still felt uneasy. “I hope nothing goes wrong.”

He didn’t demand that Rong ge’er succeed in forming a core. He only hoped the boy would be safe.

At the same time, urgency tightened in his chest. Even his son was attempting Golden Core now. He would have to hasten his own cultivation. Before, he felt his lifespan exceeded most, so he could advance slowly. Now it seemed he at least had to reach Golden Core before he could afford to slow down.

Otherwise, the vast foundations he had fought to build might end up handed to someone else.

At the very least, he had to do everything he could to push either Qiu Chan or the Azure Flood Dragon to fourth rank.

[3: Shangguan Hongyu has raised the Sea Turtle’s Son from childhood into a Golden Core cultivator and entirely concealed his bestial traits. At her urging, the Sea Turtle’s Son persuaded his father to let Hongyu journey with him. But before their departure, the Sea Turtle quietly planted a restriction on Hongyu.]

Hongyu!

Fu Changsheng’s eyes snapped wide.

After so many years, there was finally an update on Hongyu.

From the last intelligence exchange, when Hongyu was transmitted to the South Sea, she had been confined on Turtle Immortal Island ever since. “I wonder what Hongyu’s cultivation is now?”

With the Sea Turtle’s Son and his Golden Core strength at her side, Hongyu should be largely safe wandering the South Sea.

[4: Your daughter-in-law Yulian entered the imperial capital with Fan ge’er. Unable to stand how he kept adding new women to his rooms, she angrily left alone. Egged on by people from Twin-Moon Palace, she ultimately joined that sect.]

Yulian?!

Fu Changsheng frowned.

Before she died, Cai Xiangu’s last words had been to ask him to look after Yulian.

Yulian had been born with a strange illness. Later, Yao Yao healed her, but what exactly it was remained unknown. “Fan ge’er, what are you doing…”

From childhood, Fan ge’er had been the steadiest of his children, the least worrisome. Yet after entering the Seventh Commandery King’s residence, everything seemed to change. He even made decisions without consulting the family and went off to the capital with others. Fan ge’er and Yulian were childhood sweethearts, and he had been the one begging to marry her. Now he’d changed heart.

Fu Changsheng sighed.

The imperial capital lay unimaginably far from Wuzhou. He was beyond reach for now. “Forget it, forget it.”

Fan ge’er was not a three-year-old child. He would bear the consequences of his own actions.

[5: In three days, an Yin Bridge will appear three li from you. On the far side of the Yin Bridge is the true growing place of Heaven Yin Grass.]

[6:]

He exchanged for ten items of intelligence in one go.

But even in the latter ones, there was still nothing about what had changed in Nine Nether Valley. Only then did Fu Changsheng stop. His family contribution points dropped to 1,700.

His figure blurred.

He returned to the formation barrier.

Yao Yao hurried over. “Father, how was it?”

“I found three stalks of Profound Yin Grass, but my Azure-Faced White Fox scented something amiss three li out. We’ll move camp there.”

“Yes, Father.”

Neither Yao Yao nor Fu Yongwei objected.

Watching Yao Yao busily pack up the formation eased him somewhat. Among children, some rebel; some are obedient and considerate. Such is human nature. After all, nothing in life is perfect.

Three days passed in this way.

On watch at the formation, Yao Yao suddenly gave a soft “eh?”

It was night, yet she could clearly sense the icefield around them beginning to melt. “This is…”

She quickly roused Fu Changsheng and Fu Yongwei.

Fu Changsheng swept his spiritual sense. In the span of a mere instant, the entire icefield had vanished without a trace. Pools of water dotted the landscape, and in each, yin puppets bobbed up and down. Most were third rank. As the moonlight thickened, these yin puppets roused from slumber one after another.

Seeing the dense masses of puppets, Fu Yongwei swallowed hard, her tongue trembling with nerves. “Father, what do we do?”

Their numbers were more than ten times the Bone-Eroding Midge swarm from before, and among them were a few near-fourth-rank auras. No matter how strong Father was, if these things swarmed them, their odds were grim.

Fu Changsheng’s scalp prickled. He looked up, seeing the moonlight had grown to its utmost. Per the intelligence, when moonlight was at its peak, an Yin Bridge would appear. “Yao Yao, reinforce the formation!”

All they had to do was hold until the Yin Bridge appeared!

Meanwhile, the sound of rushing water rose.

The pool nearest them churned, and yin puppets burst from the surface. They were vaguely human-shaped, bodies covered in ashen-blue scales. Their eye sockets were hollow, save for two dancing green ghost-fires. The chill rolling off them froze even the air, which crackled faintly.

