Outside the Hanging Mountain.
“Xuantu Spiritual Master truly has not had it easy. After all, he is only an early-stage Purple Mansion cultivator who has refined a single divine ability, and he does not even possess a Purple Mansion dharma treasure.”
“If the fight had continued, the six of us really might have beaten him to death.”
Holding the Bronze Ge in hand, Fang Qing watched Xuantu Spiritual Master depart into the distance.
When Purple Mansion cultivators could not win, escaping was generally quite easy for them.
The few times he had heard of Purple Mansion cultivators falling, they had either been trapped within Grotto Heavens and Blessed Lands or hunted down by late-stage Purple Mansion Great Spiritual Masters. Those were all special circumstances.
‘But Xuantu Spiritual Master truly suffered this time. His mountain gate is gone, and he could not even take away the Purple Mansion Grand Array.’
Relocating a Purple Mansion Grand Array was an extremely troublesome undertaking. Xuantu Spiritual Master had not even reached the point of preparing for it before the White Bone Dao attacked his doorstep.
‘Still, our White Bone Dao has now gained both a Purple Mansion enemy and the hostility of Cloud Grazing Cliff. That Great Spiritual Master Si Chen is an extremely calculating person.’
Fang Qing sighed softly and swung the Bronze Ge in his hand.
His Body Refinement had now reached the third rank. His blood qi surged skyward like that of an unrivaled great demon. The Bronze Ge itself was forged from extraordinary material, easily withstanding his monstrous strength. Bronze radiance flickered across its surface as it transformed into a towering bronze pillar and smashed violently against the Hanging Mountain’s Purple Mansion Grand Array.
The Purple Mansion array erupted with boundless dawn light, instantly transforming into countless ravines and chasms while manifesting the image of “Xu-Earth giving rise to Kun.” It actually managed to withstand the blow completely.
“Not bad at all…”
Fang Qing praised casually before shouting, “Attack together!”
In an instant, one Dumu figure after another appeared.
Moonlight descended. Five-element divine radiance swept across the land. Auspicious green brilliance spread outward, followed by an expanse of darkness…
Countless profound manifestations merged together, transforming this entire region into a Buddhist pure land. Boundless Buddhist light illuminated the heavens as heavenly flowers rained down and golden lotuses bloomed from the earth.
Crash!
Suddenly, the Purple Mansion Grand Array opened from within. A Dao Foundation cultivator stepped out, followed by a group of trembling small cultivators huddled together like frightened quails.
“I, Tu Yuanzi of the Xuantu Sect, am willing to submit.”
The Dao Foundation cultivator knelt upon the ground and raised the sect master seal high above his head.
Fang Qing casually accepted it. The seal was a small earth-yellow stamp carved from what seemed to be a single piece of bright yellow stone.
After refining it slightly, he immediately sensed the Purple Mansion Grand Array and obtained partial control authority over it.
“The Thousand Ravines and Ten Thousand Chasms Array? Back then, they invited a formation grandmaster from Cloud Grazing Cliff to construct it. It corresponds to one of the divine abilities within [Di Earth], namely ‘Xu Yuan Kun.’”
“To establish this Purple Mansion formation, Xuantu Spiritual Master and the entire Xuantu Sect spent fifty years serving that cliff-top formation master like oxen and horses before finally repaying the debt. It even delayed Xuantu Spiritual Master’s own cultivation, leaving him unable to refine even a single Purple Mansion dharma artifact.”
“In truth, the entire treasury of the Xuantu Sect is not worth as much as this one Purple Mansion Grand Array. This grudge is now truly settled.”
Fang Qing casually tossed the small seal to Moonlight White Dumu beside him.
This Purple Mansion Grand Array would definitely have to be dismantled and removed. Xuantu Spiritual Master surely still retained the highest level of control authority over it. Leaving it here would merely aid the enemy.
Later, they would replace the Hanging Mountain formation with a Buddhist altar-city ritual array. Even if Xuantu Spiritual Master returned personally, he would no longer recognize the place.
He then accepted several ancient manuals handed over by Tu Yuanzi.
The first among them was the Xuantu True Scripture.
“This cultivation method refines the [Di Earth] divine ability ‘Dusk Haze Descends.’ It is a Purple Mansion-level inheritance.”
“Unfortunately, I already possess something superior for earth virtue.”
