Chapter 106: The Desire to Leave the Ten-Thousand Star Sea, The Humane Demon Sect

Ancestor Ziyang.

Shen Lian had not deliberately thought about this name for many years.

Unexpectedly, the related news he heard grew increasingly dire each time; this time, even a Nascent Soul was forcibly expelled.

For a Nascent Soul cultivator to reconstruct their physical body, an immense price must be paid: collecting several kinds of fourth-grade spiritual materials, all of which are rare treasures in the cultivation world.

Ancestor Ziyang could be said to have brought this misfortune upon himself.

Expelling a Nascent Soul is no small matter.

A Nascent Soul ancestor without a physical body is a prized target; now, Ancestor Ziyang should be more concerned with escaping for his life.

At this moment, Ziyang himself was not terrifying; the real horror lay in the Nascent Soul being scattered, leaving only a remnant soul that successfully possessed another body.

Three thousand years east of the river, three thousand years west, quietly rebuilding cultivation to reclaim all that was lost.

Of course, possession was not so simple—it required enduring a heavenly tribulation of thunder. Failure meant utter annihilation.

Under the laws of heaven and earth, a cultivator has only one chance at possession, and even surviving the heavenly thunder tribulation carries the slight risk of being devoured by the one who seeks to possess.

"The Battle for the Tianzhu Mountain mining area has ended. Cloud Ascending Sect, repeating the failure from a century ago, lost five shares of the mining area to Taiyi Sect and Yaoguang Palace, dropping their share to seven."

...

"Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator Lan Yu, of the Sea Tribe, has exhausted his lifespan and ascended to the Sea Tribe’s Tianlan Royal Court."

...

News from the Southern Celestial cultivation world were all major events, widely circulated—thus still valuable enough to fetch some spiritual stones in the Wanxing Sea.

Locally in the South Sea region, these were merely topics of casual amusement among cultivators.

However, Shen Lian also found two pieces of news somewhat useful.

His attempts to purchase Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow had been fruitless; neither the Xuánhǎi Sect nor the Xuánshī Sect possessed any.

Judging by this, even searching other immortal cities in the Wanxing Sea would be futile; the uproar was caused by the Sea King Sect’s secret realm, with the great Golden Core factions forcing cultivators to seek opportunities there.

With this in mind, Shen Lian felt it was time to leave the Wanxing Sea.

There was an old demon here.

In fact, he had little attachment to this place and had only stirred up trouble.

But leaving required preparation.

The journey from the Wanxing Sea to the heart of the South Sea region was long and perilous.

Especially crossing the uninhabited sea area—despite traveling by spirit ship, thorough preparation was essential.

Currently, he carried only one large Tianyan Jade Talisman and two un-nurtured Tianyan Talismans; the small Tianyan Talismans had been used up.

His immediate priority was to acquire some Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow ore.

He picked up the detailed map of the Xuánshī Sect’s sea region again; each sect’s territory had various mining veins of differing sizes.

The Xuánshī Sect controlled many spiritual veins; from mining alone, their annual income exceeded a million spiritual stones. Of course, the larger the sect, the more they consumed.

After a brief glance at the sea map, Shen Lian withdrew his divine sense—being stared at by a pale-faced female cultivator made him uncomfortable.

For some reason, in his perception, this sister Xiang’s gaze felt strange.

Not exactly hostile, but an indescribable feeling nonetheless.

After paying the spiritual stones for the map and information, he prepared to leave.

“Ah…”

Watching Shen Lian’s departing figure, Xiang Xiuxia sighed softly, wanting to keep him but finding it hard to speak, her face shadowed with quiet grievance.

Her two demon spirits wore even deeper sorrow on their watery faces, accompanied by soft whimpers.

Not far off, Shen Lian quickened his steps and swiftly leapt out of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion.

“My sect mission!”

Xiang Xiuxia lamented mournfully.

“This is the first unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator I’ve encountered in thirty years.”

The Xuánshī Sect required their disciples, after Foundation Establishment, to serve as stewards or officials in the city and attract at least one Foundation Establishment cultivator to settle within Xuánshī territory.

There was no time limit, but the sooner the task was completed—or exceeded—the more rewards the sect provided.

Besides attracting Foundation Establishment cultivators, there was also the task of gathering scattered Qi Refinement cultivators at the ninth level.

But Qi Refinement cultivators held lower status than Foundation Establishment ones and could not form the foundation of the “Wanji Formation.”

Ahem… Do not misunderstand, fellow cultivator.

The Xuánshī Sect always adhered to the righteous path of demonic cultivation.

While the sect required the corpses of Foundation Establishment cultivators for their corpse puppets, they would never hunt Foundation Establishment cultivators to the point of self-destruction.

