Chapter 214: Chapter 213: Death Notice (Congratulations to the Silver Alliance)_1
Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm.
Dragon Fish Island.
Inside the Evergreen Pavilion’s closed-door cultivation room.
Fang Xi slowly opened his eyes, "According to the experience of the Shaman Race... the Heavenly Demon Catastrophe should last about a year..."
He had always kept a strand of his Divine Consciousness in the Fragment World, observing Danya’s subsequent actions.
However, Fang Xi was not optimistic about this Witch Queen.
After all, she had previously been lucky to kill a Demon Sect Foundation Establishment disciple, and there were countless tough characters like that in the Secret Realm!
It was quite possible there were those who could easily slay Core Formation experts!
’Fortunately, Danya has the "Vertical Ground Golden Light Talisman" on her, so she should be able to escape if she cannot win...’
’If she really can’t escape... then it can only be said to be her misfortune... there’s nothing I can do.’
Fang Xi stepped out of the cultivation room, and once more watered the Monster Tree.
Upon returning to the Evergreen Pavilion, he saw a tiny figure wielding a broom, vigorously sweeping the corridor.
"Island... Island Master..."
Upon seeing Fang Xi, Zhong Hongyu immediately stiffened up, and hurriedly bowed in salute.
"Mm... Keep working hard on your cultivation!"
With a sweep of his Divine Consciousness, Fang Xi already knew the progress of the girl’s cultivation and kindly encouraged her, "If there’s anything you don’t understand in ’Mysterious Sound Skills’, you can come and ask me..."
"Yes!"
Zhong Hongyu shrank her head, resembling a quail.
Such an appearance made Fang Xi smile unconsciously.
The reason he valued this girl was indeed partly because he valued the ’Void Spirit Root’.
’According to rumors... cultivators with Void Spirit Roots seem to be very adept at mastering the Void Force?’
Fang Xi looked at the back of Zhong Hongyu, his eyes shimmering with light.
Void Force!
This was quite an advanced energy. According to legend, only Yuan Ying True Monarchs with Origin Soul infants could achieve effects similar to infinite spatial teleportation!
Yuan Ying True Monarchs not only have a lifespan of over a thousand years, but they also possess various inconceivable powers and are considered to be true Divine Skill users in the legends!
Apart from that, those who have refined their Nascent Souls are often capable of using their Nascent Soul for Soul Possession or reincarnation to live another lifetime!
Not to mention, the Nascent Soul of a Yuan Ying True Monarch can escape through the Void, hardly restricted by any prohibition, making their life-preservation capabilities extremely strong!
These were the insights Fang Xi gained from cultivating the ’Five Extremities Primordial Demon Skill’ and ’Melting Gold Spell’, one righteous and one demon Nascent Soul level cultivation technique.
"The Void Force that only a Nascent Soul can master... the Void Spirit Root can engage with it in advance, even if just a bit, that would be quite formidable..."
Of course, there were others in the Cultivation World who had mastered the Void Force in advance.
For example, legendary spatial evasion spells, as well as teleportation arrays!
Even strictly speaking, the creation of Storage Bags and Storage Rings also slightly involves the Void Force.
But all these are just scratching the surface without understanding the underlying principles.
Fang Xi was somewhat interested in grooming someone with a ’Void Spirit Root’ to comprehend the Void Force.
After all... the ’Treasures of All Heavens’ he carried strictly speaking, is also a Supreme Treasure that manipulates the Void Force!
Even its mastery of the Void has reached an incredible realm, which would probably leave even Nascent Soul old monsters dumbstruck.
’Using the Void Spirit Root as a stepping stone to glimpse at the script on the surface of ’Treasures of All Heavens’... not sure if it can succeed... but it’s worth a try!’
’Even if I can only grasp a tiny bit, it will undoubtedly benefit my future path immensely!’
Thinking this, Fang Xi’s gaze towards Zhong Hongyu became even gentler.
However, the little girl only felt a shudder, gripping her broom even tighter.
...
"Young Master... this is a letter from Zhan Tu to his family."
Not many days later, Yan Hongxue came to Fang Xi with a yellowed letter.
"Mm."
With a sweep of his Divine Consciousness, Fang Xi saw that most of the content in the letter was small talk, saying that everything was fine with him at the Mysterious Heaven Sect and telling his family not to worry.
Besides that, there were also mentions of some Sect affairs.
Fang Xi carefully analyzed the implications and felt that the Mysterious Heaven Sect hadn’t been up to much recently, which eased his mind.
"The Zhan family lad also sent along two bottles of Spiritual Pills with the letter, both of which are useful for mortals and can invigorate and strengthen the body..."
Yan Hongxue continued.
"Mm, let’s go and deliver them to his family together. Don’t skim off the top," said Fang Xi after thinking for a bit. "Besides that, you can also let his family write a letter and send it along with fifty low-grade Spirit Stones back to Zhan Tu..."
In the Cultivation World, there was naturally a means of communication, but what Zhan Tu used was the most basic kind, through the trade caravans or patrol horses of the Cultivation World, which was very cumbersome.
Even this method, the mortal family of Zhan Tu couldn’t enjoy.
Fang Xi naturally intended to assist them.
Strictly speaking, he is Zhan Tu’s angel investor.
Any smart person should know that having a Foundation Establishment cultivator standing behind them is a very good thing, even if there’s no actual support.
He and Dragon Fish Island have a mutually beneficial relationship.
Moreover, Fang Xi has not asked Zhan Tu to betray his sect, but merely to exchange information on a daily basis.
As an investor, Fang Xi is also quite stingy and wouldn’t invest a large amount of resources all at once.
At most, he would invest in stages, observing Zhan Tu’s performance before deciding on the next step.
"Yes!"
