Chapter 166: Chapter 166 - The Rich Procession and the Poor Outpost
The day passed.
The red mist outside Outer Outpost No. 8 twisted quietly, but inside the safe zone, everything felt strangely calm.
A Boundary Pillar stood at the center of the outpost.
After moving for so long through mist-covered ruins, the cultivators behind Su Bai finally felt the difference.
Inside the outpost, their lotus barriers no longer thinned.
Their breathing became easier.
Even the exhausted newcomers relaxed a little.
"There is nothing noteworthy here," Lin Weiyang said.
A few cultivators immediately looked disappointed.
Su Bai nodded. He expected that.
He then said, "Rest here first."
No one objected.
They had followed him for a long time without proper rest.
Su Bai did not really need it, but the others were different.
Their lotus barriers had been repeatedly strained.
Their minds had gone through danger, excitement, greed, fear, relief, and several rounds of silently praying before skeletons.
Their bodies could still move, but their Dao Hearts needed to settle.
Cultivators could endure danger, but sudden wealth was also a test. Especially when it came too quickly.
So Su Bai let them rest.
Meanwhile, he sat cross-legged in a quiet corner.
His consciousness entered his storage.
The space was crowded.
The amount was already frightening.
If he brought these things back to Radiant Sky Sect, the sect would not merely be happy.
It might become nervous from happiness.
With his current stock alone, the sect could forge star-metal weapons for many disciples and elders.
Even if each weapon only used a small amount of star-metal as reinforcement, it would still be enough to raise the quality of the sect’s combat strength by a level.
And he would still have excess.
Su Bai’s lips curved slightly.
The sect had given him a place to cultivate without asking too many questions.
It was only right to bring something back.
Soon, he studied the recent automatic sign-in reward.
He got more Vial of Ashen-Dew Runoff.
Su Bai’s expression did not change.
He guessed this might be the repeated reward for signing in within the Fallen-Star Sanctuary’s outer region.
That was not bad.
...
A few hours later, the group had recovered.
When Su Bai opened his eyes and stood, more than a hundred gazes moved toward him.
Someone whispered, "Brother Su is standing."
Another whispered, "We are leaving."
A third quietly packed away half-eaten dry rations.
Su Bai suddenly understood how dangerous habit could become.
He had not even spoken yet, but everyone had already arranged their hearts.
He said, "We move."
The group rejoiced.
The procession left Outer Outpost No. 8.
And so, the cycle continued.
...
Days passed like this.
On the fifth day inside the Sanctuary, many cultivators finally understood why elders always told disciples to bring extra storage rings when entering mystic realms.
They had thought those warnings were exaggerated.
Now they knew they were not exaggerated enough.
Storage space became a real concern.
At first, everyone had treated each star-metal fragment as if it were a lost ancestor returning home.
But then they found more, and more, and more.
Under Su Bai’s guidance, the group found enough scattered remnants that everyone’s expression slowly changed.
From shock, to joy, to disbelief, to fatigue.
At one storage ruin, a cultivator picked up another heavy star-metal fragment and sighed.
"Again?"
Everyone looked at him that it made him froze.
Then, he immediately hugged the fragment.
"I mean, blessed again."
Another cultivator rubbed his storage ring.
"Mine is almost full."
A third said solemnly, "Mine too."
Someone whispered, "If we find something better later..."
No one finished the sentence.
All eyes moved to the pile of star-metal fragments.
For a brief moment, the young geniuses of various sects seriously considered whether they would one day throw away star-metal to make room for something else.
But after that thought, shame appeared on their faces.
How could they think such a thing?
That was star-metal.
A moment later, someone whispered, "But if it is a complete inheritance..."
Another said, "Or an intact ancient artifact."
The group fell silent again.
Chen Feng said coldly, "Those who cannot carry their star-metal can give it to me."
Immediately, everyone put their fragments away. No one complained again.
Still, their standards had changed.
In the beginning, a small strip of star-metal could make them tremble.
Now, some people looked at ordinary star-metal fragments and hoped the next chamber would contain something more unique.
Tang Ziyan summarized it best.
"People truly become arrogant after eating two full meals."
No one dared refute her.
Of course, they still took everything.
Occasionally, miasma beasts attacked.
At first, those battles were tense.
Later, with the group growing to a hundred cultivators, the beasts became the tense ones.
