Chapter 323 - 316: Magnificent Mountains and Rivers, a Distant Freedom

Midnight had passed and a new day had arrived. The Heaven and Earth Scale once again had a full ten trading opportunities.

Song Ciwan used five opportunities to trade various kinds of Demon Spirit Malice, adding another ten thousand years to her Lifespan in a flurry of activity.

Her Lifespan balance thus became: Song Ciwan, 26 (Lifespan: 22,156 years).

With over twenty thousand years of Lifespan as a buffer, Song Ciwan could finally relax a little.

She stood up and paced around the Cultivation Room, stretching for a moment before sitting cross-legged on the Pillow again. She prepared to continue operating the Heaven and Earth Scale to use up all of today’s trading opportunities.

Although ten years had passed in the real world during her trip to the Spirit Realm and Demon Realm, to Song Ciwan, it felt as if those ten years had gone by in an instant.

Countless spoils had accumulated in her Heaven and Earth Scale, and she hadn’t had a chance to trade them in before.

Now, she planned to pick a few things out to trade away and use up all of today’s opportunities.

After that, she would travel north to journey through the lands of Great Zhou. She would then allocate her daily opportunities, trading Malice for Lifespan while continuing her Cultivation on the road.

The main reason she wanted to head north was to visit the Central State or see the Four Great Border Passes. As the saying goes, traveling ten thousand miles is better than reading ten thousand books. She couldn’t just stay in one place, practicing rigidly in seclusion; that would lead to her inspiration drying up and her comprehension failing.

’If I get the chance, it would be best to expose the secret of the Golden Core Dao. This thing is terrifying, and it’s hard to say just how deep this conspiracy runs.’

Regardless, Song Ciwan was unwilling to see the current Nine Provinces World end up like the Ancient Era of Seeking Immortality, where Immortals were no longer Immortals and Humans were no longer Human.

In the end, the last remnants of the Ancient Human Race could only destroy themselves—and everything else—in such a horrific manner.

When the nest is overturned, no egg remains unbroken. Even though Song Ciwan had the chance at eternal life, she would never forget that she was a Human!

She rummaged through the Heaven and Earth Scale, picking out the items she wanted to trade today.

’There are so many good things. For example... the corpse of that Slaughter Spirit Level Demon?’

This was the first time Song Ciwan had directly killed a Slaughter Spirit Level—or in other words, a Divinity Transformation Level—enemy. She placed the Demon’s headless corpse on the Heaven and Earth Scale.

[You have sold the partial corpse of a Slaughter Spirit Level Demon, fragments of a Slaughter Spirit Level Demon, and a quantity of ash. You have received the Four-star Level Miraculous Stone Qiankun Toss.]

Qiankun Toss: When thrown, this item can briefly create a special sealed domain. Within this domain, all hostile targets will have both their True Qi and Qi Blood sealed.

Whether the seal can be broken depends on the difference in Cultivation between the two parties. The Caster possesses a certain suppressive advantage.

The duration of the seal depends on the Caster’s Cultivation.

This item can be used three times. It is automatically retrieved after being thrown. It becomes useless after three uses.

’This is good stuff.’ When she had killed that Demon, Song Ciwan had also been suppressed by its True Qi.

Now, by selling the Demon’s corpse, Song Ciwan had obtained the Marvel, Qiankun Toss, and with it, the ability to suppress an enemy’s True Qi. It was a perfect, and very interesting, cycle.

[You have sold a pair of a Slaughter Spirit Level Demon’s Broken Crystal Pearls and one thousand Primordial Pearls. You have received the Lower Grade Magical Treasure, the Eye of Cyan Nether.]

Eye of Cyan Nether: Sees the highest heavens above and the Yellow Springs below. Wearing this eye grants the power to observe qi, trace its origins, and perceive the bizarre.

Song Ciwan was pleasantly surprised. She immediately removed the Cyan Wood Eye she had been wearing in her left eye. This Lower Grade Magical Artifact could now be retired.

At the same time, she refined the newly obtained Eye of Cyan Nether as quickly as possible and fused it into her left eye as well.

