"Although the process of this red blade absorbing mana on its own is somewhat slow, if I actively infuse it, it will definitely be several times faster."

"The only downside is the huge mana consumption. With my current mana, it's far from enough. If I'm not careful and overfeed the red blade, and it starts absorbing my blood essence again, it would be troublesome."

Thinking of this, Xu Ping slowly furrowed his brows.

This red blade is not suited for regular means and can only be used as a trump card in a desperate fight.

"Perhaps after I break through to Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, using this red blade should improve a lot." Xu Ping thought to himself optimistically.

With his maximum of seventy drops of liquid mana breaking through to Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, he should have at least over a hundred drops of liquid mana then.

Though not comparable to a Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would far surpass the average Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"Soon, after I breakthrough to Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment, my strength should have a leap forward, and the threat posed by the war between the two nations should be somewhat diminished."

After dispersing all the power in the red blade, Xu Ping swallowed a pill and began silently recovering his mana and blood essence.

...

....

A month later.

In the cultivation chamber, Xu Ping took a deep breath, Spiritual Qi surged into his body like a tide and was instantly refined along with the operation of his cultivation technique.

The process continued uninterrupted.

No one knew how much time had passed when Xu Ping opened his eyes, a gleam flashed across his pupils.

"Finally, my blood essence has returned to perfection!" Feeling the vitality within him, Xu Ping couldn't help but smile slightly.

After consolidating a bit more, he walked out of the cave and arrived at the small courtyard.

At a glance, his heart felt relaxed and refreshed.

A grand spiritual pool spanning an acre, covered by a large stretch of emerald green lotus leaves, resembling numerous umbrellas; lotus buds ready to bloom, like shy little girls with red faces, exuding a faint fragrance.

In the spiritual pool, countless spirit fish swam joyfully.

Xu Ping took a handful of spirit food and scattered it, as the spirit fish scrambled eagerly to seize it.

"This is the life of cultivation!"

With a smile on his lips, Xu Ping relished the stable daily cultivation, raising spirit fish in his free time, in utter tranquility.

At this moment, the sound transmission talisman in Xu Ping's bosom began to flicker.

He slightly furrowed his brow, took out the talisman, and held it in his hand, infusing a wisp of mana, and Zhang Qingfeng's voice came through:

"Clan Leader, recently Ten Thousand Mountains have been becoming somewhat unstable, potential undercurrents lurk. The clan leader of the Qian family invites you to his cave to have a chat."

"Potential undercurrents?"

Xu Ping furrowed his brows even tighter, speculating in his heart: 'Is Hu Country preparing for a full invasion?'

The entire Ten Thousand Mountains is situated in the remote corner of Yue Country; if it were not a major issue affecting Yue Country, it would be difficult to affect Ten Thousand Mountains.

Thinking of this, Xu Ping had no choice but to leave seclusion to find Zhang Qingfeng and inquire: "Could it be that the war between the two countries has undergone a change?"

"No." Zhang Qingfeng shook his head, and his expression turned serious, "It should be related to the Xu family, a Foundation Establishment family that recently moved to Ten Thousand Mountains."

"A Foundation Establishment family that recently moved to Ten Thousand Mountains?" Xu Ping was slightly taken aback and, upon careful recollection, thought that there was indeed such a thing, which Zhang Qingfeng had informed him of before using a sound transmission talisman.

Li Zhengyu had been slain by him, and naturally, the Li family could not defend the second-stage spiritual vein.

The several Foundation Establishment forces in Ten Thousand Mountains, aside from the Zhang family, were preparing to contest and seize this second-stage spiritual vein. Who would have thought an external Foundation Establishment family would step in, taking the Li family's second-stage spiritual vein before anyone else?

Thus, the several Foundation Establishment forces in Ten Thousand Mountains were naturally unhappy and were preparing to alliance to ask the Xu family for an explanation.

Who knew that the Xu family would preemptively come to the door to apologize and offer a generous apology gift, even to the Zhang family.

The several Foundation Establishment families found the Xu family to be quite sensible and, after some discussion, decided to drop the issue.

After all, it was just a second-stage lower grade spiritual vein, inferior to those within their own forces.

Moreover, the Xu family had set up a second-stage middle grade array in a short time. If they attacked in unison, it would be difficult to breach, so they finally gave up.

While this was a major affair for the Zhang family and even the entire Ten Thousand Mountains, it seemed insignificant to Xu Ping, so he did not concern himself with it.

"But, has there been any irregular move from this Xu family?" Hearing that it wasn't the war between the two countries, Xu Ping felt quite relieved.

After all, it's merely some Foundation Establishment cultivators, and he had confidence he could handle it.

"Exactly... Recently, the Xu family seems to be colluding with external Foundation Establishment forces, and it's unknown what they are plotting. Therefore, the clan leader of the Qian family secretly invited all major local Foundation Establishment forces in Ten Thousand Mountains to his cave to discuss countermeasures."

Concern appeared on Zhang Qingfeng's face; with the current chaos in Yue Country, it was inevitable that Ten Thousand Mountains would find it hard to escape.

"Several Foundation Establishment forces!"

Xu Ping's expression turned solemn, "In that case, I'll have a look."

Although these forces were unlikely to pose any threat to him, with the entire Yue Country in chaos, finding a relatively stable place for cultivation like Ten Thousand Mountains was incredibly difficult.

As long as it didn't threaten him, maintaining the stability of the Zhang family still seemed very necessary.

...

...

Maple Leaf Mountain.

This mountain is shaped like a maple leaf, with a large piece of spiritual plants on the summit; it is the clan land of the Qian family.

And the Qian family counts as the first force of Ten Thousand Mountains, with its clan leader Qian Guanyu being the only Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator in all of Ten Thousand Mountains.

At the top of Maple Leaf Mountain, in a lavish grand hall, three men and one woman sat on chairs made of redwood, all with solemn expressions.

"To gather you all here today, I'm sure you know that the problem with the Xu family must be resolved, otherwise it will pose a threat to the entire Ten Thousand Mountains." From above, a robust man in a purple robe with a full face of bristles and a mighty appearance slowly spoke.

He was the clan leader of the Qian family, Qian Guanyu.

"Fellow Daoist Qian, we understand what you mean, but do you know which Foundation Establishment forces the Xu family has colluded with?" asked a female cultivator, dressed in a palace-style gown and having delicate features, with a frown.

"I haven't been able to investigate exactly how many, but at least three Foundation Establishment forces are colluding with the Xu family, or perhaps the Xu family was originally a plant they inserted in Ten Thousand Mountains."

Upon hearing this, the faces of those present slightly changed.

"Does that mean they have been planning this for a while?" a black-clothed man asked with a sullen expression.

"I'm afraid so." Qian Guanyu nodded, his expression becoming even more serious.

Xu Ping remained silent, information about the three people flashed in his mind.

Needless to say, Qian Guanyu, being a Mid-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, had the highest cultivation and was in a leadership position among the people present.

The only female cultivator was named Li Huachan, the clan leader of the Li family.

The black-clothed man was the clan leader of the Zhao family, Zhao Tianquan.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.