Chapter 198: Respective Decisions
Chapter 198: Chapter 198: Respective Decisions
Great Zhou, Celestial Dao City of the Immortal Alliance.
In a hidden market, Teng Feng walked out of a large shop onto a wide street.
More than twenty years had passed, and his cultivation had now impressively broken through to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
"Senior, are you there?" Teng Feng called out with his consciousness to Nether Bone, the entity parasitizing his sea of consciousness, as he walked.
Not long ago, Nether Bone had guided him to this shop to purchase information about his enemies. But after obtaining the intel, Nether Bone hadn’t shown the expected excitement. Instead, he had fallen silent.
This made Teng Feng a little uneasy. After all, the background of the enemy Nether Bone wanted to investigate was terrifyingly powerful.
Even with Teng Feng’s fearless nature, he was secretly alarmed.
"I am perfectly fine," a hoarse voice replied from within his sea of consciousness.
Teng Feng breathed a sigh of relief and asked tentatively, "Senior, was there a problem with the information we just found?"
When Nether Bone first possessed him, Teng Feng had actually been terrified. He had worried that Nether Bone would harm him, or even take over his body through Possession.
But so many years had passed. With the help of the resources Nether Bone provided, he had broken through to Foundation Establishment and cultivated all the way to the Mid-stage. Unconsciously, he had developed a bit of a good impression of Nether Bone and was willing to do things for him, as long as there wasn’t too much danger.
After all, Nether Bone had just given him so much.
"Heh heh... The information is fine. It’s just that I seem to have misunderstood," Nether Bone sneered. "I originally thought that adulterous couple was the one who poisoned me."
"But now, seeing as they specifically established the Ying Sea Commerce Association to search the world for me, perhaps they weren’t the ones who poisoned me. Otherwise, why would they go to such trouble, wasting so many resources to find a dead man?"
Teng Feng remained silent. He could hear the change in Nether Bone’s tone; it was as if this result was a great relief to him as well.
Thinking of the identity of that "enemy" couple, he couldn’t help but inwardly mock, ’A simp who gets old just becomes an old simp.’
Of course, he didn’t dare say this thought aloud. Instead, he asked respectfully, "Senior, where are we going next?"
"To the East Sea," Nether Bone said without hesitation. "The poison I’m afflicted with is called Ice Liquor Frost. It is a rare toxin that only the Sea Race knows how to create. We might be able to find the culprit who ambushed me there."
Simp or not, Nether Bone was just as deeply obsessed with revenge.
He had given up the chance to reincarnate, surviving to this day as a remnant soul.
Having paid such a price, how could he possibly rest until he found the culprit and ground their bones to dust?
’The East Sea.’ Teng Feng’s heart tightened.
Nether Bone sensed his shock and chuckled sinisterly. "Heh heh... I’m not just going to the East Sea for revenge. Although the East Sea is dangerous, it’s the only place where you, as a Loose Cultivator, have a chance to obtain a Core Formation Spiritual Object and attempt to break through to the Core Formation realm. The importance of this trip to you goes without saying."
Teng Feng sighed internally but gave a slight nod on the outside. "I will follow Senior’s lead."
According to the information Teng Feng had gathered:
To the east of Great Zhou lay a vast, endless sea. This immense ocean was not only home to a virtually infinite number of Demon Beasts but also to various Aliens, such as the ’Sea Race’ and the ’Merfolk’.
Although the Immortal Alliance had made repeated attempts to expand, sparking major wars with the Demon Beasts and Aliens, even Nascent Soul Cultivators had intervened during these great battles.
Over thousands of years, they had only managed to gain a slight upper hand, seizing just a few islands in the coastal waters of the East Sea.
As for the deep sea, it remained the territory of Demon Beasts and Aliens.
The great wars involving Nascent Soul Cultivators were no more, but sporadic conflicts still frequently erupted.
A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator like him could easily run into danger in the East Sea with a single misstep.