The sect’s principle was mutual consent: attracting outside Foundation Establishment cultivators to settle in Xuánshī territory to increase their numbers was one method of expansion.

If one wished to root themselves in Xuánshī territory, the sect would resolve all worries.

No family? Weak bloodline?

Looking for seedlings with spiritual roots?

They would send you a hundred at a time, guaranteeing a greatly increased chance of offspring with spiritual roots.

No land?

The sect would provide.

The first century counted as development time with no fees.

With enough Foundation Establishment cultivators, was there any fear of not producing enough ascended Foundation Establishment cultivators?

Even if the family refused to offer up an old Foundation Establishment ancestor, the sect would not resort to forceful seizure.

“Fellow cultivator, your family’s ancestor has ascended. Need a Foundation Establishment pill?”

“One ancestor for one pill.”

“Delivered to your door.”

“Not needed now?”

“No problem, the Xuánshī Sect has two thousand years of patience.”

“When your family’s Foundation Establishment cultivators face a gap, dig up the previously buried ancestor and exchange them for a Foundation Establishment pill.”

“Delivered to your door.”

...

Standing on the pavilion, Xiang Xiuxia watched Shen Lian descend to the riverbank and sighed again.

Thirty years—an entire thirty years—and she had barely met a stranger whose aura was unfamiliar.

But he had openly stated he did not wish to stay in the Xuánshī sea region and intended to head to the South Sea. She could hardly force him to remain.

...

Exiting the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, Shen Lian glanced back at the majestic building, straightened his robe, and nearly broke out in goosebumps.

That Xiang cultivator likely had a twisted mind from corpse refining; her aura felt odd.

“Senior.”

Du Shengyun, seeing Shen Lian descend, hurriedly lifted his grandfather out of the stone trough.

Just as he was about to speak, a flash of white light appeared, startling him into several steps backward with a bow.

“Senior.”

Yun Fei gracefully descended, handing over a jade slip.

“If you intend to reside long-term or establish a family within the sect’s territory, please take a look at this jade slip. The sect warmly welcomes outside cultivators.”

After leaving the jade slip, Yun Fei’s white robes fluttered as she flew back to the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion.

Shen Lian examined the jade slip and realized he had misjudged.

He thought so; his disguised face was utterly unremarkable.

Originally, he had considered crafting a new facial appearance after Foundation Establishment, but then thought it better to go with the flow. A doubly plain face would hardly attract special attention from female cultivators.

“Xuánshī Sect’s great talent.”

Shen Lian was quite impressed by the contents of the jade slip; was the cultivation world really so particular?

“Wanji Formation.”

That name struck him profoundly.

“Ji” meant Foundation Establishment, not anything else.

The full name of the Xuánshī Sect’s protective formation was the Earth-Death Wanji Formation. It was said the sect’s goal was to gather tens of thousands of Foundation Establishment-level corpse puppets.

How many Foundation Establishment corpse puppets were in this formation now was unknown to outsiders.

“So, they’re after my body after I die.”

Shen Lian breathed a sigh of relief; as long as they didn’t mess with him while alive, no problem.

If he died, even his ashes could be smeared on the wall without issue.

“Senior.”

Du Shengyun bowed cautiously.

“Lead the way.”

“Yes, yes.”

Not sensing the pressure typical of Foundation Establishment cultivators from Shen Lian, Du Shengyun relaxed and quickened his pace.

“Any interesting events lately?”

“What kind of events, senior?”

“Anything, I enjoy stories.”

Shen Lian followed the winding stone path forward.

“There’s plenty to say. I dare to speak freely before you, senior.”

Du Shengyun composed his thoughts. This was his first time leading a Foundation Establishment senior; if he could amuse him, even accidentally revealing a secret would be worth it.

“The biggest recent event is the war between two nearby great families...”

Du Shengyun’s chatter was endless and somewhat scattered from nervousness and excitement.

He recounted legends, rumors, gossip, family battles, and insider news about Xuánshī Sect elders.

The information he accessed at his realm was just the hearsay among fellow city cultivators doing the same.

Seeing Shen Lian’s neutral reaction emboldened him further.

After walking along the Xuánshui Riverbank for a quarter hour, Shen Lian asked, “Is the refined iron mine on Jinchuan Island large?”

Du Shengyun paused mid-flow, “Senior, the mining vein on Jinchuan Island is not large, and the quality is poor. It has been mined for over a century, and in recent decades no second-grade refined iron ore has appeared.”

“Are you looking for forging materials, senior?”

Casting a cautious glance at Shen Lian, and seeing no change in expression, Du Shengyun continued, “There are many mining veins in the Xuánshī sea region; the most famous is the spiritual stone-associated mine on Yuanshui Island.

