Cultivation: Immunity to Negative Effects

Chapter 278: Chapter 278: Golden Wind Kingdom, Yanxia Mountain

"You don’t need to consider it any longer, Senior. I am willing. From now on, I will defer to you in all of the family’s affairs."

Shang Deyi hesitated for only a moment before gritting his teeth and agreeing.

For one, he worried that if he refused, Zhang Chi wouldn’t actually leave but would simply kill him and take his possessions.

For another, he worried that if Zhang Chi left, the rest of the Shang Family would return with a vengeance, and his death would still be certain.

And thirdly, without an expert like Zhang Chi, his family didn’t even have a single Foundation Establishment Cultivator in this generation. They would only be able to participate in the competition for Tier One Spiritual Land.

The fact that Zhang Chi made such a demand proved that regardless of whether he was a Pure Body Cultivator or not, he was definitely an expert at the Foundation Establishment Level.

As for guarding a Super-Micro Oasis, while it was relatively dangerous, it wouldn’t be too much of a problem as long as they chose the right location.

Besides, even if they chose a normal Tier Two Spiritual Land, the Shang Family’s standing meant they could only pick one on the edge of a small Oasis, where they would still have to face a Beast Tide.

Otherwise, his father wouldn’t have died in a Beast Tide back then.

Most importantly, he felt that as long as they had a chance to catch their breath, the Shang Family could definitely grow and develop over time.

And while Zhang Chi would control the Shang Family, he probably wouldn’t go too far, and he would have to leave sooner or later.

This was unlike the Feng Family, who wanted the members of the Shang Family to change their very surnames—tantamount to the complete eradication of their clan.

"Good. You’re very smart. I trust you will one day be grateful for the decision you made today. In that case, let’s sign the Spirit Contract at once."

"Also, if anyone in your family disagrees, I can take care of them for you directly," Zhang Chi added with a satisfied nod.

"Understood, Senior. However, I plan to first try persuading my clansmen. If that proves impossible, then I will have to trouble you."

Now that Shang Deyi had made his decision, he didn’t dwell on it any longer and immediately gave a respectful nod.

However, he didn’t ask Zhang Chi to act directly.

He didn’t want to kill his own clansmen unless it was a last resort.

After all, they were his own people, and losing too many of them would make it difficult to keep up the appearance of a growing family.

He felt a particular sense of dread when he recalled the gruesome state of the two Honored Guest Elders’ corpses.

"Suit yourself."

Zhang Chi was noncommittal.

After that, Zhang Chi and Shang Deyi signed a Spirit Contract, which stipulated everything very clearly.

For example, after obtaining the Super-Micro Oasis, Zhang Chi would have exclusive use of the Tier Two Spiritual Vein, while the Tier One Spiritual Vein would go to the Shang Family.

The profits generated by the Oasis would also be distributed by Zhang Chi.

The Shang Family members would be responsible for guarding the Oasis, while Zhang Chi only needed to lend a hand at critical moments.

Furthermore, Zhang Chi had the right to terminate his partnership with the Shang Family at any time, depending on the circumstances.

Thus, the Spirit Contract was extremely one-sided.

But Shang Deyi had no objections, because he had no choice. Moreover, even if the partnership was unequal, it actually had many benefits for the Shang Family.

He was particularly overjoyed that the contract stipulated Zhang Chi would not interfere in the Shang Family’s internal affairs.

This showed that Zhang Chi truly just saw the Shang Family as a tool and had no other ulterior motives.

Zhang Chi, for his part, couldn’t have cared less. After all, a thing like a Spirit Contract held no real power over him.

Signing it was merely to restrain the Shang Family.

Besides, this was just a template for the future.

The profits from a Super-Micro Oasis wouldn’t actually be that high, but if they later contended for a Micro Spiritual Vein, the profits would increase enormously.

At that time, a new Spirit Contract would definitely have to be signed. With this one as a precedent, the Shang Family members would undoubtedly know what to do.

Of course, he didn’t mention any of this to Shang Deyi.

Whether their cooperation would continue depended on how Shang Deyi and the Shang Family performed from here on out.

「Three days passed as the convoy traveled onward.」

In those three days, the convoy encountered no attacks from Demon Beasts because Zhang Chi had once again used his Divine Thought to drive away any that appeared along their path.

At the same time, the other members of the Shang Family failed to appear.