A miasma beast would roar from the mist, and soon, dozens of spells, sword lights, poison needles, frost threads, stone shields, mechanisms, talismans, and random panicked attacks would fly toward it at once.
Many beasts died before finishing their roar.
Their mineralized bodies were also collected.
At some point, beast attacks became part of the harvest.
...
On the sixth day inside the Sanctuary, the procession finally reached the region of Outer Outpost No. 5.
By then, the group had grown beyond one hundred cultivators.
It was no longer possible to pretend they were a temporary team.
They looked like a sect migration... or a small army.
Or, because of the skeleton-praying habit, a funeral procession that had become very rich halfway.
Outer Outpost No. 5 appeared through the thinning mist.
The Boundary Pillar stood at its center, pushing the red mist away from the protected zone.
Compared to the surrounding ruins, the air inside the outpost was much cleaner.
But the atmosphere was not peaceful.
Dozens of cultivators had gathered there.
Some argued in low voices. Some glared at one another. Several had injuries.
There were scorch marks near one corner, and a cracked shield had been split in half.
A fight had clearly occurred not long ago.
When Su Bai’s procession approached, everyone inside Outpost No. 5 turned.
Their first reaction was wariness.
Their second reaction was confusion.
Their third reaction was disbelief.
More than a hundred cultivators moving together in the Fallen-Star Sanctuary?
Were these people insane?
The cultivators inside the outpost gripped their weapons.
A rough-looking young man with a bandaged shoulder stared at the procession and muttered, "Are they fleeing from something?"
Another cultivator said, "Or chasing something."
A third looked at the storage rings hanging from several people in Su Bai’s group and swallowed.
"They look... rich."
The word rich caused several nearby cultivators to look even worse.
The cultivators inside Outpost No. 5 did not look rich.
They looked hungry... for opportunity.
Su Bai’s group also looked at them.
The expressions were complicated.
These were young geniuses from various sects and clans.
Yet several of them were arguing over broken scraps near the outpost wall.
One person was holding half a rusted blade as if it were a treasure.
Another clutched a cracked jade bottle with no lid.
Someone else was accusing another group of stealing a formation nail that was not even made of star-metal.
A cultivator from Su Bai’s procession whispered, "They are fighting over that?"
Another whispered, "Maybe it has hidden value."
Lin Weiyang glanced once.
"No. It is scrap."
The first cultivator became quiet.
Chen Feng’s expression became indescribable.
These people had rejected the most obvious truth of the Fallen-Star Sanctuary.
A true genius did not only rely on talent. A true genius also knew when to follow the person who kept finding walls that were not walls.
The cultivators inside Outpost No. 5 saw Su Bai’s huge group and looked at them like fools.
Su Bai’s group looked back with the same gaze.
Both sides felt the other side was unreasonable.
The atmosphere became strange.
Su Bai did not approached the group yet. His eyes swept across the outpost.
The others behind him also stopped.
The cultivators inside grew even more tense.
Su Bai looked at the gathered faces.
His spiritual sense spread lightly.
Then his gaze paused.
For a brief moment, the noisy outpost seemed to fall away.
There.
He saw two familiar faces. Familiar because their real bodies were still in his group.
They were the two remaining sleeping victims rescued from the cocoon.
Their bodies had not awakened. Yet here, inside Outer Outpost No. 5, two people with their faces were standing among the other cultivators.
No one around them suspected anything.
One was speaking softly to a group of three.
The other sat near a cracked stone basin, head lowered, looking tired and harmless.
If Su Bai had not seen the real bodies himself, he might not have noticed them immediately.
Tang Ziyan noticed it too.
Ji Ruyue’s hand moved toward her sword.
Chen Feng’s sword hummed softly.
Lin Weiyang’s bronze mechanisms froze in midair.
Zhao Heng raised his shield.
The people closest to Su Bai reacted next.
Then the reaction spread through the procession.
Weapons rose.
The cultivators inside Outpost No. 5 immediately panicked.
They saw more than a hundred people suddenly raise weapons.
Naturally, they raised theirs too.
"What are you doing?"
"Do you want to fight?"
"This is an outpost!"
"Are you mad?"
The bandaged young man shouted, "We have not offended you!"
The tension exploded.
The outpost, which had already been unstable, became a powder keg.
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