“That is a third-grade vein, and since its opening, several third-grade ores have been discovered.”

With each sentence, Du Shengyun glanced at Shen Lian, careful not to offend the senior cultivator.

“Continue.”

Ignoring Du Shengyun’s small nervous gestures, Shen Lian grew interested in this associated mine.

Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow was a byproduct of mining veins; any type could produce it.

“The mining vein on Yuanshui Island is among Xuánshī Sect’s most important industries, guarded by a Golden Core elder. Outsiders are usually forbidden from setting foot on the island.”

A Golden Core sect would consider third-grade spiritual materials strategic assets.

Such materials could not be priced like ordinary spiritual stones; Xuánshī Sect’s approach was unsurprising.

Shen Lian frowned slightly. Having failed to purchase Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow in the sea area, he could only consider obtaining it from mining veins.

But with a Golden Core elder guarding it, even if it was a fake pill, he’d better avoid the place.

“There is, however, another third-grade mining island called Haiyuan Island east of the Xuánshī sea region, almost adjacent to the Sea Tribe’s territory.”

Shen Lian squinted, recalling the detailed sea map he had purchased earlier; such a place existed but lacked detailed markings.

“This island used to produce third-grade ores too. Xuánshī Sect and the Sea Tribe clashed many times over it, but as the vein depleted and due to Sea Tribe invasions, it was eventually abandoned.”

“Your information is quite reliable.”

Shen Lian glanced at Du Shengyun.

“Thank you, senior. This is my livelihood. Such matters are widely known in the sea region. I am honored that you give me this opportunity.”

As they walked, Shen Lian noticed a robe shop standing by the riverside, paused, and entered.

“This one, this one, and that one... none.”

“I’ll take the rest.”

Inside, before the shopkeeper could speak, he saw all the various robes, male and female, old and young—everything except for a dozen pieces left untouched.

Du Shengyun hurried to the counter and murmured quietly, “Senior Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

The shopkeeper was startled. The highest quality robes here were first-grade excellent, imbued with minor spells like dust-proofing, light reflection, and color change.

Weren’t Foundation Establishment cultivators usually reserved?

“Do you have second-grade robes?”

“No.”

The shopkeeper shook his head vehemently. Robes were for appearance; they weren’t Golden Core elders. Ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators, even if wealthy, preferred to spend on defensive magical treasures rather than frivolous robes.

“How much?”

Before the shopkeeper could respond, Shen Lian tossed out a small storage bag and walked out.

The shopkeeper trembled as he opened the bag and carefully counted the spiritual stones inside before sighing in relief.

The senior was indeed a senior—not shirking payment.

The stones offered left him with a small profit.

Needing many robes of various styles, Shen Lian anticipated possible future needs. If he turned into an old man, youth, or child, lacking matching robes would be unprofessional.

The robes ranged from ordinary to first-grade excellent, with a variety of styles including female garments.

Exiting Xuánshuicheng, Shen Lian handed Du Shengyun ten spiritual stones and headed toward a small treasure ship about to set sail.

He pondered whether to visit Haiyuan Mining Island.

Currently, there was no channel to purchase Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow, so he had to consider the source.

But obtaining it from the source was not easy; high-quality, high-yield mining veins in Xuánshī territory were dominated by the sect.

Smaller, harder-to-exploit veins were allocated to subordinate Foundation Establishment families, with the sect taking a share.

In other words, all developed mining veins had owners and stationed cultivators.

The larger the vein, the higher the chance of Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow appearing; small veins were less likely.

Correspondingly, stronger cultivators guarded larger veins.

Hence, Shen Lian considered going the opposite way: exploring the abandoned Haiyuan Mining Island.

He had the Five Elements Earth Spirit Puppet to tunnel underground, perhaps finding some overlooked treasures.

He did not covet large chunks of Xuán Lìng Jade Marrow ore; small pieces would suffice to nurture the small Tianyan Talismans.

If he could uncover several pieces to nurture the two large Tianyan Talismans, all the better.

Additionally, he needed a place to reforge the Five Elements Spirit Puppet.

Haiyuan Mining Island was in the eastern part of Xuánshī territory, on the eastern edge of the Wanxing Sea, far from the Xuánhǎi Sect.

An abandoned mine far from habitation was perfect for hiding and cultivation.

...

One month later.

At sea, a treasure ship cut through the waves. Shen Lian, cultivating in a cabin, opened his eyes and rose to look out the window.

The sea was alive with drums and firecrackers.

A treasure ship dressed in red and green hung with lanterns and flags, echoing with song and dance.

At its highest point, tens of thousands of clustered branches formed a canopy beneath which lay a large crimson coffin.

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(The chapter ends.)