Chapter 361 - 359: Silver Needle Tea Tree

Chapter 361: Chapter 359: Silver Needle Tea Tree

"Fang Tiancheng says the Blood God True Monarch is trapped in the restrictions of some Ancient Ruins, his fate unknown. He’s already wiped out the Blood Demon Sect’s cultivators... Now he’s worried the Demon Extermination Alliance will turn its sights on him and wants me to put in a good word for him."

Ge Cang relayed the purpose of Fang Tiancheng’s visit.

"Is he so certain the Blood God True Monarch has been taken down? Could it be a trap he planned himself? Is that why he’s so confident?"

Bai Zichen furrowed his brow, voicing his doubt.

’Not counting the Blood God True Monarch, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect’s strength was already far greater than the Blood Demon Sect’s. Add to that a surprise attack, and it’s perfectly normal for an unprepared sect to be completely annihilated.’

’The key question is whether the Blood God True Monarch is only temporarily trapped, permanently lost within the restrictions, or if he has already perished completely.’

’Otherwise, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect wouldn’t be able to withstand the return of an enraged Nascent Soul True Monarch.’

"There’s no need to delve into the specifics. I know what kind of man Fang Tiancheng is: patient and tenacious. Since he dared to make a move, he must have been fully prepared."

Both of them knew that the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect could never have been a truly die-hard ally of the Blood Demon Sect, but they hadn’t expected this day to come so quickly, or for them to trap the entire Blood Demon Sect and the Blood God True Monarch himself.

"Fang Tiancheng sent over all the Clear Spirit Jade Marrow the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect has accumulated over the past century, as well as a Tier Three Beast Taming inheritance. All he asks is for me to intervene and persuade the Demon Extermination Alliance to back down."

"That’s simple enough. Two of the families in the Demon Extermination Alliance are vassal forces of our Sect. A single letter should be enough to make them change their tune... The Demon Extermination Alliance doesn’t have an absolute leader right now anyway. With the Blood Demon Sect destroyed, their primary goal will be to seize territory and resources."

Bai Zichen pondered for a moment before giving his answer.

"With the Blood Demon Sect gone, the Demon Extermination Alliance has no reason to exist... As long as they aren’t united, few will respond to a proposal to attack the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect."

"That works. We’ll consider Fang Tiancheng’s request fulfilled then."

After all, their two sects were once allies, and Fang Tiancheng had shown more than enough sincerity. They had to lend a hand.

"With one less Nascent Soul-level power in Liang Country, this is a good thing for our Sect. The Blood Demon Sect was always a destabilizing factor."

The Blood Demon Sect’s actions had always seemed completely illogical.

They would frenziedly attack all neighboring sects, often dragging the next one into the fray before the outcome of the current war was even decided.

Furthermore, they refused all mediation and offers of surrender. Any cultivators they captured were slaughtered without exception.

From this perspective, the Ten Thousand Beasts Sect was lucky to have surrendered early and taken on the role of enforcers. Otherwise, they would have certainly been among the first targets for annihilation.

"We still need to be careful. It’s unlikely Fang Tiancheng could have plotted against the Blood God True Monarch alone. There’s a high probability he has another Nascent Soul True Monarch backing him. We don’t know if this person is friend or foe... Not everyone is like you, Junior Brother Bai, who can defeat a Nascent Soul True Monarch while at the Core Formation Realm like it’s a trivial matter."

Ge Cang offered a reminder. As a Nascent Soul True Monarch himself, he truly understood the gap between a Core Formation True Man and someone of his level.

’Even if the Blood God True Monarch trusted Fang Tiancheng implicitly, the kind of restrictions he could be led into wouldn’t be able to trap a Nascent Soul True Monarch for long.’

’Especially not one known for his survival skills, who could manifest a Blood River at any moment.’

"I don’t know which Nascent Soul True Monarch made a move. If they were only targeting the Blood God True Monarch, that would be fine... But if they’ve also set their sights on Liang Country, then we have a problem."

Ge Cang disliked dealing with miscellaneous affairs, so for him to have said so much was already quite rare.