The killing of the three Desert Eagles had already frightened them off.

Moreover, those Shang Family members actually had other spies within the convoy.

These spies had long since sent messages by carrier pigeon, telling the others in the Shang Family that a suspected Tier Two Body Refining expert had appeared in the convoy.

Of course, neither the Shang Family members who had approached to release the Desert Eagles before fleeing in a panic, nor the Mortal Guards who secretly reported back, managed to escape the probing of Zhang Chi’s powerful Divine Thought.

He simply couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

After all, this was an internal matter for the Shang Family; he had no time to meddle.

If Shang Deyi, with him as a backer, still couldn’t solve these minor issues, then he was truly useless.

Meanwhile, that morning, the convoy finally reached the edge of a small Oasis.

This Oasis was called the Golden Wind Oasis. Although called a "small" Oasis, it was actually a vast expanse of land with relatively abundant Spiritual Qi.

Its total area was about one-tenth the size of the Great Abyss, equivalent to the combined territories of the Golden Sun Sect and the Cangwu Sect.

An area of this size was already quite large, and its population was thus extremely high, but the entire Oasis belonged to the Golden Wind Kingdom.

Within the Golden Wind Kingdom were numerous Immortal Cultivation Sects and families. Even the Royal Family of the Golden Wind Kingdom was backed by an Immortal Cultivation Sect, the Golden Wind Sect.

Furthermore, the strongest experts on the Golden Wind Oasis were two Nascent Soul Early Stage Cultivators, both from the Golden Wind Sect.

Across the entire Golden Wind Oasis, there were also over two thousand resident Golden Core Cultivators. As for Foundation Establishment and Qi Cultivation Cultivators, they were as common as dirt.

The Shang Family’s territory was on the edge of the Golden Wind Oasis, at a place called Yanxia Mountain.

On the peak of Yanxia Mountain, there was a small Tier Two Low Grade Spiritual Vein, several Tier One Spiritual Veins, and other assets such as various Spiritual Lands.

In addition, the Shang Family possessed a city called Yanxia City, which was built right on top of the Spiritual Veins at the peak of Yanxia Mountain.

Within Yanxia City, besides a Tier Two Immortal Cultivation Marketplace, the city itself was divided into an inner and an outer city. The Shang Family members lived in the inner city, while the outer city was home not only to Loose Cultivators but also to hundreds of thousands of ordinary Shang Family clan members.

Of course, Yanxia City and its Marketplace were not established by the Shang Family; they had existed long before.

The Shang Family later won control of the area through the Tier Two Spiritual Land competition, and it became their foundation.

However, the Shang Family had been operating here for sixty years, so for most of its members, it could be considered their ancestral home.

But because the Shang Family no longer had a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and with the Feng Family—an external enemy also at the Foundation Establishment level—Yanxia City was already showing signs of decline.

After arriving, Zhang Chi took a brief tour and then, led by Shang Deyi, entered a cave estate on the Tier Two Spiritual Vein to begin his Cultivation in Seclusion.

Zhang Chi didn’t want to be disturbed, so all the Shang Family servants originally in the cave estate were sent away by Shang Deyi.

As for the Shang Family’s internal affairs, Shang Deyi was left to handle them himself, without Zhang Chi needing to worry.

Shang Deyi did not disappoint. He quickly used Zhang Chi’s might to suppress the voices of dissent within the family.

「Time continued to pass.」

With a temporary cave estate, Zhang Chi took out the Eye of the Spirit Spring. Aided by the various Spirit Pills and Spirit Wines from his Storage Ring, his Cultivation skyrocketed. In just ten days, he reached the Qi Cultivation Late Stage.

Ten days later, he successfully reached Foundation Establishment.

However, this breakthrough caused no worldly phenomena.

Another twenty days after that, he had already reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. After cultivating for forty more days, he advanced to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage. Everything fell into place naturally.

After another ten days, Zhang Chi was drawing ever closer to the Foundation Establishment Peak, but he was forced to pause his Cultivation.

The Tier Two competition was finally beginning.

First thing in the morning, Shang Deyi and the core members of the Shang Family were already waiting outside the Cultivation Quiet Chamber.

Then, with Zhang Chi at their center, the group boarded a small, cyan Flying Boat—a Magical Artifact—and flew directly to the competition grounds.

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