The hall fell silent for a moment, and the mood grew heavy. Everyone understood why Chen Qingmeng had gone into seclusion.
Without the aid of a Foundation Establishment Pill, attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage was akin to gambling with one's life. There was a 90% chance that Chen Qingmeng would never emerge alive.
After a while, Fifth Elder Chen Qingwan asked, "You just returned and called for a meeting. Did something happen in Pingyang County?"
Elian collected his thoughts. The immediate priority was to root out the hidden demonic cultivators in Pingyang County. Setting aside other matters, he quickly relayed the details of the recent events to everyone.
Fourth Elder Chen Qingyuan, known for his fiery temperament, slammed the table in anger.
"We cannot let this slide! If we do, the other cultivation clans and demonic cultivators will think we're weak and easy to bully!"
Third Elder, the seasoned and level-headed Chen Qinghao, who had been managing family affairs for years, took a more measured approach.
"If we commit to thorough investigations, ordinary demonic cultivators won't escape us. But this requires significant manpower, which we are currently short on. Nevertheless, this matter takes precedence. Any non-urgent tasks should be postponed."
"This issue is critical," he continued.
"All available family members, unless in seclusion for breakthroughs, must participate."
Elian nodded and added, "To guard against powerful demonic cultivators, we elders should also be present as much as possible."
"Agreed." Third Elder nodded in turn. "To be safe, the three of you will lead this operation, while I stay behind to oversee the family."
The meeting concluded swiftly. The plan to root out the demonic cultivators was finalized.
That very night, Third Elder personally summoned family members one by one to assign this non-negotiable task. Meanwhile, Elian sat in his residence, holding a storage pouch.
The pouch was loot from the black-robed demonic cultivator. Elian had spent the past ten days methodically breaking the seals on it. Finally, he succeeded.
Opening the pouch, Elian examined its contents.
The demonic cultivator's possessions were sparse: the Seven Souls Demon Banner, the black spike, and a small cyan shield.
The two demonic artifacts were highly malevolent and had the potential to corrode one's mind if used too often. While Elian wasn't overly moralistic, he knew better than to rely on such tools except in life-or-death situations.
The cyan shield, however, was a pure and straightforward defensive treasure called the Cyan Spirit Shield, a top-grade tier-one artifact. Once activated, it could withstand attacks from late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators.
During the battle, the black-robed demonic cultivator had relied on this shield to endure Elian's relentless sword strikes. Without the powerful scarlet flame talisman left by his seventh granduncle, Elian might not have been able to defeat him.
After obtaining the shield, Elian immediately began refining it, filling a crucial gap in his arsenal of defensive tools.
Apart from the artifacts, the pouch contained various odds and ends: two bottles of pills, 30 spirit stones, a fragment of a map, and over 400 blood crystals.
The two bottles of pills were made from blood and other vile ingredients. Consuming them would likely lead to madness, so Elian destroyed them.
The map fragment appeared to be part of an ancient ruin's location, but it was too incomplete to discern anything useful.
The 30 spirit stones were a decent haul, equivalent to Elian's yearly stipend. However, what truly made Elian's blood run cold were the over 400 blood crystals.
In this world, humans were unique beings blessed with a natural affinity for spiritual energy. Even ordinary people who never cultivated accumulated faint traces of spiritual energy over their lifetimes.
Blood crystals were refined from the blood of humans. On average, the life essence of ten people was required to produce a single blood crystal.
To a demonic cultivator, each blood crystal contained spiritual energy roughly equivalent to a lower-grade spirit stone. However, because of its impurities and malevolent nature, it was unusable for righteous cultivators.
Seeing the mountain of blood crystals in the pouch, Elian realized that over 4,000 innocent lives had been drained to produce these.
"Demonic cultivators..." Elian clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot. "Utterly depraved and beyond redemption!"
From a young age, he had heard countless stories about demonic cultivators—how they refrained from productive labor, thrived on chaos, and committed unspeakable atrocities. However, seeing the results of their depravity firsthand left him shaken.
"They all deserve death," Elian muttered, his voice cold and resolute.
But he quickly reined in his emotions.
"I'm still too weak."
"My priority must be to protect the Chen Clan—the family that birthed and raised me—against the storms to come."
After a long pause, Elian systematically destroyed the blood crystals, demonic pills, and other vile items. He then closed his eyes and whispered to himself.
"I was born as a speck of dust in this vast, unforgiving world, a mayfly in the grand scheme of existence. To strive against the tides of fate, one must cling to even the slimmest hope."
"Cultivation... it is a long and arduous path."
The next morning, Elian set out for Pingyang County with Fourth and Fifth Elders, along with other Chen family cultivators.
This time, almost all capable hands were mobilized. Aside from those stationed to guard the family's ancestral home, every able-bodied member joined the effort.
Even those in the middle of closed-door cultivation emerged reluctantly. Others interrupted refining processes or paused routine tasks such as tending to spiritual fields.
Among them was Chen Changyan, a granduncle dedicated to educating younger generations. At 112 years old, he was nearing the Qi Refinement stage's natural lifespan of 120 years.
When Elian suggested he stay behind due to his frail health, the elder scolded him sharply:
"You little brat, just because you're a clan elder now doesn't mean I won't lecture you!"
"Have you forgotten? I was the one who taught you how to cultivate!"
"Don't think you can look down on me, old as I am. When the time comes, this old bag of bones can still put up a fight."
Chastened, Elian fell silent.
He knew that cultivators like Granduncle Changyan, despite their age, often possessed a wealth of experience and deadly techniques. In a pinch, they could be formidable for a single battle—though it would likely cost them their remaining vitality.