The news that the Liu Clan was preparing to relocate spread rapidly throughout the region, causing both admiration and envy among many.
Of course, there were also those who scoffed at the idea.
"That Liu Bai has only cultivated at the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy for a single year. At best, he might have barely reached the Heaven Fusion Realm, yet he's so arrogant as to abandon a foundation built over many years to chase after an uncertain future. It's pure foolishness. Mark my words, this move will bring ruin to the Liu Clan. They may even be wiped out completely!"
Despite such confident declarations and the number of people who agreed with them, the Liu Clan had no time to bother with the opinions of these shortsighted individuals.
As the days passed, the preparations of the Liu Clan gradually came to an end.
That day, an immense surge of spiritual energy suddenly erupted from within the Liu Manor, enveloping the entire Liu City.
"Huh, Grandpa has broken through." Liu Bai, who had been teaching his two younger brothers cultivation arts, smiled in delight and immediately brought them along toward the rear courtyard.
After a burst of wind stirred by spiritual energy, Liu Jingshan's thin figure appeared before the three brothers. The powerful aura radiating from him caused Liu Mubai and Liu Yang to feel suffocated.
It was the result of him just breaking through and being unable to fully control the sudden increase of spiritual power.
Liu Bai lightly waved his hand, isolating that oppressive aura. Only then did Liu Mubai and Liu Yang feel better. Even so, this was their first time directly experiencing the might of a Heaven Fusion Realm expert.
"If Grandpa is already this terrifying right after breaking through, then just how strong must Big Brother be, who has already surpassed the Heaven Fusion Realm?" At that moment, when Liu Mubai looked at his elder brother's back, it was as if he were gazing upon an unscalable divine peak.
"Congratulations, Grandpa, on stepping into the Heaven Fusion Realm!" Liu Bai cupped his hands respectfully in celebration.
For ordinary cultivators, stepping into the Heaven Fusion Realm was a monumental achievement. It not only represented a tremendous surge in strength but also a great extension of life. After his breakthrough, Liu Bai noticed that the previously waning life force within the old man's body had been completely revitalized. His seemingly withered frame now contained a vitality comparable to that of a man in his twenties.
Seeing his three grandsons before him, Liu Jingshan's already good mood improved even more.
His eldest grandson was beyond comparison. The current prosperity of the Liu Clan was all thanks to him, and perhaps in the future, they might reach even greater heights.
As for his second grandson, though "ordinary" by comparison, being able to reach the Spiritual Wheel Realm at his age was still proof of remarkable talent.
The only one who caused Liu Jingshan concern was the youngest. After observing him for so long, they had to admit—this third one truly was ordinary.
Well, perhaps too ordinary. Still, Liu Yang's talent wasn't bad; in the original story, he too managed to enter one of the Five Great Academies. He could at least be called a "normal" genius.
"Bai'er, how are the preparations these past few days? When are we setting off?" Having just broken through, Liu Jingshan was filled with excitement and a growing eagerness to begin the journey.
Clearly, his new strength gave him the confidence to explore higher realms and witness a broader world.
"Everything is ready. We just need to wait for Father and Third Uncle to emerge from seclusion. During this time, I'll finish constructing the teleportation array. Once all preparations are complete, we'll teleport directly to Northern Heaven City."
When Liu Bai had visited before, he had already inscribed the spatial anchor of Northern Heaven City's teleportation array. All he needed now was to build a one-time-use teleportation array at this end.
"Good. Do whatever you need to do. The entire Liu Clan will act under your command," Liu Jingshan declared with a wave of his hand.
Liu Bai smiled and nodded. Although he didn't really need much assistance from the clan, he could not refuse the old man's goodwill.
Constructing a teleportation array was unlike setting up ordinary Array—it took much more time. The one Liu Bai was building was a sixth-grade medium array, even if it was one-time use. It would still take at least three days to complete.
This mastery was thanks to the help he once received from an elder of the Spiritual Array Institution, who had given him the complete Hundred Scrolls of Array Arts. With that, Liu Bai had elevated his array comprehension from the Heart Array level to the Heart Eye level.
Although he was still at the initial Illusory Heart Eye stage, it was enough for him, a fifth-grade array master, to construct sixth-grade teleportation and spirit-gathering formations.
To advance to a true sixth-grade array master, however, he would first need to overcome the bottleneck of spiritual tribulation.
