Biyu Island, Chilin Fishery.
Even though he had decided to use the “Great Sun Purple Qi” to set a trap, it was not something that could be accomplished overnight.
And the fishery still needed to be patrolled at regular intervals.
Fang Qing sat cross-legged in his cave residence, silently pondering his plans and taking stock of his methods against enemies.
“Firecloud Talismans, Golden Blade Talismans… If the seawater inside the Sea-Transforming Pearl is refined into a special spirit water or poisonous water… my means against enemies could be strengthened further.”
“Besides that, there are the spells I cultivate myself, my perfected first-tier mid-grade body refinement, and the divine sense secret art of the Demon-Subduing Vajra Pestle.”
This divine sense secret art had evolved from the Horse-Head Vajra Dharma Protector Divine Art. After Fang Qing cultivated divine sense, he discovered that it had other marvelous uses.
“Mm… Among my current methods against enemies, what can still be strengthened is this divine art. If I can break through to first-tier high-grade body refinement, with the two combined, I’m afraid I could even fight cultivators at the ninth level of Qi Refining, or even those at perfection!”
“And the Sea-Transforming Pearl still has quite a bit of potential to be excavated…”
As he was thinking, Fang Qing’s expression shifted. He went outside his cave residence and saw a bright yellow voice transmission talisman.
He took it in hand and listened to a few sentences, then summoned the Green Leaf Boat. Turning into a gust of clear wind and green radiance, he arrived above the fishery.
“Senior Brother Fang…”
The one-armed Li Yusu had come to take over the shift, his expression carrying an unconcealable exhaustion.
After all, he was heavily injured, his vital energy had yet to recover, and yet he had come rushing about to toil again.
“Junior Brother Li, how are your injuries recovering? I recently refined a few great qi-and-blood pills…”
This was something Fang Qing had deliberately refined because he anticipated that with the great war approaching, the market for this type of healing pill would rise sharply.
“Many thanks, Senior Brother…”
Li Yusu replied as usual, his heart like dead ashes, as though he had lost interest in everything.
“Alas… What a pity about Cha Zhu.”
Fang Qing sighed, and finally saw Li Yusu’s eyes ripple slightly.
“The three of us were, after all, immortal seedlings from the same town… Seeing you like this, I also feel very upset…”
This was actually a lie. It was merely that Fang Qing wanted to investigate Hua Lian while hiding himself, and this hotheaded fool happened to be of use.
“Do I still have a future?”
Li Yusu smiled miserably. “I’ve lost an arm. My physical body is incomplete, and when I attempt Foundation Establishment, the physical body hurdle will have additional complications… Master said that in my situation, only a second-tier ‘Flesh-Regrowing Bone-Mending Pill’ can save me. That kind of pill is hard to come by. Even if he could take one out, he would not give it to me… Who told me to be the one who got Senior Sister Cha Zhu killed?”
“A second-tier pill?”
Fang Qing was somewhat surprised, then said, “No matter what, as long as you know the path, there is always a way… I have some healing pills here. Take them and sell them for me. I can give you a ten percent commission… Slowly accumulate contributions and see if you can exchange for one within the sect.”
Now was wartime. In order to encourage its disciples, the sect had added many good things to the contribution list.
Second-tier pills, especially healing pills, were naturally among them.
When Li Yusu heard this, his eyes finally carried a hint of light. “Many thanks, Senior Brother… I did many wrong things before. I am truly ashamed.”
“There’s no need to be like this. Remember to keep an eye out for me and see whether there are any methods to refine spirit water or poisonous water. I have use for them as well…”
Seeing that Li Yusu had agreed, Fang Qing gave him a few more instructions.
He could do this kind of thing himself, but with the daily patrol mission still on him, it would take up too much effort. Better to outsource it.
What was more… although Chilin Fishery was not far from the mountain gate, leaving the formation to go trade still involved a certain amount of risk.
Fang Qing chose to let Li Yusu take that risk!
……
Several months later.