Fang Qing glanced through it briefly before casually tossing it to Peacock Dumu. He then examined the final items presented to him: the disciple registers and treasury ledgers.
“Mm… As expected of a Purple Mansion sect. There are indeed some reserves here.”
“After the last plundering, they had finally begun recovering. Unfortunately for them, they encountered the utterly unreasonable lunatics of the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain.”
…
“Breaking their mountain gate, capturing their sect master, forcing him to kneel before the steps.”
“The Xuantu Sect… has really been destroyed?”
Below, among the many Qi Ingestion cultivators.
Yue Mingxue tightly gripped the Xuanqing dharma artifact sword in her hand as she stared blankly at the scene before her.
Naturally, she recognized the Xuantu Sect. Back then, it was this sect’s Dao Foundation great cultivator who had arrived aboard a giant ship and conscripted the upper ranks of the Kitchen God Sect, including her husband. None of them had ever returned.
Later, she had heard that her father-in-law joined the Buddhist armies and once attacked this sect’s mountain gate, though they ultimately failed to completely destroy it and returned in regret.
She had never expected that upon stepping foot here a second time, she would witness the Xuantu Sect… annihilated!
‘Surely my husband and father-in-law, if their spirits still linger in heaven, would feel comforted upon hearing of this.’
Yue Mingxue’s body finally relaxed. She glanced toward the monk Fayuan beside her.
This monk had truly surrendered himself completely. The fate of the Fang Family was now tied directly to his own, for better or worse.
With the Fang Family supplying him with spiritual resources, he had barely managed to stabilize his mana cultivation and recover from his injuries. This time, he had even accompanied them in the campaign against the Xuantu Sect.
“The fall of the Xuantu Sect is only the beginning.”
Yet Monk Fayuan’s expression looked extremely grim. “If our enemy were merely the Xuantu Sect, why would this humble monk lower himself so greatly? This campaign has mobilized a grand army to shatter Xuantu, conquer Wushan, carve a path straight through Ancient Shu, and march all the way to the territory of the Blissful Union Sect to contend with this Golden Core sect head-on.”
Both Fang Wujiu and Yue Mingxue let out long sighs, inwardly cursing:
‘Have these plague-ridden Esoteric monks gone mad? Did the Blissful Union Sect provoke them somehow? Why travel tens of thousands of li just to fight to the death with them.’
Unfortunately, this was simply how the Esoteric Domain operated. Its control was absolute. A single thought from those above could overturn heaven and earth below.
Meanwhile, in the Qi Refining world, upon Taibai Island.
A flash of light flickered, and Fang Qing’s figure quietly appeared.
“After breaking the Xuantu Sect, there is still the journey ahead.”
“The army is mostly composed of Qi Ingestion cultivators. They cannot fly very far and must primarily travel on foot. Along the way there are also countless Dao Foundation and Qi Ingestion factions to deal with. Then they still need to assault Wushan Commandery, the gateway to the Shu lands, before marching onward into the Blissful Union Sect’s territory. Just the travel alone will likely consume several years.”
Crossing Ancient Shu had never been easy for lower-level cultivators to begin with. Add in the task of conquering territory along the way, and the campaign would drag on even longer.
Faced with such a long and miserable war, Fang Qing naturally wanted no part of it.
Thus, he immediately returned to the Taibai Island side, preparing instead to explore the far broader Eastern Sea Cultivation World.
After all, now that he had become a Duzi, the Ten Thousand Li Sea Route, once considered distant even to Core Formation cultivators, was now merely half a day’s travel through the void for him.
As usual, Fang Qing emerged from seclusion intending to relax for a while before setting out again.
At that moment, Bei Lingshu arrived, bringing news from the sect that was less than pleasant.
“What? Three days ago the sect displayed Core Formation heavenly phenomena?”
Fang Qing’s heart stirred slightly as he performed a quick calculation. “So that’s what happened. It was Shi Tiexin. That Core Formation Pill from before was prepared for him all along. With his cultivation, aptitude, and a single Core Formation Pill, his chances of succeeding were nearly fifty percent. Yet he still failed.”
‘This definitely has nothing to do with me. Don’t tell me he was somehow suppressed or frightened by my fate?’
“Fortunately, the Minor Huan Sea no longer has any enemies. With Ruan Zhixuan alone as a Core Formation ancestor, suppression is more than sufficient.”
“Send a letter in this ancestor’s name expressing condolences. That will do.”
