Cultivation: Fortune by Lots-Chapter 480 - 250. Supreme Pure Thunder Mansion Cave Heaven’s Top-Grade Divination (Two-in-One Chapter)

Chapter 480: 250. Supreme Pure Thunder Mansion Cave Heaven’s Top-Grade Divination (Two-in-One Chapter)

"Shi."

The old man’s side, a woman handed over a scroll of books.

"Yujing, you worked hard," Ye Moquan, old patriarch of the Ye Clan from Jinzhou, took the scroll and thanked the woman.

The woman was Lin Huan, current clan chief of the Forest Clan from Youzhou.

She wore a palace robe, her bearing dignified and elegant, features extraordinary; yet her complexion still revealed an unhealthy pallor, lacking the flush of an ordinary person.

Lin Huan gently shook her head, "What I can do now is limited, I can but offer what little strength I have."

Ye Moquan unfurled the scroll, "You have already been a great help to this old man, Yujing, henceforth rest as much as you can. The renewal of Youzhou’s cultural pulse may be left to Jingyang and the others."

Lin Huan gazed upon the rebuilt ancestral lands of the Lin Clan before her, silent.

The losses here in Youzhou were far less than those in Jiangzhou; besides, the foundation of the North Sect Forest Clan was already far thicker than Jiangzhou.

This time, even with the ancestral grounds destroyed, at least it was not as calamitous as Jiangzhou’s Lin Clan with nearly everyone slain or wounded.

Youzhou Forest Clan still had several Eightfold Heaven Realm great scholars, able to organize people and continue the cultural pulse, letting Lin Huan focus on her recovery.

Only, this catastrophe hung like dark clouds over every member of the Youzhou Lin Clan, Lin Huan included.

And Lin Huan’s injuries—

Ye Moquan remembered and also subtly shook his head.

At any other time, the Jinzhou Ye Clan might not have liked to see a young Nine Heavens Great Confucian rise within the northern Youzhou Lin Clan.

But now, the Tang Imperial Court pressed closer day by day, the Empress’s every move targeting the severing of noble families’ roots, forcing the Four Surnames and Six Great Houses to unite for now.

Ye Moquan had journeyed thousands of miles to aid Youzhou, but unfortunately Lin Huan was still wounded by Xu Yuanzhen, the path ahead nearly cut off.

Fortunately, Lin Huan quickly composed herself, and while leading her people to rebuild the ancestral grounds and cultural pulse, she also summarized and compiled all signs from the day the "Barbarian Spearhead" attacked, probing the foundation of that wild, savage Martial Tao True Meaning.

She organized her own insights and those of the elder clan members into a book, handing it to Ye Moquan for his further reference.

"Jiangzhou, how is it there?" Lin Huan spoke up now to ask.

Ye Moquan, "They headed north into the Huai, moved north of Taihu Daze, seeking new land to take root; however, no decision has yet been made."

The ancestral grounds of Jiangzhou Lin Clan had been destroyed, the ancestral treasure—the Dragon Serpent Pen—ruined, and only a few managed to escape.

Now the Southern Sect Forest Clan had only four Upper Three Heavens experts, of which, counting Lin Yuwei from the Eightfold Heaven Realm, three were from offshoots of Jiangzhou.

By now, the Southern Sect Lin Clan could make no more careful distinctions, only try their best to unite.

At least for the short term, things would stay this way.

However, they still had no wish to head northward and merge with Youzhou’s clan.

Since that was so, all they could do was choose anew a place to take root and flourish.

Across endless ages, similar things had happened among the noble clans, not without precedent.

But with so few top-level experts and no Dragon Serpent Pen, the difficulty of establishing a new cultural lineage much exceeded that of Youzhou’s Lin Clan’s reconstruction—it was certain hope would only arrive after generations of descendants persevered.

Especially since Lin Yuwei and company could only drift for the time being.

A new foothold would not be easily found.

From the Tang Imperial Court down to local powers, the Southern Sect Lin Clan faced obstacles from all sides in finding a suitable place to establish themselves.

The region north of Taihu Daze was, to some extent, a buffer between the Ye Clan of Qingzhou and the Chu Clan of Suzhou, plus there was official court influence as well; though seemingly no single overlord ruled, the situation was still fraught.

The Southern Sect Forest Clan could congregate there for now only because of the private assistance from the Qingzhou Ye Clan and Suzhou Chu Clan.

But in the end, where the Southern Sect Lin Clan would find firm footing remained an open question.

Their fate would not be clear until after the summer this year.

Until the battle between Jinzhou Ye Clan’s old patriarch Ye Moquan and Celestial Master Mansion’s Xu Yuanzhen had been fought.

On the surface, it was a Confucian Nine Extremities Heaven great scholar challenging a Nine Heavens High Real of the Taoist Sect.

Privately, forces including the Tang Imperial Court would all be drawn in together, deciding the coming direction of the Great Tang Dynasty.

Lin Huan did not mind Lin Yuwei and the others keeping their own portals, nor did the Youzhou Forest Clan intend to suppress the remnants of the Southern Sect Lin Clan in the current circumstances, "So long as they do not become like the Xiao Clan from outside Long."

That was the bottom line.

Clearly, the Ye Clan of Qingzhou and the Chu Clan of Suzhou felt the same way.

Temporarily receiving the Southern Sect Lin Clan in the regions north of Taihu Daze was certainly due to the care of Ye and Chu.

But should Lin Yuwei and his people show any hint of submission to the Tang Imperial Court, Ye and Chu could promptly move together from north and south.

"No such signs for now," the old man said softly, "but some things may already be inevitable..."

Lin Huan understood what remained unsaid, and silently nodded. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Classic texts passed down through generations of Jiangzhou Lin Clan might be dispersed after this conflict.

To simply lose them was regretful, yet it was already the best outcome.

More worrying still was that some classics might fall into the hands of the imperial court.

The Empress’s Scholarly Mansion would see its collections further expanded, to include learning from both the Xiao and Lin families.

In a sense, compared to burning the classics to ashes, it was hard to say which result was worse.

Both North and South Lin Clans suffered heavy blows at the same time.

Empress Zhang Wantong and Celestial Master Mansion’s Xu Yuanzhen both had their eyes on Jinzhou Ye Clan right now.

The Four Surnames and Six Great Houses, in matters now, were forced to act with more caution than before, no longer as freely as once.

The Capital City Academy was suddenly loosened.

Given favorable momentum already building, this year marked the start of an era of rapid growth.