Chapter 595: The Benefits of a Good Reputation (Part 2)

After dealing with their pursuers and entering the Star Palace Secret Realm, the Star Lords were all in relatively good condition. At the very least, none of them had any obvious injuries.

No one mentioned how they had shaken off—or simply killed—the Demon Race pursuers they encountered during their escape.

The Twelve-Winged Soaring Serpent was a Tier Four Mid-Grade Great Demon with an exceptional bloodline. Even if the Star Lords all had hidden techniques, achieving a complete victory would not have been so easy.

‘It couldn’t have been any of the other four, so the one who killed the Twelve-Winged Soaring Serpent could only be the most mysterious of all, the Lianzhen Star Star Monarch… I never expected this newcomer, a practitioner of the extremely obscure Ancient Sword Dao, to be the one hiding the deepest.’

Bai Zichen recalled their first meeting; the only thing that had left a deep impression was that pair of indifferent eyes, which held a hint of hidden brutality.

‘It seems he killed the Twelve-Winged Soaring Serpent but suffered heavy injuries in the process, which is why he missed the opening of the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven… What a pity. After missing that chance, Zhuo Xiong will never let an outsider into the Sword-Cleansing Grotto Heaven again.’

The Taiyin Star Star Monarch and the others had obtained the Cave Profound Godslaying Sword Scripture. It wouldn’t be long before they discovered they were fundamentally incapable of cultivating it to the third level.

But at the very least, this Supreme Sword Scripture would allow them to understand much about the later Realms and broaden their horizons.

Combined with the Mica Sword Pills, the other Flying Swords, and the miscellaneous inheritances, their gains were still enormous.

If they were bold enough and their luck held, the overall cultivation of the Star Palace members might rise by a whole new level by the next time they met.

Bai Zichen rested at Wuzhong Ridge for two days, during which the Divine Wood Sect provided him with the most attentive reception.

Without him even having to ask, Gu Jue took the initiative to present him with a Tier Three Flying Sword. It had been refined from the Wood Heart of a Divine Tree destroyed by the Second Generation Divinity Transformation Sword of the Taibai Sword Sect.

On that day, over sixty Divine Trees had been destroyed. The Divine Wood Sect, full of resentment over the terms of compensation, had secretly held back a few Wood Hearts.

Although it was a Tier Three Flying Sword, like those naturally grown Divine Trees, it already possessed a nascent Sword Spirit, hazily existing within the blade.

Compared to an ordinary Tier Three Flying Sword, its value was several times greater.

Gu Jue’s grand gesture right from the start made Bai Zichen feel a little awkward. He had hired someone for a job but hadn’t even paid any Spirit Stones yet, and here he was receiving a Quasi-Fourth Tier Flying Sword.

He could only secretly resolve to be more diligent in his guidance of Elder Baii and Lin Shan. He should at least help them break through their current realms while they were planting Spirit Rice for him; it would be best if they could find their future paths as well.

Furthermore, his guess had been correct. Lin Shan was indeed Gu Jue’s closed-door disciple, and he also shared some kinship with Gu Jue’s maternal family.

Gu Jue had specially mentioned this, hoping that True Monarch Bai would take extra care of him.

This Wood Element Flying Sword, refined with a Divine Tree’s Wood Heart as its base, had an indigo hilt and an orange-red blade. It was named Ruo Wood.

When wielded, it would project layered illusions of Divine Tree Sword Shadows, masking the inherent fragility of a Wood Element Flying Sword’s blade.

In terms of pure destructive power, the Ruo Wood Sword was significantly superior to the Thunder Sound Sword.

Over the next few days, cultivators from the Divine Wood Sect made frequent visits to the Langyuan where Bai Zichen was staying, but they were all turned away at the door.

Gu Jue had the status of Interim Sect Leader, which was one thing, but Bai Zichen had no patience for making small talk with a group of Core Formation Cultivators.

However, these people didn’t give up. Under the guise of serving Spiritual Cuisine and tending to his daily needs, they sent several groups of singers and dancers into the Langyuan. They were all exceptionally beautiful Foundation Establishment Female Cultivators, each with a different charm, covering every type from the pure ingénue to the cold and glamorous snow lotus, and even the ripe, juicy peach.

Judging by their expressions and demeanor, they were likely disciples of the Divine Wood Sect, not professional singers and dancers.

Bai Zichen drank the Spirit Wine freely, ordering these female disciples to perform their best songs and dances. When a piece was finished, he would tap on his cup to liven things up.

But that was as far as it went. In the face of the Great Dao and long life, he could easily resist the mere temptation of beautiful women.

There had always been a legend in the Cultivation Realm that a Primordial Yang Body helped in resisting the Divinity Transformation Celestial Tribulation.

Whether it was true or not, he was on the verge of Divinity Transformation; how could he let it be ruined by such external temptations?

After he achieved the Dao, there would be plenty of time to enjoy life and indulge to his heart’s content.

When he formed his Nascent Soul, he had undergone an unprecedented Future Star Constellation Tribulation, which left a faint, lingering worry in his heart.

He had never worried about Cultivation Breakthroughs.

But starting from the Nascent Soul formation, the added trials of the Celestial Tribulations that came with breaking through a Great Realm were not something he could overcome with just his Mysterious Holy Body.