Inside Zeng Shu’s cave residence.
Fang Qing sat on prayer mats with Li Yusu and several fellow disciples who guarded this place, exchanging cultivation insights and battlefield intelligence with one another.
“This time… the sect and the Zhong family fought a great battle in the Kuirì Sea Region. It’s said spirit ships were like clouds and cultivators like rain… Although under the protection of large-scale battle formations, not many spirit ships sank, small-scale fighting near the battlefield has been continuous, and quite a few of our fellow disciples have already fallen…”
A young cultivator said with a somewhat pale face, “That Zhong family has issued hiring contracts in the black market, attracting large numbers of loose cultivators to attack the sect’s resource-producing sites. Mixed among them are several elite squads from their main family… They don’t feel any heartache when loose cultivators die, but every member of those elite squads is at late-stage Qi Refining, and they are skilled at magical combat. They’ve already broken through several spirit herb gardens and fisheries…”
“Alas… In times of great war, we are nothing but ants.”
Zeng Shu likewise sighed.
“The key is… why did this war start in the end?”
Fang Qing was somewhat curious.
“For such major sect affairs, I’m afraid only Foundation Establishment cultivators would know…” Zeng Shu smiled bitterly and shook his head. “The Zhong family claims outwardly that they want to avenge their in-laws… But how many years has it been since the Wu family of Baixuan Island was destroyed? Taking revenge only now is clearly just a pretext. Could it be that they obtained powerful reinforcements? And Tianxin Chain Islands says on the surface that it will help neither side, but in truth, it helps whichever of our two families is weaker… This time, the Zhong family dares to start a war. Could it be that they received a secret promise from Tianxin Chain Islands? Or… although the Little Huan Sea cultivation world has always been closed off, there are also outside cultivators…”
“This matter… cannot be ignored.”
Li Yusu’s complexion had improved somewhat. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I’ve been traveling to and from the sect, and I heard that the Zhong family has produced an extraordinary genius with an ice-type variant spiritual root aptitude… This time, after taking action, this person killed quite a few disciples of our sect. Perhaps the Zhong family felt our sect would definitely suppress their genius, so they simply struck first?”
“An ice-type variant spiritual root?”
When the disciples heard this, they were all rather startled.
The human body possessed all five elements, but spiritual roots were not limited to five kinds; there were other variations as well.
For example, this ice spiritual root was a mutation formed from metal and water. A variant-grade aptitude was even more extraordinary, far above high-grade aptitude. It was just not as heaven-defying as heaven-grade aptitude, which had no bottlenecks before Core Formation, but its cultivation speed was absolutely not slow.
If the Zhong family possessed such a qilin child, and if that child had another opportunity, perhaps in a hundred years, they would have one more Core Formation ancestor!
If Bihai Sect knew of this matter, they would definitely take action.
It was also understandable that the Zhong family had struck first.
“By the way, what is the name of that variant-grade ice spiritual root?” Fang Qing was somewhat curious.
“Zhong Lingxiu… It’s said that this person’s ice-type spells are wielded with consummate skill, and they have already killed three true disciples of our sect at perfected Qi Refining…”
Li Yusu let out a long breath. Perhaps feeling that saying this damaged their own morale too much, he hurriedly added, “Many outstanding figures have also emerged from our sect on the battlefield, such as ‘Life-Seizing Sword’ Cui Zhe, Fairy Lingbo, Wulongzi, and so on…”
“Zhong Lingxiu?”
Fang Qing nodded inwardly. He then skipped over Wulongzi, a title Li Yusu had clearly added just to make up the numbers after glancing at him, and instead paid quite a bit of attention to that “Cui Zhe.” A sword cultivator capable of making a name for himself was indeed quite remarkable.
But if he were compared to Li Rulong, he would probably be the type to be cut down in two or three sword strikes…
The truly formidable one was still Zhong Lingxiu!
This was a heavenly prodigy almost guaranteed to reach perfected Foundation Establishment, with hopes of Core Formation!