As luck would have it, there was a pool less than ten zhang from their formation.

Its waters boiled.

Three yin puppets shot into the sky.

A sweep of spiritual sense, and Fu Changsheng’s face changed—these three were near fourth rank.

Without hesitation he summoned Qiu Chan and the Azure Flood Dragon.

The three inside the formation held their breath, praying the hulking trio wouldn’t notice them.

“Gorrr-roc-roc~”

The three landed at the water’s edge, lifted their heads, and let out rooster-like cries.

Next, the moonlight above seemed to be drawn to them, whistling down like lightning. At each of their dantians, a yet-uncongealed Yin Fiend Core glimmered.

Suddenly, all three whipped their heads toward the formation.

Because of the barrier, the moonlight slid aside when it reached them, bending around and skipping past. That tiny difference had actually been noticed.

“Not good!”

Fu Changsheng flicked his sleeve.

The mysterious robe draped over Yongwei, and her figure vanished at once.

Clack!

Clack, clack!!

The yin puppets lunged for them.

Yao Yao’s face blanched as her formation flags fluttered madly.

At such close range, the three towering near-fourth-rank puppets crossed the gap in a blink and slammed into the barrier.

The light screen shuddered, flaring with spiritual light. What had been invisible now pulsed plainly.

Enraged, the puppets threw back their heads and shrieked.

The leader spat a gray-black gale, countless tiny bone blades spinning within it, and smashed it into the barrier.

Ting-ting-ting!

The rune screen shook violently. Pitted holes corroded across its surface.

All three struck as one!

The second puppet spread its arms. Ice condensed into dozens of thick chains that coiled around the barrier like vipers. Strange sigils crawled over the links, devouring spiritual power.

Crack, crack!

The formation’s foundation began to collapse!

Yao Yao groaned, blood beading at her lip. “Father, the formation can’t hold!”

Even as she spoke, the last puppet vaulted into the air. Sickly green light gleamed on its claws as it ripped down.

Boom!

The very void seemed to tear. Five claw marks punched through the barrier’s remnants and slashed straight at Fu Changsheng’s face!

So terrifying was a near-fourth-rank yin puppet!

All of this seemed slow to describe, but it happened in the blink of an eye.

“Hmph!” Fu Changsheng dared not slacken. With a snap, he tapped the Three-Turn Treasure Lotus Lamp floating before him. Three layers of lotus petals unfurled. Gold, scarlet, and azure radiance wove into a screen.

Bang, bang, bang!!

The savage claws were stopped cold.

At the same time, he formed a one-handed seal. The three Thunderstriking Swords he had been warming in his dantian shot into the sky, violet lightning coiling about them as they traced esoteric paths overhead—

“Starry Heavenly Thunder Array—rise!”

The three swords set at the triangle’s corners. Lightning linked them into an array. In an instant, thunderheads gathered, and countless bolts raged like silver serpents, crashing down on the three near-fourth-rank puppets!

Gugah!

The leaping puppets were hammered back into the pool, water exploding skyward!

The commotion quickly drew the attention of the others.

Gah, gah, gah!

One after another, they screeched and swarmed toward the trio like a writhing cloud of insects.

“Qiu Chan, Azure Flood Dragon—clear the way!” Fu Changsheng barked. Black shadow and azure light flared at his flanks.

Qiu Chan moved like smoke, her near-fourth-rank aura bursting forth. With a sweep of her sleeves, countless pallid ghost-hands clawed from the void, rending the puppets ahead to shreds. A pitch-black sigil bloomed at her brow. Yin qi condensed into a massive scythe, and with a crosswise cleave, she beat back two puppets as they lunged from the pool!

“Roar!”

The Azure Flood Dragon swelled in the wind, unfurling a hundred-zhang body. Its late third-rank flesh tore through the enemy line like a battering ram.

Boom!

Everything in its path was flung aside.

It exhaled dragon’s breath; wherever it passed, the puppets’ scales sloughed and ran.

With a flick of its tail, the ice crust shattered, water erupting in a storm that turned to icicles and stabbed back into the mob!

Yao Yao reacted in an instant to the shifting battle, seizing the opening to change formations. Seventy-two formation nails shot from her sleeve and struck the ground to form a pattern. “Nine Palaces Spirit-Constraining Array—suppress!”

Boom!

Dense sigils flared across the ground, pinning the tide of puppets to their rear—if only for a moment.

Meanwhile, in the deepest pool—

Splash!

A fourth-rank yin puppet king burst into the sky.

Fu Changsheng’s pupils shrank. “A Golden Core–level yin puppet!”

