Cultivation Begins From The Desert
Chapter 76: Blood Sword Seeking Family

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Blood Sword Seeking Family

Chen Pingzhi has fallen!

In the ancestral hall "Soul Hall," less than a quarter of an hour after Chen Pingzhi’s soul token shattered, Chen Family Ancestor Chen Yaohui received the message sent by the guardian of the "Soul Hall."

Upon receiving the message, Chen Family Ancestor was in the cave residence entertaining Zhang Yunpeng, a Sixth-Layer Purple Mansion Cultivator from the Yellow Sand Sect, and upon receiving the message, his face instantly turned dark, and he nearly slammed the table.

Zhang Yunpeng, who had cultivated to the Sixth-Layer of the Purple Mansion, naturally had a keen ability to observe, and upon seeing Chen Family Ancestor’s unfavorable expression, he quickly showed concern and asked, "What could cause Fellow Daoist Chen to lose composure so? Is there anything Zhang could assist with?"

"Apologies, I lost composure."

Chen Family Ancestor took a deep breath to steady his mind, a gleam of cold light flashing through his eyes as he spoke somberly, "Just now, I received a message from below that the soul token of a Sixth-Layer Foundation Establishment cultivator from my Chen Clan suddenly shattered and fell to the ground!"

"Is this person not at the Baisha River Oasis presently?"

Zhang Yunpeng’s eyes flickered with an unusual color, yet he immediately seized upon the main point.

"Fellow Daoist Zhang is astute; to my knowledge, this person several days ago, accompanied by a newly Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Yuquan Zhou Family, ventured into a cave residence in the desert sea. The previous owner of that cave should have been merely a Foundation Establishment Cultivator; residual remnants of the cave unlikely posed a fatal threat to two Foundation Establishment cultivators!"

Chen Family Ancestor nodded and disclosed the information he possessed.

As the clan leader of the Chen Family, Chen Pingzhi’s expeditions with others were invariably reported to him, thus he knew Chen Pingzhi’s whereabouts without seeking information from others.

Upon hearing his response, Zhang Yunpeng was momentarily stunned, then asked with a face full of surprise, "The Yuquan Zhou Family? Could it be the clan established by Junior Brother Zhou Yuquan?"

When Zhou Yuquan founded the Zhou Family, he was over a hundred and seventy years old; at that time, although Zhang Yunpeng had not yet opened the Purple Mansion, he was already a promising cultivator of the Eighth-Layer Foundation Establishment.

In the Yellow Sand Sect, unless there was an explicit master-disciple inheritance, rank was determined by cultivation level, hence Zhang Yunpeng calling Zhou Yuquan "Junior Brother" was not inappropriate.

"Precisely the clan established by Brother Yuquan." Chen Family Ancestor nodded again.

"Since it was established by Junior Brother Zhou, his descendants likely haven’t left a soul token with the clan. What’s Fellow Daoist Chen’s plan?" Inquiring about this, Zhang Yunpeng already had an answer in mind.

Indeed, upon hearing this question, Chen Family Ancestor replied almost instinctively, "The father of that Zhou Family cultivator is currently in an adjacent marketplace; I intend to personally accompany him there to investigate the cave residence’s conditions."

"That is good; Fellow Daoist Chen may proceed with ease. The security of Baisha River Oasis, Zhang will oversee adequately for Fellow Daoist Chen," Zhang Yunpeng nodded, voluntarily assuming the responsibility of safeguarding Baisha River Oasis.

"In that case, I must thank Fellow Daoist Zhang," Chen Family Ancestor bowed, promptly departed from the cave residence, and went directly to Ping’an Marketplace to find Zhou Xuanhao.

Meanwhile, Zhouyang, after using the "Blood Escape Technique," swiftly traversed over seventy miles, reappearing on an unnamed sand dune in the Desert Sea.

Upon reappearing, the first thing he did was retrieve a jade bottle from his storage bag, pour out a red-purple colored spirit pill, and swallowed it.

