Chapter 459 - 444: Running Into Them Even Here

Chapter 459: Chapter 444: Running Into Them Even Here

"The Five Elements Qi Gathering Method: gather a sliver of Golden Evil from a Five Metals Ore Vein, refine a thousand-year-old ancient tree into a single drop of Wood Juice, collect a wisp of water qi from an Eye of the Spirit Spring, condense a ball of Spirit Flame from an Earth Core Volcano, and finally, find a cavern a hundred zhang deep within a Spirit Mountain to gather a strand of Earth Spirit..."

Bai Zichen inspected the Jade Scroll from top to bottom. After confirming it was just an ordinary scroll with no hidden marks, he finally put it away.

’It looks complicated, but as long as the Sect prepares the locations in advance, it can be mastered in a year or so at most.’

This Five Elements Qi Gathering Method wasn’t very difficult to cultivate, as long as one had suitable locations to condense the Five Elements Essence.

A lone Loose Cultivator might struggle to accomplish this, but meeting the requirements wasn’t difficult for Major Disciples.

Even the Qingfeng Sect, with its current resources, could achieve this.

Mastering it would increase the probability of reaching Foundation Establishment by ten percent, which was equivalent to everyone having their own Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

For those Divinity Transformation Level powers with tens or hundreds of thousands of disciples, Foundation Establishment Pills were never enough. Even with a large enough Medicine Garden Secret Realm, it was impossible to dedicate all the space to Thousand-Year-Old Golden Crown Lingzhi.

There were also many other Spirit Medicines, useful to High-Tier Cultivators, that needed to be planted.

Auxiliary Cultivation Techniques like the Five Elements Qi Gathering Method were a crucial safety net, guaranteeing the success rate of lower-level disciples aiming for Foundation Establishment.

’The Central Domain Cultivation World is still far superior to the Northern Domain, as you can see from this alone... I’ve never even heard of a Cultivation Technique that can increase the success rate of breaking through a Great Realm. My own sect’s Desolate God Stealing Sun Technique is also a legacy from the Naihe Sect.’

Bai Zichen put away the Jade Scroll. The fact that the Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Hundred Puppet Sect could so casually give him the Five Elements Qi Gathering Method as compensation showed that similar Auxiliary Cultivation Techniques were not particularly rare in the Central Domain.

’Regardless of how things are in the Central Domain, this technique will greatly alleviate the problem of the number of disciples at Qi Refining Perfection growing year after year, while the supply of Foundation Establishment Pills remains largely fixed and difficult to increase... Besides, the Five Elements Sect happens to have the Five Elements Peak. When the time comes, I’ll make a copy of this Jade Scroll and present it to them as a congratulatory gift.’

According to reports from the Qingfeng Sect’s Foundation Establishment Disciple stationed at the Five Elements Sect, the Five Elements Sect had not been developing well in recent years. It seemed their expedition to aid Black Mountain had exhausted all their luck; upon their return, their once-thriving momentum ground to a halt.

Even with the Desolate God Stealing Sun Technique that Bai Zichen had gifted them, several of their Core Formation Seeds failed at Breaking Realm. Their Cultivation plummeted, and some even died as a result.

Red Fire True Man, one of their own, had already passed away.

The Five Elements Sect was once again plunged into a succession crisis. Of their three Core Formation True Men, Master Houtu was old and venerable, serving as their cornerstone, but his lifespan could run out at any moment.

A Demon Fire lurked within Master Qingmu’s body, and its residual poison had not been cleansed. He had no hope of another breakthrough, making him as good as crippled.

That left only Master Hei Shui, who was struggling to hold the sect together by himself in an environment like the Southern Domain.

That was why Bai Zichen had rushed straight to the Five Elements Sect right after reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, without even taking the time to form his personal Realm through Refinement.

「Another day passed.」

An endless expanse of yellow sand appeared before his eyes.

This desert was known as a place where all things fall. Anyone below the Nascent Soul Realm could only travel on foot, unable to even take a single step into the air.

Even Nascent Soul True Monarchs had to expend hundreds or thousands of times the normal amount of True Essence to fly through the air here.