He swept his sleeve.

A Heavenly Phoenix talisman-treasure appeared in his hand.

“Yao Yao, Yongwei—go! I’ll hold the rear. Quickly!”

As he spoke, he sent seal after seal into the talisman.

The moment the talisman emerged, the puppet king’s eyes flashed with fear. It was only early fourth rank, while the Heavenly Phoenix talisman was a mid–fourth rank treasure. The puppet king stepped back and howled up at the sky. Sixteen near-fourth-rank puppets hurtled forward at once, hurling themselves at Fu Changsheng under the king’s command.

“If the enemy won’t move, I won’t move.”

Seeing the puppet king hold back, Fu Changsheng didn’t trigger the talisman further. It had only four uses. Unless forced, he’d rather not spend one here.

A thought—

Hum!

The air rippled.

The Seven-Colored Glazed Beast slipped from the Five Elements Space with a lazy yawn.

It opened its mouth.

A stream of seven-hued radiance poured over Fu Changsheng. His aura climbed step by step, surging in a breath to the False Core Realm.

Feeling the oceanic power billow through him, Fu Changsheng’s eyes flashed cold. He spun the Three-Turn Treasure Lotus Lamp with a jab, its wick belching a tongue of flame that whirled into a fiery tornado and burned away the incoming ice chains.

At the same time, he drew with sword fingers and shifted the thunder array—

“Tribulation Lightning—Celestial Pivot Demon-Slaying!”

The three sword-lights merged, becoming a lightning pillar dozens of zhang thick, and crashed down!

Gugah, gugah!

The sixteen near-fourth-rank puppets shrieked, panicked, trying to flee—but nothing is faster than lightning.

Boom, boom, boom!

Those struck shuddered as their scales burst apart. One after another, they staggered back in terror.

In that instant, Fu Changsheng was like a thunder god descended.

Tribulation lightning was the nemesis of yin puppets. The puppet king didn’t charge either. It stared after the retreating trio, seemingly torn.

For a heartbeat, the battlefield fell eerily still.

Then—

A thread of opera drifted from the air, thin as gossamer, mournful and forlorn, like sobbing—

“Return, o soul… the Yellow Springs are far… this concubine keeps vigil… a thousand years by the cold pool…”

The voice seemed to rise from the depths of the Nine Nether, yet also to whisper right by the ear.

Yao Yao shuddered. Her grip almost dropped her formation flag. “Father, this voice… it’s strange!”

Fu Changsheng swept out with his divine sense but found no source.

Even so, his heart eased, faintly.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the Yin Bridge was about to appear.

Just then—

A ghostly blue lantern materialized from nothing, hanging in midair and swaying without wind. The paper shade cast a wan, cold glow. No flame burned within, yet it flickered on its own, throwing warped shadows all around. Stranger still, the savage yin puppets all backed away together, as if they dreaded the lantern.

Plop, plop!

At the lantern’s appearance, the puppets leapt into the pools like dumplings into a pot, vanishing beneath the surface.

The puppet king glanced at Fu Changsheng, then also sank out of sight.

Fu Yongwei lifted the mysterious robe and revealed herself. At the uncanny sight, her scalp prickled. Her voice shook. “Father, maybe… maybe we should go back!”

Even the fourth-rank puppet king feared this thing. If they lingered, it could only mean doom.

“Don’t be afraid. In a bit, stay close to me.”

Fu Changsheng had no intention of leaving. He had labored this far; victory lay right ahead. There was no turning back.

Besides, according to the intelligence, the Yin Bridge itself wouldn’t have any trickery.

Before his words faded, the lantern flared, blue light rippling like water.

The pools heaved. A long, translucent bridge of gray-white slowly congealed from the air. It was neither quite ice nor bone. Twisted ghost faces were carved along its railings. Black mist churned beneath, and pale arms seemed to claw upward from within—but some unseen force kept them suppressed.

Fu Changsheng’s eyes brightened. “The Yin Bridge!”

At the same time, the opera rose sharp. The lantern gave a sudden wobble. From the fog at the head of the bridge, a slim figure floated into view—a red-garbed female ghost with her back to them, hair trailing to the ground, ten fingers like hooks. As she sang, she began to turn…

“Back!”

Fu Changsheng barked low, mind tugging at the Heavenly Dragon of the Nether Domain.

The female ghost seemed to sense something. She gave a soft “eh,” her turning motion stalling. In the end, she did not fully turn around, but followed the blue lantern and stepped onto the bridge.

Behind her, ghost qi boiled.

It felt like tens of thousands of souls trailed in her wake.