This spirit pill, though only Tier Two Top Grade, was rare; it was the Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Pill "Purple Jade Heart Supplement Pill," capable of directly restoring a cultivator’s expended essence blood.

The Zhou Family did not possess the pill formula for "Purple Jade Heart Supplement Pill"; this spirit pill was specially purchased by Zhouyang’s father, Zhou Xuanhao, from the Chen Family. With Chen Yaohui, Elder Chen—a Tier Four Top-Grade Alchemist—in the clan, the family shop is abundantly stocked with various spirit pills.

Typical Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Pills, even those enhancing a cultivator’s cultivation, generally cost around a hundred spirit stones per pill; however, the "Purple Jade Heart Supplement Pill" differed. Due to the rare pill formula and exceptional refining materials, a single pill costs five hundred spirit stones, comparable to a Tier Two Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

Yet Zhouyang, with Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation, couldn’t fully utilize the pill’s efficacy.

A "Purple Jade Heart Supplement Pill" hardly improved his complexion; the complete restoration of the essence blood depleted by the "Blood Escape Technique" would have to gradually occur through meditation and cultivation.

Still, for him, recovering as much essence blood as possible was beneficial; any recovery was better than none.

As he refined the pill’s medicinal power, he waved his sleeve to release the flying sword, not daring to pause as he continued to flee.

Thus he flew over a thousand miles until certain no one was pursuing, only then did Zhouyang descend, plunging into the desert sea below to rest and recover.

Sustained battles and a thousand-mile flight left his divine sense and magical power nearly exhausted; without proper rest and recovery, even a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivator might easily defeat him.

He hid underground in the desert to recuperate, unaware of the turmoil caused by Chen Pingzhi’s demise and his disappearance.

At that time, Chen Family Ancestor forcefully descended upon Ping’an Marketplace, quickly locating Zhou Xuanhao and, without any pleasantries, directly stating the matter of Chen Pingzhi’s soul token shattering.

Upon hearing the news, Zhou Xuanhao was so terrified he lost two-thirds of his soul, completely stupefied.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he knew the significance of soul tokens and understood his son had gone exploring with Chen Pingzhi.

Now even Chen Pingzhi at the Sixth-Layer Foundation Establishment has fallen so inexplicably, what will happen to Zhouyang, who is only at the First-Layer Foundation Establishment?

Next, Zhou Xuanhao, worried about his son’s safety, readily agreed to the request of the Chen Family Ancestor to take him to the scene to investigate the situation.

Moreover, before setting out, he specifically asked a friendly Liu Family Foundation Establishment Cultivator to send a message via Flying Sword Communication to the old Clan Leader Zhou Minghan at the Jade Spring Lake Oasis, asking Zhou Minghan to come to the Baisha River Oasis to preside over the situation.

The Chen Family Ancestor had a rough map left by Chen Pingzhi at the time, and he also carried Chen Pingzhi’s shattered Soul Token. It didn’t take much effort for them to find the place where Chen Pingzhi fell.

However, nearly half a day had passed since Chen Pingzhi’s fall, and the murderer had long destroyed the corpse and left the scene. The Chen Family Ancestor and Zhou Xuanhao searched the nearby sand but found no valuable clues other than a bit of cremated ashes on the ground.

Of course, that bit of ashes was actually the best clue.

"Ancestor, I didn’t find any trace of my son Yang’Er here; could it be he wasn’t here at the time?"

Zhou Xuanhao, worried about his son’s safety, lost his reverence for the High-Tier Cultivator at this time. Seeing the Chen Family Ancestor just rubbing the handful of ashes in silence, he had to speak up.

"There are only the traces of Pingzhi and the murderer here, your son certainly won’t be here. What baffles me is why, with only one murderer, your son wasn’t here with Pingzhi to resist the enemy?"

The Chen Family Ancestor looked at Zhou Xuanhao with a cold gaze, and the words he uttered caused Zhou Xuanhao’s face to change dramatically, almost making his heart stop.