But just as Nether Bone had said, as vast as Great Zhou was, it had little to do with a mere Loose Cultivator like him. If he wanted to obtain a precious treasure like a Core Formation Spiritual Object, the East Sea was his only option.
...
In the wilderness, a streak of azure Escape Light shot across the sky, heading toward Fenglan Immortal City.
Within the Escape Light was none other than Li Ping.
As he flew, he pondered his earlier conversation with the female Loose Cultivator from the Qi Kingdom.
According to her, if one traveled east from the Qi Kingdom, passed through the countries occupied by the four Sects of the Demon Dao, and then crossed a vast, endless desert, one would reach an immense Cultivation Realm known as Great Zhou.
The four Sects of the Demon Dao were cultivation Sects that had migrated from Great Zhou.
Great Zhou was a vast land where both the Immortal and Demon Dao coexisted, filled with countless experts. Even transcendent beings like Nascent Soul Cultivators made frequent appearances.
As long as they could reach Great Zhou, even Hua Wuji would be powerless against them.
Curious, Li Ping had quickly asked her why the four Sects of the Demon Dao would migrate to the Western Wilderness if Great Zhou was a sacred land for cultivation far superior to it.
The female cultivator pondered for a moment before telling Li Ping, with some uncertainty:
She had vaguely heard someone mention it.
It seemed the four Sects of the Demon Dao had been driven out and were forbidden from returning to Great Zhou.
In fact, before the four Demon Dao Sects entered the Western Wilderness, Flying Ships would travel between the Western Wilderness Cultivation Realm and Great Zhou periodically. Some Late-stage Core Formation Cultivators who had hit their limits in the Western Wilderness would go to Great Zhou to seek opportunities for Nascent Soul Formation.
Ever since the four Demon Dao Sects arrived, they had blocked the path between the Western Wilderness and Great Zhou.
Furthermore, because their presence threatened the native Sects, the Late-stage Core Formation Cultivators of the Western Wilderness no longer dared to venture far from their home.
For instance, Alliance Leader Xiao of the Daoist Guardian Alliance had already reached the Peak of Core Formation over a century ago, qualifying him to seek his chance at Nascent Soul Formation in Great Zhou.
However, he had given up the trip to Great Zhou in order to protect his Sect.
After explaining everything to Li Ping, the female cultivator had frankly stated that if he remained in the Western Wilderness, he would surely die once Hua Wuji was free to deal with him. He would be better off traveling with her to Great Zhou, where he might have a chance of survival.
Hearing her words, Li Ping finally had a clearer picture of the Great Zhou Cultivation Realm, and his understanding of the world beyond the Western Wilderness was no longer a complete fog.
However, he had rejected her proposal to travel to Great Zhou together without the slightest hesitation.
He was a complete stranger to this woman, and her origins were unknown. How could he possibly accept her invitation?
He couldn’t even be one hundred percent certain whether the tangled history she described between Great Zhou, the four Demon Dao Sects, and the Western Wilderness was true.
At the very least, he didn’t believe that Alliance Leader Xiao would give up on Nascent Soul Formation for the sake of his Sect.
After achieving Nascent Soul Formation, the mere five hundred extra years of life was enough to drive any cultivator mad with desire. Who could resist such a temptation?
Besides, even if everything she said was true...
...the journey to Great Zhou required slipping past right under the noses of the four Demon Dao Sects. Who knew if he wouldn’t run headfirst into Hua Wuji?
Li Ping wasn’t one to gamble on probabilities; he was accustomed to keeping everything under his own control.
Worst comes to worst, he still had the secret realm’s cave-abode to hide in.
If it came down to it, he could just cultivate in the secret cave-abode for a century or so and wait until Hua Wuji lost patience.
Li Ping didn’t believe that a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator would spend all his time lying in wait for him just because a descendant had died.
After all, since Hua Wuji had cultivated to the Late-stage Core Formation, he probably didn’t have much of his lifespan left. He couldn’t afford to waste it like this.