As time passed, Clan Head Liu Qingtian and Third Elder Liu Ming finally emerged from seclusion.
Although Liu Qingtian had not managed to break through to the Heaven Fusion Realm, he had reached the peak of the Divine Soul Realm, only a step away from merging his soul with heaven and earth. Liu Ming had advanced from the Spiritual Wheel Realm to the Divine Soul Realm, and with Liu Bai's Spirit-Stabilizing Pill aiding him, his soul was now exceptionally firm—stable enough to refine beast souls without issue.
At this stage, however, ordinary high-grade beast souls no longer interested Liu Ming. He was already planning to ask his nephew for a Heavenly-tier beast soul once they reached Northern Heaven City.
Of course, that suggestion had come from Liu Bai himself. Otherwise, Liu Ming would never dare make such a request; the old patriarch would thrash him for it.
At this point, in the eyes of Liu Jingshan, his three sons combined were not as valuable as his eldest grandson. Even Liu Qingtian, the clan head, dared not object to Liu Bai's words for fear of receiving a beating.
This situation made little Liu Yang envious to no end. Especially since his father would always use "training inspection" as an excuse to beat him. As the lowest in the Liu family's hierarchy, Liu Yang often felt like crying.
Watching his lively family, Liu Bai couldn't help but feel warm inside.
His only regret was that, in such a large family, there wasn't a single woman present.
The elder generation's matriarch had passed away early, long before Liu Bai was even born. As for his own mother, she had also died when Liu Yang was still young. Since then, Liu Qingtian had never remarried, nor even taken a concubine.
It wasn't that he disdained women, but rather that, in this world, power was everything.
Liu Zong and Liu Ming were the same. Both were already quite old but still unmarried, devoting nearly all their time outside of clan duties to cultivation.
Liu Bai sometimes wondered—if not for the fact that Liu Qingtian needed heirs as clan head, perhaps he and his brothers wouldn't even exist.
"This won't do. How can a healthy clan consist entirely of bachelors?" Liu Bai muttered with a troubled expression, scratching his head.
His own generation was still too young, and he couldn't really meddle in his father's affairs. Thus, his eyes turned to his second and third uncles.
"Second Uncle's nearly fifty, and Third Uncle's already past forty. It's about time they started families."
In his view, the two of them no longer had much potential in cultivation. Instead of wasting their lives in solitary practice, they might as well contribute to the family's future.
At that exact moment, both Liu Zong and Liu Ming, who had been happily preparing for the relocation, suddenly shivered at the same time. A chill ran up their spines for no apparent reason.
"Huh? What's going on? Did I catch a cold? But that shouldn't be possible—I'm a Divine Soul Realm expert now," Liu Ming muttered in confusion, scratching the back of his head.
Soon, the day of departure arrived.
That day, Liu City was bustling with excitement. Regardless of whether they were on friendly or neutral terms with the Liu Clan, all nine Domain Lords came to send them off.
Of course, the current Nine Domains no longer included the Liu Domain. Instead, a new "Yang Domain" had emerged. From the name alone, it was obvious that its master was none other than Yang Gui, the one who had presented the Demon Lotus Spirit-Slaughtering Array.
In addition to the Nine Domain Lords, the Principal of the Northern Spiritual Academy and two instructors had also arrived.
"Thank you all for coming to see us off. Mountains may be high and rivers long, but we shall meet again someday in the Great Thousand World," Liu Qingtian said courteously after exchanging pleasantries with everyone. Then, he clasped his hands toward the crowd before turning to lead the members of the Liu Clan into the teleportation array that Liu Bai had long prepared.
As a dazzling golden light flared, the hundreds of people from the Liu Clan vanished without a trace.
Those remaining in the Northern Spiritual Region all had different emotions stirring in their hearts.
Domain Lord Tang Shan of the Tang Domain stood beside Mu Feng, watching the disappearing figures of the Liu Clan with a sigh. "Who would have thought that in just a single year, the eldest son of the Liu Clan could grow to such a terrifying extent?"
"Old Mu," Tang Shan continued, "now that the Liu Clan has left the Northern Spiritual Realm, I fear there will be some major changes among the Nine Domains."
Previously, with the Liu Clan acting as the dominant force suppressing the others, the Nine Domains had barely managed to maintain a fragile balance regardless of their hidden ambitions.