"No, it won’t be, Ancestor, you must believe Yang’Er, I dare swear with my life, Yang’Er would never voluntarily do anything to betray Fellow Daoist Chen. There must be other hidden reasons; please, Ancestor, investigate carefully!"

He shook his head like a rattle-drum, a face full of panic and urgency, repeatedly defending his son, unable to believe Zhouyang would harm Chen Pingzhi.

"Hope so!"

The Chen Family Ancestor gave him a deep glance, then released his grip, letting the handful of ashes scatter into the Desert Sea.

Then he looked at the anxious Zhou Xuanhao and said in a cold voice, "Give me your hand."

Zhou Xuanhao seemed to understand the Chen Family Ancestor’s intention and was overjoyed, immediately reaching out his hand.

Seeing this, the Chen Family Ancestor promptly collected a mass of fresh blood from Zhou Xuanhao and began chanting incantations.

After a moment, the Chen Family Ancestor, having finished the incantation, waved his sleeve, and the mass of fresh blood collected from Zhou Xuanhao transformed into a small blood-colored sword, swirling three times around him, before rapidly flying in a specific direction over the Desert Sea.

"Blood Sword Seeking Family, my son is still alive!"

Seeing the flying blood-colored small sword, Zhou Xuanhao’s face immediately showed an expression of ecstatic joy, and he couldn’t help but shout out loud.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator from a family, he certainly knew the spell that the Chen Family Ancestor had just used. This spell is called the "Heaven- and Earth-Shaking Reunion Spell," which is a Tier Four High-Grade Spell.

Speaking of the origin of this "Heaven- and Earth-Shaking Reunion Spell," it is related to an interesting story in the Cultivation Realm.

Legend has it that the cultivator who originally created this spell was a Nascent Soul Stage Great Divine Power Cultivator. Early in life, this person fell in love with a female cultivator and had a son. Later, when this person went on an adventure, he was trapped in a Secret Realm for a hundred years.

When he formed the Golden Core in the Secret Realm and successfully obtained the legacy left by the owner of the Secret Realm, he found that his cave dwelling of that year had long been occupied by others, and both his Dao Companion and son had disappeared without a trace.

Later, this person cultivated and searched the Cultivation Realm for his Dao Companion and son, but despite the vast sea of people and the passage of over a century, he could not find his Dao Companion and son from that year, even after refining a pill and forming an infant.

However, perhaps due to hundreds of years of unyielding obsession, after condensing the Nascent Soul, this person suddenly felt a connection between his Divine Thought and the Heaven and Earth Laws, creating a peculiar person-seeking spell.

By using this peculiar person-seeking spell, the Nascent Soul Stage Great Power managed to use his blood as a guide and found the descendants of his son from that year.

Having tasted the bitterness of separation from loved ones, after finding the descendants of his son from that year, the Nascent Soul Great Power spread this person-seeking spell freely so that others would not suffer the same fate, naming it the "Heaven- and Earth-Shaking Reunion Spell."

Although the "Heaven- and Earth-Shaking Reunion Spell" was created by a father searching for his child, the spell does not require a parent-child relationship for it to be used. It can be a mother-child relationship, or between siblings; as long as there is a blood relation within three generations, this spell can be used to find missing relatives. If performed by a Nascent Soul Stage Great Power, the scope can expand to ten generations!

Of course, all of this assumes that the missing relative is still alive and within the range of the spell.

The minimum requirement to cast the "Heaven- and Earth-Shaking Reunion Spell" is late-stage Purple Mansion. The cultivation of the Chen Family Ancestor perfectly meets this requirement, and with his cultivation, the range can extend to thousands of miles.

Therefore, when Zhou Xuanhao saw the blood-colored small sword formed by his own blood flying out, he shouted excitedly, as it was a sign of the successful casting of the spell.

"Let’s follow."

The Chen Family Ancestor glanced at the beaming Zhou Xuanhao, waved his large sleeve, and directly led him to follow behind the blood-colored small sword.