Clan Cultivation: Starting with Building an Island Immortal City

87: The island expanded, and the long star disappeared.The ship finally dropped anchor and came to a stop near a cleared, relatively gentle shallow beach.

Li Yinglong stood alone at the bow, his black robe gently fluttering in the sea breeze.

His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept across the familiar yet strange coastline before him.

Looking at the seemingly calm but turbulent waters between the small boat and the shore, a hint of doubt appeared on his face.

The attack of the hideous bone-armored fish underwater was still fresh in his memory.

Li Yinglong said no more.

He stepped out over the bow railing, his body not falling, but his feet firmly treading on the shimmering sea surface.

“Om~”

A vast and restrained aura emanated from his body.

A faint, almost imperceptible azure glow circulated around him, as if resonating deeply with the boundless ocean beneath his feet.

The water surface slightly dented under his feet, then recovered, as if he were walking on solid ground.

He did not use any lightness technique, but purely relied on the Azure Dragon Origin cultivated from the Nine Transformations of the True Dragon to communicate with the power of water, further amplified by a superior Dragon Clan pressure originating from his life Origin, which slowly spread with the Dragon Origin.

A pale golden Dragon Origin Qi permeated from his body, coiling around him like a thin veil, condensed and unscattered. His clothes moved without wind, rustling loudly.

One step, two steps... He walked across the sea surface towards the shore.

He didn’t walk fast, his steps were steady and powerful.

Some shadows that were lurking in the shallow waters, eyeing the creatures on the boat, were swept by the invisible, intangible, yet soul-piercing Dragon might emanating from his feet. As if encountering a great terror, they instantly became agitated, then frantically thrashed their tails, fleeing headlong into deeper, darker waters.

A safe passage to the shore was thus invisibly carved out with his steps.

“Clan Chief’s Divine Ability!”

Seeing this, everyone on the boat felt their hearts settle, filled with awe and excitement.

The small boat was quickly lowered, and the first batch of Disciples, protected by Li Changyun, Li Changxuan, and others, successfully reached the shore and quickly set up a simple defense line on the beach.

Subsequently, several batches of personnel and supplies were also safely delivered.

When the last group of people stepped onto solid ground, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but their gaze was immediately drawn to the scenery on the island.

“Are these trees... much taller and denser?”

Li Changyu pointed at the nearby jungle, his tone filled with surprise and doubt.

The growth of those trees clearly exceeded what they remembered.

“The grass and vines on the ground have also grown much thicker, almost blocking the path.”

Li Changxue carefully pushed aside the almost waist-deep ferns with her sword sheath.

The new Disciples were even more curious, looking around, feeling the rich Spiritual Qi in the air that made their pores open, feeling both excited and a little nervous.

Just then, a green figure darted out of the forest like a light breeze, reaching them in a few leaps.

“Clan Chief, everyone!”

A call filled with surprise came from the figure, reaching everyone in an instant.

Everyone looked closely, and the person who arrived was none other than Li Qingzhu, who had stayed behind on the island.

After several months apart, she had changed significantly.

After several months apart, Li Qingzhu had shed the immaturity of a young girl.

Her figure had grown a few inches taller, her once slightly childish face had matured, her skin was radiant and translucent under the nourishment of the Spiritual Vein, and her eyes were full of Spiritual Qi.

A simple green dress accentuated her graceful figure, and a gentle and pure wood-element Spiritual charm emanated from her, like a Spirit Plant bathed in rain, fresh and refined.

“Aunt Qingzhu!”

Li Changyun, Li Changyu, and other first-generation Disciples immediately stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

Although the new Disciples did not recognize her, they also bowed in greeting.

Li Qingzhu smiled slightly, nodded in return, then quickly walked to Li Yinglong, curtsied, and said in a clear voice:

“Uncle, you’ve returned.”

Her gaze swept over the many new faces behind him, and genuine joy appeared in her eyes.

Li Yinglong nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on her for a moment. He noticed that her cultivation was stable at the Middle Stage of the Fourth Level of Qi Refining and had even improved, which pleased him.

But he also remembered something else and asked:

“Qingzhu, no need for formalities. Why is Changxing not here?”

Upon hearing this, Li Qingzhu’s smile faded slightly, revealing a hesitant expression.

