Chapter 265: Chapter 264: Limit (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1
The invasion of Yue Country and Wood Kingdom by Yiling Valley ended in an anti-climactic fashion.
This was something cultivators from all three nations had not anticipated.
Initially, the cultivators of Yiling Valley had burst into the two countries, capturing cities and territories with unstoppable momentum, but suddenly, without any warning, they retreated, as if at any cost, abandoning the Spirit Mountains and mines they had captured without hesitation.
This resolute withdrawal left individual cultivators dumbfounded, and significantly undercut the local clans of the two countries who had attached themselves to Yiling Valley, acting as guides.
Many resolute clan and sect leaders had no choice but to bite the bullet, take their clansmen, abandon their homes, and likewise flee into Martial Kingdom.
Those who were more indecisive were caught between pleading with the Upper Sects and arranging their affairs with trepidation...
The scenes Zhan Tu experienced were not only taking place in Yue Country but also in Wood Kingdom.
For a long time afterwards, there were only vague rumors that spread, but most who heard them took them as a joke.
After all, how could a Supreme Elder of Yiling Valley possibly fall?
But it was not until Yiling Valley sealed its gates and activated its Great Array, preparing for a full-scale defense, that the Cultivation World of Martial Kingdom was in an uproar, realizing that this might actually be true!
The Supreme Elder of Yiling Valley had died in battle!
Even the Supreme Treasure, the Nine Dragon Balls, was perhaps lost outside, causing Yiling Valley to be unable to appoint a new Supreme Elder for a long time.
Even the original Cultivation forces of Martial Kingdom began to stir.
After all, Yiling Valley’s rule over Martial Kingdom had indeed been too long, suppressing those with ambition to the point where they could scarcely move.
But soon, Yiling Valley announced the arrival of a guest Supreme Elder from outside with great fanfare.
This Supreme Elder, surnamed Yan, was not only a sword cultivator but also in the mid-stage of Core Formation, and immediately suppressed all dissenters.
Although peace seemed to have returned to the three countries, no one knew how many undercurrents were surging beneath the surface...
In these turbulent times, a rumor inexplicably spread far and wide—"Enter the dragon fish, and all grudges will vanish; the great calamity shall not harm."
For many lower-level cultivators, Dragon Fish Island in the Thousand Island Lake had become a paradise akin to a mythical land untouched by the outside world...
...
Dragon Fish Island.
Evergreen Pavilion.
"The Island Master really killed a Core Formation elder of Yiling Valley?"
Liu Sanqi knocked over the tea in front of him without noticing, and Yan Dongqing’s eyes widened like copper bells in shock.
Ruan Xingling, even though she was in closed-door cultivation, was disturbed by this news and came to Dragon Fish Island, but her expression remained fairly composed.
"What Core Formation elder? He was just someone who refined an Exotic Treasure and had the fighting power of a Core Formation from a Jia Dan. It was only a Foundation Establishment..."
Fang Xi waved his hand dismissively: "I am also at the peak of Foundation Establishment, killing another Foundation Establishment, isn’t that quite normal?"
"Normal... normal..."
Liu Sanqi and Yan Dongqing both forced a smile, while thinking to themselves, ’Normal my foot... That was an elder of Yiling Valley, one of the most prominent figures in the three nations, and he died here...’
"Mr. Fang can kill a Jia Dan with an array, I wonder what you plan to do next?" Ruan Xingling asked, her gaze sharp, hitting right at the heart of the matter.
"Nothing needs to be done..."
Fang Xi sighed: "By now, there should be no Core Formation elders in the three countries who dare to rashly enter Dragon Fish Island... "
Although he hadn’t refined the Nine Dragon Balls, in the eyes of Elder Zhang and Old Ancestor Qing, he was a suspected Jia Dan who also presided over a third-tier formation, truly a hard nut to crack that even their joint efforts couldn’t shake.
And Yiling Valley, currently caught up in internal chaos, had no time to consider this place.