They would never fly across it unless absolutely necessary, for fear that their True Essence would run out mid-flight, leaving them helpless and at the mercy of others.

’The Northern Domain and Eastern Domain are separated by the Celestial Fire Mountain Range, while the Central and Southern Domains are separated by the Desert Sea. It’s as if someone deliberately arranged it this way...’

Bai Zichen landed. A hundred zhang ahead, the verdant grassland rapidly gave way to a white expanse of sand and gravel, which in turn became a fine, brownish-yellow desert.

’Legend has it this was the aftermath of a clash between two Great Powers in Ancient Times. It caused a cataclysmic change in the entire Earth Vein—water sources dried up, all things were forced to the ground, and no Spirit Plants could grow... It’s the same old cliché. All these spectacular natural wonders were supposedly formed this way. Those Ancient Cultivators must have been awfully busy, running all over the place just to wreak havoc and leave behind traces of their ’great deeds’ for future generations to admire.’

Not even a Divinity Transformation Cultivator could cause such a near-permanent change to the landscape and its Earth Veins—one that would persist for hundreds of thousands of years.

The power of time and the self-healing capacity of this world should be enough to erase any scar.

Even if this world could briefly accommodate power beyond the Divinity Transformation Level during the Ancient Era, it must have been an ephemeral phenomenon.

No matter how great the power, pitting oneself against an entire world is pure fantasy.

For such a being to descend back into the mortal world, the price they would have to pay would likely be more than ten times the resources required to cultivate to the Void Refining Realm.

That’s why, even if the Ascension Platform still existed, Descent Immortals were exceedingly rare. They preferred to use indirect methods, such as issuing edicts or guiding disciples through dreams, to have their tasks completed.

A former Void Refining Cultivator, even with their Cultivation restricted by the Rules of Heaven and Earth, could still rely on Secret Techniques and Divine Techniques to overwhelmingly defeat a Divinity Transformation Great Power.

Only when such a cultivator unleashed their full power would it be possible to create a phenomenon like this Celestial Chasm, allowing it to persist for eternity.

Bai Zichen stepped onto the sand. As expected, a pulling force came from the scalding yellow grains beneath his feet, forcing him to use several times the normal strength just to lift his leg.

One could only imagine the suction force one would encounter high in the air.

A figure moved through the Sea of Sand, his steps as light as if he were taking a leisurely stroll through his own backyard.

Though each stride seemed small, his figure would appear over a hundred zhang away in an instant.

In just an hour, he covered a distance that would take an ordinary Cultivator several days to travel in the Sea of Sand.

’Close as the Palm of Your Hand, Far as the Ends of the Earth is truly useful. It’s an effect achieved purely through physical strength, unrestricted by the environment... If I could take it a step further, it might evolve into a Void Divine Technique. I wonder if I’ll ever get a chance to glimpse the legendary Realm where a single thought can cross a thousand li in an instant.’

Bai Zichen’s expression flickered as he noticed a Core Formation Cultivator struggling some thirty li to his left.

His feet seemed to be trapped in quicksand. The terrifying pull was so strong that even a Core Formation True Man couldn’t break free. He could only burn through his True Essence in a futile attempt to keep from sinking.

Without outside help, once his strength was depleted, he would be mercilessly swallowed by the quicksand.

Every year, countless Cultivators traveling between the two domains were devoured by the Sea of Sand, dying obscure deaths with no one to even build a cenotaph in their memory.

Bai Zichen shifted his path slightly and quickly arrived at the location he had detected with his Divine Sense.

A patch of sand, outwardly indistinguishable from the rest, was swirling and sinking rapidly.

It was as if there was a great hole beneath it, and the endless stream of yellow sand pouring in did nothing to slow its descent.

The man had activated several Magical Treasures, but they had no effect. In fact, they seemed to be making things worse.

The most useful things were a few small, chessboard-piece-sized figures he had tossed out. Upon landing, they grew into humanoid Puppets with various decorations.

Some threw out long ropes, while others activated giant mechanical hands. Two of them fell apart completely, spreading across the sand as two shifting pools of Spiritual Materials.

The six mechanical Puppets stood outside the quicksand, holding fast to the Cultivator who had been sliding toward the abyss with no hope of survival.