Yan Hongxue bowed in response, well-acquainted with this practice.
After all, her family also had two members striving within the Mysterious Heaven Sect, but compared to Fang Xi, the Yan Family spared no effort for their own.
To her knowledge, many in her family had stopped their cultivation to save up Spirit Stones, even squeezing them from between their teeth, to send to the sect, supporting the cultivation of Xiao Shiqi and Xiao Shijiu.
Not only that, even Yan Hongxue herself had secretly kept some of her own share given by Fang Xi, and sent it back to Ling Kong Island through others—a destination that ultimately led to the Mysterious Heaven Sect, she assumed.
But seeing her own family struggle desperately to support the two sect disciples, only to see that the support was not even comparable to the casual rewards from a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Yan Hongxue couldn’t help feeling gloomy and developed some different thoughts.
...
Half a month later, an old man with a wrinkled face, rowing a flat boat, hurried to the vicinity of Dragon Fish Island. After fumbling for a long time in his sleeve, he took out a Voice Transmission Talisman, and with gritted teeth, sent it flying into Dragon Fish Island’s protective Great Array.
After a while, a streak of light flew out from the array and landed beside the old man: "Uncle..."
This girl was none other than Yan Hongxue, whose eyes reddened at the sight of her family member.
"Sigh... You’ve had a hard time."
Seeing Yan Hongxue, Yan Laoqi was speechless for a while before finally mustering up a dry response.
"No, I am not suffering... The young master treats me well, and even helped me break through my cultivation level... Now, I am at the seventh level of Qi Refining." Yan Hongxue wiped the corner of her eyes and quickly added.
"Hm?"
Yan Laoqi was surprised to discover that Yan Hongxue had unconsciously broken through the late-stage bottleneck of Qi Refining and had become one of the top figures in the Yan Family.
"Previously, during the young master’s hundredth birthday, he prepared ’Little Green Dragon Soup’ for the honored guests and also rewarded us some..."
Fang Xi hadn’t invited the Yan Family to his hundredth birthday, and Yan Hongxue dared not take liberties.
She briefly explained what happened and then asked, "What exactly happened with Xiao Shiqi and Xiao Shijiu that made Uncle come to find me personally?"
"Sigh..."
Yan Laoqi’s back seemed to hunch even more as he said mournfully, "The family just received news... Xiao Shiqi has... passed away!"
"What?"
Yan Hongxue was shocked: "The last letter said he had broken through to the ninth level of Qi Refining and was doing well. How could he... suddenly... die?"
Of the two family members sent to the Mysterious Heaven Sect, she had the best relationship with Xiao Shiqi. Hearing such sudden bad news, tears rolled uncontrollably down her cheeks.
"Sigh... We only just found out. Last month, Xiao Shijiu broke through to the tenth level of Qi Refining and reached the Great Perfection stage, and then he began preparing for Foundation Establishment..."
Yan Laoqi said slowly.
The allocation of Foundation Establishment Pills within the Mysterious Heaven Sect was very strict, requiring a full five thousand merit points from the sect.
And this was actually taking advantage of the sect disciples, since one merit point could be exchanged for a Spirit Stone.
But within the Mysterious Heaven Sect, a Spirit Stone simply didn’t buy a single point of merit.
"Could it be... Xiao Shiqi and Xiao Shijiu actually went to a dangerous Secret Realm?"
Yan Hongxue pressed for an answer.
The main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill—’Golden Jade Ganoderma’—was extremely difficult to survive in the outside world, but the three Golden Core Sects had taken over an ancient Secret Realm’s Spiritual Medicine Garden, suitable for many spirit medicines to grow.
Due to the strong prohibitions in the Medicine Garden, Foundation Establishment cultivators could hardly enter, while Core Formation cultivators forcing their way in might trigger a chain reaction, leading to the collapse of the entire ancient Secret Realm, so only Qi Refining cultivators could enter.
Every so often, the three major sects would send disciples into the Secret Realm to gather medicines, and the fatality rate was high.
Basically, any disciple with backing would not want to take on such a task, leaving only Individual Cultivators or those from mortal backgrounds to take the chance.
Because of the danger, the merits awarded by the sect were also incredibly generous!
"How could that be?"
Yan Laoqi shook his hands frantically: "The family had repeatedly ordered them not to take on overly dangerous sect missions, even if it was for Foundation Establishment, the whole family would grit our teeth to provide for it... It was after Xiao Shijiu’s breakthrough that he wanted to gather merit points quickly and took on the task of hunting Evil Cultivators. But that Evil Cultivator had hidden his true power and in a dying counterattack, he took Xiao Shiqi, who was teamed up with him, to death..."
Yan Laoqi’s tears streamed down his face.
Certainly, in the Mysterious Heaven Sect, the safe and easy jobs on the task board had long been taken.
Those disciples left had no choice but to gamble with their lives for merit points!
It was only slightly less dangerous than missions to gather medicines in the Secret Realm.
The Yan brothers had long lost their backing and inevitably had to take risks, and even if nothing happened a few times, any slip-up could lead to death!
"Xiao Shiqi..."
Yan Hongxue looked somber.
But Yan Laoqi wiped his face and his expression turned fierce and determined: "For Xiao Shijiu’s Foundation Establishment... Xiao Shiqi has gone to the Void ahead. I came to inform you, and also I intend to bring a few elite family members to support Xiao Shijiu!"
Xiao Shijiu, with his superior Spiritual Root, had entered the Great Perfection of Qi Refining and was on the brink of Foundation Establishment. With a Foundation Establishment Pill, the success rate was over fifty percent!
The Yan Family wouldn’t give up no matter what, even if it meant risking our lives and spending every last penny to help him succeed at Foundation Establishment!