According to the intelligence Fang Xi had obtained from You Kun, he felt he could enjoy at least ten years of peace.
With that... it would be enough to reach Core Formation!
"All you Island Masters are here, good... I have some things to announce," Fang Xi stated as he picked up his tea cup and took a sip.
"What is it? We are willing to serve you with our utmost dedication," Yan Dongqing quickly bowed and humbly asked.
The current Master of Dragon Fish Island was almost seen as a half-step Core Formation cultivator, and his attitude was the most sycophantic.
"I intend to fully release the might of the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’ and seal off the entire island... Let it be known across the island, those cultivators who do not wish to join me in a closed-door retreat can move to Maple Leaf, Golden Turtle, and Ling Kong islands..."
Fang Xi spoke indifferently.
"You... are preparing for closed-door cultivation, are you sure you have enough Spirit Stones?" Ruan Xingling raised an eyebrow, asking the critical question.
To all the Foundation Establishment cultivators present, although the third-tier Great Array was terrifyingly powerful, the Spirit Stones it consumed every day on top of a second-tier Spiritual Vein were astonishingly numerous.
"No need..."
Fang Xi waved his hand and said, "I have my ways..."
Zhong Hongyu and Taishu Hong looked at each other with the same thought emerging from the bottom of their hearts: "Could it be... that there’s an undiscovered third-tier Spiritual Vein on Dragon Fish Island?"
...
To Fang Xi’s surprise, despite the announcement of the island’s closure, not many cultivators chose to leave.
Perhaps the Qi Refining cultivators couldn’t bear to give up their residence qualifications and still hoped to endure the years of residency, looking forward to the future Treasure-snatching Conference.
After all, even if they don’t win the championship and obtain Base-building Spiritual Objects,
just by performing slightly well, they might be picked by Elder Fang and ascend to the heavens, right?
As for Foundation Establishment cultivators like Zhong Hongyu, they were probably just speculating.
Regarding this, Fang Xi didn’t bother to concern himself, and after rejecting the protective services offered by Ruan Xingling and Liu Sanqi, he sent these people away and immediately activated the full might of the formation, causing the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’ to envelop the entire Dragon Fish Island completely. From the outside world’s perspective, the whole island seemed to be shrouded in a giant black sea bowl, overturned upon it.
It was quite a coincidence!
Shortly after Fang Xi sealed the island, messengers from the Mysterious Heaven Sect and the Green Wood Sect arrived belatedly, stared at the pitch-black array, yet had absolutely no courage to rashly intrude.
After sending out several Voice Transmission Talismans but receiving no replies, they could only leave in disappointment...
...
On Dragon Fish Island.
Fang Xi, as usual, spent shameless days with his maidservants.
Occasionally, he would study jade slips from You Kun’s Storage Bag.
This Supreme Elder truly didn’t expect that there would be someone in the three kingdoms capable of stopping him, hence he carried most of his belongings with him.
There were even quite a few jade slips containing cultivation techniques.
What Fang Xi regretted was that this person did not carry any third-tier inheritance with him.
However, the ’Purple Cultivation Skills’ he practiced were rather excellent, a top-tier method that led directly to the Nascent Soul stage, and even a new technique.
Unfortunately, it did not match Fang Xi’s Spiritual Root aptitude at all, and he had no intention of switching techniques once again.
Nevertheless, the jade slips that recorded maps of the South Wilderness, strange tales, sceneries of the Cultivation World, and even a few secret skills, greatly moved Fang Xi.
He took out a purple jade slip and his Divine Consciousness entered it.
"’Purple Gas Heavenly Eye’? A secret skill for cultivating the eyes... it requires daily nurturing of the eyes with the purple qi of the rising sun at dawn..."
Fang Xi, thinking of You Chong and You Kun’s eyes that occasionally emitted bursts of purple light, reflected, "This Spiritual Eye Skill seems quite exceptional, but... it is somewhat redundant."
