At the mountaintop, mist swirled around.

Fu Changsheng swept his Divine Sense, discovering that as it penetrated the mist, it was as if a mud dragon disappeared into the sea, revealing nothing. He urged the Silver-Spotted Poison Snake to probe the path, but it instead became trapped in the Illusion Array, unable to escape.

Fu Changli was puzzled:

"Patriarch, what is hidden atop this mountain that warrants such a formidable array?"

The three of them didn't understand the Path of Array.

They couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Fu Molan attempted to use a puppet to probe the path, but after several days, still couldn't find the right entrance to the mountain.

At this moment,

within the array.

A group of mulberry farmers watched Fu Changsheng and the others fiddle around for days without finding an entrance, and they wondered:

"Village Chief, this is too strange. The Immortal Masters were always familiar with the way in; how come they now can't find the entrance to their own Immortal Family array?"

The first batch of mulberry farmers had already passed away.

The current group was native to Qingcheng Mountain.

The tall and lanky old Village Chief looked at the trio of Fu Changsheng floundering outside the array and mumbled, "It seems like the outside world has changed."

From what he remembered,

those who came to collect the silkworm silk were always Immortal Masters clad in Thunder Pattern attire, yet the three outside wore clothes with a Phoenix pattern, indicating they were of a different faction.

The old Village Chief felt a vague sense of unease.

According to the sparse books left by his ancestors,

a change in sovereign brings a change in subjects.

Would the Immortal Masters outside, upon entry, execute them as remnants of an old order?

At the same time,

he suddenly thought of an even more terrifying problem.

Their ancestors had lived here for more than a hundred years, surviving by offering silkworm silk every five years in exchange for the five years' worth of supplies granted by the Immortal Masters.

The food given by the Immortal Masters was always a fixed amount.

The supplies from the last five years had already run out.

If the Immortal Masters outside couldn't get in, their nearly ten thousand clan members would starve to death on this Spirit Mountain Peak: "What are we to do?!"

Their ancestors had tried countless ways to escape, but no clan member who entered the array ever came back alive.

To this day, they had not found a way out.

Those slow to react also realized the issue, their faces turning pale before they desperately beat drums and shouted, trying to guide Fu Changsheng and the others to find the way in by following the sound.

But they shouted themselves hoarse,

and their voices couldn't penetrate at all.

....

Outside the array.

The fourth sister, Fu Changli, who couldn't find a way in, hesitated:

"Patriarch, we've lingered here for nearly half a month. Since we can't find the way in, why don't we explore elsewhere? We might find other Spiritual Objects?"

The entire Qingcheng Mountain,

except for the place with the Three-Transformation Cyan Lotus, hadn't been visited. That was the ambush point of Elder Lei and Wu. Fu Changsheng shook his head:

"There's still time, keep looking."

Fu Changsheng once again sighed that the clan needed an Array Master to accompany them outside. It seemed they needed Grandmaster Yu to assess whether any of the dozens of Low-Tier Qi Cultivation Clan Members had the talent to study arrays.

The intel indicated,

there were nearly a hundred acres of mulberry groves atop the mountain.

The Lei Family was most famous for Tier One High-Grade Celestial Silkworm Silk, apparently nurtured by Celestial Silk Worms the Lei Family raised, which was almost their cornerstone.

A hundred acres of mulberry groves.

Over five years, a considerable amount of Celestial Silkworm Silk should have accumulated.

This was, besides the Cloud Ridge Fruit and the two Foundation Establishment Aid Medicines, Qingcheng Mountain's greatest resource.

How could Fu Changsheng bear to give it up easily?

These past days,

he had already exchanged countless pieces of intel,

yet none provided information about entering the Spirit Mountain Peak.

Fu Changsheng gritted his teeth:

"I refuse to believe I can't find a way into the mountain."

He decided right away to try again.

Once entering the mulberry groves,

the current spending of Clan Contribution Points compared to the rewards obtained would be negligible.

He immediately willed:

"Exchange intel."

Buzz!

The panel trembled.

A flood of yellow light surged, followed by rows of text appearing:

[There is a hidden underground passage in the Phoenix Tree Forest on the back mountain, one of only two Life Gates leading directly to the mulberry groves!]

"We found it!"

Fu Changsheng's face lit up with joy.

Heaven favors those who persist.

Fortunately, he didn't give up:

"Those Lei Family members are crafty, building the passage entrance within the back mountain."

From the back mountain to the summit,

it equates to circling the mountain.

Fu Changsheng feigned nonchalance:

"Since we can't find the entrance, let's explore elsewhere."

He led Fu Changli around the mountain, cleverly avoiding the Three-Transformation Cyan Lotus's location, and upon reaching the back mountain, Fu Changli exclaimed excitedly:

"Patriarch, the Silver-Spotted Poison Snake found a hidden cave!"

"Oh, let's take a look."

Even though they were family,

Fu Changsheng still preferred to conceal, whenever possible, the secret of his preemptive intel acquisition.

The underground passage twisted and turned.

Fearing hidden traps, they moved slowly, taking half a day to reach the end. Fu Changsheng cast a Technique at the stone door ahead, and with a rumbling sound, it rotated outwards, a sliver of white light shining through. Fu Changsheng swept his Divine Sense.

Revealing overhead,

an expanse of lush Cyan Mulberry Trees.

Emerging from underground,

Fu Changli was left agape in astonishment by the scene, seeing the entire mountaintop densely covered in Cyan Mulberry Trees, stretching far beyond sight.

Fruits even dangled from the Cyan Mulberry Trees.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

The Silver-Spotted Poison Snake, crawling on the ground, emitted an excited and hungry hiss at the Cyan Mulberry Fruits on the trees.

The Cyan Mulberry Tree was entirely a treasure.

The leaves could feed Celestial Silk Worms, and the fruits were used to refine Spirit Feeding Pills for spirit pets.

Fu Changli's voice was high with excitement:

"Patriarch, with so many Cyan Mulberry Fruits, if Sister-in-law Meizhen refines them into Spirit Feeding Pills, it will surely allow the Bailing Fish, Fire Cloud Chicken, Purple-horned Deer, and Silver-Spotted Poison Snake to thrive, maybe even breaking through their current limitations."

"Moreover."

"There are also so many Cyan Mulberry Leaves, enough to rear a multitude of Celestial Silk Worms. By then, in the marketplace, the Lei Family's Celestial Silkworm Silk won't be unique anymore."

"This Cyan Mulberry Forest is truly a treasure trove!"

"Luckily, you didn't give up, Patriarch, and let the Silver-Spotted Poison Snake keep seeking the entrance. Just this Cyan Mulberry Forest alone means we've made a huge gain this trip."

Unlike Fu Changli's excitement,

Fu Molan glanced around, his expression changing:

"Patriarch, something's wrong."

"This Cyan Mulberry Forest looks tended by someone."

"But didn't everyone who entered Qingcheng Mountain leave? How could there still be people here?!"

"Could it be... that besides our entry through the Barrier Gate, there's another entrance to Qingcheng Mountain?"

Wouldn't that imply,

the Lei Family had come in too?!

Beside her, Fu Changli quickly covered her mouth with her hand,

her big watery eyes brimming with fear.

.....

Beside the Fairy Pool,

the meditating Elder Lei twitched his ears, spotting a Dragon Pattern Beetle crawling up from the ground and wagging its tail at him, prompting Elder Lei to frown.

He hadn't expected,

that the young Fu Family members had found the hidden passage to the Spirit Mountain Peak. This meant that unless the Fu Family had completely lost their minds, they would surmise Qingcheng Mountain had another entrance:

"Younger Brother Wu, the plan has changed!"

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