"I’m going into seclusion for a while to cultivate that Profound Nether Qi Formless Divine Thunder your disciple presented. I want to see if it can be combined with the Qiantian Primordial Yang Divine Thunder Net. I’m not looking for a full fusion of the Divine Thunders. It will be enough if they can be activated in concert to produce an effect greater than the sum of their parts."

"Then I wish you Great Success in your Thunder Skills and great progress in your cultivation, Senior Brother!"

Bai Zichen knew that after passing the Celestial Tribulation and gaining his Thunder God True Body, Ge Cang’s potential with Thunder Skills had developed in a completely different direction than before.

If he could master and integrate both of these great Divine Thunders, he would very likely set foot upon a wide, open road in his cultivation.

"I have a strange feeling about this business with the Blood God True Monarch. It might end up dragging the entire Cultivation Realm of Liang Country into it... As for that great battle in ten years, you should wait for me to come out of seclusion so we can go together. That way, we can prevent anyone from trying any tricks."

Even at Core Formation Perfection, Ge Cang had been confident he could make any Nascent Soul True Monarch who dared to attack Black Mountain pay a steep price.

Now that he had reached the Nascent Soul Realm and achieved Great Success in Thunder Escape, there were few people in the world who could stop him.

"I understand, Senior Brother."

A duel between two Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators—one the First Sword Cultivator of the Northern Domain, the other a Supreme Elder from a Super Major Sect in the Central Domain—would surely draw the world’s attention.

At that time, it was highly likely that other Nascent Soul True Monarchs would be present.

Watching the battle in person would be of immense benefit to his own Sword Dao, but it would also inevitably expose him to unknown risks.

If Ge Cang went with him, Bai Zichen would have nothing to worry about.

With the two of them joining forces, just as they had in the great wars of the past, there was nowhere in the world they couldn’t go.

Bai Zichen had originally planned to stay at Celestial Thunder Cliff for a few days before returning to Flame Mountain, but an unexpected piece of news brought back by Huo Feiyan interrupted his plans.

"You said you saw Tier Two Top-Grade Silver Needle Spirit Tea?"

"That’s right. Junior Sister Ma and I were on our way back from Demon Slaying when we ran into an outside cultivator. He brewed a pot of Spirit Tea for us to show off."

Ever since the Foundation Establishment Stage, Master Bai had placed great importance on Spirit Tea. It was only after he reached Core Formation that he gave it up, as the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall could no longer provide Spirit Tea of a suitable grade.

But Huo Feiyan had remembered something her master had once mentioned offhandedly: if there were no Tier Three tea trees, a very old Tier Two Top-Grade tea tree might suffice.

So, the moment she saw the Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Tea this time, she immediately returned to report it.

"How do you know he obtained it in Black Mountain and didn’t bring it from the outside world?"

For Bai Zichen back then, Spirit Tea was mainly used to restore his Divine Sense. Both cultivating the Divine Casting Technique and the Visualization of the Five Crystal Glaze Body consumed a great deal of Heart Power.

However, at his current Realm, ordinary Spirit Tea was more or less optional, unless it was Enlightenment Spirit Tea.

After using the Enlightenment Bodhi, he had deeply felt how useful such Spiritual Objects were. They could play an unexpected role at many critical moments.

He had mentioned it that day because he happened to wonder if he could use the Taiyi Cyan Spirit Techniques to upgrade those Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Plants to achieve the best effect.

"The man said he comes to Black Mountain every few years to purchase local products, and this batch of Spirit Tea was one of them... We saw it clearly. It was the same Silver Needle Spirit Tea we usually drink."

Ma Ruoxi had a heroic air about her and stood out with her neat, short hair. She was usually very close with several of Ancestor Bai’s disciples.

She possessed a Water Stone Spiritual Body, which required specific, compatible Spiritual Objects to unleash its full potential.

Otherwise, she was no different from a normal cultivator, showing no particular advantages.

The Spiritual Objects she had used throughout her cultivation were all provided by Ancestor Bai. Even the most crucial item, the Curved Water Five-Eyed Bodhi, was only included in the Holy Lotus Sect’s reparations because Ancestor Bai had mentioned it.