He waved his hand dismissively, clearly unconcerned.
Bei Lingshu withdrew with a puzzled expression.
The intelligence she had received only stated that Core Formation heavenly phenomena had appeared over Verdant Jade Island. It had never mentioned success or failure.
Yet this Ancestor Fang had immediately concluded the attempt had failed.
Within the Qi Refining world, the Minor Huan Sea was merely a remote corner of the Eastern Sea Cultivation World.
Moreover, the only route connecting it to the Eastern Sea Cultivation World was the Ten Thousand Li Sea Route, filled with regions devoid of spiritual qi. The journey was not only extremely long but also highly dangerous. In addition, the Minor Huan Sea possessed few notable specialties and almost no third-rank or higher spiritual materials. As a result, high-level cultivators rarely came unless they were natives.
Even a Core Formation cultivator flying at full speed would need nearly a month to cross the Ten Thousand Li Sea Route.
For Fang Qing, however, things were entirely different. He merely entered the void, occasionally bypassing spatial storms and avoiding dangerous regions.
After less than half a day, he arrived above a certain sea region.
The entire sea was crimson red, while beneath the water countless blood-colored coral reefs shimmered with dazzling light.
In the mortal world, any single coral branch here could be sold for an astronomical price. But to cultivators, anything lacking spiritual qi was worthless trash.
“We’ve arrived. This should be the Red Coral Sea…”
Fang Qing took out the sea chart Zhong Lingxiu had previously sent him and compared it carefully.
“The Heavenly Frost Sect is not far from this region. They control numerous sea territories, while their main island possesses a fourth-rank spirit vein. Under them are many third-rank spirit islands. Zhong Lingxiu is currently staying on Ice Heaven Island with the Zhong Family. There is a marketplace there that rents cave dwellings to outsiders, with the highest reaching third-rank.”
“He has now established a small faction called the Zhong Alliance, nominally attached to the Heavenly Frost Sect.”
Within the Eastern Sea Cultivation World, any faction lacking a Core Formation cultivator was hardly worthy of having a name at all.
Ice Heaven Island.
Though called an island, it looked more like a vast continent.
At its center stood a magnificent structure soaring into the heavens, divided into nine levels. Each level contained sprawling palace complexes stretching endlessly across the land.
A massive formation enveloped the entire structure. Above, it resonated with the stars and drew down the radiance of the galaxy itself. Below, it connected to the earth veins, gathering the vitality of all directions. It had actually reached the level of a quasi fourth-rank formation.
Within the many palaces, fields of spiritual herbs flourished. Immortal cranes cried through the skies while spiritual apes plucked fruits from the trees.
The marketplace opened its gates freely to all directions. On either side of every entrance stood strange ice sculptures that were in fact third-rank ice puppets.
“Ice Heaven Market. This marketplace cannot even rank highly within the Eastern Sea Cultivation World, yet it is already so grand.”
“No wonder cultivators who have visited the Eastern Sea Cultivation World look down on the Minor Huan Sea as some rural backwater.”
Fang Qing did not enter the marketplace itself. Instead, he arrived at another location on Ice Heaven Island.
Before him stretched a frozen canyon lined with numerous castles. Faint quasi third-rank spiritual qi drifted through the air.
At the very peak of the frost-covered fortress flew a snow-white banner bearing a single character:
“Zhong Alliance.”
Inside one of the icy palaces.
Zhong Lingxiu was currently drinking tea with a black-robed Core Formation cultivator.
“Fellow Daoist… please grant me a little more time.”
The black-robed Core Formation cultivator was one of Ice Heaven Market’s stewards, bearing the Daoist title “Xuanqi.” Hearing this, he shook his head.
“Our market opens its gates widely and leases spirit veins to all factions. Everything is naturally handled as business. If not for Fellow Daoist’s status as an elder of the Heavenly Frost Sect, you would never have received such favorable terms to begin with. The price cannot go any lower.”
Xuanqi took a sip of spiritual tea before continuing:
“Fellow Daoist truly works hard. In truth, if not for maintaining this small faction, we Core Formation cultivators would live far more freely and comfortably.”
“Sigh… in the end, they are still my clansmen.”
Zhong Lingxiu smiled bitterly in reply.
In truth, if not for Young Master’s orders, he would long ago have cast off these burdens and gone alone to enjoy himself within the Heavenly Frost Sect.
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