Li Yinglong, being who he was, immediately understood that this was not the place for conversation. He raised a hand to stop her from answering, his gaze sweeping over the crowd behind him, and said:

“We’ll discuss this later. Everyone is a bit tired. Let’s go back to the base first, settle down, and then talk.”

“Yes, Uncle, please follow me.”

Li Qingzhu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly led the way.

Everyone followed Li Qingzhu, walking along the faintly discernible path towards the deeper parts of the island.

Along the way, the sense of change became increasingly obvious.

The path was more difficult to traverse than remembered; not only had the vegetation grown wildly, but occasionally, small Spirit Beasts could be seen darting by at an even faster speed. Their size, fur color, and even the faint Yao power they emitted seemed to be much stronger than before they left.

What alarmed everyone even more was that the distance between certain landmarks seemed to have lengthened.

It was as if the entire island was silently “growing” and expanding.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air had increased by more than a notch; breathing it in felt exhilarating.

The new Disciples benefited the most, with much of their travel fatigue dissipating.

But everyone remained silent, suppressing this change in their hearts, just following quietly.

Finally, after passing through a dense bamboo forest, the view suddenly opened up.

On a flat area cleared along the mountain slope, dozens of houses built with bamboo and stone were scattered in an orderly fashion.

The periphery was equipped with simple fences and warning Talismans, which was precisely the core base of the Li Family on the island.

Although simple, it was well-organized, showing the considerable effort Li Qingzhu and Li Changxing had put in here.

“We’ve arrived.”

Li Qingzhu stopped:

“Changyun, Changyu, you two take the new Disciples to settle down and familiarize themselves with the environment. Their accommodations have already been prepared.”

“Yes, Aunt Qingzhu!”

Li Changyun and others accepted the order and led the curious new Disciples towards the living quarters.

After everyone dispersed, Li Yinglong gave Li Qingzhu a look, and the two walked to the edge of the base, under a large ancient tree, where the view was open and it was not easy to be overheard.

“What exactly happened on the island? Where is Changxing?”

Li Yinglong asked directly, his gaze sharp.

Li Qingzhu organized her thoughts, her tone a bit hesitant, and whispered:

“Uncle, in these past few months since you left, the Immortal Island has indeed undergone strange changes. The most obvious is that the island... seems to be expanding on its own.”

“Expanding?”

Li Yinglong frowned slightly.

“Yes,”

Li Qingzhu nodded affirmatively:

“I patrol the entire island every ten days. At first, I only felt the paths were a bit longer and the vegetation denser, thinking it was due to the rainy season. But later, I discovered that the coastline was indeed extending outwards, especially in the east and north, with many new mudflats and reef areas; a rough estimate suggests that the entire island’s area has probably increased by more than one-tenth so far.”

She paused, then continued:

“Along with this, the Spiritual Vein beneath the Heavenly Pond Lake has also changed. The Spiritual Qi it emits is not only becoming richer, but... the Spiritual Vein itself also seems to be slowly growing and expanding. Affected by this, the half-Yao Beasts on the island have benefited the most. They absorb Spiritual Qi faster, their strength has significantly improved, and some even show faint signs of transforming into true Yao Beasts. We need to be more careful in our daily hunting.”

Li Yinglong listened in silence, a ripple stirring in his heart.

Spiritual Veins nourish all things, but for a Spiritual Vein itself to “grow” and expand was something he had never heard of!

The island expanding, the Spiritual Vein growing! This was definitely no ordinary Immortal Opportunity!

Fortune often hides misfortune; while the immense Spiritual Qi brought by the growing Spiritual Vein was a great Opportunity, did these changes hide deeper, unknown dangers?

He suppressed the inexplicable unease in his heart and asked:

“I will verify this matter at the Spiritual Vein source later... Tell me about Changxing again, where is he now? Has something gone wrong with his Cultivation?”

Hearing Li Changxing’s name, a complex, hard-to-read expression flashed in Li Qingzhu’s eyes, and she whispered:

“Changxing... he hasn’t had any problems with his Cultivation. His progress... is very good. It’s just... Uncle, you should really go see for yourself.”

Li Yinglong saw her evasive words, knowing there must be something unusual, and asked no further:

“Lead the way.”

Li Qingzhu nodded, turned and led Li Yinglong, not towards the usual living or Cultivating quarters, nor to the Heavenly Pond Spiritual Vein, but towards the back of the base, in the direction of the island’s easternmost point.