With a compatible Spiritual Object, Ma Ruoxi’s efficiency in refining nature’s spiritual energy was equivalent to someone with a Celestial Spiritual Root.

She had already become the number one disciple of her generation. Her Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivation was rare among the younger generation of the entire Qingfeng Sect, and she had even surpassed Huo Feiyan.

"Silver Needle Spirit Tea... is it the Red Leaf Fang Family? Have Tong Huan go and ask if the two tea trees in their Red Leaf Valley have advanced in grade."

The moment he heard "Silver Needle Spirit Tea," Bai Zichen understood what was going on. Those two Silver Needle Tea Trees were the treasures of the Red Leaf Fang Family. According to the rules, fifty percent of the annual Spirit Tea yield had to be paid as tribute to the Qingfeng Sect.

The remaining Spirit Tea was the portion the Fang Family could distribute as they pleased.

It was obvious that after the tea trees advanced, the Fang Family wanted to earn more Spirit Stones, so they concealed the news that they now had Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Tea.

They were fobbing off the Sect with aged Tier Two Top Grade Silver Needle Tea while secretly selling the Tier Two Top-Grade Silver Needle Spirit Tea to outside cultivators to earn a large amount of Spirit Stones.

This deception couldn’t last for more than a few years. Once their clan’s stockpile ran out and they were forced to offer the Tier Two Top-Grade Spirit Tea as tribute, they would have to report the news to the Qingfeng Sect.

"Junior Martial Uncle Bai, our Sect is so generous to these Cultivation Families, yet they still dare to hide Spiritual Objects from us... They fear power but not virtue. They must be punished to serve as a warning to the other Cultivation Families."

Ma Ruoxi came from Hejian County. From a young age, she had been taught to hide anything valuable. Otherwise, if the Ghost Spirit Sect found out, the only outcome would be the ruin of her family.

In Hejian County, aside from the two families presided over by Fake Pill Cultivators who had a little autonomy, the other clans were nothing more than fat sheep being raised for slaughter by the Ghost Spirit Sect.

It wasn’t until she joined the Qingfeng Sect that she discovered that Cultivation Families could actually coexist and grow under the protection of an Upper Sect.

As long as you didn’t overstep your bounds, the Qingfeng Sect’s management of the Cultivation Families was always very lenient. They mainly targeted sects that tried to preach their teachings, recruit disciples, and establish their own lineage.

That was something they could not tolerate, and they would show no mercy.

Take the reclamation wars, for example. After a war, the Qingfeng Sect would share a large portion of the spoils with the Cultivation Families and Loose Cultivators who participated.

From Spirit Veins that could serve as a foundation to all sorts of cultivation resources, nothing was spared.

With a Demon Path Sect like the Ghost Spirit Sect, however, they would just forcibly conscript people. In a war, cultivators not from their sect would be used as cannon fodder and forced to the front lines.

As for sharing the spoils of war, you could forget about it. All gains belonged to the Upper Sect; what did it have to do with you?

Other sects were slightly better, at least not exploiting the Cultivation Families and Loose Cultivators to death like the Demon Path Sects did. But not a single one was as fair and generous as the Qingfeng Sect, where you could even exchange reclamation Merit Points for Foundation Establishment Pills and Tier Two Spirit Veins, rather than just being fobbed off with a few random spoils of war.

This was also why, back when the great war between the Righteous and Demon Paths began, so many Loose Cultivators had flocked to Black Mountain County, even before the Qingfeng Sect had made a name for itself.

The Red Leaf Fang Family’s actions, while perhaps seen as a little selfish in Black Mountain, were an unforgivable crime in Ma Ruoxi’s eyes.

"Since you feel so strongly about it, I’ll leave this matter for you to handle. Investigate it thoroughly and then report back to me."

Even if the Silver Needle Tea Tree could be upgraded to Tier Three, it would be of minimal use to the current Bai Zichen.

It might have been useful right after he reached Core Formation, but now, at Late-Stage Core Formation, even a Tier Three Low Grade Spirit Tea would only be suitable for daily drinking.