The Qingwei Pattern

Chapter 376 The Qingwei Pattern

In a refined and elegant palace atop the mountain, Gu Fan and the others sat comfortably.

The table was covered with all sorts of spiritual food, each one unlike anything seen before.

Gu Fan had cultivated for many years and his appetite was not strong. Su Heng also tried to maintain his composure, but Hulu and Su Nian couldn't help but feast without any manners.

In the center of the palace, there was a group of female cultivators, dressed in colorful gauze skirts, dancing gracefully. Each of them was beautiful and charming, and the leader was a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Such a magnificent sight truly captivated Su Heng.

Yan Fuyao saw this, clapped her hands, and the maids all retreated.

Then he looked at Su Heng and teased, "So, which one have you taken a fancy to?"

"No, no!" Su Heng quickly lowered his head.

Yan Fuyao chuckled a few times, then shook her head and said, "These are nothing but ordinary beauties. When I return to the clan territory, I will definitely inform the clan elders and betroth a legitimate daughter to you."

Su Heng smiled and cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, senior."

Then, Yan Fuyao put down her wine cup, looked at Gu Fan, and asked, "Do these spiritual foods suit your taste, Senior?"

"Not bad." Gu Fan nodded slightly, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Hu Lu, who was drinking heartily from the wine jug, and flicked him on the head with his finger.

Hulu quickly put down the wine pot, covered her head with a wronged expression, and stared at Gu Fan with her watery eyes.

Yan Fuyao coughed lightly and tentatively asked, "I observe that you are quite skilled in weapon crafting, senior. I wonder... would you be willing to become a guest elder of the Yan family?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Fan lowered his head and pondered for a moment, his fingertips tracing the rim of the cup.

He wasn't surprised by Yan Fuyao's invitation. After all, he had subtly probed her a few times while repairing the Star Chariot. At the moment, he was all alone and knew very little about the outside world. As a dominant force in a realm, the Yan family was a good place to go.

His only concern was that he wouldn't be bound to the Yan family.

The Pure Realm was by no means his final destination.

After a moment, Gu Fan looked at Yan Fuyao and said, "I am grateful for your hospitality. Joining the Yan family is not out of the question, but... the spiritual contract we sign cannot be set in stone."

"If one day I wish to leave the Qingwei Realm, the Yan family shall not stop me."

"This..." Yan Fuyao hesitated, her eyes darting around uncertainly.

But seeing Gu Fan's resolute attitude, he gritted his teeth and said, "I can discuss this matter with the clan elders and try to give you a satisfactory answer."

Gu Fan nodded, acknowledging the matter.

That night, everyone rested at the palace. The next morning, Yan Fuyao went to the ancestral home of the Yan family alone.

Gu Fan originally thought he would return soon, but unexpectedly he was gone for seven days.

Seven days later.

When Gu Fan saw Yan Fuyao again, he noticed a hint of weariness in her eyes, and his heart sank slightly.

Yan Fuyao looked at Gu Fan, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, "I have informed the clan elders of your conditions. After discussion, the clan elders have agreed to grant your request regarding the spirit contract. However... your offerings must be recalculated."

"Convert?" Gu Fan raised an eyebrow.

Yan Fuyao nodded slightly and explained the inside story.

According to the Yan family's rules, all guest elders receive a fixed annual salary, which is distributed in the form of contributions and can be exchanged for spiritual materials and secret techniques.

The Yan family can request guest elders to refine a certain number of magical treasures each year. If the number exceeds the agreed amount, there will be additional contributions, and the treatment is quite generous.

In return, the spiritual contract signed by the guest elder was for life.

Unless a reconciliation can be reached with the Yan family, they will be at the Yan family's mercy for the rest of their lives.

The message Yan Fuyao brought back indicated that if Gu Fan wanted to sign a flexible contract with the Yan family, he would have to forgo his salary and have his contributions calculated based on the number of magical treasures he had refined.

"The more you work, the more you earn?"

Gu Fan frowned slightly and asked softly, "I'm afraid it's more than that?"

If it were simply a matter of more work, more pay, it wouldn't be considered harsh, and Yan Fuyao's expression shouldn't be so gloomy.

Yan Fuyao pursed her lips and sighed, "Senior has keen insight."

"Actually, the key point of this matter is not the number, but that all the orders are issued by the Grand Elder's lineage. If you sign a spiritual contract, you probably won't get many orders."

