Chapter 154: A Temporary Stay in the Lingxi Tribe

After the gruff shout outside faded, heavy footsteps immediately followed.

Jiuyou did not open his eyes, but his divine sense had already slipped out silently, giving him a clear view of everything within several zhang of the tent.

Outside the tent, a burly young man in black martial attire stood a few zhang away. His arms were crossed over his chest, his expression dark.

He looked to be in his early twenties and stood over eight chi tall. His muscles were solid, his chest as thick as a wall. His cultivation was at the Mid Foundation Establishment Stage, and a fierce aura clung to him—one honed by years of life-and-death struggle on the grasslands.

Graceful hurried out of the tent with Landuo trailing behind her.

She looked up at the man and lowered her voice, sounding a little guilty. "Brother, weren't you out on the hunt? When did you get back?"

The man glanced at her, then looked toward the tent.

He scoffed coldly. "If I hadn't come back, wouldn't you have been abducted by an outsider? Did you forget our mother was killed by people from over there? The Heavenly Flame Upper Tribe is strictly investigating the presence of Ganzhou people across the tribes. How dare you bring back a Ganzhou man of unknown origin? If you implicate the whole tribe, can you bear the responsibility?"

With that, he stepped forward, making for the tent.

Graceful quickly stepped into his path, looking anxious.

"Brother! He just woke up and is still incredibly weak," she said. "If you go in there now, you'll only make his injuries worse!"

She paused before adding, "Besides, did you forget Mother's dying words?"

The man's footsteps halted.

He looked at Graceful. His lips moved as if he wanted to speak, but he ultimately swallowed the words back down.

A moment later, he spoke in a low voice. "It's not that I don't trust you. It's just that you should remember Mother's matter clearly. A lot of Ganzhou evil cultivators have shown up at the border lately. The souls of the dead on the battlefield are being extracted, their deaths extremely gruesome. You are always soft-hearted; I'm just afraid you're being deceived."

Graceful scratched her head and chuckled. "Relax, Brother. I saved him from the river when he was about to drown. His cultivation is only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer—he couldn't even beat me. What problem could there be? Besides, with you and Father here, what could possibly happen? Oh, right—is Father back?"

The man's expression softened a fraction, and he nodded. "Father came back with me."

Hearing this, Graceful turned toward the center of the tribe. That was where the Great Elder's residence stood, which was also where her father handled his daily affairs.

Her gaze lingered for a moment before her tone brightened. "Then there's even less to worry about. Father is a Golden Core Cultivator. Could anything in the tribe escape his notice? If he hasn't said anything, then there's definitely no problem."

The man opened his mouth to say more, but Graceful was already stepping forward with a smile, pushing him away by the back while muttering,

"Alright, alright. You just got back and haven't rested yet, right? Hurry back and get some sleep. Don't just stand around here."

Landuo stood to the side, keeping her head down in silence as she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Inside the tent, Jiuyou withdrew his divine sense. He also quietly recalled the Nether Capital Puppet he had slipped outside to hide, leaning back against his bedding with a calm expression. Graceful's brother was rough, but he wasn't reckless.

However, their mention of the Heavenly Flame Tribe's strict investigations and the border's evil cultivators gave him more to consider.

The tent flap lifted, and Graceful walked in alone. She had already instructed Landuo to leave first.

She approached, a lingering trace of embarrassment on her face, and smiled. "There was a little mishap just now; I let you see something embarrassing. My brother and the rest of the tribe are actually very easy to talk to. It's just that the feud between the Northern Plains and Ganzhou goes back too far. Seeing you out of nowhere just made him overreact a little. Please don't take it to heart."

Jiuyou leaned against his bedding and shook his head slightly, a gentle look crossing his face. "You are too polite. You saved me and gave me a place to stay—that is already an immense debt of gratitude. It's only natural for the people of the Northern Plains to hold grievances against those from Ganzhou. Rather, your sincere kindness is what I find truly rare."

His tone was even, yet laced with just the right amount of gratitude and praise, making the young, inexperienced girl's ears burn.

Her gaze darted away as she stammered, "I... I really didn't do much. I just pulled you out of the water, that's all."

Seeing her like this, Jiuyou didn't offer any more compliments. Instead, using his days-long coma as a lead-in, he casually asked about the surrounding situation.

Graceful suspected nothing and chose to say everything she knew. From her, Jiuyou learned their exact location and the distribution of the surrounding factions.

The Lingxi Tribe was located in the southern reaches of the Northern Plains. Within a radius of several thousand li, the strongest faction was the Lingmu Tribe, which supposedly had a Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator holding down the fort. The rest were mostly small Golden Core level tribes. As for the Lingxi Tribe itself, it relied entirely on the Great Elder. His Mid-Golden Core cultivation was the absolute peak of the tribe's combat strength.

Hearing this, Jiuyou felt a little more at ease.

Given his current state, even though his cultivation had plummeted to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, he still had the Late Golden Core Nether Soul Puppet in hand. As long as he didn't run into a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, he was not without the means to protect himself.

He then asked about the Heavenly Flame Tribe's search for Ganzhou people.

Graceful tilted her head, thinking for a moment before she spoke.

"I'm not entirely sure myself," she said. "Father usually keeps a close eye on me, so I rarely go out. I've only heard the tribespeople mention it a few times. They say that Great Grandmasters from the Heavenly Fire and Yellow Sand tribes died, and the Heavenly Flame Upper Tribe must have found some clues, which is why they ordered a large-scale search for people. But don't worry too much. No matter how strict the search is, they won't investigate a small tribe like ours."

Her tone was casual, clearly not taking the matter to heart. Jiuyou, however, did not miss the details in her words. From her account, he roughly deduced that he had been unconscious for over half a month.

Just as they were talking, Landuo lifted the flap and entered with a wooden tray. Resting on it was a thumb-sized blue pill with a smooth surface that shimmered with a faint luster. She handed the tray to Graceful, then stepped back to the side.

Graceful took the pill and offered it to Jiuyou. "This is a Meridian Warming Pill; it's somewhat useful for recovering from your injuries. Take it first, and don't rush to thank me."

Jiuyou accepted the pill. He lightly swept it with his divine sense, and after confirming it was fine, he put it into his palm and thanked her.

The two chatted idly for a while longer. Jiuyou took the opportunity to ask about everything he wanted to know, and a plan for his next steps secretly began to form in his mind.

Graceful, on the other hand, enthusiastically asked about the world outside the Northern Plains. She asked what Ganzhou looked like, how big the sea was, and how high the cities stood. To Jiuyou, these were the most commonplace sights, but in her eyes, they were like a picture scroll of another world.

Landuo, standing to the side, also listened, completely enthralled.

Having lived in the tribe since childhood, the two of them had never taken half a step outside this grassland. Their impression of Ganzhou was limited to the shallow rumors from their tribespeople. Jiuyou only had to share a few casual words to make their eyes light up.

Before leaving, Graceful arranged a secluded tent for him so he could rest and heal his injuries in peace.

Jiuyou didn't refuse. After expressing his thanks, he temporarily settled down in the Lingxi Tribe. He wasn't in a rush to do anything else. Instead, he took advantage of this rare stretch of peace to close his eyes and meditate, slowly guiding the meager traces of magical power left in his body to gradually restore his long-dried meridians.