Gu An stored the Black-Scaled Horse back into his beast pouch and followed Lin Changfeng and Lin Qingsong up the mountain trail.
Noon sunlight spilled through the treetops like scattered gold. Under the bright glare, the red maple leaves lost all restraint—each one flickering like a tiny tongue of flame. From a distance, Red Maple Mountain looked less like a peak and more like a slow-burning crimson volcano. Every gust of wind sent tens of thousands of leaves dancing at once—wild, warm, and breathtaking.
The mountain blazed red from root to crown.
These so-called "red maples" carpeting the slopes were just ordinary trees.The real Red Yuan Maple, a low-grade tier-one spirit tree, only existed at the very top. The Lin Clan owned just thirteen of them, producing Red Maple Spirit Sap, a sought-after body-tempering ingredient.
Reaching the mountainside, Gu An spotted rows of houses built against the slope—far too many for a clan of nine cultivators.
Lin Qingsong caught his confusion and explained, "Don't be fooled by the number of houses, Daoist Gu. Those are for the mortal branch of our clan. The Lin family has never had many cultivators, so we've always lived mixed with the secular kin."
Gu An nodded. Makes sense.He'd been in Qingyuan Sect long enough to forget that many clans lived among mortals.
Seeing a trace of disappointment on Lin Qingsong's face, Gu An added, "At least your younger generation has plenty of people with spiritual roots. Given time, the Lin Clan will grow stronger."
He wasn't trying to flatter them.The Lin Clan had a solid foundation for a small family:
One elder of the "Lu" generation at late Qi-Refining
Two of the "Chang" generation: one mid-stage, one early-stage
Six of the "Qing" generation, with one already at mid-Qi-Refining before age twenty
For a mountain clan sitting on a mid-grade tier-one spiritual vein, that was impressive.
Lin Qingsong forced a smile. "I hope so."
Lin Changfeng sighed. "Don't overthink it, Qing'an. Once Qingfeng breaks through again, our clan will prosper. His three-spirit-root aptitude is our blessing."
Gu An mentally filed that away but said nothing. Family politics wasn't his lane.
Before long, they reached the summit. Several courtyards stood there, but Lin Changfeng led Gu An straight to the highest one.
He knocked."Clan Head, Qingyuan Sect's Immortal Gu has arrived."
The wooden doors slid open without a touch, moved by a gentle surge of spiritual energy—smooth and precise.
A hearty laugh rang out.
"Hahaha! Daoist Gu honoring this humble home—what fortune!"
A richly dressed elder strode forward—Lin Luping, the clan head.
Gu An cupped his hands. "Senior Lin, it has been a year. Your vigor is unchanged."
"Haha, come, come inside!" Lin Luping guided him into the main hall.
The hall was arranged for meetings—a long table in the center, one chief seat at the head, four seats along each side.
Gu An took the first seat on the right. Lin Luping sat at the head. After serving tea, he dismissed the other two clan members. The hall quieted.
After sliding the lid across his tea cup, Lin Luping asked, "Daoist Gu, you've come for the spirit tax, yes?"
Gu An nodded. Not surprising the clan head already guessed—he wouldn't be visiting Red Maple Mountain for fun.
Lin Luping continued casually, "Last year around this time, Daoist Chu came as well. A good friend of mine. How fares he lately?"
Gu An hesitated, then replied, "I'm not close to Senior Brother Chu. I don't know."
The clan head didn't press. Instead, he began his report:
"This year, our Lin Clan harvested fifteen and a half jin of Red Maple Sap and four thousand two hundred jin of Golden Cloud Rice.Among the juniors, Lin Qingping broke through to Qi-Refining Stage Two. No other major changes."
He placed thirteen sealed sacks of spirit rice and one jade jar on the table.
Gu An quickly weighed them mentally.
"Clan Head Lin," he asked lightly, "isn't the spirit rice amount a bit low? I heard your clan has eighty mu of spirit farmland."
A strained smile.
"Daoist Gu, you misunderstand. We own eighty mu, yes—but most aren't true spirit fields. They're just farmland with a trace of spiritual energy."
He continued,
"Red Maple Mountain only has a mid-grade tier-one spiritual vein. Supporting nine cultivators already stretches it thin. We have no excess aura to raise more fields into proper spirit land."
Ah.That tracked.
White Mirror Lake and Red Maple Mountain shared the same grade of spiritual vein.Gu An used his alone and still found it thin—though most of that was because the spirit fish hogged the aura.
Here, nine cultivators drained every drop. No wonder their fields couldn't advance.
He stored the sacks and jar. Each bag held about a hundred jin. The Red Maple Sap was about five jin.
Of that:
40 jin of Golden Cloud Rice belonged to him (spirit tax share)
Market rate: 8 jin = 1 spirit stone
Value: 5 spirit stones
Plus 0.5 jin of Red Maple Sap, worth another 5 stones
A clean 10 spirit stones.
He smiled faintly and didn't bother checking the fields or verifying cultivation levels. Everyone knew clans reported slightly padded numbers, and the sect knew everyone padded them. As long as the difference wasn't outrageous, nobody cared.
Greedy without being generous? That's how you get enemies.
With the tax settled, the mood eased.
Gu An lightly tapped his tea lid and asked, "Clan Head Lin, do you know anything about the recent rogue-cultivator incident? I've been closed-door this past year and haven't heard much."
Lin Luping sighed.
"It was the Tu Family of Yellowwind Prefecture. A small clan—four cultivators, all mid-stage Qi-Refining. Someone wiped them out completely.Even the mortals—hundreds of them—were all killed."
He lowered his voice.
"They even destroyed Cunyun Mountain's spiritual vein. One of your sect's elders was furious and posted a bounty of two hundred spirit stones."
Gu An felt a chill run down his spine.
Slaughtering mortals.Destroying a spiritual vein.That wasn't just stepping on a tiger's tail—that was kicking it in the damn teeth.
He asked, "Slaughtering mortals… is this the work of rogue cultivators? Or demonic cultivators?"
Lin Luping shook his head.
"Likely not demonic. The mortals' bodies and souls were intact. Demonic cultivators wouldn't leave them untouched.But the four Tu Family cultivators died terribly—like revenge killings."
Gu An exhaled slowly.Not demonic cultivators. Good.
Four hundred years ago, the Qingyuan Sect nearly collapsed in a demonic calamity—multiple Foundation Establishment experts died, including the famed Qingding True Person.
He had no desire to live through a second one.He just wanted to raise beasts and cultivate. Simple life, grand dao.
He murmured, "Destroying a spiritual vein… surely the Foundation Establishment elders will investigate."
"We can only hope," Lin Luping said bitterly. "With such a killer lurking nearby, my clan is on edge day and night."
After chatting a bit more, Gu An grew uneasy.Yellowwind Prefecture didn't border Blackrock Prefecture, but chaos had a way of spreading.
Better to head to Cloud City sooner rather than later.
He rose. "I should go. Clan Head Lin, until next year."
Lin Luping escorted him to the courtyard gate.Once Gu An disappeared down the path, he returned to the hall—only to see the untouched cup of Spirit Peak Cloud Teasitting by Gu An's chair.
He clutched his head and wailed,
"My Peak Cloud Leaves!"