But now that the leader of the pack had departed, many who had long suppressed their greed might begin to act on it. Once that happened, chaos would be inevitable, and none of them would be able to stay uninvolved.
Mu Feng's sword-like brows furrowed, and his expression was filled with determination.
After hearing Tang Shan's words, he said in a deep voice, "So what if things get chaotic? As long as our fists are strong enough, anyone who dares to make a move will get a taste of them first. If anyone provokes us, I'll make sure they understand exactly what that choice means."
Mu Feng's strength had always ranked among the top of the Nine Domain Lords. Even Liu Qingtian, whose cultivation had suppressed the others by a whole level, might not necessarily be able to defeat him in a true fight. Now that the Liu Clan had left, the position of the Mu Domain within the Northern Spiritual Realm was bound to rise significantly.
Of course, these were matters only the older generation would concern themselves with. The younger ones, such as Mu Chen and Tang Qian'er, cared far more about Liu Bai, whose strength had increased tremendously.
"To think he could grow so fast after entering one of the Five Great Academies. Hey, Mu Chen, we have to get into one of the Five Great Academies in the future too!" The tall girl patted the shoulder of the boy beside her, speaking with a hint of exaggerated maturity.
The boy only smiled faintly, his gaze brimming with confidence.
"The Five Great Academies, huh? Of course we'll strive for that. But Qian'er, you're already about to break through to the Divine Soul Realm, aren't you? Unfortunately, I still haven't fully grasped Spiritual Sense. I'll probably need some more time before I can make a breakthrough."
Although his year in the Spiritual Road had tempered Mu Chen greatly, most of that growth came from battle experience. Since Spiritual Energy couldn't be used within the Spiritual Road, he had been unable to sense Spiritual Energy at all. Because of this, he had effectively wasted a year of cultivation time. That was also why, in the original story, he reached the Divine Soul Realm later than Tang Qian'er and Liu Yang, who were of the same age.
Leaving aside how the Northern Spiritual Realm would develop after the Liu Clan's departure, let us turn to Northern Heaven City.
As the grandest city surrounding the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, Northern Heaven City was renowned throughout the entire Northern Heaven Continent. It served as the first and most crucial line of defense for the Academy's outer perimeter.
Such a massive city naturally gave rise to numerous dependent factions. Aside from the City Lord's Mansion, which was directly subordinate to the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy, the rest all maintained close ties with the Academy.
When word spread that the Dean of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy had allocated one-tenth of Northern Heaven City's territory to a small clan that had just moved in from some remote corner of the world, the various powers within the city each reacted differently.
The City Lord's Mansion, of course, had no complaints. After all, they were part of the Academy itself. The current City Lord, Ding Qian, was not only the Vice Hall Master of the Punishment Hall but also a seated Earth Elder of the Academy. He knew full well of Liu Bai's identity and strength, as well as the close relationship between him and the Academy's upper echelons. Thus, the Mansion expressed its welcome to the Liu Clan with direct action.
Even before Liu Bai had left the Northern Spiritual Realm, City Lord Ding Qian had already ordered the construction of a grand manor within the territory assigned to the Liu Clan.
Officially, this manor was said to have been commissioned by Liu Bai through the City Lord's Mansion, and he had even paid nearly fifty thousand Spiritual Values for it.
But everyone knew perfectly well that this was the City Lord's Mansion deliberately showing favor to the Liu Clan—or more accurately, to Liu Bai himself—because the newly built Liu Clan Manor was even more luxurious and imposing than the City Lord's Mansion. Its area alone surpassed that of any other faction headquarters in the entire city.
The actual cost of construction far exceeded fifty thousand Spiritual Values.
Such behavior naturally stirred dissatisfaction among the other factions. They all existed under the Academy's influence, and many had contributed far more to Northern Heaven City's development over the years. Why should the City Lord's Mansion show such blatant favoritism?
Was it simply because Liu Bai was now the number one individual of the Northern Heaven Spiritual Academy?
But which of these factions hadn't once contributed greatly to the Academy as well? Many of their ancestors had been students of the Academy too. Just because their descendants had graduated or ventured into the Great Thousand World, was the Academy now choosing to distance itself from them?
If there wasn't a reason convincing enough for everyone to accept, then establishing the Liu Clan's foothold in Northern Heaven City would not be an easy task.
...
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