As for the now-retired Cyan Wood Eye, Song Ciwan placed it back into the Heaven and Earth Scale.

Even when she retired a Magical Artifact that she had used for a long time, Song Ciwan would still store it away carefully.

It wasn’t that she had any special attachment to these items; it was purely due to her cautious nature.

’I’m afraid that my aura might have seeped into these commonly used Magical Artifacts. If they fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, and they used them against me, wouldn’t I just be asking for trouble?’

The possibility was minuscule, of course—

After all, countless second-hand Magical Artifacts were circulating on the market at any given moment. But... who knew? ’Who knows if there’s some strange method in this world to track someone using their old Magical Artifacts?’

In any case, you could never be too careful. Song Ciwan was determined to see her cautious approach through to the end.

’I even feel like this isn’t some special precaution. It’s just a habit that’s become second nature.’

Continuing with the trades, this time Song Ciwan chose two Magical Artifacts she had obtained from the Maid, Hong Xiao.

[You have sold the Top Grade Magical Artifact Feixian Silk and the Top Grade Magical Artifact Heart-Locking Ring. You have received the Lower Grade Magical Treasure, the Wuyou Bell.]

Wuyou Bell: Ringing this bell can make people joyful and carefree, causing them to forget their troubles and become entranced.

’What a treasure!’

Song Ciwan immediately refined the Wuyou Bell. ’A few more trades,’ she thought, ’and I’ll probably be able to retire all the Magical Artifacts I currently own.’

’I’ll replace them all with Magical Treasures!’

[You have sold one tattered Magical Robe, one Upper Grade Magical Artifact Ruyi Lamp, one Top Grade Magical Artifact Cold Crow Golden Essence Rope, and two Storage Pouches. You have received the Lower Grade Magical Treasure, the Void Escape Sword.]

Void Escape Sword: A Magical Treasure Flying Sword with the ability of rapid void-escaping. It can fly at will, change its size, and possesses a sharp aura.

’A pile of junk actually got me a Void Escape Sword.’

It wasn’t as if Song Ciwan currently knew any Swordsmanship—

The Void Illusion Demon Sword was Magic, not Swordsmanship. It was simply a spell named after a sword.

But Song Ciwan didn’t mind. She directly refined the Void Escape Sword. If she didn’t know Swordsmanship, she could just use this Magic Sword as a regular Magical Treasure, controlling it with the ease of moving her own limbs. It would still be convenient.

’After all, it is a Magical Treasure. Every complete Magical Treasure comes with a basic Manipulation Technique. Whether I know Swordsmanship isn’t important. What’s important is that I need more Magical Treasures to build my new persona.’

She had obtained four treasures in a row. For her last trade, she chose to sell a mass of human desires from Lan Qiuyan.

[You have sold human desires—the surprise, gratitude, and nostalgia of an Innate First Transformation Martial Artist, weighing one jin and six liang. You have received one year and six months of Cultivation time.]

Song Ciwan used the entire one year and six months of Cultivation time to regulate her aura and fill her Dantian.

By now, although she had successfully completed her Foundation Establishment and possessed a strange island forest with a Nine-Layered Treasure Tower in her Dantian, her Dantian Sea was simply too vast. Filling it could not be accomplished overnight.

Song Ciwan could only fill it slowly and grow stronger bit by bit.

One year and six months of Cultivation was just a drop in the bucket, but it was better than nothing.

’However, the long path of Cultivation has always required slow, steady, and persistent effort.’

Many a grain of sand will build a pagoda. Song Ciwan was not in a hurry. She grew a little stronger every day. With "Cultivation time" as her foundation, she would one day be able to fill this "True Qi Sea."

The moon set and the sun rose. Night faded away, and the morning glow slowly crept over the mountain ridges, suddenly revealing a bright, sunny day.

At the foot of a nameless mountain in northern Cangling County, a person and a goose appeared at some unknown time.

The young woman was elegant in her blue-green robes, and the white goose had thick, lush feathers.

The human and the goose walked together along the mountain path. The goose honked under the sun, and the person smiled.

They headed off into the distance.