Even without outside intervention, he would be able to save himself, though it would take an incredibly long time.

’What a coincidence. Puppetry again...’

Bai Zichen’s brow furrowed. The style of this man’s Puppets was identical to those controlled by Yu Nie.

The probability of encountering two Puppet Masters in such a small area was too low. It was highly likely that this was the treacherous Sect disciple Yu Nie had mentioned—the one who had stolen a treasure and fled.

"Sir, please lend me a hand! I will reward you handsomely!"

Bai Zichen hadn’t bothered to conceal his presence and had appeared openly, so the Core Formation Cultivator shouted as soon as he saw him.

Trapped in quicksand with his life hanging in the balance, he didn’t have the luxury of worrying about the newcomer’s identity and simply cried out for help.

Bai Zichen made a fist and exerted a pulling force, and the Core Formation Cultivator immediately shot up several dozen centimeters from the quicksand.

With the added help of the six mechanical Puppets, he successfully escaped his predicament.

"You’re a disciple of the Hundred Puppet Sect?"

Bai Zichen looked for the Hundred Puppet Sect’s insignia on the man’s clothes, but all he saw was an ordinary Magical Robe.

"I was, once. Now, I’m just a Loose Cultivator... I, Guk Wen, will never forget this great kindness, Senior. If you ever need anything in the future, please don’t hesitate to ask."

It was only after he was freed that Guk Wen realized, to his astonishment, that his savior was a Nascent Soul True Monarch. He hastily replied with the utmost respect.

A strange Nascent Soul True Monarch could be even more dangerous than a quicksand vortex.

This was especially true given his special status and the crucial importance of the item he carried.

"On my way here, I met a man named Yu Nie. He said he was setting up a Celestial Net of Heaven and Earth on the roads leading to the Desert Sea, all to capture a treacherous disciple who stole an important Treasure from his sect... I wonder, young friend Guk, if you could clear something up for me? Who exactly is this treacherous disciple from the Hundred Puppet Sect, and what Treasure did he steal to make them go to such lengths?"

Bai Zichen stared calmly at Guk Wen’s face, waiting to see how he would respond.

Come to think of it, he had received the Five Elements Qi Gathering Method from Yu Nie, so he had already profited from the situation.

However, this was another Sect’s internal affair. He had no time to get involved, nor did he have any intention of capturing Guk Wen for a reward.

But he was quite interested in the so-called Supreme Treasure that a mere Sect traitor had managed to steal.

"Senior, it was a Jade Scroll that records the Refining Secret Method for a Tier Four Puppet. That is what I brought out of the Sect... If you’re interested, I can make a copy for you."

Guk Wen sounded slightly nervous as he spoke, and his slow backward steps betrayed his thoughts.

The Treasure he had taken from the Hundred Puppet Sect couldn’t possibly be just a Jade Scroll.

Or perhaps the Jade Scroll was only part of it. But the item valuable enough to make a Nascent Soul True Monarch from the Hundred Puppet Sect so restless definitely wasn’t a Refining Secret Method for a Tier Four Puppet.

"A Refining Secret Method for a Tier Four Puppet? That’s not what Yu Nie told me..."

Bai Zichen stared intently at Guk Wen. As expected, the moment he spoke, he saw the man’s expression shift rapidly.

He assumed the Nascent Soul True Monarch before him truly knew the inside story and had connections to the Hundred Puppet Sect.

’He knows what Treasure I stole from the Hundred Puppet Sect, yet he didn’t just capture me. It seems his relationship with the Sect isn’t that close. He must be another Cultivator who wants to get something out of me. In that case, at least my life is safe...’

Guk Wen felt a wave of relief. But just as he was about to speak, two beams of Bronze Sword Light descended, suffused with a heavy, profound, and ancient aura.

He blurted out in delight, "Star Monarch, you’ve come!"

Without a second thought, Bai Zichen flicked his wrist. The Thunder Radiance Sword Light flew out on its own, clashing with the two Bronze Sword Lights and knocking them far aside.

He turned to see a Nascent Soul Cultivator wearing an ancient-looking mask and dressed like a Priest.