On a mountain in Grandhaven Prefecture.
Li Tianqi squatted on the ground, one hand pressed against a fissure in the earth. Beneath his palm spun a miniature rune array.
With a smile on his face, he said, "Second Uncle, for a fissure to appear on this kind of mountain, the edges of the crack would absolutely be fresh, while the inside would be old.
And this crack is visibly fresh, which means it must be man-made. It's narrow on the inside and wide on the outside, meaning it burst outward from within."
"In other words, this thing tunneled through the underground not too long ago."
As Li Tianqi's words fell, a nearly imperceptible wisp of white mist could be seen drifting out from the tiny fissure.
Pointing toward the north, Li Tianqi nodded in understanding.
"When Tianming encountered that thing burrowing into the dirt at the Banshu Clan, moving while concealing its aura, everyone called it a watchdog. It seems it's actually an earth dog after all. It went this way."
Behind Li Tianqi.
Stood Li Yunbing, who had entered Grandhaven Prefecture, along with the couple, Li Yunlin and Fairy Hongxiu.
Seeing their nephew's professional demeanor, the three elders felt a great sense of amazement.
The current Li Tianqi had received the true inheritance of He Hao, as well as the legacy of the Zhao Clan's Zhao Buqun, making him universally recognized across Azure Cloud Prefecture as the absolute number one person in the Dao of Formation Arrays.
Yet, even when using array formations in combat, he didn't look nearly as professional as he did right now, expertly reading the earth veins and inspecting clues...
If the array masters of Azure Cloud Prefecture saw Li Tianqi using a Tier-4 array Dao exclusively to survey land and track clues, they would probably gaze up at the sky and vomit three liters of blood in sheer indignation.
However, seeing the three elders look so utterly impressed with him, Li Tianqi couldn't help but puff out his chest, looking immensely proud and self-satisfied.
"It seems it's heading to Jade Mist Valley."
Li Yunbing pondered for a moment, then waved his hand dismissively at Li Tianqi.
"The Old Ancestor told you to go find the other three Masters of the Martial Academy."
Li Tianqi looked somewhat troubled. "Those three fly in the sky. I'm used to digging up graves, so things in the sky are truly hard for me to track. I'll... do my best."
He immediately formed hand seals, layering over a dozen array formations on himself to conceal his aura, and shot straight up into the cloudy sky.
"This child is cautious." Fairy Hongxiu linked her arm with Li Yunlin's, nodding in appreciation. "Such a cautious temperament is quite like Changsheng's."
Hearing this, Li Yunlin laughed. "You're wrong about that. Changsheng acts with numerous backup plans, and Tianqi actually bears some responsibility for that."
"Oh?"
Fairy Hongxiu froze for a moment. Over the years since Yunlin returned, she had gradually settled down in the City of Merit.
On normal days, she often saw Li Changsheng digging holes everywhere; could this actually have some connection to Li Tianqi?
"We can talk about this matter later."
Li Yunlin patted Fairy Hongxiu's hand and walked toward Li Yunbing, who was standing by the edge of the cliff.
As soon as he arrived, he saw Li Yunbing rolling his eyes to the sky, clearly irritated at being a third wheel.
However, Li Yunlin didn't bring up the topic of finding a wife for his younger brother. The matter at hand was more important, so he said,
"Tianqi has already found Banshu Weide's location. He has a watchdog by his side, which the Old Ancestor said is a Heavenly Immortal. It won't be easy to deal with."
"Banshu Weide has been accumulating Dao cultivation. Decades ago, before communication with the outside of the Southern Frontier was cut off, I heard that the one who controlled the Dao of 'Cloud' in the Northern Frontier was wiped out." Li Yunbing exhaled a long breath.
"I had people keeping an eye on Banshu Weide for nearly a century. I never expected he was hiding a Heavenly Immortal by his side."
Li Yunlin remained completely silent.
From childhood to adulthood, his father had always told him to look after his younger brother.
With a solemn expression, he said, "The old cat says we can give it a try. Besides, we outnumber them."
Inside the Skyveil Hall spinning in Li Yunlin's hand, the old cat reached its paw up to scratch its blackened head, meowing softly.
Li Yunbing frowned. "They are heading to Jade Mist Valley, which clearly shows their ambition. We will have plenty of opportunities."
"Third Uncle is here, and Senior Huan Gui is also nearby. So what if we face them in a direct, head-on battle? With Senior Blood Demon Lord and the third brother probing ahead, what is there to fear?"
Li Yunlin smiled faintly.
Further away, the Seven Ironclads and the Blood Demon Lord were gathered around, cracking sunflower seeds.
Seeing Li Yundou cast a glance his way, Li Yunlin called out loudly, "Right, Yundou?"
"Ah? Me?"
Li Yundou hadn't heard a single word of what his two older brothers were saying.
The eight-foot-tall burly man was squatting on the ground, pointing at his own honest, simple-minded face with fingers as thick as radishes.
Blinking his eyes and catching his eldest brother's encouraging gaze, he didn't care what he was agreeing to and just nodded repeatedly. "Right, right, right."
By the edge of the cliff, Li Yunlin patted Li Yunbing's shoulder. A Daoist priest and a dignified, calculating strategist—both revealed smiles that only young boys possessed.
"You see, there's nothing to be afraid of. Even someone as smart as Yundou agrees."
Li Yundou actually caught that last sentence. Squatting on the ground, he puffed out his chest, looking somewhat like a petty man drunk on success.
"Did you hear that? Even Eldest Brother says I'm smart! I've always said that if I were an official in the Imperial Capital, I'd at least be the Imperial Preceptor."
The Blood Demon Lord frowned. "Any higher and you'd be the Human Emperor."
Li Yunzhe immediately glared. "Who says? There's still the Empress!"
"Ah? Brother Adou can also be the Empress?"
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