This Spiritual Eye Skill, it’s said, when practiced to the end, could include attacks of Divine Consciousness in one’s gaze that could damage an enemy’s Sea of Consciousness.
It looks like a high-grade technique, seemingly from a Nascent Soul Sect.
However, Fang Xi already had the Primordial Demon Stab.
Moreover, he now only planned to undergo Core Formation, not caring about anything else.
"Logically speaking, for a cultivator at the peak of Foundation Establishment, making the magic power in the Dantian Qi Ocean extremely dense to show the first signs of solidification is the most critical and difficult step... which I have already surpassed."
"Now, it’s just a matter of seeing how far the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ can go."
Now when Fang Xi looked inward, he could see within his Qi Ocean Dantian that 365 drops of liquid magic power had solidified by two tenths.
From a distance, it looked like a large pill flashing green and yellow!
Even, if he wished, he could immediately begin the Core Formation process.
Of course, Fang Xi would definitely not do so but would wait for the magic power to solidify to the limit, in order to maximize the chances of success.
"What a pity... that Supreme Elder of the You Family was also a pauper; there wasn’t a single Base-building Spiritual Object in his Storage Bag... what a waste of space!"
Fang Xi silently cursed, wondering if You Kun, if still alive, would vomit blood upon hearing this.
...
Time flew by, and another year passed.
Through the messages transmitted into the ’Nine Nether Profound Wood Array’ from outside, Fang Xi was not unfamiliar with the situation in the Cultivation World of the three kingdoms.
Ever since the Elder surnamed Yan announced joining Yiling Valley as a guest Supreme Elder, the Cultivation World of the three kingdoms once again stabilized. The three factions ceased their battles, maintaining the trend where the Mysterious Heaven Sect and the Green Wood Sect jointly resisted Yiling Valley.
After all, the last battle at Baize Immortal City had seen these two Core Formation elders almost getting killed on the spot by Yiling Valley’s ruse.
As of now, they would need at least several decades to heal from their injuries.
Yiling Valley, having lost a Supreme Elder, wasn’t too daring either, deciding first to quell the chaos within Martial Kingdom.
"One hundred and seventy-six years old..."
Inside the cultivation room, Fang Xi looked into his Qi Ocean Dantian and saw that the liquid magic power had solidified by three-tenths and reached its limit; it hadn’t increased a bit in the recent months.
"Is three-tenths solidification the limit of the Yi Wood Magic Body?"
"However, it’s enough. Let’s begin!"
His figure flashed as he walked out of the closed-door cultivation room and arrived at the forbidden area of Dragon Fish Island—underneath the Monster Tree.
He casually took out a Voice Transmission Talisman, gave a few instructions, then threw the talisman into the void.
As he watched the talisman turn into a flash of fire and disappear in an instant, Fang Xi’s eyes were calm.
He did not have much trust in the Foundation Establishment cultivators left on the island.
Choosing the Monster Tree as his place for closed-door cultivation, even setting up arrays around it, meant that anyone attempting to forcibly break in during his late stage of Foundation Establishment would only find death!
As for the miscellaneous affairs of the island, he unceremoniously handed them over to those three.
"So... let’s begin..."
Fang Xi sat cross-legged under the Monster Tree, with all his past experiences flashing before his eyes.
"Since my transmigration, it has been over a hundred and sixty years..."
"From a minor Spirit Farmer of Green Bamboo Mountain to the now renowned Island Master of Dragon Fish Island in the three kingdoms..."
"And now, I am about to begin Core Formation!"
He exhaled and, without activating any techniques, simply meditated to adjust himself.
Both the cultivation methods and the insights on Core Formation agreed that it’s best for a cultivator to calm their mind and restore the three treasures of essence, energy, and spirit to their peak before breaking through.
Fang Xi closed his eyes, entering a strange state.
And the black mist outside of Dragon Fish Island continued its state of closure, until this day...