Only, Fu Changsheng and the others couldn’t see them at all.

“Follow,” Fu Changsheng whispered.

“Huh?” Follow?!

“Father, can… can this bridge be walked?” Yongwei’s voice trembled.

Fu Changsheng peered at the bridge, his Clear-Sight Eyes piercing its surface. Deep within the span, Yin qi surged like a tide, yet at the far end, a wisp of pure Profound Yin lingered—the trace of Heaven Yin Grass! “When the Yin Bridge manifests, it lasts only a time. A lantern leads the way, a ghost sings souls—these are the rules of the Nether. We must cross before the song ends, or else…”

He didn’t finish. The cold in his tone said enough.

Yao Yao bit down and produced the Nine Palaces Spirit-Fixing Disk. Array lines unfurled like a road. “I’ll stabilize the bridge’s aura!”

Qiu Chan gripped her ghost scythe across her chest. The Azure Flood Dragon flared its scales, taking the left and right to guard the flanks.

Fu Changsheng drew a deep breath. The three Thunderstriking Swords hovered over his head, lightning woven into a net.

“Go!”

The instant their feet touched the bridge, the female ghost’s aria soared, the lantern’s blue light swelled, and in the black fog below—countless unseen eyes opened.

The Yin Bridge seemed endless.

They walked a long while before the fog ahead thinned.

A low, dull sound of water reached them. The bridge sloped gently—and at last, they stepped onto the far side.

The sight before them stole their breath—

A broad Nether River spanned their path. Its waters were black as ink, yet a weird blue phosphorescence skimmed the surface. It lay calm and wave-less, but it radiated a terror of fathomless depth.

Yao Yao lowered her voice. “Father… did we end up in the underworld?”

Already frightened, Fu Yongwei turned paper white at that.

As the white mist faded, Fu Changsheng swept his spiritual sense and found an old crone had appeared on the bank without anyone noticing.

She hunched on a rickety wooden stool, a ghastly white sheet of paper in hand, folding a paper boat with agonizing slowness.

Yongwei saw her too and swallowed nervously.

This trip was truly an eye-opener.

Yao Yao, by contrast, looked not frightened but brimming with curiosity and excitement. “Father, could that old woman be the Meng Po of strange tales?”

Fu Changsheng shook his head and signaled the two to keep quiet.

He narrowed his eyes.

The crone’s movements were glacial. Her withered fingers were little more than skin over bone. Each fold made the boat tremble as though it had life.

Her hair was thin and white, hanging beside her cheeks and covering most of her face, leaving only a single clouded eye visible. The whites were yellowed; the pupil was black as an abyss.

Yao Yao couldn’t help but send a sound transmission. “Father, that paper boat looks ordinary… could it really ferry us across?”

Before she finished, the old crone flicked the finished boat into the Nether River.

Hum!

The instant the paper touched water, it swelled into a real wooden skiff. The hull was mottled and rotten, yet it floated steady. A ghostly blue lantern hung at the prow, identical to the one on the Yin Bridge.

“This…”

Too uncanny!

Yao Yao’s pupils shrank.

As the boat touched water, the crone’s rasp sounded. “Board… board…”

A sudden gust of Yin wind swept the shore.

Fu Changsheng couldn’t help a shiver.

Then, along the bank, ghosts rose in a crowd. Their bodies were insubstantial, faces blurred, with only faint ghost-fires flickering in their eyes. Each time a ghost boarded, the boat slid silently into the depths of the Nether River and vanished into the fog.

“This is… the Nether River Ferry?” Fu Yongwei asked in a low, shaking voice.

Fu Changsheng’s gaze was grave as he nodded. “Legend says the Nether River is the boundary of yin and yang. The dead must cross to enter reincarnation. This old crone is likely the fabled ‘Boat-Folding Granny.’”

Yongwei clutched his sleeve tight. “Are we… going across too?”

Before Fu Changsheng could answer, the Boat-Folding Granny suddenly raised her head—then everything before their eyes vanished like smoke, as if it had never been.

Yao Yao blinked. “Father, did we just walk into an illusion?”

If it was an illusion, it was far too real.

Beside her, Yongwei finally let go a long breath. Illusory or real, returning to normal was a relief.

Even as the tension left her—

Splash, splash.

The sound of water rose.

A deep pool dozens of zhang across came into view.

Thanks for reading! That ferry gave me chills too—our crew’s luck is… something. If you’re enjoying the ride, my Patreon could really use your help; even a small pledge keeps chapters flowing and means the world to me. And if you have a moment, please drop a rating or review on NovelUpdates—your feedback helps more readers find this series.

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