Perhaps he only had a few decades of life left. Li Ping might be able to simply outlast him until he died of old age.
’No matter what he does, I will remain as immovable as a mountain,’ Li Ping thought to himself. ’I’ll go back and hide in the secret cave-abode Yan Liming discovered. I’ll cultivate until I reach Late-stage Foundation Establishment... No, the Peak of Foundation Establishment, before I come out.’
In truth, he still had his doubts about that female cultivator.
For a Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivator to know so much seemed a bit beyond the pale.
The knowledge she displayed didn’t quite match her cultivation level.
’Perhaps she’s an armchair expert, like Wang Yuyan,’ Li Ping thought, shaking his head.
With that thought, he stopped dwelling on what had happened and turned his attention to taking inventory of Hua Hong’s Storage Bag.
He had suffered considerable losses in his fight with Hua Hong, even being forced to use the Tier Three poison flood dragon’s venom sac.
However, as the descendant of a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator, Hua Hong’s possessions were substantial and should be able to cover his losses.
Inside Hua Hong’s Storage Bag, the first thing that caught Li Ping’s eye was naturally the small, blood-colored sword Talisman Treasure that he had previously taken out. This Talisman Treasure was likely refined by a Late-stage Core Formation Cultivator and sealed with ten percent of their Magical Treasure’s power.
Once activated, it could sweep away any Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
However, precisely because of its immense power, the Magical Power required to activate it was also enormous. Even as a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Hua Hong had needed a considerable amount of time to do so.
Li Ping’s cultivation was only at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, making it even more difficult for him to activate this treasure. Therefore, it couldn’t be used as one of his regular combat methods.
After a moment of thought, Li Ping summoned his puppet and ordered it to carry the small, blood-colored sword Talisman Treasure.
The puppet’s Magical Power was equivalent to that of a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so it could activate the treasure much faster than he could. Plus, it would be harder for enemies to anticipate, allowing for a surprise attack.
Besides the small, blood-colored sword Talisman Treasure, the rest were various cultivation resources like Dharma Artifacts, Spirit Stones, and Pills, all of which Li Ping gladly accepted.
What left him speechless was that Hua Hong’s Storage Bag also contained a collection of female cultivators’ personal undergarments, which he had apparently cherished.
"A Demon Cultivator is a Demon Cultivator!"
Li Ping found a deep ravine and threw Hua Hong’s Storage Bag, along with all the female cultivators’ undergarments, into it.
Only then did he resume his flight toward Fenglan Immortal City.
He planned to go back, pick up all the Spiritual Materials Gumu Sheng had collected for him, and then enter the secret realm’s cave-abode for secluded cultivation.
...
On a grayish-white boulder, Wei Yiling sat cross-legged, neutralizing the residual Soft Flood Dragon Powder poison in her body.
After a long while, she opened her eyes and exhaled a long, turbid breath. "Whew, I’ve finally neutralized the poison, and my Magical Power has returned to normal."
She stood up, glanced in the direction Li Ping had departed, and cursed him inwardly as a fool.
Then, without any hesitation, she shot into the sky, riding her Escape Light eastward at a terrifying speed.
Since that old bastard had plotted against her, it was an eye for an eye. She felt she no longer owed the Blood Shadow Sect anything.
While the war in the Western Wilderness was raging and Hua Wuji had no time to investigate the cause of Hua Hong’s death, she prepared to cross the Western Wilderness directly and head for Great Zhou.
However, the four Demon Dao Sects were forbidden from leaving the Western Wilderness, so once she reached Great Zhou, she would have the status of a Loose Cultivator.
Moreover, as a high-ranking member of the Blood Shadow Sect, she knew clearly that the Sect had mobilized all its forces for this war, leaving only a single Core Formation Cultivator to guard the Sect.
Therefore, before she left, she planned to return to the Sect one last time to retrieve her life tablet, preventing it from being used against her in the future.