"The lineage of the Grand Elder?" Gu Fan immediately became curious.

After Yan Fuyao's explanation, Gu Fan finally gained a better understanding of the Yan family.

As a Nascent Soul family, the Yan family is generally divided into three lineages, each led by one of the three elders.

The three elders are all late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators with the potential to advance to Deity Transformation. They are engaged in open and covert struggles with each other, while the other Nascent Soul cultivators have all found their own allies.

The eldest elder's lineage is in charge of allocating the clan's money and grain, as well as issuing orders. They hold a high position and wield great power, and are implicitly the head of the three lineages.

The second elder was in charge of the family's rules and regulations, rewarding good and punishing evil, and rarely interfered in other matters.

The Third Elder is responsible for external expansion and cross-border trade.

Yan Fuyao belongs to the lineage of the Third Elder.

Although the cultivators of this lineage are busy and hardworking, the spiritual materials and magical treasures they sell are all allocated by the Grand Elder's lineage, which is equivalent to having their throats strangled.

Gu Fan was introduced by Yan Fuyao, which meant he was naturally on the side of the Third Elder.

"So I was just caught in the crossfire." Gu Fan immediately understood.

Yan Fuyao looked at Gu Fan, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.

There were still some things he hadn't said.

In fact, according to the First Elder, he was against Gu Fan joining the Yan family.

A Nascent Soul cultivator from a remote realm, trying to negotiate with the Yan family?

However, Yan Fuyao emphasized Gu Fan's superb weapon-refining skills, and the Third Elder argued his case, which finally led to the decision being made.

More importantly, the Third Elder heard that Gu Fan had mastered the method of repairing the Star Raft in just a few days, and had secretly examined the Star Raft that Gu Fan had repaired. He confirmed that Gu Fan's cultivation in the art of weapon crafting was indeed extraordinary, which gave him a glimpse of a possibility.

There is a sliver of hope of escaping the Grand Elder's control.

"That would be acceptable," Gu Fan nodded in agreement.

The primary goal is not how much salary one can earn from the Yan family, but rather to use this opportunity to increase one's understanding of the void universe and to find a way to join the Luofu Immortal Sect.

Yan Fuyao breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Gu Fan agree.

"Thank you for your understanding, senior." He bowed respectfully.

That night, Gu Fan sat cross-legged in his bedchamber, holding a jade slip in his hand.

This was what he asked Yan Fuyao for; it contained all the information about the Qingwei Realm and the Yan family.

Seeing that Gu Fan was about to become one of her own, Yan Fuyao did not hold back and recorded everything in great detail in the jade slip.

As Yan Fuyao said, the Yan family is one of the overlords of the Qingwei Realm.

Besides the Yan family, there are two other Immortal Clans in the Qingwei Realm: the Xu family and the Lin family.

All three factions aspire to become the sole hegemon of the Qingwei Realm, leading to fierce competition, particularly in trade.

This is because there is a unique spiritual material in the Pure Realm called the Pure Mystery Stone.

When refining a magical artifact, adding just a tiny bit of Pure Mystic Stone can greatly enhance its strength.

Moreover, the Qingxuan Stone is naturally light and ethereal, creating the wonder of many floating islands in the Qingwei Realm. There is a small Qingxuan Stone mine beneath Beiming Island.

The Yan family's main business for selling magic weapons is their treasures, which is one of the reasons why the Third Elder was able to argue for Gu Fan's continued presence.

Strangely, many of the three families' techniques and secret arts are the same.

Legend has it that the ancestors of the three races once joined forces to explore fortified opportunities, but the details of this collaboration are not elaborated upon in the jade slip.

Below the three great Nascent Soul families, there are dozens of large sects and cultivation families in the Qingwei Realm, all with Nascent Soul cultivators in charge, and all of them are subservient to the three great families.

In addition, there are numerous small sects and countless independent cultivators, as well as cultivators from outside who have crossed the void to come here.

Roughly speaking, this realm has three Nascent Soul cultivators, hundreds of Enlightened Ones, and countless Golden Core cultivators.

The next day.

The three stepped onto the teleportation array, and disappeared in a flash of light.

.

Gu Fan felt as if he had traveled through a dazzling spatial passage for a moment before arriving at the other side.

Looking around, I was immediately struck by the sight before me.