‘What a pity. No matter how formidable, they’re only at Qi Refining… If I took action, I wonder if I could kill them? Wait… why am I thinking about doing something so dangerous? Even if I really could do it, I would become a thorn in the Zhong family’s side from then on, and it would be impossible for me to keep a low profile inside Bihai Sect. It would be almost entirely disadvantageous.’
……
After the gathering dispersed, Fang Qing returned to his own cave residence. He sat in half-lotus posture, visualizing the Horse-Head Vajra and forming the Wish-Fulfilling Mudra.
Splash!
His qi and blood flowed through his body. With the assistance of his divine sense, it illuminated every subtle part of his body, mending every tiny flaw, hidden injury, and ailment one by one, gradually reaching the realm of a “flawless golden body.”
At last!
Fang Qing exhaled a long breath and sensed the strange power of qi and blood within his body condensing, circulating along his chakras, and finally merging into his sea of consciousness, transforming into a “seed syllable.”
This “seed syllable” resembled both dragon and insect, carrying a twisted feeling.
Yet at a single glance, one immediately knew its meaning: “Great Vajra Divine Strength”!
“This is… my body refinement has finally broken through to first-tier high-grade!”
Fang Qing’s eyes shifted slightly, his expression excited. “And… this Horse-Head Vajra Dharma Protector Divine Art has given birth to another layer of divine wonder. It can issue forth the ‘Great Vajra Divine Strength’!”
After trying it briefly, he knew that his current foundation was shallow. The “Great Vajra Divine Strength” could only be used once, after which he would need to continue bitter cultivation and nourish the seed syllable.
But the boost it gave to his combat strength was no small matter.
“Under the activation of the ‘Great Vajra Divine Strength,’ it can comprehensively augment my body-refinement art, and it also comes with tremendous strength… To say it can make me immune to attacks from magic tools is a slight exaggeration, but it is enough to break through the defenses of a high-grade magic tool and give the enemy a big surprise. This is… almost the might of quasi-second-tier body refinement?”
“As expected, the cultivation arts of ancient Shu are exquisite, far surpassing those of this world…”
“Unfortunately, my Horse-Head Vajra Dharma Protector Divine Art only has the content of the first level, the ‘Fierce Donkey Demon Sequence.’ After perfecting it, the cultivation method for the next level, the ‘Mule-Faced Vajra Prajna Sequence,’ will probably have to be sought in the Hidden Treasury Domain…”
The current Fang Qing had more or less cultivated this first level art to great accomplishment and was not far from perfection.
After that, he would lack the cultivation art, with no road forward.
However, he was already extremely satisfied with this.
Just the performance of this body-refinement art alone was already not much inferior to Bihai Sect’s “Blackwater Dharma Body,” not to mention that it also strengthened the mental level and helped him cultivate divine sense. It was absolutely a tremendous gain.
Just as Fang Qing was pondering, a shrill voice transmission talisman suddenly flew into the cave residence.
“This?”
His expression changed drastically. He put all his items into his storage bag and drove the Green Leaf Boat soaring into the sky.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The cold wind was bone-piercing.
One hailstone after another smashed down, causing even the surface of the lake to freeze over with a layer of solid ice.
He focused his eyes and saw a dozen or so white-robed cultivators already charging into the formation of Chilin Lake!
“Not good, they’re Zhong family cultivators!”
Fang Qing identified them at a glance. These were direct-line cultivators of the Zhong family, not those loose cultivator cannon fodder!
‘That’s not right…’
While Zeng Shu and the others shouted and fought with spells, his heart was filled with incomprehension. ‘I clearly cast a divination every day. Today was minor auspiciousness…’
‘Could my divination have been obscured? No… divination isn’t omnipotent.’
‘Or is it… because even though we encountered an attack, with my strength I can still escape smoothly, so it counts as “minor auspiciousness”?’
Fang Qing suddenly understood that he could not completely trust the Plum Blossom Changes. Otherwise, it would simply get him killed!