If the difficulty continued to increase at the same rate as his Nascent Soul Celestial Tribulation, he didn’t dare imagine what kind of tribulation he would face during his Divinity Transformation.

Therefore, he would desperately grasp any sliver of help he could get.

After a simple refinement of the Ruo Wood Sword, Bai Zichen left a note and departed gracefully.

Needless to say, his departure threw the Divine Wood Sect into chaos. The Elders who were not on good terms with Gu Jue launched a barrage of attacks, accusing him of being too selfish and hogging the opportunity to work for True Monarch Bai, refusing to share it with his fellow sect members.

Gu Jue, in turn, retorted that these Elders were complacent, and that their Spirit Plant Skills had stagnated and declined.

If he were to recommend them to True Monarch Bai and they ended up ruining the precious Spirit Rice, not only would they harm themselves, but they would also implicate the entire Divine Wood Sect.

The Divine Wood Sect of today could not afford to offend another powerful Sword Cultivator with such boundless prospects.

Or rather, in terms of current combat strength, Bai Zichen could already be compared to those Great True Monarchs who had been famous for centuries, and yet he was so much younger.

…

‘They managed to acquire a Soul-Ensnaring Mandala Flower, so the sects in Dian Country haven’t slacked off these past few years; they’ve taken my instructions to heart. As for the Three Immortal Corpse Toad, it’s the core Gu Insect of the Gu Immortal Race, after all. It’s not something you can find just by sending out more people, so I can’t blame them.’

Before returning to the Northern Domain, Bai Zichen made another trip to the Southern Border.

Firstly, he wanted to see if the last two poisons needed to cultivate the Hundred Poison Green Scale Bone had been collected. Secondly, he needed to give some instructions to the Five Elements Sect.

If the war between the Human and Demon Races truly developed into the worst-case scenario, the Five Elements Sect had no need to defend their Mountain Gate to the death.

They could abandon Two Realms Mountain, move the entire sect to Black Mountain as soon as possible, or even hide in the Hundred Thousand Evil.

With the Demon Race’s strength, even if they could crush the Jishui Camp and invade the Central Domain, their forces would be spent. There would be no reason for them to send their few remaining Demon Beasts to conquer the Southern Domain instead of first occupying the various Grotto Heaven Spirit Mountains in the Central Domain.

At most, a few Great Demons might stray into the Southern Domain and cause some regional chaos.

If it truly came to that, Bai Zichen was confident that even if he hadn’t taken that final step, he would definitely possess the strength to briefly contend with a Divinity Transformation cultivator.

He would just have to find a way to protect the sect and then fight a guerrilla war against the Demon Race.

Of course, this was all based on the premise that the many Super Sects in the Central Domain were all utterly defeated.

If the flames of war truly reached their doorsteps, he believed that some of those old fossils from the Super Sects would eventually stand up and resist.

They could abandon everything in the True Realm, take a few elite disciples and resources, and hide in a Grotto Heaven Secret Realm, only to re-emerge after the Demon Race retreated.

This method seemed safe, but calling the sect’s losses a ‘painful sacrifice’ would be an understatement; it was more like chopping off all four limbs and bleeding out continuously.

If the Ao Family’s Elder Dragon lived a bit longer and their own Divinity Transformation Ancestor couldn’t hold on and became unable to sustain the Grotto Heaven, then the entire sect would be annihilated, with no one escaping.

They would be better off using their last breath before passing on to fight to the death. Perhaps they could still carve out a slim chance of survival.

The Red Flame Sect had acquired this Soul-Ensnaring Mandala Flower for the price of one hundred and twenty Top-Grade Spirit Stones from a Nascent Soul Loose Cultivator who had just emerged from the Hundred Thousand Evil after decades of wandering.

Of course, Bai Zichen wouldn’t take advantage of a sect that was running errands for him. He paid the Red Flame Sect the original price in Spirit Stones and even threw in a Top-Grade Magical Treasure as a reward.

As for the remaining Three Immortal Corpse Toad, he placed his hopes on the Black Market.

He remembered a shop in the Black Market that specialized in selling all sorts of forbidden demons and also accepted commissions.

It claimed that as long as the price was high enough, it could sell anything.

This time, Bai Zichen couldn’t use the Ziwei Star Star Monarch mask again. The matter of this identity killing the Thousand-Legged Golden Centipede hadn’t spread widely yet, but it was certainly no secret to the upper echelons of the Human Race.

If he continued to parade around in this mask, he would easily be tracked down.

Furthermore, the last time he entered the Black Market as the Ziwei Star Star Monarch, he ran into a Nascent Soul from the Evil Fate Sect who performed a divination for him, yielding a world-shaking result.

For all these reasons, he used the Celestial Illusion Bracelet to take on Li Hansi’s appearance before entering the Black Market.

After a look around, he confirmed that the Three Immortal Corpse Toad was indeed not for sale in the Black Market.

However, one shop stated outright that it had connections with the Gu Immortal Race. As long as he could afford the price, it might not be impossible for them to get their hands on one.

Bai Zichen paid one Top-Grade Spirit Stone as a deposit, and the other party guaranteed they would obtain the Three Immortal Corpse Toad within a year.

If they failed, the deposit would be returned in full.

For him, opportunities to use Top-Grade Spirit Stones were rare, and forging his Immortal Bone was naturally a much higher priority.